While the Guardians and Elements were having a grand time on their karaoke cruise, Spitfire was completely distraught and depressed over everything she had gone through. She had been beaten entirely by Indominus and Rainbow Dash, her entire team had been humiliated and their reputation in shambles with all of Equestria seeing the fight. She had even listened to every twisted lie Soarin had said, and it cost her the lives of three of her teammates. To top it off, she had actually helped the demented former Wonderbolt kill Rainbow in cold blood. Spitfire was no longer the confident leader she once was, after all the fighting had ended, she pretty much became a silent recluse across the compound.
Whenever any of the Wonderbolts found her in the compound, she was in a depressed state and hardly spoke to any of them. Her usual tough and strong demeanor had been replaced with the look of a pony that had seen every single aspect of her life destroyed in front of her. She kept her eyes down and Fleetfoot could swear that she saw a few tears dropping from the Wonderbolt when she left the dining hall.
"I've never seen Spitfire so upset before."
"Well after everything that's happened, who wouldn't be," said Surprise.
"She's taking it a lot harder than the rest of us," said Misty Fly. "We can't perform anymore and all of Equestria hates us for what we did. All because of that dinosaur and his precious Rainbow Crash."
"They didn't do anything wrong," yelled High Winds. "Soarin set them up, he set all of us up and used us like puppets."
"It's true," Surprise added. "Maybe if we hadn't believed him and all of his demented lies about them, then maybe Blaze, Fire Streak and Wave Chill would still be alive."
"Yeah, and maybe we wouldn't also be confined to our compound like caged animals, hated by the ponies that respected us, and wouldn't have innocent blood on our hooves for killing Rainbow Dash, because we were stupid enough to believe him!" Fleetfoot's outburst caused all the Wonderbolts to drop their head in shame. There was no taking back the damage they had caused, their world hated them and could never forgive them for the pain they had brought upon Equestria's Guardians.
"We really screwed up this time," Misty Fly said sadly.
"Nopony in their right mind will forgive us now. We're all to blame for what we've done," said Surprise. Spitfire watched her teammates from behind a corner before retreating to her office.
Her teammates were indeed right, and she was just as much at fault as they were. If she had listened to Rainbow Dash instead of brushing her off and siding with Soarin, then she might not have left them. Then Rainbow wouldn't have turned against them, or lashed out in anger. Spitfire was so overwhelmed with the guilt her actions had caused that she buried her face in her hooves and cried into her desk. By going against the one pony who had been telling the truth all along, Spitfire had driven away her most promising teammate and the only one who knew what Soarin had been scheming behind their backs. But what tormented Spitfire's mind aside from her guilt at betraying Rainbow, were the thousands of questions buzzing in her mind about Indominus.
Everything Soarin had told her had made Indominus sound like a psychotic and mindless monster whose only reason for living was to kill everything in sight. After the way Indominus had attacked her in broad daylight, and slaughtered her teammates without remorse, Spitfire was convinced that Soarin had been right all along. So when Soarin got a hold of the dinosaur's DNA and the formula, she was sure that they would get the chance to bring him down. All Spitfire had wanted was to avenge the lives of her teammates, and when Soarin beat Indominus during the second round, it was what she had been waiting to see. Her desire to watch him die never happened once Rainbow intervened to save him, and Spitfire never could understand why so many ponies cared about him.
It wasn't until Soarin betrayed her by impaling Rainbow through the chest, that Spitfire's eyes had finally seen who the true monster was. Soarin showed no regret about killing her, and Indominus had shown true sorrow and emotion for the loss of the pony he cared about. As she watched Indominus give his very life energy to bring Rainbow back, it just wasn't what Spitfire had imagined. How could she hate someone who would go so far and make such a sacrifice for the one he loved? If Indominus really was a mindless monster, he would've gone and slaughtered all of the Wonderbolts out of revenge that day. Instead, he had chosen to spare them and give them a chance to reflect on what they had done, with the only blood being spilled was Soarin's. No monster would've been that merciful and generous.
