Rainbow was out flying as Shadowbolt patrolling her new hometown. It has been more peaceful around town, lately. She figured the gangs had disbanded after the whooping she has been giving them lately. She scanned around till she heard the sound of fighting. She stopped to listen and heard it come from an alley to the her left. She dove down and saw five ponies beating up somepony. She even recognized the group as one of the more stubborn gangs around.
“Seriously, guys, how many times to I have to beat the crap out of you to get you to stop?” she said as she landed.
“SHADOWBOLT!” they cried out.
“Yup, and you've got one chance to scram before you get your next lesson in pain.” The leader's eyes narrowed, and Rainbow noticed some cuts on his face that weren't there the last time she sent him on his flank. They charged at her front and her side. Ponies lacking intelligence, it seemed. She channeled her magic and with a swipe of her wing sent a Wind Burst outward, blowing the gang members into the air above their victim. They landed hard. She barely used any power in that attack. At her full strength, there would be nothing but blood and guts left of them, if even that. She was totally awesome now, thanks to Luna. The gang leader managed to get up, but he fled instead of continuing the fight, his gang right behind him. Rainbow decided to check who they attacked. It was a griffon of eagle subtype. She was beat bad, but her wounds weren't life-threatening at all. Rainbow moved the wing covering the griffon's head so that she could see more than just the beak. What she saw underneath shocked her. The white feathered head with purple highlights could only belong to Gilda.
“Gilda?” It just came out of her in shock. Rainbow saw an eye flutter open.
“D-dash?” Gilda manage to say before passing out. Rainbow did a quick check and Gilda was indeed just passed out. Rainbow did a quick check of her wounds. They weren't too bad. Yeah, Rainbow could take her to the hospital, but thanks to Luna's training, she was a qualified medic. Luna insisted she know that much of first aid, and since Luna was her mentor and Princess, Rainbow had no choice. This would work out for her, though. She needed to ask Gilda questions, like why was she even here. Carefully picking the griffon up, she flew to her house and steeled herself for a discussion that would be hard.
* * * * * *
Gilda woke up slowly. She was sore all over from the beating she took. Granted, she left her mark on a few of them, but four on one weren't the best odds to begin with. She looked around and recognized the room she was in. It was the guest room in Rainbow Dash's house. How did she end up in Ponyville? With a grunt, she got up and limped towards the door. She opened it and saw the living room just as she last remembered it, except for one thing. The picture frame that had her and her lame-o friends in it was face-down on the table where she last saw it. She walked out a bit farther before a familiar voice spoke out.
“Good to see you awake, Gilda. How are you feeling?” Gilda whipped her head around to the voice and saw Rainbow sitting in a chair. Rainbow looked different than the last time she saw her. She was more muscular and fit than last time, and the steel in her eyes was a totally new thing in her former friend.
“Sore, but that's expected, but how did I end up in Ponyville?”
“You're not in Ponyville. I don't live there anymore. We're still in Mareapolis.”
“So you finally left those dweebs, then?”
Fire appeared in Rainbows eyes. “They left me first with their backstabbing. I couldn't stay in Ponyville after that, so I came here,” Rainbow replied with clearly supressed rage.
“So you know how I feel, then,” Gilda shot back.
Rainbow stood up and was immediately in a fighting stance. Her wings were spread and lightning bolts arced through them. “I didn't betray you! You were treating my friends badly with your attitude. I had hoped you could all be friends. You were the one who left that day, and that hurt, Gilda. You were my friend, Gilda, and I didn't see that side of you.” Gilda saw Rainbow deflate, and Gilda was left in shock. She just had to ask.
“What happened to you, Dash?” she asked with real concern.
“What happened? What happened? What happened was this: I save a girl from a well and got praise for it. As time went on, more bad things happened, and I saved lives and got more praise for it. I soaked up that praise and, admittedly, bragged about what I have done. However, my so-called friends didn't like the way things were going, but instead of talking to me about it, they created a hero to knock me down. When I found out the hero was them, I quit my job and left Ponyville.” There was silence as Rainbow finished, Gilda processing what she just heard while Rainbow relived the pain of that day. It was Rainbow that finally broke it.
“So, what are you doing in Mareapolis, Gilda?”
“Well, I didn't want to go back to Griffonstone. Why did you think I went to Ponyville, in the first place, besides seeing a friend. I came here looking for work and a better life than the junkyard that is Griffonstone."
Rainbow seemed to think on that before she responded, “Okay, you rest up. You can stay here while you start looking for work. But I'll make one thing clear. Change the attitude you had at Ponyville. Nopony will hire you with it, and I know you weren't always like that.”
