Cloudsdale drifted peacefully under Luna's moon. Luna had outdone herself as usual. Thousands of stars shimmered beautifully under streaks of hazy whiteness Luna had named the Milky-Way. The night was calm and peaceful. No breeze stirred the clouds. Cloudsdale was a beautiful place. Built entirely out of clouds, it was the only city of its kind. graceful spires of soft white puffiness reached for the moon. Skyscrapers decorated the Cloudsdale skyline.
"Spitfire! wait!" A white stallion wearing a Wonderbolt uniform raced after a golden mare with a fiery mane and tail. Spitfire didn't answer. She kept reaching behind herself with her head to try and bite her own wings, a feat that was impossible due to the fact both mare and stallion were flying. Soarin was worried. Spitfire was acting crazy. Ahead, Spitfire succeeded in catching her wing. She jerked her head back with a mouthful of golden feathers. These she spat out.
Soarin was tiring. He'd lost track over how many times they had lapped Cloudsdale, and his problem with numbers wasn't to blame. He was drenched with sweat from the unexpected workout. Already, he had called the other Wonderbolts, but nopony had shown up. Wait, Far ahead, several uniformed figures dove in front of Spitfire. One figure, nearly impossible to see on account of her small black body, opened her large black wings. She was the only one not wearing a uniform. Now Soarin knew why the other Wonderbolts had not shown up right away. They had gone to get Dainty Dish.
Dainty flipped her body around so she was flying backwards. She brought all four legs up and bent them slightly. Spitfire spat out another mouthful of feathers. Dainty matched her speed with that of Spitfire and slowly moved in closer to the Wonderbolt until her hooves were touching Spitfires heaving, sweaty chest and undercarriage. She flared her wings, bringing Spitfire down to the cloud below. Soarin caught up to them as the other Wonderbolts all landed. Dainty was breathing a little hard, her large wings open to cool them off.
"Spitfire, calm down. Tell us what is wrong." Dainty asked.
Spitfire growled, her mouth flecked with bloody foam. Again she reached back and bit her wing. With a hard jerk, the wing tore free of her body in a violent crimson spray of blood that arched up into the night. Spitting out the wing, Spitfire turned and attacked her other wing.
"Spitfire! Somebody quick, call an ambulance! We have to stop her from trying to tear her other wing off!" This came from Iceberg as the pale ice colored stallion tackled Spitfire, bringing the mare to the ground. Spitfire thrashed and bit any anything and anyone that tried to come close. A junior member took off for the nearest phone booth.
"We have to restrain her somehow!" Dainty cried out, "Why is she doing this?"
"I don't know!" Soarin dove out of the way of Spitfires flailing limbs, "She missed practise today too!"
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Rainbow Dash turned on her radio first thing in the morning right before making breakfast for herself and Scootaloo. The little orange filly was staying with Rainbow Dash while she completed flight school because Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion was close to Cloudsdale. Scootaloo walked into the kitchen groggily. She collapsed into a chair with a soft poof.
"Never again." Scootaloo plopped her head on the table, "Am I spending half the night with wing cramps."
"Next time, stop practising when I tell you to." Rainbow Dash chuckled as she rubbed the filly's wings. The once tiny wings had grown large and strong. Already, Dash could feel the still developing muscles under the skin and feathers. She knew Scootaloo's wings would grow even bigger. She hopped Scootaloo's body would grow more too, or they'd have another Dainty Dish on their hooves.
"Breaking News! The wonderbolt Spitfire has died." the radio show Dash was listening to got replaced by a news bulletin, "Reports say Spitfire managed to tear off her wings and jump to her death despite the efforts of Dainty Dish and the other Wonderbolts to stop her. An Necropsy is pending. We'll bring you more as we get it. This has been a report of Komopony News."
"Whoopee! They will hold tryouts and you'll win for sure!" Scootaloo shrank back at Dash's glare, "I mean, boo hoo, Spitfire can't be dead!"
Dash's mind was blank. How? Why? filled her mind. Spitfire loved her wings. Why would she do something like that? The story had to be bogus! That's it, Pinkie Pie must have bribed the news station. It will come back on saying it was a joke, that Spitfire was alive and well. Dash stared at the radio.
'Come on, come on! say its just a cruel joke by Pinkie Pie!' Dash knew she was only trying to fool herself. While Pinkie loved pranks, even she wouldn't go this far, would she? No, Pinkie isn't that cruel. 'I'll perform three sonic rainbooms in a row if you come back and say it is a joke!'
"Dash, why are you threatening the radio with a hammer?" Scootaloo finished her breakfast, "See you later. I've got school."
"All schools are closed as are all shops and businesses in light of this tragedy." the radio news anchor said.
"Yes! a full day of crusading!" Scootaloo thrust a hoof into the air, nearly upsetting her glass of milk.
Dash turned, "It's gotta be a joke! Spitfire can't die! Shes got fans, her team, what if they disband the Wonderbolts? I'll never get to be a Wonderbolt! I'll have to get a job at the Rainbow Factory, which means no more time to fly, my wings will shrivel up from, what was that word Twilight used? disuse, and I'll never fly again!"
