Strange Yet Wonderful

by Bionic Slime

Ch. 20 Thunder in Paradise

Chapter 20: Thunder in Paradise

KNOCK! KNOCK!

“It’s open” Rainbow shouted.

Arrowhead pushed the door open and entered Rainbow’s cloud mansion. He was always amazed at how his girlfriend lived in such a gigantic home, while her friend Twilight, a princess no less, lived in a pint sized tree library. Go figure.

“Babe? Where you at, powdering your nose or something?” he called.

Rainbow flew out of the kitchen. She was clutching some soda bottles and an un-popped bag of popcorn. The speedy mare had a slightly miffed look on her face, she glared teasingly at her boyfriend.

“Dude, don’t even joke about that kind of stuff,” she buffed, “that was a one-time thing for our first date. So don’t get used to it.” Her mildly irritated tone did nothing to tarnish the grin on Arrowhead’s charming smile.

“Okay, okay. Whatever you say,” he replied playfully. The colt started to make his way up the ivory staircase to her bedroom. “I’m just gonna drop my stuff off in your bedroom and then we can work out your Daring Do fan fiction thing.”

Rainbow once again emerged from the kitchen. Her cheeks were flaring up with red hues, her arms were packed with even more snacks than before.

“I told you it is NOT fan fiction! I’m just creating totally awesome, what-if, additional story material where Daring Do and I go on all kinds of crazy adventures that she hasn’t written yet,” she huffed bitterly.

The colt offered no comment or criticism. Either he was too busy laughing to reply, or he was already in her bedroom and didn’t hear a word she just said. Rainbow shrugged and resumed her snack preparation.

It’s so weird having someone have their own stuff at my place. I guess it makes sense though. He’s over here so much he might as well leave a toothbrush, comb and stuff like that so he doesn’t have to bring it when he stays over.

Rainbow emptied a bag of pretzels into a bowl; tossing the empty bag into her garbage can. She giggled quietly to herself. The thought of Arrowhead staying over always brought a stint of pinkness to her cerulean cheeks.

I still can’t believe I got a guy who sleeps over at my house before Rarity did. Who’d believed that?!? Not me, not in the beginning anyway. I always thought I was too awesome for things like that. But now that I think about it…It’s even more awesome knowing I have some pony who wants to spend so much time with me, and not just because of my rep.

The mare placed all of the drinks and snacks on top of a thunder yellow tray. She walked past her living room, flying over her rainbow guitar, strewn about comic books and a dark pink, beach ball with stars on it. As she passed her front door, Rainbow breathed in heavily and sighed at the smell she discovered. She smelled Arrowhead’s cologne. As much as she had no interest in perfumes and flowery smells most mares drown themselves in, nothing gave her greater pleasure than breathing in that thrilling scent.

“Arrowhead sure has changed me,” she mused to herself. The rainbow mare bit her lip softly as she began to fly up towards her master bedroom. “Before I met him, I would have never let any stinky cologne gunk up my house. Now I don’t feel like I can start my day unless I have something in here that smells like him. Yeah…He sure has changed me…For the better.”

Rainbow entered the bedroom. She saw Arrowhead standing in front of her bed and offered him a snack. The grey colt once again failed to respond to Rainbow’s words. His eyes were glued towards something hanging above her bed. Whatever it was, it was causing him to sport the strangest of smiles; almost mischievous in nature.

“Uhhhhh what’s with the weird look?” Rainbow asked grumpily.

“Heh and here I thought you wanted to get rid of that memory,” he replied with a hefty chortle.

Of course, how could she be so blind? Arrowhead was referring to the beautifully framed photo of the embarrassing snapshot he took of her; the one she fought tooth and nail to acquire so she could hide it from the world. Yet, there it hung, directly above the speedy mare’s bed; the first thing she would see each morning.

“Oh yeah…That,” she said sheepishly. Her cerulean cheeks had turned bright pink. The mare hadn’t realized that Arrowhead had not been in her bedroom since she put the photo above her bed. “It’s-it’s no big deal.” She placed the tray of snacks on top of her dresser. Secretly, she hoped he would drop the subject so they could get to her fan fiction writing.

“No big deal? Really?” he asked skeptically.

“After you hit your head, it left a big crack on my wall so I figured…The photo would make a nice…Cover up,” she mumbled; trailing off slightly.

Arrowhead continued to stare at the nervous Pegasus. Normally she would put on a brave front that only few ponies could see through, now, she hardly seemed like she was trying anymore. Or perhaps he knew her too well for that trick to work on him.

“What? Don’t look at me like that,” Rainbow said. She shifted uncomfortably.

“Well if that’s the case, I’ll just fix the crack so you won’t need the-”

“NO DON’T” Rainbow shouted. She frantically flew in front of the photo, arms spread and eyes shimmering with panic. “Y-y-y-you can’t take it, it’s my photo and I’ll do what I want with it so don’t ask me to give it back,” she said anxiously, “it’s not like it m-m-m-means that much to me, you know.”

Arrowhead sighed heavily. He had gotten used to his girlfriend’s bravado and, to a degree, even understood why she put on this tough girl act. However, he also felt her public image was preventing her from being her true self and this incident was a prime example of it.

“Who exactly are you trying to impress? Seriously, you don’t have to do this,” he said calmly. Rainbow’s defenses softened but her eyes still wobbled with uncertainty. “It’s me Rainbow Dash…It’s me,” he placed his hoof on one of Dash’s legs, “please just tell me how you really feel about it.”

Rainbow reactively shivered at his touch. She used to hate having some pony touching her hooves, now she felt like she needed his touch and his alone all the time. Her wings started to flap slower and slower. Rainbow plopped onto the bed, her eyes swelling with regret and dejection over her bothersome pride. Despite knowing how many times her pride had pushed Arrowhead away, she still relied on it when she was nervous.

“The truth is I…I” she stuttered nervously, “the truth is it’s the only photo I have of you, it’s also the first photo you and I took together,” Arrowhead nodded, listening attentively. “Yeah I look stupid and I hate the way you tricked me into saying I’m cute.”

“But?” he asked longingly.

