The Blue and the Gray

Chapters

Meet the New Boss?
Still Just a Rat in a Cage
Tap Dancing on a Landmine
The Heart of the Matter
I Go Through
Then You Stand
Into the Wild Blue Yonder
Fly Like An Eagle

Meet the New Boss?

O.K…” Rainbow Dash said as she walked with her friend High Winds down the edge of the runway, ”not that I’m THAT worried about it…or like I’m trying to avoid her or anything. But…you don’t think that Spit’s still mad at me do you?“

“Dash… are still obsessing about that?” High Winds asked, “Look, I really don’t think that you have a real problem there. I think that she was angrier with herself than any other pony. I think that your biggest problem was that you were the first pony she saw after it happened.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too…but I’ve never seen her quite so ticked off like she was this morning,” Rainbow continued. “I thought for a moment that she was going to bite me or something.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” High Winds answered, “I bet it’s just the whole being grounded thing. It’s just getting on her nerves. Once she gets out of that brace, she’ll be back in the swing in no time.”

Rainbow and High Winds separated with a wave and Rainbow flew back to the main compound, more than ready to get out of her flight suit and get some well deserved downtime. That lasted until she landed and got about halfway to the dorms. As she came around a corner, a loud conversation caught her ears. There by the barracks were Spitfire and the flight surgeon, in what sounded like a heated conversation.

“Oh wow, that doesn’t sound good,” Rainbow said as she made their way over.

“Doc, this is a total load of crap, and you know it!” Spitfire shouted back at the earth pony behind her, “It’s just a headache dammit.”

“Yeah right,” was the answer from the doctor, “and you’ve spent the last three days bumping into things and you can barely keep your oats down. Those are classic signs of a serious concussion, and that’s nothing to be blowing off! You need some real downtime…immediately!”

“Oh…WHATEVER!” Spitfire fired back. “You’ve already grounded me over the damn broken wing. But I’ve still got a job to do! We’ve got a major show to get ready for, and with Soarin out of action with the trots, we’re up to our neck here! We’ve got to get replacements called up, and I’ve got to…”

“You can barely function!” the doctor fired back. “Look, I understand the problem, but this is one occasion you are not going to be able to rise to. The whole reason that this happened is because Soarin didn’t tell us he was sick until the two of you had a damn midair. It’s bad enough that he tried to bend the rules, what kind of message is it going to send to the team if you start doing it?”

Spitfire turned back to the doctor and growled, and then glanced past him and saw interloper that was observing them. “Dash is there a problem or something!?!” she called out.

Rainbow looked away, her nervous fidgeting not fooling anyone. But after a moment Rainbow spoke, “Oh…uh…no…no, not really. I'm just standing here…not eavesdropping…or anything...you know, like that.” Then Rainbow took a deep breath, and put on a nervous smile and asked, “Uh…well…right. So...no problems with me. Any problems with you?”

Spitfire scowled and asked, "You heard the conversation, right?"

"Uh right," Rainbow replied nervously, trying not to make eye contact, "Just a little...you know...the part about concussion and taking time off."

Spifire gave a frustrated sigh, and answered, “Don’t worry about it Dash. SOMEONE HERE has got the idea that I need to spend some time off. Supposedly, I got my bell rung a little harder than I thought in that crackup a few days back. We’ll work it out, o.k.?”

“Oh wow?” Rainbow answered, “How’s that going to work with the Manehattan 300 in two weeks?” She came closer and lowered her voice and said, “Uh…I mean...you know, who's going to be in charge around here?"

Spitfire groaned, and answered, “Yeah…yeah, a little something I haven’t gotten around to. I’ll work it out…o.k.? Just keep the chatter to a minimum. The last thing we need is everyone getting all worked up over nothing.”

Rainbow recoiled back a bit and responded, “Uh boss…that’s not nothing.”

Spitfire rolled her eyes and gave Rainbow an angry glare. “Yeah I know dammit!” She watched for the response, and saw the concern on her compatriot's face. She gave a frustrated sigh, and continued, “It’ll be fine…trust me.” Spitfire took that as her cue to depart, and turned in the direction of her office and plodded away, the doctor trailing along behind her.

As they went, the physician came up alongside her and asked, “O.k., now are you actually going to follow through with this or what?”

“Yeah…yeah…whatever. I’m going to do it,” she answered, her frustration clearly evident, “I just need to call a friend first.”

[i] Rainbow Dash was looking at the crowd ahead of her with great anticipation as the carriage rolled down the crowded street. This was what she had always wanted, the cheers and the adulation. The parade winded through the streets and everywhere she looked was her picture or her name on some sign or banner. She had no idea what she had done to deserve this, as she wasn’t in her uniform and her fellow elements were nowhere to be seen. Not that she minded that much, but it left her puzzled.

Finally though, she saw the parade’s destination, and the sounds in the background changed as she approached the podium, and she spotted Applejack, who came up to her and sat back on her haunches, reached out and put her hoofs on Rainbow’s shoulders, and said….”WAKE UP!!!!”

The first thing that day that Rainbow could clearly remember that day was the sensation of falling, followed by her impact with the floor. She frantically thrashed about for what seemed like forever until she was able to untangle herself from her bed sheets and finally get to her hooves.

“Yeah…right…whatever…I’m awake, o.k.!?! she blurted out, only then noticing Thunderlane standing in front of her, already in uniform, and her surroundings and how bright they were.”

“Uh…sure…no problem,” Rainbow mumbled out loud before she asked,” What’s up ‘Lane? Celestia starting things a bit early today?”

“Uh…not hardly,” he answered, a hint of tension in his voice, “Actually, it’s 8:30.”

“Whoa,” Rainbow fired back, her eyes going wide, “That is so not right. What happened? We never get to sleep in past 6:30. What’s going on!?!”

Well…Spitfire had to take off last night,” Thunderlane replied, “Apparently she was really feeling lousy. The doc made her head over to the hospital. I guess we’re on our own for right now.”

Rainbow face hoofed and groaned. 'So much for nothing', she thought.

Suddenly, one of the ground crew burst through the door and announced, “Hey Wonderbolts! Brush your locks and grab your socks…someone is calling for a formation out on the flight line in fifteen minutes! Move it or lose it!”

The others in the room immediately scrambled towards the door, while Rainbow sprinted towards the locker room, struggling for a moment with the latch on her locker. “Hey guys…tell them to give me a minute!” she called out, only to turn back towards the room she had just left and notice that she was already alone.
“Oh swell,” she grumbled to herself.

It took longer than she hoped, which always seemed to be the case when one is in a hurry, but finally Rainbow Dash was suited up and cantering down the assembled mass of ground crew and support staff till she reached her normal spot in the formation. Thankfully, she noticed that she wasn’t late, so she took a moment to look back and make sure she was squared away.

“Dash…lock it in,” Fire Streak growled at her over his shoulder.

Rainbow groaned, corrected herself, and then leveled her gaze forward to see…the opposing wall of the hanger beyond. ‘What are we waiting for?’ she thought. She thought of trying to get a look around, but gave up when she saw Thunderlane trot over in front of the group. ‘Now,’ she thought, ‘maybe we’ll get some answers.” But unfortunately instead, he took up a position in front of the group, and faced toward the hanger, obviously expecting someone else.

Rainbow groaned and rolled her eyes, but then spotted a large pegasus mare approaching from behind, making her way around the group.

Almost immediately, she looked back to see Thunderlane signaling to someone. In an instant, a loud shrill whistling sound came out the nearby loud speaker, followed almost immediately by the somewhat scratchy recording of an unrecognizable bugle call.

Rainbow couldn’t believe what she heard, and it was made all the more unusual by the fact that the strange mare, and two of her fellow flyers were now saluting towards the speaker, the strange mare’s large wings suddenly jogging Rainbow’s memory.

“Oh…it couldn’t be…could it?” she said to herself.

When the sound died away, the large mare came back to attention, and then continued to make her way around the group, and Rainbow finally got a good look at her. She was big, big enough to look Tempest Shadow in the eye; her fur a chestnut brown; her mane and tail black. She wore the same sort of blue uniform that Spitfire wore, the difference being the additional striping on her cuffs, the slightly different aviator’s wings on her chest, and most notably, the lack of Wonderbolt insignia. She wore the same mirrored sunglasses that Spit wore, but it was her cutie mark that really caught the eye, consisting of a large gold five pointed star, surrounded by a tight formation of bright silver stars set into the facets of the gold one. Rainbow scowled. The whole gaudy thing just screamed military as far as she was concerned. But that was not the worst of it. There was no denying it as she added up what she saw, she knew this particular mare.

‘Aw nuts,’ she thought, ‘not her.’

The large mare finally stopped in front of Thunderlane, and then came up to him. Rainbow tried, but couldn’t quite make out their conversation. Thankfully, it didn’t last long, and the stranger turned around, walked back about a half dozen yards, then turned and faced the group.

“Good Morning Wonderbolts!” the mare called out, “and welcome back! You are no doubt wondering just what you’re looking at! Before I answer that question, I need to fill you in on things! That accident that occurred last week has unfortunately left Captain Spitfire a little under the weather! I’ve been told it isn’t that serious, but your flight surgeon decided that she needed some time away! She is currently in the hospital down in Coltlumbus, just for observation so they say! I assure you that you will have the chance to visit, and I strongly encourage it as I’m sure that she’ll be bored to tears by the second day!"

She paused for a moment, and then continued, "My name…is Wing Commander Dawn Rider…of Her Highnesses Royal Flying Corps! And no…I am not your new commander. That said, though I know that most of you are not with the R.F.C., I want to keep our relationship on a professional level! If we should happen to interact, I ask that you address me as 'wing commander', nothing more…and sure as hell nothing less! I’ve been serving for 21 years, and I've busted my fanny to earn that rank, and yeah, I’m probably a bit smug about it! If it helps, just think of it as a quirk of mine.”

She gave a slight smile, pausing for a moment to gage the response, and then continued, “My mission here is to assist this unit, and the interim commander with this transition, and then…get the heck out of the way! I know that all of you here are professionals, and I am sure that we can make this work, and I can let you get back to what you do best!” She paused again, and then said, “But first, we need to name the new commander.” She scanned the group, and then called out, “FLIGHT LEADER MISTY FLY…STEP FORWARD!!”

The other flyers couldn’t help but look as Misty took a deep breath and stepped out of formation, moving up alongside Thunderlane, who then moved back and took over the position she vacated.

“And now Wonderbolts, let’s hear it for Thunderlane!” She began tromping her front hooves, which was echoed halfheartedly by the rest of the group. After a few moments, she stopped, then waited for the others before adding, “He showed initiative, and took charge!” she added, “I like ponies who step up!”

Dawn Rider then moved forward, and talked in a hushed voice with Misty Fly. The entire formation seemed to lean forward a bit to try and catch any of the conversation, but it ended quickly and she moved back to her earlier position.
“You have two reservists on their way to fill out your ranks! They should be here at any time! Meanwhile, I’ve got to get Flight Leader Fly up to speed! Report back here at 13:00 hours, and we’ll hopefully get you flyers back on your training schedule! Any questions!?!”

“Yeah…who choose you for this job?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Dawn Rider frowned, and turned her gaze towards Rainbow and said, “Nice to see you again too Ms. Dash. Anyone else!?!”

Hearing nothing, she looked again to Misty, and commanded, “FLIGHT LEADER…TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR SQUADRON!”
Misty promptly saluted, which Dawn Rider returned before she turned to her left and trotted away.

Misty turned and faced the group. “At ease everyone,” she ordered, then added, “Gather around. We need to talk.”

The squadron moved in and formed a half circle around the new leader, while the members of the ground crew filled in around the edges.

“Who is that mare?” Fleetfoot asked.

“I’ll tell you who she is,” Rainbow Dash answered, “Met her during that whole mess with the Storm King. She’s loud, obnoxious, and a total pain.”

“Uh…I seem to remember something about somepony with her name in the paper,” Surprise added, “I think she may the one who called in that air strike on the castle.”

That bit of information caused more than a few jaws to drop.

“An air strike?” Silver Zoom asked, “Oh wow...I forgot all about that! Damn, that’s hardcore!”

“Guys,” Blaze objected, “she’s R.F.C. and it was an invasion. What do you think she’d call for…a bouquet of roses for crying out loud?”

"Wouldn't surprise me," High Winds added, which drew a round of giggles from some in the crowd.

"Yeah right," Blaze said with a halfhearted laugh before adding in a low voice, "she accomplished more than we did that day."

“Hey, let's keep it civil here,” Misty interjected, "Look, whatever...o.k.? I’ve got to go talk to her, so you guys can do what you need to do. And don’t hesitate to go drop in on Spitfire. Just make sure you’re back by 13:00…got it?”

The was not much of a response from the group, just some scattered unenthusiastic mumbling.

Misty groaned, and called out, "Are we clear on the plan Wonderbolts!?!"

This time she got a series of nods and affirmative responses.

"Thank you!" she called out. She was going to leave, but Rainbow caught her eye.

"What's up Rainbow?" she asked.

"Oh...uh...nothing. Just...uh...thinking that I should...go see how Spit is doing," Rainbow replied, one arm rubbing the back of her head nervously.

Misty rolled her eyes and answered, "Rainbow...just please don't cause any problems, o.k.?"

"Who...me?," Rainbow replied, "No problem. I just need to talk to Spit...you know...just see how she's doing...and how she's feeling...and what the hell she was thinking." Rainbow's face fell as she realized what she just said. "Uh...anyway, gotta go," she blurted out and she quickly darted away.

Misty let loose a tired sigh. "Oh joy," she said to herself as she took to the air and headed for the main office.

Still Just a Rat in a Cage

“Dash, are you sure you want to do this? I mean really sure…?” Spitfire asked, her voice showing only a bit of her irritation as she used the button to raise the head of her hospital bed while she set down the book she was reading.

“Well…yeah,” Rainbow answered as she paced back and forth, “I mean really…what’s the deal here? I understand that you’re not feeling well, but…what were you thinking? And do you have any clue just who they ended up dumping on us?” Rainbow turned back to face Spitfire, only to see her angry scowl. “Uh…no offense,” she quickly added.

“Dash, what exactly is the problem here?” Spitfire asked, “Dawn is just an advisor. Misty is in command of the team. It’s all within the rules. So, why are you here?”

“Oh please…I know this mare! I met her when they hauled us back from the Badlands. She’s bad news!” Rainbow retorted. “And did you know that she had them bomb Celestia’s castle!?!”

“What, you just heard about that?” Spitfire answered, and then groaned and continued, “It was in all the papers Dash. It’s not exactly breaking news.”

Rainbow was going to respond, but Spitfire held out her arm, and Rainbow pulled back. Then Spitfire continued, "Dash, I really hated the idea of coming here. Lying down on the job like this is totally not my style. But, I’ve got a really great male nurse who not only got my wing brace adjusted properly for the first time since I got it, but is also really cute. And though I absolutely hate needles, and was a total wimp when they stuck me for this line, whatever they’ve been putting in there is really great stuff, and for the first time in days, I don’t have a headache. Now, with all that in mind, I just have to ask you, why are you spiting in my i.v. bottle?”

Rainbow grimaced and then rolled her eyes, “Well…you don’t have the history with this mare like I do. You didn’t have to listen to her barking at us on the fantail of that big zeppelin of theirs about how tough they had it…and where the heck we went when ‘all hell was breaking lose’!” Rainbow replied, with air quotes included. “Yeah…like trying to get through that desert was some kind of picnic, not to mention what happened with Twilight! And there’s the minor issue of where the heck those bums were anyway while we were running for our lives. And then you find out that they were throwing bombs at Celestia’s castle?”

“You know what this sounds like to me?” Spitfire asked.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, and then asked, “What?”

“A friendship problem,” Spitfire answered.

Rainbow's eyes went wide, and she declared, “Oh give me a break! That is a total load of horsefeathers!”

Spitfire smiled and shook her head, “Whatever you say, Miss ‘Element of Harmony’; can’t say that I know much about that subject myself.” Spitfire rolled right to get closer to Rainbow and continued, “Just please stay out of Dawn’s face…o.k.? Give her a couple of days, and she’ll move on. If you can’t do it out of common decency…do it for me as a favor. O.k?”

“But…whoa, wait a minute…” Rainbow started to answer before catching herself, “uh…why did you call her Dawn?"

Spitfire shook her head and sighed. “Yeah…good pickup there Dash. Yes, I do have a personal interest here. You see, Dawn Rider…” Spitfire paused and looked Rainbow straight in the eye, her jaw tightening“…is a good friend of mine! Get it? And she wasn’t assigned by anypony. I ASKED her to help out!”

Rainbow retreated back even further. “Oh…”she said.

Spitfire smiled and shook her head. “Just give her a chance Dash. I don’t know what went on with you two, but the mare I know is actually pretty cool. I think you could actually learn to like her if you try.”

Rainbow gave a long sigh. “Yeah…maybe,” she replied, her skepticism plainly evident.

Rainbow flew back to headquarters about an hour later. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do next, or if she should really do anything at all. She knew all this would require some thought, but the growl of her stomach distracted her. ‘Time for chow’, she thought, ‘I’ll work this out later.’

She took a moment to stretch, and then looked around, and spotted Blaze and Thunderlane. That was just what she needed, she thought, and she trotted over to join them.

“Hey you two!” she called out as she approached, “What’s up?”

“Oh hey Rainbow,” Thunderlane responded, his usual smile plainly evident, “We’re just killing time before lunch. What have you been up to?”

“Oh not much, just went over to check on Spit,” Rainbow answered, “Say Lane, I’ve been wondering about this morning…and that whole thing with Dawn Rider. What did she say to you when she talked to you in front of the formation?”

Thunderlane thought about it for a moment, and then replied, “Uh…not too much. She thanked me for coming forward…said that Misty would be the new commander…oh yeah, she also said that though what I played was her favorite bugle call, I should probably get them to throw out that particular record. It really sounded bad.”

This brought out a laugh from both Thunderlane and Blaze, though Rainbow only shook her head and smiled.

“I agree,” Blaze added, “it was pretty nasty.” Blaze then turned towards Rainbow and asked, “Hey Dash, are you still worried about her?”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow answered as the trio started walking, “I’ve got some bad history with her. But, I’m not sure if it’s really important or not, and I don’t want to be a fulltime jerk for the next week ‘just because’.”

“That would be nice,” High Winds added as she joined them as the approached the headquarters building, “I was a bit concerned.”

