During his time in the Wonderbolts, Captain Cold, formerly known as Soarin had seen a lot of pretty bad injuries. Fortunately, fatal accidents were extremely rare and he also didn't remember many loss of limbs. In fact, there was only one occasion he could recall where a pegasus was forced to completely retire from his career in the stunt team.
But nothing could have prepared him for the horrifically mangled state he currently saw his fellow Rogue, Mirror Master in. She was lying on the floor, groaning in pain as blood continued to ooze from deep lacerations caused by the exploding mirror shards that buried themselves into her all over her body. But the most alarming part of her state was her missing right hind leg that has been severed and was bleeding very badly.
The three stallions were so horrified by the sight that they couldn't even find the find the strength to move. Even Captain Boomerang who was usually very nonchalant and unflinching just stood there, staring in shock. Eventually it was Cold who snapped out of his shock first and pulled out his weapon to freeze the open wound on the stump where her leg used to be, stopping the bleeding. He then turned to his comrades.
"Get her on your backs!" He ordered, trying to sound calm and collected, but Boomerang and Heat Wave could tell that he was just as nerve wrecked as they were. Not that they could blame him. They each grabbed one of Thunder's front legs and put them around their shoulders before helping her up and carrying her as they followed their leader.
Soarin looked around. Thunder had teleported them to an empty restroom somewhere. He saw a door and opened it to reveal an empty corridor. Not a pony in sight. Normally, this would have been fortunate. The less attention four criminal ponies popping out of some reflective matter with their attracted the better. But on this occasion, one of them needed immediate medical attention and he had no idea if they will be able to find it here.
But where was here exactly? He tried to find any indication but failed to do so. And if they didn't know where they were, they couldn't do anything to help their friend. But nor could they if they just stood around in one place, so with a sigh he motioned for the others to follow him with his cold gun in one hoof, just in case they met any unwanted attention.
As they roamed the corridors, Soarin eventually saw a map on the wall depicting a large stadium with seats and all other kind of service buildings. A quick glance was enough to let Soarin know what it was, the Maretropolis Arena. Which was, interestingly enough the last place of the tour he was on with the Wonderbolts before he was kicked off the team.
This gave him an idea. Since it was a stadium where potentially dangerous sports and performances were usually played, it must have a medical room and with the map, he was easily able to find the way to it.
When they got there, he froze the lock and broke the door open before entering and motioning the other two stallions to lay thunder onto the sick bed they found inside. Soarin was not a medical expert by any means but he witnessed several procedures back in the team and he would be damned if he would let his associate die on him without doing anything.
He quickly grabbed a pair of medical tweezers and a bottle of disinfectant and removed as many of the broken shards from the mare's body as he could before disinfecting the wounds. The mare hissed in pain everytime the liquid made contact with her skin, but it was nothing compared to the agony when Soarin tried to sew the wounds the best he could. Due to the severity of her injuries, he didn't even have time to administer anesthetics.
He fixed whatever damage he could and eventually, he even managed to stop the bleeding. But there was still the issue of not knowing how much she already lost. Even if they knew, what would they be able to do about it? They didn't know Thunder's blood type and even if they did, where would they get blood for a transplant?
Would they just foalnap random ponies from the street to check their blood and if it was a match, would they drain the unfortunate pony of it? No, they wouldn't do that. They were criminals, thiefs and robbers, but they were not killers. Would they just raid a blood bank? That wasn't certain. They had no idea if they would have of the blood she needed.
Soarin rubbed his face in frustration. He didn't feel this helpless since the day Spitfire kicked him out of the Wonderbolts. He hated it, but he knew he couldn't do anything but sit back and pray she'll pull through. For a brief moment, he even considered turning themselves in to the police if that meant Thunder would get the medical attention she needed but she quickly dismissed the thought. He hated himself for it, but his desire to ruin Spitfire and the Wonderbolts outweighed his concern for Thunder.
Zephyr and Short Fuse stood at the door, watching the whole procedure with intrigue and trepidation. They shared a worried glance and the shorter stallion was quite surprised to see Zephyr so concerned. He hasn't known him for long but he always presumed him as an indifferent and uncaring pony but apparently this was too much even for him.
As for him, he knew Rolling Thunder for long enough to sympathise with her being washed out of the Wonderbolts just like he was. For the first time in a long while, he found himself being overwhelmed by another feeling than his anger.
The only audible sound in the room was the labored breaths of the critically injured mare as she struggled with her wounds. Not a single word was uttered by the three stallions. They all hung their heads down and silently prayed for the well-being of their comrade.
But amidst their worries, dark thoughts began to arise as they remembered the pony responsible for this suffering. Their fear turned to anger as they recalled every single moment of their recent battle against the Flash. With each passing memory, their anger grew. They shared fiery glances among themselves as they made a silent wow. The Flash is going to pay for this.
This was not how Rainbow Dash imagined her moment of triumph over the Rogues. Instead of dragging the four miscreants to prison and returning the stolen money to the Wonderbolts by herself, she was forced to sit in the corner of their hideout as the police stormed the place, seized the piles of money left behind and set up a crime scene.
Her brief partnership with the Batmare had worked flawlessly. After the transmitter they used gave away the location of the Rogues' hideout, Rainbow immediately left to confront them while Batmare notified the police. They both knew the investigation is going to reveal that the money they found here is the money that was stolen from the Wonderbolts so the Flash's name is going to be cleared in no time, but Rainbow couldn't even find solace in that knowledge.
As the cops went around their business, the Batmare also arrived on the scene to assure herself that everything went smoothly. She saw the busy police ponies going about their business, which she took as a good sign, but she found it strange that the criminals responsible for the robberies were nowhere to be seen. As she scanned the room, she saw the Flash sitting in the corner and looking rather depressed. That was an unusual state for a triumphant crime fighter so she decided to investigate.
Rainbow was so broken down that she didn't even notice the approaching dark figure until she cast an ominous bat shaped silhouette onto the floor in front of her. When Rainbow looked up at her, she could already tell that something went horribly wrong during her confrontation with the Rogues. She looked sad and almost ashamed.
"What's wrong?" She asked, sounding both concerned and inquisitive. "What happened?" Rainbow hung her head in shame. She didn't have the guts to admit to the hero who made a sacred oath to never take a life during her fight against crime that she may have done just that. Even if it was by accident, she doubted that would make a difference to Batmare.
"I..." She tried to speak but couldn't find the right words. "I messed up." She finally managed to say with a sigh. Batmare raised an eyebrow beneath her mask.
"How so? You have gotten the stolen money back. Granted, the robbers have escaped but the one good thing about these ponies, it's that there's always another chance to take them down."
"One of them might not." Rainbow said, sniffing back a sob. Batmare sat down next to her and asked her to explain. "There was one of them. One who could hop through mirrors. She helped them escape through one of them. I tried to stop them by smashing the mirrors but she was still inside the mirror when I broke it. I... I basically cut off her leg." Rainbow completely lost her composure and broke down crying in front of Batmare. "I probably killed her!"
The Dark Knight didn't know what to say or do. Consolation wasn't exactly one of her strong suits. Even the ponies she saved usually fled from her in terror. She may have improved her relationship with the law enforcement of Manehattan, but her dark reputation as an urban legend still haunted the city's residents. She had no experience giving pep talks in her suit.
"I... I don't want to be the pony who murders others when they get out of line!" Rainbow cried. "I didn't mean for this to happen! Why did it happen?! Why?!"
Batmare let out a sigh of her own. As she listened to the wails of the super fast mare, she thought of the perfect thing to say to her. For she had went through the exact same thing very recently and she was able to bounce back from it. And if she could do it with her sour disposition, than the far more optimistic Flash should have no problem doing the same.
"A few months ago, I was about to stop a break in at a chemical plant." She started once Rainbow's sobs died down a little. "Two of the robbers got away. I was about to catch the third one but I..." She took a short pause. This was not a memory she remembered fondly. "I messed up as well. She ended up with a horrifically deformed face from one of my projectiles and falling into a tank of chemical waste." Rainbow's head sprung up when she heard that.
