//------------------------------// // The Arena // Story: Bolt // by InsignificantGryffindor //------------------------------// Spitfire stared at the paper in front of her. A black and white picture displaying an arena was imprinted in the page, with a caption that read, "AMBER FLASH ARENA ATTACKED, SUSPECTS UNKNOWN." She had been staring at the same paper for hours, a war raging on in her head. Her fierce amber gaze pierced the newspaper as she thought, lightly tapping the mahogany desk with her hoof. A soft knock at her door made her jump. "Come in," she muttered, settling down in her seat again. Rapidfire entered, a dark look in his brown eyes. She raised an eyebrow at his expression, "What's the matter, Rapid?" The yellow stallion glared pointedly at her, which made her unsettled. "I can't believe you're still going through with this." Spitfire ignored the unsettled feeling and returned his hard gaze with her fiery one. "What are you suggesting?" Rapidfire pointed at paper on her desk, growling. "Spitfire, we cannot perform tomorrow." Spitfire sat up, giving the defiant stallion her infamous glare. "This team has never quit a show. Tell me why I should do that now? The Wonderbolts are known for their bravery during times like this. If we go, we boost the morale of our fans. I'm not quitting now." Rapidfire groaned, a pleading look in his eyes. "Please, listen, Spitfire. You're putting the team in danger!" Spitfire narrowed her gaze. "The public needs this." Rapidfire closed his eyes and sighed. After a moment, his eyes opened, burning with emotion. This time, Spitfire was unable to meet his gaze. "Please." She didn't answer him. Instead she focused on the pen that had fallen to the floor. Silence rang, Spitfire's internal anger building. Finally, after many minutes of anger brewing, Rapidfire spun around and left the office, slamming to door behind him. Spitfire flinched, and looked up at the empty space, feeling her stomach drop. Her eyes flickered over to a picture that stood in her bookshelf. It was a smiling picture of herself and Rapidfire. Her anger died, only to be replaced by betrayal. * * Rainbow Dash lifted off from the spongy grass, feeling the crisp air hit her face. She grinned, deftly rotating her body through the wind and relaxing her wings, letting them glide through the calm breeze. Then, with a sudden snap, her wings clung to her sides, causing the sky-blue mare to drop. She pierced the air, a cocky grin on her face. As she approached the earth again, she suddenly opened her wings, fanning them out as they caught the slight breeze. She fell away, rotating in the morning air and doing a spinning flip. She guided her wings upward, doing a corkscrew spin whilst drawing her body upwards towards the sun. Her spins slowed, allowing her back to slowly face the sun. The morning sun's soft light filtered through her wings, causing a brief halo to form around Rainbow Dash before she fell down the sky once more. Allowing her whole body to relax, she opened her forelegs and straightened her hindlegs, falling backwards. She graced the air, feeling it gently hit her face as she sailed down. Her eyes skimmed the ground, a mere fifty feet from the surface. She dropped, going down to forty, thirty, twenty feet. As she reached five feet, she opened her wings quickly, letting the breeze slow her down. She touched down, feeling the grass outside Wonderbolts HQ. Her breathing slowed as she she made her way towards the gym doors, yearning for a quick nap before practice. As soon as she reached the doors, though, Spitfire abruptly threw them open. She had an angry, determined look on her face as she hovered across the training grounds. "Let's go team, we need to practice for Fillydelphia!" her yell reached the ears of those in the gym. "Fillydelphia? But didn't the arena get-" her protest was interrupted by a fierce glare from the captain. She gulped, but said nothing as she went to join the others for practice. * * Rainbow Dash sighed as she slipped the sweaty suit off her body and into her locker. The nervous pang in her belly had not disappeared since she heard the news about the arena. It was her first performance, of course she was nervous. But it was much more than that. The latest news surrounding that particular arena made her anxious. If what her teammates said was true, then they would all be in deep danger tomorrow. Spitfire insisted on going, convincing her teammates that there was nothing to worry about. Rainbow Dash felt different. Although she wasn't sure what would happen tomorrow, she knew it couldn't be anything good. She left the locker room and entered the showers, allowing the warm waters to calm her crowded mind. She stepped out, but the anxiousness that had settled in her stomach had not alleviated. Sighing, she left the locker and showers all behind and climbed up the dark stairway to her bedroom. Inside she fell upon the bed, exhausted from a whole days worth of practice tricks. The soft covers resurrected her love for naps as she lay on the cloud woven fabrics. She sighed, forgetting her anxiety, and letting the warmth of the bed lull her to a doze. She dreamt of crowds calling out her name, as she did magnificent tricks that only could be performed by her. A knock on the door awoke her from her sleep. She yawned, her gaze falling on the clock that lay on her bedside table. 