Throughout the entire month leading up to Indominus's reward, those questions plagued Spitfire's mind. She just couldn't believe that Indominus was so mindless and cruel if he went as far as saving Rainbow Dash and pulling Equestria together. If she had to spend her life without performing again, she didn't want to spend it with such questions going unanswered. So the day that the dinosaurs left with their friends to go on the cruise, Spitfire decided that she was going to get some answers to the nagging questions in her mind that refused to go away. That night, while the Wonderbolt slept, she snuck out of the compound and began a long tiring flight towards the one place where she might find the answers for her troubled mind: Canterlot.
Princess Luna was wandering the halls, preparing to tend to her duties for the night. She had been taking a peak into Indominus's dreams ever since the fight ended, and found that he was sleeping more peacefully with no Devil tormenting him in his dreams. She noticed that his dreams switched between being with his family or fighting alongside Rainbow and destroying hordes of beasts. It warmed her heart to see him at peace after being haunted and plagued by his inner demons and rage. She had chosen a balcony to take care of looking over the ponies and was about to enter the dream realm, when one of the castle guards got her attention.
"Beg your pardon Princess, I'm sorry to catch you at a bad time."
"There is no such thing as a bad time guard, but what is it that you need from me?"
"We have a visitor at the castle who would like to speak with you."
"A visitor? At this time of the night? What pony would come all the way to Canterlot in the middle of the night?"
"That's the thing your Highness, it's Spitfire." At the very sound of that name, Luna became focused and put her duties on hold.
"Bring me to her at once," Luna said in a very clear voice. The guard escorted her to the entrance of the castle, for Luna's curiosity had been aroused.
She had seen how Rainbow being killed in front of her had clearly changed the Wonderbolt. Now she was eager to see what would bring the Wonderbolt all the way to Canterlot in the dead of night. Luna and the guard touched down at the top of the staircase, and at the bottom of it were two more guards and Spitfire, who was looking rather fatigued.
"It's alright guards, she came all this way. she deserves to tell me why she came here." The guards parted and allowed Spitfire access up the staircase. She chose to walk up it rather than fly up, and when her eyes met Luna's, the alicorn's gaze seemed to hold a power of authority that made the Wonderbolt feel really insignificant. "So Spitfire, to what do I owe the great pleasure of having you drop by Canterlot in the middle of the night," Luna said with a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
Spitfire had a bit of trouble finding her voice, being talked down by Indominus for so long had shaken her stone cold confidence.
"Princess Luna, the reason I came here is because I was hoping you could help me with something."
"Help you? Excuse me but last I checked, you restrained the Element of Loyalty and almost had her killed in front of so many ponies. Hounded the Guardians like savage animals and nearly succeeded in killing one of them. Give me one good reason why I should help you with anything."
"Please Princess, I came here to see you of all ponies, because I think you can give me the answers I need."
"Answers for what?"
"The truth about Indominus Rex, and his connection to Rainbow Dash." Her response caught Luna by surprise, not just the fact that Spitfire wanted to know the truth about the hybrid dinosaur, but that she had called him by his real name.
"Very well Spitfire, I know that you're not obsessed with revenge like Soarin was. Since you came here by yourself and I can tell that this has been nagging at your mind, just by the tired look in your eyes. Follow me Wonderbolt, and I'll show you how those two came to know each other."
Spitfire followed Luna through the halls and they paused at a window that had been crafted for the dinosaurs' first good deed to Equestria. It detailed the dinosaurs, Rainbow, and Scootaloo killing Black Death and standing triumphantly over the dragon's riddled remains.
"Was this made during their time here?"
"Yes, that window was sculpted a few days after they killed Black Death. Those dinosaurs saved Equestria from a threat that not one pony was capable of coming close to beating. But they couldn't have done it without Rainbow and Scootaloo, those two saved their lives and gave them the second chance they needed to kill that monster. You'll see that moment in their lives as well, now stay close to me and prepare yourself."