"Believe me, I know how you feel right now. I felt exactly the same. It almost made me retire completely. But then I learned that the robber I failed to save actually survived and returned as the most dangerous enemy I have ever faced. It is my biggest regret to this day." She then looked at Rainbow dead in the eye.
"Flash, we may be heroes, but we are still ponies. We make mistakes. Some graver than others. But just like everypony else, when we make mistakes, it is our duty to take responsibility for them and try to fix them. I have fixed mine when I stopped the Joker from gassing Manehattan. Now it is your turn. Find them. If nothing else, to try and save the pony you so gravely injured." Rainbow looked down dejectedly.
"She's probably dead already." She said emotionlessly.
"You don't know that." Batmare assured her. "And until you're sure of that, you will have something to keep you going. You will have hope."
"Faint hope." Rainbow replied with no more enthusiasm. Batmare nodded.
"But hope nonetheless. And sometimes that is all you need."
Soarin sat next to Rolling Thunder who was still lying on the sick bed, breathing heavily as she struggled for her life. He knew it was faint hope at best but he had to at least try and reassure her that everything was gonna be alright. Even if he didn't believe that himself. He held her hoof and gently stroked it, trying to soothe her heaving form as best as she could and try to make what he believed were her last moments as comfortable as possible.
Suddenly, thunder released a sharp gasp and her entire body stiffened, making Soarin jump in surprise. The mare's eyes widened and she turned her head towards Soarin leaned closer to her in an attempt to calm her down, but he quickly realised what was about to happen.
Thunder opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. She tried struggling to take a breath for several seconds until she used up all of her remaining strength. She finally gave up and fell back on the bed, going limp and she stopped moving altogether.
Soarin just stared at her in shock. Never before did he witness anypony die in front of him. It was pure indescribable horror. The way Thunder's eyes were still open, staring up at the ceiling as if she was still alive was nothing short of frightening. Soarin looked down at the floor with a gasp. He had to resist the urge to throw up as his breaths became rapid.
As he sat there staring ahead of himself, he had a multitude of emotions raging in his mind. The shock of seeing one of his Rogues die on him, the grief about her passing, the fear of having to break the news to his other teammates. They haven't been a team for a long time but their common grudges against the Wonderbolts and their shared criminal acts in recent weeks have forged a sort of camaraderie among them.
But each of these feelings paled in comparison of the anger that started surfacing in him when he remembered the pony who was responsible for this grievance. The Flash. His eyes narrowed in rage as she recalled her smug attitude when she barged into their hideout to bring them in. He bet she was laughing her flank off somewhere right now at how she managed to rid Equestria of one more "criminal scum".
His hooves began to shake as the anger in him grew more intense. He decided to take strength in that anger to finally overcome his shock about Thunder's death and for the first time since they popped out of that mirror in the Stadium's bathroom, he knew what he had to do. He gave Thunder's body one last look before raising his hoof to close her eyes.
"You've done well, Mirror Master." He whispered. "We'll take it from here."
Short Fuse and Zephyr Breeze were sitting outside the door of the medical room in the Maretropolis Arena. Not a single word was passed between them. They were to deeply buried in their concern for Rolling Thunder. It has been almost an hour since Soarin ushered them out of the room to give the injured mare some peace and space to rest and as the minutes passed by, they were becoming more and more frustrated.
"This is the worst part." Zephyr spoke for the first time since the arrived to the stadium. "The waiting." Short Fuse looked up at him, unsure of what he meant but he also didn't know if he wanted to ask. Zephyr wasn't talking to him but to himself. He saw him staring ahead of himself with a deep, pensive look on his face.
Whatever thoughts he was having, they were interrupted by the medical door's room slapping open and they turned to see Soarin walking out, looking at them so fiercely that it would have made a manticore stop dead in it's tracks. It was almost like the fires of Tartarus were blazing inside his eyes.
When they saw him, they immediately sprung up and walked up to him. They didn't need to say anything, Soarin already knew what they wanted to know but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Instead, he just hung his head and shook it sadly, making the answer more than clear.
None of the stallions spoke for the next few moments, but to them, it felt like hours of silence. What was there to say? One of their own was now dead and nothing they could say or do would change that. Eventually Heat Wave and Zephyr Breeze both felt the same fires they saw inside Soarin's eyes rising inside of them. And it was directed at the same pony.
"What are we gonna do now?" Zephyr asked when he finally found his voice. The answer was obvious to all of them, but the question of how they should do it still remained. Zephyr and Short Fuse looked at their leader, expecting him to tell them how they will avenge their fallen comrade and Soarin was already working on a plan before he even left the medical room.
And he knew exactly how they would do it. The money they left behind would no doubt be returned to the Wonderbolts' vaults across Equestria's banks and security would increased tenfold now that they knew the robbers were targeting them specifically. But that didn't matter. This was no longer about money.
Spitfire would waste no time of resuming the tour she had to cancel because of their money shortages. He spent most of his career as her second in command and he liked to believe he knew her better than anypony. And as an extraordinary coincidence - or perhaps the hoof of fate - that tour ended at the very stadium they were currently hiding in. Soarin had formed his plan and if they played their cards right, they could kill two pegasi with one stone and get revenge on both Spitfire and the Flash.
"How much money did you manage to get out from the hideout?" He asked with no emotion. The other two exchanged an unsure glance, not sure why he asked that but nevertheless they showed him the content of their saddlebags. It wasn't much, but combined with the bits in his and Thunder's saddlebags, they should have enough money to get the things they needed. "We're going shopping."
While the conversation she had with Batmare lifted her spirits a little, Rainbow Dash still hadn't fully recovered from her latest battle with the Rogues. After she packed her stuff and checked out of her Manehattan hotel, she couldn't even will herself to fly home at super speed like she usually did. Perhaps for the first time in her life. She just bought a train ticket to the closest city in Cloudsale and would hire rent an air balloon when she got there. She didn't even want to fly right now. She had a lot of thinking to do.
She still ruminated over what the black clad vigilante told her. Her hope in Mirror Master still being alive was the only thing she could cling onto to keep her going in the hopes that one day she will be able to correct her grave mistake that crippled a pony for life, even if she was a criminal. As the trees and buildings slowly passed by her vision as the engine lazily moved towards it's destination.
Rainbow held her head on her hoof as she stared out the window. She wondered if her father already got the newspaper that wrote about the Flash's latest battle. He seemed to have a pre-order for the newest release. She considered buying the latest one herself so that she might get the drop on her old stallion and show him what they actually wrote about her superhero alter-ego in outrage. Little did she know, she wouldn't get the chance.
When she got off the train, she purchased the latest edition of the newspaper like she planned and sure enough, the headline was about the Flash's fight with the Rogues. It mentioned how she has been cleared of the charges of bank robbery and the Baltimare Police Department even issued her a public apology. It felt good but she was surprised to see that they didn't say anything about the severed leg they found on the scene and only mentioned that she managed to get the money back. Nopony seemed to care about the potentially fatal injury somepony may have suffered. They would probably just feel like justice was served and one less criminal way roaming the world.
With a sigh, Rainbow folded the newspaper and put it into her saddlebag. She then turned to head towards the air balloon station, but as she walked through the crowd, she was surprised to see her father coming towards her. It was a small world after all. The father was no less surprised to see her there.
"Rainbow! I thought you were still in Manehattan." He said, dumbfounded. Rainbow cast her gaze down. She wasn't looking forward to telling her father what happened up there.
"Yeah. Thankfully, things went faster than expected. I just got off the train." Bow raised an eyebrow.
"Train? Why would you take the train? You never did that before."
"I didn't feel like running this time." Rainbow admitted with a shrug. "I just wanted to sit in one place and think for a while." Bow's eyes widened. If Rainbow didn't want to speed all the way home, then something very serious must have happened. He saw that she also wasn't in the best of moods and could really use some good news. Fortunately, he just happened to have on for her.