“Oh hah hah,” Rainbow replied, before stopping just short of the doorway. “Uh…quick question guys, before I go in there. Uh…just what exactly is a ‘wing commander’ anyway?”

Everyone stopped short, and turned towards Blaze, who recoiled back for a moment before replying, “Oh come on…you three should really know this stuff. It’s her RANK Rainbow. It’s the equivalent of a Royal Guard lieutenant colonel.”

“Oh wow...uh...Spit still outranks her, right?” High Winds asked, her concern obvious.

“Of course she does. She’s Wonderbolts commander after all,” Blaze answered, “Spit’s R.F.C. rank is squadron leader. That’s the same as a major. But, you all know the rules, ‘only a Wonderbolt can command the Wonderbolts’.”

“Uh yeah…” Thunderlane replied, one arm going back scratch the back of his head, “I knew that.”

“Yeah right,” Rainbow remarked, giving her friend a playful shoulder punch before the trio finally entered the building.
Upon entering, Rainbow noted Misty and her advisor pouring through paperwork on a nearby table.

“What the hey?” High Winds said as she too panned her eyes over the scene.

“Yeah…tell me about it,” Rainbow answered. She flagged down Deep Dive, Spitfire’s secretary and asked, “What’s up?”

“Not much,” he responded, “just paperwork.”

“Uh…I know but…this looks ridiculous,” Rainbow observed, gesturing towards the pile of papers the pair were shuffling through.

Deep Dive just harrumphed, brushed his hoof through his greying mane, and said with a smile, “Yeah…you weren’t around for the last change of command, were you?” before plodding off to his desk.

Rainbow watched him go, and then looked back to the previous scene. She wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to begin. She took a moment, and a couple of deep breaths, and said to herself, “Be positive…be positive…don’t say anything stupid…don’t start a fight,” before slowly approaching Dawn Rider, who was propped over one side of the table across from Misty while they made their way through the stacks, pointing out various places on the various papers that required signatures. Rainbow noticed that her all concealing aviator glasses had been replaced by green eyes and reading specs.

But something draped over a chair to one side caught her eye first, and she turned to examine it. It was a very nice set of black leather saddle bags, highlighted by a large embroidered patch on the flap. It consisted of a shield, which she remembered Twilight calling a bouche, or something like that, on which the emblem of the two sisters was prominently displayed, flanked on one side by a rearing earth pony, and on the other by a rearing unicorn, and topped by the head, neck and out stretched wings of a pegasus, and a bunch of fancy scroll work of course. At the bottom, there was another fancy scroll, with words across it. She recognized the words as Pony Latin, but she couldn’t decipher the meaning.

“What’s up Dash?” Misty asked while still plowing through the papers in front of her.

“Not much, just went to see Spit,” Rainbow answered, before looking again at the stack, “Uh…you guys do know that this is temporary. Spitfire IS coming back, remember?”

“Indeed Ms. Dash,” Dawn Rider replied, obviously only giving the question part of her attention, “that is why she’s dealing with this stack, the one for the exec. If she was the commander, the stack would be twice as big.”

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding?” Rainbow replied, clearly stunned.

Dawn Rider just shook her head and smiled. “Welcome to my world Ms. Dash,” she answered.

Rainbow was tempted to comment again, but a noise behind her caught her ear, and she turned around to see her compatriots crowding around and chatting with someone who had just walked in the door.

“Hey Dash…looked who just showed up!” High Winds called out as the group fanned out to reveal that it was two ponies, Sky Stinger and Vapor Trail.

“All right, now that’s some good news for a change!” Rainbow called out as she rushed forward to meet the pair. “When I heard they were calling up two reservists, I didn’t think that they would go after you two.”

“Hey, what can you say, they needed the best, so here we are,” Sky Stinger replied, “Besides, it’s the perfect alternative to a boring old drill weekend.”

“Oh hey,” Vapor scolded, “They’re not that bad. You just don’t like the new squadron leader.”

“Uh, what…? Rainbow queried, but she saw Vapor looking past her, and towards the other two ponies in the room.

“Wing Commander?” she inquired.

Dawn Rider glanced over, and her face suddenly lit up, and a big smile came to her lips as she answered, “Is that you Flight Officer?”

As Rainbow watched in amazement, Vapor approached the senior officer, and brought her right wing around and gave her best salute and said, “It’s good to see you again ma’am. I had no idea that you would be here.”

Dawn Rider approached Vapor and came to a stop, as if not sure how to reply, before raising her right arm and giving a perfunctory return salute. “Sorry Vapor, hard to do it right in close quarters,” she said, with a barely visible blush. “Besides, this is a no salute zone young mare, or at least so they tell me.” She then came up and both of them embraced each other.

Rainbow could only stand there and stare for a few moments. Then she looked over to Sky Stinger and asked, “They know each other?”

Sting looked over and recoiled back a bit as he recognized the shock on Rainbow’s face. He then gave an obviously forced smile, and answered, “Oh uh, yeah. Long story. You know…one of those ugly little war stories…that are a bit hard to talk about…if you know what I mean.”

Rainbow then slowly turned back to the two mares, grit her teeth, and took a long deep breath before asking, “Sooo…you two enlisted, huh?”

Vapor heard the question, and separated from Dawn and turned to Rainbow and replied, “Uh…it was a direct commission into the reserves actually. It’s an idea that kind of came up, and then the family got involved. They all hoped that taking it would help our chances for a Wonderbolts call up when the time came.” Vapor paused, and looked down to her hooves for a moment before adding, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” She then looked back to Dawn, who, Rainbow noted, only smiled.

“Well kid, I’m glad that you two showed up,” Dawn declared, “I was feeling outnumbered here.” She reached over and gave Vapor’s shoulder a playful poke.

“Yeah…yeah, whatever,” Rainbow belted out as she rushed forward and guided Vapor away from Dawn and towards Sting before pushing the two of them towards the door, “Don’t worry you two, you can fill us all in at lunch. I know the gang will just love seeing you again.”

“Ms. Dash!” Dawn Rider called out.

Rainbow turned. “What?” she queried.

Misty rolled her eyes and answered, “Oh come on Dash, you should know the drill by now. They need to do the in-processing down the hall with Deep Dive. The PAPERWORK… remember? Just cause you'd do all this without being paid doesn't mean they can afford to.”

Rainbow groaned, and turned back to his charges and said, "Uh...sorry about that guys. Got a little ahead of myself there. We'll catch up later."

"Uh sure," Sky Stinger answered, "We have got some stories to tell, that's for sure."

Vapor turned back to Dawn Rider and said, "I guess we'll talk later ma'am. It is really great to see you again." She then took two steps back and saluted again, which Dawn returned as best she could.

"Uh Vape," Rainbow said in a low voice, "as a Wonderbolt, you really don't have to do that for her."

Vapor looked back to Rainbow, obviously surprised by the comment. Dawn Rider though took a step towards Rainbow with an annoyed look on her face.

"I believe Ms. Dash, that she was just trying to be polite," she said, "unlike some ponies here."

"Uh...excuse me?" Rainbow answered, with a raised eyebrow.

"Dash...don't push it," Misty warned from the sideline.

"What I meant Ms. Dash," Dawn Rider continued, "was that I announced this morning just how I wanted to be addressed, and you just blew it off for the third time in the last five minutes. I don't think that a certain level of politeness was an unreasonable request."

Rainbow took a step closer, her gaze hardening. "Oh yeah, I remember, along with a big old lecture about all that respect you earned, and all your sterling service," Rainbow answered, "well...I've seen just what all that service consists of. Pardon me if I don't kiss your hooves."

"Dash!" Misty warned again.

"Ms. Dash....I have no interest in restarting an old argument," Dawn Rider replied, her expression turning sour, "and I sure as hell don't expect you of all ponies to give me any credit for anything, or even give me the time of day. But, that said, I will demand at least a token of respect for my branch of the service, as personified by the uniform I wear and for the oath I have taken!" She paused, and took a deep breath before continuing, "Given what resulted on you and your friends quest, I would certainly hope that you would have a bit more sympathy for what happens when plans go awry."

"Really?" Rainbow shot back, "There was a plan there? Given what I saw, I wouldn't have guessed that you clowns even had a plan, other than one in which you get your but kicked!"

"Uh, should we just come back later?" Vapor asked.

"Dash...SHUT UP!" Misty yelled.

"Ms. Dash, I will not stand here and apologize for the entire Equestrian military!" Dawn retorted, "I've been to too many damn funerals for that! This is REAL LIFE YOUNG MARE!! THE GOODGUYS DON'T ALWAYS WIN!! IT"S NOT LIKE ONE OF YOUR DAMN DARING DOO BOOKS!!"

Rainbow was stunned for a second. Dawn Rider could be forgiven for mistakenly assuming that she had made a point. But what came next killed that hope, as Rainbow asked, "Uh...how did you know that I read 'Daring Doo' books?"

Dawn Rider's face fell, and she bowed her head and groaned, obviously aware that she said too much. After a few moments, she replied, "Because...I've read your file."

Rainbow scowled, and asked, "You've read my Wonderbolts file?"

"No," Dawn Rider answered, "I've read your D.I.A. file."

"Uh...what's the D.I.A.?" Rainbow asked, looking totally confused.

At this point Sky Stinger began to fidget and try to look off in another direction, as he answered, "Uh...it's...military intelligence."

"Oh terrific," Rainbow said with an air of disdain, "So you're also a spook too."

Dawn Rider gave a loud stomp, then growled and answered, "No, I am not a 'spook', thank you very much! I'm an intelligence analyst! That's my job! All of you were missing! We couldn't find you! We took a look at all of your friend's files for clues as to where you might be; except for Princess Twilight's, because hers is classified! You know...when you take into account that the future of the entire kingdom has rested on you and your friends' shoulders repeatedly, you probably shouldn't be so damn surprised that someone might have thought it necessary to collect a bit of information on you! And no...it was not my decision to check the files, so DONT BLAME ME!!"

Rainbow snorted, and fired back, "Well...military intelligence huh? Gee, I've always thought that those two words were contradictory. Guess now I know, huh?" Almost as soon as she said this, she heard a groan from the group that had watched the whole exchange, and she looked to them and added, "uh...no offense."

"Too late," Blaze answered.

"Alright! This is ridiculous!" Misty Fly yelled, and then came out from behind the table. She pointed to the assembled group and shouted, "EVERYONE, GET OUT...NOW!!!" She then turned to Rainbow Dash and added, ".... ESPECIALLY YOU!!"

Rainbow recoiled back a few steps, before turning and starting for the door. As she walked along, Misty followed behind closely. As they reached the door, Rainbow turned back and said, "Uh, I'm sorry about that Mist. I just don't know what got into me. She...just gets on my nerves."

Misty gave a frustrated sigh and answered, "Just stay away from her Dash. You have no reason to interact. She's not your boss. STAY AWAY FROM HER." As they reached the door, she added, "Oh, and keep one thing in mind, please?"

Uh, sure Mist," Rainbow replied, "what is it?" Rainbow cleared the doorway, and turned back to Misty, waiting for her reply.

"Dash, remember," Misty said, "Flight Leader...is a military rank! Get it?"

"Yeah...got it," Rainbow answered sheepishly.

"Good," Misty replied, moving back into the room and closing the door behind her.

"So Rainbow," Vapor Trail called out as the two of them flew along, "Are you o.k.?"

Rainbow took a moment to catch a lung full of the cool on rushing air, and answered, "Yeah sure...I'm cool. After a session like that, I am totally chill."

"I'm glad to hear that," Vapor answered, "I've never seen you that angry before. What happened between you and Dawn anyway?"

Rainbow thought about it, and replied, "Well...it's complex. We just don't like each other."

She adjusted the range flags in her arms, and looked ahead to the rest of the formation, which was about half a mile ahead and higher than they were. It had been a good practice, considering that it was more practice for Misty than anypony else. She didn't envy her friend, being the leader was totally different from any other job in the squadron. But they decided to stick to the basics, and Misty adjusted much better than Rainbow would have expected. 'Yeah...this just might work out,' Rainbow thought.

She noticed the runway ahead at her home base. Looking up, she saw the group still at a high altitude, obviously not ready to land just yet. She then looked to the observation tower off to the right, and once again spotted a familiar figure of brown and blue still perched on the platform at the top, tracking the group with a pair of binoculars.

"Ohhhh…" Rainbow groaned, "Is she still up there? She must have been watching the entire thing. Doesn't she have anything better to do?"

Vapor also adjusted what she was carrying and responded, "I don't know Rainbow. Maybe she's just a fan."

"Yeah right," Rainbow answered, "or maybe it's just her being a spook. I don't trust her any further than I can throw her."

"Rainbow, you're not being fair about this," Vapor replied, "I know her. She's a good pony."

The group ahead began a slow circle around the field in preparation for lining up for a landing, and Rainbow got an idea.

"Hey Vape!" she called out, "Follow me!" She then began her own turn, and Vapor followed, this one even wider than that used by the rest of the squadron. As expected, the group came over the tower, clearing it by a few hundred feet as Misty brought them around before they went nose high to bleed off speed in preparation for landing. And as expected, the figure in the tower watched every move.

"Come on Vapor!" Rainbow called as she made the turn, "This is going to be fun!" She then began decreasing her altitude as she went around.

"Dash...what are you doing?" Vapor called out.

"Just stay with me Vape!" Rainbow answered as she lined up on her target.

"Dash...don't do this!" Vapor called out as the plan began to become clear to her.

But Rainbow stayed on course, and her target became clearer now. She could see those big wings as her adversary continued to look away...her back still turned towards them...a red object perched on the rail of the observation platform... and then...

Whoooosh….the pair of fliers cleared the tower, probably with not more than six feet to spare. Rainbow could see as she passed that she had been successful, as the fluttering of wings betrayed the sudden shock her quarry had gotten. She then lined up to the runway, and her and her wingpony came in for a landing.

As she settled down on her hoofs, Rainbow set the range flags down, and looked back to Vapor, only to see her throw her cargo down, and yell, "Rainbow...how could you do that!! How...how could you make ME do that!!" She face hoofed, and then gave Rainbow an angry glare before launching herself skyward and heading back the way she came from.

Rainbow Dash stood there for a moment, watching Vapor. She turned her head and looked back down the runway to where the others were standing, still oblivious to what had happened. then she looked back to the pile of equipment that Vapor had tossed down and said to herself, "O.K....maybe that wasn't one of my better ideas."

Tap Dancing on a Landmine

Rainbow tried to lay low for the next few hours, not sure if anypony else had found out about her prank. Her gut instincts told her that she needed to patch things back together as quick as she could, but that probably would mean running over to apologize to Dawn Rider, and that screamed surrender, which just felt sooo wrong.

Vapor though was another matter. Looking back, she should have realized how much damage she could have done by drafting Vapor into her scheme. She hadn’t thought about it before, but as much as she liked Vapor, she really didn’t know her very well. She obviously wasn't just the talented soft spoken mare she had met at the trials. And where in Equis did the idea of Vapor and Sting in the military come from?

Parked in a chair in the mess hall two hours later, all the questions were still buzzing through her brain. She had to think this through and come up with a plan; she knew that like she knew her own name. But as she sat at the table pondering the question, the scent of the hay burger in front of her just kept getting in the way. She caught sight of it in the corner of her eye. It sat there on the plate, taunting her.

She looked away, thought of her issues, and when that didn’t work, thought about Buck Ball. But the growl from her stomach kept reminding her of what she really needed at the moment.

Finally, she could resist no longer. She reached down and carefully picked up the gloriously large sandwich and took the biggest bite she could manage. The combination of patty and condiments overwhelmed her senses as she chewed, accompanied by a wonderful feeling of satisfaction. She had no idea what the cooks here put in these things, but she wanted it in everything she ate from here on, no doubt about it.

Something caught her ear, and she looked up to scan the room. At first it was the same old scene, the crush of fliers and ground crew moving through the serving line, chatting and just doing the things that one would normally expect. But in the back, advancing through the crowd came Dawn Rider, carrying nothing more than a mug of coffee and a newspaper as she approached an adjoining table and sat down. One of the unicorn servers approached, and the pair spoke briefly to each other before parting. Rainbow kept watching as Dawn sat there, skimming over the headlines until she settled into a particular article. Dawn must have sensed it, as she looked up, and caught sight of Rainbow. Not a word was said, but Dawn’s angry grimace spoke volumes.

Rainbow quickly looked away, and turned back to her meal. It was then that she caught sight of Vapor and Sting, who had just come in. Vapor looked over to Rainbow as she passed, her displeasure clearly evident as she turned up her nose. Sting followed, giving Rainbow a shrug as he passed before the pair sat down on either side of Dawn, who looked every bit as surprised as Rainbow was at the development, and immediately the trio began to converse.

Rainbow pondered the situation as she chewed. She made a mental note to try and get Vapor to tell her just what she had experienced during the invasion. She certainly could relate to the whole idea of a “battle buddy”; she had certain ponies in her life that had rallied to her side in a fight situation. But even that description didn't really work given Vapor's attitude.

Rainbow shook her head and rolled her eyes. This was going to be a challenge, and certainly not one to be solved in a single day. Right now she was really looking forward to her day off ; a break in the action and maybe a chance for a new perspective. 'Yeah', she thought, 'definitely needed.'

"What's needed?" came a voice from her left. Rainbow glanced over and saw Fleetfoot sitting next to her.

"Whoa now...uh, where did YOU come from?" Rainbow asked, "and was I thinking out loud?"

"Uh yeah, duh...and I've been here trying to get your attention for like five minutes," was her reply, "So what's got you so spaced out, I mean, besides the food?"

"Well...uh, nothing really," Rainbow answered, trying to limit the conversation, "Just looking forward to my off day. You know, quick trip back to Ponyville and meet up with the gang."

"Well, lucky you," Fleetfoot answered, "with any luck, you'll miss out on the drama here after that stunt you and Vapor pulled." She paused and chuckled to herself. "It sounds totally epic though. That's how one should pull a prank. Simpler is always better is what I say."

"Yeah..." Rainbow responded, clearly with little enthusiasm, "That said though, it really wasn't cool that I didn't at least give Vapor a chance to bail out of the whole thing. I just hope I can make it up to her."

"Ehh...don't worry about it," Fleetfoot replied, "Those R.F.C. types are wound a bit too tight as it is, and our esteemed 'wing commander' is worse than most. I overheard her growling at one of the ground crew. Apparently in spite of looking like a total doofus when you two passed, her major obsession was that your prank made her drop something from the tower. I mean, you'd think that she'd have bigger worries than that." Fleetfoot paused as her double decker daisy sandwich arrived, then added, "I mean, this whole thing sent me looking through some articles at the Coltlumbus library. You wouldn't guess what one of the Manehatten papers called her after her performance during the invasion?"

