//------------------------------//
// Part 3 
// Story: Arrow's Story: Problem After Problem 
// by NightArrow 
//------------------------------//

CHAPTER 30
“Raindrops!! Raindrops wake up!!” 
“Hmm...?” Raindrops squinted her eyes to see what all the commotion was about. “What...? Scoots? What time is it?” 
Scootaloo was hopping up and down on the luxury suite’s bed. “It’s 7:30! Time to get up!” 
“7:30...? The race isn’t until 1pm...” Raindrops said, turning her back to the little filly. “Go back to sleep...” 
“But Raaaaiiiiiinnyyy....!!” Scootaloo whined. “I want to get there early to get Shadowbolt stuff!” 
Raindrops sat up, “Scootaloo! You’re rooting for the Shadowbolts?” 
“Yup!” Scootaloo said, assertively. 
“You don’t know anything about them...!” 
“I do too!!” Scootaloo argued. “I know they live in Everfree Forest! And one of them has two colored eyes, and--” 
“Okay, let me rephrase that: You don’t know anything that isn’t a crazy marketing rumor!” 
“It’s all true! I’m sure of it!” 
Raindrops’ unfortunate hereditary baggy eyes looked the worst in the morning before she could apply her makeup, and they only added to her skeptical, and tired glare. “Name one racer.” she challenged Scootaloo. 
“Huh?” 
“Go ahead. If you’re such a fan of the Shadowbolts, name one of the members.” 
Scootaloo thought for a moment. “Um, Black...err, Shadow... Wing-- no! Wind. Black Shadow Wind.” She said. Raindrops did not look convinced. 
“Black Shadow Wind? You just made that up.” 
“I did not!” 
“Uuuugggggh, fine!” Raindrops gave up. “Just give me another hour of sleep, and we’ll wake up, go buy lunch, and when we get to Wonderbolts Stadium, I’ll buy you a shirt or something...” Raindrops shoved her face into the silk pillow. 
“I want a Shadowbolts flag!” 
“Fine Scootaloo! Just let me get some sleep!” her voice came out muffled. 
Scootaloo couldn’t wait.


CHAPTER 31
Fire Blitz was speeding through the sky on her way to Wonderbolts Stadium, looking a bit more pale than her usual crimson self. “No no no... I’m late! I’m late to my first race, Arrow is gonna kill me. . . !” She arrived at the back entrance, where the athletes entered.
Once she walked through the doors, past security, she scanned the backstage hallways. The knots in her stomach and throat increased ten-fold. There, in their official blue and gold shirts, stretching and talking to one another, was the Wonderbolts A-Wave, closer than they’d ever been, Spitfire, Soarin, Echo, Misty... they were all there. 
They never showed up to the B-Wave races, so Blitz never really met any of them. She’d seen them on the track before, racing against Arrow and Skylight, but never was she this close! Never was she in the same room as them! 
“Don’t tell me you’re starstruck over the competition.” A familiar voice said, breaking Blitz’s trance. 
“Huh? Oh, CC! You scared me.” 
“Haha, I recognize that look, Blitz. I was the same way when we initially founded this little racing organization. Come on, I’ll introduce you to them.” 
“What!? No, it’s alright, Arrow’s gonna be mad... I mean, I’m already late--” 
“Oh calm down, Fire Blitz. Night Arrow said 8am specifically for you to meet the other team.” 
“Wait, what?” Blitz said, resisting CC pushing her towards the Wonderbolts. 
“We all saw how nervous you were yesterday, and Arrow thought it was a good idea since you and I will be racing together, that we get here early to talk to the Wonderbolts for a bit. Show you they’re just ordinary ponies like you and me!” 
Blitz was speechless. 
“Don’t be so nervous, Fire Blitz! They’re all very nice!” 
“Well, if it isn’t the Wonderbolt-Wanna-be’s...!”  A stallion’s voice called out. 
Fire Blitz and CC looked across the room at a light blue pegasus with a dark blue mane. “Ugh... well,  most  of them are very nice...”


Meanwhile, in the visitor’s room, Night Arrow and Skylight were loosening up and snacking on plain grass for breakfast as to not slow them down. 
“Oooh, I’m so excited! We haven’t been in a race for what feels like yeeeeaaaaarrrs!” Skylight said, unable to sit still. 
“It’s been three months, Sky’.” Arrow said, dryly. 
“I know! But it still  feels  like years! I can’t wait to get on that track!” 
“We don’t go on for a few hours, Sky’. Just relax a bit. Go talk to a few of the other racers.” 
“Ppffch! Not the Blue-sers!” 
“The what?” Arrow laughed.
“The Blue-sers! You know, blue and losers put together? Cuz’ the Wonderbolts wear blue...” 
“I get it.” Arrow scoffed, cracking a smile. “Very clever. But I thought you were cool with the Wonderbolts? You and Echo are pretty close, right?” 
“Yeah! But I want us to have a cool rivalry! Like any good teams have! I want us to hate each other!” 
“Ha, good luck with that, you get along with everypony.” Arrow said, sitting down. 
“No! I want to hate their guts! And for them to hate mine!! ... well, except Echo. She’s awesome! ... oh, and her sister Misty is so nice, nopony can hate her... Oh, and Spitfire is one of your only good friends, so that’s out of the question...” 
“Well there goes  that  idea...” Arrow laughed. 
“No no, I know somepony on the Blue-sers who can use a real attitude adjustment...” Skylight narrowed her eyes. 
Arrow stretched his wings. “If you’re talking about the only one left on the A-Wave, you’ll get no argument from me...”


*            *            *


“Soarin’. . .” CC muttered. 
“The one and only.” he smiled pompously. “I see you knock-offs have recruited a new filly.” Soarin said. 
CC sighed, “Yes, she’s a promotion from the B-Wave; Soarin, this is Fire Blitz.” 
“Hey, nice to meet--” Blitz began. 
“Yeah, I heard about you.” Soarin interrupted. “Do you guys even have an age requirement?” He said, raising an eyebrow. “Have you graduated from flight school, little filly?” 
Blitz was taken aback by the stallion’s blatant rudeness. “Yeah! Of course I have! I was the captain of the B--” 
“A simple yes or no would have been okay.” Soarin replied, already walking away. 
Fire Blitz’s nervousness turned into pure hatred for this complete jerk. 
“Ugh, don’t be such a jerk, Soarin.” CC said. “At least try to show some sportsmanship, would you?”
Soarin sighed, “Only cuz it’s  you,  Cloudy.” He walked back over to the two mares. “Well, welcome to the big leagues, kid. Try to keep up.” Soarin said, still condescending. “You want a few pointers for your first race?” 
Fire Blitz clenched her teeth. “Not from you, Blunderbolt.”
Soarin cracked a smile. “Heh, I’m startin’ to like you, kid.” 
“CC is that you? Come over here a second!”  A mare’s voice came from the other side of the stadium. “We want to ask you something!”
CC glanced over toward the other two pegasus mares. “Oh hey! Be there in a second!” She pulled Blitz aside for a moment. “Look, just give him a chance,” She whispered, “he’s kinda tough to get used to, but he’s a great guy when you get to know him!”
Fire Blitz aggressively whispered back “What!? You’re not gonna leave me with this jerk, are you!?”
“Just hear him out, and meet me over there by the vending machine when you’re done. I’ll introduce you to two other Wonderbolt mares. Nicest sister’s you’ll ever meet!”
“Ugh, fine.”  Fire Blitz said, walking back over to Soarin.
“Oh, and Cloudy?” Soarin called over to CC. “It’s been a while; call me some time.” He smiled. 
CC looked down and blushed. 
“So, I hear it’s your first race, little filly.” Soarin said.
“It’s my first  A-Wave  race.” Fire Blitz corrected him. “And its  Fire Blitz.”
“Whoa now,  no need to get hostile ‘Fire Blitz’,”  He smiled. “Just want to give you a couple of pointers for your first big A-Wave race.”
“Why would you want to help me?” Blitz said impatiently.
“Well  I’m  not racing you.” Soarin said, “You and Cloudy are goin’ up against the ‘ol Fleetfoot Twins. Beside, like old Cloudy said, I’m tryin’ to show some ...sportsmanship.” 
Blitz sighed. “Fine, I guess that makes sense.”
“Great.” Soarin said. “First off, you know the biggest difference between an A-Wave race and a B-Wave race?”
“There’s way more ponies at an A-Wave race?” Blitz said dryly.
“Heh, funny.” Soarin said. “And true, but no.” He sat down. “The big difference is instead of racing 150 laps, we race an even 200. And instead of those three pit-stops you get in a B-Wave race, you only get two today.”
Fire Blitz rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know all this. Can you get to the point?”
“Alright, alright, I get it. You think you’re all big and bad ‘cause your green-haired leader brought you up to the big leagues.” He scoffed. “But you wanna show him just how big and bad you are?”
That caught Fire Blitz’s attention. “I’m listening...” 
“Good...” Soarin said, “Now listen up, this’ll really impress old’ baggy-eyes...”


