Canterlot...
Star Twinkle was helping out Rarity in her boutique, not the one in Ponyville but her new one in Canterlot, which had the name "Canterlot Carousel". Her dream of owning a boutique in the capital of Equestria came true just a few days ago and things needed to be taken care of. This is where Star Twinkle came in. His help was hugely appreciated by Rarity, especially since this was just the start of her boutique. If there wasn't another pony working for her in this boutique then Rarity would have to come here to Canterlot, leaving her boutique in Ponyville. This meant that she would have to leave her friends as well. It could not be completely avoided for Rarity to come and check out her new boutique but she could still focus more on Carousel Boutique.
Right now, Rarity was just happy that the Star Twinkle helped her out after all those changes. "It's so nice of you to offer your help, darling," she expressed in gratitude.
"Don't worry about it," Star Twinkle replied. He did not have to do much in the first place, except helping to make sure that everything in the boutique was clean and sorted. "I was staying here in Canterlot since yesterday so I figured that I should give you a hoof. Especially after everything that happened at the opening," the stallion added, unbeknownst to him though, he was making someone else in this room feel rather bad after saying those words.
It was Sassy Saddles, the manager of Canterlot Boutique. She was a slender and tall Unicorn mare with a pale cerulean-colored coat a vermilion-colored mane with light amber-colored stripes in it, and orange eyes. She was also wearing a fancy black dress.
As soon as Star Twinkle noticed Sassy's sad expression on her face, he quickly tried to damage control. "I-I didn't mean that it was your fault or anything! You just tried to help and all-"
"It's fine, really," Sassy Saddles replied. "I learned my lesson and I try to not make it happen again," she assured.
She was referring to the day where Canterlot Boutique was just opened. To summarize it, it was a complete mess. Sassy Saddles help was well-intended but they ended up almost ruining Rarity's boutique by taking more requests than Rarity could handle or preventing her to work on dresses or lines that she wanted to show and sell. One could say that both the boutique and those two ponies had a pretty rough start but it was quickly resolved and forgotten. In the end, everything worked out and the boutique became exactly what Rarity wanted. She had a lot of fun working here now in fact. Right now, she was proudly showing her newest dresses, which she placed near the entrance.
"Oh, don't you two just love my new Femme Mystique Chic line of gowns?" She asked as she levitated three rather stylish looking outfits into the room.
Sassy Saddles immediately gasped. "Sequins and sashes, Rarity, they're exquisite! Where in Equestria did you find the inspiration?" She asked in awe.
"Oh, I modeled them after the adventures of Shadow Spade," she replied.
That quickly got Star Twinkle's attention. "The Adventures of Shadow Spades? You mean those detective novels?" He asked.
"Why, yes! I'm glad you are familiar with them," Rarity replied. "Her stories are always full of mystery and suspense and, best of all... fabulous costumes!" She said happily.
"They're perfect!" Sassy Saddles complimented. But then she got a little confused by Rarity's next actions. "What are you doing?" She asked.
Rarity was fiddling around on her dresses so that they would stand straight. She also made sure that everything was in its place with almost paranoid accuracy. "Just making some minor adjustments," she said as she blew on her dress softly. "Shadow Spade believes it all comes down to attention to detail. And so do I," she explained as she continued to find more little details to take care of. She was done eventually and once more, presented them proudly to the two ponies "There! Now it's perfect."
The three dresses were now on display in the shop and all it needed was a few customers to be impressed by them. Coincidentally the door did open only seconds after...and hard.
SLAM!
The one who walked inside was Rainbow Dash and she slammed the door open. "Hey guys, how's it—" she said, being unaware of the chaos that she created by storming into the shop.
All the careful planning that went into placing the three dresses was down the drain. They all got knocked over, along with almost everything else in the shop. Rainbow Crash was the first Star Twinkle wanted to say towards the mare hovering in the hallway but he kept it to himself in the end.
"My bad," Rainbow Dash then apologized before she helped to fix her mess again. "Sorry I messed up your dress thingy," she said as she placed the dresses to where they used to stand a minute ago.
Star Twinkle rolled his eyes. "You are lucky that this isn't a shop that sells expensive porcelain," he commented.
But apparently, he was the only one who was a little annoyed by this. "Nothing we can't fix in a stitch," Sassy Saddles assured.
Luckily, there was not too much that needed fixing so Rainbow Dash's mess was quickly taken care of. "What are you doing here anyway?" Star Twinkle then asked.
"I'm here for Princess Celestia's royal garden opening tomorrow," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Oh, yes!" Sassy Saddles said. "Rumor has it the gardens are especially lush this season. I heard that the Wonderbolts will be kicking things off with an aerial display," she explained.
"And wherever the Wonderbolts are, Rainbow Dash is not too far away," Star Twinkle added.
"Exactly," Rarity agreed. "Especially since Rainbow Dash has a chance to fly with them. So exciting!" She said excitedly, fittingly.
"Well, kind of exciting," Rainbow Dash replied surprisingly modestly. "Technically, I'm not flying. I'm just the lucky Reserve who was called in to be the backup flyer in case a Wonderbolt can't perform," she explained.
"Oh, don't be so modest," Rarity then said, encouraging Rainbow Dash's ego a little bit. "Out of all the Reserves, you were the one chosen," she pointed out.
It did not take long until Rainbow Dash was feeling excited as well. "It is pretty sweet. And I do get to stay in the castle, hang out with the Wonderbolts, and eat awesome food at the dinner tonight," she said, which eventually brought her to the reason why she was visiting the boutique. " Speaking of the dinner, you two are still coming, right?"
"Heavens, yes!" Rarity replied. "A chance to dress up, be charming, and show off my newest femme mystique couture? I wouldn't miss it for all of Equestria," she added while she took a hat from one of her designs and wore it while striking a rather fancy pose as if she wanted to show it off to everyone right now.
"Yeah, I'm coming too, it's not like I got anything else to do anyway," Star Twinkle said, not accompanied by a stylish pose.
Rainbow Dash seemed happy to hear that. "Great! See ya tonight!" She then said before she left the boutique again shortly after.
SLAM!
Once again, she slammed the door, this time by closing it. However, Sassy Saddles was prepared for that and used her magic to hold the mannequins with the dresses in place so that they would not fall over. Star Twinkle also held some of them with his hooves just to make sure. Much to their relief, nothing fell over and they could relax again.
SLAM!
As soon as they stopped holding the mannequins however, the door was slammed open yet again. Rarity immediately glared at the door let Rainbow Dash know that she did not appreciate her blasting into her boutique like that but she looked rather happy as soon as she realized that a delivery pony was standing at her door, instead.
"Ooh, the rhinestones I ordered!" She said before she hopped over to delivery pony and opened her package right away. "Oh, my," she then said in disappointment.
"What is it?" Star Twinkle asked confused once he was done helping Sassy Saddles to set up the mannequins again.
"Oh, there's been a mistake... I ordered dragon-cut stones, and these are hoof-polished," she explained before she showed the stallion a few of the stones. Star Twinkle was not sure what the difference would be in the first place but apparently, those were not the right ones.
"I'm sorry, but I've got a full load of deliveries today," the delivery pony apologized. "I'm not sure I have time to redo your order," he said.
Rarity was not too happy to hear this. At first, she just accepted that her delivery had to wait but then she decided to try something to fix all of this. For this, she removed her hat and fixed her mane for a moment, as if she wanted to look good all of a sudden. Star Twinkle was wondering what this was all about and just watched to see what she was up to.
The mare walked over to the delivery pony, her movements being a little bit more elegant and smoother than before. "Of course you don't. Your job is so difficult. Honestly, I don't know how you keep all of those orders straight," she said in a charming voice.