"RAINBOW DASH, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!" Scootaloo took the hammer Dash was holding, "First, you have a job as the head weather mare of Ponyville, and second, they won't disband the Wonderbolts!" She brought the hammer down on the floor, which made no noise. Scootaloo brought the hammer down this time on her glass which shattered, startling Dash.
"Have fun, scoots. I'm going to go see Twilight." Rainbow Dash took off, returned to clean up the breakfast mess, and left again, only to return again to clean up the broken glass, leaving Scootaloo watching her with a puzzled look on her face. Dash left again.
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"I see." Twilight nodded, listening to the stories the Wonderbolts were telling her of Spitfires last moments, "It sounds like Spitfire might have had Encephalitis, an infection in her brain."
Spike was browsing the bookshelves as Twilight talked. He knew that Twilight would send a request in for samples of Spitfire's brain to confirm her theory. Absentmindedly, he pulled a book from the shelves.
"Strange Medical Mysteries?" Spike opened the book. He found a section describing what Spitfire had done, "Twilight! look at this!"
"Strange Medical Mysteries?" Spike opened the book. He found a section describing what Spitfire had done, "Twilight! look at this!"
"Not now, Spike." Twilight said, "Encephalitis can lead to behavioral changes, and can affect movement among other things. Throwing oneself to your death could be possible. I'll look into this."
Ding Dong!
"Spi-"
"I know, Spike get the door." Spike walked off to answer the door, "It's Derpy and Dinky! She is here to pick up the letter you wrote to the Canterlot Morgue." Spike picked up the letter and held it out to Derpy. The grey and blond mail mare missed the letter on the first two grabs and nicked it on her third try. A faint bluish gray aura appeared around Derpy's hoof as Dinky lit her horn and guided her mothers hoof to the letter. Dinky already had her cutie mark, a pair of hooves curled around each other. One was white while the other was blue. Dinky's talent was helping others. This drove the CMC nuts when they found out. Dinky was younger then them.
Derpy had no depth perception and suffered from severe double vision that left her seeing quadruple at times. She had a stroke that left the part of her brain that controlled vision damaged. Dinky helped out by helping Derpy pick up items and sometimes she had to help her eat. Dinky had asked Twilight to teach her basic levitation which she picked up quickly. Dinky had herself selected to handle decisions regarding her mothers health. They left after Dinky climbed onto Derpy's back so her mother could fly. Twilight had taught her the lightening spell to make it easier on Derpy to carry Dinky.
"Twilight, will you check this out now?" Spike asked as he closed the door.
CRASH!
A cyan and rainbow blur crashed through the window and plowed into a inconveniently placed bookcase, which toppled over into the one behind it and so on, creating a domino effect that sent the Wonderbolts into the rafters and Spike under a table. Twilight winked herself to the stairs while Rainbow Dash stayed where she was, her eyes spinning. As soon as the crashing and thudding was done, Twilight quickly found the source of her now messy Library.
"Rainbow Dash! Why is it you always have to crash through that window? I have a tab with the window repair pony because of you!" Twilight scowled at her friend, "Now, what is the meaning of this?"
"Spitfire dead!" Dash wailed, "Isittrue? tellmeitsnottrue!"
"It's true." Soarin landed carefully on an overturned bookcase which cracked ominously under him, "I brought the entire team here to Twilight for answers."
Rainbow Dash turned white, and screamed. Soarin sat down next to her and let her cry on him, not fazed in the least by the fact the mare was beating on him with her forelegs. How many times had he comforted Spitfire like this? He couldn't remember.
"Soarin, I know you are a mares stallion and I love seeing you work your stuff and all, but we need to start thinking about what to do with the Wonderbolts." Iceberg landed beside Soarin. The bookcase gave another ominous crack which it followed up with a groan. Rainbow took this to mean they were disbanding the Wonderbolts and sobbed even harder. Soarin sighed.
"I was second in command so I'll become the new captain. We'll have to host tryouts to find a new member, and I'll need a second in command." Soarin decided. At this, a pale yellow pegasus mare with dark pink hair glided down from the rafters. She landed neatly on the bookcase and sidled up to Soarin.
"I'll be happy to be your second in command, Soarin." the mare purred throatily.
The bookcase decided it had enough of being used as the floor. It broke, sending the three Wonderbolts and Dash to the floor. Twilight sighed, and added one new bookcase to her list.
"Nice try, Sunrise!" Iceberg snapped, "It's going to be me!"
"No, he'll pick me, brother." Sunrise glared right back at Iceberg.
"You both are wrong." This came from a dark blue pegasus, "By right, I should be second in command!"
"Not going to happen, Cloudburst!" Sunrise hissed, "You barely fit into that uniform!"
"Your uniform barely covers you!" Cloudburst snapped right back.
"I pick Starscream to be my second in command!" Soarin was joined by a lanky silvery gray pegasus with silver and black hair. He had darker grey stripes on his body much like a zebra. He kept his mane in a mohawk.