CHAPTER 32
“Knock knock...” A mare’s voice came from just outside the visitor’s door.  
“Whooooo is iiiiiit??”  Skylight asked cheerily while in some obscure, yoga-like pose on the floor.  
“It’s me, Spitfire.” 
 	“Oh Spitfire! Come in!” Skylight said, not moving from her position on the floor.
 	“Hey guys! Ready for today?” Spitfire said, opening the door.  
“Hey Spitfire!” Arrow said, finally getting up from the couch. They hugged with their wings.  
“Oh, hey!  Mr. Captain!”  
“Haha, oh, you heard?” Arrow said, cracking a smile. 
“You’ve been the talk around the Wonderbolts all day! Old Darkstreak finally hung up the goggles, eh?” Spitfire playfully elbowed Arrow in the chest.
 	“Haha, hardly. I feel like I’ve seen MORE of him since he supposedly retired! But I’m handling things now.” 
“If you call having a nervous breakdown handling things!” Skylight chimed in, now in a more complicated position on the floor.  	
Spitfire knelt down. “That.. doesn’t look at all comfortable....” she lifted her sunglasses, “...or possible.”  
“It’s actually--- *hhngh*  pretty relaxing!” Skylight coughed out.  
“I’m sure it is.” Spitfire stood back up. 
 	Arrow rolled his eyes. “So, Spitfire, what brings you to my humble domain?” 
 	“Uh, well... Arrow... I was hoping to talk to you about something in private...” 
 	“Ah, captain to captain, eh?” Arrow joked. 
 	“Heh, yeah... sorta.” Spitfire said nervously.
 	“No problem! Skylight, if you don’t mind. . .”
 	“Oh, I don’t! *nngghh*  Go ahead.” Skylight said. “I’m just doing my stretches, you know... loosening up... for the big... *gghhrr--race. Just giving the old wings a stretch, and... the spleen, apparently...” 
 	“You can’t get out of that position, can you?” Arrow asked, placing his hoof on his face.  
“Ha!  Can’t get out of this position!?  HAHA!!  Of course-- *grunt* --I can!!” Skylight laughed nervously, at this point in a tightly coiled ball. “I..  haha...  I can totally get out of... um...”  
“Hey Spitfire, open the door, would ya?” Arrow said, walking behind Skylight. 
“Sure.” Spitfire complied. 
Arrow gently pushed the now ball-shaped Skylight, rolling her out the door. 	“Wait wait waitwait!!” Her voice trailed off as she rolled further from the room. 
Arrow yelled, “Find CC! She’ll help you!” and closed the door.  
Spitfire laughed, “You guys really do just have fun all the time, don’t you?”
“We try.” Arrow sat back down. “Skylight makes that pretty easy. She makes everything about racing pretty fun.”
“It’s too bad we don’t have room for goofballs on our team.” Spitfire sat down on the other couch. “It’s always all business... But I suppose if your organization ever gets as big as The Wonderbolts, it’ll be a lot less fun and games.”
“Well, that’ll be the day I quit, Spitfire.” Arrow said, leaning back in his seat. “If you’re not having fun, then what’s the point?”
Spitfire just smiled. Sometimes she was a little envious of how laid back The Shadowbolts seemed to be. Especially Arrow. It’s like nothing ever got him down.
“Arrow, I need to tell you something...” Spitfire said, taking her glasses off once again...


*            *            *


After finishing up her conversation with Soarin, Fire Blitz saw CC speaking with the two pegasus mares by the soda machine. One had a yellow coat and aquamarine colored mane, while the other was a baby blue with a white mane. Fire Blitz quickly walked over to CC and nudged her. “Way to ditch me, CC! What was THAT all about!?” Blitz said, pulling her aside as she approached her.
“Uh, excuse me a moment, girls.” CC said embarrassed as Fire Blitz pulled her away by the wing. “It was just Soarin, Fire Blitz. Look, I know he can be a bit much initially, but he really is an outstandingly fast, and extremely focused flyer! I can assure you, any information he gave you is invaluable!”
“Are you sure?” Blitz asked, “Because what he told me to do was--”
“--You know, Soarin and your captain  Night Arrow  have an interesting little rivalry!” The yellow mare added, eavesdropping on their conversation. “I don’t really know why, but they kind of hate each other, and it’s rather adorable. Needless to say Soarin isn’t exactly thrilled to see  The Shadowbolts  becoming so successful.” 
“You don’t say...” Fire Blitz muttered,  “Oh, and by the way,  Cloudy,  what’s going on between YOU and that jerk?”
CC blushed. “We  also  have kind of a history...” The two Wonderbolt mares both smiled. CC avoided eye contact with Blitz. “But that’s all in the past... uhh,” she looked up at the yellow and blue twins. “Now, let’s not be rude, Fire Blitz! Meet  our  competition for today! These are  The Fleetfoot Twins!”  She said, nudging Fire Blitz back toward the two mares.
*click, click*  The white-maned twin clicked her back teeth, her ears still twitching. “And who’s that with you, CC?” The light blue mare with the white mane said excitedly. She turned around, still staring into what seemed like the space above Blitz’s head; her ears twitching constantly.
“This is our newest member of the A-Wave! Her name is Fire Blitz.” CC said, pushing her forward. “Blitz, these are the Fleetfoot twins, Misty and Echo!”
“Oh, uh, Nice to meet you.” Blitz put her hoof out politely. Misty, the yellow mare, returned the gesture, while Echo just smiled.
“Hello Fire Blitz, it’s a pleasure, I’m Misty Fleetfoot.” The yellow mare said.
“It’s nice to meet you, Fire Blitz!” The light blue mare said, ears still twitching in all directions. “I’m Echo!”
“Wow, so... you’re really blind!” Blitz said, staring at Echo’s eyes. The light blue color covered both her irises and pupils, like two big bowls of milk.
“Blitz!”  CC elbowed her aggressively.
“Well, isn’t she delightfully insightful?” Misty smiled, while Echo just laughed, still seemingly staring blankly across the room.
“I’m so sorry, girls, Blitz can be somewhat blunt in her observations.” CC said.
“It’s okay! I get it all the time!” Echo said.
“It’s just... I never believed it!” Blitz said, “I’ve seen you race across the track! It’s amazing! It’s like you can see the whole track at once! And when I heard you were blind!! I just... I thought, there’s no way!”
CC was turning red with embarrassment, which is impressive for a blue mare to do.
“Yup! Been blind since I was a filly! Since then, I learned to use this sound--” *click click*   “--to check my surroundings! It’s called  echolocation.”  Echo said.
“Like a bat...” Blitz said, now focusing on Echo’s constantly shifting ears.
“Exactly!” Echo smiled.
“Well, CC. While Fire Blitz gets a science lesson from Echo, why don’t you and I head over to the home team lounge room.” Misty said, leading CC to the other side of the stadium. “I hear a congratulations is in order, Ms. Co-Captain!”


CHAPTER 33
Meanwhile, back in the royal suite, *Knock Knock Knock* 
“Uuuuuugggghhh....” Raindrops moaned, her face still shoved into the pillow. 
“I’ll get it!” Scootaloo jumped out of bed and ran to the door.
“Hello Ms. Scootaloo,” Raindrops heard a stallion’s voice came from the hallway. “Is your sister available?”
“Silver Shield!” Scootaloo cheered “Yeah! Come on in!” she pulled him into the room.
Raindrops’ tired, bloodshot eyes shot open. “Scootaloo! No! Wait!” She yelled, and immediately threw the blankets over her head. She was nowhere near ready to be seen by strangers. No makeup, morning breath, bed-mane, and she really had to pee. 
“Raindrops?” Scootaloo said, standing next to the royal guard in the middle of the suite staring at a large lump under the blankets of her sister’s bed. “Rainy, Silver Shield is here.” She said.
“Oh is he, now?” Raindrops replied sarcastically.
“I’m so sorry Ms. Raindrops.” Silver Shield backed away towards the door. “I can leave for a moment if you’re not ready. I just wanted a word with--”
“How about  I  go to  you,  Silver Shield?” Raindrops said, annoyed. 	“Of course, Miss.” He said, and headed to the door. “I’ll be at the doors of the Royal Throne Room. Take your time.” He exited the room.
Raindrops emerged from her blankets with her unfortunate family bags under her eyes, prominent as ever.
“Well that was rude.” Scootaloo said, crossing her arms.
Raindrops clenched her teeth, “I’m gonna pee, then come out and kick your plot, Scoots!” She said, and walked into the suite’s bathroom.
Scootaloo stayed in the middle of the room, confused. “What!?” She yelled through the bathroom door. “Why am I in trouble!? You were the one that was rude!!”


CHAPTER 34
Soarin was munching on some chips near the window of the main room, overlooking the track, shifting his focus from the clouds to his own reflection, looking right back at himself.
“Lookin’ good Co-Captain.” He smiled to himself.
“Not after any more of those chips...” A voice said from under the table.
“What the--? Who is that!?” 
Skylight crawled out from under the table, and stood up next to Soarin.
“None other than  Skylight! Shadowbolt Extraordinaire!!”  She said.
“Oh, it’s just Night Arrow’s lackey.” Soarin scoffed. “What were you doing under a table?”
“What? Night Arrow’s--?  Pff!!”  Skylight was insulted. “I am  NOT  just a lackey! I’m the fastest, bestest racer our team has! ...and I was just getting through with some early morning stretches...”
“Ha! Fastest racer on your ENTIRE team? Haha, your team of what? Four? That’s one heck of an accomplishment,  Neon Brite!”  Soarin smiled condescendingly.
Skylight clenched her teeth.
“Oh, by the way, congrats on the getting promoted to Co-Captai--- Oh, wait a minute. That wasn’t you! That was small, blue, and geeky. Not weird, green, and freaky. My bad, I always get you two confused.” He tossed a few more chips into his mouth.
“Oh yeah!? Well-- Um...” That one genuinely hurt. Skylight’s eyes began to water. There was obviously no talking to this jerk. “I-- I have to go. Have a good race...” She whimpered out. 
“Bye  Skylie!”  Soarin yelled out. “Oh, and tell your  fearless leader  to come out of the  visitor’s closet!”  He sneered. “I want a word with him...”


*            *            *


“So... wait. I don’t understand, Spitfire... You don’t want me to be upset at you... for something you haven’t done... but-- can’t tell me, what you’re... not gonna do?” Arrow asked.
“Basically...” Spitfire said. “Geeze... this was easier explaining to Rain--” She caught herself. “uhhh Rain....bow Dash! Yeah, Rainbow Dash. I um.. I had a similar situation happen with some friend who’s trying out for Wonderbolts next season...! The uh, Ponyville division! She was helping with the rainfall into Cloudsdale... and... I’m over explaining this...” She sighed. “You talk now.”
Arrow just stared at her for a moment. “Spitfire, just tell me what’s going on.”
Spitfire sighed again. The race was in a few hours. What’s the harm of him knowing? On one hoof, he would be better prepared to approach her. He would know what he was going to say, and he’d already know everything Spitfire could tell him about Raindrops. On the other hoof, he might be upset that she didn’t tell him sooner... or he may be so preoccupied he would lose his focus on the race and make a fool of himself.
No. 
No, Arrow is more professional than that.
He could definitely handle this.
She was going to tell him.
“Okay.” Spitfire said. “Just, don’t say anything until I’m completely done, okay?”
Arrow nodded.
“Okay.” Spitfire said again. “So, I got a letter a few weeks ago--”
At that moment the door suddenly creaked open. In the doorway was a glassy-eyed Skylight, on the verge of breaking down.
“Skylight!” Arrow sat up. “What happened??”
“*sniff*  Nothing, Arrow.” She said. “I don’t need you solving my problems.” She walked over to the other side of the room. “I’m a coach now, and I can handle things myself.”
After a moment of thought, Arrow and Spitfire both looked at one another and came to the same conclusion: “Soarin.”  They said in unison.

