Rainbow Dash woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. She turned around trying to hit it with her hoof, but the damned thing seemed to have a life on it's own; escaping her angered hooves with mastery. Accepting that there was a justifiable reason to wake up, she groaned on her pillow; the fluffy mass muffling it to an barely audible level. The 'justifiable reason' soon popped into her head, reminding her of the day and tasks ahead of her and sending a jolt of adrenaline into her body and finally waking her up for good. 'I'm gonna be late!'
Without second thoughts, she darted from her bed and was almost halfway into the bathroom when she remembered that she showered the night prior. Quickly raising her legs, she smelled herself and thought that it was good enough. Dismissing her bath, she grabbed the Wonderbolts' uniform and tossed it on her saddlebags. She exited her room and paused on the kitchen, trying to find the daisy sandwich that she prepared the previous night, but she had no luck in such task. She fought back the urge to prepare another and resented in eating an unripe apple that rested alone on the counter.
She grabbed the apple and also shoved it in her saddlebags; it could survive a quick glide to Cloudsdale's racing tracks. Rainbow Dash knew better than to try and fly while eating. Personal experience.
* * *
Although Rainbow wanted to fly her fastest to the, she couldn't; the Wonderbolts' training activities demanded a great deal from the mare, meaning that she couldn't spend any bit of energy. Rainbow Dash sighed on her way: that slow speed bored her. But nevertheless, she took that opportunity to feel the day around her; the sky was a light blue as the sun steadily rose from the horizon; bathing the clouds in it's golden glimmer. The clouds felt extra fluffy around Rainbow; some almost tickled her, making the cyan pegasus let out some soft giggles. Rainbow had grown so much in the past seasons; not only physically, but mentally: she knew how to enjoy the small things properly... whenever her ego allowed her, that is.
On the distance, Rainbow could see the racing tracks. She flapped her wings and picked up more speed, the anxiety was killing her again. With her new picked speed, it wasn't long until she reached the tracks; from there she could see some friendly faces, like Scootaloo, Rapidfire, Soarin', Fleetfoot, Surprise and Spitfire... and another not so friendly face: her Coach.
"Rainbow Dash, you're late! You have two minutes to get your flank in the uniform or I'll kick your sorry rump out faster than your Sonic Rainboom!" Dash rolled her eyes, the Coach knew how to be a pain when he wanted to. Even though Rainbow Dash was no fresh meat in the Wonderbolts' ranks, she knew that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity... and she had been late for several practices the last few days. Without a seconds' hesitation, Rainbow Dash galloped to the showers and placed her saddlebags in the locker. She practically shoved herself inside her uniform and put on her goggles, ready to hit the tracks.
"It's showtime!"
* * *
The speed, the thrill, the adrenaline; all combined to give her the greatest feeling one could have: being alive. Even though the beginning of the training was a tire for Dash; stretching was not as awesome as flying at the near speed of sound... but the mare knew the consequences of practicing before a good round of stretching. After the tiresome, yet enjoyable practice, Rainbow Dash found herself talking to her Wonderbolts pals. She enjoyed the small talk, as she still had time until her appointment with Fluttershy later that day.
"Yeah Scootaloo, I saw you up there. That was buckin' rad! You're becoming quite the flier... not as fast as me, though." Dash said holding up that friendly smug face.
"Maybe one day I'll be able to perform a Sonic Rainboom just like you, Dash! But it wouldn't really be a Rainboom... it would be more like a..." The young mare held her hoof up her chin and looked up, trying to come up with a good name; one that would do her trick justice without outshining Rainbow Dash's. "... a Sonic Monochroom!" A very poor choice of a name; but Scootaloo stood proud nevertheless. Rainbow shot Spitfire a concerned look, but the golden mare simply shrugged. They both knew that Scootaloo could get a little over her head, and act with a bit of Pinkie-ish randomness. Especially when she won praise from the mare she looked up to: Rainbow Dash.
