Rookie

by mushroompone

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rainbow Dash, Slice of Life, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5029

Retired Ex-Princess Luna has joined the Wonderbolts to stave off her boredom. Rainbow Dash isn't exactly thrilled to have her aboard.

Retired Ex-Princess Luna has joined the Wonderbolts to stave off her boredom. Rainbow Dash isn't exactly thrilled to have her aboard.

This fic is a gift for the wonderful, amazing Zontan. Love ya, buddy <3

Published 2022-09-15 22:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-09-15 22:00:00 UTC

Rookie

Luna was still running laps when Rainbow Dash left the Wonderbolts locker room.

Rainbow’s first thought was to turn right back around and hide out in there for as long as it took for her to finally finish up. She could do with a longer shower. And her locker could use a bit of cleaning up. Maybe she had kept that yo-yo in her duffel bag…

Her second thought was to slink away unnoticed. The setting sun cast long, convenient shadows she could creep through, thereby avoiding any interaction with the Princess.

The ex-Princess.

The once-great Princess of Equestria and the night sky and the land of dreams, now sweating and wheezing her way around the Wonderbolts track with all the grace of a wounded elephant.

Rainbow slid one curious hoof into the nearest patch of shade, testing it like bathwater.

It would be so easy…

“Oh! Captain!” Gasping. Weak from the effort. “Captain! Wait!”

Or maybe not.

Rainbow sucked in a quick breath, straightened up, and painted a smile over her face. Across the track, Luna had broken into a full-tilt gallop directly towards her, grinning goofily through her obvious exhaustion.

“Luna!” Rainbow replied through clenched teeth. “H-hey! Uh… what are you still doing here?”

Luna skidded to a halt in front of her Rainbow Dash. “Just getting in a few more laps, Captain!” she said with pride and a small spray of sweat from her upper lip. “Starting Monday, I will no longer be the slowest cadet in your group!”

Rainbow’s forced her fake smile to grow as she fought back one or two cutting remarks. “That’s… great!”

“I know!” Luna beamed, still trying to catch her breath in enormous gulps of air. “I really think I have a breakthrough on the horizon, Captain. I can feel it.”

“You don’t have to call me Captain, Princess.”

Luna scoffed. “Well, you don’t have to call me Princess, Captain,” she replied, her voice thin with all the panting.

Rainbow grimaced. “Fine. Truce?”

Luna nodded and beamed.

She held out her hoof.

Rainbow hesitated, wondering grimly if touching the Princess might cause her to collapse in on herself like a house of cards, before reaching out for a feather-light hoof bump.

Against all odds, Luna remained upright.

Rainbow cleared her throat. “Did you, uh… wanna talk to me about something?” she asked.

Luna’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“You flagged me down from across the field?” Rainbow reminded her.

“Oh!” Luna brightened. “Of course! I wanted to invite you to breakfast!"

Rainbow cocked her head. "Breakfast?"

Luna nodded enthusiastically. Her breathing, at last, was sounding a little less desperate. "Before training. On Monday," she specified.

Rainbow waited, perhaps longer than she should have, for Luna to elaborate. A precise time, an exact location, a reason. Any reason. Even a bad one. Even a dumb one.

But Luna only looked down at her Captain, hopeful and expectant.

Just decline politely.

Just decline impolitely.

Just say you have plans.

Just say you don’t eat breakfast.

Just say—

“Suuure…” Rainbow drew the sound out, uncertain why it had left her mouth at all.

Rookie mistake.

Even now—standing outside of the little diner, one hoof on the door—Rainbow Dash considered bailing.

She felt bad about it. That was probably the only thing keeping her from rushing off and concocting a lie about leaving something at home or having some important meeting… even just plain forgetting.

It was tempting. She would be lying if she said otherwise.

But here she stood, one hoof on the door, staring at her own reflection in the glass.

She looked old. She had wrinkles from smirking and winking and rushing into the wind for countless hours for countless days for (regrettably) countable years. She had thin spots in her mane that, despite her efforts to disguise them from the world, were still ugly and obvious to her without reprieve. Even her wings were starting to look a little worse for wear, sort of knobby and arthritic, though this was a fact she had yet to consciously admit to herself.