Night Arrow stormed out of the visitor’s room, “Soarin!”  he called angrily. Spitfire trailed behind.
“Arrow, I’m so sorry about Soarin...” Spitfire said, barely keeping up with him. “You know how he can get...”
“What the hell, man?” Arrow scowled as he approached the blue pegasus stallion.
“Oh, hey  buddy!”  Soarin said with fake sincerity. “Haven’t seen you around much lately Mr. Captain! How’s it feel?”
“Don’t hey  buddy  me! What the hell did you tell Skylight?” Arrow got into his face.
Soarin just smiled. “Who me? Nothing, man! Just congratulated her on the whole Co-Captain thing. Then she stormed off all weird.” He said.
“She didn’t  make  Co-Captain...” Arrow said slowly through his teeth.
“What? She didn’t?” Soarin put his hoof on his chest dramatically. “Oh well that’s too bad... oh, and now her reaction makes a whole lot more sense--”
“Soarin, you gotta stop being such a bully, and start having some good sportsmanship.” Spitfire warned. At this point the rest of both A-Waves, Shadowbolts and Wonderbolts alike, started to approach the scene, making a circle around Night Arrow and Soarin.
“A bully? Me?”  Soarin said. “Now that doesn’t sound quite like me, if I do say so myself... But just a side note, one captain to another,” he turned to Arrow once again, “You gotta man-up your team  Nighty’.  A little  misunderstanding  and your star flyer runs away with her tail between her legs? Now that right there, doesn’t sound like A-Wave material to me...” 
At this point, Skylight dragged her hooves out of the visitor’s room, seeing the small mob formed around Arrow and Soarin.
Soarin made eye contact with her across the room and smiled. “That sounds to me like your top flyers... need to  grow up.”  he winked at Skylight without Arrow noticing.
Skylight looked down at the ground.
“But then again, what do I know?” Soarin laughed, taking a few steps from Arrow. “I’ve only been leading an all star flying team since your Princess and Founder was just an old pony-tale.”
Arrow slammed his hooves on the ground. “Enough!!”  he yelled. “Enough of your condescending mind games, Soarin! You stay the  buck  away from my team, do you hear me?” Arrow spread his wings, intimidatingly. “And you stop cantering around here like you’re so much better than everypony. I’m sick of it! We are an organization of  racers.  Just as official, and established, and professional as the Wonderbolts--”
“Now that’s where you’re  wrong,  Nighty’.” Soarin cut him off, his eyes narrowed. “You guys aren’t professional; you’re a  side project.  You’re what happens when new royalty gets  bored.  Pretty soon, Princess Cadance is gonna want her own racing team. Then, next thing you know, racing teams are gonna be popping up all across Equestria, and where does that leave the Wonderbolts?” He turned to his team. “Huh!?  Answer me!  Where does that leave  us!?”  His question was met with silence. He turned back to Arrow. “The Wonderbolts are a professional organization that most pegasus ponies could only  DREAM  of getting into. Then you guys come, and show up outta nowhere? Buncha’ hicks living off dirt and berries in the forest? Now you’re rubbing elbows with Canterlot royalty? ...  heh,  You’ve cheapened this sport, Night Arrow.” Soarin turned to the crowd again. “And you’ve all let this happen.” 
Night Arrow glared silently at him.
“We are  The Canterlot Royal Wonderbolts; Fastest Flyers in Equestria!” 
Soarin stated proudly, his chin up in victory.
He then lowered his head, and spoke softly into Night Arrow’s ear: “You guys, are just  villains.” 

The room was dead quiet.

Soarin walked away, shoving CC and Blitz on his way out of the circle, “See you on the track.”


CHAPTER 35
“I’ll go talk to him.” Spitfire said to Arrow.
“No.” he stopped her with his wing. “Don’t worry about it.”
Spitfire nodded. “It’s not true, you know.” she said. “You guys aren’t villains.” 
“I know.” Arrow said, turning toward his A-Wave team mates who were all huddled together, talking, no doubt about what just happened. “I just have to go convince them of that.” He walked towards his team.
Spitfire paused a moment, then walked towards her own team, on the other side of the room.
At this point, Fire Blitz was as confused as ever. Why did Soarin give her that ridiculous advice if he was just gonna go out and trash talk the entire team like that? If that’s how he really felt about  The Shadowbolts,  then why help her at all?
“Team meeting in the visitor’s room.” Arrow announced as he walked past his team mates.
CC and Skylight slowly dragged behind him. 
Fire Blitz just glared across the room at The Wonderbolts’ lounge room. ‘What are you playing at, Soarin?’  she thought. ‘And what does CC even see in you?’ 
“That means you too, Fire Blitz.” Arrow said sternly, sticking his head out of the visitor’s lounge room.
Blitz reluctantly turned around and headed inside. Once everyone was settled inside, Arrow turned to Fire Blitz. “So, you get to meet the rest of The Wonderbolts?” 
“Yeah.”
“What did you think?”
“Soarin’s an as--”
“--NOT  about Soarin, Fire Blitz.” Arrow interjected. “Did you meet Misty and Echo?” 
“She met them.” CC chimed in. 
“Well, what did you think?” Arrow said.
“They’re nice, I guess.” Blitz said.
The room was silent for a moment.
“Arrow?” Skylight finally said.
“Yeah, Sky’?”
“Are we really  hicks?”  She asked.
“--No, we’re  villains.”  Fire Blitz scoffed.
“Stop it, Blitz.” Arrow said. “We’re not hicks, or villains. We’re not immature, or unprofessional. Don’t let Soarin’ get into your heads. You’re all better than that.”
CC raised her hoof, “But he does have a valid point...”
“No, he doesn’t.”  Night Arrow said sternly. “He’s manipulative, egotistic, arrogant, and mean. He’s just trying to break our spirits before the race; he want’s us to lose our cool out there, guys. Now don’t let him win!”
Skylight was staring at the floor the entire time they were in the room.
CC was thinking hard about what Soarin had said about the repercussions of Luna forming the Shadowbolts. Was this just the beginning of the downfall of pegasus racing? 
Fire Blitz was angry. Angrier than usual. She hated being manipulated. Her stomach hurt more than when she was nervous, and her mind was racing back and forth. Did Soarin really hate all of The Shadowbolts? Or was he just trying to get under Arrow’s skin? He certainly cares for CC, or he wouldn’t have asked her to a movie. His advice seemed ridiculous, but CC still seems to trust him--
“We’re not villains, guys.” Arrow said again, breaking Blitz’s concentration. “Come on, we’re owned by a princess!”
“A princess that at one point wanted to make the night last forever.” Blitz said.
“Blitz-- That wasn’t really her!” Arrow said, frustrated. “You’ve all met Luna! You know she’s a good pony. She only wants what’s best for us!”
“But Night Arrow,” CC said. “What if Soarin is right?” Arrow rolled his eyes, but let her finish this time. “What if we are just a side project? I mean... I know exactly what he’s talking about, I grew up dreaming of being a Wonderbolt! These guys were celebrities in all of Equestria! The training camp alone is nearly impossible to get accepted into, and once you get to that level, it’s painstakingly difficult to pass all the tests. It’s a very exclusive team! And Princess Luna just walks up to us one day and asks us if we want to join her brand new team? We’re just the product of dumb luck!”
“Even so, CC.” Arrow said. “Even if you’re right. We go out there and race on the same track as ponies you grew up thinking were gods.” He stood up. “I’m here to tell you guys-- to tell  everypony,  they’re  NOT.  Soarin has been a Wonderbolt for years! And each and every day, he walks through Canterlot like he owns the place. The problem with being treated like a god every day, is eventually, the weak are foolish enough to believe it.” He turned to CC, “Growing up, Skylight and I had the same dream everypony fortunate enough to be born with wings has: to be a member of The Fastest Flyers in Equestria. And Princess Luna gave us the opportunity to do even BETTER than that.”
“Better than the fastest?” Blitz said.
“Much better.” Arrow smiled at her. “You know how many times I’ve beaten Soarin on the track?” 
“You keep track of that?” Blitz asked.
“No,” he lied, “but I can tell you one thing: it’s not zero!” Arrow said. “Which means, on several occasions, I’ve been faster than ‘The Fastest Flyers in Equestria’...” 
Skylight raised her head.
“And CC!” Arrow said. “You remember the first day Luna approached us?” CC looked him in the eyes. “You complained that you spent every day sitting in this very stadium while The Wonderbolts practiced, and not ONCE did they come up to you, right?” CC nodded. “Now look at us. Before every race? What do we do?”
“We put our flight suits on, and take pictures and sign autographs with fans.” CC said.
“Every. Single. Race.” Arrow said. “Yeah, we might not be as exclusive, and fancy as The Wonderbolts. But we are a group of pegasus ponies that can give little fillies and colts another team to look up to. We are  attainable.  And we are NOT gods. Sometimes we lose, but sometimes, we win. We’re just like everyone else.”
Skylight smiled.
“Now, Everfree Forest Shadowbolts, I want to do something a little different for this first race of the season.” Arrow said. “Instead of racing around the track for the hours before the race, let’s just go grab a light lunch, have a good time, and relax.”
The three mares smiled, even Fire Blitz.
“I’ll order some food to this room, we can get our minds off this morning, and just, hang out. Deal?” Arrow said.
“Deal.” CC smiled.
“Sounds good.” Blitz agreed, still slightly reluctant.
“Deal!”  Skylight jumped up.
“There we go! That’s the team I love to race with!” Night Arrow said. “I’ll be back, I’ll go order that food!”


