//------------------------------//
// The Truth Comes Out 
// Story: Of Love and Loyalty 
// by Brian Jacko 
//------------------------------//

	"Dearest Princess Celestia, today, I learned that friendship is about..." 

BANG! A sudden loud noise interrupted Twilight Sparkle's letter to the Princess. 

Rainbow Dash had crashed through her window again! 

Twilight Sparkle looked over the fallen book shelf that Spike had just finished organizing. Twilight Sparkle groaned. "Ungh, Rainbow Dash! For some pony who is now with the Wonderbolts, you sure have been crashing a lot around here. What's going on with you?"

Rainbow Dash looked around her and picked up a letter that had fallen beside one of Twilight's Sparkle's books. "Oops!" she said. "I guess I shouldn't be reading these letters while flying around, huh?" 

Twilight Sparkle suddenly became filled with excitement. "Oh, a letter!" she exclaimed. "Is it from the Princess?" 

"Well, no." Rainbow Dash said, as she stumbled about and dusted herself off. "It's something even better!" 

"What could be better than a letter from the Princess?" wondered Twilight Sparkle.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and stuck out her chest proudly and said, "This letter is from my beloved stallion, Rapidfire. He loves me so much. I can't stop reading his letters." 

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. "Well you’re the last pony on earth that I would have ever thought would end up being the romantic type! I already hear enough of that mushy stuff from Spike's crush on Rarity." 

"HEY! I heard that!" Spike yelled as he chucked a book towards Twilight Sparkle. 

Twilight Sparkle deflected the incoming book with her magic. Twilight Sparkle turned back to Rainbow Dash. "Is every pony on the team okay with you two dating? I mean, doesn’t it get in the way of practice or keep you distracted from performing your very best?" 

Rainbow Dash put her hooves behind her head and leaned back against the wall. "Yea, every pony is cool with it," she said. "Every pony but that hot-head, Spitfire. She can't stand to see us together. It just burns her up."

"Oh I see," Twilight Sparkle replied. "Why would she be so jealous though? She is the team's captain and only cares that you perform your best right? Hello?" Twilight Sparkle waved her hoof in front of Rainbow Dash's face. 

Rainbow Dash jerked her head back in surprise and said "Oh, what? Yea. Of course. Don't worry about it Twilight Sparkle." 

"Well," Twilight Sparkle said as she thought to herself. "So, why are you two writing letters to each other when you both practice together nearly every day?"

Rainbow Dash perked up. "Oh, he said he's sick or something. He caught a bad case of the Pony virus a few weeks ago, but he should be okay within a few weeks."

Twilight Sparkle gasped! "The Pony virus?" she exclaimed, as she ran over to her bookshelf looking through a book about illness's and cures. "Found it! It says here, that the Pony virus is normally contracted by..." 

"Yea, yea, yea." Rainbow Dash said with a rather unenthusiastic voice. "Listen, save your egg-head information for another time when I ask for it, okay? He's going to get better in a few more days. I appreciate your help and everything, but I'm going to get going now, rather than listen to your science lectures."

Twilight Sparkle ran after her, "But wait, Rainbow Dash, I, uh, just, listen to.....oh never mind!" She fumed. 

Rainbow Dash had already disappeared into the night. 

"That pony sure is as stubborn as a mule, huh Spike?"

Spike simply nodded as he began picking up the mess from the earlier crash.

Twilight Sparkle looked out the window. "I just hope that she'll be okay." 


They had been together for months now. He was now over his illness and she was so happy with him. The slightest thought about him, made her heart want to explode with happiness. The only thing she could complain about, was that he never seemed to show up on time, no matter where they were going. He was ALWAYS late, but she figured that he was just busy with his practice or something along those lines. She also wondered why he never showed any affection toward her when they were out in public, but she figured that maybe, he was just too shy to do so. They knew each other’s work schedules perfectly by now. 

One day, Rainbow Dash got finished clearing up the skies early and decided to pay a surprise visit to Rapidfire. When she got to his house, she realized that he wasn't home. "That's odd," the blue mare thought to herself. "He's always home around this time." She flew around and about looking for him. She became depressed because she could not find him and flew over to that special spot where she got her first kiss from Rapidfire. Upon landing, and approaching the waterfall, she noticed two ponies holding each other in their hooves. "Hey wait a second," Rainbow Dash thought to herself. "This is my special spot!" Upon closer inspection, she was horrified to learn that it was Rapidfire with another mare entangled in eachother's hooves. 

They were passionately romancing in front of her.

Rainbow Dash couldn't speak. Her heart sank deep in her chest. A part of her wanted to go over and give him a piece of her mind, but the bitterness and grief took over and she simply ran away in tears. She got home and slammed the door shut. She ran upstairs and hid her head under the pillow. 

Hours later, there was a knock at her door. She went downstairs and opened it. 

There he stood, with a cocky look on his face. "Hey there Rainbow Dash! Are you all ready for our date tonight, hot stuff? What's the matter? You look like you’re in pain." 

Her face was indeed twisted in agony. "How could you hurt me like this?" she asked. 

"What are you talking about Rainbow Dash?" I was just busy working late. I'm sorry I didn't show up on time. I didn't think it would be this big of a deal to you." 

Rainbow Dash became angry, as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I know what you're up to. I saw you with another mare at our special spot today. There's no use in trying to lie about it."

Rapidfire frowned. "Well, it's your own fault for being hurt," he said. "I never said that I wouldn't keep my options open, and just because I'm dating some pony else, doesn’t mean I can't be with you. You act like I'm married to you or something!" 

"YOU SAID YOU LOVED ME and I trusted every lie that you spoke into my life!" Rainbow Dash cried out. 

Rapidfire became annoyed and shot back, "I did say I loved you, but I found some pony better."

Having said that, Rainbow Dash slammed the door and ran back upstairs.

Rapidfire simply shrugged the whole situation off and went out to pick up another mare that he was seeing on the side.