Leaving Their Legacyby SparxChaptersAt the top of the worldI propose...The mail, the mare, and the other mareAt the top of the worldThis is a sequel story to A League of Their Own, go read that story before reading this one, or else things will be very confusing. For those of you that HAVE read it, this is taking place after the bonus chapter, after the ten year skip. Enjoy! "So what's the plan Dash?" Spike was walking next to the cyan pegasus through the town, his claws gripping at a bouquet of flowers. The young dragon had grown rather impressively over ten years, he stood at about twice Rainbow's height and rather thin. His long gangly arms matched the length of her body, as well as his legs. "We have to get things in order for the show during Soarin' and Applejack's wedding; as well as the wedding itself." Rainbow Dash smiled. The years had been kind to the mare, giving her strong athletic body fantastic tone and shape. Her coat and mane were healthy and gave a great shine. The only real indication of aging was around her face, she had a much more matured and collected look in her eyes. While taller and larger, it wasn't terribly noticeable. "How did she first take the news?" Spike chuckled. "Exactly as you'd think she would. She started squealing with joy and immediately started asking if she could design the outfits and dresses." "Well that's Rarity for ya." Dash chuckled. "Is she gonna be able to come in from Canterlot?" "You know she will. It's Applejack's wedding, she'll make time." Spike said with a smile. "That's why I went out and grabbed these!" He held up the bouquet. "Shouldn't you have gotten them after she arrives?" "We don't know exactly when Rarity is coming by, and I wanna be the first one to welcome her." The two stopped in front of the library. "And what was Twilight's reaction?" "Well..." Spike reached a claw over and opened the door. Immediately, Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight pulling books off from almost every shelf, scanning them over with a smile on her face. "She's busy planning things out." Spike walked over and grabbed a quill as he began to write up a note. Twilight turned and noticed Rainbow standing in her doorway. "Rainbow Dash! Perfect!" Twilight trotted over to the rainbow maned pony. "I have a few things I need to go over with you." The lavender unicorn was wearing a pair of glasses these days, years of reading had caught up with her, though it was a nice look for her. "Sure, what is it Twi?" "We need to go over the time of your show and how it will fit in with the rest of the wedding schedule. Now about how long do you imagine you will be performing?" Twilight pulled over a quill and some parchment with her magic, ready to take notes. "Well usually a show will go on for an hour and a half or two hours. We're wanting to do something really special for AJ, but it's not going to be an entire show. We'd love to perform but we don't wanna take the spotlight from her and Soarin' on their special day." Rainbow Dash smiled. "So if you're looking for an estimate, we might do half an hour, forty five minutes depending on what we figure out with Scoot." "Perfect." Twilight scratched a note on the parchment. "And we'll be talking with Applejack to figure out when she wants you to go on." "Hey, Twilight. Anything you wanna tell Rarity?" Spike called from his desk. "Just let her know I said hi and I'm very excited to see her again." Twilight said. "Make it double for me Spike." Dash stepped over to the young dragon as he wrote down the welcomes from the ponies. After he finished, he folded the paper up and held it in front of his face with the flowers. With a belch of flame, the gift made it's way to Canterlot, leaving only a sparkling smoke behind. "Right! Now, should we head on over to Sweet Apple Acres?" Spike asked. "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. Twilight, do you wanna join us?" Dash turned back to the unicorn. "That's alright, you two go ahead. I have lots of planning as well as studying and research to do. It's a very busy time for me right now." Twilight explained. "Alright, suit yourself egghead." Dash smiled, and turned out the door, Spike at her tail. The odd duo continued through the town, returning a smile to anyone who greeted them. Once they made it to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, they noticed a familiar figure speaking with Big Macintosh. The Pink maned pony turned to face them, half her entire face covered by the long hair. She looked away from