As the Shadowbolts walked into the visitor’s room, the rest of the Wonderbolts were already inside theirs.
When Spitfire walked in she saw Soarin sprawled out, relaxing on one couch, and the Fleetfoot twins sitting, bored on the other couch.
“Unbelievable.”  Spitfire said.
The room was quiet.
“Soarin, look what you’ve done. Everyone was having a great time, and you go off and ruin it.”
“You should be thanking me.” Soarin said. “I have no idea why you guys feel you should cozy up all close to those frauds.”
“This was Fire Blitz’s first A-Wave race, you know that?” Spitfire continued her lecture. “And now, you’ve made us look like jerks!”
“Good!”  Soarin sat up, “Maybe she’ll quit then! One less amateur we have to worry about, then maybe, with any luck, one less team  we have to worry about.”
“One less team?” Spitfire said. “Do you hear yourself? You really want to go back to scrimmage races?? Just Wonderbolt against Wonderbolt?”
“Ah, the good old days...” Soarin smiled sarcastically.
“You’re ridiculous.” Spitfire said. She turned to the twins, “Did either of you mares get the chance to speak with Fire Blitz?”
“I did.” Echo said.
“She seemed very impressed with Echo.” Misty said.
“She didn’t even believe I was really blind.” Echo said, smiling.
“See? Impressed! That’s what she should be! We’re the Wonderbolts, and we own this industry.” Soarin said.
“The Shadowbolts are a team too, Soarin.” Spitfire said through her teeth. “We have to respect them.”
“You go ahead and hand your respect out to anyone you please.” Soarin said. “But growing up, I was taught respect is earned, not just given.”
“Arrow has kicked your butt on that track more times than I can count.”
“They race dirty and you know it!” Soarin snapped.
Unflinching, Spitfire countered, “They do not. Besides, breaking the spirits of the entire team before the race isn’t playing dirty?”
Soarin rolled his eyes. “I’ll say it again, if a few harsh realities takes his team down before they even hit the track, they’ve got to grow up.”
Spitfire just rolled her eyes and left the room. There was no talking to Soarin. And worst of all, this all went down just as she decided to tell Arrow about Raindrops.
“Oh well.” She sighed, “I guess he’s finding out the hard way.”


CHAPTER 36
A nice shower and a few dabs of concealer later, Raindrops walked with her little sister to meet Silver Shield by the doors of the Royal Throne Room. 
“...It doesn’t matter, Scootaloo,” Rainy was lecturing her sister. “you don’t just let random ponies into our room when I’m still trying to sleep.”
“But Silver Shield isn’t random, he’s the one who escorted us to the castle to begin with, remember?” Scootaloo protested. 	Raindrops sighed. “Nevermind, Scoots.” she gave up as they approached the large doors.
“Miss Raindrops, I am once again terribly sorry about this morning. I had no idea--”
“It’s fine, Silver Shield.” she said. “Scootaloo shouldn’t have just invited you in like that.”
“But--!” Scootaloo tried to chime in.
“Hush.” Raindrops said sternly. “Now, what was it you wanted to meet with me about?”
“I was just going to inform you that I will be your personal escort all day today for you and young Scootaloo’s day at Wonderbolts Stadium.” He said proudly. “As per request of Princess Celestia.”
“Really!?” Scootaloo said excitedly.
“What? No, that’s ridiculous.” Raindrops said. “We’re not going to sit in the stands next to a Royal Guard on our beckoned call. We don’t need to be taken care of.”
“Aww...” Scootaloo whined.
“Of course not, that would be very ridiculous, Ms. Raindrops.” Silver Shield said. “I can’t just stand near you in the regular stands, it would be distracting.”
“Thank you.” Raindrops nodded, about to walk away.
“No no, the Princess has arranged for you to have box seats to the race.”
“What!?” the sisters exclaimed in unison.
“Awesome!” Scootaloo said.
“No!” Raindrops said. “There is no way. No way!” she paced.
“But Miss Raindrops--” Silver Shield said.
“Unbelievable!” She continued. “Still getting special treatment! After all these years!”
“Rainy...” Scootaloo tugged at her sister’s mane.
“No, Scootaloo!” she said. “We’re not just gonna live like royalty here! We’re gonna sit in the seats we bought with our own money, and buy souvenirs like everypony else, and buy stadium food like everypony else, and have a regular good time like everypony else!!” She turned to Silver Shield. “Now tell Celestia  thanks, but no thanks!  But I’ve got it! And just leave me and my sister alone!” She said, and stormed away from the armored stallion.
Scootaloo just stood there, staring at her sister as she walked towards the exit of the castle. “Raindrops stop it!” She yelled, assertively.
Raindrops stopped, confused. Scootaloo trotted over to her sister.
“Just... stop acting like a  jerk!”  she said.
Raindrops was dumbfounded at the accusation. “Excuse me--?” Was all she could say in the face of a very angry little filly. 	“This trip is supposed to be fun!” Scootaloo said. “It’s my very first race, and it feels like everypony is trying to make it be super awesome, but you keep just trying to make it lame! Why?”
“Scootaloo, listen,” Raindrops kneeled down, “This silver-spooned, royalty life isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be. I’m sure it looks great, and fun, but it’s not. Trust me, I’ve  lived  it--”
“Exactly!” Scootaloo yelled. “You’ve  lived it! I didn’t! I was too young! I get it, Rainy. You like Ponyville. You like working, and you like using your own money. But we’re on vacation! And even though you want to keep living like dad didn’t exist, and wasn’t the most important pony the Wonderbolts ever had... well, I don’t.” she said. “And he was  my  dad too! So if the Princess wants to let me stay in a royal suite, then I’m gonna take it! And if she wants me to experience my very first race in a box seat, then why would I say no?” 
Raindrops was silent. Scootaloo continued. 
“We’re only here in Canterlot for one more night. Then it’s back to our little house in Ponyville, and you’re back to working at your job, and spending your bits. So I want to make the best of it! Just for once, when I get back, I want to be the one telling Sweetie Belle and Applebloom a really cool adventure that I had with my sister.” 
That made Raindrops smile; Scootaloo stopped yelling, her eyes became glassy. “They always have stories about their sisters talking to Princess Celestia, and fighting evil, and traveling all over Equestria...  Rarity did this... Applejack did that...  but when we get back tomorrow, I wanna go straight to the clubhouse, sit down in front of them and tell them,  Me and my big sister Raindrops had the best time this weekend...” 
Raindrops was speechless. She was so busy making sure everyone in Canterlot knew she was doing well without the help of her father’s fame and wealth, that she lost track of making sure Scootaloo had a good time. Her pride had made her selfish.
“I’m... I’m so sorry, Scoots...” she said, defeated. “We’ll sit wherever you want to today.”
Scootaloo’s eyes lit up. “Really!?” She exclaimed.
Raindrops nodded.
“Oh, thank you!” Scootaloo embraced her big sister. “Silver Shield!” the little filly yelled, running back to him. “We’re ready!”
Silver Shield smiled. “Of course, ladies.” he said, and escorted them to the cab waiting for them outside.


CHAPTER 37
*Yaaaawwn*  Trixie stretched and surveyed her surroundings, remembering where she was. Being a traveling magician pony had made the first thought in her head every morning ‘where am I?’  followed immediately by ‘where can I get coffee?’ 
When she awoke, she discovered it wasn’t the familiar wooden interior of her cart, it was the concrete and metal interior of the Everfree Forest Stadium Home Team Locker Room; also known as, Night Arrow’s place. 

“Arrow?” She called.
No answer.
“Night? Where are you...?” She noticed the bright yellow note attached to Night Arrow’s coffee maker.


 Hey Trix! 

 I didn’t want to wake you up since I had to be in Canterlot so early to meet with the team before the race. I know you usually get up about nine, so I scheduled one of Luna’s royal guards to pick you up from here at ten, and bring you to Canterlot for you to walk around a bit before the race. 

 Oh, and surprise: I set it up with Princess Luna that you’ll get box seats! Since you’re never in town for my races, I wanted this one to be a memorable one. 

 Since I’ll be busy until after the race, I’ll just assume you wish me luck, and even if you don’t, I snuck a lucky pre-race kiss this morning before I left! 

 Love you, 
 N.Arrow 


“Such a dork.” Trixie smiled, placing her hoof on her cheek. She looked at the time on Arrow’s dusty old clock on the wall. “Hmm, 9 on the dot. I guess I have an hour to shower and get ready.” 


