Contrary to her normal feeling of always being on cloud nine, Rainbow Dash felt on, like, cloud one. Heck, she felt even lower than that. She felt like she had been straight-up kicked off of cloud nine and splattered straight onto the hard-packed dirt roads of Ponyville.
And as a matter of fact, she now was on the ground, slowly moping along, not caring where she wandered. For some reason, a tiny little thundercloud hovered above her head, following over her like a docile bird.
Colgate tried to wave to her from the side of the streets. Rainbow noticed this, but didn't care. Colgate slowly put her hoof down in disappointment.
As she passed the flower ponies' stand, they tried to wave at her to try to get her attention. Rainbow didn't even look up.
Her mind was too preoccupied with other things.
Out of all the things she could have been beat at, she had been beat at a flying competition- and she had been beat by a raggedy, dumb joke-spouting, full-of-himself stallion, at that. The sheer injustice, the unfairness of it all, had made her want to either scream or slink away and never be seen again. And as much as she wanted to do both of those things, she refrained from doing it. After all, if she ran away and never came out again, that would only prove that she had lost, once and for all. The least she could do was keep her head up and be brave and show that she had not lost her dignity.
But she nonetheless felt as though she had. Firestorm had acted like it was a piece of cake to beat her at flying. And it probably was, for him. He had spent a lot of his time in the army. He had spent time in combat, and it had probably honed his flying skills far beyond his normal capabilities. Did he even know he could do it beforehoof? Or did he just perform it for the first time at the competition? He looked so casual as he did it--and he was sure of himself in his chances of winning before, as well. It certainly looked like he had done it before.
And that just made her more depressed. Why? Why did he have to beat her?
Oh, right, she had challenged him. And he had done his best. Shoot.
Why did he have to be so good? Why did he have to be the one that ended up happy? Why did he get the ponies wanting more of him? All he did was imitate whatever she had done. That didn't warrant him getting such good luck. He had everything--he had his good friends, he had awesome weapons, he could do a Sonic Flameboom--which even she had to admit, looked pretty epic--and he was a war hero that worked undercover for Princess Celestia! What reason did he have to be unhappy?
But Rainbow...
Rainbow felt humiliated in front of the entire town. She felt furious that her reputation as the fastest and most awesome pegasus on the planet had been tarnished. She felt indignant at Firestorm's casual response to his accomplishment, as though it was no big deal to pull off a legendary, impossible feat and knock out somepony else's spot of honor. She felt undervalued by her friends. Since the competition the day before, not one of them came near to her and tried to make her feel happy, like she mattered...And she felt like everything inside of her hurt, like worms were burying themselves through her stomach, like her throat was constricted and her breathing came hard and heavy.
Was it jealousy? It was hard to tell. If it was jealousy, then about what anypony would do is that they would simply tell her that jealousy is a form of pride, that the reason you feel this way is because of you, Rainbow, that these feelings are your fault, that you just have to let go of these feelings and you'll feel so much better when you do.
Fat lot of good that would do her. It was her fault that Firestorm embarrassed her, that she had gotten upset and heartbroken because of it? It was her fault that that happened?
But no, Rainbow, they would tell her in such a sickeningly sweet voice. Accepting blame is hard. But this is a situation that you are fully in control of, they'd tell her. You can only stop feeling this way if you just stop feeling jealous of the attention and the interest the ponies in town now have of him and all of the best of life that Firestorm has and just focus on what you have going for you. At least you have friends, is what they would say. You should feel grateful for that, they would tell her. You should accept that good things happen to others and get over it already.
Stop feeling sad about this, Rainbow, they'd tell her. Stop feeling like compared to him you're worthless. Stop these involuntary reflexes you can't control, they would tell her. Stop feeling at all. Every single problem that happens to you shouldn't be something you can't do anything about. Stop acting like you can't do something about this. Stop being natural! Stop thinking that the bad things that happen to you are something you can't control! You can control absolutely everything in your life and there's no excuse at all why you shouldn't!
She felt her eyes get hot. She angrily wiped them with her hooves, and was disappointed when she drew them back and saw that they were wet. She would not cry.
Stop feeling like you're going to cry! That's what they'd say. Stop your crying! You're better than that! You can control every single little thing that happens to you! Why are you doing that? Why are you vulnerable? It's your fault this is happening! You are the one that's done something wrong, not the pony that embarrassed you! It's your fault you're responding like this! Stop it stop it stop it!
Rainbow couldn't take it. She let out a torn scream of hatred and smashed her hoof into the nearest wall. Hatred at herself, hatred at her thoughts, hatred at her feelings, hatred at the way ponies would 'Try their hardest to cheer you up' but would instead just make the pain worse.
Her hoof felt a rush of pain. She drew it off of the wall and winced, shaking it so it would cool off. She turned around forcefully and bumped into somepony.
"Whoah!" Derpy cried, stumbling backwards. She straightened herself. "Hey, Rainbow Dash! What's up?" she asked. Her eyes went askew like they normally did.
