//------------------------------// // 9. Signing Bonus // Story: Breaking Barriers // by chief maximus //------------------------------// Chapter 9- Signing Bonus "Yeah, but there ain't no need for that," he whispered back to her. "We'll talk about that after supper," he insisted, taking a sip of his drink before the eldest Apple addressed Rainbow. "Now Rainbow, Ah understand you and my boy are courtin'?" The elder Apple asked. "Yes ma'am," Rainbow blushed, casting a slight glare at AJ, knowing exactly how Granny Smith had come across such information. "That's good, Ah remember courtin' stallions when I was just a young'un like yourself," she sighed nostalgically before continuing, "Are you and Macintosh bein' safe in th' bedroom?" she asked out of nowhere, nearly causing Mac to spit out his mouthful of apple cider, and Rainbow to blush brighter than he'd ever seen. "Granny!" Applejack interjected, taken completely aback by her forwardness. "Safe? From what? Is your bedroom dangerous?" Applebloom asked, only to be shushed by her older sister. "Head upstairs for a minute please Applebloom, the adults need ta discuss somethin'," Mac insisted. "Ah'm a big pony! Ah want ta know what you're supposed ta be safe from! What if there's somethin' gonna attack me in my bedroom?" the little filly protested. "Applebloom, Ah'll tell you later, now please go upstairs," Mac requested sternly, though in a soft tone, so as not to come off as condescending to his littlest sister. Begrudgingly, Applebloom excused herself and headed upstairs. "Well, Granny, Ah'd rather not have this discussion at dinner," Mac began, Or ever again he thought, before the eldest Apple cut in again. "That's alright, just make sure we don't end up with foals we can't support runnin' around," she completed as everyone left at the table felt extremely uncomfortable. Mercifully, Granny Smith changed the subject. "Rainbow, you aren't like the other girls Macintosh has brought over, you seem ta have a good head about ya." Rainbow glared at Mac as he blushed in embarrassment. "Other girls?" she growled. "Ah was just wastin' time with them until Ah met you," he whispered smoothly, defusing a potentially dangerous situation. "Anyway, Applejack, ya know we're strapped for money at the moment, and as much as Ah'd like ta believe Ah could do all the hard work the farm needs doin', there is only one of me," Mac began. "With that in mind, Ah wanted ta go to Canterlot ta ask the princesses for a loan ta hire extra help ta get us through this season." His idea was met almost immediately with resistance from the most likely source. "We've worked this farm for years by ourselves Macintosh! We don't need no help from nopony!" Applejack snapped in outrage. "Applejack, it would take me weeks ta remove the dead trees alone! And if Ah'm doin' that, then who's plowin' the fields?" "Ah could plow them dang fields if it came down ta that!" she responded as Rainbow and Granny simply watched the siblings argue. "Applejack, Ah know you could, but by the time you do, it'll be winter," Mac replied, not meaning to set off his sister's prideful nature, but doing it all the same. "You sayin' Ah cain't?" she hissed, pounding her forelegs on the table. "Applejack, calm down," Granny demanded, AJ's respect for her grandmother silencing her dissent. "You know darn well you and Macintosh work yourselves ta death takin' care a this farm. If the princesses see fit ta give us a helping hoof, it would be disrespectful not to accept," she completed, dabbing her chin with her napkin. "There ain't no shame in accepting help Applejack, you learned that after ya nearly destroyed the town thinkin' you could help everypony," Mac added, his sister slowly coming to grips with the reality of the situation. "Ah suppose you're right," she sighed. Mac and Rainbow excused themselves to the porch to talk about a small pegasus filly whose safety had been on their minds since Applebloom had spoken of her. "You need ta talk to Scootaloo and make sure her stepdad ain't been harassin' her anymore," Mac said in a hushed tone, the night settling in over the orchards. "Yeah, I'm sure I can catch her after school tomorrow," she yawned, "I'm gonna head back. Thanks for dinner." Rainbow gave him a quick kiss and took off into Luna's brilliant night sky. Upon her arrival back home, she found an envelope with a winged lightning bolt slid beneath her front door. Rainbow's heart seemed to stop. This was it. Behind that envelope was the note that would determine if all of her hard work, the dream she'd held since she was but a filly, would pay off. She almost didn't want to open it. She bit her lip as she held it with nervous hooves. Opening it, she flipped open the letter and was surprised to see it only had two words written on it. Go outside? she thought, turning back to her