She found it all very annoying.

A flicker of motion beyond her reflection pulled Rainbow out of her thoughts, and she finally saw that ex-Princess Luna was already seated at a booth inside.

She was waving at her. Flagging her down once again.

Rainbow sighed lightly, resigned to her fate, and pushed inside.

“Good morning!” Luna exclaimed in a voice verging on overly-loud. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten!”

Rainbow only chuckled tightly in response as she slid into the booth across from Luna.

The newly-minted cadet already had her mane pulled up in a high and bouncy fillytail, though the more ethereal nature of her mane made it look truly weightless. Rainbow thought it was exactly what a cheerleader would look like if she were sent into space.

“How are you doing this morning?” Luna asked.

Her hooves were folded on the table in front of her, each with a striped sweatband wrapped around the fetlock.

Rainbow shrugged. “Fine.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Shouldn’t you… know?” Rainbow asked carefully.

Luna laughed. She didn’t answer the question. Just laughed.

While Luna’s overall demeanor had modernized quite a bit, there was something about her laugh that made Rainbow Dash think of grand medieval halls and… and mead. Or something.

“Very funny, Rainbow Dash,” Luna said.

“Uh-huh.”

Rainbow scowled slightly as she picked up the menu—a menu which she had reviewed many times, and did not need to review again. It did, however, provide an excellent shield between her and the pony she was trying to avoid.

“Oh. Yes.” Luna looked down at her own menu with great consternation. “The menu.”

Her brow furrowed as she reached out with both hooves and struggled to lift a corner of the menu. Her hooves, nude without their greaves, fumbled the menu over and over, until she finally switched tactics and slid it towards her directly into her lap.

It was riveting. Rainbow’s own menu lowered further and further. She couldn’t take her eyes off the alicorn who couldn’t turn a page by hoof.

Rainbow cleared her throat. “Um. Do you want me to—”

“No, no!” Luna looked up and laughed thinly. “I-I shall manage.”

She was not managing. She was pawing uselessly at the laminated three-fold paper.

“Is there something wrong with—”

“Huzzah!” Luna flung the menu open like a flag, waving it triumphantly over the table. “Success!”

Rainbow forced a proud smile and cast her eyes back down to the breakfast specials.

Luna slammed the menu down on the table, now unfurled in all its glory, and ran one hoof down the leftmost column. “Ooh, the Hungry Mare Breakfast Combination!” She tapped her hoof below the listing. “Two of everything. They don’t even make you choose! What a wonderful idea.”

“Yeah. Spectacular.”

Rainbow pretended to keep reading, even though she knew she would get exactly what she always got: a dragonlands omelet, hold the onion. Best thing this place served. Best thing any place served. Dragonlands omelet, hold the onion.

"Oh. My. Hoofness."

Rainbow hadn’t even heard the waitress approach the table, and so jumped at the sudden voice.

She was a young thing. The fact that her age even crossed Rainbow's mind made her want to cringe into herself until she was nothing but a speck of dust on the cracked vinyl seat. She had one hoof held up to her mouth, barely suppressing a bout of nervous tittering that reminded Rainbow of a frightened field mouse.

She sucked in a small breath. "P-Princess Luna?"

“Yes!” Luna replied with unnecessary gusto. “I would like one Hungry Mare Breakfast, if you please.”

“Of course! Of course, yes! Great choice!” The waitress rambled as she scribbled shakily in her notebook. “I mean, wow! The Captain of the Wonderbolts and the Princess of Equestria!"

Rainbow sighed lightly. “Griddle, you know me. I come in here all the time!”

“I know, I know,” Griddle waved off the comment. "Still! I can't wait to tell my mom about this!" she all but squealed.

Luna, ever patient, only smiled as she passed over her menu.