Rainbow sighed. She was a little surprised that she had stumbled into Derpy, because normally it was Derpy doing the stumbling. Rainbow pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, Derpy, I don't really want to talk to you right now. I'm..."
"Under a cloud?" Derpy suggested. She pointed at the black cloud hovering above Rainbow's head.
Well, she was right about that. "...Yeah. Just go away. I don't want to see you. Or... any pony, for that matter." Rainbow swatted away the thundercloud with a wave of her hoof.
Derpy looked crestfallen. "Oh. I understand." She stood for just a second while Rainbow glared at her irritably, then Derpy reached behind her and took a muffin out of nowhere. "Muffin?" she offered.
Rainbow glanced at the muffin. She just wanted her to go away, but she also wanted to placate her. "...fine, Derpy. I'll take a muffin."
Derpy grew a wide, goofy smile and thrust the muffin into Rainbow's wing. She then turned away and trotted off, clueless as to Rainbow's condition.
Rainbow looked at the muffin she had. It actually looked kinda good. She took a small bite. It was as good as it looked. But it didn't help all that much.
In fact, just looking at the thing made her feel sick to her stomach. All of a sudden she didn't want it. Not feeling like she wanted to hurt Derpy's feelings, she didn't throw it away. She instead walked to the café and set it down next to somepony eating.
And as she drooped sadly into the market, she noticed, fifty feet away, a large crowd clustered around something. There were some clicks as camera shutters went off, and a voice came over the crowd. A voice that was painfully familiar.
"Okay, as much as I like attention, this right here is just ridiculous. I just wanted to go and grab some fritters from the market, and what do you do? You mob me! Get a life!" Firestorm, wearing a pair of sunglasses to hide his face, sped down the street, coming for Rainbow.
Rainbow ducked into a side alley of the streets, and saw that Firestorm was being followed. He was trying to outpace them, but he was failing. He quickly ducked into the same side street Rainbow was hiding in and the crowd rushed past him.
Rainbow kept herself hidden from him. She didn't want him to see her and undoubtedly gloat in performing a Sonic Flameboom in front of her face. That was the last thing she needed today. So she was hidden, unable to see what was going on.
Then another familiar voice came through. One that wasn't as painful, but still hard to hear.
"All right, break it up, guys, break it up. Who's this guy you're all trying to mob?" Spitfire's voice sounded.
Rainbow almost jumped from her hiding spot. Spitfire? What was she doing here?
Firestorm, however, upon hearing that voice, suddenly drew his head up in anticipation. "Is that her?" he whispered. He sounded excited for some reason.
"It's some pegasus called Firestorm," a pony next to her replied. "He performed a Sonic Flameboom! He's famous now!"
Spitfire let out a squeal of happiness that Rainbow had never heard out of her before. She never sounded like that. Well, not since Rainbow could remember. "Is Firestorm really here?"
"Uh... yeah..." the pony replied uncertainly. "Why does that matter?"
Firestorm came out of his hiding spot and Rainbow slowly peeked her head out. Firestorm was now in the line of sight of the Wonderbolt captain, Spitfire, who was in front of a semicircle of interested ponies.
Spitfire looked at Firestorm. Firestorm looked at Spitfire. And Rainbow saw everything.
Firestorm swept the aviator shades off of his head in one deft motion. " 'sup, Spits?" he asked.
"STORMY!" Spitfire cried, and rushed forward. Firestorm caught her in a powerful embrace. "I thought I'd never see you again!" she cried.
"Oh, it's been too long!" Firestorm told her. The embrace tightened.
Rainbow stared in stupefaction. Spitfire knew Firestorm? How? And why did it seem like they were uncomfortably close?
"When you left," Spitfire whispered, "I... I didn't know when I'd see you again. Or if I'd see you again. You were always there for me, and when you left, I felt gone. The house was just... empty without you."
"I didn't know I mattered that much to you," Firestorm whispered back. "I missed you too. You were a part of me, and I wished I could just go home and see you again. But don't worry. I'm back."
Rainbow felt, as Applejack would put it, "Lower than a snake's belly." Rainbow felt her throat tighten even more, felt her stomach turn and twist. It was too much. Who even was she, next to Firestorm?
"I love you," Firestorm whispered softly to Spitfire.
And that was the final straw. The snap. A few tears welled up, out of her control, against her determination to not cry.
"I love you too," Spitfire told him.
Rainbow felt it coming. And it all hit her at once. She started to bawl, dripping rivers of tears down her face. She leaped out of her hiding spot and ran down the street, scattering the ponies assembled, who looked at her with worry. Rainbow didn't care anymore. She just didn't care. It was official. She was broken. She was abandoned. Her cries of torn anguish echoed everywhere she ran. She galloped unsteadily as fast as her flailing legs could carry her. And she ran past Firestorm and Spitfire's reunion in absolute despair.
Firestorm and Spitfire watched the rainbow pegasus stumble past them, bawling her eyes out. Their eyes followed her, and Firestorm asked, "I wonder what's gotten into her."
"I've never seen her like that," Spitfire commented. "She looks like a filly that just had her heart broken."