Rainbow answered, "What?"

Fleetfoot giggled and replied, "The Mad Bomber of Canterlot."

Rainbow's jaw dropped and she raised an eyebrow. The silence lasted just long enough for her to hear a perturbed snort behind her. She turned and looked and saw Blaze, who had apparently been moving to join them at their table, but instead moved off to join Dawn and the others.

"Hmmm..," Fleetfoot said in a low voice, "What's up with him?"

Rainbow gave a shrug, but as soon as Fleetfoot turned towards her sandwich, she took a moment and scanned the group around her a little closer. At first, everything looked normal. But as she sat there, she spotted a lot of wary glances going around the room for whatever reason, along with what appeared to be dirty looks. Rainbow couldn't quite see the pattern to it at first, but as she carefully studied the groupings at the tables, finally it dawned on her. There was one thing that seemed pretty much consistent wherever she looked, the divide between civilian members and military ones.

Rainbow propped her head on her left arm as she pondered what she saw. The whole scene just seemed inconceivable to her. She knew there was always circles of close friends and certain cliques, but there was always overlap. Flyers and ground crew had always been one team, no matter where they originally came from. Could a few admittingly harsh words and a simple prank have done that much damage? Did she just somehow...break the Wonderbolts?

"O.K.," she thought, "this is not good."

"What?" asked Fleetfoot.

Rainbow glanced over to her friend. "Oh...uh, nothing," she blurted out, and then slowly turned her eyes back towards the others.

Being back around the School of Friendship for the first time in a week was a nice break from the atmosphere at H.Q., especially since the school was on summer break. For Rainbow, dividing time between teaching and the Wonderbolts was usually awkward. As much as she enjoyed being around her students, it was a challenge for Rainbow to make sure the lessons she was teaching were both meaningful and…well, cool.

But today at least, that was not a concern. She had already polished off some routine paperwork. Now, she could roam the quiet halls and enjoy the silence, at least until she found Twilight. Not that she really needed some advice right now. 'Couldn't be that' she thought, 'just need to shoot the breeze...'

That idea lasted till she got to the door of her office. She took a deep breath, and said to herself, "Yeah, Twi's going to love this little screwup" before she finally knocked.

“So you ended up buzzing her?” Princess Twilight asked as she planted herself behind her office desk, a note of concern in her voice, “I mean, I know that you like pranks. But you had to know that antagonizing her like that was just going to make things worse.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t one of my brightest moves,” Rainbow Dash answered, avoiding eye contact as she reclined forward onto Twilight’s desk, “and Vapor wasn’t at all cool about it. Not to mention having to spend the whole next day avoiding the two of them to try to and keep from screwing things up even more. Not that it was totally successful. I ended up running into Misty in the morning, and she told me how our advisor had told her how great it was to have solo flyers in the show…’to surprise the crowd’ she said. Let’s just say that trying to 'explain' just what the heck she was talking about was not easy.”

“Well, it does sound like you’ve got a major problem there,” Twilight replied as she used her magic aura to clear some of the papers off her desk so she could lean forward and get closer to Rainbow, “At very least, you should have tried to apologize to Vapor. You forced her to do something mean to a friend, and you had no right to do that. But, as to this advisor whoever she is," Twilight paused and leaned back in her chair as she pondered, "I can’t help but think that there has to be a way for you two to get along. I mean, she’s Royal Flying Corps…they’re usually pretty adventurous types. There has to be something you two have in common.”

“Oh Twi, please…” Rainbow answered as she rolled her eyes, “She’s works in intelligence. She’s probably a total nerd. You know, one of those types that spend all their time on puzzles and books.”

She then looked to Twilight and saw her scowl. Rainbow groaned. “Sorry about that Twi. That was a really stupid thing to say. And I seem to be doing that a lot these days. Open mouth, insert hoof.”

Twilight smiled and answered halfheartedly, “Oh yeah, no biggy, hah hah.” She then pushed back from her desk and came around to face her friend. “Anyway Rainbow, I know that the whole invasion was a really bad time for all of us,” Twilight observed, “and a really bad time for her too no doubt. But we have to remember that ponies say things when they’re under stress that they’d never say any other time.” Rainbow spun her chair to the right, and hopped off to face her friend as Twilight continued. “I guess if I could say anything to both of you, I’d say to keep an open mind, and don’t judge somepony solely based on what you heard on what was probably their worst day.”

“Yeah, you’re right Twi,” Rainbow replied, reaching over and patting her friend on the shoulder, “I guess there may be something about her that’s not totally bogus. I just have to find it.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, but just smiled and simply answered, “Uh…yeah, that’s right.”

Twilight turned and gestured towards the door, saying, "Hey, can you help me with something real quick? It should just take a minute, and then we can go meet up with the others."

Rainbow nodded and followed along, curious about her friends intent. They proceeded down the hallway and passed by several of the classrooms as they did so, Twilight always taking at least a moment to peer inside each room as they went.

“Twi, aren’t we on break right now?” Rainbow asked, “What are you looking for anyway?”

“Oh, well I’ve got a few students who stayed around to help clean, but I’ve had trouble keeping track of them, and I can't just leave them unsupervised,” Twilight answered, “They should have been working on this floor…somewhere.”

The pair plodded down the hall, each one checking the classrooms as they went. As they went, Rainbow heard something that was a bit off as their hoofs hit the marble floor. As they went, it seemed to get closer and closer until…

“Oh hey Sandbar,” Rainbow said over her shoulder as she spotted the young student.

The young pony immediately recoiled back and put on an obviously exaggerated grin, raising a hoof in greeting. “Oh hi teach. Uh..nice day isn’t it,” he said in an unsteady voice, adding, “Uh, this isn’t what it looks like, you know, like I was trying to startle you…or anything like that.”

“Uh huh,” Twilight answered as she turned to see him, “Where’s Ocellus? I thought she was with you?”

“I’m right here,” Ocellus announced from behind the party, causing both faculty to shriek and recoil back.

“Urrghh,” Rainbow groaned, “remind me to avoid this place when it’s empty.”

“Oh, sorry,” Ocellus said sheepishly.

Twilight took a couple of deep breaths and finally answered, “It’s o.k. So, did you get done?”

“Oh…yes ma’am. We even dusted the chandeliers, or actually Ocellus did. It's a bit too high for me,” Sandbar replied, then he turned to Rainbow as the group began to plod down the hall and asked, “So, how are things with the Wonderbolts?”

“Oh…uh, not too bad,” Rainbow answered, “We had to get a temporary replacement for Spitfire, but it’s working out, no thanks to the lame R.F.C. flyer Spit asked to help.”

“Oh, I see,” Ocellus responded, “They sent somepony from the Royal Flying Corps? What’s their name? What's this pony like?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it kid,” Rainbow replied, “Her name's Dawn Rider. She's kind of a big lame loudmouth. You probably wouldn't like her.”

Ocellus stopped in her tracks, causing the whole group to pause. She then turned her head slightly, clearly confused, and asked, “Dawn Rider huh? Uh, is she kind of big compared to most ponies? And does she have a black mane?”

“Uh, yeah,” Rainbow answered, stopping to look back at Ocellus.

“But you said she was…lame?” Ocellus continued.

“Yeah…”, Rainbow answered, “What’s up kid?”

“Oh nothing,” Ocellus replied with a smile, “It’s just that I read something about a pony named Dawn Rider. But it must not be the same one. Uh, anyway I should get going. It's nice to see you Rainbow.” She then turned and began to move away.

Rainbow gave Twilight a quick glance and then looked back towards Ocellus and called out, “Hey kid! What about Dawn Rider? What did you read?”

Ocellus turned back and replied, “Well, it was just a notation in a book of trivia that said that the world record for altitude without supplemental oxygen for a pegasus is held by a pony named Dawn Rider, 23,092 feet. They even had a picture of her, and I'm pretty sure she had a black mane. Or at least it looked like it to me. But…” she added with a smile, “a lame pony couldn’t have done THAT.” She then turned and trotted off, but paused for a second and said to herself, “Unless she got hurt AFTER she set the record…”

“Hey Ocellus!” Sandbar called out, “Wait up!” as he quickly trotted off to join her. The pair met and then started off down the hall, with Sandbar leaning over and telling Ocellus, “I don’t think that’s what she meant by ‘lame’.”

Rainbow turned and looked Twilight in the eye, her mouth agape and her head tilted in confusion. “You don’t…”she started, and then shook her head, “Oh no way. Can’t be her. In two days, I’ve never even seen her fly once, let alone look like she could have done something like that.”

Twilight just shrugged her shoulders, and said, “Well, you can head to the library and try to look it up. Or, maybe you can just ask her yourself. She did tell you about the file, so she sounds like she’s at least a fairly honest pony.”

Rainbow just crossed her arms and snorted at the thought.

She arrived back at home base in the early evening, soaring in over the clouds and homing in on headquarters. But, as she approached, something caught her eye off to her right. She changed her approach and quickly landed, only then scanning the sky's around her. She could see some activity in the distance, but couldn't quite tell just what it was.

As she looked around at ground level, she spotted Sky Stinger off by the end of the runway. She immediately launched herself into the air and flew over to him, landing on his right, and saying, "Hey Sting. What's up?"

He glanced her way and pointed upward, answering, "Vapor and Dawn are airborne."

Rainbow looked skyward, and after a moment or two caught sight of them, two pin pricks against the slowly darkening sky. There was no problem deciding which was which, Dawn's big wings were obvious even from the ground. Rainbow couldn't remember seeing such wings on a pegasus before. They actually looked like they belonged on a hippogriff.

"So what are they doing exactly?" she asked.

"Air combat drills," was Sky Stinger's reply, and then added, "Just a second." He reached to his left and picked up the microphone of a small radio that was sitting next to him and pressed the button and called out, "Switch!"

He then set down the mic and turned back to Rainbow and said, "It's like a game of tag. The only difference is that if one of them can't tag off on the other, they only have to pursue for five minutes before they have to change roles." As soon as he finished speaking, he reached down to a stopwatch hanging from his neck, quickly reset it and restarted it.

"Sting," Rainbow asked, "What kind of relationship do those two have? If you had to categorize it, what would you call it?"

Sting thought about it for a moment, then answered, "Judging by what Vapor has told me, I'd say they're 'you can cry on my shoulder if you need to' kind of friends, cause I think that at one point or another during the invasion, they both had to do exactly that. Which is cool with me." He turned at looked Rainbow in the eye, and added, "Oh and just a little word of advice. Next time, don't make Vapor have to choose between her friends. She values both of you, and it's just plain not fair."

"Yeah, I got it," Rainbow answered with a smile. "So, how are they doing?" she asked.

Her answer came in an instant as Dawn Rider, clad in a grey flight suit, dove out of the blue, screaming past before pulling out just a hundred feet off the deck. She went into a tight left hand turn, but then Vapor, dressed in Wonderbolts blue, appeared out of nowhere, got inside of Dawn's turn, and tagged her back.

"Uh," Sky Stinger replied, "Let's just say that Vapor has a bit of an advantage here."

"I guess," Rainbow replied as she watched the pair. Dawn could get decent speed, especially in a dive, that was obvious. But there was no way she could actually evade Vapor, who always seemed to be one move ahead of her.

"Hmmm," Rainbow pondered to herself, "Definitely not the same pony."

Rainbow was still watching the pair when he heard Sting call out on the radio, "Time!"

The pursuit immediately broke off and Vapor swooped in and quickly landed. "Wow!" she said almost as soon as she touched down, "That was awesome!"

All eyes then turned towards Dawn, who came in quietly and touched down, stumbling a bit as she did. Rainbow couldn't help but notice that she was panting, and that for some reason, she hadn't as of yet folded her wings. She looked totally spent.

Vapor immediately rushed forward, ignoring Rainbow, and came to Dawn's side and asked, "Are you o.k.?"

Dawn was looking down, still trying to slow her breathing. But when she looked up, she caught sight of Rainbow standing nearby. Though she was still winded, she forced herself to straightened up, and with effort folded her wings. Only when she had finally gotten back to fully erect did she look to Vapor and smile. "Uh...sure kid," she said to her friend, "You're just seeing...the result of way too much time spent behind a desk. Can't...do an exercise like that every six months and still expect to do it right. Damn lazy on my part."

Rainbow moved up beside Vapor and said, "Hey Vape, can I have a word with Dawn, just the two of us. I promise I'll be civil, and that as soon as I'm done, I'll try real hard to make it up to you for being such a braindead moron."

Vapor stood there for a moment, obviously sizing up Rainbow's offer. But finally Sting came closer and said, "Come on Vapor. Why don't you show me where this radio belongs. I think that we can trust her."

Vapor gave Rainbow a wary glance, and finally answered, "Sure." With that, the two young flyers flew away, leaving Rainbow and Dawn behind.

"So...what's with the wing?" Rainbow asked when the others were out of earshot, "old war wound?"

Dawn Rider gave Rainbow a wary glance, and then squatted a bit and slowly worked her shoulders around once or twice before straightening up and answering, "In this particular instance, that would only apply if you're referring to an old long lost battle between stupidity and the laws of physics. What do you want Ms. Dash?"

"A truce," Rainbow replied.

This took Dawn Rider by surprise. "Do I dare ask why?" she asked cautiously.

Rainbow sighed. "Because I think that our little spat is causing problems in the Wonderbolts," she answered.

Dawn stared at Rainbow, obviously confused.

"O.K., granted a public argument between us was a bad choice," she answered after a moments thought, "But I doubt seriously that our tiff is having that much of an effect on unit cohesion. Besides, I'll be out of here in a couple of days anyway."

"I don't think that we can wait that long," Rainbow replied, 'I mean, you haven't noticed that things are a bit tense around here? That some ponies aren't talking to one another, like one would normally expect. I'm thinking that we've kinda set the civilians and the military types against each other. And I don't think that you leaving is going to solve the problem."

Dawn sat down, and looked Rainbow in the eye, still uncertain. "Are you sure about this? The Wonderbolts are professionals. Could just the two of us do that much damage?" she asked, but then added, "Granted, it is your unit after all."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Rainbow replied, "I think we need to try to calm things a bit. Starting with, I don't know, actually learning how to get along with one another."

Dawn Rider thought about it for a moment, and then asked, "What would you suggest Ms. Dash?"

"Well, first," Rainbow said, "You can call me Rainbow. Friends call friends by their first names."

"Uh," Dawn Rider answered, "That's your plan?"

"For starters," Rainbow responded with a smile, "And we need to get to know one another. So first , uh...tell me, how do you know Spit?"

"Well...," Dawn responded, "we were in the same squadron."

"What kind of squadron?" Rainbow asked.

"An attack squadron, V.A.-19" was Dawn's answer, "I was an attack flyer. She was our forward air controller."

"O.k., that's a bit too inside buckball for me," Rainbow answered as she gestured Dawn forward towards the nearby hanger, "maybe we should keep it a bit more basic for now. So..are you married?"

"Do I get to ask questions too?" Dawn inquired as she walked.

"Hey, you got to read my file," Rainbow retorted.

"Well yeah," Dawn answered, "but I didn't memorize the damn thing."

"Just play along," Rainbow responded, "So...married?"

Dawn Rider groaned and answered, "Yes."

"To a stallion?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes," Dawn answered.

"Any foals?" Rainbow continued.

"Yes...two. A filly and a colt," was the answer.

"There you go Dawn," Rainbow replied with a laugh, "and I bet you thought that this would be tough."

Dawn Rider only answered with a grunt.

The Heart of the Matter

It was around eight pm when Dawn Rider walked into the office, still in her R.F.C. flight suit. She had spent most of the last two hours talking to Rainbow Dash. Well...'talking' was a relative term. It was mostly a case of answering a bunch of questions. Not a big deal as such things went, though it seemed at times that the young mare was after every piece of information she could get, up to and including Dawn's hat size.

Dawn sat down at the desk, and leaned back in the chair, trying not to let her commo pack jab her in the ribs, and tried to enjoy the quiet for a moment or two. It's not that she minded Rainbow's questions that much. But she had always believed that certain things should only be discussed with somepony that you trusted, and she just didn't know quite what to think of the young Wonderbolt. She remembered that the report she read described Rainbow as 'impulsive' and even 'borderline reckless', but she having looked over what they used as evidence, it seemed a bit overstated. Much more often than not, Rainbow Dash was able to put her money were her mouth was.

With all that in mind, she had to acknowledge what appeared to be an honest effort, with no sign of snark. It was a big change from the day they first met.

That thought made Dawn roll her eyes and snort. It wasn't like she had anything to brag about. She really lost her cool that day. Granted she was stressed, and that shrapnel wound had been throbbing like crazy, but it was still damn unprofessional. The Elements were the key to the fight, whether she liked it or not. And like it or not, the military, including herself, had failed for whatever reason. Arguing about it was pointless.

She paused and thought about that for a second. What went wrong that day of the invasion? Not enough warning...yeah, of course. Limited resources in all the wrong places...that too. The clash between the available intelligence and the whole "Friendship Festival" thing , that didn't help. But there was something more. I mean really, why did Celestia send Princess Luna, and then Princess Twilight, on a mission to get help from a race that hadn't had anything to do with Equestria in a couple of hundred years instead of sending them to rally her own troops?

Dawn leaned back a bit more in her chair. Deep down she knew the answer to that question. It was as clear as what she saw in those ponies faces after they found out about that strike she ordered. The crowd's expressions seemed to go in one of two ways; fear in their eyes...not of the invaders...but of her; and what could only be described as...revulsion.

Dawn closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Unfortunately, she thought, that problem was too big for her to handle. She took another deep breath, and opened her eyes. "Oh well...self pity has never accomplished a damn thing," she said aloud to no one in particular. And with that, she got off the chair and exited the building, heading in the general direction of the barracks.

It was later in the night when Rainbow finally got back to the barracks. She had spent at least two hours with Dawn Rider, and admittedly used most of the time to question her. It was not by any means the ideal method to start a friendship, but Rainbow told herself that this was an emergency.

As she lounged on her bunk, she thought again about what she had learned about Dawn. It was quite a load…she started out in attack, then transferred to reconnaissance, and then eventually moved to intelligence; big history buff; she reads very little fiction, though she has dabbled in detective fiction; married nine years to a divorced ex-guard officer turned bureaucrat and adopted his unicorn daughter; son is a pegasus about eight years old; big jazz and blues fan; has a couple of brainiac type university degrees…blah blah blah.