Spitfire followed Luna's advice and stayed close to her. She watched in shock as Luna pulled her into the dream realm, Spitfire was astounded by where she had ended up. Hundreds of doors lined the ever expanding hallway they were in and dreams floating around them. Luna began walking down the hallway and Spitfire raced after her so she wouldn't get left behind.
"Not to ask the obvious question Princess Luna, but why are we here?"
"Because this is where I can show you the truth about Indominus Rex. You're going to see first hoof just what that dinosaur had to go through before I brought him and his brother here." Luna guided her through a bright light that was so blinding that when Spitfire opened her eyes, she found herself and Luna transparent and floating in a room. She was about to ask where they were when she caught sight of Scootaloo and her former parents in their old home.
"Indominus's story began with her. Scootaloo was tormented for so long by those wretched excuses for ponies, and I wanted to free her of that torment more than anything. The pain and suffering she had to put up with was more than any filly should have to deal with, so I made it my personal mission to find somepony that could be her guardian." Luna brought them back to the dream realm, so many different dreams were passing by Spitfire as Luna continued. "I scoured this realm searching for someone who could be there for her and wouldn't get taken away, and I happened to stumble upon them."
Luna pulled up the very same memories that she had shown Scootaloo over a year ago. The memories of what Indominus and Tyrannosaurus used to live in their old world. Spitfire noticed how Indominus looked so deeply aggravated in the memory and growling like he wanted to just kill something.
"When I first met them, Indominus did try to attack me on the spot. I had to use my magic on them so they could understand me, but it wasn't enough to calm him down. When I told him of my proposition for them, all the freedom they could want in exchange for being Scootaloo's guardians, it seemed to intrigue him. After they saw how Scootaloo was living, it struck something in him and calmed him down enough to where he agreed to go through with it. Seeing that angry look in his eyes at the time, intrigued me so much that I decided to do some digging into his past before I brought them here."
Spitfire had no words as the memories faded and were replaced with a different, and much darker memory. There was a lab of some sort, with two legged creatures going about it with vials and papers. In the middle of the lab was a small dinosaur that was squirming around on a table, trying to escape but he couldn't get any traction on the slick surface. It didn't take Spitfire long to realize that the dinosaur she was looking at, was Indominus as a baby.
"I-is that-"
"Shhhh. Just watch Spitfire, but I have to warn you, this is not the kind of thing that any pony should have to watch."
Spitfire watched as several of the two legged creatures surrounded the infant Indominus and held him down. The dinosaur squealed in agony, trying to claw his way out of their grip, but they were too strong for him.
"Alright, time to experiment some more on this mutated abomination."
"It may sting him, but it'll shape him into the ultimate fighting machine," another one of them said."
"Yeah, then this monster will serve his purpose as the most powerful and intelligent killing machine on the planet. He'll be unstoppable, nothing will stand in his way and he'll make the perfect weapon. Now, let's see what putting this DNA into him does for the hybrid."
The creatures closed in on Indominus, with a handful of filled syringes in their hands. With Indominus pinned to the table, there was nothing he could do to escape. Spitfire gasped in horror as they plunged the syringes deep into Indominus's body, his screams echoed throughout the lab and his claws scratched at the table more viciously. It was too much for even Spitfire to bare and as Luna pulled the memory away, Indominus's painful screeches died with it.
"You can't be serious. THAT'S what he had to put up with?"
"For twenty years Spitfire. Twenty. Years. Indominus had to endure all of that from the moment he was born to how big he currently is. Those creatures tormented him and subjected him to horrible experiments for all those years, he was helpless to defend himself and it twisted his mind into developing all that rage and hatred. That memory you saw before, was him pacing about, thinking of ways to get back at those creatures for what they had done to him."
"I-I can't believe this. There's no way he could possibly be sane after that."
