The Fastest Mare Alive Vol. 1: Rogues: Issue #2: Old Friends, New Enemies
Just like the entirety of Equestria, Baltimare was usually very calm and harmonious despite it's enormous size as one of the biggest cities. Even with the upcoming Wonderbolts show in the city's stadium that had everypony excited, the city was not more chaotic than usual.
If anything, it actually added to the order of the city. With the ponies being law-abiding and respectful of their authority figures for the most part, everypony was patiently waiting in line for their tickets at the offices before resuming to their productive everyday lives.
Therefore, it came as quite a shock when they heard the blaring police sirens as the law enforcement agents rushed into the center of the city. But to the ponies who were deeper in the city, their arrival was more than welcome. The civilians were fleeing in panic, clearing the way for the police ponies to approach a tall tower with large neon letters that spelled "S. T. A. R. S. Industries" on it.
In front of the building, the company's security staff were trying and failing to keep a huge, advancing earth pony at bay. Their firearms clearly hit him on, but their bullets had no effect. But even more astonishing than the stallion's bullet immunity, was the fact that the entire pony seemed to have been made of metal.
His steady advance towards building entrance was interrupted when he heard the police siren from behind him and he turned his metallic head to look at them. His eyes, appearing as yellow lights on a monitor scanned his opponents and quickly determined that their weaponry was inferior.
"This is the Baltimare Police Department! Cease and desist at once!" The leader of the police force, a brown unicorn stallion with blonde mane ordered through a megaphone. Perceiving them as no threat, the metal pony turned back towards the company building and resumed his advance.
"Alright, boys! We warned him, now we speak with our magic!" A group of police unicorns lined up and ignited their horns, encasing the criminal in their magic aura. This actually managed to slow him down a little and eventually brought him to a halt. A group of earth ponies approached him with a special containment device, but he had some surprises of his own.
The metal pony opened two small holes on his back and two antennas emerged out of them. The antennas began to flicker with electricity before releasing a giant shockwave that broke the magical hold on him and incapacitated his would be captors. The security staff took advantage of his momentary stun and retreated inside the building before activating the emergency lockdown system and shutting the gate from everypony. This greatly infuriated the attacker who decided to take his fury out on the colts in blue.
The metallic pony picked up one of the knocked out earth pony cops and hurled him back at his comrades. But the unicorns were able to catch him in their magic and lower him on the ground safely. After trying the same move one more time and getting the same result, he changed tactics and opened his chest piece to reveal a gatling gun, much to the cops' horror.
The metal pony opened fire, but with their combined might, the unicorns were able to to summon a shield strong enough to last until he ran out of bullets. When the assault was over over, they lowered their shield as one of them stepped forward, carrying a crate.
"Our turn." He declared as he opened the crate and pulled out a rocket launcher, which he proceeded to aim at the metal pony. "Eat this!" He pulled the trigger and fired the missile at the metal pony. They brought this weapon specifically for this encounter, but even that proved useless as it's target merely caught the missile in one of his front hooves and was able to hold it in one place despite it's burning exhaust still carrying it forward.
The metal pony cast a glance at the rocket before turning it around and releasing it towards the stunned police ponies. They wouldn't have the chance to raise a shield this time. The rocket would hit their cart behind them and they would no doubt be caught in the blast and severely hurt. Or probably worse. They didn't have the speed to react in time to do anything.
But somepony else did.
To the cops, it happened within the blink of an eye and all they saw was the rocket turning around in the air and crashing into the metal pony with enough force to make him stumble. When the smoke cleared away, he saw a mare dressed in a red suit with a yellow lightning bolt across her chest and yellow goggles over her eyes. But even through her dark lens, metal pony could clearly see her glare.
"Why don't you pick on somepony your own size, rust bucket?" She spat before dashing at the criminal so fast that even his visual scanners couldn't detect her movement.
Rainbow Dash wasn't happy. This Baltimare Wonderbolts show would have been her first performance with the team ever since she became an official member. It was a moment she's been anticipating her whole life and the fact that some wannabe supervillan chose this very same day to attack some nerdy science lab in the same city annoyed her to no end.
The metal pony was also not amused with the intrusion. When he regained his hoofing from the missile strike, he ran an analysis on the mare in front of him. He saw the incredible speed her molecules were moving at and quickly deduced her ability to do the same and developed his strategy.
"So..." Rainbow snarled as she walked closer to the cyborg. "...are you gonna come quietly or do I have to loosen a few of your screws." The metal giant didn't answer. Instead, he heated up his mechanical eyes and fired a laser beam at the mare.
Rainbow looked very unimpressed by this attack and with her super speed, she easily managed to dodge it by sidestepping. She then charged at her attacker while gathering as much energy into her right front leg as she could. Recently, she had discovered that if she sped up the movement of molecules in her hoof enough, she could pack a punch of such a great mass that even the strongest stallion could only dream of.
But little did she know that this was exactly what her opponent was anticipating. As soon as Rainbow's hoof made connection with the stallion's metal chest, she felt crushing pain in it while the metal pony remained completely unfazed. Even the huge strength Rainbow had amassed in her hoof wasn't enough to hurt him.
"OW!" Rainbow cried out in pain before collapsing, holding her hoof in the other. "Motherbucker... that hurt..."
The metal pony just reached down for Dash and picked her up effortlessly before smashing her headfirst into the ground and throwing her away. Rainbow crashed against the company building, creating a huge hole in the wall before bouncing back to the ground. She groaned in pain, but due to her super speed accelerating her healing process, she was quickly able to get back on her hooves.
She found that her hoof still wasn't quite recovered yet, as it hurt greatly when she tried to step on it. She focused all of her speed into the limb to speed the process up when she noticed that the metal pony was heading towards her with steady struts.
"Come on... heal, damn it!" Rainbow groaned. She saw the steel pony's eyes heating up, signaling another laser beam coming and she realised there was no more time for healing, she had to move. She got out of the way just in time to avoid the laser and began to run around her opponent in circles.