The delivery pony chuckled in response. "It is pretty tough, what with the boxes all being... box-shaped," he cleverly added while blushing a little bit. He was probably was a little flustered by how Rarity was talking to him now.
"Oh, y—oh yes, and I very much appreciate it," Rarity said before she put a hoof on the stallion's chest softly. "But if there was any way you could squeeze in one more little delivery, I would be eternally grateful," she said as she threw her best set of puppy eyes at the pony.
By now, Star Twinkle just shook his head. "That's what she is trying to do," he figured. He still decided to just remain silent and didn't want to get involved in all of this though.
Unaware of what Rarity was doing to him, the delivery pony just laughed nervously while also turning red like a tomato. "Well, for you, Rarity, I'll see what I can do," he then said before he walked away. Now he was most likely trying to fix Rarity's delivery by the end of the day, just like she wanted him to.
Sassy Saddles was impressed by how Rarity managed to pull this off. "Rarity, you could sweet-talk a filly out of candy!" She complimented.
Rarity chuckled. "Oh, it was nothing. Nopony minds a compliment," she said casually.
Again, Star Twinkle shook his head. "I don't know if you should be too proud manipulating a poor pony like him," he said.
Rarity caught on how Star Twinkle was not impressed by her "abilities" and felt a little challenged now. "Yes, I'm sure something like this would never work on a pony like you, right?" she said while speaking in the same way as she did with the delivery pony before.
"Yep," Star Twinkle just replied confidently.
The mare then walked over to the stallion with a smile on her face. "Of course, not. You are way too perceptive for such things after all," she further complimented.
But Star Twinkle quickly saw through what Rarity planned on doing. "I know what you are trying to do, Rarity. It doesn't work," he said.
Rarity then moved her head closer to Star Twinkle's, close enough so that he would start to get nervous. "Must be hard for a handsome stallion like you to endure all there hundreds of mares out there that are probably attracted to you," she said, this time in a softer and more charming tone.
"...T-there are not hundreds of mares attracted to me," Star Twinkle replied. This time his voice started to no longer sound as confident as before.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Rarity replied. "Just look at those muscles for example. That alone would be a reason!" She said as she was grabbing one of Star Twinkle's legs to feel them.
The stallion quickly pulled his leg away from the mare. "T-those are just muscles that I got from my job. That's nothing special!" He said nervously.
But Rarity was not stopping now, she had the stallion at her mercy and she had way too much fun seeing him embarrassed like this. "And on top of that, you helped to save Equestria on multiple occasions! Just imagine how some mares would like to have a hero like you on their side!" The mare then was using her puppy eyes on Star Twinkle, causing him to get even more nervous now. "Maybe they are closer than you think," she then added while gazing into the stallion's eyes and slowly winked at him.
Somewhere in his mind, Star Twinkle knew that Rarity was just toying around to get a reaction out of him but in his nervous state, he completely forgot about that. His head was a mess and he even forgot how to speak. Questions of what Rarity could hint at him were circling around in his head. He wished to be everywhere else in the world right now.
Fortunately, Rarity was satisfied with this reaction and stopped. "Got you," she said followed by a playful giggle before she victoriously galloped away.
All of a sudden, Star Twinkle's mind was focused again. He realized that Rarity was just playing with him, something that he should have kept in mind while she was charming him all this time. "You did not!" Star Twinkle said in a poor attempt to defend himself.
"I totally did~" Rarity cheerfully replied.
"No, you didn't!" Star Twinkle said embarrassed which only amused Rarity more. It took Star Twinkle some time until he realized that Sassy Saddles was also looking at him. Her facial expression was basically saying "She totally did."
"No, she didn't!" Star Twinkle replied as if he just read Sassy's mind, making her chuckle afterward.
Rarity explained that she still needed to find a fitting for the party tonight and asked of Star Twinkle to come back later until she was ready. Star Twinkle went along with that and just returned home for a while. There was still some time left until the party started and the two agreed to go there together.
As Star Twinkle was walking out the door, without slamming the door, of course, there was one thing he mumbled to himself before he walked home.
"She did not..."
Later that evening...
When Star Twinkle and Rarity arrived at the castle, the party had already started. Rarity seemed highly excited about it, although it was maybe not because of the party itself but rather because she had a reason to dress up with something from her new line of dresses.
"How do I look?" She asked as she stepped into the castle, wearing a white long dress.
Star Twinkle sighed. "For the tenth time, good," he replied annoyed.
Rarity smiled. "I do love a good party but it can't hurt to show off some new dresses at the same time. Who knows, maybe someone asks me to make one for them as well?" She said, getting rather excited just by the thought of that.
As expected, Rainbow Dash quickly approached the two as soon as they stepped hoof into the castle. "There you two are. I was starting to get a little bit hungry!" She added a little bit annoyed.
"You could have eaten something before we arrived," Star Twinkle pointed out.
"Nah," Rainbow Dash replied. "Eating in company is a lot more fun if you ask me. Now let's grab some grub!" She then said before she dashed over to the buffet.
Star Twinkle was about to question Rainbow Dash's logic but he was also a little bit hungry so he just decided to join her without any word.
Most of the guests of this party were members of the Wonderbolts so it was kind of weird to attend this party for Star Twinkle. It was not like Princess Celestia, who was attending the party as well, would just kick him out, especially since she knew him but it was still a little weird to be one of the few ponies not associated with the Wonderbolts. The other pony, of course, was Rarity, who did not seem to mind any of this and just grabbed a plate with her magic to grab something to eat.
However, something caught her attention, a smell, judging from how she was sniffing the air. "Mm, is that Juniper Phoenix I smell?" She asked, in hope that someone would answer her.
And someone did answer. "No, it's broccoli!" Rainbow Dash said as she stuffed her face into a plate filled with broccoli.
Of course, that is not what Rarity meant and luckily, someone else just happened to actually answer her question.
"Yeah, Juniper Phoenix is one of my favorite stallion colognes," A middle-aged stallion explained. The smell must have come from him.
"Oh, mine as well," Rarity replied. "It's very masculine and soft with the barest hint of floral notes. You should try it too, Star Twinkle," she advised.
"I don't really use cologne so-"
But he was interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who just earlier dropped her plate and looked at this stallion as if she couldn't believe her eyes.
"Star Twinkle! Rarity! Don't you know who this is?!" She asked in a hushed tone.
"A gentlepony with fabulous taste in colognes and scarves?" Rarity guessed, referring to the scarf that this stallion was wearing around his neck.
Rainbow Dash almost snapped after hearing that. "It's Wind Rider!" She exclaimed.
"Oh! So nice to meet you!" Rarity then said, introducing herself to the stallion. But judging from how Rainbow Dash slapped her own face in disbelieve she was not satisfied to hear that.
Star Twinkle then took a guess on his own. "Since this is a party for the Wonderbolts, I'm assuming that you are one as well?" He then asked.
Rainbow Dash then grabbed Star Twinkle's shoulders out of frustration. "He is the Wonderbolt! He's a living legend. He holds the Wonderbolt record in the Mustang Marathon!" She explained.
There was no denying that this Wind Rider was someone really popular and someone who Rainbow Dash deeply admired and looked up to. It was just like when she met A.K. Yearling, or rather Daring Do for the first time. There certainly a certain aura surrounding this stallion, an aura filled with confidence and experience.
Wind Rider was a Pegasus pony with a light grayish cerulean-colored coat, a dark lime greenish gray-colored mane with light gray-colored stripes in it, brilliant amber-colored eyes and a flight hat with goggles as a Cutie Mark.
