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I thump the side of my head against the wall in frustration. These last two days have been a PR nightmare.

For some unexplainable reason, Fairweight deduced that I would be the best one to handle talking with the media. He said something about already having experience with talking with the media, since I'm an athlete.

But this is totally different! Before I just had to answer a question or two, smile, and be awesome. That last one I was always the best at.

Now though, reporters are hounding me for information. Why is our program taking longer than the Gryphon's? When is the next launch? Will it be public? How many ponies are on the team? Why did they bring you on? How quickly did you have to learn-

Argh! I bring my hooves to the sides of my head to massage my temples in a vain attempt to get rid of this headache.

I stand from my reclined position on my bed, letting the paperwork that piled up around me float to the floor as I rustle them out of their place.

I stand from my reclined position on my bed, letting the paperwork that piled up around me float to the floor as I rustle them out of their place.

I decide to go for a walk to try and clear my head. I leave the dorm room, kicking the door closed behind. The door slams shut behind me, making me wince slightly. I sigh and take a deep breath, again attempting to get rid of all this frustration.

"Hey Rainbow dash." Dusk calls as he walks past.

I give a nod in response.

"You alright? You look really stressed." Dusk stops and looks at me.

"Yea, this PR stuff is just frustrating the hay out of me. I don't get why Fairweight put me in charge of it." I grumble out the last sentence.

"Hmm..." Dusk taps a hoof to his chin before seeming to come with a decision.

"Come with me." he walks in the direction of the nearest exit, motioning with a hoof for me to come.

"Nah, I can't. Fairweight wouldn't be too happy with me if I goofed off." I can't believe I'm actually being the responsible one for once. Normally I'd immediately take him up on his offer, but that was when I knew I could get my work done in like, ten seconds. Now that it's actually a challenge, I have to take it a bit more seriously. Not to mention, there is no way I'm going to risk being booted off the project.

"Rainbow, you need a break. You look like an absolute mess, and continuing to work is only going to make it worse."

"You know, if you're trying to make me feel better, you're doing a horrible job of it." I comment.

"Words have never been my thing. Look, I don't know about you, but I haven't had time to fly in a really long time. If you want, come and join me." Dusk walks off as soon as he finishes speaking.

I stand in the hallway intersection for what feels like a few more minutes. I know I probably shouldn't, since I still have that pile of paperwork and letters to deal with back on my bed, but the thought of going for a long relaxing flight is just too good to pass up.

Once outside, I look up at the wide open sky in search of the spec that would be Dusk Inferno. I don't see him, but that's fine. I'll just fly by myself as I usually do.

I spread open my winds, allowing the light breeze to ruffle through my feathers. I smile and close my eyes for a moment, reveling in the anticipation of flight.

"You know, it feels better when you're actually, you know, flying." I can hear the smirk in Dusk's voice.

"Yea yea, no kidding. I just really miss that feeling. I guess I just got distracted."

"Sure, it happens to the best of us." Dusk grins.

"Well duh. It happened to me, so of course it does." I reply.

The growing itch to get off the ground and stretch my wings stops our banter. In a moment, we take to the skies and set a speedy pace around the perimeter of the complex.

For the entire length of time that we are flying, I simply let myself relish in the act itself. I sometimes let my eyes drift closed for a few seconds, so that I am flying by feel alone.

I spent far too long cooped up in those labs; I almost forgot how amazing it feels to be up in the air.

When I start to feel a healthy burn in my wings, I decide it's probably time to call it a night. I gesture to Dusk that I'm heading inside.

Once on the ground, I stretch my slightly sore wing muscles as I walk to the shower facilities. I can't help but smile as I make my way through the halls, my whole body feeling lighter; everything just feels so much better. I even feel up to working some more on that mountain of paperwork that is still sitting on my bed.

* * * *

Or so I thought. I spend more time absent mindedly pushing the papers around than I do actually answering them. I give up again after a few more hours of next to no progress.

This isn't what I expected this to be like. Sure, I knew that chasing after my dream would put me outside my comfort zone; but not to this degree! I was wholly prepared to dive right into whatever science and math stuff I would be forced to learn to get there, but I'm doing more PR crap than actually, you know, building the rocket!

Huh, I'm actually angry that I'm not working in the role of a scientist. I smirk to myself. Never thought that I this would ever happen.

I take one more look at the stack of papers sitting before me, before shoving them to the floor. Only sparing a moment to stand and kick the outliers back toward my bed.

Tomorrow I'm going to have a chat with Fairweight. If he wants my help at all, then by Celestia I'm going to do something more substantial than public relations.

* * * *

The next morning, I catch up with Fairweight as he is leaving the breakfast table.

"Hey, you got a second?"

"I should. Just be quick, I need to get back to helping Mercury."

I give a quick sigh before I start. "Look, I don't know if someone else told you it would be a good idea, or if it was your own, but I am not the mare to be handling the media."

"Rainbow," he starts, "I'm sure you're doing fine." Fairweight consoles.

"No I'm not!" I stamp a hoof in protest. "I don't have answers to half the questions I'm being asked, and the other half I only have vague estimates and guess. And I can't even ask for help because none of us have the answers they are looking for!" I probably raised my voice a bit too much at the end, but stress rapidly eats away at my patience.

"I'm sorry but what else do you expect me to do? You're not qualified-"

"Qualified? None of us are bucking qualified! Not me, not you, not anypony else here. Heck, Dusk is a college student for Celestia's sake." I take a quick breath. "I'm not asking for much. I'm sure anypony else here could handle this job better than me. Just put me back where I can do some good."

"Actually," Fairweight grins like he just won the trillion bit lottery. "I think I know what you can do. I had been debating who to put in charge of this, but I think I know now."

"Come on, what is it?" I ask, about around to throw my forelegs around him and beg.

"Rainbow Dash, how would you like to work with Mercury to design the systems and training procedures that would allow you to become Equestria's first astronaut?"

It takes all of my self control to not 'squee' and start jumping around like a little filly.