"Well, I hope you managed to get your head straight on the way home because Spitfire is holding a Wonderbolts meeting at the HQ tonight." Rainbow's head and ears perked up.
"She is? So does that mean she's doing better?" For the first time since her trip to Manehattan, she finally felt some joy rising inside her. Bow smiled in response.
"She looked pretty good when I last saw her. She couldn't find you anywhere so she came to my house and asked me to deliver this message to you. I was about to board a train to Manehattan but looks like that won't be necessary." A huge grin crossed Rainbow's face.
"Does that mean the Wonderbolts are back in action?" She asked giddily.
"Well, I don't know about that." Bow replied, rolling his eyes teasingly. "But I'd say there's a pretty good chance for it. So what do yo day we go home and get ready? You should probably return to the team in top shape, don't you think?" Bow didn't get a response. When he looked back at his daughter, she was nowhere to be seen. He looked around and saw that she already sped away and before he knew it, she was halfway between him and his home in Cloudsale.
The thought of returning to the Wonderbolts made Rainbow completely forget about showing her father what they wrote about her in the paper and they spent the remainder of the day practicing. While Rainbow never had any problem with her physical condition, the hardest thing about her performances was making sure her super speed doesn't accidentally kick in during the show. Keeping herself between her normal top speed and her super speed was what required most practice.
After a thoroughly exhausting training session, Rainbow shared a very big lunch with Bow and then spent the rest of the afternoon in bed. She actually set her alarm clock to wake her up an hour before the evening meeting and already had her uniform ready on a hanger near her bed. After the ringing woke her up, she quickly washed up, put on her uniform and headed statight for the Wonderbolts HQ after kissing her father on the cheek.
For once, not only did she want to be on time, but she also wanted to be the first one to arrive. She only hoped that this time she wouldn't be delayed by some wannabe supervillan with a ridiculous costume. They seemed to have a Flash sensor built in that told them when the worst time for Rainbow to quit her civilian life to stop them.
But fortunately this sensor seemed to be malfunction today as she didn't come across any of them so she was free to make her way to the meeting with no delay. As she planned, Spitfire was the only one there when she arrived and as she expected, she couldn't believe her eyes when Rainbow entered first.
"Well, I'll be... Rainbow Dash is actually on time for once? Isn't this one of the signs of the apocalypse?" Rainbow rolled her eyes in an amused way.
"Good to see you back on your hooves too, Captain." She replied with a salute. "So what's the big news?"
"Hey, don't think that just because you honored me with your punctuality for once you earn the privilege of an early announcement!" Spitfire told her sternly. "You made the others wait for you plenty of times. Now you wait for them!" Rainbow wasn't happy about this, but she had to concede her superior's point and sat down.
As she watched Spitfire move around the stage and the other members began to arrive, Rainbow noticed a framed portrait of the Flash hanging on the wall behind speaker stand. Normally, she would have been flattered by this, but seeing it in the HQ's debrief room was quite a shock.
"You a fan?" Spitfire looked confused about what Rainbow meant but then she pointed at the portrait hanging behind her. The captain laughed.
"Truth be told, I couldn't have cares less about her or others like her before, but after she saved us from bankruptcy, I thought she deserves some recognition." Rainbow raised and eyebrow.
"You know about that?" Spitfire froze and then sighed.
"Well looks like you got me to tell you before schedule after all." She groaned before going back to work. Rainbow winced. She didn't meant to upset her captain but looks like no matter what she did, she was cursed with annoying her. She decided to just sit down and shut up until the announcement began.
"Alright, everypony!" Spitfire began once all the members arrived and took their seats. "As you are aware, we have been having a bit of a financial crisis due to the rise of criminal activity as of late which caused us to have to cancel the last performance of our tour in Maretropolis." The group grumbled in disappointment but Spitfire quickly silenced them. "I know, I know. But thanks to the efforts of our friendly neighbourhood Scarlet Speedster, I am happy to announce that we got our money back and the Wonderbolts are back in action! So give it up for the pony who made it possible! The Flash!"
The room exploded with cheers. Despite Rainbow's enormous ego, she found it weird to applaud for herself, but she had to in order to avoid raising suspicion. She wouldn't lie, she always wanted to feel the admiration of Spitfire, a pony she looked up to during her whole life. And to feel that same admiration not only from her but the rest of her fellow Wonderbolts as well was a dream come true. But then she remembered what she did to Mirror Master and her shame returned when she thought about what they'd think if they also knew about that.
"As a result, we will be able to finish our tour as planned after all! So get packing filles and colts! We are heading to Maretropolis for the last show!" The room cheered even louder than the previous time. "And to celebrate our triumphant return, it's gonna be even bigger and spectacular than we originally planned! So I expect all of you at your absolute best! Is that clear?" The pegasi in the room all saluted. "That's what I like to see! Dismissed! Now go home and rest! You'll need because from tomorrow, we're gonna train harder than ever!"
The news about the return of the Wonderbolts spread like wildfire and soon there was nopony in Maretropolis who didn't know about it. As expected, the tickets sold out in record time and the show was the talk of every room. Including a dark, separated room inside a shack located in a junkyard near the outskirts of the city.
The day of the show came very soon and the whole city was buzzing with activity as the lucky ones who managed to get a ticket raced towards the stadium to get in early and avoid hours of waiting in the long lines. There were two pegasus stallions among them who were making their way against the crowd, away from the stadium.
One would assume that they were not interested in the show but that couldn't have been further from the truth. They were much more interested in it than the rest, albeit for entirety different reasons. And while they didn't even have tickets, they would get inside that stadium today.
They landed outside the aforementioned shack in the junkyard, carrying fully packed saddlebags over their backs and entered. Inside was a third one who was holding a welding torch and was hard at work putting together a device that looked like a white cylinder with several buttons on it. When the other two entered, he looked up from his work and put his tool down.
"Are they gathering already?" Soarin asked as he lifted his helmet over his head. Zephyr Breeze nodded.
"Yeah. Everypony's heading down to the stadium like it's the second coming of Celestia. We're gonna have a lot of bodies to throw into the ice grinder." The shorter stallion whacked him on the back of the head.
"Quit being a prick, Boomer!" Short Fuse scoffed. "The only body we'll be throwing into the grinder will be the Flash." Zephyr rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but they don't need to know that." He then turned back to Soarin. "Anyway, are you done with those ice bombs of yours?"
"I will be once you quit your yapping and give me those parts!" He fumed before taking their saddlebags. He was a lot more irritable than usual, but after a week of this extremely tedious process of putting together dozens of these things and the death of Rolling Thunder still stinging hard, he couldn't let go of his anger. Still, it was unfair of taking it out on his teammates. He just went back to working on the bombs.
In the meantime, the other two stallions were studying a map of the stadium that had several red Xs scribbled on it. They marked the places where they were gonna have to place the bombs around the edges of the building and around the field, Soarin scribbled several traps they were going to set for the Flash. They had to read it every day for the past week and now that everything was ready, they went through it for the last time before heading out.
After Soarin packed their saddlebags full with his ice bombs, the three stallions gathered their equipment and left for the stadium. They weren't flying. They wanted to be the absolute last ones to enter so they could afford to take their time. They also didn't need to worry about anypony recognising them. The Rogues were still never captured on camera footage and everypony they ever encountered in their costumes was too knocked out to give accurate descriptions of them. Only the Flash ever saw them from up close but she probably wouldn't risk a confrontation out in public. Nopony would oppose them until they started to carry out their plan.
Once they reached the Maretropolis Arena, almost everypony who had tickets had entered and the crowd of curious onlookers had already dispersed. Only a few more ponies were left in the line and once the last ones entered and only one last ticket collector was left standing outside. That was the moment they made their way towards the entrance and the ticket pony instantly noticed them.