“But…The fact that it’s the first photo of you and me, that…Kinda makes it…Really special to me, like it’s proof that you and I have this awesome connection and it will always be there,” she said sincerely. She rubbed the back of her head anxiously. “When I’m with you, I feel like I don’t have to do anything else other than be me, the real me. Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity are like family to me, but even when I’m with them, I feel like sometimes I’m still putting on a show. You’re the only pony who gets me and makes me feel like being my REAL-real self wouldn’t be such a bad thing. So, the reason I put the photo up there is because…You make me feel like I can be even more awesome than I already am.”

Arrowhead was truly taken aback by those words. Rainbow was finally pulling back the curtain and revealing the real pony underneath the grandstanding and fame. The colt was speechless, his heart soared triumphantly inside his broad chest.

“Hot damn” he said breathlessly, “I’ve never wanted you as badly as I want you right now.” His voice spoke in a dry, husky growl. The colt felt like a hunger driven predator; aching to leap onto his prey and consume every inch of her.

To the average mare, Arrowhead’s primal lusting after such a heartfelt confession would have appeared unpolished and in poor taste. But to the wild and lively Wonderbolt fan, it was exactly what she needed to hear.

“Oh yeah…this needs to happen” she moaned hungrily.

The two ponies locked lips together almost instantly. Arrowhead draped his moaning lips across the fur on Rainbow’s neck. She purred like a feral cat and physically attacked him like one as well, losing herself in the thrill of his taste. Their passion generated with such a sizzling intensity, Princess Celestia’s sun would feel frosty by comparison. Rainbow Dash and Arrowhead thrashed around the room feverishly. They eventually found their way to Rainbow’s bed; collapsing onto it and then savagely attacking the other with increasing determination. All they could see was each other and all they could feel and taste was their all-consuming love for one another.

One passionate hour later…

Rainbow and Arrowhead lay in bed, covered in sweat and staring dreamily at each other. The lovers ruffled bodies snuggling comfortably under the sheets. Arrowhead brought the snack tray into bed with them. The ponies munched away on the tray of goodies; sharing things they haven’t discussed before.

“Okay, okay, what’s something you love to do but no one knows you love to do it?” he asked curiously. Rainbow opened her mouth to answer. “And don’t say reading Daring Do. I already know that one and so does everyone else for that matter.” Rainbow pouted and nodded.

“Something I love to do is…dance,” she answered meekly, “that’s kind of part of the reason I was okay doing that dance for you.”

Arrowhead thought back on that stunning cheerleader outfit she wore during the dance. His grin looked especially perverse; Rainbow playfully elbowed him for that.

“Out of the gutter there perv! I don’t like that kind of dancing, I just like dancing in general. I used to think it was just a waste of energy but it’s actually a lot of fun,” she said.

“Why is that something you’d want to hide? It’s not girly or embarrassing to enjoy dancing,” he asked.

“Because I get too carried away and then ponies start staring at me, and not in the good way,” she replied.

Arrowhead nodded. He scratched his chin and pondered what secret he would reveal to Rainbow next, he smiled as he came to a decision.

“Something I love to do that no else knows about is playing video games,” Arrowhead casually remarked.

“Video games? Seriously? What’s the deal with hiding that?”

“I tend to get a little…ahem…crazy when I play video games,” he coughed nervously, “things tend to get broken when I play them.”

“Like what kind of things?” Rainbow asked. Her interest was piqued, she never pegged her boyfriend as a gamer like Button Mash. Maybe she should introduce the two.

“Like the controller…or the screen…or chairs…or consoles…or cups,” he muttered sheepishly. Each word made the colt feel guiltier as he said them aloud.

Okay maybe she shouldn’t introduce the two of them!

“My brother used to play them with me, but he was a really sore winner. Every time he’d beat me in a game, he’d dance around shouting: I win, you lose! I win, you lose!”

“I think that would make any pony go smash crazy. Actually, now that you mention it, I’m not that surprised about your temper. I mean, you showed a pretty mean streak to Zephyr.”

Arrowhead felt no shame regarding that display of anger he showed Fluttershy’s obnoxious brother. He looked back on that memory fondly.

“I don’t have any tolerance for ponies like that. He made you feel miserable and didn’t listen to a thing you said,” Arrowhead shook his head. “Wasn’t gonna just sit back and let that fly, not on my watch.”

Rainbow smirked charmingly at the white haired colt. She positioned herself on top of him; straddling his legs with hers. Arrowhead swallowed heavily. Rainbow Dash looked at him like he was a finish line: glittering, bold, tempting and irresistibly inviting.

“Watching you go all crazy on that dweeb, just for me, was REALLY hot,” Rainbow kissed him roughly. Their lips snapped free after a few moments; both licking the taste of the other off their lips. “Ready for round two?”

DING DONG!

“OH COME ON!” Rainbow shouted frustratingly.

“Just ignore it, they’ll go away eventually,” he said calmly.

The bell continued to ring. With no sign or sound of any pony coming to answer, the bell rang faster and faster. The pony behind the door was pounding the button like a jackhammer.

Rainbow looked angrily at the door before turning towards Arrowhead. She placed her hooves on her hips; disapprovingly.

“Okay…Well…Then I guess it must be really important?” he said; hesitantly.

“It better me,” she snapped coldly. Rainbow flew from her bed; leaving behind a colorful, blurry trail. She zoomed towards her front door and violently swung it open. The door blasted open so hard, it was like it had been opened by a gust of wind from a violent hurricane. “WHAT? I’M VERY BUSY RIGHT NOW!” she snarled belligerently at whoever was unfortunate enough to be standing outside her door.

Rainbow found a whimpering Pegasus standing at her door, she was cowering in fear like a foal trembling from a storm. The mare’s fur was golden bronze and her eyes were deep royal blue. Her white and light blue hair was made up into a ponytail.

“Hey I know you, you’re the receptionist at the Cloudsdale post office,” Rainbow said; softening her reaction. “The one that’s closest to the Wonderbolts headquarters.”

“M-m-m-m-my n-n-n-n-name’s Amber P-p-p-p-pop and I’m so-so sorry to b-b-bother you, but you’ve got to come to Cloudsdale,” Amber said frightfully, “it’s a Wonderbolts emergency!”

“Wonderbolts emergency?!?”

The rising sound of panic in Rainbow’s voice drew Arrowhead to the front door. He looked to Rainbow, then to Amber and then back to Rainbow. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but whatever this mare said to Rainbow was clearly freaking her out.

