• Published 11th Jan 2014
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Cheated Dreams - Kodeake



When Rainbow's dreams are finally within her grasp, a simple rumor may make them slip through her hooves

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8. Outcast

Cheated Dreams
Chapter 8
Outcast

Twilight watched the kettle with a careful eye, waiting for the exact moment it would reach the perfect temperature for some nice, relaxing tea. Of course, she could just heat it to the perfect temperature magically, but that would be too fast for her liking. To be honest, even the slow way was looking like it would be over much too soon. Her thoughts circled and swirled around within her head, focusing mainly on the cyan pegasus currently sitting on her couch in the sitting area of the library. The mare hadn't said a single word since she arrived, answering any questions Twilight posed with nothing more than simple nods. After inviting her in Twilight had, of course, offered tea. Rainbow had nodded, and the unicorn had made a hasty retreat to the kitchen.

“Know what you're gonna say?” Spike asked, leaning against the cupboard calmly as he watched her stare intently at the tea pot.

Twilight hung her head, sighing loudly. “No. I didn't expect her to come to me. Or even want to see me for at least a few days. I have no idea what I'm going to do,” she admitted.

“Hey; relax. I'm sure you'll think of something. Though I guess I should make myself scarce for a couple hours?” He asked with a knowing smile. Twilight returned it with a guilty one of her own and he nodded in understanding. “Don't worry about it; I get it. I'll be at Rarity's if you need me.”

Twilight watched her assistant walk through the kitchen to the backdoor with a grateful smile. “Thank you!” She called after him, to which he simply waved a claw and disappeared out the door.

The whistling kettle nearly made her jump out of her skin, her small shriek being drowned out by the high-pitched screaming. After taking a second to catch her breath, she turned the burner off and magically lifted the kettle from the stove, placing it on a tray with two cups, tea bags, and a small plate of cookies. Rarity had been rubbing of on her...

As she levitated the tray beside her she made her way to the door, the anxiety balling in her gut confirming her earlier fears; that was much too short a time to prepare.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself as much as she could, she pushed through the door and into the small, comfortable room. The sitting room, separate from the main library, had only a few bookshelves, containing a sparse collection of books. Technically a private portion of the library, the shelves were lined with what few books would not fit in Twilight's own room, and thus her least-favourite. Two comfy-looking armchairs and a couch sat, surrounding a low, wooden coffee table. On the far wall was a small fireplace, magically fire-proofed so that not a single burn marred the wood around or in it.

None of this really registered with her, though; she'd seen it all before. What was demanding of her attention was the light blue pegasus sitting on said couch, stock-still and eyes glued forward out the window. Twilight set the tray down carefully on the table, placing a tea bag in each glass before filling them with water. She took her place on one of the armchairs, and held her breath.

Then, when nothing happened, she let it out. As soon as she did, Rainbow turned and looked at her, an emotionless mask covering her face as she stared blankly at the unicorn.

“I don't want to be here,” she said plainly, “but you're the only one left.”

Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash for a few long moments as a tense silence befell the library. Eventually, when she had grown tired of the thick blanket over the room, Twilight spoke; “Left of what?”

“Of Ponyville,” Rainbow answered mechanically, shrugging her shoulders at Twilight's quizzically raised eyebrow. “I'm sure you could probably guess you aren't the first pony I came to.”

“Well, yeah. To be honest I'm didn't think you'd want to see me for a few days,” Twilight responded with a nod.

Rainbow shook her head, chuckling emotionlessly before looking up at Twilight with a small, sad smile. “You still don't get it. It wasn't a 'give me some space for a while' thing. I meant what I said last night.”

Twilight simply nodded solemnly, biting her lip to keep herself quiet. With no proof she had no way to prove her innocence, and Rainbow was well past working with trust on this. Instead, she asked “so why are you here?”

“Because you're the only one who knows I didn't want to cheat on that exam.”

“W-what?” Twilight gasped, “what about our friends? Surely they believe you? It's not like any of them know what happened yesterday.”

Rainbow took a moment to regard the unicorn sitting across from her. She seemed genuinely surprised; had she really not heard yet? “You haven't read today's newspaper yet, have you?” Rainbow asked with a weak trace of dark humour in her voice.

“Well... no, now that you mention it I was very.... distracted this morning.”

