> Close the Curtains, There's a Breeze.
>  by All Art Is Quite Useless
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The One Where Rainbow Begins Her Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A large white cloud floated peacefully through the sky above White Tail Woods, until Rainbow Dash burst straight through it, leaving nothing but broken shards which dissipated in the afternoon heat, becoming vapour. The sun was radiant upon her, a smile was stuck to her face. She flew in an iridescent arc of bombastic colour, brightening the day of any woodland creatures lucky enough to be present.

If anyone had been there to notice, they would have likely found themselves in awe of her aerial skill, her ceaseless energy and showstopping ability. Rainbow performed with energy and determination, eager to please the nonexistent crowd, eager to please herself. When she was satisfied with her last quad spiral loop, which in her eyes felt like something from a sped up dance routine, she settled on one of the surviving clouds, pausing to take in the scenery, ever so briefly. 

As usual, she quickly became bored of watching the world, as still as it was. While she couldn't argue with the fact that her surroundings were indeed beautiful, she longed to see them in transience once again, zipping past, glancing at each facet of natural splendor as she soared past it. Now, the world was still, which she felt she could only truly appreciate when she no longer felt like moving. Tired of the slow and lackadaisical woodland creatures, her eyes quickly settled on two hummingbirds, diving from just above her, hitting some pretty impressive speeds, considering their sizes. 

Rainbow was easily able to keep up with the pair's movements, she could even count their wing beats if she really focused. However, she was more interested in the lead hummingbird, a female, she deduced, and the male following it. The female was flying with purpose and determination, only, she never got very far with the erratic male on her tail, bidding for her attention. Despite the male's continuous wiles, the female persisted undeterred. Rainbow giggled at this display, taking notice of how ruthless the female was in her rejection and dismissal of the male.

Ultimately, the male gave up in his advances, and sped off in another direction. The female continued flying as if nothing had happened. Rainbow's eyes narrowed at this sight, but she quickly shrugged it off, assuming the male would be back later. 'Are birds that fickle?' she wondered, before squinting at the female once more, now some distance away. 'Not to mention headstrong,' she continued to ponder, before kicking off the cloud and continuing with her routine, paying the spectacle she had witnessed no more mind. 

Rainbow still had many moves to perfect, and sitting around bird watching wasn't going to help her do that. Suddenly, she had a brainwave, loosely inspired by what she had just witnessed. She took to the sky, rapidly gaining altitude before diving, wings streamlined to allow a faster descent. She pulled up moments before brushing the tallest trees, but found herself unsatisfied with the attempt. 'It looked cooler when the birds did it, 'cause that guy bird was circling the other one. Guess it's not the kind of thing you wanna do alone.' Gently flapping as she rose again, Rainbow mused on this a little longer. 'Guess birds aren't meant to be alone, huh? I mean, otherwise they'd have really cool flying moves that didn't rely on two of them to pull off, right?' 

Rainbow then briefly considered the fact that being a bird consists of more than just 'cool flying', and decided to maybe ask Fluttershy a little more about birds at some point soon. 'Hopefully that guy bird catches up with her eventually, when she calms down she's gonna need a flying partner, and he's got the moves,' she laughed, briefly wondering why she was already thinking about the hummingbirds again. 

This time, she was determined to keep the little creatures out of her head, and pressed on with her practice, creating twists turns and flips that would likely cause many pegasi to crash from pure dizziness, let alone lack of control. Rainbow truly was a master of the skies, but she didn't know very much about birds, it seemed.

Eventually, she performed the buccaneer's blaze, a move so awesome that she had never been able to describe it in a way that fully did it justice. She considered going for a sonic rainboom, but it really wasn't challenging any more. Besides, she thought the rainboom might disrupt the creatures below, and as brash and inconsiderate as she could be at times, she didn't want to do that. 

Things continued in this manner until they began to fade, and a repetitive beeping sound filled Rainbow's world, scaring her half to death, forcing her awake.

"Ngghhhh..." A muddled and limp Rainbow Dash pawed at her soft blanket, willing the invasive sound to go away. When it persisted, she kicked out with her forehoof, hoping to silence her alarm once and for all. In her action she only managed to knock it onto the floor, where it lay, still beeping.

Rainbow sighed, her first half formed thought of the day dissipating as fast as it was conceived as she pushed her muzzle in the space between her pillows, repositioning one to cover her exposed ear, After another thirty seconds of nonstop beeping, she kicked her cover away before crawling over to the side of her bed, reaching for the alarm, which sat just out of her reach. 

Gonna freakin' break you one day, she thought, stretching out, keeping her hind legs on the edge of the bed but pushing her forehooves forwards until she had shimmied close enough to turn off the infernal alarm. Relief poured through her, and she scrambled back into her bed, ready to fall back into the blissful and familiar lull of sleep. 

Rainbow's return to the land of nod was cut short ten minutes later by another sound blaring, this one more intense than the first. Gee, I love my backup alarm, Rainbow punctuated her thought with a long groan, rolling to the other side of the bed, forgetting to kick off the covers this time and becoming tangled in a mess of duvets. It was annoyingly comfortable, but she pushed through it out of necessity. Was she really going to lose her job over a few extra winks?

That was Rainbow's first full thought of the day, and like every work day, it was enough to make her awake, but hardly alert. Rainbow clambered out of bed, her head as fuzzy as her fur, and turned off the second alarm, which was purposefully placed halfway across the room, so she had to stand up to get to it. 

Alarm turned off and migraine averted, she slowly stretched, pushing her forelegs out and straightening her back, flaring her wings as she went, holding the pose for a second or two, then slowly coming back up. She then sat on her haunches, turning in a clockwise motion to bend to each side, touching her opposite fore and hind hooves together, one after the other. This woke her body up, bit by bit.

Rainbow enjoyed her daily stretches, they were invigorating and necessary, due to the performance work she did each day. About fifteen minutes of intensive stretching a day would be ideal, with a five minute cool down at night, but Rainbow only made time for five minutes when she woke up, favouring doing the rest at work. She knew that if she didn't stretch at all, however, her wings would be as stiff as a board, and she would never get anywhere. 

Once her body was limbered up, and she felt her usual lithe self, Rainbow commenced with her routine morning exercises. Fifty press ups was nothing to her, so she had decided to implement a burpee, standing on her hind legs before returning to standing, assuming pressup position, slowly lowering herself until the side of her muzzle was touching the floor, then exploding back upwards. Rainbow liked to challenge herself a little in the mornings, it would prepare her for the extreme and trying work that would come later. It was, however, the only occasion that Rainbow wouldn't time herself. At this time of morning, she'd much rather give her alarms a dirty look than use them for anything else.

Satisfied with her efforts, she went to her bathroom to wash herself off, and prepare for the day. While in the shower, she hummed a little tune that she couldn't place, and spent a good five minutes trying to determine just where it came from, before giving up and thinking of other things, such as her itinerary for the day. The warm water had woken up her mind, clearing the haze around her brain and allowing her to think straight. 

When she emerged from the shower, mane wrapped in a towel and tail dripping wet, she considered just allowing herself to drip dry, before sighing and beating her wings a couple of times, taking to the air and allowing herself more comprehensive access with her second towel. Rainbow disliked drying herself like this, no matter how easy it was to access most of her body from this angle, because her wings had a tendency to blow cold air all over her wet fur, which gave her the shivers. Still, she couldn't tread water all over the house, so, like the alarms, it was a necessary evil.  

Once she was completely dry and her mane was suitably towel dried (she had learnt long ago that it had to finish drying naturally, in order for her to retain the 'I just woke up looking this awesome' look) she set out to the kitchen, where she prepared a bowl of vanilla oatmeal for herself, and also took care to fill Tank's food bowl. Through bites of her breakfast she twiddled with her mane with a free hand, before remembering that the adjacent colours would likely get mixed up if she played with it too much before it dried. 

In a perfect world, Rainbow would be able to mess around with and fidget with everything that crossed her path, but unfortunately, this wasn't a perfect world, and she wouldn't have a perfectly imperfect mane if she continued to fiddle with it. Her free hand was restricted to tapping out a erratic beat on the table, this placated her. 

Once she was finished, she moved to wash up her bowl at the sink. This was better for her, as it let her use two hooves. If Rainbow wasn't moving around much, she at least liked to be occupied. 

She briskly trotted out of the kitchen after depositing the clean bowl in the drying rack, running into Tank in the front room, who was perched on one of his pillow beds. Pillow beds featured in most rooms of the house, so Tank could sleep wherever he felt like without too much of a journey. Rainbow was happiest when he decided to take the other half of her bed, usually once or twice in a week, but she never told him that.

She didn't need to tell him she was happy to see him though, her face said it all. Tank was always the first friendly face Rainbow saw when she woke up, and she wouldn't have it any other way. As she approached him, her vacant smile became caring, affectionate, and paternal. "Hey, how's my special little guy today? Did you sleep well, buddy?" 

A short blink was the only answer Rainbow received, but she nodded in acknowledgement regardless.

"Glad to hear so, dude! Momma's gotta go to work now, but you'll be alright by yourself for a few hours, right, little guy?" She asked him this every single day without fail, and every day she would get a short, slow nod in return.

There weren't many things Rainbow would gladly slow her high velocity life down for, but Tank was one of them. He was caring, loyal, and he really knew how to listen. Rainbow felt quite lost without him, she was glad his hibernation only lasted three months out of the year. 

"There's food for you in the kitchen, if you wanted some exercise, but I'm happy to bring it in here if you like?" 

A head shake of seeming indifference answered her question.

"Alright then, buddy. I promise I'll set you up on another playdate with everyone's pets soon, and I could start asking Fluttershy to look after you more often? I'll see what I can do, I feel really bad when I keep leaving you here, it's not like when I was on the reserves, you know? Anyways, I've gotta go now, try and have a good day, okay?"

A slowly formed smile on Tank's part provoked a three second nuzzle from Rainbow, another daily occurrence.

"Love ya, little guy!" Rainbow called, drifting over to her foyer, where her fresh and clean uniform hung. She had meant to wash the flight suit she wore yesterday, but it had slipped her mind, so she was using a spare. Rainbow could end up pretty tired in the evenings. Once upon a time, she would routinely nap during the day to conserve energy, this was a rare pleasure these days.

She clambered into the suit, which she still found difficult to put on, as skin tight as it was, before fastening the internal zip, which ran from her neck to her flanks. "Would it really kill them to elasticate these?" she grumbled. When she was finally wearing it properly, she reached up to bring her goggles down to just above her eyes. Instead her hoof sliced straight through the air, feeling nothing.

"Argh, of all the friggin' things to forget," Rainbow growled, storming back into the house and then discovering her goggles, laying on her bedside table, as they usually were when she misplaced them, which was most days.

As usual, she checked the clock in her foyer, determining that she should be about five minutes late to work, meaning she would be ten minutes early with little to no effort. Caught between a smile and a snarl, she exited her house, locking the front door and depositing the key on the inside of her suit, before checking her mailbox, finding the routine bills and utilities, deciding to read them later, and closing it again. 

With that, she finally took to the sky, flying east with some haste.