“Okay, spill already,” Rainbow feistily demanded, “What’s going on with the Wonderbolts?” She hovered over Amber menacingly.

“It’s Captain Spitfire. She’s being arrested by Princess Celestia as we speak and-”

“SHE’S WHAT?!?”

Rainbow’s scream echoed throughout Cloudsdale. Dozens of ponies looked towards Rainbow’s home for the source of the howling yell.

The cyan mare felt like her world had been shattered into a million pieces. She grabbed her ears and pulled on them, somehow trying to silence the horrible news she had just heard. Arrowhead could see sweat dripping off her cheeks and colorful locks. He had never seen her look so mortified before.

“Rainbow, are you all right?” he waved his woof in front of her unblinking eyes. Rainbow was stunned into silence. “Babe, please say something, you’re freaking me out,” Arrowhead said nervously.

“Spitfire is the most respected and honorable captain the Wonderbolts has ever had. It’s gotta be a mistake, IT HAS TO BE,” she shrieked frantically; ignoring Arrowhead. Rainbow leapt towards Amber. She savagely grabbed the receptionist by the cheeks and pressed her face towards hers. “What reason could they possibly have to arrest her?”

“Spitfire has been charged with resisting arrest, conspiring with a criminal, assaulting royal guards and worst of all…Grand theft of a priceless and dangerous mystical item,” Amber coldly stated.

Rainbow looked as if someone had pierced through her heart with a spear. Her voice sputtered out a hollow buzz, every muscle felt as fragile and disposable as paper. She didn’t even feel Amber slip out of her grasp.

Arrowhead was saying something to her but she couldn’t seem to process or acknowledge his existence at the moment. He was deeply worried and concerned for his beloved mare. The colt extended a hoof to comfort his fractured mare, but she launched herself into the sky like a cerulean bullet before he could make contact.

“Hey, Rainbow, WAIT UP”, he shouted; scrambling desperately to catch up with her. Arrowhead galloped off in Rainbow’s direction; zooming right past Amber. He knew he wasn’t as fast as Rainbow was, and the fact he couldn’t fly would make it even harder to catch up, but he wasn’t going to let her face this alone.

Amber Pop blinked curiously; now finding she was suddenly alone. Arrowhead and Rainbow Dash ran off so fast, she didn’t even have time to tell them where the arrest was taking place. Though more than likely Rainbow would surmise it was happening at the Wonderbolts main office.

“Awe poor widdle Rainbow Dash, so heartbroken over her great, big embarrassment of a hero,” Amber snickered. The Pegasus now had a twisted, insidious look upon her grinning face. She rubbed her hooves together devilishly, her royal blue eyes gleaming with wickedness. “This is going even better than I planned. I just wish I could be there to see the look on that rainbow twit’s stupid little face AH HA, HA, HA.”

---

Rainbow finally arrived at the Wonderbolts headquarters. Much to her horror, she discovered that everything Amber Pop had told her was true. Princess Celestia was lording over Spitfire, she had a royal Pegasus guard on each of her sides.

Soarin and the other Wonderbolts were there too, they were pleading Spitfire’s innocence to Celestia. The team looked just as shocked as Rainbow did when she first heard the news.

“Princess, please, with all due respect, you can’t honestly believe I would EVER try and do anything like this,” Spitfire said insistently.

“Spitfire is the most respectable and trustworthy pony I know your majesty,” Soarin said. “She would never betray her country and steal something like the Phoenix gauntlet; that just isn’t her. This is just a giant mistake.”

Princess Celestia tried to speak but was abruptly cut off by a very angry, gray captain of the royal Pegasus guard.

“Pony feathers! I was there, I saw HER. She stole the Gauntlet and blasted past us like we were bowling pins. There’s no mistake about it. And it wasn’t just me, every guard in my unit saw her too,” the captain said angrily.

“I’m afraid he’s right Soarin,” Celestia said gloomily, “I have spoken with every guard who witnessed the incident and they all state they saw the same thing: Spitfire stealing the gauntlet and then fleeing the scene.”

The Captain’s guards nodded in agreement. Spitfire and Soarin looked at each other, their eyes bulging with overwhelming despair. The eye witnesses made any defense difficult to argue, even though they both knew Spitfire had nothing to do with this crime.

“I swear I don’t have the Phoenix gauntlet! Go ahead and search me, search my house; I’ve got nothing to hide because I DIDN’T take it,” Spitfire said.

“Oh don’t worry, we will,” the guard cruelly snapped back, “Just because you don’t have it on you doesn’t mean you’re innocent. I’m betting you’ve hidden it somewhere off Cloudsdale, sneaky thief.”

Celestia flashed her eyes towards the Captain. She insisted he backed off. Though Spitfire’s crime is seemingly without question, Celestia did not approve of treating any pony; even a prisoner with such hostility. The guard grunted and nodded reluctantly.

“Look, just tell us when this crime happened and we can prove to you that Spitfire had nothing to do with it,” Soarin asked. He was certain the guards had merely seen a pony that looked like Spitfire and not the real one.

Spitfire nodded in agreement. Every pony knew she spent more time at the academy office more than any other Wonderbolts member, her teammates can back her up as her own witnesses.

“The guard’s times all match the same specific event: it was when the Wonderbolts were practicing for the aerial show for my Royal garden opening the following day,” Celestia calmly stated.

Spitfire, Soarin and the other Wonderbolts collectively gulped.

“As I recall, the guards and numerous other eye witnesses clearly stated that they saw no sign of Spitfire during practice. It was at this time the Cloudsdale treasury was raided and the Phoenix gauntlet was stolen.”

“But Princess, I told you, I was tricked by Wind Rider with a fake sick note from my mother. I rushed home to go check on her, but she was perfectly healthy and at the practice show. Wind Rider did all of this so he could get Rainbow Dash kicked off the team,” Spitfire pleaded.

The other Wonderbolt members shouted supportively.

“HA, save your breath traitor, if I had to go down then it’s only fair you go down with me,” a sickeningly familiar voice said.

Celestia stepped to the side and revealed the source of that venomous voice: Wind Rider. Two armed pony guards followed alongside the former Wonderbolt legend. Amber Pop was brought alongside Wind Rider. She was visibly anxious, the tension of the situation caused her to shiver irregularly. Spitfire and the Wonderbolts growled in unison upon seeing the face of the gray haired Pegasus.