Griddle, for a moment, didn't know what to do with it. It took an uncomfortably long time for her mind to catch up with herself, and she tucked the menu away hastily. "Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Orange juice? Of course, I'll bring you both some water, and--"

“Coffee!” Luna declared. Then, after a pause: “No, orange juice! No… both!”

Griddle giggled. “Totally, Princess. Coming right up. We have great coffee here.” She then turned her gaze on Rainbow, still slumped in her seat like a sack of potatoes. “And you, Captain?”

“Uh…”

Her order had left her head.

“Should I just bring you your usual?” Griddle asked, already scribbling it down. “Dragonlands omelet, hold the onions?”

“Bah!” Luna butted in. “What fun is the usual? You ought to get—”

“The usual,” Rainbow said quickly. “Please. And a coffee.”

Luna looked a bit disappointed in that, but didn’t push any further.

Griddle blinked. “Okay! I’ll take your menu.”

Rainbow thought for a moment about asking to keep it, if only to retain the barrier between herself and Luna, but a reason didn’t come to her in the moment. She forked it over with an undue flippantness that caught Griddle off guard.

“Be right back with your drinks!”

“Thank you,” Luna said graciously.

Griddle rushed off, barely containing her star-struck awe in the process.

And Rainbow and Luna were alone again. This time, without distraction.

There were a lot of things that Rainbow wanted to say, but she also knew far better than to say them. It didn’t even really have a thing to do with honesty or kindness or anything of the sort—she was mostly concerned with opening a floodgate she wouldn’t be able to close.

The ambience of the early-morning diner soaked into the silence. Something light and jazzy—plenty of saxophone—played over the speaker system, just barely audible over the clattering from the kitchen and the old stallion hacking up a phlegmy lung at the bar.

It did smell good, though. It smelled like salt and grease and maple syrup.

Luna let out a long sigh and settled back into her seat. “How have you been lately, Rainbow Dash?”

“Didn’t you already ask me that?”

Luna chuckled again. “I asked how you were this morning,” she said. “And you gave me quite an evasive answer.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I’ve got nothin’ new going on.” She scratched the side of her face. “I mean… you’re the newest thing there is, honestly.”

“Ha!” Luna grinned with a sort of mischievous joy. “I thought the novelty would have worn off by now.”

“It’s been barely a month, Luna.”

“Even so.”

It was Rainbow’s turn to sigh as she folded her forelegs over her chest.

Barely a month.

Barely a month.

“Why exactly did you want to get breakfast with me?” Rainbow asked. “I can’t help you with the routines or anything from here. If you want more time to practice outside of general training, I can arrange a one-on-one with—”

“Nothing of the sort,” Luna leapt in, shaking her head. “I simply wanted to spend some time with you. We’ve never really ‘hung out’, as they say.”

Rainbow softened a bit. “Oh.”

“I think you and I could be good friends, Rainbow Dash,” Luna said. “And we can talk about the Wonderbolts if you wish, but I’m sure we can find other common ground. We talk about the Wonderbolts nearly every day now!”

Rainbow cleared her throat. “Oh,” she said again. “Right.”

Luna chuckled. “And now I’ve left my Captain speechless,” she commented.

Before Rainbow could even form a response, the waitress was cruising up to the table once again, a tray balancing mugs and glasses and creamers held steady in her magic.

“Coffees!” she announced with a grin.

Luna perked up and held out her hooves to receive the warm, thick-walled mug. She took it slowly, carefully, and Rainbow braced herself for the inevitable clumsy spill, ready to leap across the table should the hot coffee find its way into Luna’s lap.

But it didn’t spill. Instead, Luna brought the mug up to her face and inhaled deeply, a dreamlike smile on her face.

Griddle passed out the rest of the drinks, and placed a creamer in the center of the table. “Your breakfasts will be out soon.”

Luna smiled up at her. “Thank you—this coffee smells divine.”

Griddle laughed. “Wish I could take credit, Princess,” she said.

She lingered half a second too long—perhaps hoping that Luna would have something more to say about the coffee—before flushing bright pink, turning on her heel, and scuttling back to the kitchen

Gently, thoughtfully, Luna placed the mug on the table before her. She made a little sound of triumph when she managed to only spill a few drops over the rim, and reached for the sugar.

