The day of the party came without clamor, or fanfare. The excitement would begin in the afternoon; and until then, it was to be business as usual in Ponyville. Opal was sent off to school, to bear one more day of tedium before her shining moment. Spike was making the rounds about town, collecting the materials he and Twilight would use to set up the party. Twilight herself was at the kitchen table, sitting with a very surly cyan pegasus.
Rainbow’s face was buried in her hooves, struggling to care about the list that Twilight was droning off of. The paperwork, she had discovered the day after her first effort, needed to be filed in triplicate. And with Soarin off to Manehattan, she had no subordinate to handle it, leaving her as a mare with very little time to herself. It was taking its toll; she heard every word from her wife as an intrusion, another little knife piercing through her privacy and free time. She wanted to scream, to yell at Twilight to leave her alone for just five minutes.
But that was wrong. She was angry, and irritable, but she knew when she was the one being unreasonable. But that only curbed her attitude so much.
“All right, look:” Twilight groaned, rubbing her temples in frustration. “All you have to do is be here at 3:30. That’s when she’ll blow out the candles, you’ll swoop down from above and the moment she does it, Rainboom. Can you handle that?”
“Hey, don’t ask me if I can handle it.” Rainbow snipped back. “You’re talking to the only mare who can do it at all; have a little faith, jeez.”
“I’m trying to,” Twilight said between clenched teeth. “I’m trying really, really hard. It’s just a little difficult when a CERTAIN SOMEPONY is too far up her own plot to give me a reason for it.”
“Hey!” Dash yelled back, snorting and stamping a hoof on the table. “I thought you were cool with this Captain thing! If you don’t want me living my dream, then fine, just say something!”
Twilight’s mouth dropped agape, trying to form any kind of coherent response to that. “I—you—think—GAH!”
In a flash of violet light, Twilight disappeared. She wasn’t in the room, but Rainbow could hear the characteristic popping of a teleportation spell go off again and again around their home, and the frustrated groaning of her wife, trying to vent before she confronted Dash again. With a final, flashing flourish, Twilight reappeared, panting and looking very desperate.
“Dash, please, just work with me on this one. Opal’s really counting on you, here. Don’t let her down, OK?”
Dash raised an eyebrow, and said, “Twi, I’ve got this. Honest, I do.”
Twilight looked ready to yell at her some more, but stopped herself and turned away slightly. “Just go. You’ve got practice, right?”
“Yep.”
Before Twilight could protest, Dash lunged in and planted a quick smooch on her cheek. She flew out the window, barely avoiding a levitating chair aimed for her head.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight screamed after her. “Just let me be mad at you for once!”
Rainbow flew off at a leisurely pace towards Cloudsdale, snickering to herself. That one always worked.
So why did she still feel awful?
She mentally smacked herself; it wasn’t like Twi didn’t have a reason to be mad at her. The pegasus had been a pretty pitiful excuse for a wife, lately. But what could she do? The Wonderbolts needed a leader, and she wasn’t about to let Spitfire down with the trust that she had in Rainbow. It wouldn’t be much longer, she resolved. Soarin would be back in town soon, and she could split up the work with him, and make back the time she needed for her family. It would all be simple, she’d just have to persevere a little while longer…
“All right, good! Windfunnel, Firecracker, next fly-through try coming in over the top instead of from below, I think that’ll work better. Now, again!”
Rainbow Dash blew her whistle, and her team took to the skies once more. Their captain watched from the ground, smiling proudly at her colts and mares’ handiwork. Thunderclouds coursing with lightning weaved intricate stitches and patterns across the sky, flawlessly working through their routine. This was the best practice they’d had since Dash was promoted, and every successful maneuver built up a pride in the cyan pegasus. So yeah, maybe at home things were going kind of… awful. But here, she could forget about that for a few precious hours. Here, she was a god, and her team was the tool with which she worked wonders.
Why did Spitfire ever give up this job?
As the last flourish of booming thunder brought an end to their performance, Rainbow called them in with a whistle while clapping her hooves enthusiastically. The smiles on their tired faces told her they were as satisfied with that fly-through as she was.