them, then turned back with a slight blush and a smile. "Heya Fluttershy! I haven't seen you in a while!" Dash trotted over and gave her old friend a hug, to which the yellow pegasus returned the gesture. In a deep, soothing voice, Fluttershy responded. "Hello Rainbow Dash. I'm sorry I haven't been around very often." She dug at the ground. "But, um..." Rainbow Dash could have sworn she saw Fluttershy make a quick glance towards Big Macintosh. "You know... kids and all." "Eeyup!" Big Mac added. "Oh yeah! Where are Honey Bee and Applesauce anyway?" Rainbow Dash looked left and right for the little foals to come running up to see her. "God mama wants to see her god foals." "Oh, they're in Cheerilee's class at the moment Rainbow Dash. Spike took them for us this morning." Fluttershy looked behind Dash at the rather lanky dragon. "He is their uncle after all." Dash gave a chuckle. "Self-appointed uncle." Spike stuck a forked tongue out at the mare. "Oh relax. I know you take good care of them. Those adorable little tykes can't stand to be without you after all." This time, Fluttershy gave the chuckle. "Yeah I do have a way with them don't I?" Spike crossed his arms and gave a cheeky grin. "Anyways, Fluttersy, Big Mac, have either of you two seen-" "I'm up here baby!" The voice Rainbow Dash had longed to hear since leaving the house sprung up above her and she let out a large smile. Without even looking, Dash spread her wings and zipped directly above her. Lips forward, she made full contact with her beloved Spitfire. "Hello love." The mare of Dash's dreams spoke in a soft deep tone, mane brushed down and positively glowing like a wildfire. "Been looking for you." Dash landed on the cloud next to her partner. Spitfire had grown over these years as well. Her mane drooped halfway over her eyes, her body fit and strong, and her wings had recently sprouted red and orange feathers, making even the slightest wind stir up a fiery storm across her back. "Expected to find me with the kids did you?" Spitfire asked sarcastically with a pleasant smile. "Well I'm not in school if that's where you were going next. I was speaking with AJ actually, taking care of your job." She jabbed her rainbow maned wife with a hoof, directly where her heart thumped. "She 'don't give two hayseeds about non o' that fancy decoratin' stuff, is what I recall. All she wants is her good friends, good food, and the groom to show up. Simple tastes for a simple girl." Spitfire laughed. "That sounds like Applejack alright. Of course Twilight and Rarity are going to want to make it the most extravagant, well planned ceremony in Equestria. You remember how long it took them to plan things out for our wedding don't you?" Rainbow Dash gave a groan at the thoughts of the sitting around as Rarity would design a dress on top of her. "But there's something else I wanted to tell you..." Spitfire lost the glee in her voice. "Soarin' and I were talking. He told me that that old gang you told me about before... the Shadowbolts? They're coming." I propose..."Say what?" Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Shadowbolts?" "Yeah, Soarin' said they were real, and they plan on coming to town." Spitfire spoke with an even tone in her voice. "That's not possible. The Shadowbolts were created by Nightmare Moon. They were shadows, just a trick on the mind." Rainbow Dash began to pace back and forth on top of the cloud. "Well, Soarin' says it's true, they exist. Some ragtag group of pegasi who've challenged the Wonderbolts.Their leader is some pegasus with grey fur and bright blue mane." Spitfire claimed. "Well that definitely sounds like a Shadowbolt." Rainbow Dash's face became lost in thought. "Well, if it's just a challenge to the Wonderbolts, I don't think we have to worry. We just gotta keep our ears to the ground and our eyes open." Spitfire couldn't help but let out a laugh. "You? keep an ear to the ground?" "You know what I mean." Dash smiled. "Anyways, I'm more concerned with where they came from than what they want." "Um..." The girls heard a small squeak come from down below, then they remembered they weren't alone. They looked down to see Fluttershy looking up at them. "Is everything alright?" Dash put on a big grin. "Yeah. We're fine. Just thinking is all." Dash couldn't tell Fluttershy what they were talking about. The shy little pony would have a panic attack if there was even a hint that the sinister power of Nightmare Moon was still around. "Anyways, we should get moving. Stuff to do, places to go." "Don't y'all wanna say hi ta Applejack?" Big Mac questioned. "We'll come by later. I'm sure she and Soarin' would like to spend some time alone." Spitfire chuckled. "Anyways, come on Spike, let's head out." Spike ran over behind the two pegasi, following them closely. "Riiiiiiight... So, what's really going on?" Spike inquired. The girls explained the situation to Spike, the Shadowbolts, their challenge against the Wonderbolts, about the grey and blue pony. "I wanna see these so called 'Shadowbolts' myself." Rainbow Dash smiled mischievously. Spitfire let out a small sigh. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Well, Soarin' said that he last saw them near the edge of the Everfree Forest." Spike let out a sigh. "I knew it." The trio walked down the path through town towards the Everfree Forest. As they passed by Sugarcube Corner, the noticed a blur fly past their field of view in the sky. "Was that..." "I believe it was." Spitfire answered. "A pegasus stunt flier." "A Shadowbolt." Rainbow Dash said. "I'm sure of it." She flew up above the buildings, looking down across the town, searching the ground for any sign of the pegasus that flew by. Soon she was joined by Spike mounted upon Spitfire. "C'mon, let's go check it out." The trio flew towards the edge of the forest. They noticed about five ponies walking about in purple and black uniforms. "There." Dash flew down towards the one standing in front of the rest of them, the one with the electric blue mane. "Hey!" The pegasus turned around. "Well! If it isn't Sonic Dashfire." A stallion's voice came from the mouth of the pegasus. "We've been...expecting you." Rainbow Dash held her ground, scoping out the various pegasi around her. "Right. The Shadowbolts was it?" Rainbow Dash gave a cocky smile. "Or was it something else?" The Stallion looked slightly nervous as he shook his head. "No, we're definitely the Shadowbolts." Upon closer look, Dash and Spitfire noticed this stallion had his tail cut short and his mane styled up like a mohawk. "Show them, Rum- I mean Shadowbolts!" The uniformed pegasi all flew up, and started zooming about. They weaved through the sky, dodging one another as they flew towards each other at neckbreaking speeds, creating shapes from figure eights to stars, to even whipping up a grey and violet tornado, much larger than what Rainbow Dash was able to make by herself. "Well well well! How did you like that Sonic Dashfire?" Rainbow Dash had to admit, it was pretty impressive. She looked upon the rest of the Shadowbolts. One was large, white and bulky with tiny little wings. Two of them had grey pelts and bright sky-blue mane done up in different styles. The last one was smaller than the rest with black and grey mane with a light grey muzzle. Dash gave a chuckle. "Wow, you guys are really something. Rather intimidating I'd say." "Yeah, You bet we are." The leader said. "And after we're done with the Wonderbolts, we're coming for you chumps." "Uh-oh." Spitfire and Spike spoke in unison. "What?" Rainbow Dash stepped closer to the lead Shadowbolt. "What did you call me? I know you didn't call me a chump, CHUMP!" "So what if I did?" The Shadowbolt leader spoke strong but started to back off. "Why wait for the Wonderbolts? I want in on this too. One on one on one. Let's find out who's team is the best, once and for all?" Rainbow Dash stamped into the ground, driving her words home. "Uh... F-fine! In two weeks we'll show down with both you and the Wonderbolts!" "Done!" Dash spit in her hoof and held it out. "Well come on!" With hesitation, the stallion spat on his hoof and did the same, knocking hooves with Rainbow Dash. "See you in two weeks, Rainbow crash!" "Real original." The Shadowbolts took off as Rainbow Dash sat there looking back at them confidently. "Well guys. That should-" "Dashie! What did you do?" Spitfire flew in front of Rainbow Dash. "I just told Thun-" "In two weeks we have a show! Applejack's wedding show!" Spike cut in. "...Oh... um, oops?" Rainbow Dash blushed. "I guess the show just became a bit... Bigger?" "One more problem Dashie." Spitfire made three lines in the ground. "According to Soarin', the competition is going to be composed of five events, one being a tag race. Each team needs six members. We only have three including Scootaloo." "Uh... Guys." "Huh... that is a problem." Rainbow dash placed a hoof on her chin. "Maybe we could each do two contests?" "Dash, Spitfire..." Spitfire shook her head. "No good. It's not allowed in the rules." "GUYS!" Spike shouted, finally