‘No dammit,” she thought, shaking her head to try and reset. ‘You shouldn’t be thinking that way. Dawn may not have much in common with me…but she is pretty accomplished…in her own boring way.’

Rainbow face hoofed and groaned. Thinking like that was not going to get her anywhere. “O.k.” she pondered out loud, “What are her good points? Well, one I guess is that she put up with all those questions and didn’t lose her cool. And, she’s at least a reasonably decent flyer. And of course, she’s earned Vapor’s friendship. That certainly counts for something.”

But that said, she couldn’t help but notice that Dawn didn’t ask many questions herself. Was it because she already knew so much, or that she was just so annoyed with the whole ‘getting to know you’ thing? Or did Dawn just not care?

"Or," Rainbow mumbled to herself, "am I just doing this really badly?" It was certainly a possibility she couldn't ignore. She had been told the whole "Pinky vs. Mudbrier" tale, and what it ended up taking before they learned to get along.

But, she reminded herself, this really wasn't a case of total opposites like it was then, or it shouldn't be at least. Like Twilight said, Royal Flying Corps members were not total bores. Heck, she had proof of that just in the ponies she dealt with in the team, not to mention Spit herself.

But she knew that there was something missing, the backstory...the why as opposed to just the what. But having just spent so long chewing the poor mare's ears off, just how would she get at that without totally wearing out her welcome?

That was the puzzle she was trying to solve as Dawn walked into the room, having just gotten done with a shower. She was obviously still a bit drippy, and Rainbow guessed from the direction she was heading that she was going outside to let the warm breeze blow her dry. Rainbow watched her as she went through the door, and decided to follow.

When she got outside, she spotted Dawn sitting out on the grass, the wind rustling her mane. As Rainbow approached, she could hear Dawn taking in several deep breaths, obviously enjoying the aroma from the floral covered hillside directly downwind.

"Hey," Rainbow called out, "What's up?"

Dawn Rider turned her head and looked back with a raised eyebrow, and answered, "Not much. I'm just taking advantage of a stiff warm breeze. What can I do for you Rainbow?"

Rainbow thought about it for a second and then replied, "I know I'm being a royal pain about this, but I have one or two more questions."

Dawn Rider sighed, and rolled her eyes. But she retained her smile as she answered, "Fire away."

Rainbow paused. There was that big question she had been putting off. But she quickly dismissed it, and asked, "It's just a little thing, but I heard that when we buzzed you, you dropped something from the tower. What was it?"

"Uh, don't worry about it Rainbow. It was just a coffee cup. I shouldn't have had the damn thing balancing on the railing to begin with." Dawn replied. She sighed and continued, "Don't ever let yourself become a caffeine addict kid. It'll bite you in the ass, guaranteed."

"Uh...I can get you a new one," Rainbow suggested.

Dawn shook her head. "No...you can't," she answered, "Next question?"

"O.K...well," Rainbow started, the previous response having drained her enthusiasm a bit, "I know that we all have to train...and I'm not trying to critique your flying...you know...in comparison to Vapor..."

"Rainbow," Dawn interrupted, shaking her head, but still smiling, "If this is going to be a reminder that one of us here needs to get over themselves, cut back on the doughnuts and fly more, I got it, o.k.."

"Nooo…" Rainbow protested, "That's not what I was getting at. I mean...I was just wondering why you did it. You had to know that you probably couldn't keep up with her. I mean really...she's a Wonderbolt for crying out loud. Why would you risk looking bad by doing something that you knew you would probably fail at?"

Dawn Rider pondered the question for a moment, then twisted around and faced Rainbow and answered, "Oh please...I had no delusions about keeping up. Out flying a pursuit flyer, not to mention one who's a potential Wonderbolt, would have been a trick even when I was in my prime, let alone now. But...," she paused, and added, "I wanted to fly with her. I wanted to see what she could do, and it felt like one of the only opportunities I was going to get."

"Uh, I don't get it," Rainbow answered.

"Well, you have to understand something kid," Dawn continued, "Vapor, Sting, and I all saw direct combat. Not saying of course that you guys weren't in a fight, but for us it got majorly nasty, and both Vapor and I were wounded, and Sting ended up getting captured. And Vapor still has some bad memories about the whole thing, and probably will for a really long time. It's part of how we ended up as friends. We met, and eventually recognized that we were both in a similar situation, so we spent the rest of that rotten week just trying to help each other stay in the fight."

Dawn paused, and then continued, "Anyway, we got to talking yesterday, and in the coarse of things, it came up that Vapor and Sting were planning on serving out their initial term, and then they would resign their commissions. And...I can't say that I blame them. If the first casualty of war is the truth, the second, at least for a lot of fundamentally decent ponies, is enthusiasm. And after what they've been through, they don't owe anything to anypony."

Dawn paused and sighed, "So, when we had some down time this afternoon, I suggested a little workout. I guess I just wanted to see what she could do, and have some fun in the air just once. I mean...I do see her and Sting occasionally on their drill weekends, but I can't imagine that I'll be able to keep that up when she's a Wonderbolt." Dawn paused and looked away, frowning.

But then, she tossed her head back and looked Rainbow straight in the eye and added, "Those two are a great pair, and they're both well on their way to becoming excellent flyers. You guys are damn lucky to have them. I hope you're all aware of that."

Rainbow smiled and answered, "Yeah, we are."

"Well," Dawn said, smiling as she checking her watch, "and with that, I should probably go hit the sack. I'll see you in the morning."

"No problem," Rainbow answered, and Dawn stood up and gave Rainbow a wave before she strode past and headed for the visitors quarters. Rainbow watched her go with a smile, thinking back over the conversation they just had. As she did, two words kept rattling around in her brain, 'fundamentally decent'.

It was a bit early to come to any final conclusions, but that title was starting to seem a lot more appropriate than that talk of 'mad bombers'.

"Hanging out with the enemy these days?" said a voice from behind her. Rainbow turned and found Fleetfoot behind her, apparently in the process of doing the same thing Dawn had been doing.

"Fleet," Rainbow replied, "she's not one of us, but she's not 'the enemy' either. In fact, in fact I think that her and Spit must be really tight for her to put up with all the headaches I've been giving her."

Fleetfoot pondered the question for a moment, and answered, "Yeah...maybe so. Anyway, you'd better get inside and get some sleep. Big day tomorrow they say, including a bunch of big wigs coming to give us grief.

"Oh, you're kidding me," Rainbow responded.

"I wish," Fleetfoot answered.

Rainbow sighed, gave Fleet a quick pat on the shoulder, and went back towards the barracks. 'All the drama of the last few days, and now a bunch of rubber neckers' she thought, 'What next?'

In spite of the report of the previous night, the morning went on much the same way that the previous few had gone, the only easily seen difference being the increasing complexity of the aerial maneuvers. As the exercise continued, Rainbow was finding herself more and more impressed with Misty. Though the Double Diamond trick had to be waved off on the first attempt, it all came together the second time around. 'Yeah' she thought, 'that early classroom time was paying off'.

By 11am, they had worked out most of the routine, and were just coming back over the field when Rainbow spotted the large red flag that signaled the team to land flying from the large pole next to the observation tower. Rainbow took advantage as they flew by to look for a certain large mare with big wings on the platform, but didn't see her.

The group immediately broke off from what they were doing , formed up in two groups of five and turned back in the general direction of the runway. As they came in over the center of the grounds, the lead five flared up to quickly bleed off speed, then slowly lowered themselves to the ground. Almost as soon as they did, the trailing five performed the same maneuver and finally touched down ten feet ahead of the leaders.

As soon as the team had settled down, High Winds turned to Fleetfoot and said, "All right! Now that's what I'm talking about!" and immediately gave her a high hoof.

Rainbow was tempted to do the same, but she saw Misty trot over to one of the ground crew. The whole team watched as the pair conversed, and then it was over as Misty came back and announced, "All right everypony, It appears that our guests have arrived! Keep in mind....it's the commission, so I don't need anyone standing around looking here looking like they have nothing to do! Element leaders...I need you to go through your post flight reviews and equipment checks! Everyone else, just try to look busy!" And with that, she took off, flying over towards the barracks.

The rest of the group quickly dispersed, but Rainbow Dash stayed behind. The members of the Royal Commission for Special Services NEVER came to Wonderbolt's headquarters before, in spite of being the group technically in charge, subject only to Celestia herself. 'Heck', she thought, 'a fair number of them weren't even flyers. Most were career bureaucrats mostly concerned with bottom line stuff.' If they were here now, it was not going to be a good thing.

"Rainbow!" came a call from somewhere to her rear, and Rainbow Dash turned to see another ground team member cantering towards her.

Rainbow turned to meet the young stallion, who skidded to a stop just in front of her.

"What's up dude?" she asked.

"You've got some important visitors to see you Rainbow, over at the office," was the reply.

"Oh...you're kidding?" Rainbow asked.

"Nope," he answered, "they said to get you there pronto."

"Urgh...why not?" Rainbow groaned, and followed the other pony to the office.

At first as they arrived and Rainbow walked in, there wasn't anything in particular that caught her eye, just the normal scene with Deep Dive continuing to plow through one pile of paper or another. She stopped and glanced around as thoroughly as she could before finally asking, "Hey Deep! What's up?"

Deep Dive looked up from his work, and then turned and called out, "She's here!" And from another office emerged Twilight Sparkle and, to make the surprise even greater, Scootaloo.

"Hey Rainbow!" Scoot called out, and immediately ran up to her idol. She stopped just short and looked up, obviously expecting something. This lasted only a few seconds before Scootaloo extended her arm and grunted.

"Oh," Rainbow answered, face hoofing herself, "right, the secret hoof shake." She then extended her right arm and the pair went through an elaborate series of hoof claps alternating on the left and right before culminating in "Boom!" as they concluded.

"So...uh, what in Equestria brings you two out here. I mean, you guys were going to see me in couple of days anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, that was me actually," Twilight answered, "I was telling everyone about what you had told me, and I guess it got around...and then Scoot here wanted to do some research...and before you know it here we are."

Uh, yeah," Rainbow answered, clearly confused, "research about what exactly?"

"Duh...Dawn of course!" Scootaloo answered emphatically. She then came up and nudged her friend and asked, "So...tell me about her. Is she like totally cool? And are those wings of hers as big as they look in the pictures?"

"Uh...I guess," Rainbow answered, not entirely sure of her answer, "uh...and her wings are big, but not weird like big. Uh...why would you be looking into her anyway?"

"Are you kidding?" Scootaloo responded, "She's a world record holder! I mean...how many times do you get to meet up with one of those? Uh...present company excepted of course."

Rainbow looked to Twilight, who shrugged.

"We've checked, and it's confirmed, or at least it will be when we see her," she said, and then she moved closer to Rainbow and asked, "You didn't ask her, did you?"

"Uh, I was getting around to it," Rainbow answered, "and believe me, I've asked a lot of questions. But I didn't quite get to that one." Rainbow then parted from Twilight and went back to Scoot and asked, "So kid, you want me to introduce you to her?"

"AHHHHH!!!" Scoot responded before restraining herself and tapping her left hoof quickly to work off the excitement. "I mean...of course!" she finally continued, obviously restraining herself, "That would be totally cool! Do you think she'd mind if I brought my camera along and got...a few pictures?"

"I think she'd be o.k. with it," Rainbow answered, and then gestured towards the door. The other two ponies took the hint and proceeded out, with Twilight giving Rainbow a raised eyebrow as she passed. Rainbow noticed and said nothing at first, but when she was sure she couldn't be heard, she said to herself, "Oh my..."

Out at the main runway, the ground crew was going through the preparations that were necessary as they watched the large zeppelin approach out of the west. Two other crew members were in position on the observation tower, using a radio to help guide the vessel in. As it got closer, the propulsion system shut down and the ship glided in towards the mooring mast, dropping lines from the bow as it close enough. These were picked up by the crew, who then worked the ship up to where it could latch on to the mast. When that was finally done, the ship was pulled over to a downwind position and a boarding platform was brought forward, and the ships gangways were lowered.

Watching the whole process from the sideline and behind the formation were Misty Fly and Dawn Rider, both dressed in their R.F.C. dress blues and wearing their mirrored sunglasses. They simply stood there, letting the crew take the lead while anypony not involved in the initial process began forming up in the space between them and the ship. As the ground crew finished their tasks, they slowly joined their comrades in the formation till finally only a handful were left.

Finally the first passengers began to disembark, mostly crew at first. But then a well dressed official stepped down to the platform, and in a booming voice, shouted out "ATTENTION ON DECK!!!"

The entire company snapped to attention as the members of the commission began to disembark. Dawn Rider watched the whole process closely. She recognized many of the individuals, some of which unfortunately from being grilled by them during the many post invasion investigations. They represented all branches of the kingdom's government. She was happy at least that she wouldn't have to deal with most of them, being that she had no formal role here.

Or at least that's what she thought, until a certain member emerged, Chancellor Neighsay. Misty Fly immediately moved forward through a gap to go greet the dignitaries. Dawn Rider remained where she was, trying to decide if there was a way to exit the scene without being noticed. But, instead of inspecting the formation like she hoped, the group instead moved through the lines, heading straight towards her, with Neighsay leading the way. She immediately straightened up, and readied herself for the approaching storm.

As he broke through the formation, Neighsay slowed to a stop in front of her. He stood there for a minute, as if studying the scene, before he finally spoke.

"Hummph..." he snorted. "Wing Commander Rider."

"Indeed sir," she replied, "Welcome to Wonderbolt's headquarters."

"You can skip the pleasantries wing commander, we've heard enough of that already," he answered coldly, "I had hoped that the report we received of your presence here was in error." He then came closer and then asked, "So...why are you here?"

"A favor to a friend...sir," Dawn answered.

"Indeed," he replied, "Perhaps we should be questioning your friend about this next. You are of course aware that the Royal Flying Corps has no jurisdiction here...for a damn good reason, I presume?"

"Sir," Dawn replied back, "As an R.F.C. officer, I am very much aware that I possess neither command authority nor general military authority in regards to this unit, and I'm quite certain that you will find that I have not attempted to exert either."

Neighsay snorted and retorted, "Does that include the appointment of the replacement commander? There have been, how shall I say it, stories...in regards to that."

"Of course," Damn answered, "That decision was made by Spitfire, and by her alone. While I announced the decision, I had no role in making it...period."

"We shall see about that commander," Neighsay answered, and then looked around to Dawn's flanks and asked, "Hmmm...is that a saddlebag you're wearing? Is that the standard for the dress uniform, especially when meeting dignitaries?"

Damn took a audible breath, and replied, "It is when one is carrying paperwork that one assumes that certain dignitaries might want to see before they get to the office."

Neighsay moved around and examined the offending article. Dawn tried to look away and ignore it.

Neighsay paused, peaked around the large folded wing, and looked closer at the design on the flap. "Hmmm...''Gladium regni; ad scutum de harras" he read, and took a few steps back to where he could see Dawn eye to eye and growled, "How dare you wear something like that in the presence of these ponies."

"Sir," Dawn Rider replied, "That bag is standard issue. If you believe it is inappropriate, you are of course free to file a complaint to the Ministry of Defense. But as for now, it is the only one that I have with me, so you'll just have to pardon my little indiscretion."

By now the other members of the commission had joined Neighsay and they began to converse among themselves. Neighsay turned and gathered the others around him, and a quiet discussion began among the assembled dignitaries. Eventually the group dispersed, and began to strike up conversations with various members of the ground team, as well as themselves.

Dawn moved back a couple of steps, and took a deep breath. From among the crowd in front of her, Misty appeared, and came up along side of her.

"I take it you two don't like each other?" she asked Dawn.

"You might say that," Dawn answered, looking towards the younger officer, "He apparently thinks for whatever reason that I'm a murderer, and that the R.F.C. are a bunch of barbarians."

"Hmm...invasion stuff huh," Misty answered, "And do you think that he'll bring up the 'Battle of the East Cape'?"

Dawn nodded, and then turned to Misty and said, "Misty, this is probably going to get ugly. Whatever happens there's something you need to remember."

"What's that ma'am?" Misty asked.

Dawn looked the other mare in the eye and said, "Your first responsibility, above everything else right now, is to your team...and to the ideal of the Wonderbolts. Don't worry about the damn corps. We'll be just fine. But whatever happens...protect your team!"

Misty sat down, and took a moment to examine on the bottom of her hoof, before looking up and asking, "Does that still hold true if it means that I have throw you under a bus before this is over?"

Dawn was silent for a moment. But then, she raised her head, and nodded.

Author's Note

Been having one hell of a time getting the Latin translation right. Hopefully I haven't messed anyone up.

I Go Through

The group quietly made its way down the path to the classroom, conversing as it went. Misty followed along behind, accompanied by Deep Dive. Misty was satisfied so far. The questions had been pretty general and everyone had been on their best behavior so far. As the group entered the classroom, they immediately moved among the rows of chairs, and found what seemed like acceptable seats. Misty herself then moved to the podium and began to speak.

“Well,” Misty began, “I hope that everyone was satisfied with the tour. It was a bit improvised, but I think that we’ve given all of you a good idea of how we do things here. So, does anyone have any questions?”

“Thank you flight leader,” one of the members responded, “I appreciate the effort that you and your team have obviously made to accommodate us on such short notice. I certainly hope that we’re not throwing you and the team off schedule.”

“Not at all sir,” Misty answered, “And you don’t have to call me flight leader. You can even limit it to Misty if you want to. We are certainly willing to make time for you. I’m glad we got to do all this for you.”

“I do have a question…uh, Misty” came the voice of a prominent M.P. , “I am concerned about this leadership issue. Why was there not a defined replacement for Spitfire, especially given the hazardous nature of what your team does?”

Thankfully Deep Dive stood up from his seat and answered, “If I may ma’am, it’s not unheard of to have a vacancy in the role of designated second. It’s a much more informal system than one would encounter in say the military, more of an understanding than a defined position. That said, Misty was being groomed for the role following her performance during the invasion…but admittedly Spitfire’s injury forced our hoof.”