“Here,” Rainbow started, reaching into the saddlebags that sat beside her on the couch, digging around for a second, “read it,” she finished, extracting a small pile of papers bound together by a length of twine and tossing it to the unicorn. Twilight caught it in her magic midair, hovering it gently over to her. She was about to take of the string holding it together, but quickly realized she didn't need to; they'd made front-page news. She didn't even need to read the full article.

On the top left was a picture of Rainbow Dash at the Wonderbolt Academy in full uniform, taking up half the page. To its right was the large, bold headline reading “Rainbow Dash: Super Speedy or Super Cheaty?” and below that was “First Wonderbolt to be kicked out for cheating on the entrance competition.”.

Twilight's jaw fell open as she forcefully turned her head away from the article, throwing the newspaper roughly onto the coffee table. Rainbow picked it up and slid it back into her bags. “Who would have known? I'm the very first one to cheat and win in that competition,” Rainbow chuckled darkly as she closed her bags.

“Rainbow.... that's...” Twilight trailed off, unsure what she could or even should say. Luckily Rainbow seemed more than willing to talk in her place.

“You wanna hear what you did to me?” Rainbow asked rhetorically. Twilight opened her muzzle to protest, but snapped it shut when the pegasus glared coldly at her.

“I'll tell you what you did; you ruined me. My day started when a couple of stallions came to my house this morning on the way to their weather shift. Some snobby elitists from Cloudsdale. Like the pegasus version of Canterlot unicorn nobles. They'd been transferred to our weather division about a week ago, and were not happy about it. Well, to make a long story short they saw the article and decided to remind me of it,” Rainbow growled. Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof, gasping in shock that anypony could be so.... cruel. The pegasus continued after a short pause.

“After that... I wanted to talk to somepony. So I went to AJ's...”

-_-_-_-

Rainbow touched down roughly on the dusty dirt path just outside Ponyville, a cloud of brown particles being thrown into the air by her landing. A quick beat of her wings cleared the cloud, and she trotted forward quickly towards Sweet Apple Acres. Following the path along the wooden fence bordering her friend's property, she sped up her pace as she saw the gate on the horizon, just beyond it was the farm house. The sun was still just barely peaking over the horizon; Applejack should be going out into the fields soon.

Rounding the corner of the fence and walking through the open gate, she made her way up to the building the Apple family called home. She climbed the creaky wooden steps and knocked on the door, taking a step back and waiting anxiously. She wasn't really sure why she'd chosen Applejack, but it was probably for the same reason she hadn't landed until she was out of town; nopony would be out here this early in the morning. Nopony would bug her or laugh at her or even mention the newspaper.

She felt a frown pulling at the neutral line of her lips as the door was opened not by Applejack but by Big Macintosh. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.

“Hey, Big mac,” she said quickly, craning her neck to see behind him, “AJ in there?”

“Eenope,” he said with a firm shake of his head, before motioning out the the big red barn behind her, “should be gettin' ready for today's harvest in the barn.”

“Thanks Mac!” Rainbow called, already on her way to the barn. The look he'd given her was starting to bother her.

“AJ? You in here?” She called, pushing the large red door open with a hoof. It swung in easily, already unlatched and partially open.

“Who's askin'?” came the distinct country accent of her friend. Rainbow's frown started turning into a smile.

“It's me; Rainbow Dash,” she said, taking a few steps into the dim barn. In the low light she could just barely make out the farmer coming towards her, dragging few empty baskets on a cart behind her.

“Uh-huh. And what did ya' want?” Applejack asked skeptically, pushing past her pegasus friend and through the door into the light, wincing as the intense brightness assaulted her eyes.

Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck nervously, not quite sure what it was she wanted. All she knew is that she wanted a friend to talk to, but about what she hadn't the foggiest. Twilight had always been able to- no! Enough of that stupid unicorn, she scolded herself firmly. “Well... I wanted to talk to you.”

Applejack stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Need me to help ya' cheat on another competition?” She asked in a deadpan voice.

Rainbow froze, her jaw falling open as Applejack glared at her. “H-how did you-”

“It's all over the paper,” Applejack spat, “Everypony in Ponyville will be finding out soon.”

Rainbow shook her head firmly, running to catch up with the orange mare and skidding to a stop in front of her. “AJ! I didn't know I was cheating!”

Applejack looked at Rainbow with a bemused, and slightly annoyed, expression. “Right. Because you just so happened to get a necklace enchanted to enhance your flight and had no idea about it.”

