//------------------------------// // The Truth // Story: Treason // by Trevosta //------------------------------// The Truth Rainbow Dash's head was now spinning with all of the confusion. "Then, wait, he said he's been a Sergeant in the Air Force for years..." she drifted off. "I need to get home!" she said, starting to panic. "Why?" Rainbow then explained the whole series of events since Geronimo arrived in Ponyville, including the part about her giving her brother's wings to him, bringing agreement, about getting home, from the two other ponies. They rushed back to the Cloudosseum, bursting in through the doors of the locker room. To be greeted by some of the team, and Spitfire finishing up Rainbow's uniform. "Hey, Rainbow, you can't bring anypony else in here." Spitfire said, then she saw who they were, "Oh. My. Gosh. You guys are the 51st! You can be in here whenever you want!" She offered, becoming extremely excited. "Look, guys, I need to get home." she said to the other members of the team. "Why?" "Geronimo is dead." Blue Angel said, bluntly. "And has been for eight years." Red Arrow chimed in. "Wait, no, he wasn't. He trained most of us." Soarin corrected. Red arrow stepped forward. "Listen, I watched him die, you were trained by an impostor." Blue Angel spoke up, "What did your Geronimo look like?" Spitfire said, "Well, he was red-" Then she was cut off by Blue Angel, "There is your first problem, Geronimo was yellow, with a green mane." The room was silent for a few moments then Rainbow Dash broke the silence, "Hey! I gotta go! If any of you want to tag along that would be cool, but right now I need to get there." all of the Wonderbolts who had been trained by "Geronimo", as well as Blue Angel and Red Arrow, volunteered to accompany Rainbow to her home, to confront the faker. "Hey, Dash," Spitfire called, tossing her her new uniform, "Put this on, it minimizes wind resistance." Soon, all of the ponies were ready to go to Ponyville, so they headed off, in a 'V' formation, with Rainbow Dash leading the way. ----------------------------------- Pinkie Pie was doing two things at once, she was preparing Rainbow Dash's 'Welcome Home' party, and she was searching for Geronimo. She was busy hanging some balloons when she noticed something weird. So she stopped the nearest weather pegasus, and pointed it out. "Hey, Cloudchaser," She called, "What is with those clouds?" she said pointing to the large dark clouds forming over the Everfree Forest. "Hey, Pinkie!" she said, then she looked towards the Forest. "Oh, uh, I don't know anything about that." she said, getting slightly uncomfortable, "How about I figure out what I can, and tell you back at Rainbow's party, Ok?" "Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie said, before bouncing off. ---------------------------------- Rainbow Dash was hardly able to believe what was happening to her at the moment. She was currently leading a squadron of the best fliers in the world. Some of which she had posters of, and signed memorabilia. And to top it all off, she was wearing her own Wonderbolts flight suit. She was officially a Wonderbolt. If the situation at hoof wasn't so serious, she would probably be doing some crazy flips at the moment. A few ponies behind Rainbow, Blue Angel and Red Arrow were evaluating her flying. "She really does fly like he did." Red Arrow said, just loud enough for Blue Angel to hear. "Yeah, but she's a bit more graceful." Blue Angel agreed. "So, do you have any idea who actually taught her?" "Well, judging by how little wasted energy there is in each wingbeat, I would say that I have an idea. But I don't know why he claimed to be Geronimo." "Yeah, I agree, that has been bugging me for a while too. Looks like we just have to wait and see." ------------------------------------ Twilight Sparkle was freaking out, she had no idea where Geronimo was, and nopony knew what was going on with the crazy storm. She only knew to do one thing, write a letter to the Princess. In the middle of the search for Geronimo, and the planning of the party for Rainbow, Twilight stopped and had Spike write and send a letter to Princess Celestia. ------------------------------------- Princess Celestia was simply enjoying a nice afternoon tea, when an unexpected letter came from Twilight Sparkle. She put down her teacup and started to read. Dear, Princess Celestia, There is turmoil here in Ponyville, as there is an unplanned storm rolling in from the Everfree Forest. The trouble this is causing has been increased due to the absence of my dear friend, Rainbow Dash, who is currently in Cloudsdale due to Wonderbolt tryouts. She is the most qualified to take care of the storm. Another issue has arisen due to Rainbow Dash's trainer, and Applejack's coltfriend, going missing. He was a high-ranking sergeant in the Air Force before coming here. His name is Geronimo. He went missing yesterday, the day that Rainbow left for Cloudsdale. Any help in either of these areas, whether it be advice or physical assistance, would be greatly appreciated. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle. The princess couldn't believe what she was reading, the words had to be false. She remembered receiving a letter about the Sergeant recently, but she couldn't remember what it said. She dashed to her room, leaving her tea and her letter on the table. She burst in through the ornate doors of her study and found the letter she was looking for, sure enough, it said that Sergeant Geronimo had been dropped off in Ponyville. It was signed by his replacement, Sergeant Hotshot. She was going to be visiting his ship soon. ------------------------------------ Hotshot was finally getting used to instructing the troops. He had just finished all of the training that he was required to do, and some ponies were even saying that he was better than Geronimo. He knew that he would never be better than Geronimo, but he could at least demonstrate the techniques to his troops. Today was the day that they graduated from boot camp, where they were assigned to a squad and readied for battle. There was just going to be one more training regiment before they were sent out. Hotshot walked into the training hall on the ship, where the troops were gathered. "Attention!" he shouted, in his 'Drill Sergeant' voice. They lined up, while he was marching back and forth in front of them trying to think of the best final workout to make them do. Then, suddenly, there was an explosion in another part of the ship, bringing a sudden increase in pressure. The ship rocked slightly, and an alarm began to go off. Geronimo reacted, he shouted to his troops, "Grab weapons, and move out! Move! Move! Move!" he said, while directing them to the arms closet and then the door. All of the recruits had filed out, when he stormed into the hallway; to find all of his troops laying, face-first, on the floor. He was about to start yelling at them, when a much more commanding voice started talking. "Sergeant Hotshot." he heard the voice of Princess Celestia say. "Do you have any idea what you have done?" she demanded, in a voice only slightly louder than talking, but filled with rage. He dropped into a bow, and said, "No, Princess, I do not." he forced himself not to stutter or show nervousness in front of the soldiers. She stormed up to him, parting the sea of ponies, and bent down to look into his eyes, "You could have given away one of the biggest secrets, that I have gone through extensive lengths to keep, by placing Geronimo in Ponyville." She said, with a dangerous whisper. "I'm sorry, Princess, but I still don't know what you're talking about." "You are coming with me." she said, with her horn starting to glow. "Wha-" was all that he could say, before he was engulfed in a ball of yellow magic. The soldiers began standing up one by one, and they began to mumble to each other, about the Sergeant, and what he was taken by the Princess for. With each passing of the story, the theories became more and more unbelievable. Some of the ponies were speculating that he was actually a spy from a neighboring country, some thought that he was a government agent who accidentally sold government secrets to revolutionaries in the north, some didn't have any idea what was going on and were perfectly happy thinking of their Sergeant as a great individual. ------------------------------------ Geronimo was sitting atop his grand creation, the thunderstorm was huge, and he was proud of it. Now if his plan worked, he would make it even better; if it didn't, he would just end up destroying the clouds, but either way, he would make a grand entrance to Rainbow's welcome back party. He couldn't help but feel bad for Applejack though, he didn't want to leave her without telling her, but he knew that she would've tried to stop him. She would just have to meet him there. Suddenly he saw something on the horizon, it was a 'V' formation. He looked closely at it, and realized that it was Rainbow leading, and wearing a Wonderbolt flight suit. He had never been more proud in his life. Then he examined the rest of the formation, he saw all of the Wonderbolts that he had trained, as well as the other two mustangs of the 51st. Sure enough, there were Blue Angel and Red Arrow. They probably told Rainbow that Geronimo was actually the one who died. This whole thing should make his entrance all the more interesting. He got behind his masterpiece of a storm and began to push, and slowly it began its movement toward town. Eventually he got it to move on its own, he then let it go, as it moved in, covering the town. He then flew high into the air, and awaited the perfect moment. ------------------------------------ Rainbow flew into the town, and set down in the town square, quickly noticing the assorted party supplies. She started to look around, when suddenly most of the ponies in town jumped out and shouted, "Surprise!" Rainbow Dash took a step back, and attempted to realize what was happening. It only hit her what was actually happening when Pinkie Pie jumped out and yelled 'surprise' a few moments after everyone else. She momentarily forgot about all that was going on, while she reveled in the limelight of her own party. T.C. walked up to her, and gave her a peck on the cheek. "We all knew you would make it." he said, while nuzzling her affectionately. Then she remembered the pony who seemed the most confident in her ability to make it. Geronimo. Who was currently out of sight. "Where is Geronimo?" she demanded. Then she saw the clouds rolling in and asked, "and what's with the storm? I didn't think any were planned for today." Twilight stepped up, looking very disheveled and out of sorts, "That's just the thing, nopony knows where he is, or what is with the clouds. The weather team doesn't know what to do." she said, with worry in her voice. Blue Angel stepped forward, and asked, "When was the last time anypony saw Geronimo?" Applejack, with a tear stained face, said, "Well he went to get some more headache medicine from Zecora, and he never came back." Rainbow then said, while jumping into the sky, "Then let's go talk to Zecora." ----------------------------------- Geronimo was pumping his wings hard, he couldn't remember needing to work this hard before. He must have gotten weaker. But now wasn't the time for that, now was the time to break the sound barrier. He flew, head first, into the black clouds and flew hard. He could feel the mach cone forming, and it was forming fast. He gave one final push, and shattered the sound barrier. ----------------------------------- The ponies in town square were about to head out to Zecora's house, when suddenly there was an explosion in the sky. Everypony stopped and looked up to see the storm cloud filling with color. The clouds were becoming every color of the