"But why? What happened?" Firestorm asked as he watched Rainbow run away, unsteadily crying a river of tears as she ran. It was enough to make him sad as well. It was as if he didn't want to see her sad, and instead do anything to try and help her...
"Should we talk to her?" Spitfire asked.
"I think it's best for us not to talk to her. For now, let's just focus on us," Firestorm responded. He looked around at the large crowd. "Shoo! Go on! Go away! Me and 'Spits are trying to be reunited here!" He then looked at Lyra Heartstrings, who was nearby. "And I want you to dissipate this little cult following you have of me. I order you as the object of your worship."
Lyra nodded somewhat halfheartedly, but she turned around and started to wave away the rest of the Firestorm Fan Club.
At long last, Firestorm and Spitfire were alone. He looked into Spitfire's eyes for just a second, then bumped her on the shoulder. "So, sis, how're mom and dad?"
"Oh, they're fine. When you got deployed to Arimaspi mountain, they were petitioning Celestia to bring you back."
"Typical mom and dad. Weren't they also reluctant to send you off to boot camp?"
"They were, but look at me! I became captain of the Wonderbolts! Which means I outrank you."
"Only in being a Wonderbolt. I bet I outrank you in being a knight for 'Tia and Loony, eh?"
"Oh brother."
"You talking to me now?"
After Twilight and Noble Blade left the castle to go into town to go visit Rarity, Twilight had a feeling... something she couldn't shake exactly. It was hard to define, but it made her feel nervous. She looked around her surroundings, but saw nothing. Just a few bushes and a tree.
"What is it?" Noble asked Twilight, noticing her uneasiness.
"Oh, nothing. It's just... there's something going on around me. It... it's hard to describe, exactly."
Noble perked his head up. Then his ears drooped and he chuckled. "All right, Freedom. You can come out now. I know you're following us."
The bushes next to them rustled as a black-garbed figure leaped out, startling Twilight. Freedom Fighter looked at Noble Blade and flicked his hooves in a questioning manner.
"I just know this kind of stuff, Freedom. Who else can keep an eye on you?"
"How was he following us?" Twilight asked. Freedom filed behind them.
"He's an expert spy. Freedom Fighter could steal your teeth, even if you had your mouth closed."
Freedom pretended to blush and he waved his words aside like a lady waved aside extravagant words.
Rarity's boutique was flooded with rolling coat racks and mannequins with hats and dresses. When Noble Blade, Twilight, and Freedom Fighter entered the building, ringing the bell above the door, Noble cast his eyes about the spacious boutique.
"Down in a second!" sang a voice. Rarity stumbled down the stairs in a corner of the room. "Welcome to- oh! It's you!" Rarity said, coming over to the three ponies. "I was just finishing something up upstairs. What can I do for you?"
Noble stepped forward. "It is rather, what can I do for you."
"Noble!" she exclaimed, a smile coming onto her face. "What, ah, a pleasure to see you! What are you doing here?"
"At the flying competition, I hurt your feelings when you got us all seats. Though I may not have agreed with your methods, it is not my place to insult the Element of Generosity, and for that, I apologize." He reached to the nearest mannequin, took the hat atop its head off, and held the hat to his chest in a respectful manner. The hat was a bright green with a daisy in the brim.
She giggled. "You know, you don't have to hold the hat."
He shrugged. "I simply thought it would amplify my sincerity." He tossed the hat back on the mannequin.
"Well, I want you to know that all that has passed! It's all water under the bridge now." She sighed. "And looking back, I think what I did wasn't the best option, either. From now on, no more manipulating other ponies. That's a promise."
Noble smiled at that and sat down at a sewing table.
"Well, at least I know now that somepony's actually respectful," she continued. "I still have not heard an apology from Firestorm about him insulting clothes and fashion."
"He doesn't need to," Twilight told her. "It's just a difference of opinion."
Rarity sniffed. "Well, he certainly acts like a ruffian. He's loudmouthed and bombastic- and he embarrassed Rainbow Dash! Stallions should behave better than that!"
Noble's expression darkened.
"Rarity, what is with you and Firestorm?" Twilight asked. "Has he done something to insult you personally?"
"It-it's just the way he acts!" Rarity cried, turning away and pulling a strip of fabric out of a nearby bin. "He's nothing at all like you. Noble," she said, now turning her attention to Noble Blade. "You are the paragon of gentle colt behavior, and he..." She struggled to find the right words. "...He's nothing at all like you! That pony is a hideous hermaphrodite with neither the force and firmness of a stallion nor the gentleness and sensibility of a mare!"
Noble banged the table hard, startling her. He jumped up from his seat, and Rarity could detect a cold anger in his eyes.
"That stallion," he said, in a low, firm tone, "is also my best friend. What are you insinuating about my judgment with that little declaration, Rarity? You dare think I consort with that ilk? Or do you just think I'm so stupid that I don't see what you do?"
Rarity's eyes widened. "That's not what I meant! I-it isn't about you!"