“I didn't! AJ you gotta believe me! I had no idea that thing was enchanted!” Rainbow protested loudly, grabbing Applejack by the shoulders and looking her straight in the eye.

“Look, Dash, you're my friend and ya always will be, but... please; leave. I can't stand liars. Come back when you're willing ta be honest with me,” Applejack said with a sigh, hanging her head in disappointment as she continued pulling the cart into her orchard.

“AJ! AJ I didn't know! Applejack!” Rainbow called, a hint of desperation in her voice as she watched her friend disappear among the thick trunks of apple trees. She remained still for several seconds, staring at where Applejack used to be, almost expecting her to come back at any moment and explain how it was a joke. She desperately wanted this all to be one big, elaborate prank. But when no such thing happened, she hung her own head and feel back onto her flank.

“Stupid Twilight,” she grumbled, kicking the dirt under her front hooves. “This is all her fault...”

Biting back her bitter tears she stood, making her way slowly out of Sweet Apple Acres and back onto the path into Ponyville.

-_-_-_-

“Applejack said all that?” Twilight gasped loudly. Rainbow simply nodded.

“Yeah; guess this newspaper is a whole lot more trustworthy than the school's. Didn't even give me a chance to explain,” Rainbow sighed, stretching out across the couch and folding her hooves behind her head. She continued, eyes fixed on the ceiling, “guess your little stunt did more damage than you thought huh? Did you know the newspaper says I asked you to enchant it for me? Guess you're more trustworthy than I am.”

“Rainbow I never-” Twilight started, a little indignantly, only to be silenced as Rainbow continued.

“After that I tried to think of somepony who would trust me over everything...”

-_-_-_-

Rainbow Dash stood nervously outside the wooden door of a small cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville. In the distance she could see the ever-looming Ever Free forest, and behind her she could hear the quiet noise of the town slowly waking up. The sun had just passed the horizon line and was rising slowly into the sky behind her. She raised a timid hoof, lowering it slowly against the solid wood door in front of her. It made contact with hardly a noise, the quiet wind rustling through the long grass surrounding the property louder than her actual knock.

“Come on,” Rainbow told herself, attempting to boost whatever confidence she could find. “It's Fluttershy; she'll believe you,” she affirmed, though the empty mailbox told her Fluttershy had already gathered her mail, which meant she'd already seen the newspaper. Things did not look good.

With a deep breath she pulled her hoof away from the door and shoved it forward more forcefully, clenching her eyes shut just before it made contact. However, instead of hitting a solid object, she felt it hit a soft, some-what squishy surface. Snapping her eyes open she stared at the butter yellow pegasus who's chest she had her hoof pressed against. She quickly brought it back and rubbed her neck nervously.

“Uh... hey... Fluttershy,” she started uncertainly. The yellow mare seemed to regard her curiously for a second before stepping to the side.

“Oh... Rainbow Dash... would you like to come in?” Fluttershy asked gently. Rainbow nodded, a hesitant smile spreading across her lips as she gladly entered her friend's home.

“See?” She thought, “Fluttershy trusts you! Applejack just made a mistake; she'll come around!”

“I saw the newspaper...” Fluttershy started hesitantly, standing awkwardly in the entry way of her living room as she motioned for her guest to take a seat.

Rainbow froze mid-step, panic flaring across her mind as she wondered if Fluttershy would believe her. “Oh...” was all she could say, not daring to move another inch or make another sound.

“I'm very disappointed in you...” the pink maned mare said quietly, almost sadly, still hovering by the archway connecting her front door to her living space.

Rainbow snapped around, stomping up to her pegasus friend and seething down at her as the shy mare shrank in on herself. “I didn't know!”She cried, wide-eyed and desperate as Fluttershy turned her head so her mane was between her and the very aggressive pegasus.

“B-but the paper s-said...” she trailed off into voiceless squeaks as Rainbow sharpened her glare and steeled her resolve. She didn't mean to hurt her friend, she really didn't, but she couldn't take this any more. Fluttershy had to believe her, right?

“It was wrong!” Rainbow defended loudly, leaning back just enough for Fluttershy to stand upright, but not so much she was out of her personal space.

“So... you didn't get kicked out of the Wonderbolts?” Fluttershy asked curiously, quirking her head to the side, wondering how the newspaper, the most trusted source of information besides Celestia herself, had gotten something so huge wrong.

Rainbow wilted, taking a step back; it was her turn to hang her head and hide behind her mane, or what little protection her short bangs offered. “Well I did get...discharged...”