*            *            *


The Wonderbolts spent the next few hours practicing on the track, while The Shadowbolts had some hay and salads delivered to the visitor’s room, lightening up the mood, and helping them form a tighter bond. 
“...So I spent the entire day talking to Zecora about oranges! I just couldn’t get her to drop the whole rhyme thing!” Skylight finished her story, making everypony laugh.
Just then, an aggressive knock was heard from the door.
“I swear to Celestia you ponies better not be relaxing on the couch eating hay in there!”  A deep stallion’s voice was heard from just outside.
“Is that--” Blitz began
“It’s Darkstreak.” Arrow said, getting up and heading to the door. “I’ll be right back...” He smiled, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He was greeted by a very big, and very angry gray pegasus stallion.
“What in Equestria are you doing in the visitor’s room half an hour before doors open to the public!?” Darkstreak scolded.
“I know, I know this looks bad... but you have to trust me when I say it was absolutely necessary...” Arrow coaxed.
“I would LOVE to hear how hanging out, eating snacks while your competition warms up and stretches is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!” He yelled.
“We were just about to head out there for a quick lap or two, and of course the meet and greet with the fans...” Arrow said. “Just, things got pretty tense this morning with The Wonderbolts; pretty much destroyed the team’s morale, so we needed this social time to get their spirits back up.” 
Darkstreak calmed down a bit.
Arrow continued, “You know Skylight can be kinda sensitive, and CC’s big problem was not knowing the group very well  off  the track. And this is Fire Blitz’s first A-Wave race! She looked so nervous yesterday I thought she was gonna pass out! They’ve all been working their plots off on the practice track back at Everfree, so trust me, they all really needed this social time.”
Darkstreak’s angry scowl turned into his normal, not-so-angry scowl. “Alright, kid. Makes some sorta sense.”
Arrow smiled, “I get it, Darkstreak. First big time being captain, you see me goofing off, I’d be upset if I were you too. But like you said, I gotta trust in my team, and I think they can deliver today. The Wonderbolts’ morale took a beating this morning too, and they’ve been on that track all day since. I think we have the advantage.”
“What happened that was so drastic it affected all you guys this bad?” Darkstreak asked.
“Soarin was mouthing off about--”
“Damnit Arrow!”  Darkstreak cut him off. “You gotta end this stupid rivalry-feud with Soarin! Beginning of last season you both beat each other half to death! Disqualified you both for three races, remember!? You can’t pull that kinda stunt as a captain now!”
“I know that!” Arrow said. “But this time he wasn’t just attacking me, he attacked my whole team! And  as  captain, I can’t just stand by and let him bad mouth us like that. And I didn’t hit him! ...this time.”
“You sure you were just defending the team? Or your own pride?” Darkstreak said. “Because from what I know about you, both of those things are pretty high up on your priorities list, Arrow, and when push comes to shove, I can’t be sure which would win.”
Night Arrow raised his head proudly. “I know what I’m doing Darkstreak.” he said. “I appreciate your advice, I’ve taken it for years. And I respect you more than anypony I’ve ever met. But you just have to trust me when I say, I have this team’s best interest in mind.”
Darkstreak looked sternly at Night Arrow. His mouth cracked a smile. “Alright kid.” He turned towards the stands. “I trust you.”
Night Arrow smiled confidently at the approval of his mentor.
“Alright kid, I gotta head up to the coach’s box.” Darkstreak turned to leave. 
“What? Aren’t you gonna be out there on the sidelines?” Arrow asked.
“No, not this season, Arrow.” Darkstreak said. “This season, I’m just a coach, not a captain, and you know the rules.”
“Oh, that’s right...” Arrow said. He didn’t realize he’d be running the race solo this season, since last season they technically didn’t have a coach. Darkstreak was coaching and racing along side them.
“Coaches sit in the box during the races. We tell you how to race on the practice tracks, but not during official races. No more special treatment, for us, kid. You’re completely on your own out there.” Darkstreak continued.
“No problem, Darkstreak.” Arrow nodded. “Just don’t let Coach Brightspeed bore you to death up there.” He joked.
Darkstreak almost smiled. “I’ll be rooting for you guys.” He began to walk away. “Tell the team I said  good luck.” 


CHAPTER 38
Scootaloo and Raindrops, accompanied by Silver Shield, walked up to the Wonderbolts Stadium gate.
“Wow...” Scootaloo said in awe. “This place is huge!” Scootaloo began to run around the entrance of the stadium, surveying every wall and decoration.
Raindrops just smiled. She’d always been so jaded by the stadium since she saw it pretty much every day, but seeing how awe-struck Scootaloo was allowed her to see it with a fresh new perspective. She’d spent so much time and effort burying her past, she had forgotten just how awesome it was. Memories came flooding back, and her smile widened.
“Is that a smile, Miss Raindrops?” Silver Shield asked.
“Huh? Oh... yeah. Just a lot of memories here, ya know?” Raindrops said.
“I’m sure there are. It’s just, since I met you, I haven’t seen you smile once!” Silver Shield teased.
“What? Really?” Raindrops thought back. He was right! She really was ruining this trip for her and Scootaloo. “You know what Silver Shield, you’re right.” She nodded, “I’m gonna make the best of the rest of this trip. No more letting stupid things get me down! We’re only here for one more night, and I wanna make sure this is a memorable trip for both Scootaloo,  and  me!” She proudly walked up to the gate.
Waiting for them at the gate was a middle-aged unicorn stallion with a light brown coat and black mane, wearing a Wonderbolts polo shirt. “Tickets please.” He said dryly.
Silver Shield used his magic to pull out the two box seat tickets from a pocket on his armor, as well as his royal guard id card.
“Oh, you’re guests of Princess Celestia!” the gate keeper said with a lively new tone. “Of course! Right this way.” The three ponies walked through the gate. “The box seats are on the second floor, all the way down the hall!”
Scootaloo immediately ran to the rows of normal seats directly in front of the entrance to catch her first view of the massive track. She couldn’t believe her eyes! 	There in the center of this huge stadium was a gaping hole, and a doughnut shaped cloud which made up the track. On the track was Spitfire, in her full Wonderbolt uniform, and the rest of the Wonderbolts. 
“Pretty impressive, eh?” Raindrops said coming up from behind her.
“This place is so awesome!!” Scootaloo yelled. “I wanna be a racer!”
Raindrops laughed. “Well, when you get back to Ponyville, I’ll ask your friend Rainbow Dash how you’re doing with those flying lessons, and see if I can help you get in the air a little faster. Then, once you’ve got your cutie mark, we’ll send an application to the Wonderb--”
“The Shadowbolts!” Scootaloo finished Raindrops’ sentence excitedly.
“...or the Shadowbolts, I suppose.” Raindrops said, trying not to flinch at the idea.
“Rainy! Let’s go get me that flag!” Scootaloo said, pulling on her sister’s wing.
“Scoots, are you  sure  you don’t want to root for the Wonderbolts--?”
“You promised, Rainy!” Scootaloo whined.
Raindrops stood quiet for a moment, then gave in. “You’re right. I did... *sigh*  let’s go get you that flag.”
“Yes!!” Scootaloo said, and ran off ahead, her wings buzzing with excitement.
“I’m sure it’s just a phase, Miss Raindrops.” Silver Shield said. “She’s just being oppositional. I’m sure it’ll pass.”
Raindrops smiled again. “I hope you’re right, Silver Shield.”


*            *            *


Back at Everfree Forest Stadium, there was a knock on the home team locker room door.
“Hmm, that must be my ride.” Trixie said, putting on her cape and straightening her hat. She opened the door and saw the strangest looking pony she’d ever seen. He was a dark gray, with long frayed fur at the tips of his ears, and bat-like wings. His pupils were slits like a snake, and his teeth were much sharper than any pony she’d ever seen.
“Miss Trixie Lulamoon?” He said with a raspy voice.
“Um, yes.” Trixie responded, not sure what to make of this... creature.
“I come on behalf of Luna, Princess of the Night, by invitation of Night Arrow of the Everfree Forest Shadowbolts to escort you to Wonderbolts Stadium for today’s race.” He said, bowing.
Trixie did enjoy being bowed to.
“Oh, well yes. I am  The Great and Powerful Trixie!”  She announced proudly. “And Trixie has been expecting you.” She pointed her snout up.
The bat-pony raised his head and motioned for her to follow him. “The chariot is right this way.” He said, unmoved by her boastful introduction, and led her to the black and violet vehicle. Another, identical bat-pony was already attached to the reigns, and didn’t seem to acknowledge anything happening around him.
‘Very strange’  Trixie thought. ‘I wonder where Luna found ponies like this to be her guards...?’ 
The first bat-pony helped her into the chariot, and attached himself to the remaining reigns. Without another word, the two lifted the chariot into the sky and headed towards Canterlot.


*            *            *


“Alright ladies, suit up!” Arrow said, zipping up his Shadowbolts outfit. “Let’s get to the track, stretch a little, do 20 quick laps, and our trademark meet-n-greet! Then clear the track for the opening ceremony!”
Fire Blitz was much calmer now that she had some time to just hang out with the rest of the team. Her anger towards Soarin didn’t go away, and in fact just made her want to push even harder on the track to show him just how fast she could be.
Skylight was already in her flight suit and goggles and was hopping around the visitors room excitedly.
CC put her regular Wonderbolts goggles away in her bag and pulled out her Shadowbolts pair. “We’re all ready, Arrow!” she smiled.
“I was BORN ready!!” Skylight yelled.
“How ya doing Blitz?” Arrow nudged the red mare.
“I’m great, Arrow.” She said with a smile. “Let’s show these guys how  The Shadowbolts  race!”
Arrow nodded and smiled. “Let’s get out there!”
“Yes Sir!” The three mares shouted in unison, and they bursted out of the door onto the track.


CHAPTER 39
“This is it, ladies,” Silver Shield opened the door with his magic. “The Wonderbolt Stadium box suite.”
The two pegasus mares slowly walked inside. 
The room was carpeted a dark blue, and the walls were painted a light blue with a yellow stripe horizontally across the middle. There was a small buffet in the back of the room and 8 cushiony chairs lined the front of the room, only about two feet from the giant glass window which made up the wall facing the track.
“This is amazing!” Scootaloo shouted excitedly.
“I gotta admit, this is pretty impressive!” Raindrops said. “This is new, isn’t it?”
“It was built a year ago, to commemorate the first  competitive  racing season for the Canterlot Wonderbolts.” Silver Shield said matter-of-factly. 
“And we have it all to ourselves!?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, let me check the reservations,” Silver Shield said, using his horn to bring the clipboard hanging on the wall closer to his face. “Um, no actually, it says Princess Celestia has reserved seats for the two of you, and Princess Luna has reserved a seat for one.”
“There’s gonna be some other random pony in here?” Raindrops asked.
“Apparently.” Silver Shield said. “Whoever it is, they’re a guest of Princess Luna.”
“Maybe they’re a Shadowbolt fan!” Scootaloo said.
“Most likely.” Silver Shield said, “Princess Luna is much more involved with her racing team than Princess Celestia is. The Wonderbolts pretty much run themselves; Celestia just hires a coach, and investors and ticket sales take care of the finances. The Shadowbolts have no coach, so the captain runs the team while Princess Luna makes all the big decisions.”
“Who’s the captain?” Raindrops asked. “Last I checked it was a stallion named Darkstreak.” Silver Shield said. “But he was getting up in years, so I’m not sure if he’ll be returning this season.”
“Darkstreak?” Raindrops thought aloud for a moment, “That’s the name of my old flight school instructor. I wonder if it’s the same stallion...” she said.
“I’m not sure Miss Raindrops,” Silver Shield said “I apologize, but I don’t know much about the Shadowbolts.” 
“Well, I’m gonna grab some food!” Scootaloo said, running to the small buffet in the back of the room.
“Sounds good to me.” Raindrops said, walking over as well. “I’m starving.”


