Rainbow Dash Goes All-Out

by lightning_dust_12

Part 4: Twilight Finds Two Musicians / Trixie Meets Twilight For the Third Time

The first two elements were Music and Loudness, and Spitfire and Twilight both knew the two mares that matched the descriptions. In fact, they lived together in Ponyville, so they should be easy to find.

Twilight walked into the lobby of the apartments, and trotted up to the receptionist's desk.

"Excuse me," Twilight asked, "can you tell what apartment Vinyl Scratch and Octavia live in?"

The receptionist looked up from her book, and said, "should be 1277, or 1278 if Octavia's still angry."

Twilight opened her mouth to ask why, but decided to ask Octavia herself. "Thank you ma'am. Come on Spitfire! You'll really like Vinyl!"

Spitfire was interested now, and kept close behind Twilight. The room was on the third floor, in the corner of the building. As they approached the two doors, Spitfire heard two conflicting noises, one loud and chaotic, and the other soft and soothing.

Spitfire sniffed, and said, "lets pick the door with the good sounds. The one that says 'Octavia' on it."

Twilight nodded solemnly, and knocked on the door. The music stopped, and the door opened, revealing a dark gray mare with a black mane. Spitfire's gaze was immediately drawn to her white and pink necktie.

"Twilight? I haven't seen you for years! Do come in!"

Twilight thanked her, and trotted forward. Suddenly, Octavia gasped.

"Twilight, you've made some friends since I last saw you!"

"Well yeah. I've got Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack-"

Octavia shook her head. "No, no! I mean her !" She said shaking her hoof at Spitfire, who blushed. "Do...come in, miss...uh...Spitfire?" Octavia stammered.

"Just call me Spitfire," Spitfire told her.

Everypony sat down, and Twilight began explaining what they were after. When Twilight finished, Octavia sat up, and said, "well, I wouldn't mind representing the element of music," taking a sideways glance at the cello leaning up against the wall, "but I never really cared for Rainbow Dash. Too much boasting!"

Twilight giggled. "Most ponies say that about her. So," Twilight said, scratching her head, "where's Vinyl Scratch?"

Octavia's eyes flared. "She's next door. I wouldn't try to reason with her."

Spitfire stepped forward, and said, "that's all right. I'm used to handling obnoxious ponies."

Octavia shook her head, but followed them out the door.

The door opened as soon as Spitfire knocked. There stood a large, white mare with a messy blue mane and bags under her eyes.

She huffed, "fine, I'll turn it down, Octavia." She began to shut the door again, but Spitfire held it open.

"Excuse me! There are some guests here to see you!"

Vinyl huffed and said, "and just who are you?"

Spitfire's mouth fell open, and Octavia cringed. "I'm Spitfire! Co-captain of the Wonderbolts! How do not recognize me?"

Vinyl shrugged, "that's a cool name though. I might use it as a song title." With that, she slammed the door shut.

Spitfire knocked on the door again; Vinyl opened it, and huffed. "You're not delivering a pizza, or telling me to turn down my music, or inviting me to a party. Really, go away."

Spitfire put her hoof on her shoulder, and said, "actually, we are inviting you to a party. It's going to be in room 207, at the Royal Canterlot Inn."

Twilight became confused. "But that's where Rainbow Dash - oh. I get it now."

Spitfire continued, "so, are you in?"

"Don't have to ask me twice! I'll be there!" She slammed the door shut. Spitfire sighed in relief, but the door opened again, and Vinyl scratched her head, and said, "where's Canterlot?" Octavia stifled a laugh.

"You really don't get out, do you?" Spitfire said.

"What?!" Twilight yelled, looking at the list of ponies. "You put her down for cunning?! She once tried to kill me!"

Spitfire cringed. "I didn't know that! Besides, I'm sure she's better now."

Twilight huffed. "Let's hope so." Twilight trotted up to a pony leaning up against a wall, and asked, "excuse me sir, have you seen a short, blue mare with a light blue mane around Ponyville?"

He thought for a second, and then said, "oh, you mean Colgate! Yeah, she came by-"

"No," Twilight cut in, "she's got a cutiemark that looks sort of like a wand."

"Oh! Oh. You're looking for Trixie, huh? Looking to get revenge I suppose!"

Twilight's face grew red. "No, I just need to talk to her about something very important."

He nodded, and laughed, "it's funny, because she actually lives right-"

The window above him opened, and Trixie stuck her head out. "Did the Great and Powerful Trixie hear someone say her name?"

Octavia sniffed, "you know you're talking in the third person, right?" Trixie looked at Octavia with a look of disgust. "My dear, I always-" then she noticed Twilight. She stopped mid-sentence, and screamed loudly, slamming the window shut. Twilight calmly used her magic to open the window again. "Trixie, I need your help with something very important."