Rainbow would often appear irritated upon waking, as well as on her way to work, and, as such, it might appear to an onlooker that she hated her job. In actuality, Rainbow only hated mornings, and knew that once she arrived at Wonderbolts HQ, the magic of her day would truly begin to reveal itself.
> 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.

	
	

	
	
	
> The One Where Rainbow Thinks Too Much
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Practice was slow and tedious. While Wave Chill and Surprise were both capable fliers, neither of them were well acquainted with the demands of flying in a trio. The necessary formations and procedures were taking the pair quite a long time to get used to. 

Every time that it seemed as if they were beginning to make some progress, Wave Chill would move to overtake Rainbow, breaking formation, or Surprise would struggle to keep level during a simultaneous position swap. Surprise almost spanned completely out of control at one point. 

When Rainbow had to catch Surprise in her hooves midair for the second time in a half hour, Wave Chill was gliding past performing unnecessary tricks instead of helping, and she ended up struggling to realign Surprise in midair alone. Rainbow decided then that she had had enough of his attitude for one morning.

Rainbow plummeted towards the ground with her wings folded, her descent mirroring that of a cannonball, and straightened up at the last moment before impact. Wings outstretched, she landed hard on all four hooves, with barely any of the fall's momentum mitigated by her wings.

The pain pulsated throughout each of her legs, and her rear hooves instinctively threatened to buckle under the intensity of the impact, but Rainbow held steady, for the sake of her image alone. If two of her colleagues hadn't been watching her at that moment, she might have screamed out in pain. 

Sheer determination was the only thing preventing her from falling back on her haunches.

"That's it, break for lunch, now." Rainbow snarled, her legs planted firmly on the floor, tail waving, her eyes planted on the approaching pegasi just as firmly.

While Surprise appeared embarrassed by her failure as she approached, Wave Chill looked disgruntled. "It's half past ten," He blankly stated, gesturing towards the watch that hung on his chest-piece, an optional addition to the standard flight suit. 

"Well, you clearly need some fuel in you, or something!" Rainbow's legs were tremulous, she wasn't sure how long she could maintain this position while she seared with pain as she did. "That performance was completely substandard, and the two of you know it!"

"Hey, cut us some slack!" Wave shot back, flying closer to Rainbow than she was comfortable with, staring her down. "If you had actually been directing us with any competence, we might have got it all down by now!"

Is he really going to sit there and accuse me of being a bad team player? "Horseapples! You're freakin' wonderbolts
for pete's sake, and you can't get this basic of a routine down? Maybe if you were actually putting some effort into your synchronised aerial maneuvers rather than trying to showboat, we might have been able to function a little better!" Rainbow pointed her hoof directly at Wave, punctuating her vigorous speech.

Wave laughed at this, slowly shaking his head at Rainbow, maintaining his position above her. "And you'd know all about showboating, wouldn't you? Face it, Rainbow, even if I had been flying like a robot up there, Surprise still would have screwed everything up with her flailing around!"

Rainbow took a step forwards; pain exploded from Rainbow's outstretched hoof and flowed up her body, accumulating in her throat, where it burst as a fresh influx of anger. "Don't bring Surprise into this! First off, she couldn't help her mistake, and you definitely could, and second, she probably wouldn't have even made a mess of things in the first place if it wasn't for you distracting her! Face it, you were so obsessed with stealing the limelight that you put the whole team in jeopardy!" Rainbow panted when she had finished, briefly taking her heated gaze away from Wave and glancing towards her feet. The ground around her had cracked.

Rainbow blamed Wave Chill. Wave had driven her to distraction, he had made her angry, had made her act impulsively. 

"Uhh... Rainbow?"

"What is it, Surprise?" Rainbow barked. It had been more instinctive than anything, she didn't mean to speak to Surprise so harshly.

Surprise flinched, tucking her ears. "Look, I don't wanna sound like a bitch or anything, but..." She hesitated. "Even though Wave Chill is being really unfair here," she paused to glare at him with no hesitation whatsoever, "he does kind of make a point."

Rainbow's face darkened, and she gave Surprise a look of disappointment. Of all the crap I've heard today...

"N-Not like that!" Surprise stammered, "I meant, he's right that you've not really been directing us so far, this morning. It's just, I think Spitfire put you with us in this group because you've had the most practice with three pony flying, and me and Wave are still pretty new to it. When we make mistakes, we kind of need pointing in the right direction, not just being told to do the same thing over and over."

Rainbow blinked suddenly, the words Surprise said making connections in her brain that linked to notions which made actual sense to her. She hadn't been very helpful at all. 

"Sorry to say it like that Rainbow, only, you've helped me with practice before, and you were always patient and insightful, and I don't really get why you've not been that way today." When Rainbow didn't respond, Surprise pressed on. "Is there something the matter today, Rainbow? Uh, also, don't you think you should sit down?"

Suddenly Surprise looked worried, and when Rainbow glanced at her hooves again, which were now shaking tremendously in comparison to just a minute ago, she understood why. Oh, yeah, I am in a shed load of pain. Forgot about that.  

Rainbow allowed herself to fall to the floor, taking a couple of seconds to breathe in relief before opening her eyes in search of Surprise, instead finding the domineering look on Wave as he hovered over her still. "Seriously, Wave, I dunno what your problem is, but I swear to Luna, if you don't take that look off your face I'm gonna have you doing laps around this place until sunset, is that clear?"

"You're not the boss of me, Crash! I mean seriously, we're the same rank! How in hell you think you're gonna have me doing laps is beyond me, but it'd be cute to see you try, honestly--"

In an instant, Rainbow was back on her feet, and then taking to the air, her muzzle inches from Wave Chill's stupid grin. "I'll chase you around the place with a freakin' stick if I have to, you got that, buddy?! Just because I can't pull rank on you does not mean I'm gonna let you disrespect me like that, and if you think you can speak to me like crap then you've got another thing coming!" 

A calming breath, a moment reveling in the fear that flashed in Wave's eyes.

"Now, I'm willing to admit that I might not have been up to scratch with the instructing this morning, and I'm sorry about that, but you've got no reason to take it out on me like this, when you were doing much less to help the team than I was!" Rainbow paused, another breath, and her tone was more upbeat, but just as commanding. "From now on, I want no more arguments, and total synergy on this team! We have to merge with another group in less than a week, and I want us knowing this routine backwards by then."

"What if I don't wanna be a part of this team anymore?" Wave Chill grumbled. 

"Then I'll speak to Spitfire regarding it and suggest your transfer, after going over the events that led up to this proposal, of course. I mean, do you really want that?" Wave's silence confirmed Rainbow's thoughts. "Good. There aren't gonna be any more issues in this team now, are there?"

"No, ma'am." Wave responded, his pride swallowed.

"Seriously? Just 'Rainbow' is fine." Rainbow smirked, feeling strangely victorious.

"Rainbow then, sorry." Wave awkwardly mumbled. Rainbow wasn't sure if she enjoyed her newfound power, but her faux-authority would definitely help her to control Wave's tantrums, however she had come about it.

Ignoring Wave's response, Rainbow turned to Surprise, smiling pleasantly. "I dunno about you, but I'm pretty peckish right now, are you sure you don't still wanna get lunch early?"

"Y-Yeah, we could do, sure," Surprise looked over Rainbow briefly. "Are you sure you're alright to get around and stuff?"

"Yeah, definitely, pain's already fading to be honest," Rainbow trivialised, fully aware that she wouldn't stop hurting for hours after an impact like that.

As she said this, she landed, stepping over to join Surprise, proving her point. 

As they turned to leave for the mess hall, Wave weakly called out: "I think I'm gonna go eat with another team."

Rainbow merely glanced at him, before turning back to Surprise and walking on with her.

Right: When I get back, I need to start getting him to come around, I can't have him pissed at me for the rest of eternity. A few seconds passed, and she had another thought. As much of a prick as he is, he makes a point. What was distracting me so much? I mean really, all that's happened today is me having that dream again, and finding out Zephyr's going to be working with us.

A couple seconds later, she had resigned herself to full mental debate. He's gonna hit on me in front of everyone, isn't he? He's gonna tell embarrassing stories from my foalhood and mortify me in front of everypony. But then, I could always do the same back. The embarrassing story part, I mean. A second passed as Rainbow considered her thought. Ew. Anyways, how often am I even going to see him? Apparently the company he works for helps with shows and conferences, so probably not that much? I'd rather know when he's gonna be here so I've got a chance to prepare, honestly. 

A moment passed, and that thought struck her as strange also. Hold on, why do I need to prepare? He's just a scruffy pegasus, how badly is he really gonna embarrass me? I mean seriously, why do I even care about this?	 

Rainbow had already had that thought a handful of times today.

This realisation was encouragement to brush the whole thing off, and also served to notify her that Surprise had been talking the entire time. Alarmed by this, Rainbow quickly attempted to zone back in.

Surprise spoke with passion as she walked, the issue was clearly important to her, "--and that's why I don't see where he gets off speaking like that!"

Rainbow sighed a breath of relief, she hadn't missed anything she couldn't come back from. "Yeah..." she laughed, "That Wave Chill can be really out of order sometimes, right?" Her eyes sparkled as she smiled, signing an unwritten apology to Surprise for unwittingly ignoring her.

Surprise, however, didn't seem satisfied. "Uh... Rainbow? I wasn't talking about Wave Chill. I was talking about my step-brother, who I had an argument with last night?" Rainbow paled instantly, her eyes widening and her mouth hanging open.

Surprise stopped and looked straight at her, taking in her wordless response. "I've been talking about it for the last five minutes, Rainbow. I was gonna say, I've never known you to be able to stay quiet for so long, but I guess you weren't really listening." Surprise sounded downhearted, but her smile didn't falter especially. 

Rainbow, however, panicked. "Oh, crud, I'm sorry, Surprise, I'm really not with it today. I feel terrible for letting you keep on talking like that, honestly. Tell me again, and I promise to listen this time?"

"Not until you tell me what's on your mind," Surprise declared, "You've been acting strangely all day now, and I wanna know what's up!"

"W-What? Nothing, honest!" You sound so guilty right now. "I-I, just, uhhhh... Got a headache right now!"

Rainbow realised how excited she sounded about her headache and decided to tone it down a little. 

"Uh... Yeah. Headache, nasty stuff," she pathetically offered.

Either Surprise was born yesterday, or she didn't feel like pressing Rainbow on the matter, much like this morning, as she settled for her ridiculous answer, suggesting she take a couple of painkillers and then saying nothing more. 

Their walk continued in relative silence, which Rainbow was fairly thankful for. Hopefully, the silence would give her time to work out just why she didn't tell Surprise what she was really thinking about just then. 

Maybe she could also make sense of why she was so distracted today.  
> The One With the Laziness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow Dash was in pain; Rainbow Dash was exhausted. More than anything, Rainbow was vexed, and the more she thought back to her day, the more angry she became.

It had began just like any other, she confirmed as she willed her barely responsive wings to drag her home, each flap an intense battle between her tired appendages and the inexhaustible pull of gravity, which existed then only to remind her of her weakness. 