*            *            *


Luna’s bat-pony guards landed directly in front of Wonderbolt Stadium, Trixie in the chariot behind, still lifting her chin up at the crowds of Canterlot ponies that happen to glance her way. She absolutely loved the attention.
“We have arrived, Miss Trixie.” The guard announced.
“So we have.” Trixie said, walking gracefully out of the vehicle.
“I will accompany you to the suite.” The other guard said, detaching himself from the reigns.
“Trixie appreciates it.” She said, and walked with the guard through the gate, and up towards the suite.
Almost to the door, Trixie asked, “Will you and Trixie be the only ponies in this royal suite?”
“No.” The bat-pony said, “Celestia, Princess of the Sun has two guests and their royal escort inside.”
“Oh,” she smiled. ‘Good.’ Trixie thought ‘This weird looking pony would be awful company, especially if it would be just me and him. Besides, maybe I can sell a few tickets to MY show while I’m here.’ 
The bat-pony politely opened the door, and Trixie walked in, as arrogant as ever. With her snout up, chest out, and eyes closed, she boasted “Alright everypony, do not get too excited! The Great and Powerful Trixie is here to watch a race, and not to sign autographs!” she stopped in the middle of the room, and batted her eyelashes, “Well, unless the price is right...”
“You!”  Raindrops snarled. “Of all the ponies in Equestria...!”
Trixie surveyed the two mares and the royal guard, and raised an eyebrow. “Is Trixie supposed to know you?”
“You humiliated our friends!” Scootaloo yelled.
“That... doesn’t really narrow it down.” Trixie rolled her eyes.
“A few months ago! In Ponyville!” Raindrops snapped.
“Ponyville!?”  Trixie’s smile turned to a scowl. “Oh... you’re friends with  Twilight Sparkle.”  she said through her teeth.
“We’re friends with the whole town!” Scootaloo said. “And you nearly destroyed it!”
“Now now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Trixie dramatically put her hoof to her chest, appearing offended at the accusation. “The Great and Powerful Trixie merely performed a quick show! It was those dumb little foals who brought an Ursa to your  backwater  little town.”
“Those colts were the only ponies in town you would tolerate you!” Raindrops yelled, stepping closer to Trixie. “And you call them dumb? It’s no wonder entire towns hate you!”
“Oh no, hun. That’s just  jealousy.”  Trixie said, her smug smile returning to her face.
“Why you--!” Raindrops opened her wings threateningly, Trixie did not flinch.
“--Rainy! Stop!” Scootaloo pulled at her sister’s tail. “Not now! We’re gonna get kicked out of the box seats just because you wanna fight!”
Trixie winced at the mention of the yellow mare’s name. ‘Rainy?’  she thought, ‘Why does that name sound so familiar...?’ 
You’re right, Scoots.” she said. “She’s not worth it. Just do us a favor and stay on your side of the room. We’d like to enjoy the race.”
“Whatever.” Trixie said, not letting up her prima-donna attitude. She walked over to the seats on the other side of the room. ‘Rainy, and Scoots...?’  she thought to herself... ‘I know those names... Wait, could they be...?’  She glanced at the two pegasus mares. ‘No. No way.’  She shook it off.


*            *            *


“Fillies and Gentlecolts!”  The loud speaker blared across the stadium. Fanfare trumpeted behind the announcer’s voice. “On behalf of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, I would like to welcome you all to the Canterlot Royal Wonderbolt Stadium!” 
“Sorry everypony!” Arrow announced to the crowd, “Looks like it’s showtime! No more autographs today!” 
Fire Blitz was having the time of her life. She couldn’t believe that anypony would even want her autograph.
“Alright, ladies! It’s  showtime!”  Arrow said. The entire team flew over to the locker room hallway underneath the stands and got ready to be officially announced out.
“Okay...” Blitz said with wavering enthusiasm.
“Don’t be nervous, Blitzy!” Skylight bounced, “You and CC got this race  in the BAG!” 
“Yeah, Blitz. You’ll do great.” Arrow smiled. “Skylight and I will be cheering for you from here!”
“Thanks, Arrow.” Blitz said.
“No problem. We promoted you for a reason, Blitz. You’re ready for this,  trust me.” 


*            *            *


Meanwhile, on the other side of the stadium The Wonderbolts’ A-Wave was standing in  their  hallway, ready to make their big entrance.
“Alright, A-Wave!” Spitfire yelled. “Let’s have some good, clean races out there, and most importantly: have fun--”
“Most importantly, wipe the track with these posers!” Soarin interrupted.
“Sportsmanship,  Soarin!” Spitfire said.
“Just a little pep-talk, oh fearless leader. Healthy competition, I swear.” He smiled.
Spitfire raised an eyebrow. “As I was saying... Echo and Misty, just go out there, focus, remember your tactics, and have a good time.”
“Yes Ma’am!” the Fleetfoot twins said in unison. 
Over the loudspeaker, the voice continued: “Our first race this evening is between the first half of each A-Wave race team! Please welcome, the visitors from the Dark and Mysterious Woods Beyond Canterlot: The Everfree Forest Shadowbolts!” 
Soarin rolled his eyes.


*            *            *


Up in the stands: “Oh good the race is starting!” Scootaloo said excitedly.
“Silver Shield! Come over and sit with us!” Raindrops called to him.
“I couldn’t, Miss Raindrops.” He said, humbly, “As guards, we must be by the door.”
“Oh bat-pony!” Trixie yelled, without turning around. “Bring Trixie her flag, please?”
“Yes Miss Trixie.” The bat-pony complied and brought a small, rolled up flag to Trixie’s seat.
“Thank you.” She said, still sounding cold. The bat-pony bowed and returned to his place by the door.
“Come on, Silver Shield!” Raindrops said, “I insist!”
“But Miss Rain--”
“Now!”  She scolded.
Silver Shield sighed and glanced at the bat-guard standing on the adjacent side of the door. He was statuesque, and unmoved. “...if you insist.” he said, and walked over to the seats near the pegasus sisters.


*            *            *


The announcer continued, “Representing The Shadowbolt’s A-Wave for race one are newly appointed Co-Captain: CC, and a fresh face for the top-tier of the racing team, Fire Blitz!” 
“That’s our cue, Blitz! Let’s get out there!” CC said, and blasted into the sky above the track.
“Here we go...” Blitz gulped nervously, and followed quickly behind.
Cheers filled the stadium as CC waved enthusiastically to the crowd, and flew around the track a few times, Blitz followed close behind her. And that’s when it all sank in; all these fans were cheering for  her.  Of course, they were cheering for the whole team, but Fire Blitz was  on  this team! She was a quarter of the entire Shadowbolts’ A-Wave! And as she and CC zipped around the track, the roar of the crowd made one thing very, very apparent:
Fire Blitz finally made it.
She was a professional racer!
...and she had  fans! 


*            *            *


“The Shadowbolts are coming out!” Scootaloo shouted excitedly. “Oh wait! I never got my Shadowbolts flag!” Scootaloo said.
“I didn’t see any on the way up from the entrance, Scoots...” Raindrops said. “But, I did bring my old Wonderbolt jersey from when I was your age...” she smiled, and pulled out the old, worn-out jersey from the saddle-pack under her seat. “Just in case you wanna root for a winning team.” She teased.
“Nope!” Scootaloo said. “Uh, wait-- I mean, I  am  rooting for a winning team! The  Shadowbolts  are gonna win! I just need a flag or something to cheer with!”
“Well, they’re kinda new, right? Maybe they don’t make Shadowbolts flags yet.” Raindrops said.
Scootaloo lowered her head. Then glanced at Trixie, who at this point had unrolled her flag, and was holding it up, waving it with her magic.
“Hey!” Scootaloo said, “Where did you get a Shadowbolts flag!?”
“Scootaloo!”  Raindrops said, “We’re not talking to her, remember!?”
“But, if she has a flag, that means they do make them! Maybe we can get one too!”
Trixie turned to Scootaloo. “Trixie knows one of the racers...  personally.  He gave this to me a long time ago.”
“Is there any way I can get one?” Scootaloo asked.
Trixie was about to answer in her regular, condescending tone, but then she saw something. It was Scootaloo’s eyes. Or.. rather, it was Night Arrow’s eyes. Those exact same tone of violet, the unmistakeable tired look in them; that’s when it hit her. 
“I-- Uh, Trixie can--” she stuttered as the realization made her panic a little in the back of her head. “Just...  Here.”  she offered her flag to Scootaloo, not knowing what else to do.
“Really...?” Scootaloo asked, understandably skeptical.
“Yes, um... Trixie does not know very many other Shadowbolt fans. So, you can use it during the first race if you’d like.” She said, still not lowering her snout. “But you have to give it back to Trixie when the race is over!” She snapped. “I... I’m cheering for someone in particular in the second race.”
Scootaloo didn’t know what to say. Raindrops always told her to say ‘thank you’ when ponies gave her things, but then again, Raindrops also wanted to beat the crap out of this particular pony. “Um, thank you?” Scootaloo said.
“You are welcome.” Trixie said, not looking into those little violet eyes any more.
This entire time, Raindrops sat quietly, not knowing whether to jump in and refuse the gift, or just stay quiet. An awkward, confused silence filled the room.
‘What do I do?’ Trixie thought to herself, ‘It IS them! They’re just how he described them! And they have no idea he’s on that track... or even alive!’  A nervous drop of sweat came down Trixie’s face. ‘This isn’t going to end well...” 


