//------------------------------// // Chapter 20: Return // Story: Rainbooms On the Mind // by Kevinltk //------------------------------// “You almost got what?!” The cries of four ponies, two griffons, and one dragon echoed through Sugarcube Corner. Rarity sighed in exasperation. “Rainbow darling, we haven’t seen our friends for more than a week, and that’s the first thing you say to them? Must you be so dramatic?” “Really?” Rainbow uttered, giving Rarity a flat look. “You’re grilling me about being dramatic? Remember when forgetting the plates for a picnic was the worst possible thing?” Rarity pursed her lips. “Touché…” “Besides, I did get everypony’s attention.” Applejack cleared her throat. “Sugarcube, this little shindig we threw together was meant to celebrate yours and Rarity’s return from Canterlot. We kind of were already paying attention to you two.” “By the way, great thinking, Twilight,” Pinkie chirped, setting down a tray of cupcakes on the round table where they were all sitting. “Thanks for letting us have the party here in Sugarcube Corner so that Gilda and I don’t have to leave work.” “Yeah, thanks for that,” Gilda chimed in. She took a quick glance around the empty bakery. “Even though we probably could have asked for some time off, given how slow today has been.” “Oh, it’s no big deal,” Twilight replied. “I’m just glad that we were all able to make it here and listen to Rainbow and Rarity’s stories about their trip.” “Speaking of, can we maybe let Rainbow explain how she almost got kicked out of the Wonderbolts?” Natalya asked, trying to hide her annoyance. “Um, I would like to hear about that too, if you don’t mind,” Fluttershy quietly agreed. “Not at all, you two,” Rarity assured. “I suppose we did get sort of sidetracked. It’s actually a magnificent tale, filled with mystery and intrigue. Our tale begins in the luxurious ballroom of Canterlot Castle, where Princess Celestia was hosting a wondrous reception for the Royal Garden Opening. Now, I was, of course, wearing a beautiful dress, made by yours truly, and—” “I met Wind Rider, a Wonderbolt veteran,” Rainbow interrupted. “Long story short, he found out that I had a good chance of beating his long distance flying record, so he tried to frame me so that I would be kicked out of the Wonderbolts and not be able to break his record.” “Rainbooooow,” Rarity whined with a quivering lip. “I was telling the story! You just gave away everything.” “Rarity, it would take at least an hour to get through everything if we let you have your way, and I don’t got all day.” Rainbow paused and chuckled nervously. “Uh, no offense. Still super grateful for you saving my flank and all that.” “Rainbow does have a point, Rarity,” Applejack agreed. “You do tend to spend a bit too much time on the, um, details. Ah can’t stay for too long either, on account of some unfinished chores back at Sweet Apple Acres.” “Same here,” Gilda pointed out. “It might not be busy now, but Pinkie and I do have to get ready for the dinner rush.” Rarity sighed. “Very well. I suppose in the interest of everypony’s time, I shall try to keep things… brief.” “So, Rarity, how did you save Rainbow?” Spike asked, staring up in adoration at the white unicorn he was next to. “Knowing you, I bet that it was no sweat for you to save the day.” “Yeah, I bet that she went all Hyaa! Woosh! Kapow!” Pinkie cried out, performing several karate chops with her hooves. “Er, no, nothing like that, Pinkie,” Rarity told. “I was able to help Rainbow without resorting to such brutish tactics.” “And she was awesome!” Rainbow cheered. “So the gist of it is that on the morning of the show, Wind Rider sent a fake letter to Spitfire, saying that she had to go and see her sick mother. However, when Spitfire’s mom arrived at the last training session, everypony knew that was something was up.” “Wind Rider quickly accused Rainbow of sending the fake letter, given how she would have been put into the show with Spitfire gone,” Rarity continued the story. “Naturally, we all know that Rainbow would do no such thing, and we were fortunate enough to have until the show to try and prove her innocence. Inspired by Shadow Spade, the famous detective from my favorite mystery novels, I led the investigation, all while wearing a dashing outfit influenced by the same character. The two of us went about Canterlot, interrogating ponies, investigating the crime scene, and gathering clues, all to clear Rainbow’s name.” “I gotta admit, at first, I doubted Rarity’s methods,” Rainbow said. “It seemed like that she was wasting time by looking at all sorts of useless stuff, but it turns out that those small things helped her figure