The stallion smiled after hearing all the praise from Rainbow Dash. "Well, that was a long time ago. Honestly, I can't believe I still hold the record," he modestly replied.
It was then when Spitfire and Misty Fly, two members of the Wonderbolts walked up to the four. "Wind Rider, I see you met Rainbow Dash! She's one of our most promising Reserves," Spitfire said proudly. "She just might beat your record," she added as she poked the sides of the stallion.
"Really now?" Wind Rider than said with a smile on his face as he looked over to Rainbow Dash. It was almost as if he liked seeing someone challenging him.
But Rainbow Dash blushed in response. "Oh, heh, I'm nowhere near as good as you. I mean, I'm fast, but I don't have the endurance to go long distances," she said. She obviously did not want to compare her abilities with the ones of a living legend nor did she want to make herself look arrogant in front of him.
But Spitfire made it a little bit harder to keep up her modest impression. "Ah, don't be modest. A little practice and you'll be beating records in no time," she said. It almost felt as if Spitfire planned on getting a little rivalry going between the two.
Wind Rider only chuckled confidently. "Heh-heh. Well, it's nice to meet you fillies," he said before he left the group.
Rainbow Dash sighed happily. "Not as nice as it is to meet you, sir," she said before she barely could contain her laughter. "I can't believe I just met Wind Rider!" She said with a huge smile forming on her face.
"Yeah, he's coming out of retirement to take the spot of honor in the center of our aerial flower formation tomorrow," Misty Fly explained.
"Really?" Rainbow Dash said after gasping. "That's incredible!" She said impressed before she frowned after another realization. "Guess I'll just watch Wind Rider being awesome from the sidelines... practice tomorrow is gonna be so boring," she figured.
Seeing how Rainbow Dash felt a little bit upset, Star Twinkle felt as if he should cheer the mare up again. "But hey, you met a living legend, that is something, right?" He said, pointing out the positive thing about this situation.
The mare started smiling again. Maybe she realized that Star Twinkle was trying to cheer her up and appreciated what he was doing. She did not want him to know that though. "Yeah, you're right!" She then said with a grin on her face.
Of course, Rarity knew the right words to say in this situation as well. "I don't suppose I could keep you company during practice?" She asked.
Again, Rainbow Dash smiled and felt better after hearing that. "You could! They always let friends and family come watch practices!" She said before she hugged both Star Twinkle and Rarity in return.
Unfortunately, Rarity was just drinking a cup of tea and Rainbow Dash's hug caused her to spill it on her new dress.
"Oops. Heh, sorry about that. Lemme help you clean that up," Rainbow Dash offered. She then was holding up her hoof and was about to spit on it.
Rarity noticed what the mare was up to and refused her help, understandably. "Uh, no-no, it's almost impossible to get stains out of silk. But not to worry. I've come prepared!" She explained before she dragged a chest into the room. She quickly switched from a white to an orange dress and pretended as nothing happened. Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash just looked at each other puzzled after seeing this.
A little later...
After the party was done, Star Twinkle, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash walked through the hallway. Princess Celestia allowed every guest of the party to use a room in the castle to sleep in. The three were just on their way to those rooms.
"That dinner was absolutely divine," Rarity said in delight. "Thanks for inviting us!" She said to Rainbow Dash.
"Yes, thanks, Rainbow Dash," Star Twinkle said.
The three came across Spitfire who was just entering her own room. Rarity couldn't help but be a little envious. "Ooh, you're staying in the east tower? Those rooms have the best view of Canterlot!"
"How lucky are we?" Spitfire replied. "Well, we better get some shuteye before practice," she added before she shut the door behind her.
After that, the group walked to their rooms. Rainbow Dash's room was right next to Spitfire's, something that she was really happy about. Star Twinkle and Rarity had to walk to the east towers to get to their rooms though. They all were a little bit tired from the party, especially Star Twinkle who get easily tired when he participates in those. They decided to get a good amount of sleep to be up early the next day.
On the next day...
Star Twinkle, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all met at the stadium area close to the castle where the Wonderbolts were practicing their routines. Rainbow Dash really wanted nothing more but to join the Wonderbolts up in the sky but all she could do was sitting there with her friends and watching them fly.
She was releasing a slight sigh. "Thanks for keeping me company, you two. If you weren't here, well, I don't know who I'd be talking to right now," she said gratefully.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Star Twinkle replied. "We're having fun over here too, right Rar-" but when Star Twinkle turned his head towards the mare next to him, she decided to put some sunscreen on his nose, much to his sudden surprise. "Thanks..." he said with some annoyance in his voice.
But Rarity just giggled in response and did the same with Rainbow Dash as well. The three seemed to have fun despite just sitting there and watching the Wonderbolts practice. Even if Rainbow Dash's reason to be there was just as a reserve, she was still happy. She just wished that, by any chance, one of the Wonderbolts would have a reason to not participate so that she could have taken their place.
As it happened to be, something did actually happen and Soarin was the one telling the mare that news. "Eh, you'd be talkin' to me," the stallion said as he landed right behind the three ponies. "Rainbow Dash, Spitfire's mom sent a message that she was sick. She had to leave to take care of her," he explained.
Rainbow Dash gasped in response. "Oh, no! I hope her mom's okay!" She said in worry.
"Me too," Soarin said. "In the meantime, we need you to fly in her place," he then added.
The eyes of Rainbow Dash widened. "L-Like, in the actual show?" She asked nervously.
"Unless Spitfire comes back, yes," Soarin replied.
Rainbow Dash quickly shook Soarin's hoof out of gratitude. "I won't let you down, Soarin!" She said. What followed was a huge and long squeal from the mare before she jumped up into the sky out of joy. She was celebrating her chance to join the Wonderbolts as best as she could. "This is the best thing ever! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! I'm gonna get to fly with Wind Rider and the Wonderbolts, 'cause I'm the bestest and I'm awesome and they know it! Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh..."
It was a bit embarrassing to look at but Rainbow was happy and that is all that mattered. Soarin was about to ask Rainbow Dash if she was okay but Rarity interrupted him. "Shh! Let her have this, darling," she said before she returned to watching her friend dancing and celebrating in the sky. Star Twinkle also looked happy and smiled as he watched Rainbow Dash. She was acting a little bit silly but when it came to anything Wonderbolt related that was about to be expected.
A little later...
Of course, Rainbow Dash wasted no time to join the practice. As expected she was having little trouble keeping up with the Wonderbolts. At this very moment, she was racing along with Wind Rider at this very moment. In the middle of her practice, she couldn't help but wave at Star Twinkle and Rarity, who were sitting on the upper seats now. Until she realized that she might want to focus on her practice so that she would not let the Wonderbolts down.
"She seems to have fun," Star Twinkle said with a smile on his face.
Rarity nodded. "I say she deserves this," she said as she looked at her friend in the air.
Rainbow Dash was certainly a lot more mature than she was when Star Twinkle met her. She came a long way to be where she was now and that included proving herself to the Wonderbolts. Sometimes she even put her dream to join them aside when it came to something more important. Long story short: Rainbow Dash worked hard and took a lot of risks to get this far. Star Twinkle smiled as he watched her flying in the sky with her idols.
Unbeknownst to him though, Rarity was smiling at him. Once he noticed that, he looked back at her confused. "What?" He asked.
Rarity giggled. "You. Are. Happy. For. Her," she said in a teasing voice.
Star Twinkle looked away. He seemed to feel a little bit embarrassed. "Is there something wrong about that?" He asked.
Again, Rarity giggled. "I think it's rather cute," she said, making Star Twinkle blush a little. "I think Rainbow Dash would also be happy if she found out, don't you think?"