still open door, to find Spitfire on her porch. "Spitfire?" she asked in shock. She hadn't even heard her approach! How on earth had she managed to sneak up on her? "Hey Dash," she said cooly, not averting her gaze from the brilliant night sky. "S-so did I make it?" Rainbow asked nervously. Spitfire smiled, turning to her. A devilish grin crossed her lips as she seemed to look past Rainbow toward somepony behind her. "Do it," she demanded, as a black bag was shoved over Rainbow's head and her hooves and wings bound together before she knew what was going on. "What the heck is this?!" she cried beneath the black bag covering her face. She felt hooves on her as she was shoved into the back of a chariot and felt it take off. "Where are you taking me?!" she demanded as her demands were met with hostility. "Will somepony shut her up?" She recognized that voice. It was Spitfire! What had she gotten herself into? Her mask was lifted briefly to gag her and then replaced. In the instant her vision was restored, she had seen four other ponies in ski masks holding her captive. For the first time in her life, Rainbow was terrified. Was this really happening? It had to be a trick! Perhaps the Changelings had returned to capture the elements of Harmony one by one to try and retake Equestria! She felt every bump of turbulence along the way to wherever she was being taken. Thoughts of what waited for her at the end of the journey bounced around in her head as she tried to maintain her composure. In the silence of the ride, she could hear what sounded like another voice muffled by a gag of some sort near her, though she had no idea who it belonged to. It seemed she wasn't the only pony to get kidnapped tonight. After an indeterminate amount of time, she felt the carriage stop, nearly causing her to tumble onto the floorboards. "Let's move." That one sounded like Soarin, but she had no way of knowing. She felt hooves underneath her forelegs lift her and drag her out of the carriage and along the ground as Rainbow fought the whole way, though every appendage that might have aided in her escape had been bound. She felt the material collecting beneath her limp back legs gather as she was dragged to wherever they were taking her. Dash recognized the feeling; she was being dragged across clouds! At least she knew she had to be somewhere in Cloudsdale. Soon, she felt the ponies dragging her along stop. The creaking of metal greeted her ears as she was forcefully tossed on her flank a few feet forward before hearing an old iron door slam and lock behind her. Still with her bonds and mask on, she set out to free her forelegs from the ropes tying them. After about five minutes of trying, Dash freed her forelegs, ripping her mask off and removing the gag. Looking around, she saw what appeared to be a windowless dungeon. A single torch by the lone door to this Celestia forsaken place provided enough light for Rainbow to notice she was in a jail cell. Another figure in a black mask was in a separate cell beside hers, it too was struggling to remove its bonds. Reaching a hoof through the bars, Dash helped the stranger remove her mask before realizing whom she had just aided. "Firefly?" she nearly hissed in disgust, withdrawing her hoof as if she would have bitten it off. "Who's there? Oh, it's you," she sneered after removing her gag and turning to face her. "They come... they come for everypony, you know..." a near whisper drew both mares attention to the cell at the far end of the room. The voice was aged and worn, as though it belonged to an elderly stallion. In fact, it did. An old, emaciated and frail looking pegasus stallion sat in the corner of his cell, gently rocking back and forth in the fetal position, muttering to himself. "You two... the bell tolls for thee," he whispered, his discolored red and blue eyes shifting between Dash and Firefly. "I've seen all. All the sacrifices before you, they come. The robed ones, to devour your soul..." Still, the old pony rocked back and forth, muttering more incoherent babel. "Who are you? What is this place?" Firefly demanded. "You will not escape the chamber... nopony escapes the chamber..." he whispered, before being thrown into a fit of insane laughter, the likes of which chilled both pegasi to the bone as a new wave of fear washed over them, though neither would admit it. Before they could question the lunatic pony further, two ponies in black robes opened the door to the dungeon, where a bright red light blasted through, temporarily blinding everyone in the formerly dark prison. The robed ponies did not speak. One simply pointed a hoof at the old stallion, causing him to plead and beg for his life. "Please! Take one of them! Not I! Not I, I beg you!" Rainbow and Firefly watched in terrified paralysis as they opened his cell door, and dragged