"Twi!" Rainbow called out down the long hallways of the Friendship Castle. "Twi, you here?!"
"Library!!" came Princess Twilight's voice in response.
"Shoulda' guessed." Rainbow commented to the others, rolling her eyes good-naturedly as they followed her down the hallway.
"There's so many rooms here. Does the Princess use all of them?" Sun Chaser asked
"Nah, I think the Tree of Harmony kinda overdid it. She would have been happy with The Golden Oak Library back." Rainbow responded, pushing open a door.
"How do you not get turned around in here?" High Winds asked, looking around with wide eyes.
"It takes some time, but you pick it up pretty quick, especially if you live here." came a mare's voice.
"Hey Starlight." Rainbow greeted the lavender unicorn as she led the Wonderbolts inside the circular library.
The room was set up to be a comfortable reading room surrounded by shelves upon shelves of books. Princess Twilight was curled in an armchair, eyes flicking rapidly along a page of the book she was reading.
"Hey Twi, the 'bolts and I could use some information." Rainbow told her friend.
"Mm-hmm." was all Princess Twilight said. The unicorn named Starlight trotted past them and levitated the book away from Princess Twilight.
"Twi, I think Rainbow needs your help." she said
"Hey!" Princess Twilight exclaimed at her book being snatched, then took a deep breath and stood up.
"Sorry for bothering you Twi, didn't know you were busy." Rainbow said
"Oh, no. I'm just reading for fun." Princess Twilight said
"Wait for it..." Rainbow murmured to them. "Three, two, one..."
"The Equestrian History Unabridged is really a fantastic example of the rich cultural backgrounds that our country originates from." Princess Twilight continued.
"Cough-egghead-cough" Rainbow said between fake coughs, making Surprise, Fire Streak, Soarin, and Lightning Streak snort with laughter.
"If you want my help, then keep the remarks to yourself Rainbow." Princess Twilight replied coolly "Now, what was it you needed?"
"As you've no doubt heard by now, we've been replaced." Spitfire began
"Actually, no. I haven't heard. But I've been shut in here for the past week. Princess Celestia sent me a bunch of old books she found in the Canterlot Archives, and I was so excited I couldn't help reading them right away. Then when I finished I decided to look through my collection for books I wanted to re-read, so..." Princess Twilight responded with an apologetic shrug.
"I heard about it." Starlight said bluntly
"You did?" Wave Chill asked
"Yeah. Rarity came by a few days ago with the newest Canterlot Times, the magazine said the Wonderbolts had been upstaged by some flight group who called themselves the Shadowbolts." Starlight explained
"The Shadow-?"
"Lightning Dust and Wind Rider are their leaders, and as far as I can tell they didn't seem to be the Shadowbolts I met in the Everfree Forest." Rainbow forestalled Princess Twilight.
"That's the problem. They invaded our Headquarters, chased us out, and showed us legal documents to prove it's theirs now. I've been trying to figure out a way to get it back, but no luck." Spitfire explained
"Well, I have quite a few books on basic law." Princess Twilight took off, heading for a section of the shelves. "Oh, wait, but the Wonderbolts are a military branch, so if the Shadowbolts have taken your place then we need the Military Bylaws." She changed direction and flew to another area.
"What about the original Wonderbolt law book?" Starlight asked.
"How do you know about that?" Misty Fly asked.
"I picked it up for a bit of light reading. I thought if one of my friends was a Wonderbolt, I might as well learn a thing or two about them." Starlight shrugged
"That won't be of much use. The Shadowbolts are a completely different team, so they wouldn't abide by the Wonderbolt laws, and since they're clearly a fairly new flight team, they won't have constructed concrete laws yet." Princess Twilight replied, levitating a book off the shelf and hovering in midair with it.
"Should I go get Spike?" Starlight asked
"Please." Princess Twilight agreed with a sigh, shutting the book. "I have a feeling he'll be doing a lot of book carrying."
"What I can't understand is why Lightning Dust and Wind Rider are doing this now, and since when have they known each other?" High Winds asked
"Well, I'm not claiming to know everything, but as a former villain, my best guess would be they're teaming up against you to beat you. Alone, Lightning Dust only had two ponies following her orders. But with Wind Rider; an ex-Wonderbolt with enough former glory to assemble a whole fleet of opposing pegasi; she has enough ponies to overcome you. Villains don't think about friendship, they think about victory. Those two are only working together because they know that you're strong enough to take them down separately." Starlight told them
"Starlight, my brother?" Princess Twilight reminded her.
"Oh, right. I still can't believe you call him your brother. You two are completely different species. I mean, you're a pony, he's a dragon." Starlight commented as she left the room.
"Dragon?" Spitfire asked, voice wavering ever so slightly.
"Yes, but that's not important. Come on, you'll all have to help me if you want to find a way to get your Headquarters back." Princess Twilight replied
"Thank you for helping us Princess." Spitfire said
"Please, call me Twilight." Princess Twilight corrected "There is no need for formalities right now. You don't mind if I address you two as Spitfire and Soarin, rather thank the title of your rank, do you?" she gestured to the two with her hoof.
"Go right ahead Princess-I mean, Twilight." Spitfire responded
"Yeah, we don't usually call them 'Captain' or 'Co-Captain' ourselves unless we're in trouble or in public. Otherwise it's just plain old' Spits and Soar. Or Clipper and...nevermind." Rapidfire broke off at the glare Spitfire was giving him.
