Operation Tightrope Walkers
10:00
“Hey, Dash? You good?”
Rainbow tensed up and glanced behind her to see Fleetfoot standing in the doorway. She gave a confident smile and nodded. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”
Fleetfoot shrugged. “You seem kind of tense.”
“Nah. I’m good.”
“If you say so,” her wingmare replied before turning to leave the locker room. “Warm up’s in five, by the way. Better get dressed.”
Rainbow watched her leave, and the frown slipped off of her face. She counted to ten in her head before calling out. “She’s gone.”
A door on the far side opened, and a mare in a janitor’s uniform trotted in. “Too close,” she muttered. Rainbow eyed the flight suit slung over Bon Bon’s back warily. “Here it is, all enchanted and ready to go,” Bon Bon declared.
At first glance, it looked just like a regular Wonderbolts standard issue flight suit, right down to the decorations and seams. But as Rainbow picked it up she could feel that it was a bit heavier and bit different in her hooves. “Are you… sure this is going to work?” she asked, nervously.
Bon Bon nodded. “It’s been field tested more times than I can count. This thing’ll stop anything from a nine millimeter to a high cal. Trust me, it’ll get the job done.”
Rainbow glanced at the door again. “Right. I just… Why would someone want to kill Fleetfoot of all ponies?”
“That’s what happens when you start dating the daughter of a career criminal, then break up with her,” Bon Bon muttered. “Talk about giving an inch then taking a mile. You know the plan, right?” Rainbow nodded, and Bon Bon dug into her coat pocket and pulled out a small earpiece. “Right. Remember, you’re the failsafe. If all goes well we won’t even need you. Keep an ear on the comms and you’ll do fine.”
Rainbow took the earpiece and put it in her ear. “Yeah, sure. I just… how do we know this is the best way to do this?”
“We don’t,” Bon Bon sighed. “That’s the thing.” She gave Rainbow a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “You’ll do fine, kid. Trust me. It’s like walking a tightrope, just keep your eyes up and off the ground.”
Rainbow sucked in a breath and nodded. “Right. Let’s do this.”
10:30
Lyra frowned as she pored over the papers and photographs on the table in front of her. She sighed and reached for a cup of coffee as the door behind her opened.
“Dash is all set to go,” Bon Bon reported. “Any luck?”
“Nope,” Lyra grunted. “We’ve got nothing.”
Bon Bon went next to her, reviewing the case details in her mind. The Royal Investigative Service had recently received information that a criminal organization was carrying out a hit on a Wonderbolt at the show today. Their intelligence was shoddy at best, but currently it was suspected that Fleetfoot was the target.
Apparently, she had started dating one of the lieutenant’s daughters and broken up with her, leaving quite a bit of bad blood between them.
They knew that the hit was supposed to happen at today’s show: but they didn’t know when or how. “I still don’t like this,” Bon Bon grunted. “We should just whisk her off to a safehouse somewhere. Better than all of this theatrical shit.”
Lyra nodded, sipping from her coffee. “Yeah, I know. But you heard Blueblood. If we don’t stop them now, she’s never going to be safe again. And besides, a case like this is going to bolster his career, and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”
Bon Bon scoffed, sitting down next to her. “Are the counter snipers in position yet?”
“Should be,” Lyra said as she reached for the radio. “Let’s check.”
10:35
Roseluck flashed her vendor certification at the bored security guard, who merely glanced at it before waving her in. She smiled and thanked him, pulling her cart of flowers into the stadium with Lily and Daisy in tow.
“Blood Orchid, you in position?” asked a voice in her ear.
“Not yet,” Roseluck replied. “We’re through the front gate now.”
“Copy. You know the drill.”
As they reached the maintenance tunnel, Roseluck unhitched herself from the cart and trotted over to the side. She reached inside and pulled out the maintenance uniform she had acquired earlier.
After putting it on, she grabbed a long bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Good luck,” Lily said, giving her a hoof bump.
She trotted off towards the maintenance tunnel.
11:00
“... you know the drill,” Spitfire said as she finished her briefing.
The Wonderbolts nodded, lounging about in the preparation room lazily. It was just another show, after all. Nothing they haven’t done before.
Still, Rainbow’s heart pounded in her chest. She hadn’t felt this anxious since her very first show. Fleetfoot kept giving her odd glances, but didn’t push it.