Her hoof was healed enough to keep her super speed up and she managed to run so fast that she created a small tornado around the metal pony. The stallion simply activated the magnetic plates in his hooves, securing himself on the ground before releasing the antennas from his back again and releasing another shockwave.
Rainbow felt the tingles inside her body caused by the electric outburst and instantly knew what was coming. The shockwave deterred the movement of her molecules and she lost her speed, falling forward and rolling on the ground until she crashed into a wall.
The metal pony had enough of this game and walked up to Rainbow as fast as he could. When he reached the mare, raised his right front leg, ready to bring it down and crush Rainbow's skull. Rainbow was still in great pain and the electricity still lingered in her body, preventing her from reaching super speed.
But there was one thing she could still do. She may not be able to turn up speed to the maximum, but it should be enough to pull this off. Rainbow spread her wings on the ground and started vibrating her body as fast as she could. Electricity began to vibrate around her body as well and just before the metal pony's hoof reached her body, she touched it and unleashed all of the generated energy into his body.
The electricity coursed through the metal pony's body, making it violently shake and twitch until it finally stopped and rendered his metallic body completely motionless before he fell to the ground and the digital lights in his eyes went out. Rainbow panted heavily as she slowly pushed herself up into a standing position. He then turned to the shut down metal pony and put one of her hooves on top of him in triumph.
"Back to the scrapyard with you!" She quipped before looking up and noticing the approaching police ponies. "He's all yours, officers!" She told them before walking off the scene. She would have normally just sped off but now she was completely worn out from the fight. She wasn't used to such heavyweight opponents.
She looked back at the cops putting the metal pony into a special containment device and was about to sit down to catch her breath when she heard the snapping of a camera. She turned to see an orange earth pony mare with blond mane, wearing a blue suit, a matching fedora hat and a pair of round glasses.
"Smile for the camera, Flash!" She grinned before taking another picture. "Well, aren't I lucky? I'll be the first pony to snap a picture of the 'Fastest Mare Alive'." She announced dramatically. "Great action shots too! This will be great for my article about this guy." The last line caught Rainbow's attention.
"That guy?" She asked, pointing at the metal pony being carried away by the police. "You're doing an article on him? And here I was thinking you were just a fan of mine." The earth just smiled in response.
"Sorry to disappoint. Name's Lark Cent. Investigative journalist for the Daily Sun." She said, offering her hoof.
"Nice to meet you." Rainbow replied, shaking it. "Now that you mention it, I think I've come across your name before. You have written quite a few articles about the super ponies that keep popping up all across Equestria."
"Sure did. The Sun eats up that kind of stuff. I've got them all. Green Lantern, Captain MareVel and now you." Lark said proudly. "The only one who keeps eluding me is that elusive bat in Manehattan."
"Yeah, but your Supermare articles are the most prevalent ones." Rainbow said. "It's impressive. Almost like you always know where she is." Lark chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head.
"Yeah, well we're good friends. You might say that I'm her personal photographer." She said with a forced smile. Rainbow found it strange, but she decided not to push it.
"So, you actually know who the scrap metal was?" Lark nodded.
"Sure do. He is... or rather was Red Jets. A former royal guard whose body was badly damaged during a mission gone wrong. But instead of the higher ups giving him a hero's funeral, they decided to rebuild him into that. He was... less than appreciative about it. He's been hitting science labs all over the country and stealing high tech gear to upgrade himself. The tabloids call him Metallo." The journalist explained.
"How creative." Rainbow said sarcastically, making Lark chuckle.
"Hey, I didn't come up with it." She shrugged. "I've been tracking the guy for months but he's good at covering his tracks. I'm lucky he chose this day to hit Baltimare. The Sun actually sent me to write about the upcoming Wonderbolts show, but now I'll have something even better for them."
Upon the mention of the Wonderbolts show, Rainbow's eyes widened. During her fight with Metallo, she had completely forgotten about it. She was supposed to meet Spitfire and the others at the stadium for practice when she got word of the metal pony's rampage. It was the ultimate irony of her life. Despite being the fastest mare alive, she was still always late for her appointments. Spitfire will have her head for this.
"Right. Well, I'm happy I could help with the article. Just make sure to include a cool shot of me in it!" She said before turning away to speed off, but something Lark said stopped her in her tracks.
"Sure thing!" She replied as she walked off towards an alleyway. "Now make sure you're not late from the Wonderbolts practice!"
"You got i... Hey! How do you know I'm a Wonderbolt?!" She cried out to her, but she already disappeared around the corner. "Hey! Get back here!" She dashed to the alleyway, but to her surprise, the journalist was nowhere to be seen. "What the... Where did she go?" She looked around the alley in puzzlement but she saw no trace of the earth pony. Eventually, she gave up and turned to leave but before she sped off, she heard a loud boom from the distance and she could swear that she saw a red and blue blur disappear into the sky from the corner of her eye.
Even though the show was only scheduled for tomorrow, a massive crowded had already gathered in front of the Baltimare stadium, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite Wonderbolts. Even with hét super speed, Rainbow had difficulty finding a spot where he could slip through unnoticed. With a sigh, she ran away from the building and found a dark alleyway where she could change.
After stuffing her suit into her saddlebag, she ran back to the stadium entrance, this time at regular speed. Of course, this meant that she would have an even more difficult since the ponies could now see her. And with how fast she was even at regular speed and how daring during her performances, she was obviously one of the biggest favorites among the fans. Once they catch a glimpse of her, she won't get in the stadium anytime soon as she will be bombarded with her fan's requests for pictures and autographs.
Eventually, she spotted a group of ponies that were gathered around something next to an entrance. Their attention was focused completely on what they were looking at, so Rainbow thought she should be able to sneak past them. But just before she tried to enter the stadium, she glanced back at the crowd and noticed what they were looking at. Over their heads, she saw several wooden objects being thrown into the air and falling back down in a circle.