him by his hind legs out of the dungeon as he screamed and begged for mercy until his cries slowly faded away. Rainbow swallowed nervously. What in the hay had she gotten herself into? "Look, I know we both hate each other and everything, but if we're gonna make it out of here alive, we need to work together," Dash explained, turning to Firefly. "Ha! I'd rather die than help you," she spat. Rainbow couldn't believe her ears. What on earth is wrong with this mare? "Are you serious? What is your problem with me?" Dash demanded, fed up with being loathed for no reason. Firefly resisted at first, but figured since they were both probably going to die, she might as well get it off her chest. "Your father was a flight instructor, wasn't he?" she began, as Dash's mouth opened in astonishment. "Yeah, he was. How did you—" "I'm not finished. He was supposed to keep his students safe, but he sucked pretty hard at that, didn't he?" she growled, as Rainbow noticed a glint of sorrow in the normally angry young mare's eyes. "Don't you dare talk about my father that way!" she snapped, bringing herself as close to Firefly as the bars would allow. "I know he did, because he let one of his students fly into a thunderstorm when he wasn't paying attention like he should have been!" she egged on, tears forming in her ice blue eyes. "You son of a—" Dash stopped mid syllable. She realized why Firefly knew all this, and why she was beginning to get emotional when explaining it. "You're Cloudy's little sister, aren't you?" "Yeah, and when I got my invite to the Wonderbolt tryouts, I knew I'd be able to fulfill the dream my big brother had of becoming one before your incompetent father took it from him!" "It was your idiot brother's fault! What kind of moron flies into a thunderstorm?" Dash snapped back. Had iron bars not been separating the two of them, they'd have torn each other apart by now. "He was just a foal! Your dad should have-have..." Firefly's rock solid demeanor began to crumble as she thought of her brother. "Your dad took my best friend away from me," she sniffed through gritted teeth, "He was supposed to save him and he failed!" "Your brother was the one who killed my dad by being an idiot! I had to grow up without a father because of him!" Dash nearly screamed, tears beginning to fall from her fiery eyes as well. They glared at each other, the silence in the dungeon filling their ears as they vented years of pent up anger and resentment towards an event that neither had anything to do with, nor had any control over. "Then I guess we'll both die angry," Dash muttered, turning her back to Firefly so she wouldn't see her tears. Before another response could be formed, the dungeon door swung open, revealing the robed ponies once more, only this time, their robes were now stained with smears of red. A hoof pointed to Rainbow as two of them advanced on her. With her hindlegs and wings still bound, she tried to resist, but found it impossible as she was dragged outside the dungeon, where another mask was placed over her head. She was lead down a maze of twisting corridors until she was thrust to her knees, the light of torches gently shining through the dark fabric of the mask as it was removed. Before her stood two robed figures behind a large desk, the skull of a pony placed on the desk before them. A large, curved blade sat behind the skull. Before Rainbow could say a word, the robed ponies spoke. "Rainbow Dash, your wings have been chosen to be sacrificed to the Great Spirit as an offering, in thanks for the gift of flight she had seen fit to bestow upon the pegasi race. It is the highest honor we can bestow. Do you accept?" It was Soarin's voice, that she knew. Had this been what the tryouts were all about? Seeking a suitable sacrifice? Had she been played so thoroughly? "No!" she shouted, the tears from her argument with Firefly still blurring her vision. The robed ponies behind the desk faced each other and muttered between themselves before turning back to her. "Very well, if you will not give your wings, then we will take them." Before she could react, she felt multiple hooves hold her down, forcing her onto her belly as she flapped her wings madly in an attempt to escape. She heard the metal hiss of the knife being drawn from the table as she screamed and shouted in protest, trying to resist but finding the weight of the other ponies to be just too much. The knife passed in front of her face, the tip gently dragged down her neck and back, stopping where her wings were still bound. Rainbow cringed, gritting her teeth and awaiting the cold steel she knew was just moments away from cutting through her most tender of flesh, when the torches were suddenly extinguished. Darkness was all her eyes could see as she felt the other ponies remove themselves from atop her. A blast of