“But... was it because of an enchantment on the necklace?” Fluttershy continued cautiously, advancing a step and scrutinizing Rainbow Dash carefully.

“W-well yes,” she admitted in barely more than a whisper. When Fluttershy adopted her motherly, disappointed look again she quickly stood up straight, “b-but I didn't know it was on the necklace!”

Fluttershy frowned deeply, “but... Then how did such an enchantment get on the necklace?”

“Twilight... it was Twilight that placed the enchantment. She didn't even tell me,” Rainbow said, turning her head down dejectedly.

“T-twilight?” Fluttershy gasped loudly, “why would she do something like that?”

“I-I don't know!” Rainbow shouted, falling back to a sitting position, looking deep into Fluttershy eyes for some hint that the pegasus believed her, “But I didn't have her place that enchantment and she's the only one who could have.”

“R-rainbow?” Fluttershy asked slowly after a moment of silent contemplation, scooting closer to her cyan friend and placing a gentle hoof on her shoulder, “are you sure you didn't ask her to place that enchantment?”

“What?” Rainbow shrieked, slapping Fluttershy's hoof away and standing aggressively.

“W-well... maybe you were just really nervous about the competition? And... maybe you thought you needed help to-” Before Fluttershy could even finish her sentence Rainbow was out the door, a chaotic wind current left in her wake as she bolted from the small cottage on the edge of the Ever Free Forest.

-_-_-_-

“Even Fluttershy?” Twilight asked in disbelief. Again the only response she god was a solemn nod.

“After that... I didn't know who to turn to. Applejack hadn't even let me explain myself, Fluttershy didn't know what to think... even I was starting to believe it.”

They sat quietly for a few short seconds, before a deep, hollow chuckle emanated from the pegasus sitting on Twilight's couch. The unicorn looked over curiously, and somewhat fearfully, to Rainbow.

“Fluttershy didn't think you'd do something like that to me,” Rainbow noted through her empty mirth, “guess none of us know you was well as we thought. Not even Pinkie...”

-_-_-_-

Silence. All around was silence. Somehow worse than any noise that could be made. As far as Rainbow Dash could hear their was silence. The town was little more than a splotch on the horizon as she sat alone on an empty hill beneath a lonely tree. The sun, just under half way up to its zenith, was behind her as she stared out across the town. She could just barely make out the specs of the brightly coloured ponies going about their day-to-day lives, but not a single sound of the humdrum of life could reach her out in the solitary grassy fields outside Ponyville opposite the Ever Free.

The quiet rang in her ears and her head as she leaned against the trunk of the tree; her solitary companion in the world of silence that reigned all around her. Her mind was clouded and her eyes were empty, but she was still there. All but forgotten by the life going on just out of earshot. And yet, at the same time, she was never forgotten fully; front page news was quite a big deal in such a small town. She'd made it for reasons that would follow her around for the rest of her time in Ponyville, even the rest of her life. She'd never get passed this; the humiliation, the pain, all of it. Everything Twilight had forced her to go through for a reason she didn't and likely never would understand.

Suddenly, in the pure, blanketing silence, was a noise. A noise not quite like anything else. A noise of four hooves hitting the dirt path before launching back up into the air all in perfect sync before once again colliding with the ground. It was a sound Rainbow would recognize anywhere.

“Dashie?”

It was the sound of Pinkie Pie.

“H-hey Pinks,” Rainbow said as casually as she could, hastily wiping a hoof across her muzzle. Why was it wet?

“Dashie? What are you doing out here all alone?” Pinkie asked curiously, tilting her head to the side quizzically as she regarded the mare under the tree.

Had she not seen the newspaper yet? Rainbow wondered idly, hopeful that she hadn't. “Nothing much; taking a break from training. I could ask the same of you, though; what are you doing all the way out here?”

Pinkie's eyes shifted to the left and to the right suspiciously, checking their surroundings for... something. She leaned her head in conspiratorially, Rainbow copying the motion and leaning close, not entirely sure what Pinkie was playing at.

“It's a secret,” she whispered, before snapping her head back and regaining her grin, patting her saddlebags with a hoof. “But if I'm right tomorrow's cupcakes will be the best yet.”

“Sounds great Pinkie,” Rainbow said, giving her best fake grin, “have you been out all day?”