*            *            *


“That was fun, eh?” CC said as the two mares landed on the starting line.
“That was AWESOME!” Blitz exclaimed. “I’ve never felt so... so awesome!”
CC just smiled. She remembered her first time in front of a cheering crowd. Of course that was only a season ago, but the rush of your first time is indescribable! And they’ve sure gained some fans since then!
“And finally...”  The announcer said, in a deep voice as the stadium lights dimmed. “The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Representing their A-Wave for the first race of the evening... The Fastest Flyers in Equestria... The Brave and Bold in Blue and Gold... Please welcome to the track: Echo and Misty Fleetfoot of your Royal-- Canterlot-- Woooooonderboooooooolts!!” 
The crowd went absolutely insane when the lights flashed back on, and fireworks shot into the sky above the track. The Fleetfoot twins shot out of their respective side of the track and flew around enthusiastically.
“Hey CC!” Blitz shouted over the noise of the crowd and fireworks.
“Yeah!?”
“Why are they connected by that wire!?” Blitz pointed out. There was a small tether attached to Misty’s back leg and Echo’s front hoof as they flew through the smoke and applause.
“Echo is blind, remember!?” CC said. “With all the noise from the fireworks and cheering at the beginning of races, her clicking technique doesn’t work too well, so her sister leads them around the track during the big introduction!”
“Oh!” Blitz nodded. “That makes sense!”
The crowd died down, and the smoke cleared as the Fleetfoot twins made their way to the starting line.
“You’re on row 3, hun.” Misty said as she untied the tether from her sister’s hoof.
“-click-, -clickclick-, -click-.  Okay, I got it.” Echo smiled. “Thanks, Misty!”
“Break a leg, ladies!” CC smiled, and dug her back hooves into the cloud, getting into racing position.
“You too, CC!” Echo said, continuing her clicks softly.
“Have a good first race, Fire Blitz.” Misty said.
Blitz smiled. “Thanks Misty, break a leg.” she lowered her head, and closed her eyes, getting ready for the count off.
“Alright, everypony! May the best racer win!”  The loud speaker blared. “The race will begin on my count! Standard 200-lap race! 2 pit stops allowed per racer, so make ‘em count! Are all racers ready!?” 
The four mares spread their wings in response, ready to push forward.
“Great! Then let the first race of the season begin in 3...!” 

Blitz grit her teeth.

“2...!” 

‘Here goes nothing’ 

“1...!” 

Blitz’s eyes shot open.

“GO!” 


CHAPTER 40
The four pegasus ponies pushed into the soft cloud below their hooves and headed full speed into the first lap of the race.
“Rainy!” Scootaloo yelled from her seat. “Look! Look at the one with the red and black mane! She looks so cool!”
“This is her first A-Wave race.” Trixie said without taking her eyes off the track. “Her name is Fire Blitz.”
Scootaloo leaned forward, still waving the little black flag. “You said you know one of the racers?”
Trixie quickly glanced at Scootaloo. “Yes. *ahem*  as a  celebrity  in Equestria, Trixie has the opportunity to meet all kinds of famous ponies.”
Raindrops rolled her eyes.
“As the first few laps of the race are well underway, it looks like newcomer Fire Blitz is really holding her own on the track!”  The announcer said over the speaker. “Wonderbolt Misty Fleetfoot is still leading the pack with a one lap lead over Shadowbolt CC! Fire Blitz is in third and, as impressive as ever, Echo Fleetfoot is speeding around the track at break-neck speeds only relying on her echolocation!” 
“Echolocation?” Raindrops said.
“Oh yes. I’ve heard of her.” Silver Shield smiled. “Echo and Misty are twin sisters, but Echo lost her sight at an early age, so she’s been relying on echolocation to map out her surroundings. It’s a pretty impressive trick when you consider just how fast she’s flying around that track. Just one wrong move and she can slam into a wall.”
“Echolocation? Like a bat?” Raindrops asked.
“Or like a dolphin!” Scootaloo said, “I like dolphins better, bats are weird-looking.”
Raindrops quickly elbowed Scootaloo, and motioned towards the bat-pony guard at the door. He still remained unmoved, and unflinching.
Scootaloo covered her mouth, and the sisters held in a laugh.


 	“Go CC!! Go Blitzy!!” Skylight yelled, leaning against the rail from the visitor’s sidelines. “She’s doing really well!”
“I hope she’s not giving it all she’s got in these first few laps.” Arrow said. “She’s only got two pit stops, and that’s usually just to grab some water, or stretch your wings.”
“This ’aint her first rodeo, Arrow!” Skylight said in a fake southern accent. “Blitz’s been ‘round the track before!”
“Stop talking like that.”
“You’re no fun.”
“I’m just saying,” Arrow continued, “this is an A-Wave race! 200 laps! Blitz has only competed with B-Wave; 150 laps, and 3 pitstops.”
“But we’ve been practicing for 200 laps!” Skylight said. “She’ll be fiiiiiine!”
“We’ll see.” Arrow said.


“Come on Echo, catch up...!” Soarin said, clenching his teeth.
“Relax, Soarin. We’re still in the first 50 laps. The real racing doesn’t start till at least lap 100.”
“I still don’t know why we even have a  blind  Wonderbolt on the A-Wave.” Soarin complained. “She’s good, but she’s B-Wave-captain-good, not A-Wave good.”
“She’s won quite a few races.” Spitfire said. “Besides, you can’t split up Misty and Echo. They’re a team!”
“Echo holds Misty back and you know it.”
“No, Misty supports Echo. They’re  family.  That’s what they do. Something team mates should also do.” Spitfire said imposingly.
“Heh, is that a dig at me?” Soarin scoffed. “I just have what’s best for the team in mind.” He said through his trademark smug smile. “You know, how a  captain  should.”
“You telling me how to captain this team?” Spitfire glared.
“I would  never. . .”  Soarin said patronizingly.


“-click-, -click- -clickclick-” 
‘Buck. She’s right behind me...’  Fire Blitz thought. ‘I can’t let her pass me up!’  already starting to feel the fatigue. 
“It’s lap 73! And Echo is closing the gap between her and Fire Blitz!”  The speaker announced. “Misty is using up her first pit stop to grab some water! Will this give CC the time she needs to catch up?” 
‘Not gonna happen right now.’  CC thought. ‘I need to give these wings a stretch before the race really heats up.’ 
“Oh! CC is taking her pit stop too! This gives Fire Blitz a little time to close the two lap lead these two have on her!” 
‘Perfect.’  Blitz smiled, and pushed her wings even harder.
“It seems like the other two mares are refusing to pit stop at the same time as their team mates! A bold move on their part!” 


“That Fire Blitz is taking a huge risk!” Raindrops said. “She’s already flying pretty sloppily, I’m guessing she used all her strength at the beginning of the race. This definitely won’t go well for her.”
Scootaloo couldn’t help but looked surprised. “You know racing strategies?” 
“Of course! Dad would never shut up about racing back in the day.” Raindrops said. “Your big sister knows a thing or two about the track!” she smiled smugly.
Trixie couldn’t help but listen in on the conversation between the two. ‘I wonder where this famous ex-Wonderbolts coach is?’  she thought, ‘It’s strange he wouldn’t be here with his youngest daughter watching her first race.’ 
“Well you’ll have to teach me a few of these strategies!” Scootaloo said. “If I ever want to make it into  The Shadowbolts!” 
“Ha! No way, Scoots’. These are  Wonderbolt strategies!  You either go for the home team, or you’re on your own!” Raindrops laughed.


“Hey, where’s Luna?” Skylight looked around the stadium.
“She should be at the giant throne seats toward the north end of the stadium.” Arrow said. “Come on, Blitz! What are you doing?”  He muttered under his breath.
“She’s not here!” Skylight stood up on the rail. “Neither Princess is here! We’re  princessless!” 
“Oh, well that sucks.” Arrow said, his eyes focused on the race. “Something important must have happened to keep both of them away on opening race day.”
“Hmmph!”  Skylight pouted. “She was so looking forward to seeing us!”
“Well, she’s a Princess first, and our team-owner second.” Arrow patted Skylight on the shoulder. “We have to keep that in mind. Besides, we can handle a simple race on our own--  No! Blitz!”  He shouted out. “Dammit, she passed the pit stop again-- You’re gonna wear yourself out!!”  Arrow yelled. “Take a pit stop!” 
“Maybe you’re right, Arrow! This isn’t looking good for her...” Skylight seemed worried.
“Misty and CC are back on the track!”  The speaker blared. “And only 3 laps behind Echo and Fire Blitz!” 
“Blitzy!” Skylight threw her hooves in the air. “What is she thinking!?” 
Arrow put his hoof to his forehead. “I know  exactly  what Blitz’s thinking. She’s thinking since she’s in first place, there’s no way she’s gonna take a pit stop now.”


‘I’m in first place!’  Blitz smiled. ‘There’s no WAY I’m gonna take a pit stop now! Wings, don’t fail me now!’  She was on top of the world. Flying in an A-Wave race,  AND  in  first place! ‘Wow, Soarin was right! I guess my wings CAN handle to skip one or two pit stops!’ 
At this point, Fire Blitz was panting heavily from exhaustion, which in turn, didn’t allow her wings to flap at maximum efficiency.
“-clickclick- -click- -click-”  
‘I can hear her again! Why hasn’t SHE taken a pit stop? It can’t be easy clicking the entire time she’s on the track!’  Blitz was so focused on her opponent, she didn’t realize how erratically her wings were flapping just to remain at the same speed she’d been flying. ‘Of course! That’s why Soarin told me to skip mine! He knew Echo was gonna skip hers too!’  Blitz thought, ‘Must be an old (-gasp-) Wonderbolt trick! Well not today, (-pant-) Fleetfoot twins! This race is gonna be (-gasp-) mine!’ 
“Blitz! Take a pit stop!” CC yelled as she and Misty sped by.
‘They lapped me!?’  Blitz thought. Then she suddenly felt the cold, thick mist below her hooves. ‘Oh no! (-gasp-cough-) I’m dragging!’  she realized, trying not to kick up pieces of cloud. ‘Come on, wings, I need to get to the (-cough-) pit stop area!!’ 
Fire Blitz pushed her wings harder than she thought she could. The adrenaline of the race, mixed with the crowd, and the panic of landing face-first on the cloud-track took it’s toll on her muscles, and she began to lose altitude.