"Tickets please!" He said, reaching his hoof out. Soarin smiled as he reached inside his coat.
"Of course! We have them right here!" He mused before pulling out his cold gun. The ticket pony was trapped in a block of ice before he even had a chance to react. Soarin walked past the poor stallion while his partners picked him up and carried him to somewhere he wouldn't be found.
Taking the ticket pony's keys, the three stallions were easily able to enter the stadium before splitting up to do their part. Zephyr headed into the basement and just as he exited the staircase, he immediately ran into some security guards casually chatting around a vending machine.
"Um, excuse me sir, civilians are not authorised to be here." One of them informed him. Zephyr smiled, feigning understanding.
"Oh, my bad. I'll just turn and..." He turned around and quickly pulled out one of his boomerangs before turning back to the guards and throwing it at them. It knocked one of them right out before coming back and doing the same to the other. "Actually that's it, I'll just turn." Zephyr chuckled as he caught the boomerang.
He walked past the two unconscious ponies and made his way to the guards room where the vast majority of the security staff was gathered. He knew he had to be swift to get through here. He turned around and bucked the door in with his hind legs before taking out one of his sonic boomerangs and throwing it inside before the startled security ponies could do anything.
The weapon impaled itself into the coffee table in the middle of the room and began screeching loudly, forcing all the guards to cover their ears. Zephyr then pulled out another ordinary boomerang and threw it around the room in a perfect circle, knocking all of the guards out.
Zephyr smirked in satisfaction as he reached his hoof out to catch the returning projectile. He then reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a few of Soarin's ice bombs and placed them under the table before leaving the room.
Next stop was the garage beneath the stadium. The guards have cleared mostly all of the vehicles that were parked here, only one very big carriage remained that seemed to belong to a luxurious couple who were standing next to it, impatiently waiting for the guards to go through every section of the humongous vehicle.
They seemed to be completely fixated on the task so Zephyr had no problem going around unnoticed. He just had to find places for the bombs where they wouldn't be discovered. After sneaking around for a while, he placed them under several already parked carriages before making good on his escape.
Meanwhile, Heat Wave was on his way to the generator room where the electric equipment of the stadium was powered from. Naturally, such an important room was well guarded so two bulky, armed earth ponies were stationed outside to deal with any potential intruders. The short stallion headed towards the door, seemingly completely unconcerned about the two guards towering over him.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" They demanded of the pegasus who just kept marching forward, completely ignoring them.
"Stop right there!" They yelled, drawing their weapons and pointing it at him but he still wasn't deterred in the slightest. The guards looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They were about to let out a warning shot, but they found that pulling the trigger did nothing.
They checked their weapons and their eyes widened when they saw that their barrels have started to melt. As Heat Wave got closer to them, they noticed that the air was also getting much hotter and they both began to sweat profusely. The heat became unbearable as the pegasus reached the door and they found themselves unable to do anything but fall over and crawl away in a desperate attempt to escape the heat.
Heat Wave paid them no mind. He raised his hoof to the doorknob and melted the lock, pushing the door open with no resistance. As he entered, he turned the heat waves radiating around his body off to avoid damaging the equipment inside. They will need the stadium's electronic systems intact for their plan. The staff probably expected that nopony would get past the two stallions outside as there were no other guards in the room. He placed some of the ice bombs in top of the machines before leaving.
He then made his way to the restrooms. Both the mares' and the stallions' room. He kicked in the door of each stall to see if anypony was there and when he saw they were empty, he placed one bomb on the floor of each one. Upon leaving, he used the keys they took from the guard they froze to lock the doors, preventing anypony from entering and finding the bombs too early.
Soarin entered the stadium's trophy room. They were mostly won the city's hoofball team but there were a few from individual athletes as well. Soaring placed an ice bomb into each and every one of the trophies. But when he got in front of one, he came to a halt. He immediately recognised this trophy. It had a photo lying before it which depicted him alongside several of his former Wonderbolt comrades, posing proudly and happily as they held the trophy they've won in a flying competition held in the stadium.
Soarin's expression softened a little as the memories overwhelmed him, but he quickly steeled himself and frowned when he remembered that he was no longer part of that group. He punched the picture, shattering the glass covering it before shoving it to the ground and placing another bomb into the trophy behind it.
Once he placed one into every open trophy he could find, he left for the dressing rooms. Most of the Wonderbolts have already left for the pitch so they were closed but since he had the key, that was no problem, he placed one bomb into each of the lockers and the left to rejoin his partners.
As the captain of the Wonderbolts, it was Spitfire's duty to check on everything before the start of a show. Not only she had to make sure her team was in top shape, but also check with the show's organisers to see if the environment was also perfect for their performance.
Currently, she was in the VIP lounge of the arena, waiting for the stadium manager to show up for one final check before the start of the show. While she waited, she was overlooking the pitch and observing her fellow Wonderbolts training with a proud smile. It always felt good to see the dedication and effort her team was putting into their performances. It reminded her that they were the best fliers in Equestria for a reason and reassured her that everything was gonna go as smoothly as possible.
She heard the door of the lounge open and turned to see the stadium manager - a blue unicorn with black mane - approach her. She let out a sigh of both relief and exasperation. She's been waiting for him for quite some time and she just wanted to get this over with and get back to practicing with her teammates. But her relief was short lived when she saw the troubled look on his face. It appeared something was wrong. This assumption was further confirmed by the head of security - a brown earth pony with blond mane - walking alongside the unicorn.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked in concern. The two stallions shared a concerned look before turning back to her.
"Captain Spitfire, we have lost contact with all of our security forces in the lower levels of the stadium. We can't enter the basement at any door either. We have good reasons to believe the stadium had been infiltrated." The head of security told her. Spitfire's eyes widened in horror.
"What do you mean infiltrated?!" She demanded frantically. She immediately thought of the safety of her Wonderbolts and was about to bolt down to the pitch to warn them, but the two ponies in front of her stopped her.
"Please calm down, captain! It's just a theory so far." The manager reassured. "But until we're sure, it would be safer if you stayed up here."
"Safer?!" Spitfire asked in outrage. "I'm a Wonderbolt! I don't do safe! Have you tried reaching the lower levels through the elevators?"
"We didn't want to risk it until we know what's the situation down there." The earth pony replied. Spitfire narrowed her eyes at him, making him shrink back.
"Well, I will! And you will come with me!" She ordered and even though she had no authority over him, he immediately agreed. The three ponies headed to the elevator, but when they pressed the button, they were surprised to find that it wasn't working. That was because the elevator was already in use and they saw on the panel that it was heading towards their level.
The doors in front of them opened and the three ponies backed away in shock. Instead of anypony from the security staff, they were facing a trio of costumed pegasus stallions, all holding weapons. The one in the middle smirked smugly at them.
"You seem a little warmed up, gentlecolts. Looks like you could use some cooling off." Captain Cold said before firing his weapon and trapping the two stallions in blocks of ice. She then turned to Spitfire. "Captain Spitfire! What an unexpected surprise to see you here! But a welcome one!" He then pointed his weapon at her and pushed her back against the window of the lounge. The parka hid the stallion's face well, but Spitfire quickly recognised the voice.
"Soarin? Is that you?" She asked in disbelief. The stallion raised an eyebrow under his cloak.
"Oh, you still remember me? I'm touched." He scoffed. Spitfire looked at the two frozen stallions and instantly drew the horrifying conclusion.
"You... You were the one behind this whole campaign against the Wonderbolts?" She cried in horror. "How could you?! You were one of the best of us!" Soarin glared hatefully and could barely restrain himself from slapping the mare.
"Well, you forgot that pretty easily when you kicked me out, Captain! Did you think I'll just take that lying down? You have taken my whole life's meaning from me so now I'll enjoy doing the same to you!" Spitfire couldn't believe it. She knew her former partner took being let go badly, but she never expected him to resort to this.
