Nothing to Hide
The silence was nerve-racking as the other ponies simply watched Rainbow Dash and Vanish sleep. Pinkie Pie didn’t like such awkward silences, especially when they were just waiting for answers. “Are you SURE we can’t ju-!” Applejack stuffed her hoof into Pinkie Pie’s mouth. “Stop askin’ us to wake ‘em up n’ just be patient, Pinkie!” Pinkie huffed to herself as she waited for the two sleeping ponies to wake up naturally. To her, it was as dull as watching paint dry, before wanting to question it about drying.
Fluttershy had taken a chariot back to Ponyville, being told that it was what Vanish had requested. Princess Luna had also left in order to check on the ponies she escorted to the Infirmary, earlier, as well as to tend to an errand that her sister had mentioned. The fillies remained in the Wedding Hall, along with Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Princess Celestia, and Twilight Sparkle. They saw Rainbow Dash begin to stir around in her tired state, groggily looking around a little bit before slightly opening her half-lidded eyes further. “Mmm-Huh? What’re you all staring at me, for?”
As her hoof inadvertently slid to the pony next to her, she looked over instinctively, seeing the stallion who had attacked her and her friends before she fell asleep. “Wh-WHAH!” Rainbow Dash got shocked out of her dazed state of mind, jumping up and knocking over the bucket of water next to her. This caused her to trip and fall into the puddle of water she had made, prompting her friends to try helping her up as she stumbled over her own words while demanding answers. “Wh-Why is HE here? Why was I sleeping next to him!?” Princess Celestia raised her hoof to halt the questions that Rainbow Dash had been asking. “Settle down, Rainbow Dash. I know you have several questions, but...”
A solitary male voice spoke up. “Perhaps it would be to her benefit…” The ponies all turned their attention to Vanish, who was still lying prone, aside from his mouth moving. “… If I simply divulged the information she seeks to understand?” The artificial alicorn tucked two of his hooves in, shifting his balance so that he slowly righted himself, before sitting up and removing the wings he had been sleeping with. “After all, there are several things to do, with little time to do them.” Vanish stood up, having reverted to his dark, dark blue coat once more, his short, smoke gray mane gently swaying as he turned around to face the other ponies before he stretched in order to work out any kinks from sleeping on the hard Wedding Hall floor.
Having been helped up, the rainbow-maned mare glared angrily at the stallion as she redirected her words to him. “Here’s my question: Why the heck were you sleeping next to me!?” Rainbow Dash was mad, but not because of the reason she gave; Vanish had seemingly betrayed them, yet appeared to be as calm as ever, even as he responded. “If you recall, my time in the Cloudosseum was mostly spent in a cloud-made cell. To be precise, one that was fortified with a special powder my client had obtained; it was because I could not sleep, otherwise. Unless the Pegasus pony whose wings I am using is very, very close, I cannot sleep soundly. The wings will simply cause me to crash through everything in their path to find their owner.” Vanish elaborated, seeing Rainbow Dash appearing confused. “Their original owner, Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight voiced her curiosity. “But wait, why did you choose hers? Why not Fluttershy, or one of the Wonde-” Interrupting the mare, Vanish simply uttered, “I gave them back their wings.” Twilight contemplated his rather terse explanation. It was true: She saw that Fluttershy had her wings returned to her before she had been accompanied from the Wedding Hall by Princess Celestia’s guards. Vanish continued, “I also arranged an ‘order’ for the ponies to be woken up in. I let Fluttershy go, so that she may tend to the creatures of her cottage. As for the Wonderbolts, their captain needed assistance. Miss Hooves also had no reason to be here, so I asked for her to be sent back to Cloudsdale.” Vanish delivered a clever smirk to the mares in front of him. “I know how some of you see me, but I still have manners, my dear. I went to sleep out of exhaustion, though I needed the usage of the sleeping powder to ensure I would fall asleep with absolute haste.”
Rarity stepped forward, curious about something. “Then why did you wake up Sweetie Belle and her friends?” Vanish turned his full attention to her, but walked over to a rag, placed on a bucket, that had been soaked with water as he answered the curious unicorn. “They needed to be woken up, and also needed their sisters to be awake so that they would not panic once risen from their slumber, save for Scootaloo, who just needed her friends awake in order to remain calm, or at least, that was what I figured to be the case. As for the ones I requested to be taken to the Canterlot Infirmary, they will need to be cleaned of excess sleeping powder in their coats and manes. It’s not like I was able to be careful in how I dispersed the powder.”
Applejack rubbed her head, lifting her hat to do so. “Why’d ‘ya put us t’sleep, though, Van? Were ‘ya tryin’ t’trick us? You were our friend! We trusted you, an’ that’s how you repay our friendshi-” “WE…” The sudden shout from Vanish was greeted with gasps from the other ponies in the room, before he used his hooves to hold the rag up, vigorously wiping his face with the soaked rag, before stopping to finish his sentence. “… were never friends.” Looks of shock were prominently displayed on several ponies’ faces, quickly replaced with several looks of shame and sorrow as the stallion soaked the rag again. “Quite frankly my dear, if I considered us ‘friends’, I never would have asked you to assault me with the magic of the Elements of Harmony.”