Gilda sighed. “I'll try Rainbow, but the attitude of Griffonstone can really infect a person.”
“That's all I ask, Gilda.” A growling from Gilda came then, and Rainbow followed with, “Let's get you some lunch.”
* * * * * *
That night, Rainbow donned her Shadowbolt uniform and left her room.
“Dash, what's with the getup?” Gilda asked from a couch nearby. Rainbow smirked at her.
“This is my hero uniform. I'm Shadowbolt.”
“I heard rumors of a hero by that name. That's you?” Rainbow nodded. “Got to admit, Dash: That's cool. Well, see ya later.” Rainbow nodded and took off into the night.
She was a half an hour in her patrol when it started getting suddenly cooler out. She looked around, and, to her surprise, she saw a building partially covered in snow. It was not even close to winter. She banked over and saw a group of ponies in the snow carrying things to a wagon. The one directing them was white-furred with a light-blue mane and tail.
“Hurry up. We don't have much time.” She said.
'Okay, they aren't employees,' Rainbow thought to herself. She dove in and knocked the leader over. “Okay, stop what you're doing.”
The ponies paused, and the lead mare got up. Rainbow spotted her cutie mark. It was an icicle. The leader's eyes were almost a glowing red. “Stay out of this, Shadowbolt. It does not concern you.”
“When you steal stuff, it does.”
The mare shook her head. “If you side with Mare Tech, then you are my enemy.” With a surprisingly quick action, the mare fired magic from her horn at Rainbow, and Rainbow had to move quickly to dodge. The mare fired blast after blast at her, and Rainbow was just ahead of it.
“AAAAAHHH!” One of her henchmares screamed as she was hit instead of Rainbow. With some breathing room, Rainbow sent a couple of Wind Bursts at the leader. The leader dodged and cast a spell. At first, it didn't seem to do anything, but then Rainbow felt stings on her back. She looked behind her and saw that a cloud has formed behind her and that she was being pelted with hail. She had to find cover.
The leader observed as Shadowbolt dove for the cover of a nearby awning. She moved away and saw some of her crew trying to help the one she hit with her freeze ray.
“Leave her. She should have been more careful.”
“But she's one of us,” one of her mares replied.
“Perhaps you'd care to join her, then," Misty said with her horn charging. The other mares looked at each other before sadly moving away from the wounded mare. The wounded mare tried to grab a hoof as they walked past. Her fate was no longer the leader's concern.
“Hurry up. That spell won't keep Shadowbolt down long.”
“Yes, Freeze,” her head mare said, and the wagon took off.
* * * * * *
Rainbow was so sore by the time she returned home. She dropped the mare abandoned by the gang off at a hospital for treatment, and, after explaining to the doctors what happened, she left for home. Gilda told her she looked like crap and asked what happened. Rainbow gave her a light response and took a hot bath for an hour to soothe her aches. After that, she went to bed. She had her weather job tomorrow, so she might as well get some rest.
“Good evening, Dash.” Rainbow looked over to see Luna walking up to her.
“Hey, Luna. Sorry, I'm not in much mood for training, tonight. Rough day.”
“Well, what happened? My student's well-being is of great concern to me.” Rainbow told her of what happened that day and during her patrol. “Well, I am glad you are making up with a friend. Hopefully, it will go well.”
“Thanks, but what about that mare? It seemed that wasn't just a plain robbery. It felt more personal.”
Luna put on a thoughtful pose. “Hmm, that is something interesting. I shall look into it and get back to you. Since you're in no mood for training tonight, I shall get started now. Sleep well, my student.”
“Cya, Luna.” Rainbow replied, and Luna and their meeting area faded and was replaced by a pleasant dream.
* * * * * *
The next day was pretty average for Rainbow. Get up, shower, feed Tank, eat, and head out for weather duty. Though, checking up on Gilda was a new addition. She still looked bad and had a slight limp, but she moved on her own and didn't ask for help. Leaving instructions, she left home for work. Thankfully, it was an average day for work, and she headed home when her shift was done. She checked her mail and saw a letter from Ponyville. Only one family in Ponyville knew her address, and the letter brought a smile to her lips. She opened her front door, eager to read the Squirt's letter.
“Hello, my student.” The familiar voice of her coach made her jerk a bit. She looked up and saw a cowed and shocked Gilda and her Princess smirking at Rainbow. She smirked back.
“Hey, Luna, what's up?” Luna cocked an eyebrow for a moment before the light went on.
“Oh, that is one of your modern terms, is it not? You are asking what is going on, correct?”
“You got it, Luna.”
“Well, what is 'up' is about your encounter last night. Let us speak in your room.”