“What is HE doing here?” Soarin snapped.

“According to your statements, Wind Rider tricked you into leaving the practice with a fake sick note from your mother,” Celestia calmly stated, “all to remove Rainbow Dash from the team, correct Captain?”

Spitfire nodded firmly.

“Except YOU clearly wanted more out of our deal than just that,” Wind Rider said accusingly. The team hissed angrily at the colt but he ignored them. “You met with me before I had even met Rainbow Dash and warned me she would be a threat to my record. It was YOUR idea to set her up in the first place. I thought you were crazy asking me to trick yourself with this stunt, but now I know it was all so you could use me to give you an excuse so you could steal the Phoenix gauntlet.”

“Ask you to trick-what? That doesn’t even make any sense!” she shrieked in outrage.

“And you called me a disgrace,” Wind Rider said; scoffing disapprovingly.

Spitfire looked frantically around at her teammates. She felt like she was losing her mind, the hot headed Pegasus couldn’t wrap her brain around what she was hearing. Even worse, Celestia and the royal guards seemed to believe it!

“P-p-p-p-p-princess, you can’t possibly believe this-this lying creep. He’d say anything to ruin the Wonderbolts after we stripped him of his membership,” she pleaded.

“While that may be true Captain, I’m afraid the evidence and testimonies support what Wind Rider says,” Celestia said.

A brown Pegasus guard stepped forward. He was carrying a rolled up parchment scroll under one of his wings, he unrolled it and began reading its contents aloud.

“After interviewing Miss Amber Pop, The Pony investigation unit has learned that Captain Spitfire was confirmed exiting the Cloudsdale post office and meeting up with Wind Rider after mailing a package of unknown contents. Several witnesses confirmed they saw Spitfire, who was wearing a cloak at the time, speaking discretely with Wind Rider” the guard announced.

“And I’ve already taken the Investigation unit to the alleyway where you met up with me the night before, and gave me all the details and specifics for framing Rainbow,” Wind Rider added.

“Not to mention me and my entire team saw you with our own eyes; bush whacking and publically humiliating us as you stole the gauntlet right in front of our faces,” the Captain said; snarling through gritted teeth.

The Wonderbolts looked at each other, their voices and eyes strained with uncertainty. The evidence seemed irrefutable. The team didn’t want to consider it, but maybe, just maybe, Spitfire was not the pony they thought she was. Soarin was the only one who was absolutely certain of his friend’s innocence.

Unfortunately, the one pony whose opinion mattered most; Celestia, did not share his faith.

“It causes me great sadness to say this Spitfire, but based on the evidence, I am left with no other choice,” Celestia said mournfully. She raised her lengthy wing into the air and motioned for her guards to move in. “By the power of Equestria, I hereby strip you of your authority and position as captain of the Wonderbolts and sentence you to be jailed until your sentence is determined in court.” Her firm gaze moved towards Soarin. “Soarin will serve as captain of the Wonderbolts until further notice,” she decreed.

Spitfire shook her head in disbelief. Her eyes bulged in massive shock, she looked as if her brain had disconnected from her body and caused nothing but numbness to spread to every nerve. The guards clamped diamond hard metallic cuffs over Spitfire’s hooves.

The Wonderbolts gushed with a mixed range of emotions: some burst into tears, some shook their heads shamefully and others could only stare speechlessly at this tragic event.

“YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG PONY!”

Rainbow’s voice bellowed across the skies. Celestia, Spitfire and the others turned their heads jarringly towards the colorful mare barreling down towards their position. She landed roughly and immediately approached the princess; bowing before her respectively.

“Princess Celestia, I know you’ve already made your decision but you’ve got to listen to me, Spitfire is 100% innocent; I SWEAR it,” Rainbow said desperately.

“Rainbow Dash, I am sorry you had to see this, but you must understand that this is not something I can ignore,” Celestia replied. Rainbow listened anxiously. She wanted to shout and say so much, but even if she knew the princess was wrong, she would always remain loyal to her authority. “If Spitfire is innocent then the truth will eventually come to light, but for now, she must be held accountable for her actions.”

“But Spitfire is the greatest, most loyal captain the Wonderbolts has ever had. There’s no way she would ever steal this gauntlet thing, no way!”

“Do you have any kind of evidence or witnesses that can prove she did not steal the Phoenix gauntlet?”

“I uh…Well…Uh…No but-”

“Then the law must be abided. I am sorry my little pony but my decision is final, Spitfire must stand trial for what she has done.”

Spitfire looked to Rainbow as they dragged her away. The yellow Pegasus expressed her deepest appreciation to Rainbow as best she could, it pleased her heart knowing she had others that believed in her innocence.

Rainbow couldn’t process the horrifying reality that was happening before her. Her brain was lost in a suffocating wave of confusion and panic. It was happening all over again. Another Wonderbolts hero she idolized was being painted as the villain; first Wind Rider (despite the fact he deserved it) and now Spitfire. She refused to sit back and let the Wonderbolts name get dragged through the mud any further.

ZOOM!

Wind Rider guffawed as Rainbow tackled him viciously to the ground. She grabbed him by his bomber jacket collar; jerking his face towards hers.

“You back stabbing, rotten old liar, this is all YOUR fault. Admit it! Your behind all of this, you just wanted to get back at Spitfire for firing you didn’t you, DIDN’T YOU?” she screamed; shaking the old Pegasus vigorously.

“Rainbow Dash, stop this at once,” Celestia said firmly. The guards moved to remove Rainbow Dash but Celestia raised her wings; halting them. “This is not going to help Spitfire in the least.”

“But he’s lying, I know it! He tried to take away my career and now he’s doing the same thing to Spitfire. You can’t trust anything that comes out of his lying lips.”

Wind Rider grunted at Rainbow’s accusation. He shoved her off, dusted his jacket and stood back up.

“Back off alternate,” Wind Rider said with a scathing sneer. “I may be a liar but I’m not a criminal. No pony is stupid enough to try and steal the Phoenix gauntlet, not unless you want to get caught.”

Rainbow was thoroughly disgusted by the old colt’s words. Looking at him now, she finds it hard to believe she ever looked up to the likes of this disgraceful coward.