She knew it had started the same as any other day, from the misplacing of her goggles to that recursive dream, everything had been as usual. She had eaten her breakfast, spoken with Tank, and left for work, as she always did.

Where did things go wrong?

"Freakin' Wave Chill, that's where," Rainbow moaned aloud, her voice even more gravelly than usual. It was six-thirty in the evening, and she was only then leaving work and heading home. Her wings were battered with multiple feathers displaced, her hooves were still in a relative amount of pain from her strop induced landing that morning, and her throat killed from barking instructions all day, as well as from the continuous confrontations with Wave Chill.

Rainbow had been well prepared to forget about the events of that morning and carry on with practice uninterrupted, but apparently, Wave had grown a new, sturdier set of balls in the time between her threat and lunch finishing, and was having none of that whatsoever.

The arguments were incessant, and each one more unimportant and finickity than the last. Wave had a problem with Rainbow's instructions, he had a problem with Rainbow's means of delivery, he even had an issue with her choice of music. Apparently, he could hear her classic rock tunes blaring from a mile off, despite the fact that Rainbow was wearing headphones.

Each time, Rainbow had attempted to deflect Wave's comments, not allowing herself to be drawn to his desire for petty argument. However, when he began citing Wonderbolt code of service, telling her that she wasn't permitted to use a portable music player on duty, she couldn't bite her tongue anymore.

Rainbow had then launched into a tirade directed entirely at Wave, harbouring all of her pent up frustrations, whilst simultaneously debunking his complaints, which were based around a redundant rule that no Wonderbolt had followed since music players had become much smaller over the last few years, and no longer obstructed flight.

Despite her response, he decided to escalate the situation by saying that regardless of whether she was breaking any serious rules, she had still threatened to assault him earlier. Either Rainbow had thought he was bluffing, or at this point she was too far gone (she couldn't really tell, thinking back on it), because she encouraged him to actually go and do it, which seemed to shock him into silence. It was then that Surprise had said there was no way in hell she would ever back up that claim, and Wave finally shut up.

Well, until it was time to hand out the performance rotas, that is. 

Rainbow Dash didn't believe in Sod's Law. As far as she was concerned, if something could go wrong, that didn't mean it would, and definitely not in the worst way. Apparently, fate wasn't best pleased with her optimistic philosophy, and had decided to prove her wrong. Obviously, this meant that Wave Chill was the only pony other than Spitfire who actually remembered Zephyr Breeze, and he made Rainbow very aware of that.

It was just another way for him to get under her skin, reminding her of the issues he brought with him the last time he was here, and blaming them all on Rainbow. Luckily, Rainbow had handed the files out only a few minutes before her shift ended, so she didn't have to listen to his crap for too long.

Well, even a second was too long in Rainbow's mind.

When she went to clock out, cursing under her breath the whole way, muttering things that she wished she could say to Wave's face without losing her job, the machine was merciful, and decided to display the time Rainbow wanted to see: 6:30.

Certain that Wave wouldn't be far behind, Rainbow had sped off the moment she had punched her ticket out, her aching limbs screaming in protest.

That's how she had ended up so exhausted, disheveled, and, above all else, aggravated. Rainbow couldn't believe that she had been so opposed to the idea of Zephyr working with the Wonderbolts again when ponies like Wave were still on the team. In fact, Rainbow planned to say this to Spitfire, and furthermore, that she wholeheartedly supports his future involvement with the Wonderbolts. 

That would accomplish three goals: Doing the right thing, silencing her guilt, and pissing off Wave Chill.

Rainbow wondered which was more important, and, with her mind feeling as drained as her body, struggled to answer.

Of course, even despite the arguments, they had made some meagre progress, at least. That progress had been down to a lot of practice, very tiring practice that had all but sapped Rainbow's strength. At points, she had considered joining the other two in their hourly 'breathers', but pressed on regardless. When it came to flying, Rainbow was stubborn, and she was determined to show the other two the correct form, even if it was while they sat on their asses and watched. 

Unfortunately, nonstop performance flying for over seven hours straight took its toll, especially after her self inflicted injury. Rainbow wondered if she really did have her head in the clouds all day. Really, it was such a blur for her right now that she couldn't tell. She wasn't even sure what she had been thinking about, or why it had distracted her in the first place.

Rainbow trilled, throwing her head back before stifling a fresh yawn. "Jeez, I really need to get my head out of the clouds... I mean really, first Zephyr, then Wave Chill? Why can't I get these assholes out of my head today?"

A sigh, and she carried on conversing with the sky. "Well, Zephyr's not really an asshole. Well, he is, just not on Wave's level. I mean really, Zephyr's not the worst, he's just really annoying sometimes, and lazy, and rude, and inappropriate, and persistent, and--" Rainbow chortled a little, her laugh snagging in her sore throat. "Yeah, I guess he is pretty terrible."

"Still, I'd rather have him try and talk me to death than spend another minute around Wave this week." The sky may not have been a conscious entity, but it was considerate enough to give her what she needed, space, fresh air, and a view she was too exhausted to appreciate as a bonus.

When Rainbow's house appeared on the horizon, she didn't notice it. When she drifted into her front door, hitting herself square on the nose, she did notice.

"Argh! Grrr--Watch where you're going!" You're talking to a door. "Oh, yeah," she stammered, cheeks reddening. "Um, sorry." Still a door. "I know that!" she pouted. Go to bed, Rainbow.

She couldn't argue with her mind, she needed sleep. Come to think of it, Rainbow wasn't sure whether she could argue with her mind or not, but she was too tired to try. After fumbling around with her flight suit for a full minute, opting to lay on her back with her legs in the air to speed up the process, she was finally able to unzip it and produce the reclusive door key. 

However, a small problem had arisen.

Now that she had laid down, she really didn't want to get back up. A doorstep made out of cloud was still a cloud, after all. Rainbow had never been particularly fussy.

A couple of minutes later, she began chastising herself for her idiocy. Can't sleep out here, moron, you'll freeze overnight, pegasus coat or not. Rainbow began to wrap her forehooves around her head, curling up into a ball and ignoring her traitorous thoughts. If she wanted to freeze, she would, it was comfy.

Come on, I've literally got the key in my hand, why can't I just get up and go in? Rainbow already knew the answer to that question. Cause that means moving again! Ugh, I've just laid down, why can't I just have these few minutes to myself, huh? Why can't my head just shut up for a few seconds? Rainbow could guess the answer to that too. Cause you've got stuff to do, idiot.

"Why does my head sound like Gilda so often?" Rainbow questioned. 

You're just used to Gilda insulting you.

"At least Gilda doesn't really mean it," Rainbow muttered to herself.

Doesn't she?

Whatever, how did I even get onto this? Rainbow wondered as she pushed herself back onto her hooves, every nerve crying out in mutiny, begging her to stay put for just a little longer. Rainbow ignored their pleas, as her head was currently louder, and made a pretty good point about the whole freezing thing.

Forcing a burst of energy from her steadily depleting reservoir of strength, Rainbow turned, grabbed her mail, got the door open, and shambled into her foyer, kicking the door shut with a frail buck. 

"Tank!" Rainbow called out, her throat hardly grateful. "Momma's home lil' dude! Are you okay?"

There was no answer, and Rainbow instantly panicked.

Rainbow zipped from room to room, flying at incredible speeds, considering how confined the hallways were in places. It was as if she hadn't injured herself at all, hadn't been working all day, didn't feel like she was about to drop, she moved with haste regardless.

Tank hadn't answered her, and she needed to know that he was okay.

Eventually, she found him, propped on one of the plush, well fluffed pillows adorning her sitting room. Rainbow sped over to him, her first instinct to pick him up, her second not to startle him. She quickly settled on an excited whisper. "Tank! Hey there! I was worried about you!" Once Tank had registered her presence, she leant in for a nuzzle, quite similar to the one from this morning, but a couple of seconds longer, as she was immensely glad to see him safe.

Suddenly, her problems from before didn't feel as significant. Tank was safe, and to her, that's what really mattered. It didn't cross Rainbow's mind at that moment that tortoises barely made any noise at all, and Tank was no exception to that. 

Then again, it didn't cross her mind most days, and she'd have that same reaction at least once a fortnight, darting from room to room in search of her favourite tortoise, just in case he was in peril.

It might have been silly, it might have been irrational, it might have had no logic to it, but Rainbow, despite her absolute love of excitement and thrills, would do nothing to change the familiar routine of coming home to Tank each day, of worrying over him, the feeling of relief she received from seeing him safe, the satisfaction that came with taking care of him. Rainbow would never do anything to alter that feeling of unity.

Smiling through her various pains, Rainbow put a hoof around Tank's pillow, asking if she could pick him up.

It took ten full seconds for Tank to nod at her, but she waited patiently nonetheless. Tank and his pillow in hoof, she drifted into her bedroom, depositing him on the bed, where he sat, appearing contented. 

Rainbow rolled onto her side, careful to avoid brushing her wings too hard. She pulled at her tail with her forehooves, playing with the strands, mixing green with purple, orange with yellow. For the first time in many hours, despite everything, she felt truly relaxed.

When she noticed one of Tank's feet beginning to move in her direction, she scooped him up, placing his shell against her chest and gently squeezing him. They lay happily in silence for a while, their bond clear as day, each one's contact strengthening and reassuring the other.

Together, they both had a loving friend.

After a good few minutes, Rainbow plopped Tank on the bed in front of her and moved to lay on her front, giving him her full attention, which she was sure he returned.

"Let me tell you about my day, lil' guy. Just promise you won't fall asleep before I'm finished, okay?"

Rainbow knew it was likely her that would crash first, but the assurance made it easier to speak at full length without fear of being ignored. Rainbow was glad for an opportunity to finally get this tedious and confusing day off of her chest, and extremely grateful to the little tortoise whose ear she was about to chew off.
	
	
	

	
> The One Where Rainbow Starts Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tired of the slow and lackadaisical woodland creatures, Rainbow's eyes quickly settled on two hummingbirds, diving from just above her, hitting some pretty impressive speeds, considering their sizes.

Rainbow was easily able to keep up with the pair's movements, she could even count their wing beats if she really focused. However, she was more interested in the lead hummingbird, a female, she deduced, and the male following it. The female was flying with purpose and determination, only, she never got very far with the erratic male on her tail, bidding for her attention.

A continuous beep tore away the veneer, stripping all substance and colour from Rainbow's surroundings, leaving nothing but darkness, then, a far off, distorted view of what appeared to be her bedroom ceiling.

Rainbow was squinting up at the ceiling, the last memories of her dream fading from the foreground of her consciousness, the spectacle of the hummingbirds interrupted by the early call of a new day.

Rainbow barely noticed her smile fading along with them. She sighed softly, throwing the duvet back and opening her eyes fully, letting more of the light in than she had hoped she might. Standing on weak hooves, she reached for the alarm on her bedside table, tapping the switch. Not a single groan escaped her, nor a complaint, or even the hint of one.

Rainbow was glad to have been visited by her avian friends, even if she hadn't realised it yet. That, coupled with her chance to vent to Tank the night before had lead her to a single conclusion the moment she woke up. 