"Maybe," Star Twinkle replied embarrassed.
Rarity then slid closer to Star Twinkle's side, much to the stallion's discomfort right now. "I get it, don't worry," she said as she raised her hooves to flex them for a moment. "Always be tough in front of the ladies! Must never show a weakness!" She then said in a brawny voice.
Star Twinkle's eyes widened in confusion. "Is that how you see me?" He asked confused, a little offended even.
The mare next to him started laughing while trying to remain lady-like while doing so. She failed to do so though and barely could contain her laughter. "Of course not!" She said before she was wiping a tear away from her eyes. "I was just joking, darling. What I'm trying to say is that you seem to make too much of an effort to show that you don't care or that you maybe are too embarrassed to show that you care," she explained.
To an extend, Star Twinkle knew that but he still felt a little uncomfortable to show his smile on a regular basis. "I'm not embarrassed," he said, his voice still sounding really nervous which made the delivery of his sentence not really sound too believable.
Rarity smiled. "If even if you were, the others and I would not mind. I think it would make you look more charming," she said.
The stallion didn't know what to say after this. The worst thing was that Rarity kept looking at him with this teasing smile on her face. It made him feel a little bit uncomfortable. He started to think that she was enjoying how flustered he was right now. Her next sentence pretty much confirmed it though.
"Then again, it's cute watching you being flustered like this," she said casually before she focused on Rainbow Dash again.
"I knew it!" Star Twinkle thought.
A few moments later, another mare approached the two of them. "Is this seat still free?"
"Huh?" Star Twinkle replied confused before he looked to his right. He was still too focused on Rarity to gave a proper answer at first. "Yes!" He then replied. The mare then sat down next to him and looked up at the sky as if she was looking for someone.
Rarity noticed the mare as well. "Hello there! Friend or family?" She asked.
"Family. My daughter's a Wonderbolt, but I don't see her up there. Do you know Spitfire?" She asked as she still kept her eyes open for her daughter.
It didn't take long until Star Twinkle saw the resemblance. The mare was a Pegasus with a yellow coat, an orange mane with light orange stripes in them, and orange eyes. Her Cutie Mark was orange and looked like a mix of a lighting bolt and a flame. She was also wearing a purple top, a white pearl necklace, and white earrings.
Star Twinkle and Rarity looked at each other confused. "You're Spitfire's mother?" Star Twinkle then asked.
"But I thought you were sick," Rarity added.
"What?" The mare said confused.
Rarity explained the situation. "Well, Spitfire got a note from you saying you weren't feeling well, and she went home to take care of you."
"I didn't send a note," the Pegasus mare replied.
Soarin, who happened to fly by a moment ago, noticed the mare sitting next to Star Twinkle and Rarity as well and stopped his practice for a moment. "Stormy Flare? Aren't you supposed to be sick?" He asked confused. Of course, other members of the Wonderbolts recognized the mother of Spitfire and got confused too. "'Kay, what's happening?" Soarin eventually asked.
"I don't know," Stormy Flare replied confused. "But I do know I didn't send my daughter a note," she confirmed.
Rarity quickly put one and one together. "Could somepony have sent Spitfire a fake note?" She figured.
"Who would do such a thing?" Misty Fly asked.
"Somepony who wanted her out of the show, I suppose," Soarin figured.
Rainbow Dash also joined in. "Why would anypony want that?" She asked.
But Wind Rider seemed to have figured out everything and he was not happy about it. He straight out looked at Rainbow Dash. "Maybe so they could take her spot,"
With those words said, everyone seemed to have come to the same conclusion as the veteran Wonderbolt. They all figured that Rainbow Dash had a motive to get Spitfire out of the picture to take her place in the show. It was the only explanation for them.
Of course, Rainbow Dash defended herself in this matter. "Me?! I would never do that to Spitfire! Why would you think it was me?" She asked offended.
"I did see you and Spitfire leave the dinner together," Blaze, another member of the Wonderbolts said as she pocked Rainbow Dash's chest.
"We were room neighbors in the castle!" Rainbow Dash quickly replied.
But the accusations didn't stop. "And you did say you'd do anything to fly with Wind Rider," Misty Fly further pointed out.
"Yeah, but I didn't mean anything," Rainbow Dash replied nervously.
Now Soarin was also on the side of his teammates and tried to get out a confession as well. "Spitfire came by my room and told me she had to go see her mom at around midnight. Where were you then?" He asked.
Rainbow Dash explained. "I was asleep at midnight... having this totally amazing dream. There I was at the arena flying with Wind Rider and the Wonderbolts, like I've always wanted to—"
"Rainbow!" Star Twinkle then interrupted once he realized how Rainbow Dash was a little too excited to tell everyone about her dream.
The mare then snapped out of it. "Eh, never mind. Not helping," she figured.
Seeing how Rainbow Dash was having trouble defending herself from all those accusations, Star Twinkle decided to jump into this as well. "Come on you guys, I know Rainbow Dash usually acts before thinking, especially when it comes to anything Wonderbolt related but she would never do anything like this," he said defending his friends.
Soarin walked up to the stallion. He felt challenged and desperately wanted a culprit now. "Do you have any proof that she didn't do it?" He asked in a serious tone.
Star Twinkle had a quick response ready. "Do you have any proof that she did it?"
As if Soarin wanted to throwback another reply, he opened his mouth but then he realized that he actually did not have any proof but only a motive. This caused him to back away again to talk with the rest of the Wonderbolts in order to figure out what to do next.
While that was happening, Rainbow Dash stepped next to Star Twinkle. "Thanks..." she whispered as if she was a little embarrassed right now. "For defending me, I mean," she added.
"No problem," Star Twinkle replied.
The mare then hesitated at first but asked something. "You don't think I did it, right?"
The stallion then asked a bold question. "Did you do it?"
"No!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed offended.
"Okay," Star Twinkle casually replied. "Then I believe you," he added.
Rainbow Dash was surprised. Star Twinkle was a friend of hers so she expected him to be on her side but she was still happy. The mare smiled, knowing that Star Twinkle didn't even seem to suspect her one bit. It felt nice.
After the Wonderbolts were done discussing everything, Soarin walked out of the group and right towards Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash. He began to explain. "Rainbow Dash, if you can prove that somepony else is behind Spitfire's disappearance before the start of the show, then you can still fly with us...but..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "I have to warn you, if you sent that letter, the bylaws are clear. I'd have no choice but to ban you from the Wonderbolts forever. Understand?"
Rainbow Dash gulped once more. "I understand," she replied.
Soarin then told his comrades Misty Fly and Blaze to head over to Stormy Flare's house and try to find Spitfire so that she could come back in time. In the meantime, Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash sighed in relief. Now with none of the Wonderbolts pressuring them, they could finally come up with a solution.
"What are we gonna do now?" Star Twinkle ironically asked.
"I don't know!" Rainbow Dash said frustrated while she held her head. "How am I gonna prove I didn't send a letter that I didn't send?" She asked, hoping for an enlightening answer.
"With me!"
The answer came in the form of Rarity who was now wearing a red stylish coat and a black hat, one of the new outfits that she just recently created. Her appearance resembled the one of a detective, which made sense since she based that outfit off from the Shadow Spade novels.
The mare walked up to the two confidently and proud to show off her new clothes. "Detective Rarity is on the case, and we are going to get to the bottom of this faster than my costume change!" She assured determinedly.
"Yeah, what's with the getup?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It's from her new line," Star Twinkle explained.