“Um ex-c-c-c-use me, I hate to interrupt but can I g-g-go now? I’m not really good at dealing with situations like this,” Amber Pop nervously squeaked.

The speedy mare flashed a deadly glare towards the young post office clerk. Amber shrank in fear, much like how Fluttershy reacted to intense situations. Rainbow approached Amber with a threatening stance. She stared down the trembling Pegasus; as if interrogating a lowlife.

“You’re not off the hook yet speedy. I want to know why you came all the way to my house just to tell me Spitfire was being arrested when you were one of the ponies who claimed they saw her meeting with Wind Rider? And how did you get here so fast? Only the princesses and me can move that quickly,” Rainbow demanded threateningly. Her wings flared up along with her rising temper and tone.

“W-w-w-wait, what do you mean? I didn’t go to your house, I’ve been here the whole time,” she replied meekly. Her mint green eyes widened slightly; clearly confused by Rainbow’s statements.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You were at my house 10 minutes ago; knocking on my door and telling me Spitfire was being arrested. How do you think I knew to come here in the first place?”

“I’m r-r-r-really sorry Miss Dash but…I uh…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Are you calling me a LIAR?!?”

“That is ENOUGH Rainbow Dash!” Celestia boomed thunderously.

Rainbow flinched suddenly. Hearing that tone of anger in Celestia’s voice was not something the speedy mare had heard too often. She nervously backed away from Amber Pop. Rainbow faced the princess and lowered her head and dropped her flared wings.

“I understand you are upset and that the Wonderbolts mean a great deal to you, but do not forget where you are. Just because I value your loyalty and friendship does not mean you can say and do whatever you want in royal matters such as this. You would be wise to remember that,” Celestia commanded.

Rainbow closed her eyes in shame. She faintly replied “Yes princess,” unable to raise her head or return eye contact to the sun princess. The Pegasus had never been on the receiving end of Celestia’s anger. It felt like when Discord had distorted her element of harmony and turned her against her friends.

Princess Celestia sighed heavily. She motioned for the guards to take Spitfire away, the princess dismissed Amber Pop and Wind Rider and thanked them for their participation. The Pegasai collectively followed the princess on her chariot and vanished into the sky. Spitfire looked longingly at her teammates, as well as the downtrodden Rainbow Dash. Eventually they ultimately vanished from her sight and she was forced to look towards the bleak fate that awaited her.

“All right guys, there’s no time to lose, we’ve got to do everything in our power to prove Spitfire is innocent and get her out of jail,” Soarin said. The Wonderbolts nodded and murmured in agreement. “Everyone split up and find out everything you can from anyone who saw Wind Rider or Spitfire recently. We’ll meet back here when Luna raises the moon and pool our information together.”

Soarin instructed the team to split up in pairs, each group would search and investigate a different lead or different location relating to Spitfire or Wind Rider.

Rainbow was lost in a sea of vacant despair. She stared out at the horizon, wastefully waiting for any sign of Celestia and Spitfire returning; praying they’d come back and say it was all a big misunderstanding and that everything would be fine.

But they didn’t and it wasn’t.

She felt like a ship drifting in the ocean; searching for a lighthouse that would never shine.

“Wind Rider…Spitfire…Every one of my heroes is falling away from me,” she whimpered quietly.

Too busy drowning in her own sorrow, Rainbow Dash was unaware Thunderlane dropped Arrowhead down behind her. Arrowhead had contacted the Pegasus colt and asked for his assistance in getting to Rainbow’s location as quickly as possible. He thanked Thunderlane for his assistance and approached his gloomy girlfriend.

“Hey Rainbow, what’s going on? You flew out of there so fast, I didn’t have any time to ask you what happened,” he said; expressing his concern.

“Wind Rider…Spitfire…Wind Rider…Spitfire” she muttered endlessly.

Rainbow was a babbling, hollow husk of her spirited self. She hadn’t turned to face him, or moved in a way to imply she heard Arrowhead.

“I’ve been really worried about you. You didn’t say a thing and I didn’t know where you were going or what was happening. I heard something about Spitfire being arrested but I didn’t-”

“Rainbow Dash, if you’re up for it we could use your help.”

Arrowhead blinked at the interruption. Soarin had finished strategizing with the others, his voice shook Rainbow out of her dreary stupor.

“Wha…Oh, right sure, totally,” she said quickly.

“Good, we need you to go to the Cloudsdale jailhouse right away and speak with Spitfire. If she can draw you a map of her flight pattern from the Wonderbolts performance arena to her mom’s house, maybe we can find some ponies who saw her flying in that area. Then we could prove it wasn’t her who attacked those guards and stole the Phoenix gauntlet,” Soarin explained.

“Right, you can count on me,” she said; saluting her newly designated captain.

Arrowhead couldn’t deny feeling a twinge of disappointment seeing his girlfriend responding to Soarin instead of him. He didn’t understand everything that was going on, and the one pony he needed to talk to about all of this was already preparing to fly off and leave him behind, again.

“Babe, before you go I need to know what’s going on, I’m really worried about you,” Arrowhead timidly asked.

“Sorry but there’s no time. I’ve got to get to Spitfire and start finding witnesses to help prove she’s been wrongfully accused.”

“No-no I get that but I think you need to take a minute before you go rushing off. You look really freaked out and I just want to talk; calm you down a bit before you go.”

“Ugh you gotta be kidding me! Every minute I waste here, Spitfire has to stay locked up and get her name further dragged in the mud. I don’t have time for this.”

Soarin flapped his wings and started to head towards the sky. He called to Rainbow, asking if she was coming or not. Rainbow looked up at him and nodded.

“I’m coming, just give me a sec,” she turned back to Arrowhead, “look, just go back to Ponyville and I will talk to you when I’m done with all of this.”

She tried to leave but Arrowhead kept pulling her back. Rainbow grunted and started thrashing against his grip, her irritation was rising. Arrowhead clearly could see this was upsetting her, but his concern for her was too great to leave her in such a distraught state. Who knows what might happen if she rushes off in this stressful condition?

“Whatever’s happening to you affects me too, that’s what it means to be in a relationship. It sounds like this is something serious, which means you’re gonna need all the help you can get. Why not let me help too?” he asked.

“I already told you there’s no time for that. Explaining everything would take longer, you’d just slow me down,” she snapped rudely.