“Gotcha.” She followed Luna but paused at Gilda. “Sorry, G, royal business.”
“How...how do you know the Princess?” Gilda asked.
“Don't you remember me telling you about my being an Element of Harmony when you visited Ponyville?” Gilda nodded faintly. “Well, I know her from that, but more importantly, I'm her student now, so you're hanging with a royal student as well as a knighted pony, a perk from beating Discord. Well, see ya later.” Rainbow headed into her bedroom with an proud smirk as Gilda did a complete jawdrop.
“Well, Rainbow Dash, I looked into the dreams of the heads of Mare Tech and encouraged them to dream about the situation, and their worry is beyond the norm for robberies. The name 'Misty Freeze' kept popping up. I couldn't look deeper without alerting them, so I decided to look into the records. Nothing really stood out. They seem like a standard company with a good reputation. I believe they are receiving a reward tonight for being overall good ponies. But the biggest thing I found is that a year ago, they really slammed their records shut. They barely put anything into their records about that time. As for Misty Freeze herself, she is a smart mare. Many commendations for her work, which was winter-related. The records also had a note that she was married to an Autumn Breeze, a pegasus mare. However, Autumn Breeze was diagnosed with an incurable disease. She is likely dead by now. Misty Freeze herself disappeared at the same time Mare Tech went dark in their records.”
“So, they're connected?” Rainbow asked.
“Very likely. If I do this the normal way, they will likely destroy the records, so I want my Shadowbolt to infiltrate their office while they are busy at the ceremony being held for their award.” Luna made a scroll appear and put it on the bed. She unrolled it to reveal a blueprint. “I acquired this from the Royal Archives. Memorize the layout, and tonight, go in and find what we need. My guard will be coming in tonight, and on your signal, we'll close in.” Rainbow looked over the plans figuring out where they would keep their records. This will be like Daring Do, but twenty percent cooler.
“What do I use to signal you with?”
Luna lifted up and hoof ring. “This. Tap it twice in quick succession, and we'll come in.” Rainbow looked back at the map. This was the first real mission Luna has given her, and she wasn't going to let the Princess down.
* * * * * *
It was night, and Rainbow was in her Shadowbolt gear. Luna had made a note of it but said nothing. She glided over to a side door in the alley. Luna had scanned the building and said the door wasn't enchanted, just locked. She landed next to the door and noticed it was one of the new electronic ones that Twilight had talked about once, before everything went to Tartarus between them. With a smirk, she focused some of her weather magic and scrambled the lock's keypad thingy. She heard the door unlatch. She loved that trick. She moved the door open a bit and stuck her head inside. She saw nopony near so she entered fully, and she slowly went down the hallway.
When she approached what had to be the records room, she saw a pony standing guard at the door. Earth pony, by the looks of it. Their mistake. Focusing her magic to her wings again, she swiped one wing forward to make a sound on the opposite end of the hallway. The guard looked toward the sound, and Rainbow unleashed her second attack. It had enough force to do what she needed it to do, and the mare was out before she knew what hit her. Rainbow grabbed the guard mare, took the keys, and unlocked the previously guarded door. She looked in, and it, indeed, looked similar to her own office's record room. She dragged the mare inside and closed the door.
“Now what are you hiding, Mare Tech?” She took the flash light from the guard's belt and looked over the cabinets. She checked "M" for "Misty", but, searching through, she found nothing.
'Come on, Rainbow! You spent all that time with Twilight, so you can do this. Okay if not in "M" how about "F"?' She looked through "F" and found what she was looking for. She opened the folder bearing the name "Freeze, Misty". She looked it over, and what she saw horrified her. In a desperate bid to save her wife Autumn, Misty constructed a chamber to preserve her in ice till a cure could be found. However, the company's head Bit Coin didn't want to fund it, so he tried to shut it down. A fight ensued, and an accident happened. Both Misty and Autumn were believed dead. However, they found Autumn alive, but they could not find Misty. Autumn died weeks later at the hospital. Bit Coin then became very secretive trying to hide what happened, for the company would be in real serious trouble if it got out that he was a selfish jerk.
“By Celestia!” Rainbow said aloud.
“Yes, it would move me to tears, if I had any left to shed,” A cold, emotionless voice said. Rainbow looked behind her just in time to see Misty blast her with magic, and she saw nothing more.
* * * * * *
When Rainbow came to she saw snow...falling up? She looked around and saw that her hooves were frozen to the ceiling.
“Good, you're awake.” Rainbow looked to the voice and saw Misty below her. The mare gestured to the snow around them. “Snow is beautiful, don't you think? Clean, uncompromising--"
“And cold,” Rainbow interrupted.