getting the attention of the mares. "I, haven't exactly shown or told anypony yet. But, rather recently... I've... well..." Spike turned his back and the mares saw a slight flutter across his spine, then they noticed two large scaled wings erupt from his back. They were large and impressive for the young dragon. "I've sprouted my wings rather recently. I haven't told anyone because they haven't been ready to fly yet, but I think they're strong enough now. So, if I was taught... maybe I..." Spike gave a slight shrug and a smile. "Spike? Are you asking if you can join Sonic Dashfire?" Spitfire smiled. "Spike! We'd love to have you join us!" Dash walked over and slung a front leg over Spitfire's neck. "Spitfire and I have been talking about having you join when you got your wings! Welcome aboard Spike... Again!" Spike gave a large smile and flapped his wings to kick up some dust. "But we still need two more members." Spitfire chimed in. "Not to mention that we need to bring up this whole thing with Soarin', Applejack and Twilight. Twilight especially won't be too happy with us..." Spitfire gave an audible gulp which spike followed up on with a gulp of his own. "Yeah... right... Let's tell Twilight tomorrow... or the next day." Dash looked deep in thought all of a sudden and looked in the direction the Shadowbolts zoomed off to. "Well, we're minus a few pegasus ponies to choose from." "What do you mean Rainbow? We still have Thunderlane and Rumble and Blossomforth-" "That's just it Spike." Rainbow Dash turned to face the dragon again, looking rather serious with the sun glowing behind her head. "Those weren't the Shadowbolts." "What?" Spitfire stepped forward. "How do you know?" "Because I'm the only pony whose ever met the real Shadowbolts. Their leader was a mare, not a stallion. Besides, I already know who they were. It was easy." "Oh? Who were they?' Spitfire inquired. "Thunderlane is the leader, Rumble, Flitter, Roid, and Cloudchaser were with him just now." Dash smiled. So we can't count on recruiting them." "Recruiting?" Spike wondered aloud. "Yeah, I propose we recruit some of the best fliers in Equestria; next to Spitfire and myself of course. "Did you have anyone in mind?" Spitfire stepped forward. "Actually, I do. But it'll sound a bit strange. so bear with me." Spike and Spitfire leaned forward as Rainbow Dash muttered her plan into their ears. "I don't know how we're gonna pull that off." Spitfire said at the end. "It'll be easy, she's always up for trying new things, she's... uh... Eccentric like that!" Rainbow Dash smiled. "And who else?" Spike asked. "Uh..............." Rainbow Dash stopped cold. "I... I guess we'll have to wing it!" she chuckled with a flutter of her wings. The mail, the mare, and the other mare"You WHAT?!?!" The ever busy Twilight, was only recently informed of the 'competition' that Sonic Dashfire had gotten themselves into during the upcoming wedding. "Uh... Yeah. Sorry." Rainbow Dash blushed and rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof. "Sorry? Don't apologize to ME, apologize to Applejack and Soarin'! That's supposed to be THEIR night, and now YOU intend to turn what was supposed to be a half hour performance into a huge three-way contest." Twilight was positively fuming as her mane started to flare up and her hide turning red. "So much for 'not wanting to take the spotlight from AJ on her special day.'" Twilight then turned her attention to the other two. "And you two. You just LET her make a plan like that?" Spitfire was taken aback, falling back onto her haunches, her eyes opened wide and she pointed a hoof towards her wife, almost like a reflex. "Hey, it's her fault." "Thanks babe." Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth. "Hey, I love you, but I won't be punished for you screwing up. Sorry love." Spitfire smiled and gave a slight shrug. "Twilight, It's not that big a deal." Twilight almost broke her neck as she turned her attention to Spike. "Not that big a deal? Do you have any idea how much I have to move around and re-plan in order to fix this?" Twilight looked like she was about to erupt in a burst of flame. Spike walked over behind the lavender mare and started rubbing into her shoulders with his claws. "Look, I'll make the plans for you Twilight. I am your number one assistant after all. It's the least I could do. We'll talk it out with Applejack and Soarin' and make everything work out." Twilight snorted like a bull, but then her breathing returned to normal as Spike smoothed out