Trixie moaned from inside, "why did I come back to Ponyville?"

Twilight sighed. "Look, I'll even forgive you for trying to kill me, okay?" Trixie neglected to make an appearance. Twilight was about to give up, when the door next to her burst open, revealing Trixie, who had put on a purple cape and wizard hat. Her horn began to glow blue. "Now it's your turn to be scared, Twilight Sparkle!"

Twilight was one step ahead of her, cowering behind Spitfire. Suddenly, a mass of pink and white confetti erupted from the air around Trixie, who began laughing hysterically. She threw off her cape and hat, and pulled Twilight up off the ground. "How do you like my new repertoire? Confetti! I love it!"

Spitfire shook her head, "I'm confused! Are you going to kill her, or throw a party?"

Trixie gave Spitfire her oh-give-me-a-break-look, and turned back to Twilight. "It's been ages since we've seen each other!"

Twilight pushed her away. "Yeah. It's been two weeks since you came back to Ponyville to challenge me to a magic duel, that you cheated in, causing me to get kicked out of Ponyville!"

Trixie rolled her eyes. "Oh give me a break. That was so long ago! Besides, I knew you would find a a way to, ah, embarrass me and force me to leave Ponyville."

Twilight was very skeptical of Trixie, and didn't believe a word of what she was saying. "So, I've got something to explain to you," and Twilight told her the same summary she told Octavia. When she was done, Trixie breathed in heavily. "That sounds amazing. My magic has gotten better, and it would be a great way to practice a bit more." Twilight looked at Spitfire, who winked. Twilight was becoming more and more excited, but then she looked back at Trixie, and her excitement vanished.

"Okay, who's next Spitfire?"

Spitfire checked her list. "Big Macintosh, at Sweet Apple Acres."

Twilight was excited to meet Applejack's older brother. "Alright! Let's go!" The four ponies galloped off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack saw them before anypony else. "Howdy everypony! What brings you-" she stopped mid-sentence when she saw Trixie. Twilight reluctantly got ready to defend Trixie. "We're not looking for trouble, Applejack, were just looking for Big Macintosh." Applejack sighed. "He went to Canterlot."

Twilight nearly jumped out if her skin. "What?! Why?"

"He was looking for a new plow, for the fields. I tried to convince him, but he didn't believe me." Applejack began to tear up.

"Oh, Applejack, I'm sorry. We'll find him before Soarin' does."

Applejack sniffed. "I hope so. Thanks Twilight, sugar. Oh, and by the way, some weird mare called Derpy Hooves wants to-"

"Yes I certainly do!" Derpy cut in, popping out from behind Applejack. "Come with you, that is." Derpy finished.

To everypony's surprise, Twilight began to laugh. "I don't have an element for you, but who cares? Strength in numbers, right?" Ocavia, Trixie, and spitfire were looking skeptical, but they nodded. "Not to mention there's no shaking her." Trixie muttered.

"Okay. Got the list, Spitfire? Okay. Elegance, check. Music, check. Cunning, check. Loudness and strength, we'll meet there. Sounds good to me!"

Spitfire hesitated, then said, "I don't know. Something doesn't seem right. I dunno."

Twilight sighed. "Whatever. Let's go, though. We still have to find Big Mac and Vinyl Scratch. That mare probably won't show up unless we show her where to go."

That made everypony giggle, which quickly ceased when Twilight added, "now's the time to say goodbye to anypony you might not see again."

The temperature seemed to go down ten degrees when Twilight reminded the ponies of the danger involved in their mission. Spitfire sniffed. "My only friend is a traitor who we have to get rid of."

Octavia chimed in, "yeah, and Vinyl's supposedly coming with us, so that's it for me."

Derpy remained silent, along with Trixie.

Twilight suddenly realized that she was the pony everypony was drawn to. She was the one with five dependable friends. Derpy, with her inverted eye, had no friends, because ponies are scared of her. Trixie, well, she had just made some bad choices that made her ridiculed. She probably had no friends either. Spitfire was in the same position that Soarin' was in: she was tired of her friends, and she was lonely. Now her last true friend, Soarin', was possessed by a spirit of chaos.

"Okay then...uh...let's go! To Canterlot!"

The walk to the train station was like a funeral procession, and Twilight hated every second of it. It would be a long trip to Canterlot, especially given the general mood of the group. They were missing two members, they had acquired an extra, and they were up against Discord, who had possessed the captain of the Wonderbolts. It seemed hopeless, and in Trixie's mind, it was. Trixie had been willing to play nice with Twilight, but not anymore. The Great and Powerful Trixie was looking for revenge.