“Nope. Been out for two days; the in- thing I needed was really hard to get; I had to go all the way to Coltensburg to find it, but the cakes are expecting me to be back soon, so I better go. Bye Dashie! Good luck with your tricks; I'm sure they'll be super-awsome-mazing!” Pinkie chirped happily before returning to the path, bouncing happily back into Ponyville. She soon found a cyan pegasus keeping pace along side her.

“Mind if I tag along?” Rainbow asked, to which Pinkie nodded. She till had one true friend, at the very least, but what would happen if she saw the newspaper? No; that wouldn’t happen. She'd make sure it didn’t happen.

Time passed in relative silence for the two as they made their way back to Ponyville. Pinkie would occasionally blurt out a random fact or statement, which would strike up a small conversation but it would inevitably peter out before long. With fear and worry balling in Rainbow's gut she hardly even noticed when Pinkie said something, too focused on keeping her pink baker friend away from any possibly news sources. She trusted her friend, but she'd been burned by her trust before and if Fluttershy's reaction was anything to go by...

Before Rainbow even knew it they were outside Sugar Cube Corner. It was right between breakfast time and noon, so the bakery was all but deserted; only two ponies were in the building besides the Cakes. The little bell above the door rang happily as they entered, Rainbow half-hiding behind her energetic pink friend. She had little doubt that everypony in town had heard of her little blunder by now, and most of them probably had a pretty poor opinion of her right after receiving the news.

“Ah! Pinkie dear; you're back. Find those ingr-” Ms. Cake started cheerfully, but quickly found a pink hoof jammed hastily into her mouth.

“Careful; we mustn’t mention 'it' in front of outsiders,” Pinkie warned dangerously, motioning with her head to the other two ponies in the shop and the pegasus coming up to the counter behind her. Ms. Cake's smile visibly wilted when she saw Rainbow, but she kept a pleasant demeanour.

“Ah... yes, you're right. Here; I'll take your bags, and-” Ms. Cake was, once again, silenced, but this time it was not by Pinkie, but rather Rainbow's frantic shout.

“Excuse me! Are you done with that? Good!” She chirped loudly, grinning down widely at the stallion sitting in a booth and enjoying a quiet snack to himself. He looked up from behind his newspaper suspiciously. Before he could even respond Rainbow grabbed the newspaper from his hooves and was out the door. She was back before anypony could even ask where she'd gone, and ignored the stallion's angry grumbling as he swallowed the rest of his coffee, threw the last bit of his doughnut into his mouth, and took his leave with a few more angry mutters.

Ms. cake frowned, before putting on a smile and turning to Pinkie, who seemed oblivious of the whole thing going on behind her. “Pinkie Dear, do you think you could take the... err... package to the cellar for me? Carrot should be down there; he'll tell you where to put it.”

The pink mare nodded happily and bounced back behind the doors to the kitchen, off to the cellar. Ms. Cake watched her go before leaning over the counter to Rainbow Dash. “I know what you're trying to do, you know. I've read the newspaper. I'm not one to judge, and I don't know the details or why you did it or anything about it and I certainly can't blame you for wanting to keep it from her, but she will find out sooner or later, and it'll be a lot worse for both of you then.”

Rainbow sighed, scuffing her hoof against the floor, “I know... but...” she started uneasily, before a bubbly pink pony came back into the room. “Hey Pinkie!” Dash said suddenly, brightening up instantly in the face of her friend.

“Hiya Dashie!” She chirped, as though it was the first time she'd seen her friend all day, “I took the package down to Mr. Cake, so we have the rest of the day to pull some awesome pranks!”

Rainbow chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. Actually, if it's all the same with you, Pinkie, I'd rather spend the day just... hangin' out with you. No pranks or anything.”

Pinkie tilted her head at Rainbow's odd request, but shrugged it off. “Okie-Dokie-Lokie Dashie, what did you want to do first?”

“Well, how about we-” Rainbow stopped suddenly as the bell above the door jingled, announcing the arrival of a new pony. But what had shocked Rainbow to her currently frozen state was not the fact that there was a other pony in the shop. It was who that pony was; a small orange pegasus filly with a purple mane. With a newspaper carried in her mouth.

“S-scootaloo?” Rainbow stuttered out, watching as the young pegasus walked slowly into the bakery, tossing the newspaper onto the floor in front of Rainbow, the front page landing face up.

“Not awesome, Rainbow Dash,” the filly deadpanned, glaring coldly at the mare before her.