The questioner settled back in his chair, apparently satisfied, but the response seemed to stir others in the audience. Several members turned to each other and conversed among themselves. Misty just stood there and watched, trying to somehow guess what was next. Finally, another member spoke up and asked, “What performance exactly?” That doesn’t sound right. I thought that the team was captured? ”

Misty’s head tilted and she raised an eyebrow. She thought about it for a moment and said, “Uh…that’s true, to a certain extent. Several members were captured, including Spitfire. But it certainly wasn’t the whole team. We were active during the entire invasion, as I wrote about in the incident report that I sent in afterward....all twenty pages of it. Umm…didn’t any pony read it? I know that it was sent it in to guys. Spit made sure of that.”

Neighsay groaned and rolled his eyes, and said, “Well…it would appear that some in our company have been somewhat lax in the performance of their duties. Perhaps this wouldn’t be such an issue if this group would actually meet on a more regular basis.” He paused and gave the offending member a intense glare, causing her to recoil back, before turning again to the podium and continuing, “Since you have mentioned your ‘incident’ report,” he paused and magically a packet of papers that all assumed to be that very report appeared. He took a moment and flipped through the pages with his magic before settling on a particular one and continuing, “I do want to ask you about something that concerns me, in particular your team’s participation in the activity known as ‘Operation Eagle Claw’”

“Yes, what do want to know about it sir?” Misty asked with a nervous smile.

“Why…for starters?” Neighsay answered.

“Well, because we were asked,” was Misty’s reply, choosing her words carefully, “because it was a rescue mission…for Minister Cloudhopper, and Twilight Sparkle’s personal protégé Starlight Glimmer. They needed a recovery team and we had the speed and the skill to help get it done.”

“Hmmmph…” Neighsay snorted, “all to rescue a statue…at the cost of how many lives? And how much risk to your team were you willing to take on exactly?”

“Sir, we needed to rescue Starlight Glimmer, statue or not,” Misty replied, “and I did consider the risk, and I felt that with certain precautions it was acceptable, and as I reported, though there were casualties for the Royal Guard, we did not lose any team member. As is stated in the charter," she continued, tapping her hoof on the podium for emphasis "the Wonderbolts are not just a flight demonstration team. We are empowered to assist ponies in times of emergency….” she paused, and then quoted, “….strictly at the discretion of the team leader.”

“Yes, that is technically true,” Neighsay replied, “but, I am concerned about the team taking on such risky adventures. While your intentions may have been noble, I do not approve of mixing this team up in endeavors involving the military. There is a strict separation between the two that must be maintained…without exception…to preserve the standing of the Wonderbolts in the eyes of the public,” he paused, and added with emphasis “….especially given certain past debacles.”

Misty slowly nodded. “I understand that sir,” she replied, “And let me assure you that that will always be the case.”

Neighsay glanced around the room, and then settled back down in his seat, as in the back another member raised her arm and asked, “Misty…how did the military recruit your team for that mission anyway? And are you sure that your own ties to the corps didn’t play a role in your decision to participate?” This question caused a stir among the group and Neighsay in particular leaned in to hear the response.

Misty took a deep breath, and answered, “I am wearing the uniform of the Royal Flying Corps, and I’m certainly not ashamed of doing so. I believe that my service is an honorable one, and I am proud to serve. But…right now, I am…first and foremost a Wonderbolt. And a Wonderbolt’s mission….above all things…is to serve their fellow ponies, and be an example to them. I could not, in good conscience, leave my team on the sidelines if I felt there was a way to help in a time of crisis.”

“Yes indeed, a very CORRECT response flight leader." Neighsay answered, and then continued, "And what about Dawn Rider? Why did Captain Spitfire chose such a controversial figure to advise you at a time like this? I cannot believe that there wasn't some pony out there more qualified for this role...some pony say actually experienced with this team and its traditions...say...Wind Rider for instance.”

Misty raised an eyebrow, but otherwise gave no visible response as she answered, “Sir, I am not directly familiar with the wing commander’s actions during the invasion, and what little I have heard doesn’t give me grounds to comment on them. As to the reason why she was chosen, I'm afraid you'll have to ask Spitfire herself, as it was her choice. That said, as of right now, I have had no problems with the advice and assistance she has given, and I've found her nothing but helpful. And...as to Wind Rider, as you should be able to recall from reports filed at the time, he was expelled from the Wonderbolts for honor code violations. As such, he has no official status or standing with this team, and given that factor, recalling him for such a serious occasion as this would have been….highly inappropriate.”

Neighsay scowled, looking like was going to respond, but instead he rocked back into his seat and another minister spoke up and said, “Thank you very much for your time Misty. Would it be alright if we speak to some of the team?”

“Uh…of course sir, feel free to,” Misty answered.

The commission members got up and slowly exited the building, a few pausing to say a quick word to Misty as they went. When the last one finally left the scene, Misty moved over to one of the chairs and plopped herself down , leaning back as far as she could.

“Oh brother…” Misty groaned, “That was about as much fun as your average dental appointment. And that Neighsay, what a pain in the ass.”

“Don’t say that too loud kid,” Deep Dive replied as he gathered up his paperwork, “he’s not THAT far away.”

“Yeah right,” Misty answered, “ and I'm not exactly going to deny it if he does hear me. And just what the heck is this crap about Dawn? What’s his issue with her anyway?”

“Well…for one thing, he’s not a fan of the military,” Deep Dive answered, “He considers the whole institution uncivilized.”

“Well yeah, of course. ‘Civilization’ and war never mix well,” Misty answered, air quotes included, “that's comes with a big 'well...duh'. And I will grant you and all others who may be listening that the strike she ordered may have cracked some of the plaster at the castle. But I had a chance to read the A.A.R. she filed afterward, and between the triple A support and the strike, it all seemed reasonable to me. It sure as hell wasn't some half ass case of 'pray and spray'. And when you consider that that before it was over, the Storm King ended up blowing the damn roof off the palace anyway, I mean...get real!”

“So…you just lied to Neighsay?” Deep Dive asked with a raised eyebrow.

Misty nodded. "What he don't know won't hurt me," she quipped

"Yeah right...famous last words," Deep Dive answered. He looked Misty in the eye and continued, “Don’t ever let him hear that kind of talk kid, He'll be on you like flies on stink. That stallion may not know the difference between a broadsword and a butter knife, but when it comes to his principles, he's a true believer. And in spite of appearances, he's got more than enough pull on that committee to make life for all of us a royal pain."

"Uh huh," Misty replied, "my only question is believer in what exactly? What did he think was the alternative? It was a war dammit, and we were down to our last princess, and she was in over her head. I mean, I'm not arguing in favor of violence, but like I say, what was the alternative?"

"Good question kid," Deep Dive answered, "instead of stonewalling him, maybe that's the conversation you should have had with Neighsay."

Misty thought about it, and then looked up and met Deep Dive's gaze and answered, "I hate it when you're right." Deep Dive smiled, and gestured towards the door. Misty took the hint, and proceeded to exit the building, with Deep following close behind.

Dawn Rider had spent the last few hours on her final report. The committee had not requested it yet, but Dawn knew, given Neighsay’s attitude, it was only a matter of time. And in the end, it didn’t matter too much anyway. She was getting due to report back to her regular job, and she knew she was wearing out her welcome, so putting it off was becoming pointless.

By eleven o’clock, she just had to take a break, as her jaw was starting to bother her, the taste of the graphite in her pencil was becoming overwhelming, and her coffee just couldn’t drown it out anymore. She moved outside and took a moment to stretch out her wings, and then she took to the air, heading in the direction of the Wonderbolt’s training grounds.

Upon landing, she slowly strolled about the grounds, her eyes panning over the various pieces of equipment, pausing occasionally to examine something closely. Dawn knew that most of what she saw actually was pretty much the same as what she was trained on for the corps, it was just that the turns were tighter, the machines a bit more elaborate, and the intensity taken up by at least a factor of four. She continued onward, smiling as she went.

That lasted until she heard a clearly audible whoosh for somewhere behind her. She turned towards the sound, and she saw the source. It appeared to be Vapor, taking on the obstacle course at what seemed to Dawn an almost impossible speed.

Dawn watched her as Vapor zigged through the hoops and roared through the pipes. She shook her head and sighed. “Wow,” she said, and then made her way over and planted herself at the fence to watch the spectacle.

It only took a few moments for Vapor to finish what she was doing, and she exited the course. She immediately spotted Dawn, and came around and landed.

“Hey you!” she called out, and went over to her friend. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“Oh, only a moment or two,” Dawn answered, her arm brushing back through her mane as she avoided eye contact, “just long enough to see you fly. Please tell me that what you just pulled off is some kind of a record.”

Vapor laughed and answered, “Oh no, not even close. I was just having some fun and killing time. I’m really not quite into the routine around here. I mean, she said to keep busy, but…how?”

Dawn laughed. “You find ways,” she answered, “It’s pretty much the same as in the corps. You don't have to BE busy, you just have to look that way to the casual observer. But, if you're anything like me, that stuff gets really old really quick.”

“Uh...I saw that Chancellor Neighsay spoke to you,” Vapor said with a note of concern, “he doesn’t like you, I’m guessing.”

“He was part of the special committee that investigated the whole “Storm King” debacle,” Dawn answered, “he didn’t like what I had to say.”

"Ah yeah," Vapor replied, not sure where to go next.

Dawn sensed it, and asked, "So, how are things between you and Sting?"

"Oh my," Vapor replied, obviously taken by surprise, "It's been great! I think that we're closer than ever."

"Really?," Dawn responded with a sly smile, "So...are you two still officially just friends, or are you finally going to admit the incredibly obvious."

Vapor's jaw fell open and her face instantly went beat red. She chuckled nervously and gave Dawn an uncertain smile. But just when it looked like she was ready to reply, Sting himself swooped in for a landing.

"Hey Vape!" he called out, only then noticing her companion. "Oh...hi Dawn," he added before continuing, "Come on partner. Word is that our esteemed guests want to talk to us about things."

"Really?" Dawn asked, "What is this? Why would they want to talk to you two?"

"Hey, don't worry about it Dawn," Sting replied, "it's not just us. They're interviewing the whole team, for whatever reason. Perfect opportunity to make a pitch for that whole "solo pair" idea I think. And I know just the two flyers perfectly qualified for that job." he said while giving Vapor a nudge.

"Uh yeah," Vapor answered irresolutely.

Dawn Rider reached over and patted her friend on the shoulder, and said, "Just play it straight kid. You'll be just fine."

"Yeah," Vapor answered with a smile. She then turned towards the direction Sting was facing, but looked back towards Dawn and said, "See you later." The pair then launched themselves into the air. As they climbed, Vapor looked back and waved. But she noticed that although Dawn waved back, she wasn't smiling anymore, but instead her expression was one of obvious concern.

“So what do you think that this is all about?” Vapor called out as she flew with Sting, trailing off to his right. She noticed the difference and quickly accelerated and came up alongside him. ‘Old habits die hard’, she thought.

“Ehh…who knows,” Sting answered, “whatever it is, everybody’s getting their turn. I don’t get the impression that that the commission spends much time around here. So, it's like they're playing a game of catch up. Shouldn't be a biggie as far as we're concerned. It’s not like there's been any complaints so far."

"Yeah I guess," Vapor answered, "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"Oh please Vape, don't say things like that," Sting answered as he looked back , "Your premonitions have a nasty habit of coming true. Think positive...you know...solo flyers...the roar of the crowd. Just follow my lead, o.k. I've got a pitch that will clinch it for us."

"Whatever you say Sting," Vapor answered as she shook her head and smiled.

The pair landed near the classroom and made their way over, noticing the other members of the team milling about nearby.

"What's up gang? Are they really going through this with everyone?" Sting inquired, "Wow...you'd think that half the team would be enough, right?"

"Your turn, right?" Fleetfoot asked.

"Oh yeah," Sting answered, "Looking forward to it!"

Fleetfoot shook his head. "Don't," he answered.

Sting stopped short and watched Fleet walk over to the others, and a conversation begin. He then glanced over to Vapor, whose expression showed her concern.

He raised an eyebrow, and snorted. "You and your premonitions," he said to her.

"Steady..." she said with a hopeful smile. He looked her in the eye and smiled as the pair got underway again and entered the building.

"Ah yes," came a voice from somewhere as they entered, "Flight Officer Trail and Flight Officer Stinger...please take a seat."

The pair paused and looked around. The commission members were scattered among the risers while the stage was taken up by nothing more than two chairs. They proceeded over and both sat down.

"Thanks for coming," one of the members said as they did, "there's just a couple of questions we wanted to ask you two."

"Great! And uh, just a quick note," Sting answered with a smile, "We're actually off duty....so you can, you know, just skip the formal stuff. We're just Sky and Vapor, just a couple of Wonderbolts. Uh, yeah...that's us."

"Indeed," Chancellor Neighsay answered, "That would be nice to believe. But, isn't your service part of why you're both here? I believe that you made that statement to your fellow Wonderbolts when you arrived; some advantage that you were promised?"

Both Sting and Vapor's mouths dropped open, and they sat in stunned silence for a moment before Sting answered. "Uh well, I'm not sure who told you that....that was part of a private conversation." He looked to Vapor then looked back and added, "But...uh well...yes, we were told something like that by the recruiter. But hey, you know how those guys are...prone to exaggeration when it works for them. I mean really, you wouldn't believe what they told us about hazardous duty pay, and then...PLEASE!?!"

"So, you don't think that you're special, that you earned this through your service?" another commission member asked before looking over to Neighsay.

"Well, I guess that depends on what you mean by special," Vapor replied, "we came because we were told we were needed, and because we were the best qualified. As for being special, well...I guess not every pony has earned the Silver Star Medal like Sting and I have. But it wouldn't have qualified us for this. And actually, I really doubt that most ponies even know that we got them, or really even care that much. We really don't talk about it much, and no pony asks."

"Indeed," Neighsay answered, "Well, I think that we can put that issue aside. I would not dream of questioning your service to her highnesses. But, by chance in your travels, have either of you, either through rumor or reading, heard of an incident referred to as the 'East Cape Massacre'?"

Sting and Vapor looked to each other, their confusion clearly evident. Finally though, Vapor met Neighsay's stare and asked, "Do you mean...the 'Battle of the East Cape'?"

"Oh indeed," Neighsay answered, "Is that what they're calling it these days. Hummph...so, have you?"

"Uh yeah," Vapor answered, "We had to read about it at O.C.S.. It's considered one of the corps biggest scandals. It's the whole reason why the Wonderbolts aren't part of the corps anymore. And, from what I read, it wasn't as lopsided as 'massacre' would imply actually. "

"And what did they tell you exactly?' another commission member asked.

"Uh well..." Sting replied, "happened between our Third Air Wing and a big batch of griffons that were following a new leader that was trying to reorganize the kingdom. But...that some pony failed to talk to some grif, and a certain air commodore thought the whole thing was an invasion, so he threw the whole wing out at them, including the Wonderbolts, who found out that it was bogus and refused to fight. And that when it was over, that certain air commodore tried to cover his but about the whole mess. But the Wonderbolt commander told the investigators the whole story, in spite of the whole wing being sworn to secrecy, the...uh 'blue wall of silence' as somepony called it. And that's why we don't have a Third Air Wing anymore. Did I miss anything?"

The room was silent for a moment or two, but finally one of the members spoke up and answered, "Uh...no. Your recollection is pretty much accurate. Does anypony else have a question?"

Nieghsay reared up from his seat, ignoring a few audible groans. He propped his front hoofs on the seat in front of him, and asked, "And yet...even after hearing of this atrocity...and the criminal level mendacity employed...you still accepted your commissions?"

Sky Stinger straightened up in his chair, and his expression hardened. He then looked over to Vapor, who was clearly also insulted by what was implied, and then looked back towards the chancellor and answered, "Yes sir."

"Why?" Neighsay continued.

Sky Stinger shook his head and smiled, and looking Neighsay straight in the eye answered, "Well...you've probably heard this particular answer before, but I think that actually it fits this occasion." He then leaned forward, never taking his eyes off his inquisitor, and stated with a noticeable growl, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

The room went silent for a moment, as the two opponents stared each other down. But finally one of the members spoke up. "Uh yes...thank you both for coming. You can leave now."

With that, Sky and Vapor got off their chairs, and left the room.

Dawn Rider flew back to the office, landing on the grounds not far away. 'Back to the grind,' she thought as she made her way to the doorway. She trotted into the office and spotted Deep Dive working at his desk. "Hey Deep, have I missed much," she asked.

"Uh huh," he answered, before looking up from his work, "There's somepony looking for you."

"Oh really," she answered with zero enthusiasm, before a sound caught her ear from behind.

"AHHHHHH!!" came an unfamiliar cry, "I KNEW IT...I KNEW IT...I KNEW IT!!"

Dawn turned towards the door and spotted a small orange pegasus filly galloping towards her. Before she could react, the
young pegasus jumped up and grabbed her around her neck, pulling her down into range of a camera that she produced from somewhere, and quickly snapped a picture. She then let go, and Dawn sat down and rubbed her eyes, trying to get over the effect of the flash.

"This is so awesome! You are now officially my second world record holder! I am a HUGE fan of yours!" the filly blurted out, and then added, "Oh yeah...uh...my name is Scootaloo. I'm a friend of Rainbow's. Well...actually...president of her fan club...and friend."

Dawn Rider looked down and examined the filly in front of her. Apparently for a bit too long, as Scootaloo took a moment to clear her throat.

"Oh...oh my," Dawn finally answered when she finally recovered her wits , "Uh...sorry there kiddo. Had a case of brain freeze there. You just took me by surprise. I hope I haven't offended you."

"Nah...it's cool," Scoot replied.

"So, uh...how did you get here exactly?" Dawn asked, "This place isn't really open to just any pony."

"Uh well," came a voice from the other side of the room, "she actually came with me."

Dawn looked towards the sound, and saw Princess Twilight enter, followed by Rainbow Dash.

"Oh crap!" Dawn blurted out, before stopping herself and facehoofing, and then pasting on a smile. "Uh yes...I mean...uh...your highness," she continued, and then gave a respectful bow.

"Nice try," Rainbow said as she came up alongside, "but you can chill out. 'Princess of Friendship'...remember?"

"Uh...yeah kid," Dawn answered, as she came out of her bow, "easy for you to say."

"Well now," Twilight said with a smile as she approached, "Rainbow's told me so much about you, and Scoot here found out about your record, so I just thought that it would be a good time to meet you." She paused and extended her arm towards Dawn, obviously expecting a hoof shake.

Dawn stood there for a moment before cautiously extending her arm and completing the gesture. "Well...it's an honor to meet you your highness" she said with a smile. "What you accomplished during that last battle with the Storm King was very impressive."