Sensing disaster, Rainbow dove for the sugar cellar first.

Luna looked up at her suspiciously.

“Oh! Uh…” Rainbow coughed lightly. “Let me get that for you!”

“If you insist,” Luna said, nearly snickering.

Rainbow tried to suppress the embarrassed heat blooming in her cheeks as she sheepishly poured sugar into a spoon and dumped it into Luna’s coffee. Luna watched with interest, though said nothing as Rainbow set the sugar cellar down and moved for the creamer.

“Ah, no milk for me,” Luna said, holding up a hoof. “Thank you.”

“S-Sure.”

Luna drew her mug in towards her, and Rainbow once again coiled like a snake to catch it before it wound up dripping down her chest fur.

“You make it look so easy!” Luna commented with a jovial eye-roll. “I feel as though I’ll never catch up sometimes.”

Rainbow pursed her lips. “With, like, making coffee?” she asked.

“With using my hooves,” Luna corrected with a light giggle. “It’s harder than I thought it would be.”

You don’t say, Rainbow thought as she dressed her own cup of coffee.

“Then again, so is flying,” Luna added.

You don’t flippin’ say, Rainbow tried very hard not to say aloud. She instead snatched up a metal spoon and began to loudly stir her coffee.

“When did you first learn to fly, Rainbow Dash?” Luna asked sweetly.

Rainbow paused momentarily in her noisy stirring. “Uh.” She thought about that. “Same time you learned to walk, probably. It’s pretty much the same thing for pegasi, anyway.”

She shrugged, as if that helped her point out in the least.

“I mean, um…” Luna gestured vaguely to Rainbow. “How to fly the way you fly. You know, aerobatics. Flying without your pegasus magic.”

Rainbow furrowed her brows. “Uh… I dunno, really,” she said. “I mean—obviously I knew what I was doing by the time I got my cutie mark. Before that, I guess I…”

Why was this such a hard question?

Luna looked at her expectantly. Patiently.

“I dunno,” Rainbow relented. “I guess it just happened. No one really taught me.”

“Hm. A true inborn talent,” Luna remarked wistfully. “That’s fascinating. And are the other Wonderbolts the same way?”

"How do you mean?"

"Natural talents," Luna repeated. "Or did they learn how to fly without magic later in life?"

Rainbow shook her head. “I mean, I never really asked, but I guess they probably—” She paused. “I thought you said you didn’t want to talk about the Wonderbolts?”

“I said no such thing!” Luna replied. “I’ve just noticed that you’ve been a bit, erm… hesitant around the topic. At least with me.”

Rainbow must have made a face, though it wasn’t on purpose.

“Which is fine, of course,” Luna said quickly. “I know that I’ve been a bit of an intrusion lately. It’s strange enough for me, but—well, this is your life! I-I understand if this whole arrangement has been a bit… odd.”

The ex-Princess drooped a bit. Hardly noticeable, but certainly there. It made Rainbow’s stomach twist itself into a know.

“I just thought that… well, maybe if you and I spent some time together elsewhere, it wouldn’t feel quite so intrusive.” Luna looked down into her coffee. “That’s all.”

She tapped her hoof gently on the side of her mug, and the low thunk rang out across the table.

“O-oh!” Rainbow said quickly. “No way! Not intrusive at all!"

Luna perked up a little. "You're certain?"

"Totally. Totally." Rainbow nodded emphatically, though she could feel the act getting away from her. "I mean, sure, it was kinda weird when you signed up for the Academy, but… well, you’re cool. Who wouldn’t want a cool pony like you around?”

Carefully chosen words.

Not exactly a lie.

Luna smiled. “I’m glad to hear you feel that way,” she said softly. “I certainly feel like the odd mare out. I think a lot is expected of me, being an alicorn, but I’m certainly a… a, um… what’s the word?”

Rainbow sighed lightly. “Rookie?”