“Scootaloo! It's not true! I-I didn't-”

“What's awesome?” Pinkie chirped, having only been half-listening to the conversation. She swooped down in front of Rainbow, grabbing the paper in her hooves as her eyes rapidly scanned the first page. Her usual goofy grin slowly faded to a frown of disappointment.

“D-dashie?” Pinkie questioned, turning the paper so Rainbow could see the cover. “w-what is this?”

Out of the corner of her eyes Rainbow saw Ms. Cake frowning sadly. “I... it's... it's not true! It's... I didn't... I didn't know! I didn't know!” Rainbow insisted, looking desperately between Pinkie and Scootaloo. Neither of them seemed to believe her.

“Then why... why would the newspaper say such terrible things?” Pinkie asked, sounding almost as heartbroken as Rainbow Dash was when she'd first gotten the news.

“I...” Rainbow stuttered unevenly as Scootaloo's eyes hardened to a glare.

“I don't need a big sister who cheats to get what they want,” the filly said, turning and walking back to the door.

Rainbow's heart broke again. “Scootaloo! Wait! Please; I can explain!”

Scootaloo whipped around, staring angrily at her former big sister. “Go on, then; explain.”

“I... I didn't know there was an enchantment on the necklace! Twilight placed it without me knowing! Please Scoot's, please, you have to believe me! I didn't know!” Rainbow pleaded, begged, even, as Scootaloo sighed, turning and continuing towards the door.

“I didn't know!” Rainbow nearly screamed as the door shut behind the pegasus filly, the happily jingling bell mocking her as it rattled above the door.

“Dashie... how could you? Twilight would never do something like that to anypony, especially not you,” Pinkie said, sniffling loudly. “Especially not you...”

Rainbow couldn't take it anymore. She launched herself out the door, flying high into the sky with a scream of rage and pain following her through the air. Her eyes scanned the horizon furiously, looking for something – anything – that could help alleviate the rage she felt. She found some relief in a small patch of clouds just outside Ponyville, her anger and frustration slowly being vented as she attacked the puffy white masses viciously.

It wasn't enough.

As the last clouds exploded into mere vapour in her hooves she was breathing heavily, but still felt her anger burning within her chest. She pumped her wings furiously, screeching over Ponyville, continuing past the other side of town, past Sweet Apple Acres, past the point where Ponyville was nothing more than a spec on the horizon behind her. She doubled the strength of her flapping, and before long a bright ring of colour exploded out behind her.

Then, when Ponyville could not bee seen and the lights of Manehattan were just becoming visible on the horizon, she started turning. Banking back around, she questioned why she was going back. She was an outcast, now; everypony thought she'd cheated, everypony was upset or disappointed in her. Why was she going back?

The answer, she realized, was because there was one pony there who knew the truth. One pony there who would never accuse her of cheating on that test.

Twilight Sparkle knew the truth.

-_-_-_-

“After that... I flew around above your library for a while. I didn't even want to see you, but you were the last one left. I tried to go to Rarity's, but she wasn't home, and to be honest, after Pinkie's reaction, I didn't want to see hers. I even picked up that newspaper to remind myself what you did to me, trying to find some way to convince myself that I shouldn't see you. But... well, I guess you can see how that plan turned out,” Rainbow said, motioning to the library around her.

Twilight was having trouble taking it all in. All of their friends had said and done such things over a newspaper article? It just... it didn't sound like them at all. But Rainbow wasn't one to lie... All of them had said such things and Rainbow... Rainbow thought it was Twilight's fault.

“Rainbow... I... I didn't place the enchantment,” Twilight whispered weakly, though she flinched away when she saw anger flare up once again in Rainbow's eyes. Though the pegasus just as quickly forced it back down.

“The least you could do now is stop lying to me, Twilight,” Rainbow deadpanned, sending a cold glare to the unicorn.

Twilight, deciding it was best to change the subject, said “So what are you doing here? I'm sure you have more of a reason than telling me that.”

For the first time since her dreams had been crushed, Rainbow truly smiled. “You're getting me back in the Wonderbolts.”

Author's Note:

Wow, two chapters in three days. Lucky you!

As promised, the longest chapter currently in this story, ending at 5.2 thousand words. Not bad.

So in this chapter... well, last chapter is explained, basically. Why their reactions are so... harsh is explained next chapter along with more detail on why this is such a big deal around the town.

Not much else to say. Next chapter and the one after that are going to get.... interesting.

Thoughts and comments are always welcome along with any mistakes you found.