"Oh he still had that anger, it never went away. When I brought him and T-Rex into Equestria and they met Scootaloo for the first time, he actually tried to fight the anger inside himself. Being around an innocent filly that wanted comfort as much as he did, allowed Indominus to resist his rage." Luna pulled up the numerous memories from their first year of bonding with Scootaloo. "He spent so much time around her and despite a confrontation with her school bullies, Indominus felt what it was like to be loved and accepted by others. That hybrid managed to fight the very instinct those animals had tried to engrave into his being, and became more than a weapon of destruction. He became a guardian to Scootaloo, and someone that could be there for her. He and his brother were more of a family to her than her sorry excuses for parents ever were."
The Wonderbolt was finally seeing the real truth of who Indominus really was. She had some parts of the puzzle, but they were enough to show her that Soarin had been dead wrong about the dinosaur. She still needed to know, how did Rainbow tie into the whole scenario?"
"So Luna, if Indominus was around Scootaloo for so long, how did he meet Rainbow Dash?"
"Ah, that is where his life started to get even better. Around this time, Rainbow had been getting more involved in Scootaloo's life and was trying to keep her safe from their iron grip on her. He watched her from a distance for a while, and as he saw the bond those two shared, he actually began developing his first feelings. Though he doubted that she would ever accept him with the way he looked, but he got his chance on one night when those rats followed her back to her home. He defended her against them, she got to see him for the first time and, like Scootaloo, she wasn't afraid and accepted him as he was. That was his first taste of being so close to love, and he almost lost it."
"You mean when they fought Black Death?" Luna pulled up the epic battle the dinosaurs had fought in.
"It was a fight Scootaloo had been preparing them for, and although they did very well, that monster killed them and the velociraptors. The reason why they're still alive, is because Rainbow and Scootaloo brought them back to life with a very unique Sonic Rainboom. One that healed their bodies and transformed them into what they call, their Guardian states. They gave their newfound power to the sisters in return, and the eight of them destroyed that beast for good. After they had proven themselves and saved our world, most of Equestria saw them as Guardians, and Indominus got the chance to be close with Rainbow. As time went on, he bonded with her and got to experience love for the first time. It brought him the joy and happiness he had never experienced in his old world, and when they got married, Indominus had finally found a way to bury his rage."
"What do you mean by 'bury it?'"
"During his time in Equestria, Indominus had been hoping for a way to keep his anger from ever coming back. He never wanted to risk endangering Rainbow or Scootaloo should his rage take over. Being around Scootaloo helped him resist it, but it was Rainbow's love and complete devotion to him that allowed him to lock it away in the corners of his mind."
"Until the day that Soarin screwed up her routine and we started calling her that nickname? I don't understand, why would something as harmless as a nickname set him off?"
"It might seem like a harmless nickname to you, but that wasn't what Indominus was seeing that day. In his eyes, he was seeing almost the same harassment and torment that he was put through. Seeing you and your teammates laughing at her, and the broken look in her eyes from remembering that nickname from her childhood, was more than he could handle." Luna pulled up the memory of Indominus's torment and alongside it, the day Rainbow Dash received her nickname. Spitfire finally saw for herself what Rainbow had been talking about the day after their first fight against Indominus.
She saw with her own eyes the pain and sadness in Rainbow's eyes, she had not exaggerated one bit of what she had gone through on that day. The taunting those bullies had given her that day, and potentially every day since, it was a similar enough form of torment to be comparable to what Indominus endured.
"Now you finally see what Indominus thought of that so-called 'harmless nickname.' He couldn't stand the thought of the pony he loved being tormented and no one being around to help her. It tore down every wall he had built around his rage and brought all of his anger back to the surface, only this time that rage manifested itself in the form of a demon."
Luna pulled up the final memory that would be the last of what Spitfire needed to know the absolute truth. She conjured up the dream where the Devil had attacked Indominus and tried to take over his mind and body. Spitfire was rooted to the spot when she beheld the demonic dragon sinking his claws into Indominus's body, and handling the hybrid dinosaur like he was a plaything.