"Listen, Soarin! It's only me you have a problem with. My teammates and those innocent civilians have done nothing to you. Don't bring them into this!" She pleaded. Her duty included protecting her teammates in danger and she would do that even in such a dire situation. Soarin chuckled.
"How noble, but still very self centered of you, Captain. Not everything is about you, you know. There is another pony who I have a bone to pick with and your teammates and these innocent civilians will be the prefect leverage to get her to come to us." He then turned to Zephyr. "Do you have access to the stadium's electronic systems already?" Zephyr sat down in front of a keyboard and a monitor and hit a few keys before nodding.
"Maretropolis is ready to receive our message, boss." He smirked.
"Good." Soarin replied before taking a microphone from Heat Wave. "Watch her! If she tries anything, singe off a few of her feathers!" He then walked up to the window and turned on the microphone in his hoof.
"Fillies and gentlecolts!" His voice echoed through the loudspeakers. "We regret to inform you that there has been a change in the program! Please remain in your seats but feel free to panic!" He told the confused crowd before pulling out a detonator and pressing the button on it. The crowd's confusion turned to terror when they felt the whole stadium quake under them from a blast. The walls around the arena shattered as huge icy spikes broke through the concrete and reached towards the sky.
Soon, the entire stadium was reduced to a giant ice pit. The temperature was so cold that it prevented even the pegasi from leaving by simply flying out through the top. Spitfire could only watch in horror while the three Rogues smirked in satisfaction. The trap was set, now they just needed to lure in their pray.
"Send the message." Soarin ordered.
"Running late again! Damn it to Tartarus! Why can't I ever be on time?!" Rainbow Dash screamed to herself as she flew through the streets of Baltimare. She finally managed to gain some approval from Spitfire, the Maretropolis show was gonna be held after all and she finally managed to get over the depression she was suffering from after what happened in the Rogues' hideout.
Everything was looking up for her and she was ready to make her triumphant return with the rest of the Wonderbolts and her lousy timing had to pick this moment of all to kick in. She was always on time with all of her assignments during the week they've spent practicing in the city, but now she was gonna be late for the actual show itself. She had no doubt Spitfire was going to kill her. And then she'll finally make good on her threat and kick her off the team.
These troubling thoughts raced through the rainbow maned pegasus' mind as she raced towards the stadium in panic, but little did she know, her bad timing would actually save her this time. As she sped towards the Arena, she saw several other ponies fleeing from there with the same panic she was feeling. That was strange. She thought a Wonderbolts show in the city would have the opposite effect, but when she actually reached the stadium, she saw the reason for their fear.
The Maretropolis Arena was completely frozen over. All the walls and entrances have been sealed off by the ice and it was so cold that she probably wouldn't be able to approach the building from above. The police and the fireponies who surrounded the building tried desperately to break through the ice with pickaxes, drillers and even magic, but their efforts were efforts were in vain. It was simply too thick.
Rainbow didn't need to be the world's greatest detective to figure out that this was the doing of the Rogues. What were they doing here?! For a brief moment, the horrifying possibility that they may have learned her identify crossed her mind. If they decided to hit a Wonderbolts show of all things, they probably had a good reason for it. Her horror only grew when she remembered that her father also attended the show. He was probably inside of with the rest of the attendees. She had to find a way inside!
She flew up into the air and circled over the frozen building trying to find any opening she could use. As she flew around, her attention was suddenly drawn to the stadium's jumbotron that was still visible above the ice. Letters were flickering on the screen which slowly formed a sentence and Rainbow's eyes widened when that sentence was a message addressed directly to her.
FLASH, STOP US IF YOU CAN!
Rainbow glared at the screen as her hooves shook with fury. They took all of those innocent ponies inside as well as her fellow Wonderbolts hostage just to draw her out? This was despicable, even by criminal standards. When they were just robbing banks, they never actually went this far. She didn't know what could drive them to do this but she didn't care either. If they wanted her to stop them, she will be happy to deliver!
She descended on the ground and reached into her saddlebag, pulling several energy bars. She was careful not to consume so much food that would sustain her super speed before a performance, but this time, she was prepared. She unwrapped and consumed all of the bars before speeding back to her hotel room and returning to the stadium in her Flash suit. Time to get to work.
She approached the police and fireponies who were still trying and failing miserably to get through the ice. They smacked the frozen wall in frustration before turning away and jumping in surprise when they noticed the red clad superhero standing in front of them. They had no idea what to say at first, but eventually the police officer in charge stepped forward.
"You're the one they're after." Rainbow nodded.
"And they will have me. Give me one hour, I will give bring them to you and free the hostages." The officer looked uncertain but eventually sighed.
"Well, I feel like I'd be an idiot to refuse any assistance at this point. Fine. It's not like we could get inside anyway." He then turned to the ponies behind him. "Let's give her some room boys!" They obeyed the comment and walked past the costumed pony, some giving her looks of doubt, but others actually looked at her hopefully and encouragingly and one of them even told her to "go get them".
When they all left, Rainbow began to observe the ice formation that covered the stadium. She said she would get in, but she had no idea how. Phasing through the ice was out of the question. It was so cold it prevented her from speeding her molecules up to the necessary level. This also prevented breaking through the ice with a punch of infinite mass behind it. It seemed like no matter what she did, the ice was gonna stop her. She can't get around it, can't get over it...
...but what about getting under it?
Rainbow smirked as she finally found a way to get inside. She flew up and began to spin around at super speed before crashing down and drilling her way through the ground right under the ice and into the stadium. The ponies outside watched in amazement.
"Well, boys, looks like we finally have a way inside." The commanding police officer said. "But a deal's a deal. One hour. If we don't hear anything from inside after an hour, we're going in." He decided. But somehow, everypony on the scene knew that their assistance will not be necessary.
As Rainbow drilled through the ground beneath the stadium, she found that she was once again faster to act than to think and had no clue where she was actually going. When she first tried to approach the surface, she felt the cold radiating from the ice above her slowing her down, so she just kept drilling until she found a spot where she could come up without the cold interfering with her powers.
When Rainbow emerged from beneath the ground, she was almost nervous to peak out of the hole she made and look around. She was afraid that she may find herself in the middle of the Arena and instantly give herself away to her enemies. When she finally dared to look, she was happy to see that this was not the case as she found herself in an empty hallway with not a soul in sight.
She crawled out and began in inspect her environment. The place looked deserted and she was thankful for that. The coldness could be felt all around the stadium so she couldn't use her super speed to just zip through the stadium in search of the Rogues. She's gonna have to stay out of sight until she found them.
And it sounded like that time was closer than she thought as she heard the sound of approaching hoofsteps from the end of the hallway. She hid behind one of the walls and waited until the source of the sound was just around the corner before pouncing. She tackled a pony to the ground and riased her front hoof to beat the living daylight out of them, but she stopped just in time to notice it was somepony familiar.
"Rainbow?!" Bow Hothoof exclaimed as he recovered from the shock of being assaulted by his own daughter. Rainbow quickly realised what she was doing and got off her father.
"Are you alright?" She asked, checking him for any injuries. "How did you get away?"
"Luckily I wasn't at the stands when they attacked." Bow replied. "I was waiting for you at the entrance. They have no idea I'm here. I guess for once, you're lucky you're always late." He chuckled. Rainbow groaned.
"Not the time, dad!" She then grabbed him by the hoof and dragged him to the hole she just drilled. "Quick! This leads outside! Get out! I'll deal with these punks!"
"I'm not running away, Rainbow!" Bow replied firmly. "I may not have superpowers, but that doesn't mean I can't help!"
"You really want to do this NOW?!" Rainbow hissed. Bow did not back down.
"Rainbow, for your whole life, you complained that I was too afraid for you after what happened to your mother. Now you're making the same mistake I always did." The stallion argued. Rainbow put a hoof on her face in frustration. She didn't know how to respond to that but she didn't get the chance to.