Her curiosity got the better of her and she joined the assembled ponies to take a look. Standing next to the wall was a pegasus stallion with light cray coat and blonde mane in a ridiculous manestyle juggling a bunch of boomerangs in his hooves. Alongside him was a red unicorn stallion who was levitating a few sacks around him with his magic.
The unicorn tossed one of the sacks into the air above the crowd and the pegasus managed to throw one of his boomerangs at it without breaking his juggling act. The boomerang cut the sack in half and showered the audience in candy, much to their delight. The boomerang turned around and flew back towards the pegasus and the unicorn tossed another sack in it's way. Once again, it cut the sack perfectly in half and the pegasus caught it before throwing it back up with the others.
The two stallions then repeated the same trick, but with two boomerangs and sacks, showering the crowd with even more treats and trinkets, earning huge cheers from them. When the performance was finished, the pegasus opened his blue trenchcoat and all of the boomerangs fell perfectly into the several inside pockets sewn into them. The crowd clapped as the two stallions bowed and accepted the generous donations being given to them.
While the onlookers looked pleased, Rainbow just rolled her eyes. Not only because cheap tricks like this didn't amuse her, but because she knew that pegasus very well. Better than she'd like. But she hasn't seen him in a while and this was the last place in Equestria she expected to bump into him. Once they've collected all the money and crowd split up, he noticed that Rainbow was still standing there and looking at him in annoyance.
"Zephyr Breeze." Rainbow said slowly with disdain. "What are you doing here?" The stallion known as Zephyr Breeze just smiled in response.
"Well, if it isn't Rainbow 'best flier' Dash!" He mused with his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don't know what surprises me more. The fact that you honored me with your words or the fact that you could squeeze your massive, swollen head through the city's skyscrapers." Rainbow narrowed her eyes at him.
"At least I have something to be big headed about." She cut back. Zephyr shrugged.
"Well, can't argue with that. You always knew how to gather a crowd, Dash. I figured they wouldn't mind some sideshow entertainment while waiting for the show to begin tomorrow." He then looked down at the money he picked up. "And I was right."
"No offense, Zeph, but ponies are here for real entertainment and they don't need you to drag things down around here." She scoffed before turning away and heading towards the entrance. "See you tomorrow, if that pittance is enough for a ticket to the show." The smile from Zephyr's face didn't fade as she watched the mare leave and simply waved after her.
"Break a leg in there, Rainbow!" He cried after her. "Preferably literally, you prick." He muttered once she was out of earshot. He then turned to see his unicorn partner walk up to him.
"Wonderbolts. The fastest fliers in Equestria." Zephyr said to him. The unicorn smiled up at him sardonically.
"But not the fastest on the uptake." He laughed before holding up Rainbow's wallet in his hoof. The two stallions shared a laugh as they split the money inside it among themselves, but when Zephyr put away his cut, he looked down at the wallet his partner put away and saw a few bits still sticking out of it. He wasn't amused.
'Trying to double cross me, are you?' After the unicorn turned away to leave, Zephyr pulled out one of his boomerangs and threw it at him. The unicorn was hit in the back of his head and fell to the ground unconscious. The boomerang flew back into Zephyr's hoof perfectly and as he put it back into his coat, he walked up to his former partner and took the wallet away from him before leaving the scene with a sinister chuckle.
Rainbow ran through the halls of the stadium as fast as she could. Well, as fast as she could without her super speed that is. In a minute, she finally made it to the field where her Wonderbolts teammates were already hard at work, practicing for their show tomorrow. She looked around and when she saw nopony nearby, she changed into her uniform within the blink of an eye and ran out into the open to join them. With a little luck, maybe Spitfire wouldn't notice that she only just arrived to the practice. But unfortunately, luck didn't seem to be on her side today.
As she was about to start her rounds, she heard somepony clearing her throat behind her. She turned around with a nervous gulp but she already knew who she was gonna see. Sure enough, it was yellow pegasus mare, Captain Spitfire, the of the Wonderbolts and she did not seem happy. She glared at Rainbow with impatience and frustration while tapping the tip of her right front hoof on the ground. Rainbow chuckled nervously before giving her captain a salute.
"Private Rainbow Dash is reporting for duty ma'am." She said meekly, but Spitfire saw right through it.
"How is it that the fastest flier among my ponies who holds every single academy course record is always late from her assignments?" She asked, looking Rainbow in the eye with such a sharp look that would have made even Supermare sweat.
Rainbow didn't know what to say. She couldn't just tell Spitfire that she was secretly a speedy superhero who constantly had to abandon her duties to save innocents and stop bad guys. But she did have a point. Rainbow was late from all of her practice sessions and barely made it in time for the actual shows. And more often than not, this was due to the shenanigans of costumed rogues in the city the Wonderbolts were visiting.
In Fillydelphia, she had to stop a pegasus who called himself Rainbow Raider from robbing the show's spectators. The stallion actually managed create magical rainbows to fly on. Rainbow had to utilise all of her super speed to catch him. Then in Cloudsale, a unicorn named Kite Mare attempted to rob the Cloudsale bank during their performance. Her magically controlled kites allowed her to fly through the cloud city and steal all kinds of things, including money. But the most ridiculous of them all was the unicorn stallion that called himself Mr. Polka-Dot with a laughable spandex suit covered in various colored magical dots that he could take off and transform into various forms of weapons and portals raiding Ponyville. Just where did these lunatics keep popping up from?
"Well?!" Spitfire asked, snapping Rainbow out of her flashbacks. The blue mare was at a loss of words as she kept mumbling to herself in a desperate attempt to come up with an explanation, until Spitfire finally got tired of it. "You may be my best flier, Rainbow Dash, but don't think this means I will tolerate this insolence from you! If you keep this up, there will be consequences!" Rainbow really didn't like the way Spitfire said that.