"He has saved my life dozens of times. And I have saved his an equal amount. Why do you think I have rushed into battle on the fringes of Equestria to fight alongside him? Why do you think I allow him to act the way he does? Because I love him, Rarity. I have protected him from playground bullies and demonic monsters alike. And he has brightened my day when I have been in the depths of despair. There is no other warrior, besides Freedom Fighter, who I would rather fight and die beside. No other pony."
But even as he said that, he knew it wasn't true. There was another pony he would rather die beside. And it was a shy, pink-haired pegasus with a heart of gold.
"Tell me," he continued. "If I were to talk that way about your friends, how would you like it? Have you actually tried noticing the good in him? Or have you only seen what you have found wrong in him?"
Rarity tried to open her mouth to weakly respond, but no noise came out. His words cut her to the very center.
"Or maybe you have noticed good things about him, but you ignore them and focus instead on the negative?" Noble continued tirelessly. "He is not perfect, Rarity. But you are not, either. I am not perfect. Why aren't you criticizing me? Why are you not pointing out my faults? You're either blind or pernicious, and I can respect neither attribute!" He stopped, panting with deep breaths.
Twilight and Rarity were stunned. Neither of them had seen anything like that out of him before, so seeing him snap was terrifying. He hadn't even raised his voice.
"Sorry," he surprisingly muttered. "My goodness. I come over here to apologize. What's wrong with me?" He collapsed into a stool and looked down at the ground. "I have to do this all over again. Sorry, Rarity. I should know better."
Rarity slowly came over, holding a hoof over her heart. "Noble, I... I'm sorry for insulting your friend. I was insensitive. Can I make it up to you?"
Noble shook his head. "No, no... It's fine, Rarity. I dispensed disproportionate retribution. It was too much. It's just... water under the bridge now, right?"
"Absolutely." Rarity nodded vehemently. "Let's just forgive and forget about these things. I... I don't want to be on bad terms with you!"
"Me either," Noble responded. "Let's just all agree to watch our tongues from here on out."
Freedom Fighter did some sign language that Noble caught out of the corner of his eye. Noble hissed in embarrassment. "Sorry. I didn't mean it literally." Noble's eyes widened, and he facehooved. "Dang it! Even when I try to not be insensitive I still end up offending ponies and I have to apologize."
Freedom waved him off, then explained something with his hooves.
"Wait, you were kidding about being offended by that?"
Freedom nodded, then started to softly convulse with laughter like he'd been tasered.
"You just love doing this kind of stuff, don't you?" Noble asked, slightly irritated.
Freedom took a break to nod again before he continued to silently laugh.
Noble turned to face the others. "You'll have to excuse him. He's whimsical."
"He certainly is a strange character," Rarity agreed. She then cleared her throat. "Well, Noble, as long as you're here, is there anything else you need? Perhaps I can take your measurements for a new suit?"
Noble shook his head. "No thanks. I still have to see the rest of the town with Twilight."
"Oh." Her face fell, just a little. "Well, don't let me hold you up. You go and have a special time with Twilight." There was something in her voice, a kind of colorlessness.
The day passed with Noble Blade, Freedom Fighter, and Twilight going around the town and seeing most of what they had to offer. They got apples from the apple stand in the market run by Applejack. They visited Sugarcube Corner and got a few treats to snack on. Freedom Fighter had called the treats delicious, but Twilight and Noble knew better. For him, all food was tasteless.
They had not seen Pinkie at Sugarcube Corner, but there was a note attached with tape to the door. It read:
Pinkie out with Author. Will be back when plot needs me.
None of them could make any sense of it, but Twilight reassured the two Guardians that Pinkie did this kind of thing all the time.
As they came out of Sugarcube Corner, Noble almost dropped the cookies he held in his magic. There, about to go in, was Fluttershy. When she saw him, she "Eep"ed and jumped backwards, a blush on her face. She recovered her composure, however, and softly said, "Um, uh, h-hi, Noble." She smiled.
Noble almost lost himself at the sight of her smiling. His mind tripped over itself in what he was about to say. The only thing he could say was, "Hey, Fluttershy." Even saying the name made it sound the more beautiful. "W-what are you doing here?"
Fluttershy responded, "I came here to get some cupcakes..." She rubbed her front leg up and down.
What else would she be doing at the sweet shop? Noble stuttered, "Well, do you need any, um, help?" His legs were shaking.
Fluttershy looked away, her cheeks as pink as her hair. "Um, n-no thank you...I..." She broke off as she looked at his eyes. They were the deepest color of sparkling blue she had ever seen.
"...I...I'm okay," she stumbled out before she ran into the sweet shop.
Noble watched her go, an expression of befuddlement written on his face.
"Ooh," Twilight said in a tone Noble thought was suspicious.
"What?" Noble asked.
"She's gotten better at not being shy, but every time see her seeing you, she looks like the old Fluttershy, the one that was even more quiet and reserved. There's only one thing that could be making her act like that." Twilight then gave a small squeal. "I can't believe it! Fluttershy likes you!"
"She does?!" Noble exclaimed, leaping about a foot in the air. He landed hard on his stomach, and got up, massaging his chest. "You really mean it?"