“Yes. Rookie,” Luna repeated. “I don’t mind it a bit! But I’d hate to be seen as a burden.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Or that I’m holding the others back.”

“Mm-hm.” Rainbow tapped her hooves absent-mindedly on the table.

Don’t say it.

Don’t say it.

Don’t say it.

Don’t—

“Well, I—”

Don’t!

“I mean.” Rainbow forced a chuckle. “Not that you’re—I wouldn’t say a burden. That’s kinda harsh.”

Ack!

Luna frowned slightly, more out of confusion than upset.

“It’s just that…” Rainbow ran her hooves along the chrome edge of the table, doing everything she could not to meet Luna’s eyes. “Uh. I mean, why exactly did you do this in the first place?”

Luna blinked. “Why did I join the cadets?”

Rainbow hesitated a moment, then nodded.

“To learn,” Luna said simply. “That is the point, isn’t it?”

“Eh…” Rainbow tried to find the right words, though it had never been her forte. “It’s more like… the Academy is, uh. Step two.”

Luna nodded.

“And step one is… practicing on your own.”

Luna nodded again.

“Maybe learning some of the public routines?”

Luna almost nodded, but hesitated and stopped herself at the last second.

“Or… auditioning?”

Luna bit down on her lower lip.

“Filling out the paperwork?”

Luna pinned her ears back. “Ah.” She grimaced. “I had a feeling I had, um… missed a few steps.”

Rainbow scoffed. “I mean… yeah. You kinda just walked into my office, Princess,” she reminded her. “That’s not really how we do things. There’s a protocol, y’know?”

Luna sucked in a breath through her teeth. “Right.”

A silence fell between the mares.

The radio was still playing something jazzy and sax-y, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t tell if it was the same song as the last time she’d noticed. She figured it couldn’t be. That was far too long a time to be playing the same song. Not that it mattered, of course.

“I am sorry,” Luna murmured.

“I-it’s fine,” Rainbow replied.

“I’m still learning how to, um…” She trailed off for a moment, just staring down into her cup of coffee. “I’m still learning. Everything, I suppose. I’ve lived out of society since… well, since I was born.”

“Hm.”

“But I want to learn,” Luna said. “And… well, that’s that.”

Rainbow sighed heavily. “But… why?”

Luna looked up. “Why?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow pushed herself upright a bit. “Why the Wonderbolts? And why using just your hooves for stuff? Why are you eating out at a restaurant when you know everyone’s gonna gawk at you?”

“I told you why,” Luna said. “When I came to your office. Don’t you remember?”

Rainbow tried to travel back in her mind to the day Luna marched into her office and requested a place on the Academy roster. She remembered being shocked. And then… frustrated, since Luna hadn’t done any of the paperwork. Frustrated that Luna struggled with questions about her birthday and flight experience. Frustrated when she could barely take off without her magic. Frustrated when the other cadets were too star-struck to listen…

“Uh. Remind me?”

Luna chuckled, deep and rich and knowing in a way that only a thousand-year-old can manage. “I’m retired,” she said simply.

Rainbow waited for her to elaborate.

Luna did not. She carefully lifted her coffee mug up to her face and took a sip.

“And…” Rainbow furrowed her brows. “You’re… bored?”

“Ha! That’s certainly one way to put it,” Luna said, shaking her head. “I have no job. No responsibilities to anyone but myself. I suppose that could make one bored.”

Rainbow snorted lightly and smirked at the ex-Princess.

“But I wouldn’t call it that, no,” she said. “It isn’t boredom. It’s purpose. I’m searching for one again. First time in… a very long while.” She laughed as she said it, still disbelieving her own mission. “I’ve had an eternity and I will have an eternity. I always knew that there was an expiration date on my time managing the moon, after all.”

Luna paused there, as if considering her own statement, then nodded to herself. She took another long sip of her coffee.

Rainbow swallowed hard.

She had never really thought of it that way until Luna said it, but now she was looking at the half-empty ketchup bottle beside the napkins and wondering if she had a stamp just like it did. She rubbed her neck in the same spot those little black numbers were on the bottle's neck.