"Wha... What consequences?" Spitfire sighed.
"Rainbow, I'm gonna be curt with you. There were many promising recruits graduating from the academy this year. Many of them are ready for the first team already and that means I'm gonna have to make room for them. Get the picture?" Rainbow's eyes widened. Spitfire was never happy with her for always being late but never before did she threaten her with actually kicking her off the team. She's gonna have to be really careful in the future.
"Yes, ma'am." She replied, unable to think of anything else to say. Spitfire's mood didn't improve but she finally got out of Rainbow's face.
"I sure hope so." She said before turning away. "Oh, before I forget, you have a guest waiting for you at the locker rooms." She told her as she walked off, before muttering one more thing under her breath. "As if you didn't waste enough time already." Rainbow still heard her last comment and she didn't pretend it didn't hurt her but she was in no position to argue with her. Instead, she dashed off into the direction of the locker room.
While she was in no mood to greet any visitors after her battle with Metallo and her lecture from Spitfire. One thing was certain, if it was another loony fan trying to beg for a souvenir, she was gonna buck them out of the stadium with a super charged kick. That was the one thing that could have made this day any worse. But when she arrived at the locker room door, a much better surprise was waiting her.
"Dad!" She cried out in joy when she saw her father, Bow Hothoof standing there as she ran up to hug him. She hasn't seen him in a while. Before she left for this tour with the Wonderbolts, she had a massive argument with the stallion after he found out about all dangerous stunts she had been pulling recently. Not the ones within the Wonderbolts, he was perfectly aware that she was able to handle those. But when he discovered her secret superhero activities, he was less than enthusiastic to say the least. And when Bow took very long to half-heartedly hug her back, she knew that he still hasn't let that go.
"I'm so glad you're here!" She exclaimed before pulling out of the embrace and looking up at him. "This is gonna be the biggest show of the tour and now that you're here, I'm sure I'll be motivated to do even better tomorrow than I was already going to!" Her father didn't seem to share her enthusiasm. He just stared down at her with an unreadable, stoic expression.
"Yes, I suppose with me being here, you'd actually be more focused on your performance in the stadium than outside of it." Rainbow raised a brow in confusion.
"What do you mean?" In response, Bow held up several newspapers and gave them to his daughter. They have all contained news articles about consumed super criminals being incapacitated by a mysterious streak of lightning that the denizens of Equestria have come to call The Flash. And curiously, these articles were all dated as the same day the Wonderbolts performed in the exact same city The Flash was sighted. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. Rainbow chuckled half-heartedly.
"Well, look at that! Somepony's been busy. I wonder who could that be..." She said, smiling up Bow uneasily. But the stallion wasn't amused.
"Rainbow, we've talked about this." Rainbow gave up trying to save face.
"Yes, we have. And I told you that I'm not going to waste my gift because of your fears. I'm 23, I can take care of myself." She said, shoving the newspapers against his chest and turning away.
"It's not just that, Rainbow." Bow replied as he ran in front of her. "You don't seem to understand what you're putting on the line."
"So why don't you tell me?!" She snapped. Bow sighed, rubbing his muzzle with a hoof.
"Look, Rainbow, if you keep this up, sooner or later, you're gonna make a mistake that will result in everypony finding out who you are! Do you know what will happen then?" Rainbow just stared at him inquisitively, slienlty asking him to continue. "Not only will every lunatic you have caught come after you in retribution - and possibly me as well - but how do you think your Wonderbolts superiors will take it that your ability was the reason you made your way into the team so quickly?" Rainbow Dash was appaled by her father's suggestion.
"I never used my power during the shows or the academy!" She yelled defensively. "Everything I've even done with the Bolts, I've done on my own! I've worked my flank off to be here just like everypony else!" It was true. Rainbow had more honor than that. She wanted to make it onto the Wonderbolts by herself and not by some natural born gift.
"I know that, Dash, but they don't!" Bow argued back. "And I don't think they would take your word for it!" His features eventually softened as he calmed down and he decided to change his tone. "All I'm asking of you is to be more careful from now on. Even the smallest slip up could ruin your life." Rainbow knew her father meant well, but her arrogance and pride got in the way of seeing that.
"I am NOT going to slip up!" She shouted. "The tabloids will never even catch a glimpse of me and those freaks can't kill what they can't catch! I'll be fine!" Bow shook his head in disapproval.
"I may have raised you to be a winner, Rainbow Dash, but I didn't raise you to be so full of yourself. But no matter how hard I tried, you could never learn humility." Rainbow couldn't stand that disappointed look on her father's face. She didn't see it often but when she did, it crushed her soul. Disappointment meant inadequacy and her fragile ego couldn't handle the very concept of her being inadequate at anything. Especially with the pony who was most important to him in the world. She didn't want to stay there with her father looking at her like this for a second longer.
"I don't want to talk about that, dad! I have to get back to training!" Rainbow said, finally deciding to end this pointless argument and head back to the field. "See you tomorrow!" Bow watched her leave and shook his head at his daughter's stubbornness.
"You may be good at running, Rainbow Dash. But that doesn't mean you should run from your problems."
The next day, the Baltimare stadium was full of ponies eagerly awaiting the start of the show. Rainbow Dash stood alongside her fellow Wonderbolts, waiting for the signal that would send them off towards the obstacle course that was set up on the field.
Apart from the things that you would find on any obstacle courses designed for pegasi, like rotating wheels with wooden clubs, wooden plates springing up from the ground at random times and cannons that fired rubber balls, there were also far deadlier instruments. Including freeze rays, flame jets, and even strategically placed mirrors that could trick the fliers into flying into the wrong direction.