"Weeeellllll..." Twilight said in a conspirator-esque voice, "It'd be better than assuming she's afraid of you."
Before he could spend more time on the subject, there came a woozy voice behind him. "Whoah! Who are you?"
Noble turned. Behind him was a light grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane of hair and a Cutie Mark of several bubbles on her flank. But what Noble noticed about her was her eyes. They seemed to be a golden color, but what stood out about them was the fact that they were pointed in different directions- up and down. She looked kind of cute.
"My lady," Noble said, overcoming his initial reaction to seeing her comical eyes and bowing respectfully. "How can I help you?"
"Do you want a muffin?" she asked him, pulling a basket of muffins from behind her. "I baked them myself."
"Of course," Noble said, and took three out of the basket with his magic. He offered the muffins to Twilight and Freedom Fighter, who took them. Freedom looked at the muffin in his hoof, then sighed, zipped open the line in his suit, and popped the whole thing in his mouth. He chewed on it for a little bit, swallowed, and nodded in feigned satisfaction. He gave the symbol for all-good, but Noble knew better. He couldn't actually taste anything.
"Have you seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked her. "I want to talk to her about the flying competition yesterday. I think she's not doing too well."
"Rainbow Dash?" the light grey pegasus asked. "I think I saw her a few hours ago. I gave her a muffin, but I don't think it helped her all that much."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"She looked kinda depressed. She was under a cloud and it looked like she was about to cry."
"Did you see where she went?" Twilight asked her. She looked concerned
"No," was the reply. "I didn't see that. I can't see all that well. I don't know why."
Freedom Fighter nodded slowly, observing the way her eyes went in both directions at once. He decided not to comment on that.
"Well, thanks for the muffins," Twilight told her. "Bye!"
And the three of them walked along down the street, all noticeably worried. Twilight and Noble's muffins floated behind them like butterflies, each in their respective aura.
"What should we do?" Noble asked.
"We need to find Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, taking a bite out of her muffin. She swallowed. "Wow! These are pretty good."
It was sundown when they decided to reluctantly return to the castle. The search for Rainbow had been unsuccessful. They had asked around town, asking ponies if they had seen Rainbow, but none of them had. Twilight would have assumed that Rainbow would be sulking on a cloud, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
As they trudged somewhat disappointingly to Twilight's castle, Freedom Fighter would creep into the shadows created by the sunset, would hide under windowsills and behind barrels lying outside, would look from side to side before leaping into the next shadow.
"I still don't understand why he does that," Twilight noted as Freedom slipped into another shadow.
"It's an old habit," Noble said. "He's used to the lifestyle of a super soldier. This is just him acting normal."
"Normal." Twilight saw Freedom sneak under another windowsill and leap into a side alley. "And when is he not acting normal?"
"When he's not ready to fight. Which isn't very often."
Suddenly Freedom shot out a hoof to stop them, which they abruptly did. Freedom Fighter sniffed the air. After a few sniffs he started to stalk in front of him, close to the ground. He extended his left hoof to the side, and a long, jagged blade jumped out of a hidden spot in his bodysuit.
"What's he-" Twilight started.
"Shh," Noble cautioned her. "He knows what he's doing."
Freedom slowed down. On the wall of a building in front of them, a few pony-esque shadows were wavering as they walked closer and closer to where they were. Freedom waited until they had shown themselves, then he hurled his blade with one fast swipe. The blade impaled itself on the wall of the building next to the stallion's ear, who yelped in surprise. The mare who was with him leaped in front of the stallion, but Freedom Fighter jumped clean over her and tackled the stallion to the ground. He was about to raise an armored hoof to bash in the stallion's head when he belatedly realized something.
The stallion was Firestorm. Freedom Fighter sheepishly lowered his hoof, then clambered off of him in embarrassment.
Firestorm winced and got to his hooves. "Listen, I know you want me, but next time, I'm on top, okay?"
Freedom Fighter made an exaggerated gagging motion in disgust, then slapped him lightly across the head.
Firestorm pressed a hoof to his cheek with his mouth open slightly. "Oh, come on! And with your left hoof, too? Geez!"
Freedom did not look embarrassed. Behind Freedom Fighter, Spitfire said, "So these are your coworkers, huh?"
"Yep," Firestorm said. "The other Guardians of the Sun." He looked at Twilight and Noble, who were behind Spitfire. "Guys, meet my sister, Spitfire."
Twilight recoiled her head in surprise. "Spitfire, you never told me that you had a brother."
"Dija ever tell your friends you had a brother until he was about to get married?" Spitfire coolly replied.
Twilight was silent.
"I have a very good reason for keeping my brother a secret," Spitfire continued. "He's off-record. Secret warrior, remember?"
"Good point," Twilight conceded.
"What hath brought thee here?" Noble Blade said to her, relapsing instinctively into archaic language.