Again, Rarity proudly showed off her clothes in front of the two. "Obviously, I am channeling Shadow Spade through these gorgeous garments, and she would say that the best way to prove that you didn't send the letter is to find out whoever did. First stop – the scene of the crime!" She said.
Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash tagged along. The best they could do was to accompany Rarity so that they might find a clue about who was behind all of this. Of course, Star Twinkle was not sure how serious Rarity was really taking this investigation now but going with her and keeping an eye out for anything suspicious himself was the best he could do.
The scene of the crime...
The three ponies were on their way to Spitfire's room. There must have been some clues there that would give them an answer to all of this. To get to Spitfire's room, they just had to walk through the big hallway of the castle since her room was at the east tower, right next to Rainbow Dash's room. While they walked through the hallway though, Star Twinkle couldn't help but notice how Rarity was talking...to herself.
"We had a long road ahead of us, Rainbow Dash, Star Twinkle and I. Well, not too long because we didn't have much time, but the point is... I was up for the challenge," she said in a dramatic tone.
Star Twinkle was getting a strange sense of Deja Vu from this. "What is with all those ponies narrating all of a sudden?" He thought, referring back to his trip to Yakyakistan with Pinkie Pie a while ago.
It didn't take long until the three entered Spitfire's room. As soon as they entered it, Rarity continued her little monologue. "There I was, surveying the crime scene, and looking très chic while doing it," she said breaking out of "character" for a moment. The three looked around the room and looked for clues and it didn't take long until Rarity found one right next to the door. It was an envelope. "This must be the envelope for the letter Spitfire got!" She figured.
This quickly got the attention of Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash. "Is there something in there still?" Star Twinkle asked.
Rarity looked inside. There was actually something in this envelope. Hair. Rainbow colored hair. "These look like hairs from a rainbow mane!" Rarity figured.
Rainbow Dash gulped nervously. "That's not good," she said.
"Don't worry Rainbow," Star Twinkle said. "I'm sure somepony just put that in there to frame you," he added while in his head, he added the words "I hope". Rainbow Dash told him that she wasn't the culprit and he believed her. He was sure that somepony was just framing her with that, Rainbow Dash would not just cut off some of her hair and put it in the envelope like this.
As Star Twinkle was thinking that to himself, he noticed something strange about those hairpieces. "Wait...cut-off?" He thought to himself confused.
While he was looking at this hair though, Rarity walked into the next room, all while narrating of course. "Rainbow Dash was getting antsy, but I had faith I could clear her name and find the real culprit."
"You are taking this seriously, right?" Star Twinkle straight out asked. "If we don't find more clues about all of this, then Rainbow Dash will be banned from the Wonderbolts after all," he pointed out to remind the mare about the seriousness of this situation.
"Of course!" Rarity quickly replied. "As a matter of fact, I already found another clue," she added.
"Really?" Star Twinkle asked surprised.
"Yes, right here!" She said before she gave Star Twinkle the envelope from before. "Smell on it," she then said.
The stallion was rather confused by this request but he did as Rarity said. He immediately noticed that there was a familiar smell coming from it. "Wait...isn't that?"
"It is!" Rarity replied. "But I still need more clues," she added before she decided to walk outside to follow Rainbow Dash, who was already leaving the room.
And as Rarity followed the mare, she continued narrating. "In order to solve the mystery, we had to be focused. Driven. One hundred percent in the— Ooh! The damask pattern on these curtains is exquisite!" She then said after being mesmerized by the curtains of this castle, which broke her free of her monologue. "Oh, and this velvet rope-holder – oh, it's just—"
Star Twinkle looked over to see what Rarity was doing. She clearly was getting distracted by the curtains so he decided to remind her that they needed to focus on the investigation again. Seeing how the mare played with the curtain a little made his notice something on the ground nearby. It was a little bit suspicious to him. "Why is it like this?" He wondered.
"We don't have time to look at the décor!" Rainbow Dash interrupted in an annoyed tone. "They're gonna kick me out of the Wonderbolts unless we solve this thing!" She said.
"I know, Rainbow, and I'm on this case like a charm on a bracelet!" Rarity assured before she walked away from their curtain again. "Here's what I'm thinking: somepony had to bring Spitfire that letter, which means somepony must have seen them!"
As it happened to be, there were some ponies in this hallway just now, and chances were pretty high that those same ponies were here yesterday as well.
"The guards!" Star Twinkle said. "Of course, they are...well...guarding this place so they must have seen how someone was leaving that letter," he added.
The next move was clear, the guards of the castle needed to be asked to shine a light on all of this.
The interrogation...
Three guards were taken into an interrogation room, which Star Twinkle didn't even know was a thing. To make things more dramatic, Rarity decided to dim the lights inside the room. Of course, Rainbow Dash still thought that she was not taking all of this too seriously and sighed as she watched how Rarity approached the guards.
"I just have a few questions for you, and I'm sure once we get some things cleared up, we'll—"
It didn't take long until Rainbow Dash got impatient already. "Come on, Rarity, we don't have all day!" She decided to take things in her own hooves and straight out asked one of the guards a question right into his face. "Where were you on the night of last night at midnight?!"
"We were here, guarding the hallway entrance like we were supposed to," the guard replied.
"A likely story," Rainbow Dash replied.
"What is unlikely about that?" Star Twinkle asked. It was almost as if she had no idea what she was doing here.
The castle guard was assuring her that he was saying the truth though. "I'm telling you, we were there all night, and no one went in or out of that hallway," he explained.
"Except for you," one of the other guards then said after thinking about it for a moment.
"What are you tryin' to say?!" Rainbow Dash asked that one guards right into his face.
The guard explained. "Just that there are only two rooms in the northwest wing: yours and Spitfire's. So the only other pony who had access to that wing was you," he said while pointing at the mare.
Right about now, Rainbow Dash was getting nervous again. Those were two things already that were pointing in her direction on being the culprit. Star Twinkle was also having his doubts for a moment. He was putting his trust in her and believed her when she said that she didn't do it. But things got more complicated as things went on.
Still, Rarity was not giving up and decided to take charge of the interrogation. "Perhaps I should take it from here!" She said. Again, she changed into a new outfit, one of her new ones, which consisted of a cherry red-colored coat and a black veil.
"When is she changing her clothes!?" Star Twinkle wondered seeing how Rarity manages to change without anyone noticing. Those were the real questions for him.
Rarity used a strategy that Star Twinkle witnessed before, the charming technique that she used against that one mail pony. She approached and softly talked to the first guard. "You castle guards have such a difficult job. I'm guessing that at times it can be rather... boring," she whispered softly into the ear of the guard.
It seemed to have worked. The guard was certainly having an easier time to talk now. "It is. I've counted all three hundred and forty-five bolts in the ceiling tiles two hundred and ninety-three times!" He shared with the group.
That didn't really help the investigation but Rarity was not letting up and continued. "And of course being a castle guard can be thankless work. I'm not saying you did, but if you took a break, you more than deserved it," she said, again, in a pretty charming and soft voice.
"Oh, you're right. We don't get a lot of recognition for what we do," the guard admitted.
"Except for last night when somepony was nice enough to leave a cake for us," one of the other guards then added. "So we did take one little break when we ate that cake," he admitted.
This quickly gave Star Twinkle another clue. "Which gave someone enough time to sneak to the east tower!" He figured and he sincerely hoped that this someone was not Rainbow Dash. The stallion was happy that Rarity's methods worked and from the looks of it, she was not done yet. But as soon as Star Twinkle heard her questions, he didn't know what to think anymore.
"What kind of cake was it?" Rarity asked.
"Cherry with a custard filling." One of the guards answered.
"Was the frosting vanilla or chocolate?"
"Chocolate."