"I just tried to be a friend," Twilight replied, "I'm just glad I was able to reach Tempest and convince her to help."

Dawn simply nodded before turning towards Scootaloo.

"So...you're a fan of MINE?" Dawn asked as she sat down in front of the young filly, "I'm frankly....uh...shocked actually. Most of my 'fans' these days are friends and family. I didn't think that anyone remembered that silly record."

"Oh come on," Scootaloo replied, "It's kinda hard to miss, especially when you're wearing the results right in the middle of that ribbon rack of yours."

"Uh, what are you talking about Scoots?" Rainbow asked as both her and Twilight suddenly took an interest in Dawn's uniform, much to her discomfort.

"It's this one," Scootaloo answered, pushing ahead of both Twilight and Rainbow and pointing to a specific ribbon on the large mare's chest, "right below those impressive command aviator wings...the blue, white, and red one. And that one can only be....THE DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS!!"

"Uh...well, you're right kid," Dawn said with a big smile, "I'm impressed!"

“Yeah, I got skills,” Scootaloo replied. “Soooo…” she continued, “What did you say when the princess pinned it on you. And why weren’t there any pictures of you two together? Believe me, I looked…practically everywhere.”

“Well…probably because it didn’t happen kiddo,” Dawn answered, looking over to the one member of royalty in the room. “You see, your friend, Princess Twilight, is the only royal I’ve ever met. I got the award from my squadron commander.”

“Aww…what a rip-off,” Scootaloo replied.

“Hey,” Dawn replied, lifting Scoot’s chin to look her in the eye, “I’ve still got the bragging rights, such as they are.”

"Aww come on," Scootaloo answered, "What do you mean? The whole thing had to be totally cool."

Dawn chuckled, "Only if you're a big fan of hypoxia. The whole thing was supposed to be part of an experiment, the award was almost an afterthought. Not that it didn't send my ego through the stratosphere of course."

"I see," Twilight answered, "I'm surprised that you're so...uh...casual about it. Did something happen?"

Dawn's smile faded, and she looked away, obviously uncomfortable about something. But, before she could answer, Vapor and Sting walked in, their facial expressions definitely sour.

"Vapor...Sting...hi there!" Twilight called out as soon as she saw them, immediately turning around and moving over to greet them.

"Oh...hi Twilight," Vapor answered with very little enthusiasm, "I didn't know you were here."

Twilight slowed her approach and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah you might say that," Sky Stinger replied, his irritation clearly evident. "We just got grilled by our dear Chancellor Neighsay. Oh yeah...that guy's a real prince all right."

"Grilled about what?" Dawn asked.

"Oh, about why we didn't quit O.C.S. when we heard about war crimes actually," Sting answered, "Hummph...if I had to sit through a few more minutes of that garbage he was dumping on us, I would have given him an in-person demonstration of a damn war crime."

"Sting...I'm sure it's not that bad," Twilight replied, "He's an intellectual, but he does have certain prejudices. He probably would have said that to any service pony. Please try not to take it personally."

"That's not the worst of it," Vapor Trail continued, "We talked to some of the other Wonderbolts they talked to. They're saying that he's pushing to change the rules and prohibit R.F.C. and Guard flyers from even joining the Wonderbolts."

"WHAT!!!" Dawn shouted, obviously shocked, and growled "DAMMIT!" before dashing for the door, clearly infuriated.

"Oh no!" Twilight shouted, and the whole group immediately ran after her.

Dawn took to the air as soon as she was outside, and scanned the area in search of her nemesis. She spotted him, and the rest of his entourage assembled on the parade ground. They were huddled together, and even from a distance it was apparent they were arguing. She landed nearby.

"Chancellor," one of the M.P.s voiced up, "I don't know why we're still discussing this proposal of yours. I think that it's unnecessary and extreme. The whole point of the Wonderbolts is to be able to honor our best flyers. How in Equis does one do that if we exclude military flyers?"

"Oh please...they would not be excluded," Neighsay replied, "They would...simply have to resign."

"Oh really...and what would that accomplish?" another member asked, "Wonderbolts are prone to injury. Are we truly prepared to force these flyers to give up their chance for a military pension for what could be, and often is, a short tenure as a Wonderbolt?"

A few members standing behind Neighsay snorted and closed ranks with the chancellor.

"Chancellor!" Dawn called out as she approached after landing nearby, "What is the meaning of this?"

Neighsay looked towards Dawn and growled, "This is none of your concern!"

"Oh yeah right!" Dawn replied, "And all this DIDN"T start with my arrival here. Like hell!" She moved in and came up face to face with the chancellor and asked, "Allright chancellor...let's get it all out in the open. What exactly is your problem with me anyway!?!"

Neighsay turned to face her and answered, "You mean between your flippant attitude regarding the death and destruction that your use of force inflicted; or maybe your services flagrant misuse of the hallowed institution that is the Wonderbolts? Hummph...another perfect example of the situational ethics that's so pervasive in the armed forces. Or, by some odd chance do you actually remember the name of the innocent civilian that was killed in that strike of yours. Or is that just more collateral damage to be written off by a war lover like yourself?"

Everypony who heard that comment cringed, and looked to Dawn Rider, who appeared to struggle for moment to hold back her anger.

"Chancellor!" Twilight Sparkle called from the sidelines, "That comment was uncalled for!"

"This is not your concern princess!" Neighsay fired back.

Dawn Rider took several deep breaths, and then met Neighsay's gaze and replied, "Sir...as somepony who lost one of her best friends in that damn invasion...and caught a chunk of shrapnel in her ass from that strike, I regard your turn to name calling in regards to my service to be BENEATH CONTEMPT!! And...yes, I am all too aware of the innocent bystander lost that day. And I will not explain it away, or make some half ass attempt to justify it, if such a thing were even possible. Such is war chancellor! Precision weapons are never precise enough, but when magic fails, that's all we had left. That's reality...sir!" She then took another breath and continued, "So chancellor, since I assume that neither of us want this to get even uglier than it is already, and since I'm obviously the biggest problem here, I'm asking you, what can I do to end this...insanity."

Neighsay took a moment and looked around to the group of ponies around them. He then turned back to Dawn Rider and replied, "Leave!"

Dawn looked down and took a couple of deep breaths. She glanced over to the crowd, especially to Rainbow and Scoot, and then turned back to Neighsay and said, "Chancellor, that is something I AM prepared to do." She then turned away and took off, flying back towards the offices.

The group dispersed and Rainbow, Twilight, and Scootaloo looked towards each other.

"Well," Rainbow said, "THAT happened" as she shook her head.

"Yeah," Scootaloo replied, "but that sucked."

Then You Stand

After Dawn's departure, the conversation continued, with even more members of the commission voicing their concerns about Neighsay's proposal, while others voiced their support . It went back and forth for almost an hour between the two sides, but finally the group seemed to calm down. As this went on, Rainbow looked over to watch Twilight's response to all this. But her friend stayed mostly on the sidelines, making only occasional remarks to one pony or another.

Finally, the party began it's track back to the airship that brought them. The conversation continued, but it seemed like the tension had eased somewhat. Misty continued to circulate among them, answering questions as she went. It was only as the last passenger was embarked, and the large zeppelin was once again on its way that Rainbow, Twilight, and Scootaloo came together.

"Well, that could have been much worse," Twilight said with a sigh, "I get the impression from what I heard that they decided that Neighsay's proposal wasn't necessary."

"Well yeah," Rainbow answered, "But it could have been better too. Why didn't you get more involved there Twi?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Well, because they didn't need my help. They talked it out, and resolved the situation," she answered, "I know that it looked bad, but all those ponies, even Neighsay, are reasonable...at least on most things. And..."she added, "I think that Dawn's response took some of the wind out of the chancellor's sails." She looked over her shoulder towards the headquarters building and added, "But now I'm just wondering how she's taking all this."

"Uh right," Scootaloo added, "we should probably check on her."

Rainbow looked to her friends and noticed their concerned expressions. She shook her head and waved them off.

"Oh come on you two. Dawn's a pro. She'll be o.k.," Rainbow said with a smile. "Come on Scoot," she said, gesturing to the young mare, "Let's go find her."

With that said, Scootaloo jumped up on Rainbow's back, and the trio took to the air and headed toward the headquarters building.

As they flew along, Rainbow became increasingly concerned. The whole exchange between Dawn and Neighsay replayed over and over in her head. She was impressed that Dawn kept her temper under control, but in responding to Neighsay's allegations, she practically had to fall on her own sword in the process, which was totally bogus.

The trio soon arrived at the headquarters building. She paused a moment to help Scoot down from her back, took a deep breath, and then entered the building.

Rainbow spotted Dawn as soon as they arrived, as she was planted behind Spitfire’s desk, her glasses perched on her nose and a large pencil in her mouth as she wrote. As they entered, she didn’t react, but continued her laborious process.

“Ahem…” Rainbow said, probably a bit louder than necessary.

Dawn looked up with a raised eyebrow.

“Need a cough drop?” she asked, still with the pencil in her mouth.

Rainbow grimaced. She heard something, and turned to look behind her to find Twilight and Scoot snickering.

She looked back to Dawn and said, “I can’t believe that you said that with a straight face.”

Dawn put the pencil back in its holder, then turned her head and tried to wipe her mouth with a handkerchief,
obviously having trouble with the taste in her mouth. When she finally achieved a reasonably acceptable outcome, she looked back up to Rainbow and said, “Hmmmph...and I'm surprised you kept yours. I thought that was one of my better jokes.”

“Uh...Wing Commander, if I may,” Twilight said as she approached the desk, “I just wanted to say, for myself and I'm sure on behalf of the kingdom, that I’m sorry that you had to deal with all that." She then came up and put her hooves up on the edge of the desk, and continued, "And...that I'm sorry to hear about your friend. We were really out in the middle of nowhere on our quest, and...I guess that we totally lost track of things. And actually...we just assumed...that it was all up to us...again. Uh...what I really want to say...is that...I'm sorry."

Dawn's head tilted slightly as she pondered just how to respond. But after a moment or two, she smiled and said, "Well, we also should keep in mind that you were acting under Princess Celestia's direct orders. And, it might have helped if somepony had properly briefed you on emergency procedures. So...uh, not saying of course that I don't appreciate the apology your highness. It's just that, I never blamed you for what happened." Dawn paused and her smile faded. "And as for my friend..." she stopped, crossed her arms, and slowly leaned back in her chair, her eyes drifting down to the desk. The pause seemed to last for an eternity, but finally she added in a quiet voice, "...such is war."

Dawn then looked up, pushed back from the desk, and then turned and got off her chair, and said, "But…I’m o.k. You know, I’m a big mare now. I can take a few hits now and then. I am NOT some kind of charity case.” She then turned and grabbed up a file from the desk in her mouth and proceeded to one of the cabinets. She then hooked onto the handle of one of the drawers with her hoof and opened it, and then carefully placed the file in its appropriate location.

She turned back to the group, and snorted before adding, “I mean uh…sure I’m pissed. And I just love explaining to other ponies out there the many faults and shortcomings of my profession. It's just one of my favorite things." She looked back down and kicked the drawer closed with a loud bang. Dawn stared at the offending cabinet for a moment, then looked over and saw the concern on the faces of those watching, and quickly added, "Uh...yeah, but...it's cool."

"Uh...o.k." Rainbow replied, "Sooo...what's next?"

"Well...finish this damn report," Dawn answered as she moved back towards the desk, "then go home, and spend the weekend with the family. Uh huh...I'm going to get a chance to spend time with my daughter...I'm actually going to get to see one of my son's buckball games for a change...it's going to be good."

"Wow...," Scootaloo replied, "I guess that sounds o.k. I'm just sorry that Spit dragged you in here and all it turned out to be such a pain in the but."

Dawn raised an eyebrow and suppressed a laugh, then came over and patted Scootaloo on the head and said, "Kiddo, you can't drag somepony someplace they already want to go to. And in truth, I think that it probably took about two seconds for her to talk me into this."

The three other ponies in the room looked to each other, and then back to Dawn, and Rainbow finally said, "Uh...I don't get it."

Dawn turned and went back over to the file cabinets, pulled one open, and began rifling through the folders. It took her a moment, but finally she pulled one out carefully, moved over to the desk, and set it down.

"Rainbow, I'd like you to look at this," she said, looking to the young Wonderbolt, "since I got to read one of your files, I think that it's only fair that you get to read one of mine."

Rainbow's jaw dropped, and her eyes went wide as she said, "You have a Wonderbolts file?" She was going to move towards the desk, but Scootaloo dashed forward and beat her to it.

Scoot immediately flipped open the folder and scanned the contents, with Rainbow and Twilight joining her on either side. After a moment or two, Scoot gasped, and her head fell forward and hit the desk. Then she raised her head up and said in a voice that clearly revealed her shock, "YOU'RE A WASHOUT!?!"

Dawn rolled her eyes and smiled, and answered, "Well it sounds a lot worse when you put it that way. And young mare..." she continued, pointing to Scoot, "that's Wing Commander Washout...thank you very much."

"Whoa...wait a minute," Rainbow interjected, and quickly snatched up the file and examined it closely. After a moment, she looked up and asked, "Uh...who was it that called you "Old Griffon Wings?"

"Oh, a certain senior Wonderbolt...Air Speed as I recall, bless his black heart," Dawn answered with a hint of sarcasm, "But, I think that I handled it well. I only sent him a big old lump of coal for Hearths Warming Eve...for about five years."

"Uh huh," Twilight replied, "I'm....glad to hear that you didn't hold a grudge?"

Dawn chuckled to herself and responded, "Yeah well...if it helps, my husband thought I was being a bit immature about the whole thing."

"Yeah...but I still don't get it," Rainbow continued, "I mean...the scores I'm seeing here are actually pretty good. I mean...I did better in some of these events...but I don't see why..." Rainbow paused and flipped the page, and she noticeably cringed, and she quickly blurted out "...uh, never mind" and she quickly closed the folder.

"Rainbow?" Twilight chimed in, and quickly seized the folder with her magic. She used it to open to the page that Rainbow was looking to and she brought it down to where both she and Scoot could read it. Only a moment later she looked up and said, "Dawn...you actually BROKE the obstacle course?"

"Uh...well, only about the first 25%," Dawn replied as she sat down, "Let me tell you all a story. Well, you see...a few years back, two ponies tried out for the team; one being a certain forward air controller who thought that she had the coolest job in the world already; and the other being an attack flyer and world record holder who was trying to get to the next big prize. Everything went along great, for the first part at least, until the attack flyer tried out the obstacle course, and found out that some of those obstacles wouldn't accommodate her wing span, and others were so tight that she'd have to fly perfectly to get through them, which is almost impossible. But, being a hard charger who never bought into the old 'Big ponies can't make tight turns' line, and one who tended to let her temper get the better of her...she decided to force the issue and throw caution to the wind, which ended up netting her a great big ole goose egg...not to mention a month in the hospital...and the loss of her slot in her squadron...and almost getting pensioned off." Dawn paused for a moment and cleared her throat, and then added, "But, on the good side, at least they didn't make me pay for the damage."

Rainbow could only shake her head, and ask, "So...you actually couldn't PHYSICALLY make it through? That's totally nuts! A pony's got to be able to use their full wingspan, otherwise you can't generate enough lift."

"Yeah, I discovered that it's a rule for a reason," Dawn replied, "...the hard way."

"The whole thing's unbelievable," Twilight said as she shook her head, "that would automatically limit who can even qualify for the team. And nobody told you about this ahead of time, so you wouldn't make a fool out of yourself?"

"I got the impression that it wasn't a big consideration, especially after all the laughs that I heard after my first attempt," Dawn answered, and then added in a low voice, "...griffon wings my ass."

Dawn looked over to Scootaloo. The young pegasus just sat there, looking totally perplexed. Finally though, Scoot shook her head and said, "But...you got totally robbed! How did you handle all that?"

Dawn smiled, and then came over and patted Scoot on her head and replied, "Well...thankfully I was assigned a really great career counselor, who referred me to a great physical therapist, and they both helped me get back in the air and salvage my career. And a certain F.A.C friend of mine, who by the way became an instant Wonderbolt after her trials, decided it was time to finally introduce me to a long time stallion friend of hers, and his very interesting daughter...and...it just kinda went on from there. Or in other words sweetie," she added looking Scoot straight in the eye, "I got a lot of help from some really great ponies."

"O.K., that's cool and all that," Rainbow said, her voice clearly showing her irritation, "but that whole thing is still a total load of horse apples." She snorted, and then turned towards the door.

"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted after her, "where are you going? Aren't you going to wait and see Dawn off?"

Rainbow turned around and said, "I'll make it up to you Dawn. I promise. But right now, I've got to talk to somepony...immediately." She then trotted out the door and quickly took to the air.

"Uh, what was that all about?" Scootaloo asked.

Scoot looked to Dawn, who then looked to Twilight, who could only shrug her shoulders.

"Yeah, of course it sucked," Spitfire answered as she stared at Rainbow, "Are you forgetting that Dawn was my friend long before she met you? I mean...I've known her since all the way back to B.C.F.S."

"Well, that's great," Rainbow answered, "but..."

"What?" Spitfire asked.

"What's B.C.F.S.?" Rainbow inquired.

Spitfire facehoofed and groaned, and replied, "Dash, it's Basic Combat Flight School. I mean really, even they're not crazy enough to just strap a bunch of stuff on a pony and throw him into a fight without at least some sort of training." She reached over to Rainbow and lightly rapped her on the side of her head and said, "It's the military Dash, remember? The land where acronyms run free?"

Spitfire turned right in her seat and gingerly moved down onto her hooves. "Dash...you apparently didn't notice it at the time, but the system that the Wonderbolt's have is designed to turn out a certain type of flyer for a certain type of show. I mean, haven't you noticed that the whole team is pretty much the same size pony? And that our show routine has barely changed in twenty years? And yeah, it sucks! And I've been beating my head against a wall trying to shake things up for years, only to keep running into the same old tight asses on that damn commission giving the same lame arguments."

Rainbow settled back on her haunches, and sighed, "So what now? Something's got to give here. I mean really...Dawn was set up for failure. And how many other ponies have fallen into the same situation, and all just because they happen to be a bit bigger than the average? And...Dawn doesn't deserve all this garbage. Bad enough that she was labeled with that 'mad bomber' stuff when she was just trying to do her job."

"Yeah...well, it's an ugly job Dash," Spitfire answered, "and no pony should get a blank check when it comes to using lethal force. And let's keep in mind that even if the cards weren't stacked against her, there's no guarantee she would have made it onto the team." Spitfire then strolled over and sat down next to Rainbow, and added, "But...you're right, she got a raw deal. She deserves better than that."