a knot in her neck. "Fine... But you have three days to finish a schedule that will fix this problem Spike. If not, Celestia help you." "Three days. No problem." Spike chuckled as he turned to Spitfire and Rainbow Dash. "Go on guys. Go give word to AJ and Soarin'.And don't forget to look for new recruits as well." "Will do Spike." With that, Dash turned and walked out of the library with Spitfire in tow. "Well, that went better than expected." "We have our favorite teenage dragon to thank for that." Spitfire said with a smile. "We owe him one." "We owe that dragon a lot more than one honey." Rainbow Dash laughed. "Now, is her place left or right?" "Are you serious? You don't remember where Sweet Apple Acres is?" "Not Sweet Apple Acres. Our new recruit's home." "OH! Well shouldn't we tell Soarin' and Applejack first?" "Ah, we can tell them later. Right now we need to recruit quick and train hard. Now... it's right." Rainbow Dash continued on, but turned her path to the right. Spitfire gave out a sigh and followed after. "She's not even a pegasus! How are we going to get her to fly with us?" Rainbow Dash turned her head and smiled at her lover. "Trixie." "Who?" "Twilight's girlfriend, duh. Trixie knows a spell that can work once per day. It allows the user to become either a pegasus, a unicorn or an earth pony for the day. If we can convince her to-" "Watch out!" A sudden SLAM bashed right into the two mares as they were walking about. For a second there Rainbow Dash thought she was color blind as she noticed a grey hoof where hers should be, then she noticed the bubbles above it and let out a sigh. "You okay Rainbow Dash?" "Yeah Derpy, I'm alright." Dash sat up, pushing the wall-eyed pegasus off of her. "Delivering the mail again?" "Yup! I'm covering for Raindrops today. She's home sick. But I'm nowhere near as fast as she is, so I thought that I'd go really fast today, but bugs started flying into my eyes, so I closed them." The blonde pegasus gave a doofy looking smile. "Smart huh?" Spitfire gave out a laugh. "Oh Derpy, you need to see where you're going...Wait here one moment." With a sudden BOOM and a trail of fire, Spitfire was gone. About a minute later and a similar BOOM echoed in the distance, and Spitfire was back with a pair of goggles around her neck. "You've certainly been practicing, haven't you?" Rainbow Dash chuckled as she bumped Spitfire's shoulder with a hoof. "Maybe a bit." She took off her goggles and handed them to the mail horse. "Here Derpy. Now you can go fast, and keep your eyes open, so you can see where you're going, and hopefully not bump into everypony." Derpy gave out a rather sudden gasp as she swiped the goggles and put them on. "Thanks Spitfire! Well, I better be off!" And with that, the grey pony took off, leaving a trail of letters behind her. Spitfire picked up an envelope and gave a little 'tsk'. "Poor Mr. Breezy won't be getting this letter today." She put it down and chuckled with Rainbow Dash. "Say, why don't we have Derpy join us?" "Uh... I dunno if that'd be such a good idea." Rainbow Dash scratched behind her ear with a hoof. "Oh come on. She'd be great with some training." Spitfire smiled. Suddenly they heard another smashing sound come from a few feet in the direction that Derpy flew off to. "Um... a LOT of training." The two started walking again until they got to a house where two ponies were sitting on the porch, one on all four, the other sitting on her rump. "Yo! Lyra and Bon Bon!" Rainbow Dash waved to the two mares to attract their attention. The mint and cream ponies looked over and waved back. "Bon Bon, do you mind if we borrow Lyra for a moment?" Bon Bon shook her head and motioned for Lyra to head on over. The unicorn gave her lover a little peck on the cheek and rose up on her hind hooves, walking as only a bipedal pony could. "What's up guys?" Lyra said as she leaned against her house. "We want you to join Sonic Dashfire." Rainbow Dash announced. "Sure, sounds fun." "Wait, just like that?" Spitfire was taken aback. "But you can't even fly, how are you planning to join us?" Lyra gave a shrug. "I'm sure there's a spell or two that could help me out." Rainbow Dash gave a smile towards her partner. "Told ya so." Dash extended a hoof to shake with Lyra. "Welcome aboard Mrs. Lyra. We'll find you a spell to get you airborne in no time." "I've always wanted to fly!" Lyra spread her front legs and motioned like she was a plane. "So, what do I have to do?" "Let's just get you initiated with the other team members." Rainbow