During their argument, Rainbow didn't notice something flying over their heads. Said item was a stealth boomerang equipped with a camera. A certain stallion had launched several ones flying around every part of the stadium in an effort to locate the hero if she managed to get inside. The rest of the Rogues were watching from the VIP lounge on several TV scenes. Soarin smirked when he spotted their prey.
"I see her. Hallway 2-E." He spoke into a transmitter on his head. Captain Boomerang received the message loud and clear.
"I'm on my way, Captain!" He replied before heading off to the aforementioned hallway. Locating the Flash was easy as she was arguing with somepony quite loudly. He peaked around the corner and saw her talking to a stallion. He looked familiar, but he stood with his back to him so he couldn't tell who could it be. But one thing he knew was he had to remove this stallion from the way.
Bow Hothoof didn't get to speak another word to his daughter as he found himself tied up with a rope attached to two boomerangs that came out of nowhere. He fell on the ground and rolled up into a corner, groaning in pain. Rainbow could barely keep herself from screaming "DAD!" in panic, but she caught herself just in time. That would be a good way to give away her identity. She just turned towards the stallion who threw the boomerangs with a death glare and launched herself at him with a furious roar.
She couldn't access her super speed to the extreme cold in the stadium right now, but at the moment, she didn't care. Super speed or not, she was gonna give this jerk a thrashing of a lifetime. But Zephyr took full advantage of her inability to speed up. He flew back before dropping himself on the ground and using his hind legs to buck Rainbow in the stomach and kick her over his head, slamming her against a wall.
He then pulled out several explosive boomerangs of his coat and threw them at the mare. They impaled themselves into the wall around her and the intensifying beeping sound they emitted let Rainbow know what was about to happen. She barley had enough time to get away from the wall before it was blown to smithereens.
Despite her efforts, Rainbow was still caught in the blast and found herself being tumbling on the ground. Zephyr tried to deliver the finishing blow by grabbing two bladed boomerangs and throwing himself on top of the mare and trying to stab her repeatedly. Rainbow managed to dodge every attempt and once her head cleared from the effect of the recent explosion, she grabbed Zephyr by the coat and bashed her head into his muzzle several times as fast as her molecules could allow. Eventually, she headed Zephyr so hard that she knocked him off of her.
Rainbow sped her body up as much as the cold allowed her to and flew at Zephyr to finish the fight, but the stallion wasn't finished yet. He quickly pulled out one of the super fast boomerangs he used in their previous fight and that was enough to intercept the mare in her movement. Rainbow swore under her breath. She completely forgot about those.
'Seriously, where the buck did he get those?!' He had to have access to the speed energy she got from the lightning bolt that hit her mother when she was pregnant with her, but that was impossible. But she had no time to dwell on that as Zephyr relentlessly kept throwing them at her and she couldn't avoid them.
The cold from the ice prevented her from speeding up her molecules, but synthetic matter like Zephyr's boomerangs had no such issue. They managed to outpace the mare and inflict deep gashes and lacerations on her body and then one of them hit her on the head and knocked her back on the ground.
The blow to her head made Rainbow dizzy and she ended up falling on the ground. As she groaned in pain and grasped her head, Zephyr walked up to her and pulled out another bladed boomerang from his coat. He then stepped on Rainbow's back and pushed her down on the floor.
"Little bird, little bird, fly around." He sang as he knelt down and grabbed one of Rainbow's wings. "Up to the sky and on the ground." He pressed the boomerang's edge to the base of the wing. "Little bird, little bird, flap your wings. Open your beak and...
WHACK!
Zephyr didn't get to finish as he was hit on the back of his head by one of his own boomerangs and knocked out cold. With the assault over, Rainbow's vision had time to clear and she looked up to see her father standing over her, extending one of his hooves towards her.
"Still afraid for me?" He asked sarcastically. Rainbow looked down in embarrassment before taking her father's hoof and letting him pull her to her hooves.
"Not so much." She replied before snatching the rope that was just wrapped around Bow a minute ago and tying Zephyr up with it before locking him in a closet before returning to her father.
"I'm sorry, dad. I wouldn't be anything today without you. Superpowers or not, you made me into the mare I am today and I really should have more faith in you."
"The same goes for me." Bow replied with remorse. "I know I wasn't always the most supportive of you but now that I see this new and improved version of you, I realise that this is what you were born to do. I couldn't be any prouder of you, Rainbow Dash. And... I love you." He said with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. Rainbow returned the expression and wrapped her front legs around his neck in an embrace. She would have given him a kiss on the cheek too if it weren't for the mask covering her muzzle. "Now go!" Bow said. "They need you."
"No." Rainbow shook her head. "They need us." She then turned back to the hole in the floor. "I'll get the other two, you go back to the stands and get out everypony you can through here." Bow nodded.
"They are in the VIP lounge. I saw them through it's windows earlier." He told her.
"Than that's where I'll be in a few seconds too." Rainbow replied before getting into position for take off.
"Good luck!" Bow told her before she sped off into the direction of the VIP lounge. One down, two to go.
As Rainbow sped towards her destination, she started feeling herself slowly losing speed. At first, she didn't find this important, but as she made her way towards the stairs, she saw the reason why. She could barely stop herself in time before running headfirst into a wall of flame burning around the corner. Thankfully, her suit was heat resilient, it had to be to withstand the super speed she was always running at, but these fires would have melted her inside it.
She turned back to run into the other direction, but she found her path blocked by Heat Wave. The short stallion pulled out a bomb and threw it behind him, setting the other end of the hallway on fire as well, trapping the two ponies between the flames.
"Last time, I was only trying to singe you a little..." He started as he pressed a switch on his flamethrower. "...but this time, the heat is going up to eleven." He growled menacingly as he raised his weapon towards Rainbow Dash and pulled the trigger.
Rainbow leaped into the air and flew over the oncoming ball of flame fired her way. A task that was more difficult then she anticipated as it almost covered the entire hallway. She had to squeeze herself tightly against the ceiling to avoid it.
She knew she was gonna have to be fast and careful about her next move or she's toast. She landed right behind Heat Wave, assuming that someone wearing such heavy equipment wouldn't be able to turn around fast enough to stop her. And she assumed correctly.
She grabbed him from behind and tried to wrestle his weapon away from him, but Heat Wave had a few tricks up his sleeve as well. In the midst of the struggle, he was able to press the switch on his suit that reactivated his heat aura. At first, it only made Rainbow sweat and her own suit was able to withstand much of the heat. But eventually, it became too much even for her and she was forced to let go of him.
Rainbow hissed in pain as she felt her hooves burning. The heat radiating from the stallion managed to scorch her even through her suit. She didn't even want to think about what would have happened if she wasn't wearing it, but she had bigger problems right now. Since she fell over from the pain, she gave Heat Wave an opening. When she looked up, she saw the stallion pointing his weapon at her. She tried to back away but the blazing wall of fire behind her trapped her.
"Do you want my opinion? You need to lighten up." He quipped before pulling the trigger. Rainbow jumped away from the flames on insticnt and once again, she couldn't do anything else but fly over the stallion and land behind her.
"You can't keep this up forever!" Heat Wave yelled before firing another wave of flames at Rainbow, forcing her to flee to the end of the hallway, right up to the other wall of flame that blocked her path.
'I don't have to. I'll just have to keep this up until I find a way to deal with you. Come on, brain! Start running as fast as me!'
Rainbow's super fast thinking was the one thing neither the cold, nor the heat could interfere with. She looked around, searching for anything she might use and saw a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall. Quite fitting for her current predicament. She also saw a system of fire sprinklers on the ceiling. Heat Wave placed his fire traps so strategically that he managed to avoid triggering it, but if she could get him to shoot upwards, close enough to the sprinklers, they would no doubt turn on. But how?