This is gonna be a good day. I'm gonna make sure of it! Rainbow drew energy from her optimism, determined to not repeat any of yesterday's mistakes if she could help it. With this in mind, she sat and thought about exactly what she could do to make this a good day, although, she knew she would be better suited to do so once she had woken up a little. 

Rainbow would have usually groaned aloud at the prospect of planning anything, especially upon first waking. So, rather than use the word 'plan', she opted to dub her considerations a 'recipe for awesomeness'. Her ego accepted this as an appropriate means to achieve a positive day, and allowed Rainbow to make her plans unabashed. Apparently, her ego was easy to win over, it just needed to hear a synonym of the word 'cool' and she was good to go.

Right, what's the plan then? Rainbow twitched where she stood. Uhh, recipe! I meant recipe. She lightly scoffed. Ugh, who am I kidding? That sounds stupid as hell. Rainbow lightly chortled as she stooped down in the centre of her room, touching her muzzle behind each of her forelegs from a standing position, loosening her shoulders, before stretching outwards, cracking multiple sections of her spine, causing her to involuntarily groan in approval. Tank stirred, and Rainbow flinched in worry.

A few more stretches, and Rainbow decided to completely skip her morning exercises. She knew that Tank should wake naturally, and she didn't want to ruin his routine further by being loud. She only had to hover on the subject for a couple of seconds before facehoofing in total self annoyance, her eyes scrunching shut. Rainbow had forgotten to bath Tank yesterday. 

When Rainbow had originally picked up Tank from Fluttershy, she had refused to sit and be lectured on how to properly care for a tortoise. She had told Fluttershy that she 'had it down' and asked her 'how hard can it be?'. Rainbow looked back on her younger self with disgust, wondering how she could have been so arrogant and pigheaded over something so simple.

Had she listened when Fluttershy had offered to help her, she might have been prepared for his eventual hibernation, rather than attempting to sabotage the weather factory over it. Thing is, that was only the second time she had unknowingly endangered Tank.

When Rainbow first started caring for Tank, she assumed that like all other animals, he would need food, water, and sleep. Rainbow began to grow increasingly worried when she noticed that the small water bowl she had left out for Tank hadn't gone down in volume over the space of a week. She had visited Fluttershy in a panic, who had asked Rainbow if she had been bathing Tank properly. Rainbow had appeared embarrassed by the idea of washing him, and claimed to wax his shell once every few days.

Fluttershy became angry then, and Rainbow didn't know what the issue was. She discovered through ten minutes of heated scolding that tortoises imbibe a portion of their water through food, and absorb the rest whilst bathing, meaning that they should be half submerged in water at least every other day, and every day without fail during the hottest months. Rainbow had taken Fluttershy's stern advice on board and not missed a bath since.

Well, until now, at least. Work was killing Rainbow, and she had completely forgotten to bathe Tank in all of her exhaustion, physical and mental. A stiff crack of her wing joints later, she was floating over Tank, using gentle motions to keep herself afloat (so as not to rouse him). She briefly touched her hoof to one of his legs, seeing if he felt any dryer than usual, and then realised that she had no clue whether that would actually tell her anything, or how dry a tortoise is even meant to feel.

Rainbow hated how carefree and oblivious she had been when she had first obtained Tank, and felt incredibly guilty for having neglected him yet again, but knew that she had a chance to rectify it now. It was why she had got up over a half hour early, after all.

Rainbow strode to the bathroom, permitting herself a short shower. She washed herself, sans mane, and quickly dried off, floating and shivering from the cold air all the while. When she was dry, she stepped into the kitchen, intent on making breakfast, but grabbed an apple on a whim, eating it in three bites as she walked to her door. She eyed her hangers, noticing the distinct lack of a flight suit. 

They're both dirty, aren't they? Wonderful. Rainbow walked all the way back to her bedroom, swallowing the last of her apple as she went, grabbing her discarded flight suit from the night previous and taking it to the bathroom. There, she ran a full sink and placed it inside with a liberal amount of soap, leaving it to soak.

Rainbow now knew that she would absolutely have to wash and dry it, which was why she had done it in the first place, to avoid her shirking out on responsibility later. That still didn't stop her from being pissed at herself for not washing it when she should have.

Mandatory obligations taken care of, Rainbow left the house and took flight, heading towards the Everfree Forest. Rainbow had spent even less time than usual stretching out and getting loosened up this morning, and her wings paid the toll, aching for the first dozen flaps or so, the dull pain gradually dwindling as she pressed on. 

Rainbow's thoughts drifted to her dream, and she scratched her head, her eyes searching the vicinity for nothing in particular. Huh. It didn't end? I don't really know what to think about that, it always ends right after I finish my routine. Rainbow thought about the last image she remembered seeing before waking up, her eyes widening. Did I even do any of my routine? All I remember this time is the birds.

The guy bird was chasing the female, but she didn't wanna fly with him, I remember that much. Well, she either didn't want to, or she was testing him? I couldn't tell, really, she recalled the male hummingbird's attempts, compared to the female's serious drive and seemingly superior flying skills. 

And he was relentless too! He just kept going, even when she ignored him. That's determination right there. A moment later, and Rainbow's mood had turned sombre. Well, until he lost interest, I guess? Soon enough, she felt herself growing worried for the female. And if he lost interest in her, who's to say he ever came back? She might have been lonely for the rest of her life, with no one to fly with.

A foolish grin then appeared on Rainbow's face, her positive side had won. Nah, he was just going to regroup. He was probably came back an hour later with a songbird quartet or something. This thought soothed Rainbow, who didn't care to rationalise her attachment to a pair of birds from her dreams, but didn't mind it either. 

It was with that thought that she landed on the grass outside Fluttershy's cottage, fighting a fresh yawn as she trotted up to the door and softly rapped against the solid wood. If there was anyone who was fit to look after Tank properly while she was away working, it was Fluttershy, as much as it pained her to admit it. 

Rainbow would scarcely admit it to herself, but she knew that Fluttershy was close to all animals, and she worried that if Tank spent too much time around Fluttershy, he might forget about her. She knew it was illogical, but she couldn't help it. For a long time now, when Rainbow had no one to rely on or speak to at night, Tank had filled that hole in her life, and he gave her peace and happiness in doing so.

But, she knew it was give and take, and she couldn't forgive herself if he wasn't getting the top notch treatment he deserves. Rainbow knew that the more she had been working full time, the less time she had been able to spend with him, and now it had actually got to the point that she was forgetting to do the essentials for him. 

It would pain her a little to have to give him up, even if it was just while she was out on work days, but she knew there was no other way around it. Tank needed care and attention that she couldn't always provide, but her friend could, even if it meant that she might worm her way into Tank's heart and become his new favourite, or whatever.

Rainbow was prepared for that. What she wasn't prepared for, however, was the lack of response from inside the cottage. Forgoing courtesy, Rainbow knocked with significant force, hoping to rouse her friend. 

After about twenty seconds of waiting (during which time Rainbow began to tap out a beat on the door frame out of sheer boredom) there was a thudding on the window, and Rainbow looked to her left to find Angel propped up against it, poking away. 

Rainbow, confusion apparent, tried to ask Angel what he wanted but then remembered she didn't speak rabbit, rolled her eyes, and tried the door, it was unlocked.

Rainbow wandered inside, searching left and right, but found no sign of Fluttershy. She called her names a couple of times but still received nothing in response. As she turned to leave, she felt Angel patting at her hoof with his paw, and eyed him curiously.

"What is it, Angel? Where's Fluttershy gone?"

Angel scampered off, before returning with an apple in his paw, which he gestured with, waving it in front of Rainbow's face.

"Uhh... My breath smells like apples? I already knew that," She chuckled, cheeks rosy.

Angel facepalmed, before raising the apple once again, shaking it more vigorously, and pointing out the window with his other paw. 

"She's at Sweet Apple Acres? Aw, nuts, I'll never catch her there, I don't have time for that!"

Angel shrugged, tapping his wrist as if it was a watch, then miming running. Apparently, he was adept at understanding pony speech.

Rainbow took it to mean that if she left now, she could probably catch up to her pretty quickly. Rainbow sighed, gazing around the room once more. "No, dude, you don't understand," she said, now walking around the front room of Fluttershy's cottage. "I'm willing to bet that the only reason Fluttershy is over there is to help Applejack with something, right? I mean, they don't usually hang out there."

Angel nodded, eyeing Rainbow questioningly as she considered meandering around the room.

"Which means that if I go there now, I'll either have to wait for them both to be done or help out myself if I wanna get a decent conversation out of her." She paused eventually at a cabinet to the side of the room, picking up a pen in her mouth, along with a small sheet of paper in her hooves, which she laid on the cabinet. "Nowf, ushually I'd be allf for that, buu--" Rainbow quickly scribbled a note on the sheet, placing the pen down and continuing what she was saying without any obstruction. "I start work in like an hour, and I can't be late." Rainbow pondered her next step before holding out the hastily written letter for Angel, who took it. 

"Anyways, speaking of which, I'm gonna have to be off. Gotta find someone to look after Tank on really short notice now, and I've got no clue who's free to do it. Make sure you give that to Flutters, okay?" Angel gave the note a once over before shaking his head, gesturing to the stairs, and imitating walking up them. 

Rainbow completely shrugged this off, on account of her barely paying any attention to it. "Great, dude, see ya!"

And with that, Rainbow sped off.

Argh, great, and I told myself I wouldn't get all wound up today, but what am I gonna do? I can't let Tank keep going without care and company, but I can't exactly take him to work with me either! Rainbow scowled, looking back at the cottage. I swear, it's just my luck that she wasn't in! Damn it, who should I even go to?

Rainbow racked her brain, recalling the names of all the ponies she knew, and then reducing it to the list of ponies she would trust with Tank. Out of those, Rarity was away at her Canterlot store, Cadence lived in another country, and Daring Do probably had her own problems. 

There was no way she was leaving Tank with Twilight, it was too close to Spike. After she had heard about what really happened when Spike was left pet-sitting, she had made a conscious effort to keep Tank far away from him. As for Pinkie, while she was sure that she'd try her utmost to be responsible, she left gummy alone to bake a cake once, who knows what she'd do with Tank? 

And Applejack? As much as Rainbow loved Applejack, she couldn't help but worry that she might try and teach him to buck apples, or send him to dig out plants, or something like that. Honestly, if there was anything that mare loved more than long stories and rodeos, it was being the recipient of unpaid labour. 

That didn't leave Rainbow many options, but she needed a solution, and fast. Locked in mental debate, she headed off in no direction in particular, knowing time was of the essence, seeking somepony to watch over her beloved tortoise while she braved another day at work.

It was a small consolation that she had the plan worked out by now, a rough draft of it, at least.

Phase 1: Find a petsitter for Tank. Phase 2: Sort my crap out, and get to work on time. Phase 3: Stop exhausting yourself at work. Talk to Spitfire about the rotas and tell Wave to Chill, pun intended. Phase 4: Don't let anything Zephyr Breeze does bother you, be happy for him, but not too happy for him. Most of all, don't let him being there interfere with your work life. Phase 5: Succeed and be happy.