out that it was Wind Rider all along. I’m telling you, Rarity was so awesome.” “Thank you, darling, but you were awesome as well,” Rarity complimented. “You see, everypony, Wind Rider made Spitfire think that her mother had Pegacitis, so the poor dear went all the way to the Crystal Mountains to find an ice iris to cure her. It would’ve been very difficult to contact Spitfire, but Rainbow went to search for her, even when it meant giving up her chance to be in the show. Thanks to her amazing flying, Rainbow was able to retrieve Spitfire in time for the show, and she was given Wind Rider’s spot instead.” “And it. Was. Awesome!” Rainbow gushed. “Flying with the Wonderbolts in a real show was the best thing ever! I got to do super cool flying tricks while a whole stadium cheered for us! And the best part is that all of this is gonna put me even closer to becoming a real Wonderbolt!” As everyone else congratulated Rainbow and praised Rarity’s work, Natalya remained silent, mulling over an idea. It came up about halfway through Rainbow and Rarity’s story, and it was all that she could think about. When the chatter died down, she promptly asked, “So, just curious, you wouldn’t happen to know where Wind Rider lives, do you?” “No,” Rainbow flatly replied, narrowing her eyes at the griffon. “Well, that’s alright. I’m sure that we can find—” “I mean no, don’t do it, Natalya.” “Do what?” Natalya asked in an innocent tone. “You are not going to track down Wind Rider and beat him up.” Natalya groaned. “Oh, come on. Why not?” “Because the dude has already been punished. There’s no need for us to do anything else.” “It’s not like I’m going to do anything serious. I’ll just rough him up a bit.” Rainbow sighed in exasperation. “Just let it go, Natalya.” “Rainbow, the dirtbag framed you! He needs to be taught a lesson!” “I gotta agree with Natalya here, Rainbow,” Gilda chimed in. “The dweeb messed with you and almost got you kicked off of the Wonderbolts, and we all know how important being on that team is to you. I’m even thinking of going along with Natalya to dish out some punishment of my own.” “Now, now, girls,” Twilight spoke up. “What Wind Rider did was very wrong, but he has already punished for his actions. There’s no need to go after him, especially with violence.” “Ah actually wouldn’t mind givin’ that Wind Rider a good buck,” Applejack grumbled. Twilight groaned. “Applejack, not you too.” “Settle down, darlings,” Rarity urged. “There really is no need for any of us to deal with that detestable stallion anymore. He had already been exiled from the Wonderbolts as punishment.” “Heh, ironic,” Natalya bitterly remarked. “He tried to get Rainbow off of the team and instead, he’s the one who gets kicked. Still think that a little hurting is in order though.” “Oh, he’s plenty hurting now,” Rainbow explained. “He was dishonorably discharged, so a lot of his accomplishments don’t mean anything anymore, which includes the precious record he was trying to protect. Everypony is going to know him more for being kicked off the team instead of his records. Trust me, the dude got his punishment.” “Hitting him where it really hurts, even if it’s just his pride, huh?” Gilda mused. “Well, Ah suppose that is a pretty darn good punishment,” Applejack conceded. “Just thinkin’ about how if a bunch of my rodeo records were suddenly declared meaningless is makin’ me mighty depressed.” “Yeah, I guess that kind of pain is probably going to last longer than a good old-fashioned griffon payback anyway.” “But…” Natalya paused when everyone looked at her, and she internally groaned, knowing that she was the only left who still has not back down yet. With a huff, she said, “Fiiine. If you really don’t think he’s worth it, then I’ll lay off as well. But I’m not making any promises if I happen to bump into the idiot.” “Yeah, that’s cool,” Rainbow said, nodding in approval. “And thanks, guys. It really is cool that I have friends who are willing to get into a fight for me, and I’ll admit that I was tempted to take a swing at the dude myself.” “So why didn’t you?” Natalya asked, still a bit peeved that they were not going to do anything to the pony that messed with Rainbow. “Because I’m going to be a Wonderbolt, and Wonderbolts are supposed to be role models. I can’t just go around beating up ponies, even if they were a big jerk.” “That’s very mature of you, Rainbow,” Twilight complimented. “You bet that I’m mature! Gotta look good in front of the Wonderbolts in case they want to promote me to the real thing.” “Yes, you are the epitome of sensibility,” Rarity dryly remarked. “Wait, if Wind Rider is out of the Wonderbolts, doesn’t that mean that