Dash turned to walk away. "C'mon." "So, you decided to recruit Spike, I can understand that, but how are we going to get Lyra into the air?" Scootaloo sat next to Dash and Spitfire within Sugarcube Corner, slurping down a strawberry shake with hot sauce (a Pinkie Pie special). Rainbow Dash smiled and slapped a rather thick book down on the table next to her own Rainbow Smoothie. "With this!" The title was crossed out with the words 'Property to THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE.' "And how will this help?" Scootaloo asked through her teeth, straw in her mouth. The other three mares smiled at one another. "Watch this." Spitfire grinned and turned her attention to Lyra. The minty green pony returned a smile of her own. She brought both of her front hooves on top of the table, focusing and grunting. Her horn glowed a with a yellow light, then her back had two yellow glows appear as well. After about a minute, Lyra's horn disappeared and was replaced with a pair of wings. Lyra smiled and fluttered her brand new wings. "And that is how she'll be flying with us." "Pretty neat eh? and when we're done with her wings, we'll just have Trixie change her back to a unicorn. The spell can last for up to three days." Rainbow Dash smiled. "But, we're not allowed to spread knowledge of this spell to anypony else. Trixie was very reluctant to let even us know about this" Spitfire added in. "Then why did she give it to you?" Scootaloo asked. "We threatened to tell Twilight about the book and how Trixie had an 'encounter' with the red pony that was here for three days." Lyra smiled a wicked smile. "And why go to all this trouble? I mean, not that I don't want Lyra, but wouldn't it have been easier to ask Gilda?" Scootaloo took another gulp from her shake. "No good, she's joined the Wonderbolts rather recently." Dash Explained. "Blossomforth?" Scoot tried again. "Dashie has the feeling she may be number 6 of the Shadowbolts." Spitfire sighed. "And I get that feeling too. Call it a mare's intuition." "Derpy?" As soon as Scoot said that there came a unanimous 'eh...' from the other three ponies at the table. "Yeah, I get it. So, we still need to find another member. Who is it gonna be?" The four ponies sat in thought for a moment. Then a moment became a while, a while became an hour, and an hour brought them to closing time. Walking out of Sugarcube Corner, the mares realized that it was now raining. "Wait a minute." Spitfire tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and pointed her to the sky. They saw a blue and yellow streak zooming by, pounding down on all of the clouds with great speed and precision. "One of the contests is weather prowess. That pegasus is one of the best weather mares I've ever seen." She turned to look towards her lover. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Rainbow Dash gave an ear to ear grin. "I'm thinking that's our ticket to victory."
At the top of the worldThis is a sequel story to A League of Their Own, go read that story before reading this one, or else things will be very confusing. For those of you that HAVE read it, this is taking place after the bonus chapter, after the ten year skip. Enjoy! "So what's the plan Dash?" Spike was walking next to the cyan pegasus through the town, his claws gripping at a bouquet of flowers. The young dragon had grown rather impressively over ten years, he stood at about twice Rainbow's height and rather thin. His long gangly arms matched the length of her body, as well as his legs. "We have to get things in order for the show during Soarin' and Applejack's wedding; as well as the wedding itself." Rainbow Dash smiled. The years had been kind to the mare, giving her strong athletic body fantastic tone and shape. Her coat and mane were healthy and gave a great shine. The only real indication of aging was around her face, she had a much more matured and collected look in her eyes. While taller and larger, it wasn't terribly noticeable. "How did she first take the news?" Spike chuckled. "Exactly as you'd think she would. She started squealing with joy and immediately started asking if she could design the outfits and dresses." "Well that's Rarity for ya." Dash chuckled. "Is she gonna be able to come in from Canterlot?" "You know she will. It's Applejack's wedding, she'll make time." Spike said with a smile. "That's why I went out and grabbed these!" He held up the bouquet. "Shouldn't you have gotten them after she arrives?" "We don't know exactly when Rarity is coming by, and