"You can't" Sunrise sputtered, "You know how conniving Starscream is! He'll start plotting your demise!"
"Why is it that everypony thinks I'm a bad pony?" Starscream asked, "I'm not evil!"
"You tried to take out Spitfire!"
"I told you ponies that wasn't me! I was cleared of that!"
"What about the guy that led us before Spitfire, what was his name again, Megacyclone?"
"He retired! I wasn't even a Wonderbolt then!"
"SETTLE DOWN, CHILDREN!"
"Where'd Soarin find Spitfires megaphone?"
"THAT'S ENOUGH, CLOUDBURST!"
"If you all would be so kind as to leave the library, I could get work done on Spitfire's cause of death!" Twilight bellowed.
At that, Spike burped, releasing a plume of green fire which faded to reveal a scroll...
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"How many, mayor?" Celestia walked through Cloudsdale with Mayor Weatheright at her side. She secretly wondered how the clouds were holding up the Mayor. Weatheright was a neon pink pegasus with short neon orange hair that was quite overweight. He also smoked, heavily.
"Seventeen total, ten dead, seven hospitalized. Have you seen this before? They rip off their own wings and throw themselves to their deaths. The brains of those that have died show no sign of infection." Weatheright waved a wing around, not realizing he was fanning his smoke at the Princess. Celestia cast a quick spell around her head that prevented the smoke from choking her.
"I can't say that I have. Equestria has faced epidemics before. We'll be okay. I'm placing Cloudsdale under quarantine. Nothing leaves and nothing enters." Celestia decided, "I can't let this thing spread. I'm sending the CDC here to work this out. I need your full cooperation."
"Princess! You can't quarantine my city! We need the import of food! We'll starve!" Weatheright protested, "I can't stop exporting our goods!"
"You'll make do with what you have. When the CDC arrive, they will bring in food for you. We will survive without your export of goods for a while. It's important that we try to control the spread of the sickness before it gets out of hand." Celestia reached back to chew an itch on her right wing. Her Dermatitis must be flaring up again. She'd deal with it when she got home later.
"Fine, Cloudsdale is quarantined." Weatheright wasn't happy about it. As Celestia prepared to leave, the mayor decided to alter the quarantine. He would have the sick moved to the old clinic outside of Cloudsdale and have that quarantined. Problem solved. He could continue to get richer and richer off the export of water.
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"We need that water for our trees!" Applejack protested, "Cloudsdale wants us to pay for it at that amount? Ah can get water from the lake for free!"
"It would take too long, Applejack." Big Mac sighed, "Ah'm trying to decide what we can do without in order to pay for the rain."
"Big Brother! Big Sister!" Applebloom raced into the kitchen as fast as her short legs would carry her, "It's on the news! A wonderbolt killed herself!"
"That's nice, Applebloom. Your sister and Ah are trying to come up with the money to pay for the rain." Big Mac turned to Applejack, "Ah reckon we could sell some of the livestock."
"Are you out of your mind?" Applejack screamed, "Not the livestock! We need those chickens and pigs!"
"It's Spitfire!" Applebloom was ignored again.
"Ah'm tryin to make ends meet!" Big Mac snapped, "Ah could really use your help here!"
"That amount is insane! We're not payin it!" Applejack snapped right back.
A sharp whistle from Applebloom finally got the siblings attention.
"Spitfire is dead." She said.
It took a minute for it all to register in Applejack's mind.
"Rainbow Dash." Big Mac whispered. Applejack nodded. "Celestia help us. 'Jack, forget the rain, go to her."
Applejack took off. Applebloom and Big Mac both sighed. The last time a wonderbolt had died, Dash had nearly caused a drought due to her grief that had nearly ruined the Apple Farm.
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Twilight picked up the scroll with her magic and unrolled it.
"Dear Twilight. I need you to come to Canterlot now. Celestia is sick. Luna." Twilight dropped the scroll, "Spike, start packing!"
"At that very moment, the room was lit by a blue glow. Luna appeared in a burst of stars and moons. The Night Princess looked disheveled.
"No time, Twilight." Luna touched her horn to Twilight and they vanished to appear in Celestia's room.
"Is the cone absolutely nessessary?" Celestia asked, "It's just a flare up of my old Dermatitis."
"Not it is not." Luna pulledCelestia's right wing out from her body, "This is not Dermatitis, big sister. The chew patern is all wrong."
Twilight went for a closer look, "Are you trying to scratch the itch or tear the wing off?" She asked, "This looks more like you were trying to dewing yourself, Princess."
"It itches!" Celestria tried to get at the wing, but the cone prevented her from reaching it.
"Spitfire tore off her own wings just before she killed herself. Soarin told me that Spitfire complained of itching wings days before she killed herself." Luna replied.
"I bet it was the itch. Please, I need relief! Luna, you love me, right? Get over here and scratch the wing!" Celestia begged.
"That won't help you." Luna watched as Celestia levitated a golden back scratcher over and used it to scratch her wing. Feathers fluttered off with each scratch to reveal perfectly normal white skin underneath. Twilight checked the feathers near her and found that they were normal too. What was going on here?