Of course, these kind of obstacles were only set up for the best of the best. The ones that could not only escape these instruments of death, but do it while laughing at them. The ones like Rainbow Dash. The Wonderbolts had no fear while dealing with these traps. They were trained not to fear situations such as these. But in Rainbow's case, she was also glad these were included in the show. The extreme heat and cold they produced prevented her from reaching super speed and therefore she wouldn't have an unfair advantage over her teammates.
Her talk with her father the day before still rang in her ears. The very suggestion was outrageous, she would never abuse her abities like that. Bow raised her better than that and if she would have considered cheating even once, he would have made her to laps around Cloudsale until her wings fell off. She did hope that he managed to overcome his anger from their argument. She's been scanning the crowd for several minutes but she's been unable to locate him.
She was sure he was here. He wouldn't have traveled this far from Cloudsale just to lecture her and then miss the show. But she didn't have anymore time to look for him because Spitfire was next to her and she noticed that her gaze has been wondering away from the obstacle course. She nudged her in the side and nodded towards the track in front of them, silently ordering her to focus on the upcoming performance. Rainbow blushed in embarrassment before nodding at her superior.
The lights above the Wonderbolts began to lit up with red light until they reached the end of the row and the last one lit up green, giving them the sign to take off. Rainbow Dash flew right behind Spitfire and in front of another team veteran, Soarin. She had to stay focused on maintaining just enough speed to stay between them. The Wonderbolts shows weren't races, they had to stay in perfect formation to carry out the performance. And Rainbow Dash was flying behind Captain Spitfire, a pony she held in the highest regard and trusted completely. All she had to do was follow her and everything will be perfect.
The rotating wheels with the clubs was the first obstacle they approached. They were spinning at a high speed, but they trained with these things so much that every member knew their rotation cycles by heart at this point. Spitfire would go first and the next pegasus behind her would have to wait exactly 0.27 seconds before mimicking her movements. There were twenty wheels they had to get through, one on each side, so the Wonderbolts had to repeat this maneuver nine more times before they were in the clear.
Then came the springing wooden plates. Unlike the wheels, they did not have a pattern. They sprung up randomly, testing the Wonderbolts' reflexes and reaction time. When they did appear, the pegasus not only had to react in time and fly over it but push it back down so the others behind them could fly forward safely. Once again, with all their training this week, they had no trouble getting through the course.
The cannons with the rubber balls were already showering the field with their ammunition. Even though the balls were the size of cannon balls, the Wonderbolts once again got through them effortlessly. While their performance was going flawlessly so far, Rainbow could hear disappointed groans from all over the audience. Many ponies were expecting to see some crashes and injuries by now. Apparently they didn't know who the Wonderbolts were supposed to be.
Regardless, Rainbow decided to entertain them a little. Instead of simply dodging the projectiles like her teammates were doing, she punched them back towards the cannons and actually managed knock them over. The crowd cheered, much to Rainbow's satisfaction. These cheers for her only and she wasn't ashamed to admit that they felt good. She just did something her fellow Wonderbolts wouldn't even dream of doing and with the cheering crowd boosting her ego, she decided to do it again until eventually, all cannons on the field have been neutralised.
Rainbow caught up with Spitfire who shot an approving smirk towards her, which Rainbow gratefully returned. When the team reached the part of the course where the flame jets were waiting for them, the two ponies at the front shared a knowing glance and flew up towards them. They easily dodged the flames being shot at them and turned the instruments away from the course, allowing their teammates to fly through unharmed.
Rainbow was on such a roll that she didn't even wait for Spitfire to catch up before she reached the ice cannons. Even at regular speed, she was so fast that she managed to turn them towards each other and they ended up shooting at and freezing themselves. Spitfire came in right after her and shattered them into ice shards by slamming into them.
The other pegasi saw that the obstacle course was getting cleared for them but they didn't want to let the two mares ahead steal the whole show. Soarin signaled to the rest of the team to follow him and they dashed towards the center of the arena where a bunch of canisters were placed. The pegasi quickly snatched them and attached them to their backs before shooting up towards the sky.
They then pulled a rope attached to them and unleashed the gas inside them before splitting up in the air and spreading the gas lines of different colors in the air, each of them drawing a specific image. By the time they were done, the giant outline of a pegasus in a Wonderbolt uniform was visible above the stadium and the crowd erupted with cheers.
But when all things are going perfectly, something is also prone to go wrong. Usually at the worst possible time. And what was supposed to be a triumphant finale for the show would have easily ended in embarrassment and possibly, even tragedy.
Suddenly, a pegasus stallion noticed that the gas cylinder on his back was malfunctioning. When he tried to turn it off, the switch accidentally broke, increasing the pressure and sending him crashing towards the ground. He tried removing it from his back, but he couldn't move the harness past his spread wings. Before he reached the ground, he pulled up and began flying forward around the stadium, waiting for the cylinder to run out of gas.
What he didn't notice however, was that he was flying into one of the tricky mirrors set up by Soarin. To him, it looked like the path was clear and in his panicked state, he failed to spot the obstacle. But Soarin and Rainbow Dash noticed it in time and managed to move quick enough to reach the troubled pegasus a millisecond before tragedy. Soarin moved the mirror out of the way, clearing the path for stallion, while Rainbow caught up with him and untied the cylinder from his back, freeing him from the runaway cylinder. She had to throw in her super speed a little to reach him in time but she wasn't ashamed of it. She vowed to never use it during her performances, but this time, there was a life at stake.
Wether they believed this was all part of the show or if they just enjoyed the rescue they saw, the crowd cheered even louder than before. Rainbow hardly noticed though. She was too busy checking if her unfortunate teammate had any injuries. Only when she was sure he was alright did she look up to see the ponies around the stadium celebrating her. And when she finally spotted her father among the crowd, clapping for her enthusiastically, she forgot about all of her troubles. The rest of the Wonderbolts came up next to her and all gave her praising looks. There was no doubt, she was the hero of the day. And this time, she didn't even need her alter ego to earn recognition for it.