Arrowhead was taken aback by that remark. His grip lessened slightly. He looked genuinely hurt by Rainbow’s words. She was so consumed by her own pain, she wasn’t aware she was causing Arrowhead pain as well.

“R-r-r-rainbow, come on, you know I’m only trying to help. All I’m asking you to do is help fly me with you. I can use my detective skills to help you figure out what’s going on with Spitfire,” he offered.

“Rainbow, come on let’s go” Soarin shouted overhead.

Rainbow looked up to respond to Soarin, but the dark haired Pegasus was already flying off into the distance. Everyone had already left. Her rainbow locks hung drearily over her eyes, giving them a downcast; shadowy appearance.

“Ugh…Now it’s going to take even longer. I wish Twilight and Rarity weren’t off in Canterlot right now. I could seriously use both their help. I don’t have time to go to Canterlot to get them, and I can’t just sit here and wait for them to get back,” she said impatiently.

“I know your stressed and pissed right now, I get that. But no matter how messed up this situation is, I know we’ll figure it out. Everything’s going to work out in the end,” Arrowhead said comfortingly.

Unfortunately, Rainbow was beyond being angry. She had reached her mental limit and the hurricane of emotions brewing inside of her was about to be unleashed.

“Everything’s. Going. To. Work. Out?” Rainbow flashed a cold, unyielding glare at her boyfriend. Arrowhead stepped back, slightly alarmed. “I know we’ll figure it out? Did you honestly just SAY THAT TO ME? How could you POSSIBLY know it’s gonna work out? You don’t know the first thing that’s going on.”

“I w-w-was just trying to put your mind at ease,” he weakly replied; startled by her anger.

“Well guess what? Ya blew it!” she snapped.

“Babe, take a minute to chillax, just like you always say to me, remember?”

The fuming mare snorted in reply.

“You’re seeing red, I get that. I’m not trying to make things worse, I just want to help so you’re not-”

“But you can’t help. You’re too far behind in what’s going on and I’ve wasted too much time arguing over this. So congrats Arrowhead, you made it worse anyway!”

“Rainbow…Please…it’s me. I care about you too much to leave you like this. Just give me a chance, I promise I can-”

“UGH! Why don’t you get it? I don’t want your help because it’s no bucking good! I already told you, only a princess, like Twilight, or a successful detective, like Rarity, can help me. You’re not a detective, you’re not a princess; you’re just a dime a dozen, boring, old Earth pony who has no idea what he is talking about, so STOP WASTING MY TIME AND JUST GO ALREADY!”

A cold silence settled on the turbulent scene.

Arrowhead just stared at Rainbow, staring as if she were a complete stranger. He felt like every drop of happiness had been drained from his body. Her crippling words could still be faintly heard echoing in the background. Tears started to drip from his cheeks; yet he could not feel them dripping. Everything in him was numb.

Rainbow heaved and sighed. She relaxed her shoulders and flapped her wings; preparing to fly. The stinging hurt in Arrowhead’s eyes did not go unnoticed. She was not proud of what she said to him, but somewhere in her anger she felt it had to be said.

Arrowhead couldn’t bear to look at her any longer. He turned his back to her; keeping his sorrow and rage filled eyes on Rainbow as long as possible. The heartbroken colt drearily walked back the way he came, his tears dripping into small swirling puddles in the cloud landscape.

The speedy mare launched herself into the sky and headed towards Spitfire’s cell.

She didn’t look back once.

---

“Don’t worry Spitfire, I promise I’m gonna get you out of there,” Rainbow said confidently.

Spitfire offered a weak smile. Her goldish yellow color looking a few shades darker behind her jail cell bars.

It had been a number of days since Rainbow embarked on her quest to clear Spitfire’s name. Despite her speed and ground coverage, she had failed to find sufficient evidence or witnesses for Princess Celestia to reconsider freeing Spitfire. Much to her frustration, everything Wind Rider and Amber Pop said was verified by many other ponies.

“I just can’t believe there is nothing, literally nothing that proves your innocent,” she grumbled bitterly. Rainbow pressed her back against Spitfire’s bars. She groaned and slumped onto her rump. “I interviewed everyone I could find: ponies, griffons, I even asked Fluttershy to talk to the animals near the area; no one saw you flying to your mom’s house.”

“It’s not a surprise really. I was flying as fast as I could at the time; so fast I even got a little lost along the way. There was no way my defense was going to hold water considering no pony knew where I was,” Spitfire admitted.

“I still don’t like the fact that Celestia had to lock you up like this,” Rainbow scoffed. She banged her back left hoof against the bars.

“Stealing something as powerful and ancient as the Phoenix gauntlet is nothing to sneeze at Dash. I know I didn’t steal it, you and Soarin know I didn’t steal it, but to the rest of the world…” she trailed off quietly. Fully understanding the situation didn’t make the yellow Pegasus feel any better about it.

“Well that’s gonna change, trust me. The other Wonderbolts are working on building your defense and I’ve been busting my tail off digging up evidence. I won’t stop until you’re a free mare. I even got my friend Fluttershy to help out.”

“What about that grey Earth pony that was on Cloudsdale? Soarin said he saw you talking to someone before he flew off.”

Though Spitfire didn’t know his name, mentioning him in even that capacity was enough to make Rainbow flinch. She hadn’t seen him or spoken to him after that terrible, terrible day.

“He um…He’s no longer in the picture.”

Spitfire’s hazel eyes widened briefly. She was genuinely surprised to hear Rainbow speak of him like that. The disgraced captain remembered Rainbow bragging about some hot pony stud she had managed to land, but she never mentioned his name. Some of the other alternate Wonderbolt members were overheard gossiping about a pony that matched Arrowhead’s description. Spitfire remembered hearing it in the locker room.

“You left him behind to help me…Didn’t you?”

The captain’s words stirred Rainbow out of her sullen stupor. She slowly faced the imprisoned Pegasus. This was the last thing she wanted to talk about, but she felt like she owed her fallen comrade that much.

“Look, it’s really complicated and…Weird…And I’m not really sure what to make of the whole ‘Arrowhead’ thing.”

“So that’s his name eh? This guy sounds like he really got under your skin.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Come on Dash, I’ve been watching you for some time now. You passed by every challenge and obstacle the academy threw your way without blinking. There’s not much that rattles you. So if you’re acting all anxious because of a guy, that says to me that he means more to you than you’re admitting.”