Scarcely ordered thoughts in mind, Rainbow picked up the pace, frantically searching around Ponyville for a viable (and, most importantly, available) pet-sitter.
> The One With Sitterloo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow narrowed her eyelids, searching for any sign of hesitation. “And, you’re absolutely sure that you’re up to this?” 

A surefire nod from the sleepy filly in front of her definitely wasn’t enough to alleviate her worries, but it was going to have to do. She’d already tried everywhere else she could think of.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash, I’ve got this,” Scootaloo dragged out the last three words, probably for dramatic effect, causing Rainbow to groan under her breath, rubbing her eyes with her hooves as she hovered in place above her.

“This isn’t a game, squirt. You’ve gotta be able to look after him properly, okay? Honestly, after what happened last time, I didn’t really wanna put this on you, but I’m really hoping you’ll pull through for me. I’ll be really grateful if you can help me out,” Rainbow thought this would be better than saying ‘I literally had no other options, I’m sick with worry that you might lose Tank, or something, but this is the situation I’m in.”

Apparently, her spoken words were the better choice; the prospect of Scootaloo being the recipient of Rainbow’s gratitude seemed to fill her face with awe, then determination. “Alright,” she breathed, clearly excited, “Just tell me what needs to be done and,” Scootaloo yawned heavily, “I’ll do my best to stick to it, okay?”

“Alright, Scoots, I’m counting on you,” Rainbow smiled, her tone serious, but encouraging. Scootaloo squeed at this, and Rainbow had to hold back a smile, if only for the nature of the situation.

Usually, Rainbow reveled in the time that she got to spend with her honorary sister, who spent her days almost as busy as Rainbow, what with her school work and the enterprise her and her friends had going. Rainbow would never openly admit it, but she was almost jealous of her.

Scootaloo still hadn’t learnt to fly, unlike Rainbow, who began flying at a young age. Instead of devoting all of her time to learning how, she had spent her it focusing on other things throughout her youth, such as making friends, discovering a purpose that isn’t almost a caricature of your racial or familial background, and finding time to help others and build a well known and respected brand.

Rainbow was almost sure that if her and the other crusaders were to start charging any time soon, they’d be out-earning her in weeks, not that she minded. A glance back at Scootaloo, and she was unresponsive, her chest lightly rising and falling as she drifted back to sleep. 

Rainbow lightly tapped a hoof against the bed, hoping to wake her, before looking back to Scootaloo’s open bedroom window and silently berating herself. I really shouldn’t have flown into her room and woke her, her parents are probably still pissed with me for getting her to kick that storm cloud at me. Thoughts of that day assisted in putting Rainbow in a guilty and sour mood. 

Picking up a quill and notepad from Scootaloo’s desk, she began to scribble down a list of everything Scootaloo absolutely needed to know. Writing was always a suitable outlet for Rainbow, even if it was something as rudimentary as a list of instructions, she knew that she was creating something of potential use.

Rainbow included passages on water depth and temperature for bath times, reminding Scootaloo not to clean out the water or take him out early if he did his business in there. She also told her exactly how many cucumber slices he could eat in a day, encouraged her to walk him at some point during the early afternoon (even if it wasn’t very far), told her to make the house comfortable for him (but not worry too much about pet proofing it, as he knew to avoid sharp objects and long drops), and explicitly forbade her from putting him in his flying machine under any circumstance.

Writing this all out gave Scootaloo the chance to get an extra few minutes sleep. Rainbow considered it to only be fair, she had burst into her room and woken her up, after all. However, allowing Scootaloo to sleep for longer was likely going to have a detrimental effect on Rainbow in the long run, she did need to be at work in just over thirty minutes, after all.

Nevertheless, Rainbow left her be until the list was finished, then floated over, lightly tapping her on the shoulder, bringing her back into consciousness. Scootaloo’s eyes were bleary when they opened, but they shone with happiness as she beheld her favourite pony, and Rainbow felt that smile tugging at her again, which she eventually submitted to.

When Scootaloo had finished beaming like an idiot, Rainbow gestured towards her back. “Climb on, squirt! We’ve gotta go to my place to get Tank, and I’m really in a rush now.”

Scootaloo rose from her mess of blankets, quickly climbing aboard. “I’m sorry, Rainbow, I shouldn’t have let myself fall back to sleep. I hope you’re not too upset.”

Rainbow couldn’t see Scootaloo from her position, but her tone of voice registered as ashamed.

Well, at least I know she’ll take this seriously. “Don’t worry, I wanted you to be well rested, can’t have you looking after Tank all day if you’re half asleep, can I? Anywho, less talking, more moving!” 

Rainbow took off with a start, fighting an instinct to corkscrew out of the narrow window for fear of throwing Scootaloo off and having her fall twenty feet to the ground. Luckily, Scootaloo took the initiative and ducked, despite her sleepiness. 

They flew at a sedated speed, Rainbow more worried about the small filly’s grip than the extra weight, but regardless, they were outside her front door within a couple of minutes. Scootaloo held on tighter than she needed to, and didn’t disembark for a full ten seconds after Rainbow had landed. 

After a few seconds of stubbornness, Rainbow gave in, bouncing Scootaloo off of her back, and then returning her unorthodox embrace. The hug was short lived, but it seemed to imbue Scootaloo with new energy.

She’s probably three times as excited as she was earlier. Maybe two and a half. Rainbow sagely informed herself, opening her door and heading for her bedroom, Scootaloo in tow, finding Tank laying on her bed, where she had left him, still sleeping soundly.

Eyeing Scootaloo, she motioned toward Tank. “The little guy doesn’t usually wake for another two hours or so, so I’ll carry him back down when it’s time to go, okay?”

Suddenly alert, Scootaloo nodded. “Are you gonna take us back to my place?” 

“I’ll have to,” Rainbow murmured. “I can’t have you walking all through Ponyville with him, he’ll wake too easily.” Rainbow left the room then, prompting Scootaloo to follow. “I’m gonna give you one of my saddlebags, packed with food and shell wax, and a couple of other necessities.”

“Shell wax is a necessity?” Echoed Scootaloo, incredulous.

“What?” Rainbow laughed, cheeks lightly tinted, “He takes pride in his appearance, so obviously it’s necessary! He only needs a quick application, it’s pretty efficient stuff.” 

Scootaloo didn’t need much convincing. “Okay! Got it! What else?” 

“Well, I’m also going to leave a list in the bag, I wrote it after I first woke you. On it, you’ll find everything you need to do for the day, but I’m gonna give you a couple pointers now, just to be safe.”

“Like what? Is there really that much to it?” 

Rainbow shook her head as she fished a box of cucumber slices out, putting them in a bag which she had left on the kitchen table. Then, she turned to face Scootaloo.

“Just a few little things. First off, Tank’s pretty smart, so don’t talk down to him, okay? Treat him like a pony, and he’ll really appreciate it. But then, at the same time, he’s only a little guy, and he’s not very old, so remember that too. Also, do try and talk to him every now and then, he gets pretty lonely when there’s no one to talk to.”

As Scootaloo ardently nodded, making a point of her understanding and eagerness to impress, Rainbow reminisced over recent weeks, and wondered just how many days Tank had spent feeling alone and unloved. When she next spoke, she had misty eyes.

“Just, make sure that you make him feel comfortable, he deserves to have some nice company like you, squirt.” she smiled through her brief wave of emotion.

“Are you okay, Rainbow? You look pretty upset,” Scootaloo said, reluctantly. 

“Fine,” Rainbow sniffed, “Just had a little less sleep than I wanted, my eyes are still streaming from the flight.” 

“If you say so!" Scootaloo chimed, forgetting her worry. "Say, how long until you’ve gotta leave?” she asked, glancing over to the kitchen’s clock.

Rainbow followed her eyes, before cursing under her breath. “About five minutes if I wanna get you back on time and make it to work without any hassle. I’m gonna go get Tank now, meet me at the door with the saddlebags?”

“Sure thing, Rainbow, I won’t keep you waiting,” Scootaloo grinned.

“Thanks, Scootaloo, you really are the best sister a mare could ask for. I’ll just be a sec.” 

With that, Rainbow left the room to grab Tank, but not before getting an eyeful of the huge smile forming on her little sister’s face. It warmed her inside, and reminded her that despite fate’s constant bad rolls, she could still come out on top today, and every day, for that matter, if she only persevered.

When Rainbow gently picked up Tank, she briefly rubbed her muzzle against his shell, as if he were a hard, round pillow. Rainbow was sure that if tortoises could purr, he would be doing so then, as he appeared utterly relaxed, unaware that he was currently airborne, defying gravity.

Rainbow softly glided through her home, cupping Tank’s sleeping form against her chest for warmth and safety, greeting Scootaloo with a stifled ‘hey’ and urging her to jump onto her back again.

When Scootaloo dithered, Rainbow quietly assured her that everything was fine, she was perfectly capable of carrying both her and Tank at once. 

Still, Scootaloo appeared unsure. Rainbow forced a smile, a poor effort at hiding her growing annoyance. “Scoots, come on, I’m gonna be late, what is it? I don’t have time to take you one at a time, you’ve gotta trust me, okay?”

Scootaloo shook her head, spurring Rainbow’s anger further, but spoke before she had a chance to voice her irritation. “No, it’s not that, it’s... Um, I’ve never seen you go to work like that before, and I’ve seen you a lot of times.” Suddenly, Scootaloo jumped, her eyes darting to the floor and her head craning down with them. “Uhh, not that I watch out of my window when you’re flying to work sometimes, or anything.” Scootaloo’s voice was even smaller than her wings. 

Usually, Rainbow would have laughed, but she was too confused. Go to work like what? I’ve showered, haven’t I? Yeah, of course I have, I remember doing that earlier. Then what is she talking abou-- “--Oh, crap!”

Scootaloo flinched at the sudden profanity, causing Rainbow to grimace. Double crap. “Oh, cr-- err, crud. Sorry, Scoots, didn’t mean to swear, don’t tell your parents you heard that.” When Scootaloo nodded, she continued. “You were talking about my uniform, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, aren’t you gonna go put it on?” Scootaloo questioned.

“That’s a bit of a problem. You see, one’s caked in sweat and the other one’s soaking wet right now.”

“Are you sure it’s soaking wet?” Scootaloo pressed, hopeful.

“I left it in a sink with soapy water earlier,” Rainbow replied.

“Oh... Crap.” she winced.

“Scootaloo!” Rainbow yelled, slightly shocked.

“Oh, yeah, sorry, heh heh,” Scootaloo brushed the floor with her hoof, but Rainbow barely noticed, speeding for the bathroom. 

When she arrived, Scootaloo wasn’t far behind her.

“Have you still got time to dry it?”

“No way,” Rainbow’s face was grim, but she knew there was no other option. “I’m gonna have to wear it as is.”

“But, Rainbow! It’s literally soaking!” Scootaloo leant forwards and lowered a hoof experimentally, finding the bottom of the flight suit and pulling on it, lifting it out of the water and attempting to wring it out. “It literally weighs half a ton, how are you gonna wear this?”