After the show, the Wonderbolts returned to the their locker rooms. The two strongest stallions carried Rainbow Dash on their shoulders and the rest of her teammates were walking around them and cheering for her.
"Way to go, Rainbow Dash!"
"You're the best flier I've seen in a long time!"
"I wish I always had somepony like you watching my back!"
But none of the praises could be compared to the words of Spitfire.
"You have done well, Rainbow Dash. I'm proud of you." These words were much less praising than the rest of her comrades', but from her captain, they meant so much more.
"Alright, Bolts! Hit the showers, pack up and for the rest of the day, you'll be free to celebrate our newest successful performance anyway you want!" As the team headed for the showers, Spitfire walked up to Soarin and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Except for you, Soarin. When you're done, please meet me at my private room at the hotel. I have something to discuss with you." Spitfire's message had a certain ominous tone to it, but Soarin was in such a high spirit after today's performance that he didn't even notice.
"Aya, aye, captain!" Soarin chuckled, making Spitfire roll her eyes.
In the shower and the dressing room, the other stallions kept teasing him about how the captain was expecting him for a 'special, private celebration' at the hotel and how he only held such a high position within the team due to their 'close' relationship, but he didn't let these remarks get to him. He knew better. He's earned his place among the Bolts and besides, even if he had such feelings for Spitfire, she was very serious about fraternisation. She would never indulge in such a thing.
Upon exiting the stadium, he flew up and headed straight for the hotel the team was staying at. The rest of them are no doubt partying somewhere in the city so they would have all the privacy they needed. He made a quick stop at his room to drop his bag before making his way to Spitfire's private room. After a series of knocks the mare gave him permission to enter and he walked in to see Spitfire sitting behind a desk and looking over several documents.
"You wanted to see me, captain?" Soarin asked. Spitfire looked up from her papers with a stoic expression.
"Yes, Soarin." She answered, pointing at another chair in front of the desk. "Please, have a seat."
"Well, don't mind if I do!" He replied before doing just that. "So what did you want to talk about?" Spitfire didn't seem to share Soarin's enthusiasm about their meeting, but the stallion was still too oblivious to notice.
"Well, as you know, there have been many promising graduates from the academy this year." Soarin nodded.
"Yeah, you've gotten pretty good at training them. I can't wait to fly alongside them in the future!" Spitfire cast her gaze down.
"Well, then this is going to be even more difficult for me to say. So I'll just get it out of the way." She said before taking a deep breath in preparation. "Soarin, you're off the team." Soarin's response was a blank expression as he was not exactly sure how to process this revelation. After a few seconds, he let out a series hearty laughs, much to Spitfire's confusion.
"Okay, that was a good one, captain! For a moment, I almost believed it." He laughed. "I had no idea you had such a good sense of humor." But when Soarin saw no change in his superior's cold expression, he was starting to realise that this situation was deadly serious. "Wait... You're... You're not joking, are you?" He stammered as panic overtook him.
"Think of it as a generation switch, Soarin." Spitfire explained. "I need to make room for the new recruits and quite frankly, our charts show that your popularity rate has dropped considerably with our fans. Case in point, your past time so it makes sense you'll be one of the first to let go." Soarin looked absolutely devastated. It took him quite a few seconds to find his voice again.
"But you can't do this to me!" He pleaded. "I've been in the Wonderbolts as long as you have! Hay, I've designed most of those obstacle courses we've been going through on this tour! The team wouldn't be where it is today without me!"
"And we appreciate it, Soarin. Our last performance on this tour in Trottingham will be dedicated to you to celebrate all the time you spent with us. But times change." The captain replied. "The team's interests outweigh those of any individuals. Even one who served with us as long as you have." Her offer did little to mend the stallion's broken heart.
"But... But... The Wonderbolts are my life! I dedicated everything the team! What am I supposed to do now?!" He asked frantically.
"A skilled pegasus such as yourself should have no trouble finding another job. Spitfire replied. "Look, Soarin, this is difficult for me too." Spitfire tried to reason, but the stallion interrupted her.
"The way you talk about it so callously sure as hay doesn't sound like you are!" He yelled at her as he sprung up from his chair and slammed his hooves on the desk. "You know what, Spitfire?! You can take your send-off performance and shove it! I'm leaving right now!" He spat before standing up and heading for the door. Spitfire shrugged.
"Fine with me. Saves me the trouble of paying your pension." Soarin turned back to give her a dirty look but didn't say anything. He just walked out and slammed the door behind him. He didn't even bother going back to his room to gather his belongings before leaving the hotel.
For the next several hours, he wondered the streets of Baltimare aimlessly, trying to figure out what to do next and fuming what Spitfire just did to her. The nerve of her! He gave everything he had to the Wonderbolts. To help them become better and bigger. He created those devices they were using during their shows. They would be nowhere without him.
And now she just kicked him out without a second thought. He was being replaced by a new generation and being thrown away like thrash. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Spitfire took away not only his job, but his entire life and all of his accomplishments. He was so upset that he couldn't even start to think about what he was gonna do with his life in the future. All he could think about was how much he wanted to make Spitfire regret this dearly. But how could he do that?
"Hey!" He was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice calling out to him. He turned to see another pegasus stallion with a blonde mane and wearing a blue trenchcoat who was sitting at a table in front of a bistro, holding a sandwich in his hoof. "You alright, partner? You've been standing there for like five minutes with this really cross look on your face." Soarin didn't know who this stallion was, but somehow he looked familiar.
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" He asked. The stallion shrugged.
"It's not beyond the realm of possibility. There were many ponies I impressed with my boomerang tricks in front of the stadium today." And then it clicked.
"Oh, yeah! One of those street performers that Spitfire had thrown out by security." The other stallion's eyes widened in realisation.
"Oh, you're one of those fancy fliers, aren't you? Didn't recognise you without your uniform." He spoke with contempt before taking a bit of his sandwich. Soarin raised an eyebrow.