"Was the base of the cake decorated with buttercream rosettes?"
"It was."
And, once more, Rainbow Dash lost her temper after hearing Rarity asking all those questions. "Ugh, who cares how it was decorated?!" She exclaimed angrily.
Rarity just looked at Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash was questioning my methods. But I knew what I was doing," she said in her narrating voice.
"Do you?" Rainbow Dash asked.
This got Rarity a little bit surprised. "Oh, oh, oh. Did I say that one out loud?" She asked embarrassed.
"Yes. You are saying everything out loud so far," Star Twinkle pointed out.
Rarity just chuckled this off, Rainbow Dash, however, was not at all in the mood of laughing and was about to have a mental breakdown.
"I mean, even I think I'm guilty at this point! I really did want to fly in that show!" She said as she was grabbing Rarity's leg in frustration. "What if I wrote that note when I was asleep?! Do you know what I do when I sleep?! Because I sure don't!"
"Don't worry Rainbow Dash," Star Twinkle said in order to comfort the mare. "We might have gotten another clue...right?" He said as he was looking towards Rarity in hope that she found out something from all this.
"Of course!" Rarity replied surprisingly confident. "We'll get to the bottom of this. There's only one bakery in Canterlot that makes a chocolate cherry cake with custard filling and buttercream frosting rosettes and that's...Cinnamon Chai's Tea and Cake Shop!" She explained.
Star Twinkle was actually impressed. "That is why she was asking about the frosting and all the other stuff?" Whether Rarity's questions were weird or not, they actually got the three ponies another clue.
At Cinnamon Chai's Tea and Cake Shop...
The three ponies headed to the bakery where the cake, that the three guards got from the possible culprit, was sold at. Rarity was sure that this kind of cake was only sold there and that the culprit could be figured out if they ask the owner. And that is exactly what Rarity did...after changing her clothes yet again. This time she was wearing a long white and pink dress and tied her mane into a ponytail.
"I've heard you have the best chocolate cherry custard cake with buttercream frosting rosettes in town!" She asked.
"Ah, you travel in the right circles!" The owner of the bakery replied. We have the only chocolate cherry custard cake with buttercream frosting rosettes in town!" She replied proudly.
Star Twinkle's head was spinning because of the constant repeating of the name of this cake. He already saw the name of this cake on a sign in the window of the bakery. Behind it was nothing though.
"Looks like somepony bought it already. The culprit?" Star Twinkle asked Rarity.
"Who was the lucky pony?" Rarity asked the owner.
"I can't even say!" The owner replied.
"Why not?" Star Twinkle asked.
"Was it somepony famous?" Rarity added.
The owner explained. "No... because it was hard to tell! She was wearing a trench coat, sunglasses, and a scarf around her head that covered most of her face," she said. This didn't help the three ponies out one bit but it was suspicious, it was definitely the culprit who didn't want to be recognized. They were close, they just needed some more clues.
"Anything else? Every little bit can help," Star Twinkle asked. It couldn't help to ask one more time, is what he thought.
The owner tipped her chin for a moment. "I do remember she had a really deep, raspy voice," she then added.
This is where Rainbow Dash got curious. "What do you mean, raspy?" She asked.
"Well, kinda like yours," the shop owner replied.
Rainbow Dash gulped. Yet another clue that was pointing in her direction. Star Twinkle was getting a little bit worried. Was Rainbow Dash really behind all of this and played dumb in front of him and Rarity? But then why would she help them out to find clues that would lead to her? There is no way that Rainbow Dash could have forgotten to do all of those things. Things didn't make sense.
Rarity decided to ask away a little bit further. "If there's anything else you can remember, dish."
As it happened to be, there actually was some more information. "Well, have I got a story for you! The pony who bought the cake threw a big fit when she accidentally got chocolate ganache on her scarf!" She explained.
"That's terrible!" Rarity said. "What color was the scarf?" She added casually.
"White! No, maybe more an ivory..." the owner replied.
"You don't say!" Rarity said in fascination.
This did sound familiar to Star Twinkle. He scratched his chin for a second. "An ivory-colored scarf?" He thought.
But Rainbow Dash was losing her patience again. "I can't believe you're talking fashion at a time like this!" She said in a frustrated voice.
But Rarity remained calm. "Rainbow, don't panic. I need you to trust me," she added.
"Trust you?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "You've spent more time changing clothes than trying to help me!" She pointed out.
"To be fair," Star Twinkle interrupted. "She was changing her clothes pretty fast," he pointed out.
Rainbow Dash could only sigh in reply to that after figuring that her friends didn't seem to care about her fate. "I'm doomed," she said in a hopeless voice.
But again, Rarity remained calm. "No, you're not! Come on!" She said before she was off. "We are going back to the others," she announced confidently.
Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash followed the mare, the later one looking rather displeased how this "investigation" went so far. This was not unnoticed by Star Twinkle. He understood that Rainbow Dash was worrying about her future with the Wonderbolts but he felt as if she should not blame Rarity for all of this.
As he walked next to Rainbow Dash, he started to whisper to her. "Hey, don't worry, Rainbow Dash, " Star Twinkle said, causing the mare to look at him in annoyance. "Rarity seems pretty confident to find the culprit. I think that is something," he said.
The Pegasus mare looked away again. "If you say so," she said annoyed.
Of course, Star Twinkle was trying his best to find out who the culprit was as well. He put everything that seemed suspicious in his head together and slowly came to a conclusion himself. He took into account who could be connected with the clues that Rarity found and who had a motive for all of this but he was still not sure a-hundred percent. He guessed that Rarity wasn't too sure as well, which is why she wanted to go back to make sure of it. He was curious to see if his guess was right.
Later...back with the Wonderbolts...
Since it started to rain, the Wonderbolts decided to go inside in one of the towers in Canterlot Castle. Misty Fly and Blaze already returned from Spitfire's house and told the rest of the Wonderbolts that there was no sign of her, much to everyone's confusion. Spitfire was nowhere to be found for some reason.
But right now, other things needed to be settled first. Rarity stepped into the room, her appearance is accompanied by the sound of thunder from outside that just happened to strike at this very moment. Rarity also changed her clothes back to her red costume and black hat from before. Of course, neither Star Twinkle or Rainbow Dash even noticed her doing that again.
"I have found the culprit!" She immediately announced once she entered the room. Most of the Wonderbolt members gulped in surprise after hearing that. They were curious to know what the mare found out and she wasted no time sharing who she suspected. "Somepony sent Spitfire away and framed Rainbow Dash for it. And that pony was none other than..." she paused for a moment to raise the tension. Star Twinkle hoped that she came to the same conclusion as him. The clues were pointing at one specific pony after analyzing them carefully after all.
After enough of a dramatic pause, Rarity revealed the culprit.
"Wind Rider!"
Lightning struck as soon as she spoke again, fittingly. All of the Wonderbolts were surprised to hear that the veteran Wonderbolt was accused of being the culprit. Wind Rider was unshaken though, and not impressed. The same thing could not be said about Rainbow Dash though, who felt attacked that Rarity would even think that Wind Rider could be the culprit.
"Rarity, I can't believe you would accuse Wind Rider of framing me! He's a living legend, for pony's sake!" Rainbow Dash said offended.
"All the evidence points to him!" Rarity replied.
"What evidence could you possibly have?" Rainbow Dash said annoyed. "All you did was ask about cake, admire décor, and change outfits a gazillion times!" She pointed out.
"Let me explain," Rarity replied but then she looked over to Star Twinkle. "Or rather, let Star Twinkle do the explaining," she said, much to the stallion's confusion.
"Me!?" Star Twinkle asked.