“I dunno, but I can’t just turn up with no uniform!” Rainbow replied, visibly panicked. “Fleetfoot turned up without uniform once a couple months ago, and he had his pay docked for a week! I can’t afford that! What do I do?” By this point, Rainbow was pacing on the spot, while Scootaloo had taken a break from wringing the water out of the flight suit, shock painted across her face.

“Whoa, what? Fleetfoot had his pay docked for not having his uniform for one day? But he’s been a wonderbolt for like six years!”

“Focus, Scootaloo!” Rainbow snapped, before momentarily forgetting her worry driven hysterics and considering Scootaloo’s words. “Yeah, it was a pretty big shock... His face when Spitfire chewed him out was scary, I thought there’d be a revolt or something for a few minutes! I’ll tell you more about it later though. Right now, I need to get this on.”

“You’re really gonna wear this?” Scootaloo extended her hoof, allowing Rainbow to take her damp suit.

When Rainbow grabbed the flight suit, she shuddered at the feel of it, knowing it would be all over her fur in seconds. “Y-Yeah,” she stuttered, “I’ve gotta. Give me a hand with it?”

“How can I?” Scootaloo asked, puzzled.

“Just hold it out for me, I’ll try and get my hind legs in first.” As she said so, Rainbow lifted one of her hind legs, signaling Scootaloo to come around and put the back end of the suit under her, so her leg would go into the right place when she pushed it down. When at first Rainbow tried, her leg wouldn’t fit, no matter how much she pushed. When Scootaloo stretched the skin tight fabric, it made a horrible sound and as Rainbow finally managed to force her right hind leg in, the friction burnt all the way up her leg. It was incredibly uncomfortable and wet.

Then, the next leg, and this time, it was even harder. As Scootaloo made her best efforts to keep the fabric slack, and allow enough space for Rainbow’s leg to slide in, her other hind leg refused to keep traction with the floor, slipping this way and that, as her front hooves began to ache from bearing the brunt of her weight. After a good minute of trying and failing to get it in, Rainbow stomped her hoof down incredibly hard, frightening Scootaloo and reigniting yesterday’s pain, but finally pushing it all the way in.

When Scootaloo recovered from her shock, Rainbow decided her brash move was worth it, despite the pain. 

Then came the awkward job of getting Scootaloo to roll her uniform up to her barrel. Of course, this took way longer than Rainbow anticipated it would, with the only easy task being pushing her wings through the holes. When it came to the front hooves, she found she could do it alone, and zipping up wasn’t quite as infuriating as she expected it would be.

Still, she was freezing cold, she looked like she had flown through a tidal wave, and she was running late for work.

Shivering slightly, she thanked Scootaloo for her help and offered for her to climb aboard. Thankfully, Scootaloo wasn’t squeamish about climbing on her wet back, and easily complied. They fetched Tank one last time, and Rainbow flew the pair of them back to Scootaloo’s house, the wind slicing at her the entire journey, eliciting a terrible, numbing feeling.

When Rainbow eventually landed, she thanked Scootaloo once again, reminding her that she owed her one, and telling her to expect her back at around six-thirty.

Scootaloo beamed at Rainbow, likely already devising a way she could repay her. Something awesome, Rainbow hoped. Well, it’s Scootaloo, if it isn’t awesome in some way or another, I’ll probably eat my hoof. However, when she opened her mouth, it wasn’t to talk about returning favours, yet, at least.

“Rainbow?” Scootaloo briefly appeared embarrassed, her ears folding back and her hoof scraping across the floor. Then, with a small smile from her drenched, disheveled big sister, she stood up tall, and found her voice. “I just wanna say how happy I am that you think you can count on me. I absolutely promise that I won’t you down, no matter what. When you get back, you’re gonna come home to a real happy tortoise, okay?”

Rainbow mirrored Scootaloo’s expression, giving her a brief nougie. “Of course I can count on you! Come on, I know that if there’s anypony out there that will always look out for me, that pony is you. Don’t get all sappy on me though,” Rainbow winked, “It’s just pet sitting.”

“Don’t lie to me, Rainbow, you love Tank a lot.” Scootaloo smirked.

“Heh, yeah, I really do,” Rainbow soberly stated, before mouthing her soft goodbyes to the still sleeping Tank.

“By the way, are you totally sure you’re gonna be okay going to work like that?”

Oh Luna, work. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine! Gotta go, see ya later!”

Half a second for takeoff, and Rainbow was speeding away, the thin air doing absolutely nothing to dry her flight suit, which remained as wet as it was before she even put it on. 

Rainbow was currently of two minds. One told her just how lucky she was to have remembered Scootaloo at the last moment, as well as how glad she should be to have a patient and helpful sister who was willing to drop whatever she might have had planned to look after Tank at a moment’s notice. Also, having at least a temporary solution in place for Tank was excellent, and would allow her to focus on other things during the day, and stress less.

The other told her just how mortifying it would be to turn up to work over ten minutes late in soaking wet clothes with a terrible excuse, as well as having one colleague pissed at her and another that she really didn’t want to run into. Not now, at least.

All Rainbow knew is that while one portion of her mind had clearly decided to retain its recent optimism, the other wished to iterate to her as clearly as possible that today was going to be utterly terrible, and there was nothing she could do to alter that fact.

Rainbow told the latter part of her head to shove it, there was still hope yet. Rainbow flied onward with a fragile smile, soundlessly hoping that something would come along to cement it soon, lest it wither away naturally, leaving nothing but the resounding echo of her fleeting attempt at simple satisfaction.
> The One Where Rainbow Doesn't Compute
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Rainbow honed in on the runway, preparing for a stiff, frozen landing, she spotted a group of Wonderbolts standing on the sidelines. Surprise and Wave Chill were the first ones she identified. The prospect of spending another day training with him filled her with dread. Unfortunately, that was nothing compared to the knowledge that she was almost definitely about to be grilled to hell and back by the third Wonderbolt she noticed, Spitfire.

Rainbow fought off a nauseous rumbling in her belly as she focused on her landing, trying to block out thoughts of her impeding mortification. Maybe she won't chew me out in front of everypony? Maybe she'll wait until we're inside, or something? Rainbow drew closer, and her eyes registered Misty Fly, Soarin, and Fleetfoot. It took her less than a second to realise they were all watching her descent. That's it, Rainbow. Keep lying to yourself, that'll get you off the hook.

Bracing herself (more for Spitfire's chastisement than her landing) she pulled in hard, angling her snout downwards as her body followed suit, slicing through the altitude in almost no time, aligning herself at the last moment, retaining her momentum. As her front hooves touched base she shifted her weight to her front half, stalling her movement a little before bringing her rear hooves down, buckling them slightly. 

Unfortunately, her flight suit was still very wet, and gave no real grip against the tarmac, causing her to skid forwards much faster than she should have, rather than allowing her to come to a complete stop after a few paces. 

While Rainbow had originally planned to land about ten yards before her colleagues, she found herself skidding right past them, their eyes following her as she slid along the runway, Spitfire silently judging her actions.

Realising that her motions would quickly become even more out of control, Rainbow dug her front hooves in harder, provoking a small aching sensation, before kicking off once more. Eyes closed, she backflipped in a looping spiral, wings extended, and landed gracefully, before slowly folding her wings and opening her eyes.  

Unfortunately, she had chosen to land directly in front of Spitfire, who bore the mother of all scowls. Rainbow was sure it was too late to run, and her close proximity to her commanding officer was probably about to make everything that much worse. Unwittingly wincing in Spitfire's direction, she tried to devise a strategy to minimise her public humiliation, painfully aware that she was still soaked from head to toe.

Five seconds passed without so much as a word from any of those present, the only sound coming from her rubbery, wet latex suit as she shuffled her hooves in trepidation. At this point, Rainbow wondered just how long Spitfire would keep this up, concluded that it'd be a long damn time, and went with her gut, which told her the easiest way to get out of this was to just make her excuses and zoom off.

Quickly steeling herself, Rainbow spoke hurriedly, eyes averted. "Hey, Spits, sorry I'm late, won't happen again. Gonna go clock in now, okay?" Crap, did I really just address her like that? In front of everyone, too? Guess I'm really screwed now.

Rainbow knew it was best to fly now and deal with the consequences later, but couldn't help stealing a quick glance at Spitfire, looking to assess just how much damage she had done. What she saw froze her in place, its absurdity was almost chilling.

Spitfire was smiling. Not in her usual authoritative way, Rainbow noted, nor was it the genuine grin she had seen a handful of times before. This one definitely looked forced, and that worried Rainbow especially. 

When Spitfire started to speak, it got worse. "Well, hey, Rain Rain!" Spitfire's voice was a few degrees higher than usual, sounding exceedingly girlish, and just as forced as her smile, "Me and the guys were just coming out of a team overview meeting, but it's real nice for you to turn up! Honestly, we all really missed you in there."

Holy crap, team meeting? We had one of those today?! No wonder she's pissed, I'm over an hour late! If Rainbow wasn't already drenched to the point that her flight suit was essentially see-through, she was sure that she would have started sweating through it right then. Hold on, Rain Rain? Registering the new pet name, as well as the knowledge that she had missed a meeting on top of everything else, Rainbow found herself gawking, bewildered.

"From the look on your face, I'm guessing you never bothered to look at the files I gave you yesterday?" 

Rainbow's silence was all the affirmation Spitfire needed.

This seemed to spur on Spitfire, whose smirk widened, although it never reached her eyes. "Well, it's no biggie really. I mean honestly, an awesome Wonderbolt like you? I'll bet you've already got the entire routine down, taught it all to your team members, and are completely ahead of schedule as we speak, right? Honestly, you of all ponies deserve a bit of a lie in! If you're not too tired, however, I'd love to see the work you've been doing."

This time, Rainbow tried to say something in her defense, but all that came out was a stutter filled babble.

"Oh, is there a problem?" Spitfire's mock confusion was painful. "Maybe I'll ask one of your team mates, then. Surprise! Front and centre!"

Surprise emerged from the crowd of Wonderbolt onlookers hurriedly, chewing her lip, glancing between Rainbow and Spitfire, who were still barely a head apart.

This time, Spitfire spoke as she usually would, although her smile remained. "Surprise, have you or have you not perfected the three pony show routine as of this moment in time?"

Surprise was silent for a moment, then spoke in a meek tone. "Ah, well, we..."

"We most certainly have not, ma'am," Wave Chill cut in, his words dripping with malice.

Spitfire's forced pleasant demeanour briefly fell. "Did anyone ask you, private?" Spitfire gave him less than half a second to respond. "Then don't start flapping your damn lips. I asked Surprise, not you. Guess what, if I wanna know about your sudden hate boner for Rain Rain, I'll ask you, not her, but right now, I don't really care." Wave seemed to blush slightly at the term 'hate boner', causing Spitfire to laugh momentarily, before turning back to Surprise. "So, what about it? Has she taught you both or not?"

Surprise flashed an apologetic look at Rainbow before regarding Spitfire. "Ah, you see, ma'am, we--"

"Oh for the love of Celestia please spit it out, I haven't got all day."