“Great show, everypony, you all did great!” she exclaimed. “When we get back to touring, somepony remind me I owe you all a drink when we stop at Las Pegasus!”
The Wonderbolts whooped and hollered, punching the air above them with their hooves in celebration.
The group slowly began to dissipate, as everypony broke off into their preferred cliques, discussing where they’d spend break before getting back to practice. Rainbow glanced at the sun to get an idea of the time.
About one… perfect, if I call off the rest of practice now, I can still make the party!
“OK, fillies, bunch up!” Rainbow shouted over the din of idle conversation. “Gonna say a few words, then we’re breaking up for the day—“
“Oh Celestia help us!” one of her subordinates shrieked. The others followed her line of sight, to see an approaching pegasus flying down towards them. “It’s her!”
A collective gasp of horror sounded from every Wonderbolt present, instantly recognizing the harbinger of disaster descending upon them. Rainbow yelled at the top of her lungs, “TAKE COVER!” and sent everypony sprawling in every direction. But it was far too late.
A gray mare fell upon them, opting not to land but rather to crash in a manner even the Wonderbolt captain could hardly match on her worst day. She barreled through pony after pony, sending shrieking mares and colts alike careening through the air before tumbling to a halt at Rainbow’s hooves.
Still groaning in a bit of confusion and pain, two exotropic yellow eyes struggled to both look at Rainbow. The mare grinned, happy as can be.
“Hiya, Rainbow Dash!”
Dash couldn’t help but chuckle, smiling as she leaned down to help her old friend up. “Hey, Derpy. What’s up?”
Derpy Hooves took a moment to process this, but the moment she realized what she was being asked, her demeanor changed and her brow furrowed. The pegasus reached into her mailmare’s saddlebag, retrieving an envelope and handing it over with a salute. “Uh, straight from Princess Celestia, Rainbow! She said it was really important, and I needed to get it to you as fast as I can!”
She added with a silly grin, “I didn’t crash once this time! Well, I mean…”
“Hey, that wasn’t even a crash.” Rainbow said, patting her friend on the head. “That was just a stylish landing; I do ‘em all the time!”
“You do?” Derpy asked, disbelieving.
“Oh-ho, trust me, more than you’d ever believe.” She added, with a good-natured roll of her eyes. “Anyway, thanks a lot Derpy. I’d better check this out. You and Dinky coming to the party?”
Derpy looked shocked, and a bit appalled, though at what the other pegasus wasn’t sure. “You mean those invitations were for us? I thought you wanted me to deliver them to somepony!”
Rainbow wasn’t sure if she was more frustrated or devastated. “You thought we wouldn’t invite you guys?!” she asked, her ears falling back in disbelief. She shoved Derpy off towards Ponyville, saying “OK it’s not a question anymore; it’s an order. You and Dinky are gonna go to that party, and you’re gonna have the times of your lives, got it?”
The gray mare laughed and gave a wave to her friend as she left. “You got it, Miss Captain-Dash!”
Rainbow waved back, shaking her head and nearly ready to let out a short laugh. “That mare, sometimes…”
Derpy was a klutz; OK, really more like a walking disaster. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t Rainbow’s friend. Dash was always a little more worried than she cared to admit that her fellow pegasus was so quick to assume an invitation or a compliment was intended for somepony else.
But she’d have to settle that at the party. First, she figured she ought to check out this letter from the Princess. The Wonderbolts gathered around her, and she decided to read it out loud.
She unfolded the parchment and began reading; not five seconds had passed before she wished she had done no such thing.
Captain Rainbow Dash,
I apologize, my little pony, for the poor timing of this letter. I know you are still settling into your position, and at such a stressful time in your life. But if there were anypony else I could rely on for this matter, I would have called them. But as it is, I must call on the Wonderbolts to resume their status as the emergency response task force for Equestria.
Rainbow gulped. There was no way this could be anything good, now.
Approximately eight hours ago, the mining town of Coalcolt sent out a call for aid from the Equestrian military. They are under attack by an ancient race, forgotten by everypony but me I would wager, known as gargoyles. We were engaged in war with them for some time, and they committed many heinous crimes against our ponies. For these transgressions they were locked away beneath the earth, frozen in bodies of stone.