there’s an empty spot now for somepony like you, Rainbow?” Spike pointed out. Rainbow sighed. “Yeah, it would be nice if things were like that, but Wind Rider was actually not part of the main team. He might’ve been a veteran, but he was also getting pretty old. He was kind of like a reserve, but better because he still got to be in some shows, like a super-reserve.” “Still means that your chances of moving on up got better, huh?” Natalya asked. “Yeah, and with word going around that Fire Streak might be retiring next season, maybe I’ll be the lucky one to replace him then.” “Luck’s got nothin’ to do with it,” Applejack remarked. “You’re a great flyer, Rainbow, and Ah bet that you’re at the top of their list.” “Yeah, and we’re all rooting for you!” Pinkie cheered. “And when you do become a Wonderbolt, we’re going to have a huge party!” Rainbow chuckled. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Pinkie.” “So, anything interesting happen while we were in Canterlot?” Rarity asked. There was a collective murmur of “No” and “Not really”, but Fluttershy announced, “Um, actually there was one thing that happened that I think Rainbow will be interested in.” Natalya’s glanced at Fluttershy out of the corner of her eye but remained silent. Rainbow’s ears perked up. “Really? What’s up, Fluttershy?” “Well, Natalya visited me at my home a few days ago,” Fluttershy answered. “Really? You never mentioned that, Natalya,” Twilight commented as all eyes focused on the griffon in question. Natalya shrugged. “You never asked.” “I… I suppose that is true…” Everyone then turned their attention back to Fluttershy, silently asking her the same question. With a slight blush, Fluttershy stated, “Er, what she said.” “So, any reason that you two met up?” Rainbow asked, her gaze turning to Natalya. Her tone was full of curiosity and not a hint of accusation. “Not really,” Natalya answered. “It was right after the hospital took off my splint. Since I still had to be careful with my wing, I figured that I could try and hang out with someone. I picked Fluttershy because I thought that things were still kind of… meh between us.” Fluttershy nodded. “Natalya’s right. I was actually still quite nervous around her, so while we didn’t have any real issues between us, we also didn’t do anything together or even talk to each other. I’m very glad that she did come to visit. It really helped our friendship, and she was really sweet to me.” “Natalya was sweet?” Rainbow, Applejack, and Gilda bewilderedly repeated at the same time. “That Natalya?” the trio said, all pointing to the griffon. “I would probably be annoyed by that if being called ‘sweet’ wasn’t a first for me,” Natalya remarked. “Um, sorry about that,” Fluttershy apologized. “You just were nice and polite to me, and you even got all worried when you thought that I was in danger.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Danger? What danger?” Rainbow blurted out as everyone else’s eyes widened with alarm. “Oh, n-no, Rainbow. There was no actual danger. I was just giving Harry a massage, and Natalya heard his roars.” A chorus of knowing nods and murmurs came from the ponies as they settled back down. Gilda, however, was looking at her friends in confusion. “Uh, did I miss something?” Gilda asked. “Who’s Harry, and what’s the big deal about giving him a massage?” “Harry is a bear,” Natalya explained. “A big bear, and Fluttershy’s massage looked like she was beating him up into a pulp. Seriously, she probably could take on any griffon back in Griffonstone if she actually used her moves for fighting.” “Really now?” Gilda glanced at Fluttershy with intrigue. “B-but I would never hurt anypony or any animal,” Fluttershy quickly protested. “Harry just requires some, um, unorthodox techniques because of him being a bear and all.” “Still must’ve been some cool moves if you impressed Natalya. Never would’ve figured you would learn stuff like that, Fluttershy.” “That’s our Fluttershy!” Pinkie announced, hugging the yellow pegasus. “She so sweet and gentle, but she can also kick your butt if you’re being a meanie.” “Um, thanks, Pinkie,” Fluttershy muttered, sinking lower into her seat. “But I would prefer not to kick any butts, if that’s alright with you.” “And we wouldn’t want you to, darling,” Rarity reassured, gently patting the shy pegasus’s head. “You are much too sophisticated and caring for those kinds of actions. How about we talk about something else, like what did you and Natalya do after the Harry situation?” “Well, we had a lovely chat about her time here in Ponyville and how she’s making friends. I even gave her wing a massage when she told me she just had the splint