//------------------------------// // 4. Evidence // Story: Cheated Dreams // by Kodeake //------------------------------// Cheated Dreams Chapter Four Evidence The chariot touched down nearly silently on the soft cloud ground of the pegasus city. The two stallions pulling the chariot had flown them right to the heart of the city, setting down directly in front on the Wonderbolt's main headquarters. The building looked more like the architecture of Manehattan than Cloudsdale; reaching high into the sky with clouds sculpted and smoothed to mimic the appearance of marble, a luxury material normally unavailable in the clouds. “Cast your cloud walking spell,” one of the escorts commanded after unhooking himself from the chariot. He stood in front of the mares next to his partner as Twilight's horn flashed for a brief moment. When the lasts wisps of magic faded from her horn, she stepped out of the chariot and onto the clouds, now just as solid to her as any pegasus. “Come with us,” the other instructed, turning and leading the way into the large, ornate building. Twilight started following before realizing that she was the only one. Turning back, she saw Rainbow Dash, sitting stock still in her place, gazing out sadly at the building before them. “Rainbow?” She called. Their escorts stopped and turned to look. The pegasus in question tore her eyes away from the building as she heard her name, looking towards the source. She quickly realized she had been left behind and stepped quickly down from the chariot, trotting to catch up before resuming her normal, subdued pace alongside Twilight behind the black suited stallions. “What was that about?” Twilight asked quietly, tossing a glance towards the stallions to ensure they weren't listening. They appeared to be quite happy ignoring them as they continued down the path to the building. “Nothing, it's just... this isn't exactly how I wanted my first time in this place to go...” Rainbow trailed off, watching as the doors came closer and closer. “Don't worry; we'll clear this up quick, and the next time you come here it'll be as a Wonderbolt,” Twilight assured with a grin. Rainbow weakly tried to match it. Twilight couldn't hide her frown at the obviously forced attempt, but remained silent, confident the mare would perk up after this whole mess was sorted out. The stallions pushed through the large entryway, fashioned out of clouds made to look like grand, ornate doors. They opened inwards smoothy, and soon the mares found themselves being ushered impatiently into the building. It was becoming painfully clear to Twilight that these stallions did not think very highly of them. The lobby of the building was something she'd expect to see out of Canterlot; a large, expansive room, at least two stories high. It was all made from the same, marble-copy-cat clouds, decorated with specially enchanted trimming. The potted cloud flower was scattered about the room, sitting on elegant furniture or even on shelves sticking out of the walls, adding a splash of colour to the mostly white interior. A large, decorative crystalline chandelier hung from from the ceiling, the light from the enchanted, glowing gems doing little to light the room. Most of the room's light came through the large, transparent windows from the sun beginning it's journey through the second half of the sky. They walked down a soft, carpeted isle in the center of the grand room, small sitting areas on either side of the path. The various cloud couches and chairs held the odd pony, though none of them paid any mind to the pair of mares walking through the building. At the end of the path stood a standard reception desk, behind which sat a very bored looking receptionist, slouched over the counter and resting her head on her hoof. On the table in front of her sat a book, though she looked up as they came closer. “They're waiting for you,” she said simply, motioning to a hall extending from the lobby to their right. “last door on the left,” she added, before switching her eyes back to the book that was apparently more interesting. The stallions nodded in thanks and turned, walking quickly down the hall. With no other choice, Rainbow and Twilight followed. The hall wasn't very long, the building itself getting most of its floor space from height rather than length or width. Doors were placed perfectly symmetrically along the hall, as were enchanted lighting gems fastened high on the walls, two gems between every door. The walk, taking up less than a minute, was over before either of them really knew it. Twilight noticed that the whole time Rainbow had been looking more and more nervous, the observation bringing another frown to her lips. “Hey, you know this is just a mistake, right? It's not like you actually cheated or anything,” Twilight said as comfortingly as she could, one of the stallions motioning for them to wait before slipping inside the left door at the very end of the hall. “I know,” Rainbow sighed heavily, sinking a little lower to the floor, “but rumours like this will never go away.” “What are you talking about? Of course it will; once everypony realizes they were wrong everything will go back to normal and you'll be a Wonderbolt,” the unicorn assured. The other escorting stallion perked an ear up at their conversation, but kept an even face as he stood in front of the door waiting for his partner to give them the OK to enter. “No, it won't. You don't get it, Twi; I've gotten rumours like this started about me before. There will always be somepony