Though I can only theorize the cause (my current theory is latent chaotic magic from the statue of Discord), it seems something has animated the stone bodies of one clan of gargoyles, who were buried beneath Coalcolt. When the miners stumbled upon their chamber, they rushed out, and are now ransacking the area. It is a demand of no small amount I am making, but your Wonderbolts are the only ones close enough and capable enough to handle it.
I wish you the best of luck, Captain.
--Princess Celestia
Rainbow lowered the letter, eyes wide in shock. The other Wonderbolts shared a similar look.
“Th—that’s… over an hour and a half away.” Rainbow said, numb. She gulped, already thinking of the fury on her wife’s face. Of how devastated her daughter would be. But could she abandon a town, for that?
“Boss…”
She looked quizzically at the stallion that had spoken, a green stallion named Blitzer. He shook his head, and said “We don’t need you on this one. Go see your family, we can handle it.”
Rainbow choked back a laugh, and took a step closer to her team, a growing grin on her face. If only her eyes could match it.
“Thanks for the offer, Blitz. But there’s no way I can go relax while sending you all into danger like that.”
She flapped her wings and took to the air, hovering just above the others and rallying them with a wave of her hooves. “Move it, you buncha unicorn fillies! If I’ve gotta miss the party, then I say the LEAST we can do is beat the snot out of the guys ruining my daughter’s birthday! Who’s with me?!”
The Wonderbolts yelled in agreement, the thought of pounding on some criminal elements seemed quite cathartic to them. She may not have been their captain for long, but Rainbow Dash was a Wonderbolt veteran; and in a unit as close as theirs, a transgression to one was a transgression to them all.
They took to the skies as if launched from cannons, ready to mete out some oh-so-sweet retaliation.
Coalcolt was a simple town, just a short walk from the side of the western edge of the mountain chain on which Canterlot resided. A population of about a hundred ponies resided in two streets of simple houses, with the center of town a ring of stores centered around a statue of an old earth pony with a truly magnificent moustache.
At the moment, the majority of the town was on fire.
The majority of the town’s population had been evacuated hours ago, but some stragglers remained. An old unicorn was inside the general store, having barred the door with several shelves, and was now standing behind it, trembling. But he could not back up another step; two small pegasus fillies he’d found beneath some burning wreckage were behind him. They were his sole charges, and whatever he could do to protect them, he would.
If only it were much. The door was hit with a resounding thud, and it caved inward. Another smack, and the wood cracked wide open, the shelves being knocked aside as a large figure strode in. It was a portly, green creature, with marked similarities to a teenaged dragon, both with his wings and leg shape, and the way he stood on his hind legs. His face was quite different, flat and ape-like rather than snouted, with a thick greying beard and pointed ears. He brandished a sword at the old unicorn, and growled “Stand down old colt; you’ve lost.”
“You—rrgh—get away!” yelled the old stallion, using what little magic he had to fetch a vase off of his store’s shelf and send it flying towards the gargoyle. The creature, though old, was no fool however, and sliced the pot in half with a swipe of his sword.
The unicorn attempted to back up a step, but stopped himself, thinking of the foals. He stood his ground, and gave his best attempt at glaring to try and intimidate the gargoyle. The old thing did not halt his advance, stepping closer, but still managed to smile at the old unicorn as he raised his sword.
“That is very brave of you,” the gargoyle said, before coming down with his weapon.
…
Several minutes later, the unconscious body of the unicorn, with a pronounced bruise on his head from the impact of a sword pommel, was dragged out of the general store by the gargoyle that had bested him. He also carried the two squirming foals tucked safely beneath his arm.
With this cargo, he marched out to the center of the town. Gathered around the statue of the town’s deceased founder, half a dozen other gargoyles waited. Among them was their leader. The green gargoyle fell to a knee, and bowed toward his king.
The tallest, and strongest among them stood taller than any pony alive; even the princesses would recoil from his size along. His face was squared, and teeth protruded from his lower lip; yet he carried a regal grace in his posture, his wings wrapped around his purplish-gray shoulders like a cloak. This king tapped his subject on his own shoulder, gesturing up.