Rainbow looked over to Spitfire and asked, "Got any ideas?"

Spitfire nodded. "I think so. But I'm going to need a bit of help to pull it off. And, I think...a bit of help from that princess friend of yours."

Dawn was not in the habit of bringing her work along with her to the cafeteria. But the weekend had been busy, and she had a reading list a mile long, and with her first meeting at 9am, precedent had to be set aside. That said though, it was hard to keep like things together while it was spread out on the table; reports on new development work in the griffon kingdom; the latest update on the breakup of the Storm King’s empire; the various scattered reports on the whereabouts of Queen Chrysalis. It made for an ugly mess, but she couldn't help but notice that most of the tables around her looked pretty bad too, so she had doubts that anypony would single her out.

Dawn scanned the various papers for as long as she could, and then leaned back, carefully removed her reading glasses and tried to give her eyes a rest. When she opened them again, she glanced over at the donut that sat there. Normally on these study sessions, she had a whole plate full, but today she had tried to cut it to two, and even then she felt a bit guilty. She had told herself for awhile that she would try to get back on an aggressive training schedule, but something always seemed to come up. And though she had made weight on her last p.t. test, it was just barely. and that was certainly nothing to brag about since it made her a slug in the air, especially in a climb.

But that said, a bunch of coffee on an empty stomach was never a good idea either. Which caused her to look to the other elephant in the room, sitting there in that cup. She shook her head and smiled, ‘What is it about coffee and me exactly’ she thought. She had never had a taste for it until she joined the R.O.T.C., and ever since it had become a staple of life. And over the years, the quality of government issue coffee had varied, ranging from rather decent to so damn bitter that she swore she could take it home and let her daughter use it to clean her paint brushes.

She had to admit to herself though that whatever the quality on a given day, she usually drank it anyway.

'But...' she thought, looking at the cup, 'not now.' Instead, she once again replaced her glasses on her snout and went back to work.

"Sweet Celestia...what a load of crap!" came a call from a familiar voice somewhere nearby.

Dawn looked up and quickly glanced around her till she spotted Rainbow Dash, wearing her Wonderbolt's flight suit approaching from her right, followed closely by Vapor Trail, wearing her R.F.C. dress uniform.

"Whoa...whoa...whoa...what are you two doing here?" Dawn asked, obviously surprised, "This is supposed to be a secure facility."

"Yeah, that's what somepony said to us too," Rainbow answered, "But...you'd be surprised just where they'll let a Wonderbolt go these days."

Dawn recoiled back, her face showing pure horror.

"Rainbow?!? What kind of an answer is that?" she asked, and then frantically began gathering up the various folders and assorted papers in front of her.

"Uh Dawn," Vapor said with a smile as she reached out and caught hold of Dawn's arm, "We actually didn't just walk in. Yes, they did screen us...a lot."

"Yeah...and besides," Rainbow added, "we're actually here on official business."

Dawn's arms dropped to her sides, and her head tilted as an eyebrow rose, and she said, "You...on official business?"

Rainbow frowned, and looked to Vapor, who just smiled and shrugged.

"Hey...it could happen. Or it actually did happen...or whatever," Rainbow answered, and then shook her head and continued, "Anyway...you're getting me all mixed up. So...anyway, the whole point is...we've got an offer here that we think you can't refuse."

Dawn crossed her arms, and sat back in her chair and said, "Well, it had better be a good one kid. You might be surprised just what kind of offers I've refused in the past."

"Well, this one is something I think that you'll like," Rainbow said with a smile, "I had a little talk with Spit, and we both agree that you got a raw deal back in the day; and we couldn't help but think that the commission coming in there when they did was about the next best thing to ants at a picnic. And, we think that you deserve a better deal than that."

"O.k., I'm certainly not going to argue that point," Dawn answered, "But come on now, I survived remember. I changed course, and I like where I ended up."

"Well yeah, we know that," Vapor replied, "But you said it yourself, it took Spit almost no time to talk you into coming and helping her, even with a family and a fulltime job to worry about. Why did you do it Dawn? It's more than just friendship...isn't it?"

Dawn shook her head and exhaled before she said, "Uh yeah...well, I guess you could say that the Wonderbolts is an itch that still needed scratching. And as Spit said, it was 'a chance to hang with the cool ponies for awhile.' A desk job really does have it's drawbacks sometimes. Not that I'm looking to get back into combat or anything," she said, her expression showing her earnestness, "the invasion was WAY too much. But, I guess...that I just wanted to get a hint at what Spit does everyday, and...what I missed out on."

"Well...it's funny you should say that," Rainbow said with a smile, "because we want to help you with that. Or...in other words, we want you to fly with us."

Dawn's arms fell to her sides, and she stared at Rainbow in confusion.

"What?" she asked.

"Dawn" Vapor said, "we want to you to fly with us...with the Wonderbolts...at the Manehatten 300."

Dawn said nothing at first. She just sat there in silence. But slowly, she glanced over first to Rainbow, and then to Vapor, and then said, "Are you two nuts? I...I've got a job to do here. I've got a family to look after. And...I mean...there's also the minor factor here that I'm not a Wonderbolt. I'm not even close to one! I can't do what you guys do!"

"Dawn," Vapor continued, "you don't have to do what we do. But we think that it's time that ponies get a chance to see their air force...and get to see that there's more to you than just what the newspapers tell them."

"But, the R.F.C. doesn't do air shows," Dawn answered, "I couldn't do this even if I wanted to."

"Well, actually...you kind of have to," Rainbow answered, "it's a command performance." She then produced a very formal looking letter and pushed it Dawn's way.

"Who in their right mind would order that?!?" Dawn growled as she reached for the letter. She quickly opened it and scanned the page before stopping at the bottom. She let the paper fall back to the table, and looked up and said "....Princess Twilight Sparkle." She then face hoofed and said in a low voice, "...ask a silly question."

Dawn emitted a low groan and said, ""Ohh Vapor...kid...I could come through this looking like the freak of the week before this is over you know."

"Oh come on Dawn," Rainbow chimed in, "If this is all coming back to that trouble you had against pursuit flyers."

Dawn looked up. "Uh whoa...wait a minute there," Dawn rebutted, "I can figure out ways to handle combat flying."

"Oh right," Rainbow answered, leaning forward on the table and smiling, "I thought you said it would be a trick to beat a pursuit flyer?"

"Yeah," Dawn continued, "but thankfully I've learned a few over the years."

"Then this should be a snap," Rainbow replied, "and besides, you won't have to do what we do anyway. You'll do things that you know how to do, after some practice of course with the team."

"Oh my, this is ridiculous," Dawn said to no one in particular.

"Come on Dawn, just think of it as a chance to do the one thing that all pegasi love to do," Rainbow replied.

"And what's that exactly?" Dawn asked skeptically.

Rainbow looked to Vapor, and then back to Dawn and answered, "Show off."

Dawn looked at Rainbow, and then to Vapor. She took a deep breath, and finally answered, "Oh yeah o.k. I guess. I mean really, it's just a reputation...right?"

"That's the spirit Dawn!" Vapor answered, "...sort of."

Dawn could only shake her head and smile.

Into the Wild Blue Yonder

The breeze blowing in off the harbor was a bit on the cool side this particular morning, in spite of the season. At least that was the thought that came to Dawn Rider’s mind as she stepped out onto the roof of the building from which in two hours she would launch herself.

She couldn’t decide whether or not this was normal or not. She had only been to Manehatten a couple of times before and then only in the role of tourist, which didn’t give her much to compare to. And she had heard stories about what was normally called "Founder's Day" in this town, and even from her far away vantage point the crowds at the harbor front preparing to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the city's royal charter looked massive.

“Ma’am?” came a voice from somewhere to the right.

She turned and saw the Wonderbolt’s ground director, Fast Clip, next to her.

“Yes?” she answered.

“Uh ma’am, I’m going down to the mezzanine for a little while,” he answered, “Can I get you anything?”

An obvious answer immediately came to mind, but she dismissed it and simply answered, “Oh…uh, no thank you.”

The other pony left, leaving Dawn with her thoughts. She still couldn't believe that she went along with this. She wasn't a show pony dammit, she was a combat flyer, plain and simple. And ultimately, would all those ponies even understand what they were seeing? There were reasons why everypony referred to the R.F.C. as the 'silent service'. 'Heck," she thought, 'I can't even remember the last time I saw one of our recruiting posters.' And who could forget what happened last month when the "Intrepid" came into Phillydelphia for routine servicing, and it caused a panic...in that big zeppelin's home port!?! She certainly understood the idea of post invasion jitters, but come on?

"Aww...to hell with it," she said to herself as she began the process of loosening up, "Some ponies out there are overdue for a reality check." and she moved over to an open area. She was feeling reasonably decent all things considered as she went through her routine. At least, until she moved to her wings, and felt a slight twinge; her left was still rather stiff. Not too surprising, she had spent more time in the air over the last week than she had over the previous couple of months. Hopefully, it would pay off.

When she had finished up, she checked her watch. 'It's about time," she concluded, and she reached down to her right flank and turned on her radio. She then hit the switch a couple of times till she got the right tone in her ear, and she called out into her throat mic, "Manehatten A.T.C....this is Romeo Foxtrot Charlie fight one...callsign Hellhound 14 Delta...radio check...over!"

"Wait one," came the reply after a minute or two, and she stood there for a moment before hearing, "Hellhound 14 Delta...this is Manehatten A.T.C....we read you lima charlie. Be advised, show is proceeding as scheduled. Synchronize current time at 10:50. Expecting your takeoff from current location at 12:45. Call for clearance before you launch...over!"

"Roger that," Dawn answered, "Hellhound 14 Delta...out." With that, Dawn sat down and tried to get comfortable.

"Hey!" came a call from behind, "What's up!"

Dawn turned towards the familiar voice, and saw Spitfire approach, followed by Princess Twilight and Scootaloo.

"I thought that you were still under restrictions," Dawn said as Spitfire got close enough.

"Well yeah, I am...doofus. You didn't see me fly up here, did you?" Spitfire answered with a smile, "Even I'm still capable of riding an elevator and walking up some stairs."

"A likely story," Dawn responded as she caught hold of Spitfire's outstretched arm and pulled her into a hug. They held on for just long enough to give each other a pat on the side, and then separated.

"So," Twilight chimed in as she and Scoot joined the pair, "we just came by to let you know that we're here to cheer you on, and check and see how you're feeling."

This caused Spitfire to turn back to Dawn, and take a closer look at her friend. "Hey!" she exclaimed, You're wearing the old suit...aren't you?"

"Huh?" Scootaloo asked as she got closer.

"Uh...it's the flight suit sweety," Dawn answered, "It's the one from my old squadron...now with my current rank of course."

"Oh indeed," Twilight responded, "I've never seen an R.F.C. flightsuit. "and she moved in closer to see. She walked around Dawn and examined the garment, but suddenly paused as she got to Dawn's flanks.

"Uh...that's an interesting unit crest, and quite a motto that your squadron had," she said with a note of discomfort, "I mean really...'Death or Glory'?"

Spitfire looked to Dawn, and they both laughed before answering, "Yeah well...some squadrons are a bit more hard core than most. And others are just plain nuts"

"Uh well, that's interesting...I guess", Twilight answered, "But anyway...Dawn...how are you feeling about all this?"

"Oh please," Spitfire answered, "I can tell you what she's thinking with one glance. It's basically 'What am I doing here', "This is nuts', 'I want to crawl under a rock and hide'."

"O.k. now," Dawn answered, "the last one hasn't occurred to me...yet."

"Oh come on...this is your perfect chance to show those clods out there that you are the ace of the base," Spitfire replied, her hoof gently poking Dawn's chest, "You fly this routine half as well here as you did in practice, and you're going to blow those ponies minds."

"Uh...we'll see," Dawn answered, "We may have a more cynical crowd than you think."

"Oh, get real!" Spitfire answered, shaking her head, "You are NOT going to be allowed to talk your way out of this, so drop that right now. I am going to make a hero out of you...like it or not."

Dawn took a deep breath and closed her eyes. That only lasted a moment until she felt Twilight give her a gentle jab in the ribs. She looked towards Twilight and saw her smile, then looked over to Scootaloo, who held up her leg for a high hoof. Dawn smiled, and shifted her weight slightly and completed the gesture.

"I hear you there kiddo," she said to Scoot, "Hero time...right?"

The lone police officer had been moving along at a brisk trot for four blocks now. It didn't take a genius to figure out where the traffic blockage probably was given what were the normal pinch points in this part of the city were, but that didn't make getting there any easier. And the further she got, the more it became clear to her, any backup was going to take awhile to get there.

“Hey, you gonna do something about this?” called one pony from the top of one wagon as he balanced himself between the seat and the toe board, while the pair pulling the wagon watched.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get yourself into a tizzy there bud,” she answered, “Got any idea what’s going on?”

“Yeah, went up and looked, and officer…you aint gonna believe it,” was the answer she got, “It’s up around the corner.”

“Got it,” she replied, “Just stay back here, and try to keep it civil, o.k.?” She didn’t wait for a reply, but kept moving through the ever growing crowd as well as she could till she finally rounded the corner.

And then she saw it, parked in the middle of the six lane intersection, its wings barely avoiding the adjoining buildings. It was a huge cruising zeppelin, its hull a gleaming white, trimmed in gold, with the large envelope over it studded with speakers. It was just hovering there, it's keel six feet above the pavement at best.

The officer had to do a double take. The whole scene was almost too much. She sighed, and said to no one in particular, “Why the hell not…” and then approached the scene.

She made a point of dodging around the crowd that had gathered and trotted up to one of the larger passenger coaches. She hopped up on the boot, and then climbed up on the roof, and looked up to the vessel and called out “HEY!!!”

A lone pony peered over the side.

“WHO’S IN CHARGE UP THERE?!?” she yelled.

The lone pony disappeared for a moment, and suddenly several other ponies peered over the rail at the lone police officer, none of which appearing to be crew. After a moment or two, someone else met her gaze, a large shaggy character with impossibly broad shoulders and…horns?

“Is there a problem officer?” the figure asked.

The police pony recoiled back, and then replied, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA HERE!?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING BRINGING THIS SHIP DOWN INTO THE MIDDLE OF A DAMN INTERSECTION!? AT THIS RATE YOU'LL JAM UP TRAFFIC FROM HERE TO FILLEYDELPHIA!”

The creature answered, "Well...I'm glad you asked...because you see...we're lost! Could you by chance direct us towards the harbor!"

The officer gasped, and fired back, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE LOST!?! ARE YOU INSANE OR JUST INCOMPETANT!?! WHAT IN EQUIS ARE DOING HERE ANYWAY!?!"

“Ah yes, I’m glad you asked,” the figure answered, “We’re here for the celebration of course! All part of Iron Will’s famous 'Manehatten Tour Extraordinaire'." He paused and struck a pose before continuing, "Picture it...the four night cruise…luxury accommodations included…culminating in the ‘Manehatten 300’…with the airshow included for the nominal fee of…!”

“WILL YOU CAN THE SALES PITCH!! I’M NOT IN THE MARKET, O.K.!!” the officer answered and then continued, “WHERE’S YOUR PILOT!?! YOU CAN”T JUST GO SAILING THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE BOROUGH WITHOUT A LICENSED PILOT! AND DIMWIT, IF YOU WERE COMING FOR THE AIRSHOW, YOU NEEDED TO BE HERE AND DOCKED AT THE HARBOR YESTERDAY!! THIS AIRSPACE IS CLOSED!!”

The figure looking over the rail recoiled back, obviously surprised. “But…that’s restraint of trade!” he answered.

The officer facehoofed and growled, and then fired back, “ARE YOU TOTALLY INSANE!?! “ She then pointed to the figure and commanded, “LISTEN TO ME....PARK THIS STUPID THING AND GET DOWN HERE NOW!! I’M TAKING YOU IN BEFORE YOU GET SOME PONY KILLED!!”

Almost instantly, the figure at the rail disappeared, and from somewhere above, an indecipherable voice called out apparently from the loudspeakers. A second later, a huge gust of wind kicked up from the ship’s engines and a deluge of water emitted from the bow as the ship dropped ballast. As the engine thrust increased, it knocked over dozens of wagons and carriages, turning the previously clogged roadway into a tangled disaster area of ponies and equipment. The ship rose slowly into the air, one wing scraping up the side of an adjoining building as it went.

The officer did her best to brace herself against the downdraft both to hold on to the carriage and her hat, and then could only stand there and watch, shaking her head in disbelief. Finally, the vessel cleared the intersection, toppling a couple of streetlights along the way, and proceeded down the avenue at a ridiculously low altitude.

The officer hopped down from her perch, and ignoring for the moment the mess she knew would take her hours to clear headed at a brisk trot to the nearest callbox, muttering to herself as she went, “What I wouldn’t give to get through one damn celebration in this town without some idiot screwing it up.”

“Hey guys,” High Winds called out as she reached down and adjusted her flight suit, and she hoped, all things underneath, “Does anyone else here think that radios suck besides me? I mean, how do those R.F.C. types deal with them everyday?”

“What brings that to mind, dare I ask,” Rainbow responded.

High Winds came over to the bench, and planted herself. “Oh, about what you would expect,” she answered, “the stupid pack is jabbing me in the hindquarters; the microphone wire makes me feel like I’m strangling; and the jolt from the antenna going up my spine is a bit more of a thrill for me than I should probably admit to."

The entire group who heard that burst out laughing, and Fleetfoot answered, “Suck it up High. We need them for Dawn’s sake.”

Rainbow shook her head and added with a chuckle, “Yeah, small price considering what we’re going to get here show wise. She’s going to be great."

“All right gang!” came the call from Misty as she stuck her head in the door, “We start our preflight in fifteen minutes! Let’s move it along please!”

“Got it boss!” Rainbow answered, and slowly the group migrated out of the room.

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” the Fast Clip answered as he tried to process what he had just heard, “That sounds like a total pain in the rear.”

“Tell me about it,” Spitfire answered from the spot she had picked on the graveled surface of the roof. “We spent most of the day making one damn run after another. Big surprise…no one had the guts to tell that stupid air marshal that the whole idea of dropping a bomb into a pickle barrel violated the laws of both physics and sanity. Let’s just say that it was not what you would call a profile in courage.”