“Is she...  running?”  Spitfire asked.
“Hmm, looks like cheating to me.” Soarin said.
“There’s no rule against running on the track, but she’s kicking up a lot of cloud.” Spitfire commented. “She just needs to get to her pit stop area.”
“Wow!”  The announcer exclaimed, “Well nopony can say anything about her persistence! But poor Fire Blitz is tearing up the track! Literally!” 
“Out of curiosity,” Soarin folded his front hooves, and leaned against the rail, “With all that kicked-up cloud covering the walls of the track, how well does Echo’s location-trick work?”
Spitfire’s heart dropped into her stomach. “Echolocation doesn’t work on clouds!”
“I didn’t think so.” Soarin said non-chalantly.

CHAPTER 41
“-click- -clickclick-” 
‘That’s weird.’  Echo thought. 
“-clickclickclick--!” 
‘I can’t sense the track...!’  Echo began to panic.
“-ClickClickClick!!-” 
‘I know I’m toward the curve, but I can’t sense where the wall begins!!’  Echo immediately dug her hooves into the track, and flapped her wings against the direction of the race to brake. This made an even larger cloud surround her, and cover about 20% of the track.
“Echo!!”  Misty yelled, and sped up, diving into the the thick cloud-mist, CC following close behind. After a few seconds, only CC came out the other end.

“What’s this, folks? It looks like Echo is having some trouble with her echolocation after Fire Blitz kicked up all that cloud! Could this be some sort of cruel Shadowbolt racing tactic? Using The Wonderbolt’s weaknesses against them!?” 
The crowd booed loudly. Soarin smiled; he had an idea.
“What!? No! It was an accident!” Fire Blitz yelled finally making it to the pit stop.
CC slowed down at the opposite side of the track, and looked around. “Do I keep racing?” She thought aloud. 
Just then, Misty zoomed up and out of the fog holding Echo in her hooves.
“And there they are! It looks like the Fleetfoot twins are okay!”  The announcer exclaimed.
“Cheater!”  Soarin yelled from the sidelines. “I call time-out on the race!”
“Can he do that?” Skylight asked Arrow from the sidelines.
“I don’t know.” Arrow said, “This has never happened before.”
“It looks like Wonderbolt Co-Captain Soarin is trying to halt the race!”  The announcer shouted. “Here at lap 104, he is calling The Shadowbolts out for sabotaging the track!” 
“We didn’t sabotage anything!” Arrow yelled, flying into the sky above the track. “It was an accident! You all saw it!”
“An  accident?”  Soarin shouted, and flew up into the announcer’s box.
“Stop this, Soarin!” Arrow clenched his teeth. “This was an accident and you know it!”
Soarin smiled, and grabbed the announcer’s microphone. 
“Hey!” The announcer yelled. “Give that back!”
Soarin continued addressing the entire stadium using the microphone, as he stepped out into the sky with Arrow.
“Obviously, the only ‘accident’ here, is promoting ‘Red over there into the A-Wave.” 
Fire Blitz lowered her head. She’d never been so humiliated.
“Give me that microphone!” Arrow shouted, angrily.
“Actually, I take that back. I didn’t mean that.”  Soarin said. The stadium was quiet. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg, isn’t it?” 
Spitfire flew up to the two stallions. “Soarin! Stop this! You’re disrupting the race!”
“Disrupting the race? Me? Have you been WATCHING this race, CAPTAIN?”  Soarin spat. “Maybe you missed some key points. But being the helpful guy I am, I’ll go ahead and recap them for you.”  He turned to the audience. 
“For  ALL  of you.” 
Night Arrow debated tackling him, and taking the microphone, but The Shadowbolts already looked awful, and doing anything brash like that would only worsen things.
Meanwhile, in the box seats, everypony (except the bat-pony guard) was on the edge of their seats.
“What’s going on, Rainy?” Scootaloo asked. “Does this usually happen?”
Raindrops just ignored Scootaloo. She couldn’t help but notice the stallion wearing the Shadowbolt flight suit.
“No, not at all.” Silver Shield answered for her.
Trixie just had a worried look on her face.

“As anypony can plainly see,”  Soarin continued, “These ‘Everfree Forest Shadowbolts’ are sore losers! And normally, we chalk that up to bad sportsmanship, but not today! Not THIS time! No, this time, their tricky ways are literally putting the lives of your Royal Canterlot Wonderbolts in DANGER!” 

The crowd gasped, and immediately began talking amongst themselves.

“Ask yourselves! When was the last time we ever had to call a ‘time-out’ during a race? When was the last time one of our racers almost died!?” 

Skylight flew up to Arrow’s side. “Arrow...? Do something!”
“He’s got the attention of the entire stadium, Sky.” Arrow muttered, “There’s nothing I can  do.”

“Not since THEY came along.” Soarin pointed his hoof at Arrow, and smiled. “Not since Princess Luna’s little racing project wanted to play with the big boys.” 

The crowd’s gossip became louder.

“Now, I don’t blame the princess, of course. She’s been gone for a very long time, and isn’t in charge of training the newbies in... racing with integrity.” 


This entire time, Raindrops was just staring at the confrontation through the window. “There’s no way...” she whispered.


“No, I wouldn’t blame the royalty behind the organization.”  Soarin turned towards Night Arrow, “I blame YOU.” 


The crowd gasped once again. 


“How dare he!” Trixie stomped her hooves on the ground. “He’s manipulating the entire stadium! Where is Princess Luna!?”


“Say his name.”  Raindrops said angrily through her teeth.

“Rainy?” Scootaloo tugged at her sister’s wing. “Sis, you’re scaring me, what’s wrong? What’s happening?”


“I blame the mysterious stallion that came out of nowhere and ruined this sport for everypony!” 

Arrow just stared at Soarin. The amount of anger in his glare was immeasurable. 


“I blame the green-maned, tired-eyed pegasus, that soiled the proud sport of racing.” 


Trixie worriedly kept her eyes on Raindrops. 


The entire stadium went dead-silent. Raindrops was still holding on to the tiny bit of doubt in the back of her head. 


 That isn’t him. It’s not possible.  
It whispered in her head. 
 It’s just not possible. 


“I blame YOU,  Night Arrow.” 


Chapter 42
“Night Arrow?” Scootaloo said. “But...  our  family name is Arrow...”
“Miss Raindrops,” Silver Shield said, “Do you  know  that stallion?”
“I...  did.”  Raindrops said meekly. “A long time ago.”
“Is that ...  Nightaniel?  From the picture at home?” Scootaloo asked.
Raindrops just stayed quiet. Her eyes narrowed, and she clenched her teeth. “I can’t believe him.” She said. “How could he--?  After all this time...!?” 
“Wait, so... does that mean... our brother’s  alive?”  Scootaloo said.
“Alive and well.”  Raindrops snarled through her teeth, and got up from her seat. “But not for long! He’s been parading around here as a professional racer while I break my back working for the weather company! Hanging out with Spitfire and--” Raindrops stopped pacing. “Spitfire!!  THIS is what she was warning me about! She must have known about this for years!  How could she not tell me!?” 
Trixie had a front row seat to both the downfall of her Special Somepony, and emotional breakdown of his family. She had to say something. She had to at least try to fix one of these problems.
“He wanted to go visit you.” She said.
Raindrops stopped ranting and glared over her shoulder at Trixie.
.  .  .  “Excuse me?” 
“After the race.” Trixie continued. “I made him promise he would go see you guys.”
“You knew who we were this entire time?” Raindrops stepped towards Trixie.
“Not the entire time, but I figured it out. You all have similar... features.”
“Wait... how exactly do you know Nightaniel?”
Trixie hesitated for a moment. “We’re... dating.”
“Oh! Of course you are!”  Raindrops said incredulously. “So my brother is not only alive and well, but is a member of a professional racing team, who’s only goal is to beat the team my father spent years building up! And not only that! While my sister and I mourn him, and work our flanks to the bone trying to survive, he’s living his life in his fake pseudo-celebrity circle, dating the meanest, worst thing to ever happen to my home town!? Well he has EXCELLENT taste in  mares!!” 
“...and now he’s being accused of cheating.” Scootaloo chimed in, pointing at the action happening on the track.


*            *            *


“Arrow...” Skylight was back to back with him. “He’s turning all of Canterlot against us...!” 
“I know.” Arrow said. “Where is Luna? She’ll be able to sort this out.”
CC and Fire Blitz flew up and joined their team mates.
“Arrow, what do we do?” CC said. “This is getting out of control, fast!”
“I’m so sorry!” Blitz pleaded. “I didn’t mean to hurt anypony! Honest!!”  CC hugged her, consolingly. “It was Soarin! He tricked me!! I--” 
“--You all saw it with your own eyes!”  Soarin continued over the microphone. “The Shadowbolts are cheaters, and a complete disgrace to the entire sport of professional racing. I vote they are disbanded immediately for purposefully putting other racers’ lives in danger.” 
Arrow glared daggers at Soarin.
The crowd cheered angrily. 
“This is ridiculous! You have no authority!” Arrow flew aggressively towards Soarin. “Stop manipulating these ponies!” 
Soarin flinched dramatically, dropping the microphone. “Aah!! Guards! Now he’s trying to attack me!”
“What!? No I’m not!”  Arrow stopped mid flight. 
Guards flew out of the sides of the stands, tackling Arrow out of the air. 
“Arrow!!” Fire Blitz yelled.
“Hey! Let him go you jerks!!”  Skylight screamed, rocketing towards the guards, hind-leg first. 
“Skylight, no!! You’ll make things worse!” CC shouted, lunging to grab her, but she just wasn’t fast enough.
“Hiiyaaa!!”  Skylight landed a powerful kick, successfully knocking one of the pegasus guards out of the sky and onto the track below. 
“This isn’t over, Soarin!” Arrow scowled as he was hoof-cuffed, and his wings were tied to prevent escape. The same was done to Skylight, as she kicked and growled at the guards.
“Take them both away!” Another guard ordered as they took the dragged the two Shadowbolts out of the stadium in full uniform. “And grab the red one too.”
“What!?”  Blitz exclaimed as guards approached her.
“Take her in until under suspicion of sabotaging a professional sport.” The guard continued.
CC drifted back down onto the track, and looked around the stadium, defeated. Her entire team was taken into custody.
Soarin landed on the track next to her.
“Looks like it’s just me and you now,  Cloudy.”  Soarin smiled smugly.