"Yesterday, when I was about to go to bed, I heard a loud boom, like a crack of thunder was right next to my ear. From where I was in the sky, I could see a huge ring of fire. I didn't know what the ring of fire in the sky I had seen in the sky was, but it looked like it was something he'd do. So today I flew down to Ponyville and I finally saw him. I was able to hang out with him for the rest of the day for the first time in half a decade! He's been on duty for five years! He told me what happened with him and Rainbow Dash, about you two-" she indicated Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter, "and some of the missions you went on, including how they rescued you-" she pointed at Twilight, "in southern Saddle Arabia." She then smirked. "Got your eyes on any of 'em, Princess? How about that guy?" She pointed at Noble Blade. Both Twilight's and Noble's faces flushed scarlet. "Oh, you're blushing! That means he's your special somepony!"
"He's not!" Twilight flustered. "He's got his eyes on somepony else!"
"Well, who is it?"
Noble Blade cleared his throat. "I'd prefer not to say," he told her. He then turned to Firestorm. "I'm surprised, Storm. If she wasn't your sister, I might have mistaken her as your special somepony."
"Of course not!" Firestorm shrugged. "I'd never get with her if we weren't siblings."
"Why not?" Noble asked politely.
"Because if I did, our ship name would either be FireFire or SpitStorm." He stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Neither one is very appetizing."
"So you could get along in every other aspect and be the perfect couple, but you'd never get with her because your ship name would be disgusting?"
"Naturally."
"Have any of you seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, hoping to get off of that particular topic. "We want to talk with her."
Firestorm put a hoof on his chin. "I dunno. I saw her run past me crying when I reunited with Spitfire, but I didn't see where." His face grew somber. "I actually want to talk with her. I think I hurt her feelings a little too hard yesterday."
Next to a wall, out of nowhere, the top of a barrel popped out, startling Freedom Fighter, who was next to it. Pinkie Pie's head was present, with the circular top of the barrel resting on Pinkie's head. "Oh, I saw her run into the bar bawling her eyes out."
Everyone present swiveled their heads to look at the eccentric pink pony.
"What? You do want to know, right? Anyway, I gotta go. It's time for my talk with the author. He said he wanted to talk to me for a second, but only in secrecy." She stretched out the last word as she slowly lowered herself into the barrel, the top of the barrel fitting snugly on the rim.
Freedom abruptly took the top off the barrel. He looked inside for just a moment, then showed the group the inside. It was empty.
Firestorm gave a funny look at the barrel, then turned around and asked Twilight, "Is she always like that?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Twilight groaned.
As Twilight entered Ponyville's lone bar, her nose was assaulted with a myriad of smells- stale drinks, dust, and hay fries. The room was dimly lit, but she could still see everything in the bar. Directly across the room was the bar, with the proprietor, Berry Punch, polishing a dirty glass behind the counter. Between her and Twilight were several circular tables with about a dozen ponies talking, reading the newspaper, or playing card games while snacking on hay fries and drinking high-quality apple cider, ginger ale, or root beer.
Berry Punch saw the group come in, and her expression brightened. "Ah, Princess Twilight! What can I do for you?"
Firestorm was about to go forward, but Noble did it first. "We ain't here fer drinks," he said, imitating a cowpony. He had his head down and spoke in a lower voice than usual. He swept a brown wide-brimmed fedora off the head of someone sitting at a table near him, who felt the air above his head in bafflement. "I'll return this," he whispered to the pony, then settled it on his own head. It didn't fit, what with his horn and all, but he kept it down anyway. "We're here fer information, though a drink'd be 'preciated." He used his magic to levitate a toothpick off of an empty table and he set it in his teeth.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at Noble's out-of-character acting, while Firestorm clenched his teeth. "I was going to do that," he whispered. "But he beat me by one. Second!"
Berry Punch caught on the act quickly, and she grinned and quickly whispered to Noble as he came closer, "Well, depends on what ya need. What'll it be, pardner? Ah can git ya the dirt on about anythin' in Ponyville-- ponies, events, places."
Noble sat at the counter. "Ah'm lookin' fer a female pegasus," he said in a pretty good accent.
"Ain't we all," Berry said mischievously, and winked.
Noble's face drooped. "That ain't what Ah meant."
"Oh please. I've seen it before," Berry said in a melancholy voice. "You stallions. All lookin' fer some company. Well, Ah'll see what Ah got."
"Ah didn't come here ta hire a... dancer," Noble said, tilting his cowpony hat. "Or a masseuse," he thought to add. "Ah'm lookin' fer a friend o' mine. She's a colorful one with a fiery personality an' an ego the size o' Canterlot Mountain. She aughta come in here some time ago leakin' like a faucet. Goes by the name Rainbow Dash."
Berry Punch's expression became much more attentive. "She's here, all right. Do you really want to see her?"
Firestorm sat next to Noble Blade. "Listen. She hasn't been doing too good. I want to fix that."
Berry Punch set down her glass and rag. "Of course," she told them. "If you'll follow me..."
As she pushed outward against the doors that led behind the bar, Noble used his magic to levitate the brown fedora back to the pony that had it. He spat out the toothpick. "Sorry about that," he apologized to the pony with the hat.
"It's fine." The pony sitting down shrugged, then returned to his game of Solitaire.