Her eyes scanned past the tabletop and to the window, where she was once again face-to-face with her reflection.

It looked too much like her. But, then again, far too different than she ever thought she would be. It had knobby wing joints and thinning feathers--subtle, but she at last admitted it. She felt her chest crumble at the realization. At the acceptance.

She was getting old.

Maybe she was already old.

It was hard to tell. Or maybe hard to admit. Rainbow wasn't sure which.

She just looked down into her cup of coffee, which thankfully did not reflect her face.

Luna sighed happily and set her coffee mug back on the table. “Mm. You ponies are right—it’s certainly an acquired taste, but I do believe I’ve finally acquired it,” she said. “Would have been nice while I was still on the night shift, hm?”

Rainbow looked up and forced a tired smile. “Heh. Wait ‘til you try energy drinks.”

Luna chuckled again, but the rich sound melted away into a mischievous giggle. “I like the way you think, Captain," she said. "Now there is something that will help me to beat the other cadets, hm?"

Rainbow forced her own little laugh, and couldn't help but notice the lines that crinkled at the corners of her lips.

“Just what a rookie like me needs,” Luna replied. “And… if you’re amenable, I would love to talk about your experience. Your process. However you think of it.”

“What, with flying?”

"Of course!" Luna exclaimed. "You're the master, after all."

Rainbow's face flushed. "Oh, uh. I mean, once upon a time, maybe," she murmured, her wings puttering limply at her sides. "But I've got trainees pulling sonic booms now. I don't have the, uh, trump card anymore."

Luna's face softened, then scrunched into a look of concern.

"Which is fine!" Rainbow corrected quickly. "I mean… it's like you said, right? We have an expiration date."

"Well… Yes."

Luna didn't say anything more.

She reached out for her cup of coffee, hesitated, and shrank back.

The two ponies sat in silence once more. Luna, older and younger at the same time, tried to make herself comfortable in her own skin and came up empty. Rainbow Dash, older and younger at the same time, melted into the booth like an ice cube kicked under the fridge.

"Breakfast!"

Rainbow and Luna both did their best to perk up and smile expectantly at their waitress as she placed their dishes in front of them.

"One dragonlands omelet, hold the onion," she murmured to herself. "And one hungry mare combo."

Luna's eyes lit up as she gazed down at the plate in front of her. Two pancakes, two pieces Prench toast, two biscuits, two eggs, two falafel patties… Rainbow Dash could hardly imagine eating one of all of those things, let alone two in a single sitting.

"Oh, my stars," Luna murmured. "It's a festival of carbohydrates."

Griddle laughed, though maybe a bit too hard. "They should call it that on the menu!” She nearly reached out to pat Luna on the back, but thought better of it and instead stumbled back a second. “You two let me know if I can get you anything else, okay? Anything at all!”

Luna only stared down at the mountain of food before her, eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Rainbow coughed lightly. “Thanks,” she said.

“No problem!”

Griddle flashed them one last lopsided grin and backed away from the table.

Luna reached for her silverware, fumbled, and regained her grip. She immediately cut into one of the fluffy, golden-brown pancakes—before even considering applying butter or maple syrup.

Rainbow Dash picked up her own fork and knife and looked down at her omelet. Eggs, pepper jack cheese, jalapeno, and tomato. Familiar and comforting, even if there was no way it had originated in the actual dragonlands.

And yet…

Suddenly, the smell turned her stomach.

It had seen her through a lot of good days. But, then again, it had seen her through a lot of bad ones. Some of these breakfasts had been delicious, unparalleled—but, then again, some of them had been inedible. Even more had been nothing at all. Just okay. Just another okay omelet in a long line of okay omelets.

She looked up.

Luna was pouring syrup on her biscuits, tip of her tongue protruding from the corner of her mouth.

“Luna, c’mon, the syrup is for—” Rainbow cut herself off.

“What?” Luna raised a brow. “Am I doing it wrong?”

Rainbow’s mouth hung open for a moment longer as she watched the river of maple syrup soak into soft insides of the biscuits.