Rainbow slumped onto her rear. She closed her eyes and sighed; hair dangling in front of her face.

“I just don’t know what happened to me. I’ve always cared about what other ponies think of me, maybe a little too much sometimes, but this guy is like on a whole other level. I cared so much about what he thought of me that I ended up caring for him,” she confessed.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Spitfire said.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing, more like something I’m not used to or prepared to handle,” Rainbow lifted her head up a bit higher, “which is not something that happens to me often.”

“I wasn’t prepared for having a rookie like you change how we do things at the academy. But on more than one occasion Rainbow, you’ve changed things for the better and both the team and the training regiments are better because of those changes. Sometimes you gotta roll with the punches if you want the best results,” Spitfire said knowingly.

“Arrowhead and I have been…Ahem…Rolling for a while now and it was really awesome, for a while,” Rainbow shook the starry eyed look on her face. Spitfire looked at her curiously. “But then you got arrested and…All I could think of was how the Wonderbolts name was going to live on after losing two of its most famous and respectable members to scandals. I needed help, like right away, and I know Arrowhead couldn’t help with what I needed. He had no authority or detective skills…I had to do whatever it took that would help you the fastest.”

“But that doesn’t mean you have to burn bridges with Arrowhead over me,” Spitfire said dramatically. “I’m eternally grateful you’re in my corner, really I am, but just because he can’t do anything major doesn’t meant he can’t help.” Rainbow listened closely; idly rubbing her chin in deep thought. Spitfire’s words were slowly sinking in. “Not every colt would rush up to Cloudsdale and immediately put everything on hold just to help his girlfriend. That says more to me than if he’s royalty or has wings.”

The more Rainbow listened, the more horrified looking she became. She was so lost in her own panic and frustration, she hadn’t fully realized what she had done to the colt who meant so much to her. Her pink eyes shrank into petrified little dots. The heart shattering words she spoke to Arrowhead played over and over in her mind like a broken record.

“Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! Those…Those things that I said to him…I wasn’t trying to…But I…I was scared and freaking out…I-I didn’t mean to,” she babbled on; overflowing with panic. Rainbow suddenly lunged towards the front of the jail cell. Spitfire stumbled back a bit; slightly alarmed by the horrified look on her friend’s face. “Sweet Celestia…What have I done?”

“You need to fix this Dash,” Spitfire placed her hooves over Rainbow’s through the bars, “the longer you leave this, the worse it’s going to get.” The fiery mare stepped back and chuckled softly. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll obviously still be here when you get back.”

Rainbow nodded affirmatively to the imprisoned captain. She saluted Spitfire and then bolted from the dungeon.

The cyan mare wanted nothing more than to use that time spell Twilight mentioned and fix all of this. But since Twilight wasn’t here and even if she was, Rainbow would most likely get a lecture from her about abusing the space and time continuum for personal gain, Rainbow had to fix this before it was too late. Arrowhead had been unfairly shoved aside twice before, but still he came back. But this time, Rainbow feared that there might be no coming back from this.

It was night, she talked to Spitfire longer than she realized. The mare used all of her speed to arrive at Arrowhead’s house as quickly as possible. She touched down quietly, directly at his front door.

This is really going to suck…I mean…It’s REALLY going to suck, but I gotta do this, she thought to herself. I can’t lose him because I was being angry and scared, I just can’t!

Rainbow stared at the door. It stood dauntingly, imposingly, immobilizing her like a Cockatrice’s stare. She bit her lip nervously. A sudden urge overcame her and she hammered on the door with her hoof; faster and harder than she planned to. The sound of hoof steps approached caused her heart to jump erratically.

The door opened slowly. Rainbow gasped upon seeing Arrowhead. His eyes were swollen and red from crying, white hair was unruly and disheveled. The speedy mare had never seen her boyfriend’s handsome face look so devastated and drained.

The colt’s gaze bore into Rainbow like a red hot poker. His eerie silence made his enraged stare feel a thousand times more intense.

“I know I’m the last pony you want to see right now, and you have every right to hate my guts and tell me to shove off,” Rainbow’s voice cracked, “but I really, really, really need to talk to you.” Tears started to drip down the mare’s cerulean cheeks, her voice withering with sorrow.

Arrowhead remained silent.

“I am so sorry. I’m incredibly, wildly, madly, crazily, completely, infinitely, beyond...Sorry. But I know that’s nowhere near enough. I hurt you…I hurt you so much, I should be locked up right next to Spitfire,” she said weepily. Her voice wavered as she tried to continue speaking. “I just…I was mad, I was freaking out over everything that was happening and…I didn’t mean to…But that’s no excuse for me to take it out on you.”

Once more, Arrowhead remained deathly quiet.

“You told me you wanted to get to know the real me. You told me I was more than just my image and my ego, and you were right,” Arrowhead avoided looking at her. Rainbow’s tears intensified. Her hooves reached for his face; pleadingly. He frowned bitterly feeling her touch his face, but he did not resist. She guided him back to her eyes. “But I didn’t learn that until you showed me how wrong I was. What I said to you was unforgivable. You were trying to help me and I just shoved you aside…I pushed you away when you’ve given me so much and-”

Arrowhead sighed heavily. Rainbow’s eyes briefly widened with hope, it looks like he was finally going to speak to her. His warm, muscular hooves reached up and slowly pushed her hooves from his face.

“When you first dismissed me because I wasn’t a Pegasus, I was upset but I got over it, the second time you hurt me, you hid me to preserve your ego…And that one really hurt; figuratively and literally. But eventually, you won me over,” he said flatly. Rainbow listened apprehensively. “I thought long and hard about what you said to me. I kept wondering: what did I do wrong, what mistake did I make that made everything turn out so miserably? Then finally, it hit me.”

A dark, dreary cloud formed over Ponyville. It was time for the scheduled storm to take place. The Pegasai were getting started without Rainbow Dash, they began stomping onto the clouds and causing the rain to fall.

Arrowhead stepped back from Rainbow. She suddenly felt cold without the warm touch of his hooves against hers. The rain started to wash over her fur; dampening her wings and rainbow locks. He reached for the door, fully aware of the heartbroken look forming on Rainbow’s soaked face. Tears were pouring from both ponies eyes now.