I wanna be the first one to welcome her." The two stopped in front of the library. "And what was Twilight's reaction?" "Well..." Spike reached a claw over and opened the door. Immediately, Rainbow Dash noticed Twilight pulling books off from almost every shelf, scanning them over with a smile on her face. "She's busy planning things out." Spike walked over and grabbed a quill as he began to write up a note. Twilight turned and noticed Rainbow standing in her doorway. "Rainbow Dash! Perfect!" Twilight trotted over to the rainbow maned pony. "I have a few things I need to go over with you." The lavender unicorn was wearing a pair of glasses these days, years of reading had caught up with her, though it was a nice look for her. "Sure, what is it Twi?" "We need to go over the time of your show and how it will fit in with the rest of the wedding schedule. Now about how long do you imagine you will be performing?" Twilight pulled over a quill and some parchment with her magic, ready to take notes. "Well usually a show will go on for an hour and a half or two hours. We're wanting to do something really special for AJ, but it's not going to be an entire show. We'd love to perform but we don't wanna take the spotlight from her and Soarin' on their special day." Rainbow Dash smiled. "So if you're looking for an estimate, we might do half an hour, forty five minutes depending on what we figure out with Scoot." "Perfect." Twilight scratched a note on the parchment. "And we'll be talking with Applejack to figure out when she wants you to go on." "Hey, Twilight. Anything you wanna tell Rarity?" Spike called from his desk. "Just let her know I said hi and I'm very excited to see her again." Twilight said. "Make it double for me Spike." Dash stepped over to the young dragon as he wrote down the welcomes from the ponies. After he finished, he folded the paper up and held it in front of his face with the flowers. With a belch of flame, the gift made it's way to Canterlot, leaving only a sparkling smoke behind. "Right! Now, should we head on over to Sweet Apple Acres?" Spike asked. "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea. Twilight, do you wanna join us?" Dash turned back to the unicorn. "That's alright, you two go ahead. I have lots of planning as well as studying and research to do. It's a very busy time for me right now." Twilight explained. "Alright, suit yourself egghead." Dash smiled, and turned out the door, Spike at her tail. The odd duo continued through the town, returning a smile to anyone who greeted them. Once they made it to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, they noticed a familiar figure speaking with Big Macintosh. The Pink maned pony turned to face them, half her entire face covered by the long hair. She looked away from them, then turned back with a slight blush and a smile. "Heya Fluttershy! I haven't seen you in a while!" Dash trotted over and gave her old friend a hug, to which the yellow pegasus returned the gesture. In a deep, soothing voice, Fluttershy responded. "Hello Rainbow Dash. I'm sorry I haven't been around very often." She dug at the ground. "But, um..." Rainbow Dash could have sworn she saw Fluttershy make a quick glance towards Big Macintosh. "You know... kids and all." "Eeyup!" Big Mac added. "Oh yeah! Where are Honey Bee and Applesauce anyway?" Rainbow Dash looked left and right for the little foals to come running up to see her. "God mama wants to see her god foals." "Oh, they're in Cheerilee's class at the moment Rainbow Dash. Spike took them for us this morning." Fluttershy looked behind Dash at the rather lanky dragon. "He is their uncle after all." Dash gave a chuckle. "Self-appointed uncle." Spike stuck a forked tongue out at the mare. "Oh relax. I know you take good care of them. Those adorable little tykes can't stand to be without you after all." This time, Fluttershy gave the chuckle. "Yeah I do have a way with them don't I?" Spike crossed his arms and gave a cheeky grin. "Anyways, Fluttersy, Big Mac, have either of you two seen-" "I'm up here baby!" The voice Rainbow Dash had longed to hear since leaving the house sprung up above her and she let out a large smile. Without even looking, Dash spread her wings and zipped directly above her. Lips forward, she made full contact with her beloved Spitfire. "Hello love." The mare of Dash's dreams spoke in a soft deep tone, mane brushed down and positively glowing like a wildfire. "Been looking for you." Dash landed on the cloud next to her partner. Spitfire