"Don't you dare..." she threatened
"Yes ma'am." he yelped, saluting her, then rushing off to the bookshelves.
"Ugh, why does it always have to be reading?" Rainbow muttered
"Because reading is how ponies learn things Rainbow. You want your Headquarters back, right?" Twilight asked
"Of course. But I hate this kind of reading." Rainbow moaned
"It won't kill you, ya know." Blaze said
"You haven't done this before. Trust me, in three hours you'll be begging for us to stop." Rainbow objected
"I dunno, I'd give them about an hour, two tops." the voice of what seemed to be a colt in their early adulthood came from the hallway.
"Oh Spike, don't be dramatic." Twilight sighed, and Spitfire stepped backwards.
"Spike? That was the dragon's name, right? Oh sweet Celestia, have mercy." Spitfire thought, as Fleetfoot put a wing on her back.
"Are you alright?" she whispered
"Y-yeah, fine Fleety." Spitfire replied, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.
A tall, purple-scaled dragon with green spikes running down his back and a green-scaled stomach came in, flying with purple and green scaled wings. He was no bigger than the Wonderbolts, actually. Spitfire breathed a sigh of relief only heard by Fleetfoot, who didn't press why Spitfire had been so startled.
"I dunno Twilight, I'd say he and Rainbow are on the right track. I, however, bet the Wonderbolts will have had enough in exactly three hours and ten minutes." Starlight smirked, having come in after him.
"That's enough out of all three of you. Let's just get to work. Spike, I need you to help the Wonderbolts go through the shelves, pull out any book you think might be useful. We're looking for books about law." Twilight instructed
"Got it." Spike said, taking off and flying up to a shelf. The Wonderbolts joined him, Rainbow a bit more reluctantly than the others. A few hours later the Wonderbolts understood what Rainbow had meant. They were now all exhausted and ready to stop.
"Nothing in here." Sun Chaser said, pushing a book away.
"Same with this one." Silver Zoom agreed
"Maybe there are some in the School Library." Starlight suggested
"I doubt it, but I guess it's worth a shot. Spike, could you go look?" Twilight asked, and the purple dragon nodded, leaving.
"Twi, this is turning into the Pony of Shadows thing all over again. Can we please take a break before we're stuck in here for three days straight?" Rainbow asked, stifling a yawn.
"You've been in here for three days before?" Misty Fly asked
"Sounds like an exaggeration to me." Thunderlane commented
"She's not exaggerating, I really have kept them in here with me for three days. It was for a good cause, of course. But Rainbow's right, we probably should take a breather." Twilight sighed, rubbing her eyes with a hoof.
"Come on guys, let's go outside to stretch our wings." Spitfire said. Even though she was desperate to get this sorted out, she wasn't stupid. Her team needed a break to relax for a bit.
"I better rest for a minute too." Twilight said
"I think I'll head over to Sugarcube Corner and get something for us to eat. We need to keep our strength up, after all." Starlight agreed. Spitfire led her team outside, where Rainbow immediately took off, doing a few barrel rolls and loops.
"Whee! I was soo boorreed in there, but now we can play!" Surprise called, jumping into the air.
The Wonderbolts followed Rainbow and Surprise's lead, taking off. After stretching their wings, they stayed in the air for a while, until they noticed Starlight coming back to the castle with a few boxes.
"Mmm, something smells good." High Winds sighed
"That would be Pinkie's baking." Rainbow said, licking her lips.
"I smell cupcakes!!" Surprise dove down and tackled Starlight. "Where are the confectionery delights?!" she demanded
"H-here!" Starlight gasped, levitating a box to the crazed mare. "You remind me a lot of Pinkie Pie."
The group headed back into the castle, talking comfortably to one another.
"Twilight! I got your favorite!" Starlight called
"Thanks Starlight, come here everypony, I need to tell you something." Twilight called back.
They all entered the library together. Twilight was sitting before them, looking very serious.
"What is it Twi?" Rainbow asked
"Yeah, whatf got your horm im a twift?" Surprise asked around a mouthful of cupcakes.
"Well, while you were gone I was looking through this book about Military Laws. Unfortunatly, what the Shadowbolts did was not illegal." Twilight confessed
"What?! How?" Soarin exclaimed
"Well, according to the law, if a team or royal squadron has upstaged an original one-be it by popularity or overall better performance at the task assigned to the military group-then official documents can be signed by the Captain of the new team or royal squadron. From there, two things can occur. First, the new team is legally allowed access to the training facility and compound/Headquarters of the former team or squadron. Second, they are granted the title of the original team, and all ranks within that team are moved to the members of the new team.
"What that means is if the papers Spitfire saw were signed by Lightning Dust, then she now owns the lease to your Headquarters and has the right to deal with trespassers in the way she so chooses. I'm not saying what she did was right, by sneaking into the Headquarters and attacking without warning. But if she had those documents in her possession at the time of her entry onto the property, then as far as the law is concerned, Lightning Dust was the rightful owner, and you were the trespassers." Twilight explained
"I don't get it, how can she do something wrong and still be on the right side of the law? It doesn't make sense." Rainbow snapped
"I know, but I'm afraid the law sees it differently." Twilight sighed
"Thanks for trying Princess. It was nice of you to help, but if there's nothing you can do, we'll have to figure out some other way to get our HQ back." Spitfire said, then flicked her tail to signal the other Wonderbolts to follow her out.
"What now Spits?" Soarin asked
"I don't know, but we're going to keep fighting. We are the Wonderbolts, and we belong in the military."