The Weather Pegasi had ensured that today was a perfect day. Not a single cloud hung in the bright blue sky above Rainbow Falls, allowing the talents of the Wonderbolts to shine through with no distractions. All of them, Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot and the rest had dazzled the crowds with their aerial maneuvers.
But none were as magnificent as the incredible Rainbow Dash. Why, she was the only pony who could perform the Sonic Rainboom, of course! The crowds went wilder than ever before as her rainbow halo afterburners stretched across the sky. She landed to a raucous celebration of her awesomeness, immediately showered with flowers by her fanatical, adoring, rainbow merchandise-clad fans. As her fellow Wonderbolts lifted her on their shoulders, a microphone was handed to her and she gave a short-but-rousing speech about the importance of awesomeness and flying fast, ending it with a catchy "read your Daring Do, fillies!" and a wink. She was then whisked away to a personal trailer full of cider and pies where she could relax and take a well-deserved-
"Rainbow!" Twilight nudged her in the ribs, hard enough to wake her from her daydream.
"Ow! Huh... wha?"
That's right. Yea, the Wonderbolts' stunt demonstration had gone perfectly, she was met with an acceptable-but-not-ridiculous amount of applause, and now she was sitting under a canopy at a table covered with stacks of photos of herself and a pen.
Autograph time. Whoopee.
At least her friends were here to suffer with her. Now she kind of wished there had been a few clouds in the sky after all, the canopy's shade didn't matter much in this heat. And judging from the line that had formed in front of her, she was going to be here for a long while.
Well, could be worse. The line could have barely anypony in it at all.
"It's almost time to start," said Twilight cheerfully. Rainbow glanced over to her Princess of Friendship friend: Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack were sitting a short distance behind her, idly chatting. Pinkie Pie bounced in from nowhere in particular, a bottle of apple juice gripped in the curls of her bangs. After all these years, she still had no idea how she did that, but smiled as she dropped the juice on the table in front of her.
"Thanks, Pinkie," Rainbow waved. Pinkie Pie chirped out a "you're welcome" as she joined the others. Rainbow took a moment to guzzle down most of the juice, then stretched out her forelimbs and wings in preparation. An event coordinator removed a set of velvet ropes that had blocked off the line of waiting fans. She grinned confidently and yelled as they now approached. "Alright, who wants an autograph?!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"Me!"
~
The stacks of photos were mostly gone now, as was the line. Rainbow looked longingly over to a distant clock: ten more minutes and she and her friends could finally go home.
Movement out of the corner of her eye brought her attention back to the line. A young Pegasus filly approached her table, she couldn't have been any older than Scootaloo. Her coat was a bright greenish-teal color, and her mane and tail were a dusty pink, braided into twintails on her head and just one braid for her tail. Her eyes were a lavender color slightly darker than Twilight's coat, with a plant of some sort in a matching color for her Cutie Mark (an Echeveria Violet Queen, Twilight would later tell her, that egghead). And she seemed happy to see her, hopeful, even.
"Well hello, little filly," Rainbow greeted, already prepared to scribble down an autograph. "Who should I make this one out to?"
"Hi Rainbow Dash, my name is Spritz," the filly answered quickly, almost as if she had rehearsed what she was going to say beforehand. Rainbow barely noticed as she hastily wrote down the same note she had written hundreds of times before with only the names changing.
"Spritz, huh? Neat. Here ya go!" She handed the filly her autograph and reclined as much as she could in her folding chair, waiting for the session to end. After Spritz didn't move for a few moments, however, she sat back up. "Uh... you want another one or something?"
"Um... well..." she stammered nervously. More moments of silence passed.
"Hey, c'mon, spit it out," Rainbow encouraged, half-kindly, half-annoyed.
"Oh, uh... I just... have something to ask you."
"Alright... what is it?"
"..." More silence.
Rainbow sighed. "Look, eight more minutes and I'm outta here, so you'd better hurry up."
"I..." Spritz struggled, tears forming in her eyes. "I... I need your help!"
"My help? With what?" Rainbow leaned forward.
"M-My brother, Dewdrop... he's missing. H-He's been missing for a w-while now..."
"Oh, you mean like around here? You want me to fly you up so you can look for him?"
"N-No, I mean... h-he's really m-m-missing," Spritz sobbed. Realization dawned on Rainbow's mind.
"Oh... you mean like fillynapped or something." Twilight and the others now approached them, curious. "Well... what do you want me to do about it? Didn't you or your parents tell the police?"
"Yes, t-they did, they're looking for him... b-but..."
"...But...?" The anticipation was starting to aggravate her.
"I... I think I know where he went, but nopony believes me and won't go look."
"Where do you think your brother went?" asked Twilight. Rainbow quietly sighed in relief, Twilight was much better with little fillies than she was.