“That’s looney,” the Fast Clip replied, “How did you ever get past that nuttiness? Did you just have to wait till the attackers just dropped from exhaustion?”

“Well, actually it was the work of my main mare here…” Spitfire replied, pointing to Dawn, “You may not guessed, but once upon a time…she was a bit of a rebel.”

“Well,” the ground director replied turning to Dawn, “what did you do?”

Dawn answered at first with an obviously nervous smile, and then replied, “Uh…well, I…talked to the armorer and convinced him to switch the practice bombs we were using to live ordinance.”

The stallion's jaw dropped, and he shook his head in obvious disbelief. "You're kidding me!?!" he answered, "How did that work out?"

"Well, as you can no doubt imagine the air marshal was mad as hell, and it did scare the crap out of everypony," Dawn answered, "but...it did finally destroy whatever remained of those barrels...and it clued the base commander into just why all his practice bombs were coming back from the field in pieces, which as you can imagine pissed him off. And thankfully, the whole thing was just embarrassing enough that a court martial would have only made things worse, so...I got away with it."

"Oh yeah, that was classic," Spitfire answered with a chuckle, and then added, "Just be careful when you tell that story. I remember a while back when I told that story to our old friend Brillance, who unfortunately was drinking tea at the time. I swear she shot that stuff halfway across the room."

No pony could speak for several minutes as the trio was consumed in laughter. That is...until an unusual sound caught the ear above the city's typical din. Spitfire heard it first, and looked up, followed by the others.

"Does anypony else hear something in the distance besides normal traffic?" Spitfire asked.

"Yeah," the ground controller answered, pausing to listen closer, "What is it?'

The trio stayed quiet for a moment.

"That's a chopper," Dawn said in a low voice, and she stood up. "No..." she continued, "It's more than one."

The three ponies all stood up and moved in different directions, scanning the skies as they did.

"There it is!" Spitfire called out, and the group immediately gathered on either side of her as a small single rotor helicopter came into view. It was cruising a couple of hundred feet over the rooftops, obviously searching for something. There was nothing obvious to clue the trio in on what it was looking for given the normal sounds of the city, but who was looking was abundantly clear, as even from a distance three letters were clearly visible on the side of the craft before it ducked between the larger buildings beyond...M.P.D..

"What are the cops doing around here? Aren't we already in a no fly zone?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know, but whatever it is...I don't like it," Spitfire replied, "Those guys should be just patrolling the perimeter this late in the morning," and then added, "Fast...why don't you go over and set up that portable radio we brought up here. Something tells me we're going to need it."

Fast Clip looked over to the pair of large cases sitting about twenty five feet away, and nodded.

"Got it," he answered.

Almost as soon as she said this, a distant, but clearly identifiable boom caught every ponies ear. The trio stood there in silence, not quite believing what they just heard. Spitfire heard a sound and looked over her shoulder to see Dawn plodding up next to her, her jaw hanging open in obvious surprise.

"What the heck was that?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Spitfire answered, and then turned and said, "Hey Fast...uh, let me give you a hoof," and quickly moved to join the other pony in his project.

"All stations...all stations....this is Manehatten A.T.C....I need a status report immediately on that accident," came the voice over the radio for those ponies equipped to hear it that day.

"This is M.P.D. Dispatch....Stand by Manehatten Control...." was the response. "We're still getting an update."

After a few moments, the voice continued, "Manhatten Control this is M.P.D. Dispatch...got a confirmation on the initial. We have an air unit forced down due to near miss in vicinity of Midway Park West. Report is hard landing...no casualties."

"Understood dispatch," was the reply, "Need to know...is an intercept still possible before this craft reaches the harbor area?"

There was a long pause, and then the reply came, "Difficult to say. Pegasi units on scene report that subject craft is flying very low and very erratically and is apparently evading. And the on-scene commander says he doesn't want to risk a boarding after what happened to that chopper."

There was another moment of silence, and then it was heard, "Understood M.P.D. Dispatch. Advise your units to hang back and observe. Guard Authority has declared an Air Defense Alert for the city, and they're calling in for support."

"M.P.D. Dispatch to Manehatten A.T.C....request confirmation on last transmission on A.D.A...over," one side questioned.

"Manehatten A.T.C...that is confirmed," was the answer, "Craft is considered possible threat to code name Diamond. They don't want another damn Storm King debacle like last year...how copy over?"

"M.P.D. Dispatch...roger that and will comply,"

The crowd in the stands was barely able to part for Twilight and Scootaloo as they made their way back to the Royal Box. Twilight could only shake her head and smile. There were any number of attendants that could have made this trip for them, but after a couple of hours of sitting, they both just had to move. Well that, and there was the challenge of explaining the ice cream cone combination they eventually settled on, which she now held suspended in front of her in her magic aura as she walked. It just wouldn't have worked out.

"Well Scoot," Twilight said, looking towards the filly walking with her, "It looks like the Washouts are performing now."

Scootaloo gave a quick sideways glance to her right, then turned back and gave a clearly audible harrumph before replying, "Yeah...and they haven't gotten any pony killed...yet."

Twilight could only smile and roll her eyes. But in an instant, a young dark purple pegasus shot past her. She stopped short as the young colt passed, but she immediately spotted a unicorn filly following him, shouting "Will you wait up!"

The young mare tried hard to stop and just managed to turn a major collision into a minor bump. Twilight took a moment to steady her ice cream cone, and looked down at the stranger, the filly backing up at the same time.

She was taller than Scoot: her fur, mane, and tail all black; and she wore a large green bow in her mane, and Twilight noticed, a dribble of ice cream on her nose.

Twilight was going to say something, But the young mare, looking like she was in shock, backed away slowly, and then quickly blurted out, "Sorry...sorry...sorry...sorry..." and then quickly turned away and continued her previous pursuit.

"Well, that was strange," Twilight said to no one in particular, not seeing Scoot as her friend watched the stranger leave.

"Uh...Twilight," Scootaloo said as peaked around the older mare, "Do you remember when Dawn showed us that picture of her daughter Serenity? You know...the black fur...the green eyes...and that cutie mark? Uh, I...think that was her."

Twilight puzzled over the words for a second, and then gasped. "WAIT...WHAT?!? You mean that...that was...? Ohhhh...." she groaned as she facehoofed, "I can't believe that in the midst of all this it didn't occur to me that her family would come! I am totally dropping the ball here."

It was then that Twilight noticed the change in the sound of the crowd. She looked up and noticed that no pony appeared to be watching the performance anymore. Then she turned towards the harbor and noticed that Lightning Dust was arguing with one of the officials, as her show had come to a stop. Then something caught her eye, and she looked up and saw a strange glow in the sky around her.

"Uh Scoot honey," she said in the calmest voice she could manage, "I don't want you to panic, but some pony has put a shield over us."

"Attention everypony!," came a voice from the loudspeaker, "We're going to have a brief pause in our show today! We please ask that all spectators please remain in their seats! We should be able to get back to our program in just a few minutes!"

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad," Twilight said to Scootaloo. But when she looked to the young pegasus, she was looking towards the harbor.

"Uh Twilight," Scootaloo answered, "There's something else going on here. Take a look over there" she said, pointing into the distance.

Twilight looked, and then she saw them, two flights of grey clad pegasi, both in tight finger four formations, approaching quickly at what looked like maybe fifteen hundred feet off the deck. One of the two then banked to the right while the other winged its way towards the city beyond with a clearly audible whoosh as they passed directly overhead. Then, the first group appeared again, having circled around show center, then split into it's two elements, and began orbiting the harbor.

"Twilight," Scoot said, "Remember how you said you'd never seen an R.F.C flight suit before."

"Uh huh," Twilight answered, still watching the spectacle.

"Well," Scoot continued, "Here's your chance. Those guys are R.F.C. pursuit fliers."

The pair continued to watch as the two elements circled over head. Then Twilight heard Scootaloo gasp.

"Oh wow Twilight," Scoot said as she pointed to the fliers. "Did you see that metallic flash from the leading edge of their wings as they turned?"

"Uh...maybe," Twilight answered, "What does that mean?"

"It means," Scoot answered, her anxiety plainly obvious from the tension in her voice, "those guys are armed!!"

Fly Like An Eagle

“Your Highness, I really don’t think that this is a good idea,” the young guardspony said as he tried to keep up with the obviously agitated royal, “There is a potential threat up there, and I mean ma’am…you don’t even have a radio. You’ll have no way of communicating with them once you're airborne.”

“I know…I know…but there’s no time for that,” Twilight Sparkle answered as she exited the grandstand and moved to the only halfway clear area for what looked like at least two blocks. “Just have somepony give those guys up there some warning and I'm sure this will work out.”

Upon reaching her objective, she paused and looked back to Scootaloo, who had followed her closely.

“Twilight, are you sure that you know what you’re doing?” Scoot asked, her concern plainly evident, “I mean, with that magic shield up, we’re really not in any actual danger, or at least that’s what everyone’s saying.”

“I know Scoot, but I can’t take any chances,” Twilight answered, and gave an exasperated sigh and added, “I have to try and help. I mean, what if this is another invasion? I’m the Princess of Friendship, I’ve got to try and head this off if I can.”

Twilight stopped in the middle of the small clearing and took a moment to stretch out her wings as four guard members took up positions needed to keep the crowd back.

“Ma’am?” another guardspony asked, “What should we tell the others in the Royal Box?”

“Uh…oh my,” Twilight said to herself, and then turned to the questioner and answered, “Tell them I’ll be right back.” And with that, she launched herself into the air, climbing steadily until she reached the perimeter of the shield, and she cast her own spell, surrounding herself in a dark red aura before continuing on up and through the shielding and flying off towards the city.

Scootaloo sat back on her haunches and ran an arm through her mane, then looked over to the guard next to her and asked, "Sooo....is somebody going to call this in?"

The young unicorn next to her cringed, but gave an uncertain smile, and levitated a small microphone from her saddlebag, depressed the button and said, "Central this is Guard Post 2. Repeat...Central this is Guard Post 2...come in."

"Guard Post 2, this is Central...report your status. Is codename Amethyst still at your location?" came the reply.

The unicorn looked to the little pegasus next to her, who could only shrug her shoulders, and answered, "Uh...not exactly."

The air over Manehatten's western most borough seemed to be buzzing with activity as M.P.D. search parties crisscrossed overhead, ducking and diving around flights of civilians apparently clued into the drama and trying to observe.

Dawn Rider could only watch from her perch and shake her head. The whole situation had disaster written all over it. She looked over to where Spitfire was talking on the radio, and tried to listen in.

“Guys…yeah o.k…. I understand the concern that this guy may be some sort of threat. He's broken about every rule of flying in an urban area currently on the books. But…work with me here o.k. What if he’s not? Your guys already identified the ship involved, and the captain of that particular clown college. And we’ve already concluded that this guy has way more ego than brains. So maybe…just maybe…this guy isn’t a terrorist. Maybe he’s just a moron."

“Captain Spitfire…I’m not prepared right now to debate this with you!” the voice from the speaker declared, “The decision is out of my hands. Without an ability for the police to intervene, a military response is our only option.”

“Yeah, I’ll grant you that the situation totally reeks right now,” Spitfire replied, “But even once the R.F.C. catches up to this dork…what’s next? Those guys aren’t exactly known for subtlety. And you said it yourself, there are civilian passengers on that thing, not to mention all those ponies on the ground to think of." Spitfire paused, and then continued, "Listen, you guys said that Princess Twilight is up there somewhere, right? Why can’t she just teleport on board that stupid thing?”

“Captain…speaking as a fellow unicorn,” the caller responded, “I have to inform you that teleportation onto a moving object is quite difficult from a stationary position, let alone while flying.”

“Yeah, but if any pony can do it…it’s Princess Twilight,” Spitfire answered. She paused, and then added, “But she’s going to need some support up there. Listen, you guys said that my team hasn’t been called off yet right? Would anyone on your end object if I brought them in to give her some backup.”

There was silence for a moment, and then a reply, “Captain, my boss here has no objections, as long as they stay clear of the cops and those pursuits.”

“Acknowledged Manehatten A.T.C.” Spitfire answered, and then set the microphone down and began adjusting the frequency. As she did so, she looked back for a moment and saw Dawn sitting a few feet away, her eyes towards the skyline and a look of resignation on her face.

“Hey!” Spitfire called to her friend, “Don’t think you’re off the hook just yet. I’m still going to make a hero out of you…you can bet your ass on it.” She then turned back to the radio set, and added, “I just hope this thing’s got the range we need,” as she finally got to the setting she needed and reached for the microphone, pressed the switch with her other hoof, and called out “Blue Leader…Blue Leader...this is Whisky Bravo Xray! Repeat this is Whisky Bravo Xray! Come in Blue Leader...over!”

The morning had looked promising from the get-go, Rainbow thought, as she surveyed the crystal-clear blue sky and the slight chill of temps starting out around 65 degrees. ‘The weather ponies really out did themselves today’, she thought, and it seemed that nothing had changed as the morning went on other than the temps as she and the team suited up and went through their preflight briefings.

And now, here she was flying along with the team in line abreast formation over the borough of Trotbeca as the team made its way towards the harbor. She guessed from the appearance of things that they were cruising at about 2,000 feet in altitude, already putting out their customary smoke trails while more ponies than she could ever hope to count watched and waved from the various rooftops along the way. It was a perfect day for an airshow.

“Blue Flight…Blue Flight…this is Blue Leader!” came a sudden call into her earpiece, “Trails fall into line with your leaders and stand by for new orders!”

The unexpected call put Rainbow Dash on an even higher state of alert than usual, and she couldn’t help but feel her gut tighten a bit when she glanced over her shoulder and saw Vapor fall back into position behind her. ‘Of all the times to break up the Vapor/Sting combo’, she thought.

“Alright Wonderbolts,” the voice of Misty Fly continued, “We’ve got an emergency here! We’ve got unauthorized traffic heading towards show center! They can’t contact this guy and they're worried enough about it that they’ve called in the R.F.C. to intercept! Princess Twilight is trying to intervene, but she’s up all by herself and with no commo! Our job is to locate the princess and provide whatever support she needs! Do not interfere with the pursuits! Do not interfere with the cops! Leaders sound off and report readiness!?!”

“Got it boss,” High Winds answered,

“Were ready!” came the voice of Fire Streak.

Rainbow took a second to confirm Vapor’s position, and then called out, “Roger that boss.”

“Alright everyone, let's do this!” Misty answered, “And let’s make sure we fly smart everypony! All pairs...prepare to break formation…in three…two…one…BREAK!”

And with that call, and formation dispersed, one to the left, one higher, one lower while Rainbow and Vapor peeled off to the right.

Dawn paced back and forth across the ridge of the roofline, looking up periodically to note the local air traffic. She saw a flight of Wonderbolts at one point, but it only lasted a moment as they passed by and went on their way.

“Hey, look at this,” came a call from behind her, and she turned quickly and shaded her eyes as she concentrated on the passing scene. It was instantly recognizable as R.F.C. flyers, the two-tone grey being unmistakable even at a distance.

“Whoa?” Fast Clip said as the pair passed overhead, “Did you see that flash as they passed? And what the heck do they have on their backs?”

Dawn looked over to Spitfire, who nodded to her and then turned to Fast and replied, “The flash is from their wingsabers. They use them in close quarter fights. The bigger problem here is the weapon pods that their carrying. Those things are designed to take down dragons if needed.”

Fast Clip's eyes went wide. “How the heck would that work?” Fast questioned.

Overhearing the conversation, Dawn sighed and moved over to join the others, and answered, “Have you ever heard of a weapon called canister shot?”

Fast Clip’s ears drooped, and he nodded.

“Well, it’s basically the same thing, fired from those pods on their backs,” Dawn continued, “If they use those things against that zeppelin’s envelope, they’ll tear the damn thing to shreds, and that airship will come down like a ton of bricks.”

"Damn," Fast Clip answered, "I never knew we had stuff like that."

Dawn smiled. "No reason that you would actually," she answered, "They don't use them much. Heck, they didn't even have them for the initial encounter with the Storm King, which as you can imagine didn't give them a lot of options when they finally encountered his fleet."

Spitfire waved to Dawn and gestured to her to move to the sidelines. Dawn moved over to where Spit had gone and came up close to her.

"So wing commander," Spitfire said to her friend, "What's your reading on this situation from a tactical standpoint?"

Dawn pursed her lips and answered, "This whole thing looks like train wreck in the making. And if they turn those weapons against that ship in the middle of a crowded street, and it goes total fubar as I expect it will, the least that will happen is that there won't be a R.F.C. when this all shakes out."

"Yeah," Spitfire replied, "That was my conclusion too." She took a step back and looked upward at the skyline and added, "All due respect to Princess Twilight, what we need right now, I think, is someone up there who can coordinate this whole thing and keep some hotshot squadron leader from doing something rash. Some pony who can actually talk to those those flyers up there in a language that they can understand..." she paused, and then added, "...some senior officer."

Spit turned towards her friend. She couldn't help but notice that her friend's eyes had gone wide, and she looked a bit smaller all of a sudden...like the weight of the world had suddenly landed on her back. She smiled, and asked, "So... how's your sense of adventure?"

Dawn closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, and replied, "I think that I left it in my other suit."

Spitfire scowled, and answered, "Well, that's a nice glass half empty approach to the whole thing." She turned and approached her friend and continued, "The use of force here isn't set in stone...right? There are still options here...right? The question here is whether some hot shot flight leader up there is going to look for alternatives, or just take the expedient route. That's why you call in the senior leadership."

"Oh great," Dawn answered, clearly annoyed, "So what do you suggest exactly?"

"I don't know," Spitfire answered, "I mean really...you're asking me? Is this coming from the queen of improvisation herself? Come on Dawn," Spitfire continued as she came up to her friend's side, "You're forgetting that I've seen how you work. Disaster is not preordained here. You're forgetting that you're going to have the advantage in numbers, and with Twilight up there, you'll have some magical firepower. This guy is determined, but it seems clear to me at least that he isn't very bright. Maybe we can outsmart him. I mean really, it's just like your favorite old saying, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance...""

Dawn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and then answered, ".... baffle them with bullshit." She turned and walked a few feet away, her mind obviously trying to wrap itself around the problem. She paused for a moment, and then turned and said to Spitfire, "O.k. coach, put me in."

"Now you're talking," Spitfire answered with a smile, and then turned to get back on the radio.

Author's Note

Decided to split up the next chapter of this story just to get the damn thing out there. I know where I'm going from here...at least mostly. I'll try to get more out soon.