removed.” Rainbow grinned at Natalya. “So you got one of Fluttershy’s wing massages, huh? How was it? Really good, right?” Natalya nodded. “I think that it was my first one ever, and even then, I could tell that she did a great job. I wouldn’t be surprised if it really did help my wings recover.” Fluttershy partially hid her blushing face behind her mane, but her smile could still be seen. “I’m glad that I could help, but it’s really not that big of a deal.” “Just take the compliment, Fluttershy. I’m sure that you know that I don’t say stuff like that often, so if I say it was an awesome experience, then it must have been an awesome experience.” “Oh, um, right. Thank you for the kind words, Natalya.” “Yeah, yeah, just don’t get used to it.” Natalya turned her attention to the other pegasus. “So, Rainbow, since my flying is back to normal…” Rainbow snickered. “I was wondering when you were going to bring that up. While I’m cool with helping you train again, let’s at least wait for tomorrow. Scootaloo is getting out of school pretty soon, and I bet that she’s itching to see me.” Natalya sighed and nodded. “Fair enough. Tell you the truth, I was actually half-expecting the kid to skip school to come to this thing.” “Sounds like you two got along pretty good.” “Yeah, we did. She actually spent most of her time with her friends, but we did hang out at least once or twice. The longest we spent together was the flying training we did right after you left.” “And how did that go?” Natalya shrugged. “It went alright. She kept on trying to fly, then I would give her some pointers. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t really much help. She’s still having trouble staying in the air for more than a few seconds, but at least she wasn’t too bummed about it. We also just chatted for a while about stuff like flying, some griffon stuff, friends, and jumping off cliffs.” Natalya resisted the urge to smirk when six ponies and one dragon stared at her with varying degrees of shock. Gilda was the only calm one, a faint, wry grin gracing her face. “Um, could you run that last part by us again?” Applejack requested. “And which part was that again?” Natalya asked innocently. “Natalya, you know very well what we’re talking about,” a concerned Twilight stated. “Oh, that part. Yeah, it was nothing much. We just talked about cliffs and high clouds. Some stuff about pushing and jumping as well.” “Ooh, you mean like bungee jumping?” Pinkie asked. “Er, no.” As another round of confused and shocked looks went around the table, a snicker escaped Gilda, which was immediately noticed by Rainbow. “Alright, you two, what’s up?” Rainbow accused, eyeing the griffons. “Gilda, you mind explaining things since chucklehead is too busy messing with us?” “Yeah, sure,” Gilda complied. “Natalya is just talking about how griffons who can’t really fly are dropped from high places. It gives them an incentive to learn.” “Wait,” Spike uttered, “but what if they—” “Yes, we do catch them if they fail,” Natalya added. “And before you guys say anything, Scootaloo was asking me about any special griffon training stuff that she could do. I told her about it, and then also said that she’s nowhere bad enough to need that kind of thing. We’re not jumping or dropping anyone off anything.” “Well, that is a relief to hear,” Rarity remarked. “Although, I must admit that the method in question does seem so… crude.” “Not really,” Fluttershy refuted. “It’s just like what some of my bird friends do when they want to teach their hatchlings to fly. I never knew that griffons did the same thing.” “Interesting…” Twilight murmured from behind a tall piece of parchment that she had summoned from somewhere. A quill could be seen dancing along the edges of the paper. “Our records on griffon customs are woefully outdated, and this is some valuable information,” she said, still jotting down notes. “Would you two mind me asking you a few dozen or so more things about the practice?” “You know, I should really check on those cookies in the oven,” Gilda informed, suddenly getting up and heading for the kitchen. “Cookies?” Pinkie tilted her head and scrunched her face in thought. “We weren’t baking any—” “You’re coming too!” Gilda rushed back to the table, clapped a paw over Pinkie’s mouth, and carried the pink pony into the kitchen. Natalya blinked, realizing that she had just been thrown under the carriage by Gilda. Turning her attention back to Twilight, she gulped at the sight of the knowledge-hungry alicorn staring at her with eager eyes. “Uhh…” was all Natalya could utter. “Actually, we should get going, Natalya,” Rainbow said, silencing the griffon with a bump to her side. “I want to stretch my wings a bit before we see Scootaloo. You do want to see her, right?” Catching on to Rainbow’s ploy, Natalya promptly said, “Right, yeah. I do. We should leave. Like right now.” “Oh, uh, I guess if you really have to go…” Twilight sighed, her ears and posture sinking in disappointment despite keeping up a smile. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I’m sure that you can ask Natalya and Gilda your questions later tonight,” Rainbow suggested. “That’s true. Yes, that will give me time to prepare my things and have even more questions to for them!” Twilight remarked, perking right back up. Natalya’s head slowly turned to Rainbow, her eyes silently asking what the pegasus was doing. Rainbow only flashed a cheeky grin at the griffon before chuckling at Twilight. “Just don’t overdo it again. Remember what happened to Gilda two weeks ago?” “What? The mess wasn’t that bad,” Twilight argued. “It wasn’t like I was asking for much.” “You asked her to write a fifty-page essay on what she learned about friendship,” Spike snarked. Twilight coughed nervously. “Okay, perhaps that was asking a bit much from her.” “Didn’t Gilda end up trying to hide in another room and barricade the door with furniture?” Rainbow asked. “Yep,” Spike replied. “Could hear Gilda’s scream from the other side of the castle when she found out that Twilight can just teleport.” Twilight groaned. “Okay, I get it. I’ll try not to overdo it.” “Good to hear, and I’m sure that Natalya and Gilda would not mind giving you some more griffon info, right?” Rainbow said, eyeing Natalya and giving her a nudge. With a roll of her eyes, Natalya conceded, “Yeah, I guess that’s fine. As long as it doesn’t take too long.” “Absolutely,” Twilight agreed. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, and thank you for this opportunity.” Natalya and Rainbow then said their goodbyes to their friends, leaving them to let them talk some more, and exited Sugarcube Corner. With a nod to each other, they took off into the air, setting a course for the schoolhouse. “So, I guess that you’re little joke kind of backfired, huh?” Rainbow teased during their flight. Natalya groaned. “You could say that. It amused me to pull that trick on Scootaloo, and I thought I could do it again with you all.” Rainbow snickered. “Too bad for you then. Gotta be careful when you talk about new stuff around Twilight. Have to say though, I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t outright refuse her or even try to run away like Gilda did.” “Hard to say no to the pony who’s letting you stay in a castle for free. You butting in also didn’t help.” “Hey, I at least got her to calm down. You probably would’ve been stuck with her all week if it wasn’t for me.” Natalya shrugged. “Eh, I’m sure that I could’ve found some excuse to leave by myself eventually.” Rainbow chuckled. “Sure you would have. Anyway, I was surprised to hear that you visited Fluttershy. Any reason why you did that?” “What? I already told you. I just got the splint off and was bored. I figured that she was the only one not busy.” “Uh huh…” Rainbow uttered in an unconvinced tone. “And?” “And nothing. You’re looking too much into this.” “Come on, I know that there must have been another reason.” Natalya glared at the nosy pegasus. “You know, I’m already starting to miss not having your annoying prodding around.” “Alright, alright,” Rainbow backed off, even though she was still smirking. “But really, that was so awesome of you to smooth things out with her. Makes me even more glad about the special gift I got for you.” “Special gift?” Natalya repeated, quirking an eyebrow at her flying companion. “Is it some lame souvenir from Canterlot?” “Something much cooler than that. You said that your wing is back to normal, right? And are you free this Saturday?” “Yes and yes. I assume that this is related to my gift?” “Yep, and that’s all I’m going to tell you about it. Er, after I tell you that there’s going to be a bunch of flying involved… And that it’s going to take a good part of the day.” “A good part of the day, huh? Better be worth my time then.” “Oh, it will!” Rainbow boasted. “Trust me, it’s going to be awesome.” “I’ll take your word for it.” Despite not knowing what Rainbow had planned, Natalya let a smile grace her face. “Thanks, Rainbow.” “No problem, Natalya,” Rainbow replied, along with a quick salute. As the schoolhouse drew near, Natalya said, “So while it’s still just you and me, I do have one important question for you.” “Sure, shoot.” “Are you absolutely sure that you don’t want me paying a visit to Wind Rider?” Rainbow’s only response was a groan and a facehoof.