who believes it, and there will always be somepony who will act on the belief. It was the same for Flight Camp, and it will be the same here,” Rainbow argued. Twilight opened her mouth to say something in return, but she was stopped as the door opened. The pegasus escort came out, nodded to his companion, then turned to them. “Both of you are requested inside. Take a seat at the table,” one of them grunted, stepping aside from the door and allowing them to enter. They walked into the room cautiously, looking around curiously as they stepped free of the door that was closed behind them. Inside it was just like any other meeting room; a long table with numerous chairs sat in the middle, most of them taken up by official Wonderbolts representatives and promoters with the odd lawyer scattered about. At the head of the table sat Spitfire, flanked on either side by the rest of her flying squad. At the end closest to the door were two empty chairs, evidently waiting for Rainbow and Twilight. Following the orders they were previously given, they sat in the chairs, waiting quietly for something to happen. For a time it was silent; nopony said anything, all of them just sat, looking at them and each other. Eventually, all eyes turned to Spitfire at the head of the table as she cleared her throat, flipping through a few pages of paper set on the table in front of her. “Rainbow Dash,” she started slowly, speaking clearly and loudly with a voice that demanded rapt attention. “As you've been told, there has been some questions pertaining to your performance at The Next Wonderbolt contest. And, while an investigation is still underway, the evidence is not in your favour.” “I didn't cheat,” Rainbow stated firmly when the silence that followed made it clear Spitfire was waiting for her to say something. “We have a source who says you did,” Spitfire retorted, continuing before either Twilight or Rainbow could say anything, “and, while we are also investigating the source, so far they are credible.” “And who is this source?” Twilight spoke up, her voice much more even and measured than Rainbow's had been. For once she was tapping into the vault of Canterlot Etiquette she had been raised on; proper speaking, performance in an important meeting, and, of course, how to properly defend one's self in a legal matter - she'd been bored one semester and had taken law studies on a whim. She'd never been happier with that particular decision than she was right now. “They requested to remain anonymous should they prove to be wrong,” Spitfire said simply, shrugging her shoulders. “What? She has a right to face her accuser! You can't take that right away!” Twilight protested loudly, nearly standing from her chair. Spitfire matched her in both volume and tone. “Miss Sparkle, this is not a court of law, and this is not a legal matter; we do not need to abide by those rules here. There are many understandable reasons our source wishes to remain anonymous, and as long as we find evidence to verify their claims there is no need for their identity to be revealed, is there?” “Have you even considered the possibility that they could have an ulterior motive for accusing Rainbow of this?” Twilight asked, actually standing from her chair and leaning over the table. “Of course,” Spitfire said calmly, leaning back in her seat, “which is why we're having them investigated for any previous encounters with Rainbow Dash and any possibly grudges or vendettas.” “Well?” Twilight asked impatiently, glancing around the room for her answer. “So far no records of her even living in the same city as Rainbow Dash has been found. The first time, as far as we can tell, that she even saw Rainbow Dash was at the competition,” somepony answered, one of the advisers sitting at the middle of the table, ruffling his own stack of papers. “And besides, Miss Sparkle, Rainbow Dash is not the only one being accused here; you are suspected of being an accomplice,” Spitfire added, “you may want to think about defending yourself as well. If this is proven, we can press fraud charges on both of you.” “If I prove her innocent I won't have to worry about any of that. And how exactly did this supposed source see Rainbow at the competition? The other contestants and a select few of their friends and family were allowed to watch,” Twilight countered quickly, not noticing the awed look on Rainbow Dash's face. Her downtrodden attitude had been completely blown away as soon as Twilight started talking. The passion, the fury that she spoke with was both something to admire, and to fear. Rainbow couldn't even take her eyes of the unicorn, leaning angrily over the table and challenging the captain of the Wonderbolts and her most trusted advisers, all without breaking a sweat! In her mind she knew she should be doing the same thing, defending herself along side Twilight, but she just couldn't; she was frozen in a state of shock at the unrivalled ability Twilight had to take control of a debate and steer it in her favour. “They were a relative of a contestant in the competition, yes, though the pony in the contest was in a different class from Rainbow Dash in the flight academy,” Spitfire admitted. Twilight grinned, easing back from her aggressive posture and sitting gingerly back in her seat, though she did not relax and remained on the edge of the cushion. “They were related to a contestant?” Twilight asked, sounding almost smug. Spitfire nodded. “Then that's a motive right there! Rainbow came in first place in that competition; the