Noble's eyes widened in realization. "I had to apologize again," he muttered, then facehooved and followed Berry Punch. "I'm learning nothing. Dang it."
"I've never seen you act like that," Twilight commented as she fell in beside him. "What was that all about?"
Noble laughed. "It's something I picked up from Firestorm, actually," he explained in his normal voice. "If you get yourself to be more likable and fun, they're more willing to trust you or tell you things you need to know. Only at the right times, however." He shrugged. "Besides, acting is fun. I don't need an excuse to act fun when I want to."
As they followed Berry Punch to the back of the bar, Twilight felt a surge of dread, for some inexplicable reason. Freedom Fighter, making almost no noise at all, rested his right hoof on Twilight. Twilight jumped at the contact. But when she saw it was only Freedom Fighter, she visibly relaxed and she smiled at him warmly.
Twilight could not see it, but under his mask Freedom Fighter blushed.
Berry Punch led them to the furthest table in the back corner of the bar. She pointed. "There she is. I can understand your concern, actually.
The sight was a horrible one. There was Rainbow Dash, slumped over her own little table in a small puddle of both spilled drinks and her own tears and saliva. She shook slightly, and tiny whimpering noises emanated from her as she held her head in her forelegs and curled her hoof around a bottle of cider that was almost gone. There were another five bottles scattered around the table haphazardly, all drained completely clean. Rainbow's mane stuck up at random places and there were stains all over her cyan coat from touching sugary liquid. They could not see her face.
"She's in the crash stage," Berry explained softly, as not to disturb her. "Earlier I saw her ramble on about stupid stallions and the lack of sensitivity in the male half of the population. That was about two or three hours ago. But now she's just been crying." There arose a shout from the front of the room and Berry Punch sighed. "Sorry, I gotta go serve someone. Hope you talk some sense into her."
"Thank you, Berry," Twilight somberly said. "We can take it from here."
Berry nodded and trotted away.
Twilight came over to Rainbow's shoulder and gently shook it. "Rainbow. It's me, Twilight. We want to talk to you for a second."
"Go 'way," came the response. It was muffled by her forearms.
"Rainbow, please. We want to see what's wrong, is all."
Rainbow slowly lifted her head up. Her face was a pitiful sight. She had corduroy lines on her face, which was damp from being left in the liquid now on the table. Her face was red and puffy, though if it was from her crying or her drinking, they could not tell. Her eyes were bloodshot and twitching slightly, and a few tears were present on the trails they left on her face. There was watery mucus leaking from her nose, and when she weakly spoke, her voice was even more hoarse and cracked than usual. "NO! Y-you don't understand, that's-"
And she saw Spitfire and Firestorm next to each other, and she stopped talking and her eyes became pinpricks and she murmured, "N-n-nnn-n-no..."
"Listen to me, Rainbow. We have to find the problem-" Firestorm began.
"GO AWAY!" Rainbow yelled, and everyone visibly flinched. "Y-YOU'RE THE PROBLEM! I DON'T (hic) WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" She hurled the words at Firestorm like she was trying to hurt him, and it worked; Firestorm looked shocked and guilty, for the first time Twilight had seen from him.
"RAINBOW!" Spitfire ordered. "STOP THIS INSTANT OR I WILL PUT YOUR WONDERBOLT STATUS ON HIATUS!"
That shut her up, but she was still trembling. Finally she looked down and whispered, "It's not fair." She painfully rested her head back in her arms. "Y-y-you just so happen to- to pick the pony that's in charge of my career." She sniffed. "I-I have to w-watch the two of you together and I... I can't do a thing about it!"
Firestorm looked confused, and so did Spitfire. Freedom Fighter made a "Shoo"ing motion, and the two of them backed away. Noble and Twilight came to either side of her to pat her down and relax her labored breathing. Noble used his magic to pry the near-empty bottle out of her grip. It took some time to slow down her heartbeat and have her ready to talk.
"Now tell us, Rainbow. Please let us help you," Noble told her when she was somewhat relaxed.
Perhaps it was the soothing voice he used, or maybe the authoritative command. But whatever it was, it made Rainbow perk up and finally talk. "I... I guess it- it started at that flying competition yesterday. I was so- so- so sure of myself!" She hiccuped, then continued. "B-but not only did he match everything, he- he made it cooler! Heck, he did a Sonic Flameboom! Even the name sounds cooler than what I can do!" She threw her arms up in exasperation, then put them on the table that was now dripping a puddle onto the ground.
Rainbow took her head up and looked into space. After a moment, she softly whispered, "I'm not special anymore."
"Sorry?" Twilight asked, surprised. That was something the Rainbow she knew would never say.
"I was the only pony who could have done something like a sonic boom. I was special. I was valued. But then he- he- he..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
"Rainbow," Twilight said, but Rainbow wasn't done.
"And it's not just that, it's that..." She hesitated for a second, then she blurted out, "He's got it so much better than I do! He has his friends. He has his skills. He has his awesomeness. He has love, and attention, and a reason to be happy. But he made me feel like... like crap! Why should I be happy? Why is this my fault, any of it? Why is it that I'm supposed to just accept the fact that I'm nothing compared to him?" Her voice started to crack up at the end.