Spitfire cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Oh, one more thing. We’ve got a flight pattern adjustment. Dash, you’re taking Fleetfoot’s place.”
Rainbow nodded. Looks like the RIS plan had worked after all.
Fleetfoot raised an eyebrow. “Any reason, cap?”
“Why?” Spitfire counted. “Scared you’ll mess it up? Fleety, you grew up flying in Dash’s spot. You’ll be fine.”
“But we never make last minute changes like this,” she argued.
Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder, remembering the cover story Bon Bon had given her. “It’s just because my wing’s bothering me. In your spot I can ride on your air stream so it doesn’t put too much pressure on it.”
Fleetfoot sighed and nodded. “Alright, Dash. If you say so.”
Rainbow smiled, before exchanging a nervous glance with Spitfire. This was it. No going back now.
11:35
From their elevated vantage point, Lyra could see the entire stadium. She levitated a pair of binoculars to her face and scanned the arena, tuning out the voice of the announcer. Nearby, the radio crackled to life.
“Lyra, you there?”
Lyra set down her binoculars and went over to the radio. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Security just caught some guys trying to enter the stadium with guns. Mid-range thugs, looks like. We might be in the clear,” Bon Bon reported.
Lyra sighed in relief. “Great to hear they sent out the local idiots instead of professionals.”
“Yeah, still. We better keep an eye out until we know for sure.”
11:40
Roseluck lay on her stomach, adjusting the scope on her sniper rifle. She scanned the area with her gun, sweeping it over the heads of the audience cautiously. Mentally she took in calculations for the wind and for bullet drop, eyes flicking about the audience.
“Blood Orchid, a group of armed ponies were just caught trying to enter the stadium,” said the voice in her ear.
Roseluck snorted. “Idiots.”
“Yeah. There might be more, though. Keep an eye out.”
“Copy.” She swept the stadium again, patiently waiting.
11:50
Bon Bon shook her head as a group of agents led the would-be assassins away from the stadium lot. She checked her watch. Five minutes to launch time. Hopefully, nothing else would happen today.
12:00
“Alright, Wonderbolts, let’s rock and roll!” The support staff in the tunnel whooped and cheered as Spitfire led the team down the hall.
Rainbow gave them a confident smile. The RIS had already caught the assassins, Bon Bon had said. So, if they were lucky, nothing else would happen. The gates opened and the crowd roared.
12:02
Minuette yawned as she turned some dials on her radio, scanning for other frequencies. She really didn’t get paid enough to do this.
As she reached for her coffee cup, there was a crackle of static, and bits of a conversation reached her ears. “...ready to go.”
“Roger that,” came a secondary voice. “Gonna feel good to take out an Element of Harmony, huh?”
Minuette’s eyes widened and she scrambled for her radio.
12:03
The announcer’s voice echoed throughout the control room where Lyra was set up. She leaned back in her chair and sipped her coffee, wondering if Fleetfoot would ever know how close to dying she was.
The Wonderbolts took to the air one by one, their trails made uniform by some smoke effects and magic. Each one looked exactly like the other, and that was what Blueblood was counting on.
Lyra was broken from her reverie when the radio crackled to life. “Lyra! Bon Bon! Anyone! Be advised, we’ve intercepted another radio transmission. There is another hostile party in the stadium!”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Are they after Fleetfoot?”
“Negative! We believe that their target is Rainbow Dash!”
Lyra’s eyes widened as she dropped her coffee cup. “Well, she’s wearing the suit-- shit! But she’s flying in Fleetfoot’s place!” Her hooves went for her radio. “Rainbow! Abort! Abort!”
12:04
Rainbow flinched as Lyra’s voice echoed in her ear. It took her a second to remember what ‘abort’ meant. “Fleetfoot, wait--”
But it was too late. Fleetfoot shot up into the sky.
12:05
“Fireteam, be advised, we have another hostile party in the stadium!”
Braeburn swore, his hoof hovering over the sniper rifle’s trigger. “Copied, I’ve got my eyes open.”
“You are clear to take any shot if you have one,” Bon Bon added.
“Well, fuck me then,” he muttered. He swept the stadium with his gun, searching for any signs of movement.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something: the glint of a scope in the sunlight.
12:06
Roseluck waited until her target shot into the sky. She smirked, following it with her scope. “Goodbye, Rainbow Dash,” she whispered softly. “I’ll send you some flowers.”
She pulled the trigger.