"Yes," Rarity replied. "You did come to the same conclusion, right?" She asked.
Star Twinkle rubbed his neck nervously. "Yes but..."
Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing right now. "You suspected Wind Rider as well!?" She asked in shock.
The stallion did feel a little bit pushed into the center, much to his dislike, especially since most of them didn't appreciate how the one he suspected was, just like Rainbow Dash said, a living legend. Still, Rarity was smiling as if she wanted to say "You can do it" right now. Eventually, Star Twinkle took a deep breath and just started to explain what he figured out.
"The first evidence we found was a chunk of rainbow-colored hair inside the letter that was sent to Spitfire," he said while Rarity had the hair ready to show everyone. "The strange thing about the hair was that the ends looked too straight, almost as if they were cut off. Not too mention that no one would just lose that much hair at once. It was clearly placed in Spitfire's room to point at Rainbow Dash," the stallion thoughtfully explained.
"Mmh," Rarity just said in agreement. She seemed to have come to the same conclusion as him.
Star Twinkle continued. "The next clue was the envelope itself. There was a strange smell coming from it. Rarity and I quickly recognized it from the day before. It was Wind Rider's cologne of choice, Juniper Griffon!"
"Phoenix," Rarity corrected.
"R-right! Juniper Phoenix!" Star Twinkle then nervously corrected. To get his footing back, the stallion continued. "The next clue was in the castle hallway, some of the damask curtains fell out of their velvet rope-holder. It most likely happened because somepony needed to hide behind them after dropping the fake letter," he explained.
The Wonderbolts, with the exception of Wind Rider, of course, started to whisper some word to each other. They maybe started to believe what Star Twinkle tried to get across. The veteran flyer was not appreciating all this hoof pointing however and spoke his mind.
"All those evidence doesn't really point towards me though. Maybe Rainbow Dash used Juniper Phoenix to make me look like the culprit. You have no proof that I cut off those hairs or moved those curtains," the stallion said in his defense.
But Star Twinkle remained calm. "I'm not done yet," he said surprisingly confident. Rarity gave Wind Rider a smug grin as if she wanted to say "You are done for!" now. She seemed to enjoy how Star Twinkle was driving this case home like this.
The Earth Pony continued. "We had a little talk with the castle guards who were guarding the east towers, the ones that had Spitfire's and Rainbow Dash's rooms in them. They were at their posts last night but they took a little bit of a break. The reason for that break was because somepony happened to give them a cake. A...uh..."
Star Twinkle struggled to remember what kind of cake it was but luckily Rarity was there to help. " A chocolate cherry custard cake with buttercream frosting rosettes," she said.
"Yes...that one," Star Twinkle said. "Only one bakery was selling those cakes and somepony happened to buy one of them and gave it to the guards as a distraction, giving Wind Rider enough time to sneak to Spitfire's room to leave the letter," he explained.
Wind Rider was still not impressed. "Again, how is that pointing in my direction?" He asked, this time with a little less patience in his voice.
Star Twinkle continued. "According to the owner of the shop, the cake was bought by a heavily disguised girl pony with a raspy voice wearing an ivory-colored scarf. A scarf where you got a chocolate stain on by accident," he pointed out. "Do you mind showing it to us for a moment?"
Now Rarity was joining in as well. "I couldn't help but notice that Wind Rider's scarf is tied in a tight Windsor knot instead of its usual loose slipknot! And why is that? Is it to hide the chocolate stain?!" She asked before she used her magic to tie open Wind Rider's scarf to reveal a huge chocolate stain on it. The Wonderbolts gasped in shock after they saw the stain, even Rainbow Dash couldn't believe it.
Still, Wind Rider defended himself from all this. "Ah, this is preposterous. Wonderbolts, you don't believe a word of this, right?" He said. His voice started to lose some of it cool since he felt pinned against the wall now.
"Just admit it," Rarity said. "You're as guilty of framing Rainbow Dash as you are of ruining that ivory scarf!" She added.
"Combined with all the evidence that we found, you are the only one who got a motive for doing all of this," Star Twinkle explained as he walked towards the stallion. "You were afraid that Rainbow Dash would break your long-distance Wonderbolt Record. That is why you needed her out of the picture!"
"Ah, fine! You caught me! I did it!" Wind Rider admitted in frustration. There was no way that he could talk himself out of this anymore. "It's just as you said, I thought if I could get Rainbow Dash kicked out of the Wonderbolts forever, my record could be preserved," he further confessed.
Rainbow Dash was shocked but also disappointed. "Really? That is so not cool. And I thought you were the coolest Wonderbolt ever. Until now," she said with a frown on her face.
"I did what I had to do to protect my record!" Wind Rider said filled with pride. "Sometimes you gotta play dirty to be the best!"
But Rainbow Dash disagreed. "That's not what being a Wonderbolt is all about," she said.
"She's right!" Soarin agreed. "Wonderbolts look out for each other! Which reminds me, where is Spitfire?"
Star Twinkle, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were surprised to hear that. Soarin explained to them that Spitfire was not at her mother's place. This was also one of Wind Rider's doings. He admitted that he pretended to be Stormy Flare, Spitfire's mother and that he had Pegasitis which can only be cured by the ice iris, flowers that only grow in the Crystal Mountains. According to Rainbow Dash, those flowers are almost impossible to find in spring, which would explain why Spitfire was away for so long.
"The Crystal Mountains are too far for anypony to make it there and back before the royal garden opening!" Soarin said frustrated. Plans needed to change fast. "Rainbow Dash, we need you to fly in Spitfire's place!" He said.
But Rainbow Dash disagreed with this idea. "But Spitfire shouldn't have to miss this! I'm gonna get her!" She said.
"But you'll never make it in time!" Soarin replied.
But Rainbow Dash already flew out of the room. "Then there's no time to lose!" Could be heard from her as she was flying in direction of the Crystal Mountains to get Spitfire back, hopefully in time.
Shortly before the opening ceremony...
The ceremony was about to start and there was no sign of Rainbow Dash or Spitfire at all. Some of the Wonderbolts started to get worried. Star Twinkle had to admit that he was getting nervous too. Rarity was really the only one to remain calm all this time. The mare eventually noticed the concern written on Star Twinkle's face.
"Don't worry darling. Rainbow Dash will come through," she said confidently.
Star Twinkle sighed. "It's really that obvious that I'm worried, huh?" He replied. Rarity nodded. The stallion let out another sigh. "Not that I don't trust Rainbow Dash but how do you manage to believe in her so much? It didn't look as if she was trusting you with the whole investigation," he pointed out.
Rarity looked up as if she tried to think of an answer. Her reply came shortly after. "I just do," she simply replied. "As a friend, all I have to do is to believe in her. It's as simple as that," she explained.
It was a simple and short answer and Star Twinkle would like to do as Rarity said and just believe in Rainbow Dash like this but unfortunately, it wasn't so easy for him to do that. This only made him feel bad. It made him feel like a bad friend. In comparison, Rarity was a much better friend.
SLAM!
The door was smashed open, making the stallion jump for a moment. Two ponies stood in the entrance, the two ponies everypony was waiting for, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, the later one looking pretty exhausted.
"Spitfire, you're back! I can't believe you made it!" Soarin said happily.
Spitfire took off her goggles and took some deep breathes. The two of them must have dashed back as fast as possible. "I wouldn't have if Rainbow hadn't found me so fast! Gave me enough time to fly back!" She explained. Of course, Rainbow Dash was blushing after hearing compliments from Spitfire herself. However, the Pegasus needed to talk about something with Rarity before she could join the happy return of Spitfire.