"We're getting there, ma'am, but we're not done just yet."

Surprise's voice was stronger this time, which Rainbow couldn't help but feel a little pride at, and to top it off, Wave had been torn off a strip, this wasn't so bad, really.

Then, Spitfire turned back to her, and that almost sadistic, fake smirk appeared on her face once more as she stared Rainbow down, who was beginning to feel more and more trapped under her gaze. He was just the appetiser, wasn't he?

"So, Rain Rain, things aren't going too well with the team either, huh? Must be trying, attempting to get a team to learn something completely new in such a short space of time, exhausting even. I can understand you wanting to stay in bed." Then, Spitfire looked Rainbow up and down, as if she was only just noticing the state of her. "By the way, did you fly through a storm cloud on your way here?"

Of all the crowd gathered, not a single pony dared laugh. They had seen what happened when Wave spoke up, and likely didn't want to make the same mistake, not when Spitfire was like this.

Rainbow knew she couldn't go on without responding indefinitely, so she tried her favourite deflection tactic: Disregarding nearly everything Spitfire had said and latching onto one point.

"No, ma'am, I'm very sorry for the state of my uniform." Rainbow Dash spoke stolidly, daring to keep her focus on Spitfire.

"Whoa, sweet cheeks, chill! Permission to speak freely, Rain Rain, it's cool. In fact, just call me Spits from now on, really."

"Please, ma'am, I'd be much more comfortable--"

"No, really! It's fine. Call me Spits, call me whatever you like, no sweat."

Rainbow glanced left and right, looking for a means of escape; Rainbow found nothing. "Uhh, okay, Spits. Well, basically, um, what happened was I had to go and find a petsitter really short notice this morning and I really didn't know we had a meeting which is totally my fault, and when I got back my uniform was still in the wash and I didn't have time to dry it and--" she felt herself melting as she spoke, and was actually glad when Spitfire cut her off.

"Oh, a petsitter?" Spitfire enquired, mimicking curiosity. "I can see why that would be important. Out of interest, what pet did you have to sort one out for?"

"Uhh, Tank, ma'am. He's--"

"Spits", Spitfire corrected.

"Sorry, I meant Spits!" Rainbow jittered where she stood. "He's my tortoise." Why are you torturing me like this?

"I didn't realise you had a tortoise! How cute. Of course, I can understand you needing to find someone to look after him, you wouldn't want him running off, after all." If Spitfire had put any more effort into being caring, she might have burst a blood vessel.

Rainbow, on the other hand, felt about as big as her tortoise, she only lacked the hard shell. Seriously, she's taking this a little far now, isn't she? I get it, I screwed up.

The other Wonderbolts didn't seem to share her sentiment, however, as a couple began to snicker at Spitfire's last comment, causing her to spin around, eyebrows raised.

"Something funny?" she barked.

Soarin was brave enough to answer. "No, nothing at all, Spits." 

Spitfire didn't miss a beat. "Call me Spits again and I'll have you cleaning the food court for a month." 

Soarin knew better than to question it. "Sorry, ma'am, excuse me, ma'am." he cowered, his earlier courage soon forgotten.

When she faced Rainbow again, she still bore that dreaded smile. "Sorry about that, Rain Rain. You were telling me about your tortoise?"

Rainbow shivered where she stood. Whether it was from the wet and cold or the conversation she was having, she was unsure. "A-Are you really sure you wanna sit here and talk about my pet?"

Spitfire leaned forwards, nodding ecstatically. "By all means, I'm interested! Honestly, Rainbow, I never would have took you for the type to have a pet tortoise, being so fast and all, but--"

Rainbow could take it no longer. "Why are you doing this?" she sighed, helpless. This treatment just felt like a snide new form of belittlement to her, and she couldn't take it much longer.

Luckily, Spitfire desisted, and her false smile finally vanished. "Why?" she echoed, visibly irate now, no longer holding it back. "When you're trying to organise a bunch of shows in short order and you've got fliers being complete pricks," she glared at Wave, "Fliers not learning the routines, and 'bolts not turning up to the team meetings we hold to deal with these issues, see how you feel when the mare you're relying on turns up flipping drenched and then has the audacity to address you so casually?"

Rainbow was actually grateful for this part, she had been anticipating it so long that she thought it would never arrive. As much as she hated it, she knew she would have to sit through the rest of the scolding without a word out of place, her career could depend on it, for all she knew. For a moment, she thought that question wasn't rhetorical, and opened her mouth to speak, but Spitfire wasn't finished just yet.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash, of course I'm pissed. And I'm so sorry if I embarrassed you, but it's nothing compared to the joke you're making out of this entire team when you start screwing things up!" Spitfire turned to face the rest of the Wonderbolts. "And that goes for all of you! Soarin, enough of the backchat, it stops now. Surprise, you're a competent flier, have a little more faith in yourself, you've always been Wonderbolt material. Wave, Rainbow, play nice from now on. I want to see total synergy on these teams, and I'm going to get it, understood?"

A chorus of 'yes, ma'am' sounded.

"Good. New orders: We're putting off the merger for another three days, as there's clearly still problems that need to be ironed out. In the meantime, all groups will refer to their instructors on matters of authority, regardless of rank. Basically, Wave Chill, if Rainbow says jump, you say 'when can I come back down' unless I personally say otherwise, got it?" Spitfire acknowledged the petulant nod with one of her own, before spending a second in thought. "That's another thing. Rainbow clearly needs a new uniform, someone see to it that she's changed into something dry. Also, everypony has my full permission to call her 'Rain Rain' from now on, seeing as she seems to be a fan of the stuff."

A few muted chuckles, but this time Spitfire didn't bite. Rainbow couldn't help but feel as if she was getting off easy at this point, considering the build up, her punishment didn't seem very severe. Honestly, 'Crash' was way worse.

"Also, I'm putting you each with team coordinators from our new show assistance groups to help smooth things along. Now, these guys don't necessarily know much about choreography or stunts, but they should be effective at ensuring fairness and boosting morale. Misty Fly, you'll be introducing Skyline Surge to your team, treat him with respect."

"Got it," Misty responded briskly.

"Fleetfoot, you've got Alpine Peak on your team, try not to piss her off."

"I'll give it my all, ma'am."

"Soarin, you've got Shalissa. She's one of those one name mysterious types. Really knows her stuff though, you'll like her."

Soarin only gave a stiff nod. Rainbow figured he might still be walking on eggshells after her food court threat. No one wanted to clean the food court, Wonderbolts were generally messy eaters.

"And finally, Rainbow Dash. You've got Zephyr Breeze." At this point, a smile returned to Spitfire's face, and it was every bit as real, mischievous, and vengeful as it appeared. "Also, you're working for free today, don't bother clocking in." 

Rainbow barely had time to form the syllable of the word 'what' on her tongue before Spitfire shouted 'dismissed' and flew off, leaving Rainbow to ponder how the hell that had just happened.
> The One With the Growing Confusion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Spitfire!" Rainbow chased her commander through the base, gaining ground, though Spitfire wasn't doing much to evade her. She's gotta be joking, right? Please tell me she was joking.

Eventually, Spitfire stopped, perched on a bench, where she took out a notepad. Rainbow landed beside her, though she didn't bother to look up. "Problem, rookie?"

"You know there's a problem!" Rainbow yelled, "You could have put Zephyr on any other team, yet you chose mine! You know we're gonna clash and that's only gonna work to the team's detriment! If you were thinking of the Wonderbolts you'd keep him far away from me, and let him work with someone else! I barely even wanted him here!"

The whole time, Spitfire had been scribbling in her notepad. When Rainbow finished talking, standing with a slight pant, she finally looked up. "You done?"

"Yeah," Rainbow answered bluntly.

"Then let me fill you in," Spitfire said matter of factly, "The Wonderbolts are bigger than just you, Rainbow, and if you expect us to function properly when one of our team leaders can't collaborate with our affiliates, you're delusional. We need the team to be flexible, and that means you too. If they tell me Zephyr's hot stuff, what am I gonna do, refuse him? Plus, you've already vouched for him, you wanna take that back now?"

"W-Well, no, I don't wanna screw up his job, but--"

"When I said total synergy, what do you think I meant?"

Rainbow shot a look at Spitfire, she wasn't an idiot. "That you want us to all be able to work together to produce better results than we could on our own."

"I wasn't just talking about the Wonderbolts. I'd rather have you two bicker and argue now than during a live show, none of us can afford that. There's another reason too. If you really have known him so long, I'd like you to keep an eye on him, see if he's as serious about this job as his company suggests. Surely you'd be better suited for that role than anyone else?"

Rainbow wasn't sure what to say, she hadn't considered it from that angle. "I suppose, ma'am, it's just gonna be difficult working with him."

"Since when do you shy away from a challenge?" Spitfire grinned, and Rainbow's face warmed.

"No, I suppose I don't, ma'am!" she smiled, relieved. Even if Spitfire wasn't her biggest fan right now, she still liked her, and that put Rainbow in high spirits.

"You know you don't. Besides," Spitfire's grin grew wider, "Pissing you off was just a bonus. Now, we're not gonna have this conversation again, are we, champ?"

Rainbow's wings buzzed; she was still in Spitfire's good books. She adopted her best military stance and locked eyes with Spitfire. "No, ma'am, I'll deal with it."

Spitfire's face grew just as serious. "While you're at it, deal with the blatant casualness. If you wanna give me a nickname, fine, but try not to use it in front of the other 'bolts too much, especially when you're late in. Also, if you ever imply that I'm not thinking of my team's best interests again, I'll dock your pay for a lot longer than a day, understood? I'm not so petty as to screw up future shows just to get back at a late recruit, I just got lucky this time."

Crap, I did say that, didn't I? Rainbow almost flinched at the threat, but remained composed. "No, ma'am, sorry, ma'am. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. Now, your team should be expecting you in ten minutes, get a move on."

"Yes, ma'am, thank you, ma'am." Rainbow made to take off, but was halted by Spitfire's raised hoof.

"Hold on!" Spitfire tore the most recent page from her notepad. "Take this, a little gift from me to you."

Curious, Rainbow stepped over and took the offered page from Spitfire's hoof. There, sketched out on the lined paper, was a picture of a very wet, monochromatic Rainbow Dash being rained on by a large, shaded cloud. 

Rainbow wasn't sure whether to be surprised, irritated, or impressed. The quality of the sketch was brilliant for how little time she had spent on it, but it depicted her in an embarrassing situation. Of course, it was strange seeing herself with little to no colour, but she barely noticed that. Rainbow realised she had been inspecting the drawing for a great deal of time, and needed to make some form of response.

What do I even say about this? I think I like it, but she's just making fun of me again.

Spitfire wasn't as impatient as she expected. In fact, she seemed to be leaning forwards in anticipation, hoping for some form of feedback.

Rainbow decided a compliment would work best. "This is great work, Spits, I didn't know you could draw like that."

Spitfire's eyes lit up. "You really think so?"

"Of course! You drew that in like a minute? That's really impressive."