“The biggest mistake I EVER made was loving some pony like you!” he said coldly.

WHAM!

Arrowhead slammed the door shut. Rainbow stared blankly at the door; hardly even flinching at the slam. She was left speechless and soaked in the wake of her now ex-boyfriend’s final words.

“He…Loved me?”

---

Back at the cave Chimera Khan called home, a lonely shadow was making its way into the demonic looking entrance.

“Master, that worthless worm has finally come crawling back,” the Chimera announced; all 3 heads spoke in unison.

Chimera Khan and Bubbling Cauldron exited their rooms. They waited impatiently for the yellow Earth pony to approach them, Crowe bowed fearfully to Khan as he presented his findings.

“Did you acquire it?” Khan bellowed.

“Considering how long it took him to get back, he better have,” Cauldron sneered.

“As y-y-y-you commanded m-m-master,” he said; ignoring Cauldron’s snide remark. “Here’s the Phoenix gauntlet; fresh from the treasure vault of Cloudsdale, and of course, the Alicorn amulet.” Crowe was especially nervous when presenting the amulet. He only preyed his master couldn’t tell this was an elaborate forgery, since he could not find the real one. “I t-t-t-trust Colton’s 3^rd eye was delivered to you successfully?”

“See for yourself Earth pony,” he pointed to his mask. The orb had been integrated into his armored mask; settled just above his eyes and below King Sombra’s horn.

Crowe looked up and nodded in confirmation.

Bubbling Cauldron levitated the two objects towards her large pot. Khan stood before the cauldron; waiting for the unicorn to begin the spell to graft the items to his armor.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! If that looney mare puts my fake amulet in her toxic soup, it could dissolve all the adhesives and fall apart. Khan would tear me to pieces for sure, Crowe thought to himself.

Cauldron’s glow hummed around the gauntlet and amulet. She was about to drop them into the brew.

“WAIT, master please, you don’t need to do that!”

FASCHOOM!

Black and blood red, fire like energy surged from Sombra’s horn and blasted Crowe against the wall. Crowe was littered with scorch marks. He weakly coughed a ball of black smoke before collapsing to the ground; cringing in excruciating pain. Crowe felt like he had been burned at the stake and then dumped into a pit of needles.

“DON’T YOU EVER TELL ME WHAT TO DO AGAIN!” Khan screamed, “How dare you even think to speak such blasphemous words to your master.”

“A thousand pardons master,” Crowe said; struggling to sit himself back up. His arms and legs still wobbled with stinging pain. “I was merely suggesting that you don’t need to use the brew to graft the amulet onto your armor. Legend says it has a magical seal protecting it. Once you wear it, no pony can take it off but you. Therefore, there’s no need to graft it to your armor, you can just put it on…Er um sir”

Crowe hoped that Khan would listen to him and simply wear the amulet. With Khan’s power growing stronger with every item he adds, the Earth pony minion was counting on Khan being so super charged with power, he wouldn’t notice the amulet had no power at all.

Khan looked down at his lowly servant; heavily scrutinizing his suggestion. The armored tyrant looked closely at the amulet. Crowe did his best to maintain the overwhelming fear possessing his body as Khan examined it. He motioned for Cauldron to take the gauntlet and place it into the brew.

“You make a valid point Earth pony…for once,” Khan levitated the amulet over his neck, “I never commended you for successfully acquiring the last 3 items, did I?”

“Oh no-no, you don’t need to do that master,” Crowe said; laughing nervously. He waved his hoof dismissively. “It was nothing really.”

“You see, the thing is that it really wasn’t ‘nothing’, in fact, it was a rather large something,” Khan said suspiciously. Crowe nervously darted his eyes left to right. Khan loomed over the yellow pony, beading down on him with his ghoulish eyes. “I knew those artifacts would be the most difficult to obtain. I half expected you to run away and never return, or come back with only one, or if you were exceptionally lucky, 2 of the 3 items…yet somehow you managed to get all 3…by yourself.”

“Isn’t that a g-g-g-good thing?” Crowe sheepishly asked.

“It is a good thing,” Khan peered directly into Crowe’s eyes. The intense stare caused the yellow colt to sweat profusely. “Too good as a matter of fact…And I don’t like it. There’s something going on with you Crowe, something that I have suspected of you since the day we met. I don’t know what it is, but rest assured, I will learn the truth about you…And soon.”

Khan turned his back to Crowe and approached Bubbling Cauldron. He closed his eyes and waited for the mare to perform the spell. A few incantations later, the Phoenix gauntlet was successfully grafted onto Khan’s armor; locking into place along his spine.

“Finally, at long last, my armor is complete,” he chuckled sinisterly.

FLASH!

Monstrous wings of fire burst from Khan’s sides. Crowe and Cauldron scurried away in fear, like roaches scattering from a lightbulb. The gauntlet created two massive Phoenix wings, their fiery wingtips blackened the walls of the cave.

“Now not even flight is beyond my grasp. With the Phoenix gauntlet supplying me with the most powerful wings in Equestria, and amplifying my magic with the horn from the darkest unicorn that ever lived, I have successfully acquired the royal power that Celestia was undeservedly given,” Khan said. He clutched the amulet in his metallic hoof. The reflective surface of the amulet perfectly displayed his masked face. “And with the Alicorn amulet supplying me with even more magical energy, there is not a force on this planet that can stop me now.”

Crowe and Bubbling Cauldron cautiously approached the master after he concealed his fiery wings. The lowly ponies both asked what the next step of the plan is.

“Gather all of the monsters together outside and prepare them for the invasion. Leave the larger ones here at the base, they will not be needed for the first wave. Ponyville will be the first city to experience my wrath, it will be reduced to ashes along with Celestia’s precious little student; Princess Twilight,” Khan said maliciously. “Once I have that traitorous cow’s attention, I will enjoy personally destroying everything and everyone she holds dear. Then, and only then will she knows what it feels like to experience true pain and suffering…just like I have.”

The green and yellow ponies nodded obediently.

“The time to act…Is now.”

---

To be continued…

Comments

[Guy With No Name]

Yes he did, Rainbow.... and you blew it again, possibly for the final time.

[Nira Lightshine]

Its about fucking time one of the guys grows a fucking backbone. I hope he doesn't get back with her. RD has been a royal bitch and AJ isn't any better