light soon blinded her as her eyes adjusted, normal lighting having been restored. Had she been rescued in the nick of time? A robed pony stepped in front of her, and flicked the hood off of her head. "Gotcha," Spitfire smiled, as the rest of the mysterious robed ponies removed their hoods and began laughing. "Just what in the hay is going on here?!" Dash demanded as Spitfire untied her. "You didn't think we were going to cut your wings off, did you?" Soarin asked, still holding back a grin. A prank. An elaborate, perfectly executed prank. The relief Dash had been feeling was itself enough to cause her to laugh with them. "But the cells... and the crazy old pony... how in the-" "We usually pick a pony to be the crazy one, this time Rapidfire drew the short straw. I swear he could have been an actor if not for how good he was at flying," Spitfire explained, motioning to the 'crazy old pony' they had seen in the cells earlier as he wiped the makeup from his face and removed the contact lenses. "We usually get the male recruits first, but this time we switched it up a bit." "You do this for everypony that tries out?" Rainbow asked. "Nope, just the ones who make the squad. Congratulations Rainbow, you're a Wonderbolt." Rainbow's breath left her lungs and refused to return as she grinned from ear to ear. "R-Really?" she managed to squeak. "That's right! Now follow Soarin, we've got to get set up for Firefly." Rainbow's expression dropped slightly. "She made the cut too, huh?" "That's right. You two are part of a team now, and I expect you to work together without any problems. Can I count on that?" "Yes ma'am." "Good." Soarin led Rainbow to his office. It wasn't huge, but it still had a pretty good view. His various awards and magazine covers adorned the walls around his desk as Dash took a seat in front of it. She was still somewhat awestruck to be sitting in the office of the first stallion she ever remembered having a crush on as a filly. "Sorry if you got a little freaked out over that whole thing," he said, digging into one of his desk drawers and finding the papers he was looking for. "It's an initiation tradition, we all had to go through it." "No, it's cool. I can appreciate a good prank," she smiled, feeling her cheeks run redder than usual. Soarin smiled at her. She had seen that smile staring back at her from many a magazine cover, but they simply didn't do it justice. She felt as though she could look at it forever. Her stomach butterflies came roaring back to life as he slid a packet of papers toward her. "This is your contract, it's a ten year deal, with at minimum four product tie-ins, mall openings, celebrity appearances, per month during the off-season as well as any hazardous duty waivers or accidental death or dismemberment clauses," he explained, though he might as well have been speaking another language to her as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Just sign and date here, here, here, initial here, and sign, date, and hoofprint here," he added, pointing out where she needed to make her mark. Taking the quill in her mouth, she began filling out the paperwork. She stopped at the last page, where the words 'signing bonus' caught her eye. "What's this about a signing bonus?" "In addition to our 300,000 bits a year salary, you get a signing bonus to keep you financially solvent until we start getting our show pay, which can range from 100,000 bits a show to 500,000, depending on the venue, whether or not it sold out, you know, that kind of stuff." Rainbow followed the dotted line over to the amount of her signing bonus. "Two point one? What's that mean?" "Two point one million," Soarin answered, casually taking a sip of his coffee as though he didn't just mention Dash would be a millionaire upon completion of this contract. Dash's jaw nearly hit the floor. "T-two point one million bits?" Soarin flashed her that same handsome smile. "If you could see the look on your face," he commented, "I live for this kind of thing." Dash took a look back down at the contract. "This isn't another prank is it?" "Nope, just sign that last line, and put your hoofprint on that bad boy, and you'll be swimming in bits," he answered, taking another sip from his coffee. With a shaky mouth, Dash sighed her name, though it was probably unrecognizable to anypony but her. "Congratulations Rainbow Dash, you're the newest —and best looking, if you don't mind my saying so— addition to the Wonderbolts." She had just made over two million bits in ten seconds, and her fillyhood hero/crush just called her cute. Today was a great day. "Now, as soon as they're done with Firefly, we have another little tradition we like to participate in around here," Soarin smiled, getting up from his chair and motioning her to follow. "Another one?" Dash asked nervously. "Trust me, you'll