“Rise. This is no time for formalities; you have the prisoners we require?” he asked, in a booming baritone.
“Of course, my king.” The shorter stone creature said, gesturing towards the trio of ponies. “Do you believe Celestia will fall for our ruse?”
“I am counting on it.” Their King stated, stepping forward and looking up into the sky. Out in the direction he stared was Canterlot, and the subject of his deepest ire. “Celestia believes we are mindless savages, and will kill and rape whatever we can lay our hands on. And when the runner we let escape tells her it’s me… she’d be a fool not to handle the matter personally.”
“But is she not a fool, sire?” the other asked, curious.
The Gargoyle King harrumphed. “I suppose she is. We’ll just kill whoever she sends, until she comes herself. Can I count on you for that, old friend?”
The older gargoyle bowed before his king. “Of course, G—“
“—Give up while you’ve still got lungs to breathe with, gargoyle scum!”
The King and his sextet of companions drew up into a circle, waiting to see where the threat had come from. As it happened, it had come from above.
Rainbow Dash circled above the gargoyles with her Wonderbolts in tow, sizing them up. They had these… things outnumbered three to one. But they looked big. Huge, in fact. They all had wings, too… she wondered how fast they were? With a slight angle adjustment, she glided to the ground, standing about twenty feet from the cluster of stoneflesh creatures. Her team gathered up behind her, ready to charge on a word.
The Gargoyle King sized them up. So you send your subjects to die like pawns, Celestia… and you call me the monster.
“What is your name? Why has Princess Celestia sent you instead of coming herself?”
The pegasus stamped on the ground, snorting as she glared at the much larger creature. “That’s not your business, and it’s not mine. All you need to know is, my name’s Captain Rainbow Dash. And I’m here to kick your sorry plot into the next millennium.”
“You know of my people’s history, don’t you?” the King asked of the captain. “I slew many pegasi just like you in the last war: brash, young, and full of life that was wasted as it flowed down my palms.”
He made a cutting gesture to his side, as if chopping away at an imaginary target. “Would you really throw your life away for a fight your own leader would not dare join? She is a coward, and the only target that is in my sights. Stand aside, or bring her to me, I care not; but I do not wish you to go to your doom for the sake of one tyrant.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the creature and said, “You don’t get it, do you? We ponies like our princess. It’s practically an honor, getting to be the ones to knock the stuffing out of blowhards like you.”
The King began to retracted, but Rainbow held out a hoof.
“…But that doesn’t mean I wanna hurt you if I don’t have to. This is the only chance you’re gonna get; surrender, and none of your people have to get hurt.”
The Gargoyle King spent a single, agonizing second staring into Rainbow’s eyes. Even if the creature’s stony texture marred him into the visage of a monster, she could still perceive a good soul, hidden somewhere beneath. He frowned, deeply upset, and shook his head.
“I cannot forgive the grave crimes made towards my clan. It must be war.”
Rainbow grimaced, and retracted into a stance preparing to charge. Her Wonderbolts mimicked the action.
“War it is, then.”
It was two-thirty in the afternoon in Ponyville, and the space outside the library was abuzz with activity. Pony couples with their foals were coming in from every direction, greeting Twilight Sparkle with a smile as they led the little ones into the area full of games and decorated with streamers. She was no Pinkie Pie, but years spent with the premier party pony had given the unicorn a good idea of where to start. Spike was directing all sorts of games for the youngest of foals, and the older ones were conglomerating into various groups for whatever mischief they could get up to in such a controlled environment.
Twilight was standing by a table with several bowls of punch laid out for the parents. She was idly sipping at a cup, watching a situation unfolding on the other side of the party.
Her daughter, Opal, was sharing words with a unicorn foal. His coat was golden; she recognized him from her class, but they had never spoken. He seemed to be saying some… pretty awful things, to be honest. Her daughter’s reaction looked anything less than kind, though the gestures the little filly made were making it clear who was being discussed.
Twilight looked to the empty skies, and felt an overwhelming feeling of powerlessness enveloping her. She groaned to herself and whispered, “One hour, Rainbow… where are you?”