source cannot possibly be unbiased!” She cried triumphantly. She hadn't made the case, but she'd made one point upon which to base the rest. “True, but that point is only useful if no other evidence turns up supporting their claim. Which, so far, there is,” Spitfire said calmly. Rainbow shook her head forcefully, snapping herself out of her mind and took the offensive before Twilight could. After all, she couldn't let her friend do all the work here. “And what evidence would that be?” Twilight smiled, finally seeing something from her pegasus friend other than moping. She'd created a spark; it was up to Rainbow to create the flame. She finally allowed herself to relax into her chair as Rainbow stood, taking her spot and waiting for somepony to present some form of evidence. “According to our calculations, it should have been impossible for you to control yourself with such precision at the speed needed to create a Sonic Rainboom. And it is impossible to control the shattered light of the Rainboom without at least a little magical interference,” one of the board members explained in a stuffy, bureaucratic voice. “Check your calculations again, because everypony saw me going that fast,” Rainbow retorted quickly. “You may have been going that fast, but the question here is whether or not you had magical aid from your unicorn friend,” Spitfire clarified, waving a hoof in the general direction of Twilight. “And the fact still remains that you shouldn't have been able to bend the light as you did.” “I...” Rainbow trialed off, unsure of an answer. She didn't even know how she did it; how could she explain it while still upholding her innocence? Luckily for her, Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder and nodded calmly. Rainbow sat, and Twilight stood. “You're correct; she could not have controlled the light created by the Rainboom without magical aid,” Twilight said. Rainbow frowned deeply; Twilight was admitting to helping her cheat? Spitfire raised an eyebrow, but Twilight continued before anypony could speak up. “so she did have a magical aid, but not from an external course,” Twilight clarified quickly. She heard the shuffling of paper and the scratching of quills as the various board members started copying down her explanation to examine later. “The Rainboom not only shatters the visible light spectrum, but it also breaks the magic barrier; a very different spectrum. When the inherent pegasus magic all pegasi use to fly is strong enough, it begins to mesh and interact with the innate magic in the air. When the pegasus uses large amounts of energy, say, enough to create a Sonic Rainboom, the two magics combine and shatter as one, which in turn shatters the visible spectrum. This infuses every photon in the Rainboom with magic. Because Rainbow was the one to create the Rainboom, it was her magic that got infused, so it reacted naturally with her body and her magic. This allowed her to bend the magic released by the Rainboom. And, because it is bound to the photons, the light as well. Additionally, the extra magic in the air was absorbed into her body, giving her a temporary boost in skill, which in turn allowed her to exceed her previous skill level. Temporarily, of course. However, it was all using her own inherent magic and her natural abilities; there was no outside source, and therefore did not break the rules” Twilight finished her lecture with a smile, leaving most of the room in semi-silence as the Wonderbolt representatives struggled to copy it all down word for word. Eventually, the scratching silenced, and Spitfire took her turn. “As interesting as that sounds, we haven't been able to find anypony who could explain the Rainboom. All we have to go on for right now is what you've just told us, and as you are suspected of being an accomplice, we have to take everything you tell us and have it fact checked. We doubt anypony will be able to confirm it, however, as Rainbow Dash is currently the only pegasus capable of it in all of Equestria.” Twilight shrugged, “get it checked; it's all correct as far as I can tell.” “Of course,” Spitfire started again, “that's not the only bit of evidence we have. There have been quite a few sources who confirm that they've seen you magically aiding Rainbow Dash's flight before.” “For training!” Rainbow protested suddenly, eyes widening as she realized how her training sessions could be misconstrued to fit Spitfire's case. Spitfire sighed a short, strangled sigh as she shook her head, “it's your word against ours on that matter, I'm afraid.” Twilight opened her mouth to continue, but was silence by a knocking on the door. Spitfire waved to one of the board members sitting near the end of the table, who got up and opened the door. He smiled and allowed the newcomers in; the stallions who had escorted Twilight and Rainbow to the headquarters, and a grey coated unicorn stallion with a blue mane. Twilight's jaw nearly fell open as she watched the unicorn walk in and take one of the last free seats at the table. Meanwhile the pegasus stallions walked over to Spitfire and placed a stack of papers before her, one of them whispering something to her. She nodded and thanked him, after which they both hurried back out the door. “Well, it appears we have some new evidence,” Spitfire called, bumping her hoof against the new papers added to her already impressive stack. Twilight's eyes remained fixed on the unicorn at the table. He took notice of her dumbfounded stare, and waved at her awkwardly. “M-Mr. Flight?”