“Actually…” Rainbow picked up her fork and reached across the table. “That looks pretty good.”

Luna smiled.

Both mares stabbed a piece of syrup-soaked biscuit, lifted their forks, and tapped them together.

“To trying new things,” Luna said.

“Whatever you say, rookie.”

Luna was still running laps when Rainbow Dash left the Captain’s office.

For a moment, Rainbow only stood still and watched her. Her form, while not quite that of an expert, had improved by leaps and bounds in the past months. More of a baby deer than a wounded elephant.

She had forgone her Wonderbolts Cadet uniform for a set of silver sweatbands. Though the color reminded Rainbow of Luna’s old armor, she was still quite different from the once great Princess of night and the land of dreams.

Now she was… a pony. Running laps.

Rainbow considered calling out, but Luna soon rounded the end of the track and caught sight of her captain herself.

Luna’s face brightened. “Oh! Captain!” she called, full-chested and regal. “You’re still here!”

Rainbow smirked. “Yeah, I had a bit of paperwork to do!” she called back. “How’s the track treatin’ you?”

Luna slowed as she approached Rainbow, her hooves rushing through the short-trimmed grass. “Better every day,” she said, the barest hint of breathlessness in her voice. “I believe Coach Silver Zoom would agree. At least, I certainly hope he would.”

“I’m checkin’ in with him tomorrow morning, actually,” Rainbow replied. “This whole rookie program really took off, but I think he’s a little overwhelmed. We might need to start hiring some new folks just to manage the student load.”

“I’m sure Twilight would be very proud of your initiative,” Luna said with a smile.

Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Sure. ‘Would’. As if I’m not calling her twenty times a day for emotional support.”

Luna snickered.

“Ah, she loves it,” Rainbow admitted. “She can barely hold back how much she loves it.”

“That’s how you know you’re doing the right thing.”

Rainbow smiled, more to herself than to Luna. “Heh. Yeah.”

Luna held out her hoof.

Rainbow blushed a bit, but bumped her new friend’s hoof with gusto.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Rainbow asked. “You can get back to your laps if—”

Luna waved her off. “Not hardly,” she said. “In fact, now that you’re free, I was wondering if you had time for a little adventure?”

“Pfft. Always.” Rainbow smirked. “What’s the plan?”

“Ooh!” Luna fluttered her wings and reared gently off the ground “The Ponyville theater is showing a new moving picture!”

Rainbow stuck out her tongue. “It’s not The Fillydelphia Story, is it?” She shook her head. “Bleh. I’m not into the cheesy romance stuff, Luna.”

“It is!” Luna exclaimed. “And it wouldn’t be an adventure if it weren’t something new.”

“Sounds like you just want a buddy to go to the theater with you,” Rainbow teased, giving her new friend a sharp elbow in the ribs. “How is that even an adventure? We’re not learning anything new or… I mean, it’s a movie!”

Luna hooked her foreleg around Rainbow’s neck.”Well, who knows? Perhaps a filmmaking career is in your future.”

Without another word, Luna set off, dragging Rainbow along with her as she marched towards the training grounds’ exit. Rainbow Dash gleefully fought her way out of Luna’s grasp, though stuck by her side as the pair made their way out.

“Yeah, right.” Rainbow laughed. “And maybe you’ll enter the self-help circuit.”

Luna drew in a long faux gasp. “Why, Rainbow Dash!” she cried, a hoof to her chest in shock. “Uncalled for!”

Rainbow only snickered in response. “Then admit it: you couldn’t get Celestia to go to the theater with you.”

“Ugh.” Luna hung her head. “Fine. You’ve caught me.”

“Thought so.”

“Celestia feels this whole moving-picture business is merely a flash in the pan, anyway,” Luna muttered. “She can’t help but point out every bit of hammy acting and every poorly-painted set piece. Killer of fun, my sister.”

“Yeah, well,” Rainbow gave Luna a punch on the shoulder. “What are friends for?”

Luna smiled. “Indeed.”