"Well... b-before he went missing, he said that he read about a place called the Shrouded Mountains and that he wanted to go there..."
"Eh? But that's just a bedtime story for fillies. It doesn't actually exist," Twilight leaned her head to one side.
"Never heard of it, what's it about?" asked Rainbow. The others nodded in unison.
"None of you have heard of it?" Twilight asked incredulously. "It's an old story about sky pirates and their secret hideout in the Shrouded Mountains where they hid their treasure!"
"Oh, yes!" Rarity mused as she put a hoof to her chin. "Though I've always heard the version where the hideout is in the Smoking Cave..." she shrugged and made a noncommittal hum. "Must be a regional tale."
"He went there! I know he did!" Spritz protested. "He said he found a map in an old book, and he said he wanted to find the treasure! Look!" She then pulled out a folded piece of brown paper from a saddlebag, which Twilight took up and unfolded in her magic. While it did look like a map detailing the westernmost edge of Equestria and the undiscovered lands beyond, upon closer inspection the map was merely colored to look old, and the writing was really printed by a stamp designed to look like proper hoofwriting.
"This... isn't a real map," Twilight finally spoke, becoming more concerned.
"I know," Spritz grumbled, then sighed. "My brother, though, he's... uh, what's the nice way of saying it? Special? No... mentally... hooficapped?"
"Ah. Slow," Rainbow stated bluntly, earning her more than a few glares.
"Yea... I tried to tell him it's a story and it doesn't exist, but I guess he didn't listen... and now he's missing..." Spritz gazed sadly at the ground, trying not to cry again.
"So... you want me to fly all the way to the Undiscovered West to go look for him, is that what you're asking?" Rainbow questioned. Spritz's eyes lit up.
"Oh! Yea! You're so fast and amazing, I'm sure you could do it! It wouldn't take you any time at all!" she gushed happily. A burst of pride flowed through Rainbow's chest at the praise, but she quickly remembered what the filly was asking of her.
"You really think he flew all the way to the Undiscovered West?" asked Twilight. "That's an incredibly long distance to travel from here."
"He's not very fast, I'm sure Rainbow could catch up to him no problem!" Spritz was practically begging Rainbow to leave right this moment with her quivering eyes and voice. "P-Please... no one else believes me..."
"Yea, ah dunno," Applejack stared at the sky, hoof on chin and eyebrow raised. Her apprehension alone was enough to dash the hope in Spritz's eyes.
"I mean... if you really want me to..." Rainbow sheepishly scratched at the ground with a hind hoof. "I guess you're right, it really wouldn't take me all that long..."
"Even if Dewdrop is on his way westward, it'd be much more efficient if the police handled it rather than just you, Rainbow," Twilight put a reassuring hoof on Spritz's shoulder. "I'm sure I could get them to listen, I am a Princess, after all."
Spritz sniffled and wiped her nose before giving Twilight a hopeful smile. "Really? You can make them listen?"
"Of course," Twilight smiled back. "In fact, let's go tell them right now." She lifted the filly onto her back with her magic, who shouted and giggled with glee. "Go ahead back without me, I'll be right behind you!"
"Uh, Twilight... you teleported us all here, remember?" Applejack spoke flatly.
"Oh! Right, silly me. Hang on..." Twilight's eyes closed as she focused her magic, her horn glowing an intense, bright pink. Rainbow blinked at the brightness - as soon as her eyes reopened she and the others were back in Ponyville's town square, minus Twilight and the little filly.
"Do you think they'll find Spritz's brother now?" Fluttershy asked timidly.
"Ah sure hope so. Not much of a lead, though," shrugged Applejack.
"I mean, from Rainbow Falls to the entire Undiscovered West, that could be anywhere, really," added Rarity.
"I-I'm sure they'll find him soon," Rainbow nodded. "He couldn't have gone too far. Every police district from here to there'll be on the lookout."
"And I'll throw him a great big 'We Found You and You're Safe and Sound!' party when they do! Ooh, I'd better start getting the decorations together!" yelled Pinkie. The five friends nodded and mumbled in agreement with each other, slowly feeling a little better about the situation. After a few moments, they said their goodbyes and separated, each headed off to their homes.
~
Rainbow lay in her bed of clouds, unable to sleep. Responsibility gnawed at her, though she knew it shouldn't. Things like this wasn't her job. Her job was keeping Ponyville's weather nice, and touring with the Wonderbolts, and keeping Equestria safe from monstrous, friendship-hating tyrants at least once a week. Surely the normal police forces of the land could find Spritz's brother.
Tank's propeller whirred to life. The pet tortoise floated up beside her and landed by her face, offering a cuddle. Rainbow happily accepted, not even giving thought to the possibility of anypony watching, and stroked his shell until they both fell asleep.