Misty looked back at her. “Like the swift hand of vengeance.”
“For what it's worth, I'm sorry about what happened. That was totally uncool of them.”
“I'm beyond emotion. I used it all up when she died.” Misty summoned a pocket dimension. Rainbow's seen Twilight do it a few times. From it came something interesting. It was a thin platform which had a pegasus mare spinning around atop it like one of those girly ballerinas. The figure spun and snow fell from a compartment at the top of the enclosed space in which the figure danced. “This is all I have left of her. Surrounded by winter, forever young, forever beautiful. The princesses preach harmony, generosity, and kindness.” Misty looked back at Rainbow. “I ask you, where were those pretty words when she needed them? My equipment will allow me to completely freeze this building, allowing me to finally avenge her.”
“Even if it means killing everypony here, whether they had a part in your wife's death or not?”
“Think of it, Shadowbolt: to never again walk on a summer beach with the one you love. Oh yes, I would KILL for that feeling again.” Misty started to walk away. “You should have stayed out of this. Now, you share the fate of all who are in this building.” With that, Misty left the room. Rainbow tried to move her hooves but they were frozen fast to the ceiling. Then, she remembered that lightning generates heat, and Misty didn't bind her wings. Moving her wings to her hooves, Rainbow summoned her lightning, and in minutes she was free. She tapped her ring twice to call in Luna. She then raced out of the room, searching for Misty. A glance out the window showed a large wagon with high-tech stuff on it. Misty and her henchmares were also on it. Rainbow crashed through the window as Misty started her spell. With a quick Wind Burst, Rainbow knocked Misty to the ground, cancelling her spell, which had already covered half the building. Luna's guards suddenly showed up and attacked the henchmares. Misty, seeing her plan fail, teleported away. But she couldn't be fleeing, not after all she's worked toward. Rainbow figured she was going to find and kill Bit Coin.
Rainbow flew over to the ballroom, and she was just time time to hear, “S-stop please. I beg you.”
“You beg? In my nightmares, I see my Autumn behind a wall of glass, begging to me with frozen eyes.” Misty started charging her horn again. “How I have longed to see that look frozen on you.” Rainbow crashed through the window, summoned her lightning into a ball, and threw the ball at Misty. She hit Misty, and the mare yelped in pain. Before the mare could retaliate, a beam hit her and sent her flying. Rainbow looked over to see Luna and a pair of her guards. She smiled before looking back at Misty. She was on the floor, barely moving. “It can't end this way," Misty muttered, "Vengeance.”
Rainbow shook her head. "Not vengeance. Justice.” She looked at Luna. “A year ago, Misty worked for Mare Tech. When her wife got an incurable illness, Misty tried to freeze her so that she could live till a cure could be found. Who knows what that invention could have done to help so many? But Bit Coin here didn't want to go that route and tried to remove Autumn Breeze from her only chance to live. He succeeded, and Autumn lost her life. He has hidden it all, but all the proof is in the records room.”
“Very well. As Princess of Equestria, I place Bit Coin under arrest for murder.” Rainbow looked at her princess and swore the look in Luna's eyes was even colder than Misty's when the alicorn looked at the half-frozen stallion.
* * * * * *
Hours later, Rainbow was back at home. Both Bit and Misty were under arrest, though she was sure that Misty would be going through counselling soon enough. She was about to go hit the hay, even in her uniform, but she saw the letter from Ponyville. She could stay up long enough to read that. Squirt was worth it. She took it, lay down on a couch, and opened the letter. She started reading the letter and soon started trembling. She raced to Gilda's bedroom and burst open the door.
“GILDA!”
“Yeaaawwww!” the griffon screeched, “What the heck, Dash!?”
“Look, I need to head to Ponyville. Tell my boss I won't be coming in for today, maybe for a while after that.” Rainbow went over the the window. She looked over to Gilda, who looked like she was going to say something. “Oh, and take care of Tank for me. You know the routine.” With that, she raced out of the window and into the sky. A boom of a Sonic Rainboom sounded behind her as she raced to Ponyville.
Gilda looked on in wonder as her friend flew away at high-speed. She even created a shockwave of colors. Dash didn't even change out of her Shadowbolt costume. This had to be from that letter from Ponyville. She walked into the living room and saw the letter on the floor. She picked it up and began to read.
Dear Rainbow Dash,
This will be the last letter I send you for a while. I'm writing in my daughter's place because she and her friends went crusading again and Scootaloo got really hurt. She is in the hospital. If you can find time to come, I think my daughter would like that.
Your Friend,
Jetaloo