"Sure, Scoots. If you practice it with all you've got, you can definitel-"
"Rainbow Dash, in my office. Now!" The Coach interrupted Rainbow in mid sentence; winning himself a glare from Scootaloo. Rainbow looked at both mares with a quizzical face and shrugged. Apart from his little tantrum when noticing Dash's delay, he seemed to be in a good mood today. Whatever a 'good mood' meant for him, anyway.
Dash hung her head low as she trotted towards the Coach's office. She probably knew why he'd call her. Dash knocked on the door but didn't wait for a reply. She slowly opened it and made her way inside the Coach's office. Wonderbolts posters hung from the walls, one big stand with multiple trophies adorning it and, what made Dash's jaw drop, pictures from previous Wonderbolts teams. Most of the pictures were in full color, but Dash saw some that were plain Black and White and others that were sepia-toned... some of the pictures were dated from more than 200 years ago!
"Glad to see that I'm not the only one that enjoys the pictures." She was startled by the Coach's voice. All her attention that once focused on the walls were now directed towards the Coach himself. "Please, Rainbow. Sit." She obeyed quietly and stat down. Dash herself preferred to be standing, the only things that were comfortable enough for her were clouches; couches made with clouds. The Coach looked more tired than angry; with a heavy sigh he began to talk: "Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry if I scared you by the way I talked. But your absences and delays on the trainings are affecting not only yours but the other Wonderbolts' performances."
Fury instantly coursed through Rainbow's mind. She had all the reason to be late and to miss some silly practices and he knew it. They did those every single day, after all! And who this stallion thought he was to just demean not just hers, but her friends' performances!? "Affecting their performances!? Seriously!? Have you been paying attention to the practices? Scootaloo was simply amazing today! All of them were!" Her voice was bordering a shout in volume, but she tried to contain herself; that pony in front of her was the authority when the subject was the Wonderbolts. "We've been improving day after day! I have seen first hoof what these ponies have to offer. I know them!"
"Don't you raise your voice to me! I'm not talking about them! I'm talking about you." He was going to mumble some more but Dash cut him short.
"Then why you did talk about them!? If you're making excused just to talk to me, forget it!" She rose from the chair and walked towards the door, she had heard enough.
"Rainbow Dash, I'm warning you." He rose from his chair and pointed a hoof towards the mare. "If you open that door you're out." The threat made Rainbow stop in mid step. It wasn't the first time she stood next to being expelled from the team. But Rainbow's confidence did not falter.
"Then go ahead. If you think that your, already dampened, popularity will outshine the media's attention as to you firing the newest captain of the Wonderbolts. Let's face it, Coach. Your image isn't that good after last year's Wonderbolts derby. If you want to destroy the last bit of public image that you still have left, then be my guess." Rainbow said and left the room.
The Coach fell down on his chair. Flabbergasted, he had no words except for: "Damn..."
Rainbow trotted back to where Scootaloo and Spitfire were standing. Both mares seemed happy to talk with each other, which came out as a relief to Rainbow Dash. When Scootaloo joined the Wonderbolts, she wasn't as enthusiastic as Rainbow were; Scootaloo always was kind of shy, it was nice seeing her with new friends, for a change. Spitfire saw Dash closing in on them and interrupted her conversation with the young orange mare: "Did he give you a hard time?"
"Pfff... nah. It's cool." Rainbow said, gesturing with her hoof that it really wasn't a big deal. Rainbow really wanted to stay and chat with both mares, but she knew that the Coach wouldn't keep himself locked in his room for long. "Hey, girls. I'll be off now. I promised to spend some time with Fluttershy today, and I'm kinda late." She was lying, she had plenty of time to spare before meeting up with her best friend.
"No problem, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said giving the cyan mare a friendly wink and lifting her own hoof; which Dash gladly brohoofed in response. Scootaloo had matured so much in the past years; Dash knew that she was, at least partly, responsible for this... and it made her happy.
"Take care, Dash!" Spitfire yelled at the cyan mare that now galloped to the showers in order to retrieve her saddlebags from the locker. Rainbow almost tore the uniform out of her in her hurry: she needed to fly. If she learned something from herself, it's that flying always took the stress out of her system.