"That monster is what drove him to kill your teammates, Indominus tried so hard to avoid killing any of you. I heard that Rainbow asked him to try and avoid killing anypony on your team. He would never have given into his anger so easily and gone about killing you, not with Rainbow being so important to him. The one thought that kept crossing his mind through this ordeal, was that he didn't want his family to see him as a monster like his old world did. Indominus restrained himself immensely through all that drama, the only thing he wanted out of you, was for you and your teammates to stop calling her that nickname. There, now you have the full truth about Indominus and Rainbow like you wanted, Spitfire. Is it what you were expecting?"
"I.....this is just so much to take in, but yes, you gave me the answers I've been looking for. It helped me see that Soarin had been deceiving me the whole time, painted Rainbow Dash to look like she was siding with an animal, when she was actually staying loyal to her husband. I can't believe I was so stupid to believe him and not trust her."
"We've all had our moments where we've been mislead before, Spitfire. It's not easy to accept a dinosaur like Indominus being in our world, but he's been a great help to Equestria. He befriended the Dragon Lord of all creatures, which was why he fought to defend Indominus in that last scuffle. He even managed to keep Equestria from being torn in half, and put the lives of others above himself to avoid hurting anypony else when he fought Soarin. You have to believe me when I tell you Spitfire, that Indominus is a kind soul once you get to know him. If you still have any doubt, then let's take a look at his dream and see what he's up to."
"Sure, and would Rainbow happen to be in that dream too?"
"He likes to have her beside him, so let's see." Luna searched through the realm until she came across the dream Indominus was having.
The dream showed Indominus and Rainbow fighting against a swarm of changelings in the Everfree Forest. Even though there was bloodshed, the pegasus and dinosaur were having a grand time. Fighting alongside each other and having fun without the scuffles getting too serious.
"Ha ha, there you go Indominus, show those nasty insects who the real king is," Rainbow said in the dream.
Indominus charged a swarm and the changelings were knocked away from the force of his headbutt. Two of them were too slow and got caught in his jaws. The others tried to attack him, but Indominus swatted them away with a slash of his claws. He swallowed the ones caught in his mouth in one gulp.
"Ha, you're right Rainbow, this is loads of fun." Rainbow flew over and he pulled her into a hug.
"Do I know what my stud likes or what?" Once again, Spitfire was seeing the real undeniable bond Rainbow and Indominus had for each other. The look they had in their eyes for each other was not the look of a group of killers, it was the look of a pair of lovers that refused to be torn apart.
"Tell me Spitfire, does that look like a mindless killer to you?"
"No, no he doesn't. I just can't believe I was so wrong about him, and how I shoved her aside because I refused to believe it."
"Believe what?"
"That a pegasus and a dinosaur could ever fall in love with each other." Luna could see the regret in Spitfire's eyes, the Wonderbolt was truly sorry for what she had put Rainbow through and regretting what she had thought of Indominus. The Princess of the Night laid a hoof on Spitfire's shoulder.
"You should know Spitfire, he did forgive Scootaloo's bullies after what they put her through. There's a good chance that he could forgive you and your team as well."
"Thank you Princess Luna, and I'm glad that you could show me all this. It has put my troubled mind at ease now that I know the truth about Indominus. I want to make it up to him for what I've put him through, do you know when he'll be back?"
"He and his family will be back next week after their cruise is over. Is there something you have in mind for him?"
"I want to redesign the training course of the Wonderbolt compound, to be big enough for him to fly through. (Yawn) It's also because I'd like his helping in making a gift for Rainbow Dash." Luna had a warm smile on her face from the answer Spitfire gave her.
"I'll give you his exact dimensions in the morning, but for now, how's about you stay the night? There's no point in flying back with no sleep."
"Thanks Princess Luna, i really appreciate that," Spitfire said as Luna brought them out of the realm and showed her to a guest bedroom.
Luna returned to her duties while Spitfire got the first good night's sleep she'd had in a long time. Her troubled mind was at ease, and now she would soon be prepping her compound's obstacle course for Indominus as a way of making it up to him. Now that the truth had been shown to her, Spitfire was on the path to redeeming herself in the eyes of the hybrid and all of Equestria.