She didn't have much time to think about it because she saw Heat Wave approaching her and ready to shoot again. No time left for thought, it was time for action. She picked up the fire extinguisher and threw it at the stallion. The metal case survived the blast of flame and slammed into Heat Wave and knocked the weapon out of his hooves. The extinguisher slammed into the stallion's muzzle and made him stumble backwards. Rainbow took advantage of that and tackled him on the ground before punching him repeatedly across the face until she knew he was out cold.
In the next moment, she felt drops of water hitting the back of her head as the fire sprinklers were finally activated by the misaimed shot from Heat Wave's weapon. But the fires were so massive that it still took several seconds to be completely extinguished. Rainbow then took the fuel tank off of the unconscious stallion's back and used it's harness to tie his hooves together, before breaking his flamethrower and tying up his wings with the cable connecting it to the tanks.
"You're not going anywhere now, except to prison. You'll have plenty of time to lighten up there." She snarled before heading to the stairs. "Now to deal with your leader."
Rainbow Dash was pleasantly surprised to find that she bumped into no further nasty surprises on his way up to the VIP lounge. Even the door wasn't closed. She opened it slowly and quietly to peak inside but she couldn't see anypony. She looked out the window and noticed a group of the audience clumsily making their way towards the exit where her father was no doubt leading them to the tunnel that lead outside. She sighed in relief upon seeing that they were well. Now she only needed to find Captain Cold to put an end to this madness.
Ask and you shall receive. Rainbow turned around and saw the hooded stallion floating above the door she just entered, holding a struggling Spitfire with his hoof covering her mouth. He aimed his weapon at Rainbow and pulled the trigger, but she noticed him just in time to avoid being frozen to the floor. She jumped back and was about to charge at him in the air, but he pressed his gun against Spitfire's neck.
"Stay there or she gets it!" He growled, his voice full of venom. Rainbow would usually have no doubt handling these kind of situations, but with so many slowing factors around her, she didn't want to take that chance.
"Let her go, you prick! This is between you and me!" Cold laughed bitterly.
"Just like Spitfire! You assume everything is about you! If seeing you dead was all I wanted, I would have killed you back in Baltimare! No, Spitfire is just as much of my enemy as you are!" Rainbow could only stare in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" Cold sighed.
"You just don't get it, do you? Perhaps this will make you understand." He reached up with his free hoof and pulled his hood off to reveal the former second in command of the Wonderbolts, Soarin. Rainbow gasped in disbelief as she backed away.
"So... Soarin?!" She exclaimed. "What the... How?!" Spitfire told the rest of the team that the stallion was let go of the team, but she didn't elaborate on it. Rainbow never thought that he would take it badly, let alone resort to this. The stallion's lips curved up into a half smile.
"A fan, I take it? Touching." He scoffed sarcastically. "Well, I suppose now you understand. You may wonder why I revealed myself to you. Well, you see, I wanted Mirror Master's killer to see my face when I get even with her." Rainbow's eyes widened.
"Then she... She really did..." Soarin scoffed.
"Oh, don't act so surprised! You cut off one of her legs and impaled her with glass shards! What did you think was gonna happen?!" He demanded furiously. Rainbow was at a loss of words.
"I didn't... That wasn't... I had no idea what would happen! I just..." For a moment, the world stopped around her. The slight hope of Rolling Thunder being alive was now brought crashing down. She had blood on her hooves and this revelation was horrifying.
She briefly considered just running away and hanging her costume for good, but then she remembered what the Batmare told her. When she thought she had killed someone by accident, the only thing that dragged her out of retirement was knowing that she was responsible for stopping what she had created. And while Rolling Thunder really was dead unlike Trixie, her comrades took an oath to avenge her death and they were ready to harm innocent civilians in their quest for vengeance.
The ponies trapped in the stadium today were in danger because of her. And that gave her the same responsibility of stopping the Rogues as Batmare had when the Joker tried to destroy Manehattan. No, she wasn't going to run away. Not until there was one pony in Equestria who needed her help.
"So you didn't know she would die?" Soarin asked, snapping Rainbow out of her thoughts. "It makes no difference! You're still responsible and you're going to pay!"
"You're right." It was Soarin's turn to be stunned. This was the last thing he expected her to say. "I am responsible. And I'm responsible for all the ponies you hurt today and will hurt in the future. But that means I'm also responsible for stopping you and protecting them." She then looked up with Soarin with a face full of determination. "And since I see you obviously won't back down, I won't even bother asking you to do this the easy way."
Soarin was so surprised by this declaration that he couldn't even move and this gave Spitfire an opportunity. She bashed her head into Soarin's muzzle, forcing him to stumble back and let her go. She quickly fled out of the room and glanced back at Rainbow encouragingly. There were no more hostages to be caught in the crossfire.
"You bitch! I'm gonna..." Soarin didn't get to finish as Rainbow ran up to him and grabbed him from behind, trying to subdue him. But the leader of the Rogues wouldn't go down so easily. She planted a cold grenade on Rainbow's chest that quickly went off, covering the mare in a thick layer of frost and stunning her long enough for him to throw her off of himself.
Soarin had just about had enough. He was done playing games. Before Rainbow could break free, he pulled his cloak back over his head and also placed a protective mask around his muzzle. He put his cold guns back into their holsters and pressed a button on his belt. A dark blue light lit up on Soarin's as ice began to spread from it that soon covered his entire body. When Rainbow Dash looked back him, she gasped in horror. Soarin was completely covered in an ice armor resembling those of the warriors of ancient Neighpon. In his left hoof, he was holding an ice sword and his right, an ice shield. His spread wings had huge spikes sticking out of the ice spread across them and his visors over his eyes were glowing with demonic red light.
"Let's finish this!" He growled on a mechanical tone from beneath the ice. Rainbow narrowed her eyes and got into a fighting stance.
"I couldn't agree more."
Rainbow ran up to the stallion and punched him across the chest and muzzle repeatedly with super charged punches, but she was shocked to find that even they proved ineffective against him. Soarin just stood there, waiting for her to finish before raising his shield and bashing her across her muzzle, knocking her across the room.
He then walked up to the mare while she was still struggling to get up and placed one of his frozen hooves on her back. Rainbow screamed in agony as she felt the cold flow into her body and begin to freeze her inside to the very bones. She tried to struggle and break free, but the frozen stallion was just too heavy for her and she couldn't phase through him due to the cold.
She looked around in an attempt to find anything that could help her and when saw a bottle of wine lying in front of her an idea struck her. Maybe she could still speed up her front hooves enough to pull this off. She grabbed the bottle and began to rub her hooves over it as fast as she could. The movement of her molecules spread through the bottle and began to make the ones of the beverage inside speed up as well until they turned it boiling hot. She prayed that it would be enough.
She turned around as much as the stallion weighing him down and the spreading cold in her body allowed and threw the bottle at him. Her plan worked. She heard the panicked grunt Soarin let out as his icey armor began to melt and he finally got off of her. It was her turn.
She managed to melt a hole into his armor. She could see his coat through it. She charged at the stallion and charged up her hoof with speed energy to deliver a punch that would surely bring him down, but Soarin saw this coming. He quickly spun around, bringing his wings decorated with iced spikes towards the mare.
Rainbow noticed this too late. She managed to avoid the first one, but her momentum was too fast to completely pull back and the second one hit her, slashing her across the chest and the muzzle, damaging her suit. As she creamed in pain, Soarin raised his hind legs and bucked her across the room.
Rainbow landed crashing against the window overlooking the stadium. She was in great pain and bleeding from a lot of wounds, even coughing up some as she tried to get up. Soarin approached her with slow and steady steps as his ice armor clung against the floor. When he reached Rainbow, he raised his sword above his head.
"This is for Mirror Master!" He snarled ready to bring it down. Rainbow felt the glass beneath her and she came up with one last solution that could save her life. She could only pray to Faust she had enough energy left in her to pull it off.
She began to focus every bit of her remaining strength and energy into her right front leg. She felt it tingle and vibrate with speed but she had no way to tell if it would be enough. She closed her eyes and tapped the glass beneath her.