"Rare, I couldn't have done it without you. You too, Star Twinkle," she said in gratitude. "And I'm sorry I doubted you. Star Twinkle told me that I should trust you but I didn't listen," she added.
Rarity seemed positively surprised to hear that. "Did he now?" She asked while she glanced over to the stallion with a smile on her face. Star Twinkle only looked away and blushed in response.
"But why didn't you tell me what you were doing?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Rarity explained. "Well, I didn't want to get your hopes up until I was sure, and I couldn't be sure until I saw that chocolate stain," she said.
"Thank you for believing in me, even when I was doubting you," Rainbow Dash replied happily until she formed a frowned shortly after. "I'm some friend, huh?"
Rarity was quick to comfort her friend. "Actually, you're quite a good friend. You went to get Spitfire, even though it meant you couldn't fly today," she pointed out.
Rainbow Dash already that outcome but she still released a sigh. "I'll get my chance one day," she said.
But Spitfire had other plans. "Or today. How'd you like Wind Rider's spot in the show?" She suggested, much to the surprise of the veteran flyer.
"Uh, w-w-what? Y-You can't do this to me! I'm one of the greatest Wonderbolts there ever was!" He replied.
"Not anymore," the leader of the Wonderbolts said in a stern manner. Obviously, Spitfire was not about to forget all the things that Wind Rider did. "For attempting to frame Rainbow Dash, I hereby strip you of your Wonderbolts status!"
So it was said and so it was done. Spitfire removed the Wonderbolt pin on Wind Rider's jacket and the stallion walked out without a word, accepting his defeat silently. But one ponies loss was another's victory.
"So, would you like to fly with us, Rainbow Dash?" Soarin asked after one spot just opened up.
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in excitement. "Would I?!" She then jumped up into the air and celebrated, just like she did before in the practice by dancing in the air.
But since time was getting short, the mare had to stop her victory dance. "Uh, Rainbow Dash?" Soarin said, making the mare snap out of it again. The Wonderbolts then left for the opening, now that everyone was there again. And with Rainbow Dash joining them, things were bound to be awesome.
After the opening ceremony...
Star Twinkle and Rarity were both done watching the ceremony. As expected, everything went well and the fans had a lot of fun watching the Wonderbolts perform. Rainbow Dash was invited to spend the rest of the day with the Wonderbolts and she happily accepted to join them. Star Twinkle and Rarity even insisted that she should go with them to have fun, she more than deserved it after all. This left the two ponies to go home on their own. Rarity was happy to show off her new line and Star Twinkle just wanted to go home and relax.
"I'll say everything turned out well for everyone," Rarity said.
"Yes. Well, except for Wind Rider, I guess," the stallion replied.
Rarity only rolled her eyes after hearing that name. "Please, if he is what you would call "A living legend" then I say you would be more of a legend," Rarity said with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, except I am not. I didn't do anything that would even get me close to be called a legend," Star Twinkle replied.
"Hmm," Rarity said. "You really need to learn to think a little bit more highly of yourself," she added. "You can be so much more than you give yourself credit for. Just take that investigation from before as an example. The way you explained everything in front of everyone was just divine!" She complimented.
Star Twinkle looked away in embarrassment. "You could have done that too," he returned.
Rarity then stepped in front of the stallion. "There! Again! You did good! You helped out a friend in need and you did it with flying colors! That is a fact!" She said. Rarity's voice sounded as if she wanted to hammer those words into Star Twinkle's head in the hope that he would accept them but all it did was making the stallion nervous. Unfortunately, Rarity did not stop with the praise. "I wouldn't say all those things if they weren't true, you know. It would do you good to show some confidence every now and then. Not an amount of "Rainbow Dash" confidence but rather an "I am a pony who can be pretty amazing!" amount," the mare explained.
Star Twinkle just had to put a stop to all of this. "C-can you please stop saying all of those things? Even if I do accept all those things, I feel a little bit embarrassed if you say them all into my face like this..."
The stallion didn't care that he was sounding a little pathetic just now. Rarity saying all those things of him being amazing at times may not be the greatest stretch in the world but the stallion still felt weird if one of his friends was describing him like this. He almost wished for her to call him "lazy" or "grumpy" now.
To his delight, Rarity seemed to have noticed how it was too much for the stallion. "Oh, I'm sorry, darling, I didn't mean to put you into a tough spot like this," Rarity apologized. There was a short silence between the two as they continued to be on their way to the train station but it was quickly broken by Rarity again. "Tell you what! I let you get back at me!" She then said out of the blue as she stood in front of the stallion again.
"Get back at you?" Star Twinkle asked confused. "What do you mean?"
Rarity giggled. "By complimenting me, of course! To make me feel uncomfortable. That makes us even!" she explained. Star Twinkle lowered his eyebrows in suspicion. He didn't know how to feel about this. "Come on! Come on! I'm waiting~"
But Star Twinkle realized what was going on. "Did she just trick me so that I would compliment her? How is that gonna even things out? She clearly likes getting compliments," the stallion figured.
Rarity frowned a little, it was a fake one from what Star Twinkle could tell though. "Come on, don't tell me that you have to think of something? I'm sure you find something to compliment me on," she said as she struck a pose and presented her mane to the stallion.
"Yup, she is clearly enjoying this..." Star Twinkle thought annoyed. He let out a sigh and just decided to get it over with. "Come on, just say the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Rarity."
"I think..."
"Yes, yes!?" Rarity replied, getting pretty excited about what Star Twinkle was about to throw at her.
The stallion was expecting this kind of reaction. He wasn't sure what to say yet, he just planned to say those words and let his head to the rest, to let it just roll out of his tongue as he was speaking. The first thing that came to mind if he thought "Rarity". The first word that came to his mind when thinking about Rarity. The first thing that came to his mind as soon as he was completing his sentence.
"I think you are attractive."
...
"Huh?" Rarity replied.
...
"...wait..." Star Twinkle thought.
...
"WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?" Star Twinkle screamed from the inside, his face having no sign of him trying to hide his shock at all.
There was a silence between the two.
"I didn't mean to say THAT! That's was not a compliment, that was straight out flirting! What is wrong with me!? THAT is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about Rarity!?"
Star Twinkle clenched his teeth nervously. He tried to calm down. "I mean, it's not untrue. Rarity does put a lot of work in her appearance with all that makeup, her clothes, her mane, she even goes to the spa on a regular basis! Calling her attractive is like saying that the sky is blue. It's a fact, right!? I'm not the only one who thinks that, right!?"
The silence between the two went on. It felt like an eternity for Star Twinkle. He never felt so flustered in his whole life. Eventually, his mind started to sort itself again though and he calmed down a little.
"Relax, what am I worrying about? That is what she wanted after all. How did she take that compliment?" He just now realized that he was so busy with his own head that he didn't even pay attention to Rarity's reaction.
To his surprise, the mare was laughing nervously. Her eyes were moving from one corner to another, she started sweating and breathing nervously. "I-I-Is that s-so!?" She replied with a bright red color on her face. She was flustered, nervous, embarrassed all at the same time multiplied by four. This only made Star Twinkle feel more embarrassed.
The silence continued for a while.
Eventually, Rarity cleared her throat. "I think we are even. Shall we go now?" She said, not waiting for a response from the stallion and turning around to be on her way to the train station.
"Y-yes," Star Twinkle said as he trotted behind the mare.
Needless to say, the train ride to Ponyville was really awkward and quiet. The two barely talked to each other and if they did, then with only a few words exchanged. This awkwardness went away as time went on those words of Star Twinkle were forgotten and the talked with each other normally again. But who knows if those careless words of Star Twinkle left an impact somehow. Only time would tell that.