rainbow. Also the lightning looked just like the multi-colored lightning bolt on Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. Everypony was so awestruck by the weather phenomenon, that none of them recognized the arrival of another pony. The pony walked up to Rainbow and said, "Wow, that's impressive." causing her to jump. She looked at who had said it, and saw that it was Geronimo in his full sergeant uniform. As a reaction she took an offensive stance and growled. Applejack rushed over to her coltfriend and wrapped him in a hug. "Where've ya been, partner? Ah was so worried." she said, nuzzling his neck. "I had a bit of a reaction to the medicine Zecora gave me, and I passed out." he explained, while returning her affection. Rainbow then shouted, "Applejack! Get away from him, he isn't who he says he is!" which earned a collective gasp from the crowd. Geronimo put on a slightly creepy smile. "Oh, aren't I?" he asked. By now the storm clouds had opened up, dumping rain on the citizens of Ponyville. "Who told you that? Was it those two?" he asked while pointing to Red Arrow and Blue Angel. "I guess the princess never gave you two the memo. I was commanded to be Geronimo, but if you want to see who I really am, just wait a few moments, the rain should wash away the hair dye." as he said that, Rainbow could see brown streaks starting to run down his face. "That is, if you don't already know." The crowd had started to murmur, as they could see streaks of color starting to form in his mane and tail, and as his cutie mark began to become blurry and unclear. "Oh," he said, beginning to reach to his back, "One more thing." he then undid the buttons holding the special flaps down, and pushed his wings out of the holes in the jacket. "I got these back." which drew gasps from everypony. Rainbow was now standing with her mouth agape, there was only one pony that he could be, but to her, that pony had been dead for years. "So, know who I am yet?" he said, watching Rainbow's face for a reaction; and he was getting a reaction. Rainbow's lip was quivering, and tears were forming in her eyes. His smile then went from creepy, to caring, he walked over to Rainbow, and said, "Hey, Sis." When he said that, she began to actually cry. Tears poured down her face. She leaned in to him, burying her face in his chest, while he wrapped his wing around her. He pulled her in tight, and said, "I wished so much that I could have told you, but I couldn't." "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!" everypony turned to see Spitfire flipping out. Her eyes were huge and she had the biggest smile on her face. "Oh. My. Gosh. Mr. Dash, I am a huge fan. I can't believe this is happening. Can I have your autograph?" she asked, holding up her poster of him and a pen. "Sure," he said, taking the poster and pen, "You do know that I taught you, right?" he could just see her head spinning, as all of her training was turned upside down. During the emotional reunion of the two siblings, T.C. walked over to the two siblings and looked at all the similarities. The manes were the same color scheme, just inverted, their eyes matched each other's coat, and their cutie marks were almost identical; Rainbow's was a white cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt coming out of it, and Spectrum's was a black cloud with three of the same lightning bolts coming out of it. He then said triumphantly, "I knew he was your brother." Rainbow rolled her eyes, and Spectrum laughed. Spectrum then gestured him over towards them, and said, "Come on over here. Join in on this hug, I don't hold anything against you." T.C. did as he was told and hugged the two reunited siblings. Rarity spoke up, "So, you said that you couldn't tell her that you were actually her brother, why ever not?" "Because I will be arrested for treason if the princess finds out." when he said that, Twilight's eyes became huge. Spike leaned over to the purple unicorn and started, "Hey, Twi-" then he was cut off by her selling his mouth shut, with her magic. There was then an explosion of yellow magic erupting in town square. When the yellow light cleared, it revealed Princess Celestia, accompanied by a red stallion with a mane and tail that looked like fire, much like Spitfire's, just cut into a short, military style. The stallion also looked very disoriented, as though he wasn't expecting the teleportation. "Ah, I see that she found out." Spectrum said, then he shouted, "My wings are so pretty! Aren't they, princess?" She looked at him and saw his confident smile, which infuriated her, she looked over the group hug that he was currently part of, looked over the party that was taking place, and she only saw the apparent traitor, flaunting his wings that he had somehow got back, and blatantly defying her. "Sergeant! You are going to prison, you will have a hearing at the end of the week, but for now you are going to prison for treason." "Alright." he said, which brought surprise from everypony around him. "There are just two things that I would like to do first." he then kissed Rainbow Dash on the cheek. "One." then he walked over to Applejack and kissed her passionately on the lips. "Two. Alright, princess, let's go to prison." he said as he walked over to her. The princess and he were then engulfed in her yellow magic as they were taken away to Canterlot Prison. "Wait! Wait, princess! You forgot me!" the red stallion shouted, "I need to get back to my soldiers! Why did you bring me here?" As he continued to shout into the empty air where the princess used to be, ponies were starting to recover from what had just happened. T.C. Was comforting, a now openly crying, Rainbow Dash. Applejack was still standing in shock at the experience of her first kiss, and the thought that her coltfriend was now in jail. And Twilight was trying to figure out how badly she had messed up two of her best friends' lives.