Her hoof went through the glass like liquid as the matter beneath her disintegrated into invisibly small shards. He eyes snapped open as she felt herself beginning to fall. Soarin's eyes also widened when he saw what the mare just did, but it was too late.
Rainbow spread her wings and flew out from beneath the stallion, but his frozen wings were rendered immobile. He could do nothing as he fell forward helplessly like a piece of rock and crashed into the pavement below. The few ponies who were still on the stands jumped in surprise when they heard the impact. Soarin had left a small crater in the ground and no matter how much he struggled, his armor was too heavy for him to get up. The ponies on the ground looked up and saw the red costumed superhero floating in the air before landing on the edge of the VIP lounge above them and looking down in triumph. It was over. The Battle of Maretropolis had finally concluded.
The one hour ultimatum they gave the Flash was up. The cops and the fireponies have resumed trying to break through the ice surrounding the Maretropolis Arena, but for several hours, their efforts have all ended in failure. They were just about to give up when they saw three shadows looming over the ground. They turned around and looked up to get the shock of their lives upon witnessing the three costumed wonders of Equestria, Supermare, Green Lantern and Captain MareVel floating over them.
"Hey, officers! You need some help?" The alicorn asked before dashing over to the block of ice and punching a hole through it effortlessly, creating an opening for them to get through. But before they could swarm inside, they saw the Flash exiting the stadium's main entrance, pulling the three criminals she recently captured tied up behind her on a trolley cart with the rest of the attendance still trapped inside walking behind her. She pulled the trolley over to the police pony in charge.
"They're all yours, officer." She told him before walking off. Everypony, including the superpowered ones who were present were quite surprised at her current disposition. The Flash was one of the most well documented hero in Equestria so they all knew that after a victorious battle, she would be very proud and boastful, but right now, she looked very tattered and depressed. She looked up at the ice formation still surrounding the stadium, unsure what to do or say. Supermare walked up to her an put a hoof on her shoulder.
"You've done well, Flash. We'll take it from here." She told her before flying up and using her heat vision to begin to melt the ice. Green Lantern joined her and made a dragon construct that began to breath fire at the ice while Captain MareVel used the same super fast spin move she did to get inside to drill through the ice.
'Copycat.' Rainbow thought to herself with a small smile as she watched the pink alicorn at work. Apparently, the cold didn't slow her down. As everypony watched the gods among ponies in awe, Rainbow slipped away unnoticed. She was completely exhausted and used up all of her remaining strength, so it came as no surprise when a yawn escaped her lips and she felt her eyes starting to shut.
Soon, her entire world went black as she passed out in the middle of the streets. Fortunately for her, her very own guardian angel was once again there to help her.
The next time Rainbow came to, she was lying in the bed of the hotel room she was renting while she was staying in Manehattan with the Wonderbolts. She heard sounds coming from the kitchen and she quickly got out of bed to investigate.
In the kitchen, she saw a well laid table and his father at the stove, preparing a champion's breakfast for her. The smell was already beginning to make her mouth water. Bow looked up and smiled when he saw her.
"Good morning, sweetie! Take a seat, breakfast is almost ready!" Rainbow furrowed her forehead in confusion.
"Breakfast? What time is it?" She looked at the clock hanging on the wall that showed it was almost ten in the morning, much to the mare's shock. "How long was I out?!" She asked frantically, but her father calmed her down.
"Don't worry. Most of the Wonderbolts are in the hospital after what happened yesterday so Spitfire gave everypony the rest of the month off. Though if you ask me, they won't be doing much of anything for the rest of the year. After the stunt Soarin pulled, it's gonna be quite a while before the team is reorganised."
Rainbow thought back to her fight with the Rogues as she sat down at the table. She still couldn't believe that Soarin would pull something like this even with Spitfire kicking him out of the team. She wouldn't know how she'd react if she had done the same to her, but she was certain she wouldn't become a supervillan and go on a crime spree.
"How is everypony else?" She asked.
"They'll be fine." Bow replied. "No major injuries. Soarin's gang have been all taken to a new maximum security prison established by the princess."
"Celestia?" Rainbow asked. She was bound to take intrigue in these costumed lunatics running around her country lately.
"No. Princess Luna." Bow replied, cracking an egg. "She took a keen interest in these super ponies ever since she returned from the moon and regained her position at Celestia's side." Rainbow was a little surprised by this. She couldn't imagine why Celestia seemed to be ignoring these superpowered individuals, but at least this other, recently returned Princess was willing to do something about it.
It seemed like finally all was well in Equestria. And yet, there was one thing, Rainbow still couldn't get over. She remembered her fights with Zephyr Breeze and how he managed to speed up his boomerangs to be able to catch up with her. She still had no idea how he manged to do that and she just knew she won't be able to rest until she got an answer to this. As much as it took away her appetite, she knew where she had to go after breakfast.
Two security guards lead Rainbow down a dark corridor leading to the visiting room of the newly established prison that Princess Luna raised for the superpowered criminals who have been plaguing Equestria recently. It did not look like a pleasant place to be. The most ominous one was it's logo that gave even her cold shivers as she passed by it painted on the wall next to her. A skeletal pony dressed in a black cloak holding the bars he was standing behind with the prison's name and slogan written underneath it. 'Belle Reeve. Till Death Do Us Part'.
The guards reached opened the door at the end of the corridor and lead Rainbow inside before instructing her to wait and leaving. She looked around. She was standing in front of a wall that split the room in two and had several windows on it with a row of chairs on each side. One for the prisoners and one for the visitors. A few minutes later, the door on the other side opened and two guards carried the stallion she was here to see inside.
Rainbow narrowed her eyes upon seeing him. He always disliked this lazy dirtbag, but after everything he'd done, it was taken up to a whole new level. She sat down into one of the chairs and waited for Zephyr to do the same. It was clear the stallion wasn't happy to see her either, but regardless he picked up the receiver after Rainbow picked up hers.
"Well, what do you know? A visit from the Flash herself! And so soon! Don't I feel special?" He said with his voice dripping with sarcasm. Rainbow just stared at him in disdain. She wasn't here for banter so she neglected a witty comeback and got straight to the point.
"Your speed boomerangs. Where did you get them?" She asked so coldly that Batmare herself would have been impressed. Zephyr just smirked.
"So forward. Shouldn't you wait until our third date to get so personal?" Rainbow snapped. She stood up and slammed the window while glaring at Zephyr.
"DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME!" She roared. She finally had enough of him. "I could reach through this wall and mess you up on a molecular lever so badly that you can't even imagine, so you better stop playing around and answer my damn question!" Zephyr wasn't phased in the slightest.
"A magician never reveals his secrets, love. But I will tell you this. You will found out the answer for yourself very soon."
"What are you talking about?!" Rainbow demanded.
"I may have had a little help with those speed boomerangs from somepony who seemed very interested in you." Zephyr admitted. "I'd wager they'll pay you a visit soon enough." He finished with an ominous smile before putting the receiver back in it's place and motioning for the guards to take him away, leaving Rainbow with a lot to think about.
In a dark room, a figure dressed in yellow was sitting at a desk, cutting out a picture of the Flash from a newspaper before clipping it onto a wall alongside several others. The latest picture was taken by a riporter after the Battle of Maretropolis as the incident was now known, the rest was taken by the figure themselves.
They then turned to several TV screens that displayed combat footage of the Scarlet Speedster going up against the Rogues and several other costumed criminals. The figure was less than impressed. Primitive tactics, unimaginative use of her powers, pathetic struggles against enemies she should have easily handled.
The figure smirked. No matter how many timelines they went through, Flash never seemed to improve. Oh, well. It just made her job a lot easier. It won't be long now until they meet again and judging from what they were seeing now, their next encounter won't end any differently than the previous ones. With one more dead speedster and one more messed up timeline.
And the best part was it wouldn't even be their doing, but hers. It always was. The Flash would be running to their doom again and when she did, they will be right there waiting for her.