12:03. She groaned, throwing herself off the soft haven of a bed, and pulled open the door. "Soarin'?" She asked in surprise. The stallion in question grinned and lifted a magenta box to her face. "I got pie!" he said in a sing-song voice. In the next five minutes, the two were in the kitchen, enjoying a nice, hot pie. Rainbow Dash adjusted herself in her stool giving the stallion across her a curious look. "Where'd you even get pie at a time like this?" Soarin' raised his head from the slice he was devouring, licking off the apple that slivered down his face. "I got a pie guy. Pony Joe makes excellent pies as well as excellent donuts." She grinned, remembering that fateful Gala night where all her friends sat eating donuts there. Her grin fell as she thought of the next day, and silently she picked at the slice of pie in front of her. Soarin' noticed this, and took a break from ravaging his slice to give her an empathetic look. "Nervous about tomorrow?" She scoffed. "As if! I'm the best flyer in Equestria!" She boasted, grinning cockily. He raised an inquiring eyebrow. Sighing, she took another bite of pie, her cocky grin failing once more. "Yeah, I guess." Noticing the small smile of satisfaction on his face, she mockingly glared at him. "But not because of that. I- I guess I'm nervous because of the terrorist threat. I'm used to performing in front of crowds. But performing under some veiled threat..." she shuddered, looking down at her plate of food. "Hey, don't worry about it." Rainbow Dash looked up and saw his reassuring smile under all the apple muck. "I remember on my first time, we were performing in San Flankcisco. I was a nervous wreck, but Spitfire reassured me. She said if I was a good enough flier to get on the Wonderbolts, I was going to make the fans love me. When I did perform, I did an awesome job. Spitfire was right. All you need to do is trust Spitfire, she knows what she is doing. You'll do an awesome job." Rainbow Dash smiled with him, feeling her stomach lighten a little. This enabled her to gobble down the rest of her pie, and by the time they finished, they had matching apple beards. A belching contest soon (quite literally) erupted. Rainbow Dash belched loudly, her burp resonating off the kitchen walls, which was quickly followed by a louder belch from Soarin', whose belch had echoed across the kitchen and into the gym. He laughed. "I win! You owe me a hundred bits!" Rainbow Dash glared at him, but the withering glare fell short when a grin bubbled on her face. "We never bet on this!" she chuckled. "Pay up!" A large amount of apple mesh splattered on his face. A very guilty looking Rainbow Dash sat on the stool, cyan hooves covered with what appeared to be the contents of the pie. Soarin's eyes flashed under the mess. "It's on now!" She laughed in response, but was interrupted by a sudden splash of apple liquids on her face. The two threw apple pie contents back and forth as they made their way up the staircase. Finally, when they reached Rainbow's door, the fighting ceased, both covered in apple dribble. Soarin' grinned at her one last time. "Goodnight, and remember what I said!" He flew across the hall into his room, the door shutting behind him. She chuckled, going into the small bathroom that was connected to her bedroom. Washing off any relics of their pie fight, Rainbow Dash quickly prepared for bed. Finally, she fell into the soft sheets once more at 1:57, falling into a peaceful sleep. The anxiety that plagued just hours before had disappeared. * * The crowds cheered once more as Spitfire did another spectacular move, where she skimmed the sides of the arena at breakneck speeds, fire spewing out from where she was a millisecond ago. Rainbow Dash paced around the entrance to the open arena, the nervous pang back in her stomach, eyes never leaving her teammates as they sliced through the clear, summer air. She was to be the last Wonderbolt on the field, so she could perform the very last trick. The crowd cheered once more, and another pang hit her stomach. Maybe Soarin' was right. Maybe it was first time jitters. She watched as her teammates pulled upwards, only inches apart. They formed a circle, twisting and speeding forward until they were face to face. They fell apart, a bright white spark erupting from the center from where they were. They plummeted downwards and abruptly flew in a circle, going so fast they were nothing but blue blurs. Soon a tornado formed, winds at high speeds, but still the funnel was controlled. The crowd ooh'ed. "INTRODUCING THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE WONDERBOLTS, RAINBOW DASH!" a loud bellow was heard throughout the arena. The crowd cheered loudly. All for her. Her heart beat quickly. She sped past the entrance of the arena, flinching when the sun glared at her through her flight goggles. The crowd screamed even louder when she appeared. She circled around the arena, the cheers making her flash a smile to the spectators. She spun around, heading straight into the tornado her teammates created. At a controlled speed, she flung herself right into the tornado, feeling the winds grasp at her wings. She followed the wind pattern, noticing the cheers had vanished under the loud winds. She pulled herself upward, the winds pulling and pushing at her pelt. She did not comply to them, instead she only used the speed of the winds to push herself faster. She spun about in the tornado, never losing control as she climbed up. Finally, going at top speed, she escaped the clutches of the tornado, feeling a cone start to form at her hooves. She turned in a circle, willing not to let the cone dissipate. The cone grew, and suddenly it broke, creating a sonic rainboom. She did a corkscrew spin above the arena, creating a ribbon-like effect in her rainbow trail. Once the booming sound the sonic rainboom subsided, Rainbow Dash heard the cheers. They were the frantic, screaming cheers that one would only from the craziest of fans. They were cheers that covered every other sound within a mile radius. The were the cheers that filled Rainbow Dash with warmth, from the tip of her tail to the top of her head. A bright grin spread her face apart, elation rising up in her throat. She felt tears threaten to escape her eyes, but blinked them back, at risk of seeming weak. She lowered herself to the ground slowly, letting the cheers sink into her chest. Nothing could ever compare to this feeling. Touching down, she waved at her fans, the grin never ceasing. Then the explosions started. Loud rumbles erupted, and stone pillars fell as Rainbow Dash saw her fans' screams turn to horror. She gazed in horror as a great stone boulder fell towards her. Then, she felt a bright flash of hot air, a sharp jab to her side, and then blackness.