"I've been focusing more on my art lately," Spitfire admitted, "It's been a hobby for a while, I just don't really talk about it with the other 'bolts." Spitfire seemed to consider something for a few seconds, then she spoke more. "Work is one thing, you know, but I can't spend my entire life thinking about the 'bolts. Way I see it, there's a whole world out there, and while flying is one amazing thing, there's so many others just waiting to be found. How 'bout you, Rainbow? You got a hobby?"

This perplexed Rainbow Dash. Do I have a hobby? I suppose training for the Wonderbolts used to be my thing, even when I was on the reserves, but now that I'm in, does that even count? Rainbow thought it over then thought some more, but in the end decided to go with what she had. "I've got a pet tortoise?"

Spitfire looked at her sternly. "First off, I already knew that. Second, having a pet isn't a hobby, try again."

"Um, I hang out with my friends? We do stuff together?"

"I meant outside of your friendships. Anything you do during your downtime, at all?" 

"Uhh, I fly really fast? And do tricks sometimes too? Oh yeah! I help out the weather team sometimes, when they need it." Rainbow was clutching at straws here, and beginning to feel a little odd. Do I have a boring life, or something? How could I? I'm a freakin' Wonderbolt, what could ever be boring about that?

"Aren't those just the things you have to do for this job, combined with the things you did for your last job?" Spitfire was looking at her with what appeared to be concern now, one eyebrow slanted and a slight frown on her muzzle.

"When you put it that way, it sounds a bit cruddy, huh?" Rainbow tapped at the ground with her forehoof as she spoke, averting her eyes. 

"Not at all," Spitfire assured, "I used to be the same, work obsessed. You've gotta learn to distance yourself every now and then though, you get days off and leave for a reason," Spitfire smiled compassionately at her recruit, "Forget our professional relationship for a moment, Rainbow, I just wanna make sure you're doing alright."

"You didn't seem too bothered earlier," Rainbow murmured.

"I can't let you disrespect my authority in front of half the team, you know that. This isn't any special treatment from me, I'm just trying to look out for you," Spitfire glanced at her pocket watch and started scribbling again, before stuffing another paper into Rainbow's hand. 

Rainbow glanced at the hastily scrawled message. "What's this?" 

"Your pardon for arriving late, hand it to Zephyr when you get there."

"Excuse me? Why would I need to give him a pardon? I thought I was team leader?"

"He's coordinating you, so naturally he's taking roll call."

Great, as if this day could get any worse. "Yes, ma'am," Rainbow sighed, "I'll head there now."

"Good. Come see me again soon, I wanna know how you two get on."

Rainbow nodded and took flight, stuffing the papers into the driest part of her flight suit as she went, her destination in sight. Okay, let's evaluate: I'm still late, I'm still wet, Tank's with the only filly in Ponyville that's nearly as reckless as me, and to top it all off I've got Zephyr Breeze of all ponies helping me to manage this team. On the other hand, Spitfire's being nice to me again, although she might just pity me, Wave Chill got the piss ripped out of him, and Surprise seemed to find her voice for once.

Another thought, and a smile crossed Rainbow's lips. At least they shouldn't call me 'crash' anymore.


	***


Right, here we go. Just land, walk over to him, hand him the note and start directing the team. Don't pay any attention to his crap, don't let him get under your skin, try to make this work. As Rainbow landed, she spotted Zephyr, expecting him to have a rose in his mouth, or some cliche'd crap like that, scruffy as always. 

Instead, he actually looked presentable. Not brilliant, but definitely better than usual. Apparently, a white collared shirt and a pair of circular shades made all the difference. Of course, his mane was still done up in a messy bun, and as Rainbow focused, she noticed the familiar stubble, a little longer than usual, but by no means a full beard.

Apparently, those glasses didn't give him the best peripheral vision. He was stood at an angle to her, speaking with Surprise as he fiddled with a clipboard, holding a pen with his wing feathers. Rainbow kind of wished he had just noticed her when she landed, it'd take the damn suspense away.

As Rainbow approached, she heard Surprise giggling, smile clad, as Zephyr talked her ear off about something Rainbow didn't care enough to pick up on. She neared the pair, hard faced, ready to deal with anything he could throw at her.

Rainbow walked right up to him, the smell of cologne assaulting her senses. Grimacing, she tapped his side, causing him to turn, alarmed.

A short, dramatic gasp, and here it comes. "We-hell, if it isn't the most colourful darn pony I ever did see! How you been, Rainbow?"

Rainbow opened her mouth to retort, then stopped dead. Wait, that's it? Nothing about the suit? No lewd comments?

"Oh yeah, by the way..." he started, a smirk appearing on his muzzle.

Here we go... What's it gonna be this time? Come on, Zeph, take your shot, first one's free. Rainbow felt her teeth push together as he trailed off, eyeing her up and down like the pervert she knew he was. She felt his eyes trace her head to hoof, but it seemed pretty brief in comparison to what she was used to from him.

"...We need to get you in a new uniform, that one's soaked," He stated.

Rainbow's teeth grit further, she opened her mouth, ready to chastise him, before realising he hadn't really done anything. Hold on, that's it? 'We need to get you in a new uniform?' Come on, that's pretty weak, even I could do better than that! How about: 'Let's get you out of that uniform', huh? Surely that'd be a bit better.

"~Luckily~," he sing-songed, apparently oblivious to her annoyance, or lack thereof, "I already took the liberty of preparing spares! I figured the team should be ready for anything, after all."

Rainbow's tail flicked; she stared at Zephyr vacantly. What the hell is going on? Like sure, that's a smart decision, making sure to prepare spare uniforms and stuff, but a decision that Zephyr made himself? Someone must have told him to do it.

"Anyways, how's my flutter butter doing? I haven't seen her in months now! What with the demands of work and paying off my student loans, I've not had any time to relax in a while, but I'm not too fussed about all that! Would be nice to drop in and say 'hi' sometime though, you know what I'm saying?" 

Rainbow Dash was meant to answer that. In fact, Rainbow was pretty sure that she was meant to answer the last three things Zephyr has said, instead of idly staring at him as he rambled on. "Y-Yeah, she's good, uh, she's been doing some stuff with the animals lately, and, erm, what else? Let's see, she--" Rainbow was cut off before she had to imitate thinking.

"But, oh my gosh, look at you! You're tired, you're stressed, you're uncomfortable in your uniform, I know all the signs, trust me. You don't want to listen to me of all ponies natter on! I'll tell you what: The uniforms are in a storage container over there," he pointed with his hoof, Rainbow's eyes followed, "You go and get changed, take a few minutes to unwind, and then I'll hang back and let you do your thing, I don't wanna take over."

Now that sounds like the old Zephyr, Rainbow found her voice, happy for an excuse to finally confront the friendly menace.  "Just gonna hang back, huh? What'll you be doing, then?" Classic entrapment. I knew he hadn't changed that much!

"Oh, nothing much," Zephyr waved his free hoof, before bringing the clipboard up for Rainbow to see, "Just teamwork appraisal, crowd reaction adaptation, possible reworks on colour schemes, set visualisation, promotional designs, et cetera," With each few words, Zephyr flipped a page on the clipboard, revealing tables, graphs, sketches, detailed notes, the works, "But of course, let me know if you need any assistance, and I'll be glad to lend a hand!"

Rainbow caught herself, she had almost smiled at the end of his speech, surprised by the amount of work he had to do, and how graciously he was apparently doing it. This just doesn't seem right. It's gotta be an act, I know it, and I'm gonna expose it. Rainbow cast a determined gaze at nowhere in particular, before jolting her head up. Oh yeah, the note!

Rainbow fumbled in her flight suit, removing a small piece of paper from it and holding her hoof out. "I need to show you this by the way."

"Oh, what's this?" Zephyr took the paper and unfolded it, peering with interest. After a brief flash of amusement, a cordial smile appeared on his face. "This is great, Rainbow, I didn't know you could draw. It looks just like you, too."

"Wait... What?" Rainbow snapped, before realising her error. Why hadn't it occured to her to check which piece of paper she was handing him? Realising what Zephyr was holding, Rainbow's face instantly changed colour and she forcefully snatched it away from him. "Not that!" she half-shouted, fumbling in her suit, unzipping it more than she meant to --from her neck to her chest-- and producing a similarly folded sheet. "I meant to give you this one! That was, uh, something else."

"Well, I could see that," Zephyr nodded, quickly scanning the other piece of paper, "But still, it's good work, you should keep at it," Zephyr glanced at the wet fur on Rainbow's exposed neck, then motioned toward the container once more, "Anyways, I can see you just wanna get changed, so I'll let you get to it, see you in ten."

Rainbow didn't move an inch, she was still trying to recover from the embarrassment of showing Zephyr that photo. First the wet suit, then showing up late, then the photo, she was sure that she looked like an idiot right then. Then again, he didn't really seem that bothered about the photo, maybe he just thought it was good art? I mean, I did too, but I'm not hot for me. Well, I don't think I am, at least. Well, at least I can go get changed now, cause apparently Zephyr wants me out of the see-through uniform? Ugh, I don't even know anymore.

As Rainbow turned to leave, her ears picked up something. At first, it appeared innocuous, but after it had turned in her head a few times, she realised just what he had said, or the gist of it, at least. Turning around and zooming over to him, pressing her hoof into his chest, she began her long awaited outburst. "Ah-ha! I heard you just then! You were checking me out! You said something! I win!" Rainbow was already prepared for her victory strut when Surprise cut her off.

"Uhh, actually, Rainbow," she began.

Seriously, Surprise, stop getting so assertive, I'm trying to enjoy how right I am! I mean, it's great that you've been speaking up more recently, and stuff, but victory!

`	"Zephyr was talking to me," she finished, her tone meek.

Rainbow hung with her mouth open, looking frantically between the two, nodded vehemently, and sped off to find a uniform, or whatever the hell she was doing.

Inside, Rainbow was a spinning maelstrom of questions. Huh-what-how-why-huh?! Zephyr and Surprise?! But, no, that can't be right! Zephyr's been trying to get with me for years! A small voice in her mind reminded her that she'd also been rejecting him for years. Still, what the hell? And to do that in front of me, too, so cold! Wait, how is that cold? Ugh, it doesn't matter! This makes absolutely no sense, what would Surprise even see in him?

Rainbow realised she was about to run right past the uniform container and stopped dead. Okay, chill. Deep breaths.
Yeah, sure, Zeph's making moves on your workmate, but that doesn't mean he's actually gonna get anywhere. And besides,
even if he does, who cares? It's not like it's gonna bother you or anything, why would it? Anyway, you said you wouldn't let anything Zephyr did annoy you, so why should this? Just act natural, get on with your day and process whatever the heck this is later.

Rainbow nodded, briefly unaware that her mind didn't need a visual confirmation, and then looked out, spotting Surprise and Zephyr, still having a lively, animated conversation. Rainbow watched when she should have been getting changed, admiring the ridiculousness of the whole scene, before deciding she really couldn't afford to waste any more time, mid freak out or not, and turning to leave.

When she flew away, she couldn't make any sense of why the word 'bitch' was floating around in her head.