Noble started to rub her back up and down, pressing into her muscles and making her groan in resigned pleasure, taking ragged, torn breaths. He did this for about a minute, then Twilight came around the table and looked directly into her bloodshot magenta eyes. "Rainbow, listen to me. Please, just listen. Don't talk. Please believe that I know what I'm going to tell you. Can you believe that?"
Rainbow nodded emphatically.
"You are special," she told her slowly. "You are a Wonderbolt. You represent an Element of Harmony. You are such a binding force to me and my other friends that without you, we are much lesser ponies. You make a difference in so many pony's lives. Without you, we would not exist and we could never form our Cutie Mark bond." She then gazed all the more intently into her friend's pitiful eyes. "Your worth is not determined by what you can do. It is determined by who you are."
Rainbow gulped.
"There are some ponies that never learn that, but I want you to be one that knows-- with all your heart-- that you are Rainbow Dash. You will never be anything more or less than that. You will never be less than your will to be a good pony. You are special because that will is so great that you managed to be a good friend to each of us."
"We think no less of thee because of what happened yesterday," Noble reassured her. "Thy worth is not lessened because somepony else hath talents that match yours. Thou art strong, and thou art powerful, and thou art not easily broken. Thou art a pony we look up to and love simply because thou art a friend."
At their words Rainbow's shuddering subsided and she just lay there breathing in and out. After a while, she said, "But what about S-sp-p-pitfire? D-does she- I-I mean, does Firestorm...love her?" Her voice was weak. She looked into Twilight's eyes, and Twilight found it hard for her to maintain eye contact with her. "Be honest with me, Twilight. Does Firestorm love Spitfire?"
Twilight, uncertain as to why this bothered Rainbow, slowly said, "Of course he loves Spitfire."
"I KNEW IHIHIIIIT!" Rainbow wailed in despair, and face-planted onto the table and started to make wailing noises.
"Why wouldn't he?" Noble asked her, still massaging her hard upper back. "She's his sister, after all."
Rainbow drew her head up all of a sudden. "His sister?" she asked hopefully.
"Their relationship is not romantic. 'Tis instead sisterly love they share."
Rainbow was silent for a moment. She looked down at the puddle of spilled cider, mucus, saliva, and tears. "Oh," was all she could say. She rubbed her face and sighed. "I- I suppose I got myself all worked up for nothing, right?"
"I believe you did," Noble said warmly, still gently rubbing her back up and down
Then she chuckled weakly. "I'm a silly filly, aren't I?" she asked nopony in particular. "I just wasted thirty bits because I didn't know something." She hiccupped.
"I'm not worried about the bits. I'm worried about you! Look at you! You're a mess!" Twilight conjured a mirror with her magic and held it in front of Rainbow.
"Come on, Twilight! When did you turn into Rarity all of a sudd-" Upon seeing herself, she recoiled in horror. "GAAAAAAAAUGH! WHO IS THAT?!" Rainbow screamed, cowering in her seat with her arms out in front.
"Your reflection," Twilight deadpanned.
Rainbow calmed down enough to examine herself in the mirror. She touched her face, feeling the wet parts. After a moment, she said, "...That's me, all right." She drooped. "I need a shower."
"Do you want to spend the night with me?" Twilight asked. "We can take care of you."
"...Sure, Twilight. That'll be fine." She sighed. Noble Blade levitated her off the chair slowly, surprising her at first. Then, when she saw that she wasn't going to be hurt, she relaxed.
Twilight used her magic to clean up the table, while Firestorm came next to Noble, out of the eyesight of Rainbow. "I'll pay her tab," he told Noble. "It's the least I can do."
"I'm sorry you had to get into the situation to begin with," Noble told his friend with unfeigned sincerity. "Neither you or Rainbow deserve to be so broken."
"Broken?" Firestorm tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"You got hurt when Rainbow got depressed. All you did was accept her challenge of a flying competition, and did what you could to not lose. But when you did that, you accidentally damaged Rainbow in a way I don't think you intended to. You didn't deserve that."
Firestorm didn't say anything, which was strange for a pony like Firestorm. Instead, he trotted off to Berry Punch's bar, pulling out a bag of bits.
Noble Blade carried Rainbow out of the bar with his magic, and Spitfire followed. "I gotta get back to Wonderbolt HQ before we all fall asleep," she explained. "Gotta wake up at six to train new recruits." And she took off into the sky towards a distant cloud.
Once Firestorm, Freedom Fighter, and Twilight came out of the bar, they headed back to the castle. Nopony had anything to say on the way there.
Once they got inside the crystal tree castle, Noble immediately helped the drowsy Rainbow into the bathroom and into the shower. He got the water running for her, then respectfully left.
As he watched Freedom Fighter give a salute to him before he entered his room, Noble Blade thought over the events of the night.
Noble hoped the experience would dissipate for both of the pegasi. Neither of them needed to remember something as traumatizing as what they had just had.
But why she was so sad about Spitfire and Firestorm was a mystery.