like this one." "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Rainbow chugged her sixth or seventh hard cider as the other Wonderbolts cheered the rookies on. The other tradition they had mentioned was the team taking the rookies out to dinner, and then getting them absolutely obliterated at one of the nicest night spots in all of Cloudsdale. The cover charge alone was 1,000 bits, but it was all on the Wonderbolt's tab. Rainbow had won four out of five head to head chug-offs against the other rookies, even beating Firefly, whose differences they had set aside for now. "Oh *hic* yeah... who else wans a piece of th' c-champ?" Dash slurred, looking around at the table of her new co-workers. "Soarin does!" Fleetfoot shouted, as Soarin blushed a bit, drinking his beer to keep from having to respond. They were all quite drunk, but the good times were rolling, and Rainbow was still in disbelief that she'd finally landed her dream job, and was now flushed to the gills with bits! "Sorry Soarin, I'm..." she paused. There was no reason she had to tell them she had a coltfriend. It wasn't like she was going to do anything to screw up what she had with Mac, but these were hard partying, single and free mares and stallions; the rockstars of the pegasi race! She had to fit in, right? "I'm going to need another drink before I do anything with you!" she added flirtatiously, much to the laughter of their teammates. After nearly a full night of drinking, Rainbow threw herself into the back of a cab with Soarin, who was paying the fare for her. "C'mon... let me get the c-*hic* cab fare," Rainbow hiccuped. "No, rookies don't pay on their first night, that's the rule," Soarin answered, just as drunk. "Oh you and your rules..." she said, having laid her head on Soarin's lap to try and get some sleep in the brief ride back to her house. Before long they were both passed out in the back of the cab as the driver woke them as they arrived at Rainbow's cloud home. "Rook, wake up." Soarin shook her gently as she raised her head from his lap. "Huh?" "We're at your place," he said as he opened the door for her and she stumbled out onto her porch face first. She was certainly lucky clouds were so soft. "Keep it running, I'll be right back," the slightly more sober Soarin said as he hopped out of the cab to help Rainbow to her door, only to find a red earth stallion walking towards her. "Rainbow, where have you been?" Mac asked, concern evident in his voice as she tried to pull herself together. "Take it easy, she's been with us... hey don't I know you?" Soarin answered. Mac turned and shot a cold stare at him. "Who is us?" he demanded. "The Wonderbolts. Tonight was her initiation. You her roommate or somethin' guy? Oh wait! You're Afflejacks brother! Dude, your sister's pie is amazing. Her apple pie, not her...well you know. I bet it's pretty good to though..." Mac growled, none too happy about being accosted by a strange drunk male falling out of a cab with his equally drunk marefriend. "Ah'm her coltfriend, and you can git!" "Ha! Coltfriend. I've heard that one before!" Soarin slurred, getting back into the cab. "What was that?!" Mac demanded, though by the time he turned, the cab had taken off. "Mac! Just the s-stallion I wanted to see!" she said happily, planting a sloppy tongue kiss on his lips as she wrapped her forelegs around his neck for support. He led her inside her house as she continued her drunken ramblings. "You know... I once knew a guy... you look like him... we herded cattle together this one time, and we lost them all! Wait that was you!" she laughed, putting a hoof to her face as Mac laid her down in her bed. "What are you..." she paused to yawn, "Doin' here anyway?" "Well, Ah was bringin' ya some food, since Ah knew the store'd be closed after you left the farm, but you've been gone all night! Ah figured you'd be back soon, so Ah decided ta wait on ya. Ah didn't think you'd take as long as ya did." "Yeah... sorry about that, I kinda got kidnapped, but everything is fine now that you're here!" she said, rolling onto her stomach and raising her flank in the air, waving her tail provocatively at Mac. "Do me," she demanded. "Uhm... Ah don't think repetitive motion is such a good idea in your condition," he reasoned, not wanting to have to clean up any messes. "Mac, you're my coltfriend! You're 'sposed to do me when I want to be done!" she whined, not moving from her position, even wagging her flank at him. Mac sighed, he supposed he could oblige her, not that she'd ever have to twist his hoof into this sort of thing. "Fine, just let me—" he was interrupted by the sound of Rainbow snoring loudly. Chuckling to himself, he pushed her flank back down and covered her in her blankets, kissing his totally hammered girlfriend goodnight as he left her home to head back to his own.