* * *
Rainbow Dash spent the rest of her free time flying, no direction in particular, and napping in the highest clouds she could find. Although it always got kind of chilly and windy up there, the sun's direct rays offered enough heat for the mare to have the most peaceful and comfortable sleep. Waking up with a heartily yawn, Dash stretched her hooves forward and arced her back backwards; hearing the pops her joints made when waking up was a pleasant sound for Rainbow Dash: it all meant that she was in good shape.
She glided down to the floor and tried to make out the time by looking at the suns's position in the air. She gasped when she realized that she was probably late for her meeting with Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash took off once again, heading to the small cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville. She spotted Fluttershy, as the pastel-coated mare sat down in a chair with a worried expression on her face. Dash flapped her wings vigorously, she couldn't keep her best friend waiting any longer.
"'Sup, 'Shy. Sorry I'm late." She said, heading over to her friend and gently hugging her.
"Oh, Rainbow Dash, I was so scared. I mean- I thought something had happened to you." Even though in the past few years Fluttershy took her friend's advices, and tried her best to become a little more assertive... but Fluttershy would always be, well, Fluttershy.
"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't miss a chance to talk to you for the world! We see each other less and less these past days..." She trailed off; Rainbow learned how to appreciate time spent with Fluttershy. "What have you been up to?" She tried to change the subject.
"Oh, some baby bunnies were born a few weeks ago. Angel had been helping me to count and care for them all." She said almost proudly. The white bunny stood on the seat near Fluttershy and looked at both mares with that typical annoyed face... looks like Fluttershy wasn't the only one to remain the same. Rainbow Dash grew used to Fluttershy's subjects. Even though most of them bored her; she knew she had to respect her friend's tastes. Fluttershy respected hers, after all.
"Speaking of animals, how's Tank?" Dash asked, almost too eager to change the subject. Fluttershy instantly changed her posture, trying to hide herself in her pink mane.
"He's fine... the worst is through. But Rainbow Dash, you must be more careful with him. He could have been seriously hurt." Dash bit her lower lip.
"Yeah... I know... I should just go and see Pinkie; see if she can come up with a better kind of copter for him. And probably Twilight too... I want her to enchant his new copter with that 'Walk on Clouds' spell of hers... But I'm just glad that the big guy is recovering." Dash made herself a mental note: keep an watchful eye out whenever Nightwind would take Tank for a ride.
Fluttershy happily nodded as she poured herself and Rainbow some tea. The afternoon seemed to fly by when Dash found herself to be with good company.
* * *
Rainbow Dash hugged Fluttershy dearly. Regretting that the day was coming to an end... but she was needed elsewhere. As Dash took off, she watched n awe, as the setting sun bathed Equestia in a most beautiful orange tone, one that slowly turned itself into a deep crimson red. The afternoon breeze gently ruffled itself against her feathers and Rainbow Dash allowed herself to a pleasant sigh. She closed her eyes and flapped her wings sporadically, more gliding than really flying. She loved that feeling... words couldn't even begin to describe it; the wind soared through her feathers, gently holding the mare's weight.
Rainbow Dash landed on the front of her house. She really missed the rainbow pools and waterfalls that once adorned it; but it was only a temporary precaution. Dash opened her door and sighed: although the day was very demanding of her, she felt completely rested, albeit a bit hungry. He just barely made her way into her house when she was tackled to the cloudy ground. In any other circumstance, Dash would have screamed and bucked with all her might: but this tackle she knew well.
"Mommy! You're home!" The little filly tightly hugged the cyan mare. Dash returned the hug as she eyed her daughter. Rainbow Dash was almost envious of the nice contrast the little Nightwind's white mane made with her dark blue coat. Little Nightwind's hug made a lot of pressure on some of Dash's sore spots, but the mare didn't care. She just closed her eyes and allowed the feeling of joy that radiated from the little filly envelop her completely.
"Mommy, is something wrong?" Little Nightwind noticed the unusual absence of words from her mother's part. She felt a bit more worried when she saw a tear escape between Dash's closed eyelids.
"No, my dear. Everything is just perfect." Dash said, kissing the little filly's forehead as she thought: 'Sometimes, you just have to take it slow.'