Twilight stepped forward, as did Princess Celestia, as the former asked, “What do you mean?” Twilight was curious about the stallion’s logic, as were the other ponies, though he responded calmly. “You could have attacked Princess Cadance, or Shining Armor, even Princess Celestia. But I could not be sure if you would have done so given how close you were to them in terms of emotional attachment. Furthermore, I ‘relinquished’ my horn to Gather so that you may attack me, thus causing him to lose control of the magic of the other ponies he had obtained the magic and wings of, before you attacked him directly.” Vanish placed the wet rag on his hoof, before tossing it on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Of course, he had never relinquished my own magic, so I felt quite a bit of physical pressure as he was attacked with the Elements of Harmony for the second time.”
Rainbow threw the rag back down, before Rarity used her magic to dip it into a bucket of water, strain it, and wipe excess powder from her friend’s face, prompting complaints from the still-wingless Pegasus pony. “Ungh! Rarity, stop it! Vanish! Why did you put us to sleep? Where is Gather?” Rainbow Dash scowled at Vanish, having had her face finally cleansed of the sleeping powder. “Vanish, why'd you do all this!?” Vanish couldn’t get himself to match Rainbow’s stare, so he turned away. “LOOK AT ME WHEN YOU ANSWER, VANISH!!!” Vanish simply closed his eyes as he humorously quipped, “… That shade of bitter contempt does not go well with your complexion, my dear.”
Rainbow snarled, as Vanish faced her, opening his eyes again as he sternly responded. “I am confident that Gather will pay for his crimes in Baltimare, but not for his transgressions in Ponyville, Cloudsdale, or Canterlot. If Princess Celestia goes to Baltimare, be it as a ‘witness’ or ‘victim’, it would be an admittance of weakness on her part.” Princess Celestia lowered her head in shame, but was also curious with regards to what Vanish was getting at. “This would put her status as the ruler of Equestria into peril, my dear. After all, who would want a princess who wasn’t strong enough to withstand the attack of a single unicorn?”
Vanish shook his head, lowering it in defeat. “Rainbow Dash, this is the way things will be. Gather will not pay for his crimes, but somepony must be blamed. Somepony must suffer for what happened to the Pegasi of Cloudsdale… And that pony is me.” Vanish looked up, no longer afraid of the stares that were bound to be directed towards him by the ponies in the room. “I shall be tried for attacking Canterlot, and the surrounding locales.”
Rainbow Dash was stunned at the revelation. This was the plan all along, and she never saw it coming. “Wh… B-But… No! This isn’t right! You just did what the contract told you!” Twilight stepped forward. “Rainbow…” The light-cerulean mare had tears in her eyes. She wasn’t going to accept that she had no say in this. “No, Twilight, we need to make this right! We need to head to Baltimare and make sure that Gather gets what he deserves!” Applejack chirped up from behind Twilight. “Rainbow, y’know we can’t just do that. Think about Canterlot. Think of Equestria!”
Rarity tried getting through to the headstrong mare. “Listen to us, Rainbow! We’re your friends!” The stylish unicorn was understandably concerned for friend’s attitude, but spoke plainly. “Gather deserves no mercy for what he has done, but we can’t put Equestria in danger, darling. It’s out of our hooves.” Rainbow scoffed at her friends, deciding to start running out the door to the Wedding Hall, hoping to reach the opposing door of the reception hall, which lead outside. “What do you think you’re doing, Rainbow Dash?” She stopped at the sound of Vanish's question, turning around to see the stallion facing her, as well as her friends’ looks of concern. “I’m gonna go to Baltimare and tell ‘em what happened!”
Vanish closed his eyes, deep in thought at what Rainbow Dash was set on accomplishing. “……… No. You’re not.” Vanish slowly walked over to her, but Rainbow backed up through the Wedding Hall doorway as the stallion continued. “By the time you reach Baltimare, Gather will already be found innocent of the crimes from here, and I will be found guilty. Your statement will mean nothing. Being a weak, foolish, naïve Pegasus pony will gain you no respect from anyone.” Rainbow stopped backing up, glaring at Vanish while she desperately tried negotiating the series of events she couldn't control. “T-Then give me my wings. I can fly there and stop this! I can make this right!”
“HAH!” Vanish’s mocking laugh caught Rainbow Dash off guard. “This is already the way it should be!” He dramatically pointed his hoof in the petrified mare’s direction. “What disgusts me, is that your ‘loyalty’ means so little, that you’re willing to put your kingdom, your race, your friends in danger, for such a worthless cause!” Vanish turned around to Princess Celestia, but kept his voice loud so that Rainbow Dash could hear him, bent on demoralizing her before she could work up the motivation to try ruining his plans by leaving the Wedding Hall area.
“You’re no ‘Element of Loyalty’: You’re just a selfish, narcissistic, stubborn brat, undeserving of her friends and title. I may be the ‘sell-out’ you called me earlier, but at least I’m not you, as that is all you’ll ever be, Rainbow Dash, for that is all you are capable of becoming. Accept it.”