"I take it you're not a fan?" Soarin asked him.
"You could say that." He replied with his mouth full. Soarin sighed.
"Well, nor am I any longer. I just got kicked off the team." The blonde stallion almost choked on his food in surprise.
"You don't say!" He said after swallowing. Soarin just nodded sadly. "Well, perhaps I was a bit harsh with you. Come and take a seat with me!" He offered. Soarin was a bit hesitant at first. The last time somepony offered him a seat, they removed him from his dream job. On the other hoof, it wasn't like he had anything to lose anymore, so he accepted the invitation.
"Hey, angel face!" His new friend called out to the waitress. "Can I have another one for my friend over here?" He asked as he raised the sandwich in his hoof and then turned back to Soarin. "So, do you wanna pour your heart out to somepony?" He asked as the waitress placed Soarin's sandwich in front of him. "Thanks, doll!" He said, slipping her a few bits.
For the next few minutes, Soarin told this stallion - whose name was Zephyr Breeze as he learned - everything. He seemed to sympathise with him even more than he initially expected. But even more surprisingly, he also knew how to console him.
"I see. Being laid off by one of those stuck up, conceited bitches who think they're better than everyone just because they can perform a few airborne tricks. Trust me, I know how that feels." And then a dark smirk grew on his face. "I know it's small consolation, but one of those pricks is paying for this dinner too." He said as he tossed a wallet in front of Soarin. He picked it up and saw that it belonged to none other than the new star of the team, Rainbow Dash.
"Why are you showing me this?" He asked in confusion. "Aren't you afraid I might report it?" Zephyr just waved dismissively as he pulled out a boomerang from his coat.
"Do you see this?" Soarin nodded. "If I throw this correctly - and I usually do - you'll black out so hard you will be lucky if this will be the only thing you forget." Soarin's eyes widened. Normally, he would have freaked out by the threat and flew away on the spot, but for some reason, he didn't feel alarmed. "But I don't think you're gonna rat out your new pal. I see a lot of myself in you. You hate them now and you want to get back at them. And I think you and I could do that together. Get the picture?"
Soarin found himself actually considering Zephyr's offer. Just a few moments ago, he was trying to find a way to make Spitfire regret kicking him off the team and now, this stallion was offering him support in doing just that. This newfound friendship was boosting his confidence and slowly but surely, a plan was beginning to take shape in his mind. Zephyr saw a smirk growing out on his new friend's face and it caused him to smirk as well.
"Judging from your expression, I think you're starting to." He said.
"Zephyr, would you do your new pal a favor?" Zephyr nodded.
"Sure thing. What do you need?" Soarin pulled out a pen and a piece of paper before writing something down.
"Please, track down a few old associates of mine and let them know I want to meet them at this address." He told him as he gave him the paper. "Just make sure you don't mention my name."
"I take it they're not exactly friendly associates." Zephyr asked.
"Let's just say we didn't part ways under the best circumstances." Soarin answered. "Just get them to come. I will take care of everything else." With that promise, the two stallions finished their sandwiches and left to carry out their plan.
Soarin headed to the stadium. While the Wonderbolts have all left after their performance, the equipment they used during the show was still there and it was gonna be removed tomorrow. Not anymore. That equipment was all created by Soarin and since he was no longer part of the team, he would reclaim it for himself.
Fortunately, apart form Spitfire and himself, nopony knew he was off the team, so the security staff let him in without any trouble. He made his way to the storage room where he found everything he needed. He took one of the ice guns, one flame generator and a piece of the trick mirrors and placed them each into his saddlebag. He then took another flame generator, placed it in the middle of the room before setting it to overload. If he was no longer part of the Wonderbolts, then they had no right to use his tech.
Soon everything in the room was burning and Soarin left just before the security staff arrived and notified the fire department. By the time they got there, the equipment was far beyond salvaging and Soarin was long gone, flying towards the place where he would be meeting Zephyr Breeze. And a couple of old friends.
A few days later...
"How much further?!" Asked a short, red pegasus stallion with blonde mane as he followed Zephyr Breeze into a seedy suburban part of Manehattan. Well, even more seedy than the rest of the city. Zephyr chuckled.
"What's wrong, Shorty? Don't tell me you're afraid of the big bad bat!" The short pegasus growled at him.
"Of course not! And don't call me that! It's Short Fuse to you!" He snapped at him. Apparently, he wasn't named for his size only.
"This will better be worth it!" Complained a dark purple mare as she walked alongside them.
"Trust me, love! It's gonna be the best thing that ever happened to you." Zephyr responded.
After a few more minutes of walking, the three pegasi entered a small rundown hotel. The receptionist didn't even make an attempt to stop them as they headed upstairs. Three strange looking fellows together in Manehattan usually meant trouble. And that was before the super crazies began to show up.
Zephyr lead his two companions to Room 14 and made a series of coded knocks. In a few seconds, the door opened. They heard Zephyr exchange a few whispered words with somepony before he stepped aside and revealed them to whoever he was talking to. The pony inside opened the door wider and allowed their three guests to enter.
The room was pretty dark. The shutters were pulled down across the windows, letting very little moonlight through. They could make out the outline of a pony heading towards the lamp next to the only bed in the room. His silhouette was familiar, but they didn't recognise him until he turned on the lights.
"Rolling Thunder, Short Fuse. Welcome!" Soarin greeted them jovially. They were quite surprised to see who was standing in front of them. "Long time no see." They narrowed their eyes at him.
"Not long enough!" Short Fuse growled. "What the hay do you want?!"
"This better not be what you dragged me all the way over here for!" Rolling Thunder snapped as she turned to Zephyr.
"Guys, please!" Soarin pleaded. "I promise I will make it worth your while." They were quite skeptical but at least they became less hostile.
"How is it you grace us with your presence, flyboy?" Thunder asked.
"No longer a flyboy, I'm afraid." Soarin replied. "Do you think a fellow washout might warrant a little more sympathy?" Now that surprised them.
"So Captain Bitchfire booted you as well?" Short Fuse asked with a laugh. "If you're looking for sympathy, you came to the wrong ponies!" He said before heading to the door.
"Alright, no sympathy." Soarin noted. "Would a chance at revenge be more intriguing to you?" Short Fuse stopped in the middle of reaching for the doorknob.
"Alright, I'm listening." He said, turning back to him. "But this will better be good."
"I'm a little confused here." Thunder said before pointing at Zephyr. "That creep over there offered me a chance at making a lot of money if I came here, not revenge."
"The two aren't mutually exclusive." Soarin replied. He walked over to a closet on the other side of the room and opened it, revealing three outfits. Short Fuse and Thunder gasped in awe upon the sight as they walked up to them.
In front of the shorter stallion was a red and black spandex suit with a pair of fuel tanks on it's back and a flamethrower on it's belt. Rolling Thunder was standing before a yellow suit glimmering with light and she noticed that it was reflecting certain parts of the room. And between them was another suit that resembled a blue winter coat with a parka and a holster that held two white guns.
"The Wonderbolts will have no idea what hit them." Soarin smirked. "If you follow my lead, not only will we be set for life, but also ruin them as well. So, are you in?" These words finally won over the two pegasi as they turned to smirk at each other.
"How do we begin?"
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Hey there. Again, you did a wonderful job on the latest chapter in this story. The exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up are all quite well done. Definitely liked the Flash's fight with this universe's version of Metallo (and the encounter with Supermare in her civilian identity [unknown to Rainbow at this time] shortly afterwards), as well as the recall of earlier clashes with other super crooks after Spitfire chewed Rainbow out for being late again, the dialogue with her dad and the set-up for the fight with the Rogues.
REALLY looking forward to more of this.
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As always, thank you for the comment!
Yeah, that Supermare cameo was a last minute addition but I thought it would be appropriate since I've had a cameo from Twilight as well in The Emerald Mare. And yeah, dropping a few references of obscure characters like that is a good way to expand this world. Can't wait to get to the big showdown in the next chapter!
Stay tuned for more!
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This is true. But the relationship between Marvel and DC has always been a strange one. Not the least of which were that both Stan Lee and Jack Kirby originally began working at DC, then moved over to "The Other People", aka Timely, just in time for the company to change their name to Marvel, and those two gave birth the the Fantastic Four and most of the rest of Marvel's top-rated titles. Moreover, they jumped back and forth between several times.
At the start, they were rather antagonistic rival companies, but they did give winks and nods to each other for years. For the most part, though, their infringement lawsuits did take on the appearance of publicity stunts rather than real intellectual property fights.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/SupermanvsSpider-Man1976.jpg
Especially, when we consider the timing of their first joint-venture into the Amalgam Universe was right after a series of major suits and countersuits against each other. Now, their relationship seems to be far more cooperative and are "rivals" in name-only.
Well, looks like Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and Heat Wave are all accounted for.
Also, since we have the Flash, Supermare, and Captain Shazam-not-her-real-name, are we finally going to get a 3-way race for the fastest pony that even DC ignored?
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First of all, thank you for the comments!
My native tongue actually happens to be Hungarian, but I do feel embarrassed about that typo. I'll fix that at once.
As for Scootaloo's role, I'm actually planning to make her Blue Beetle once I get around to Titans. But you guessed the Rogues' lineup flawlessly. I was actually considering using Weather Wizard instead of Mirror Master given pagsasi's ability to control weather, but in the end, I went with the latter just because of one very specific scene I have planned.
Nice suggestion about that race. There is will be a scene at the end of the first Justice League story where after the battle, they all come together and discuss their powers and adventures. I may include something like that.
Stay tuned for more!
This was a good chapter. I liked the origin story for some RD's Flash villains. I'm not familiar with a lot of Flash's villains but i recognised the appearance of Captain Boomerang (only know him from Suicide Squad), Mirror Master (only know him from Justice League: Doom) and i'm aware of the Flash's version of Mr Freeze but don't know his name... is it Citizen Cold? And i don't know the villain that Short Fuse is going to be. I wonder if Lightning Dust will be the Reverse Flash/Professor Zoom.
I won't repeat my previous remark about spelling and word usage until i know if you use google docs but i will say that you used the Real World names for two places. In Equestria its Fillydelphia and Manehattan.
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Thank you for the comment!
Flash's Version of Mr. Freeze is actually called "Captain Cold" and the villain Short Fuse is gonna play is called "Heat Wave". And you are correct. Lightning is indeed being saved for the role of Reverse Flash. I have big plans for her in Volume 2.
Ugh, Zephyr Breeze is Captain Boomerang? I guess that makes sense since they're both pretty insufferable.
You did Soarin dirty, lol. Poor guy can't catch a break and immediately turns into a villain.
Kind of feels like Trix. Don't know who to root for. Spitfire is kind of just a douche here and kicked him to the curb.
So I'm assuming Zephyr is not related to Flutters here.
Liked the AJ scene. Would've been real cool if stuff like that had been going since the second issue, but better late than never.
Reading on...
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As always, thank you for the comment!
Yeah. I thought Zephyr would be perfect for Boomer since both of them are supposed to be sleazy douchebags. Also, I hated how she simped for Rainbow in the show, so switched that to hating her for being an arrogant prick in his eyes. She's still Fluttershy’s brother, of course but I'm not planning to put much emphasis on that. Perhaps just a small mention of how she is sad that her brother ended up choosing this path and going to prison.
Yeah, one of my biggest regrets about this story is that I didn't actually write some interactions between Rainbow and Soarin to further emphasise the We Used to be Friends trope I'm going for here.
And yeah, I thought having other heroes cameo here and there would make their team up in the first Justice League Volume feel more natural.
Until next time...