had grown over these years as well. Her mane drooped halfway over her eyes, her body fit and strong, and her wings had recently sprouted red and orange feathers, making even the slightest wind stir up a fiery storm across her back. "Expected to find me with the kids did you?" Spitfire asked sarcastically with a pleasant smile. "Well I'm not in school if that's where you were going next. I was speaking with AJ actually, taking care of your job." She jabbed her rainbow maned wife with a hoof, directly where her heart thumped. "She 'don't give two hayseeds about non o' that fancy decoratin' stuff, is what I recall. All she wants is her good friends, good food, and the groom to show up. Simple tastes for a simple girl." Spitfire laughed. "That sounds like Applejack alright. Of course Twilight and Rarity are going to want to make it the most extravagant, well planned ceremony in Equestria. You remember how long it took them to plan things out for our wedding don't you?" Rainbow Dash gave a groan at the thoughts of the sitting around as Rarity would design a dress on top of her. "But there's something else I wanted to tell you..." Spitfire lost the glee in her voice. "Soarin' and I were talking. He told me that that old gang you told me about before... the Shadowbolts? They're coming."
I propose..."Say what?" Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Shadowbolts?" "Yeah, Soarin' said they were real, and they plan on coming to town." Spitfire spoke with an even tone in her voice. "That's not possible. The Shadowbolts were created by Nightmare Moon. They were shadows, just a trick on the mind." Rainbow Dash began to pace back and forth on top of the cloud. "Well, Soarin' says it's true, they exist. Some ragtag group of pegasi who've challenged the Wonderbolts.Their leader is some pegasus with grey fur and bright blue mane." Spitfire claimed. "Well that definitely sounds like a Shadowbolt." Rainbow Dash's face became lost in thought. "Well, if it's just a challenge to the Wonderbolts, I don't think we have to worry. We just gotta keep our ears to the ground and our eyes open." Spitfire couldn't help but let out a laugh. "You? keep an ear to the ground?" "You know what I mean." Dash smiled. "Anyways, I'm more concerned with where they came from than what they want." "Um..." The girls heard a small squeak come from down below, then they remembered they weren't alone. They looked down to see Fluttershy looking up at them. "Is everything alright?" Dash put on a big grin. "Yeah. We're fine. Just thinking is all." Dash couldn't tell Fluttershy what they were talking about. The shy little pony would have a panic attack if there was even a hint that the sinister power of Nightmare Moon was still around. "Anyways, we should get moving. Stuff to do, places to go." "Don't y'all wanna say hi ta Applejack?" Big Mac questioned. "We'll come by later. I'm sure she and Soarin' would like to spend some time alone." Spitfire chuckled. "Anyways, come on Spike, let's head out." Spike ran over behind the two pegasi, following them closely. "Riiiiiiight... So, what's really going on?" Spike inquired. The girls explained the situation to Spike, the Shadowbolts, their challenge against the Wonderbolts, about the grey and blue pony. "I wanna see these so called 'Shadowbolts' myself." Rainbow Dash smiled mischievously. Spitfire let out a small sigh. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Well, Soarin' said that he last saw them near the edge of the Everfree Forest." Spike let out a sigh. "I knew it." The trio walked down the path through town towards the Everfree Forest. As they passed by Sugarcube Corner, the noticed a blur fly past their field of view in the sky. "Was that..." "I believe it was." Spitfire answered. "A pegasus stunt flier." "A Shadowbolt." Rainbow Dash said. "I'm sure of it." She flew up above the buildings, looking down across the town, searching the ground for any sign of the pegasus that flew by. Soon she was joined by Spike mounted upon Spitfire. "C'mon, let's go check it out." The trio flew towards the edge of the forest. They noticed about five ponies walking about in purple and black uniforms. "There." Dash flew down towards the one standing in front of the rest of them, the one with the electric blue mane. "Hey!" The pegasus turned around. "Well! If it isn't Sonic Dashfire." A stallion's voice came from the mouth of the pegasus. "We've been...expecting you." Rainbow Dash held her ground, scoping out the various pegasi around her. "Right. The Shadowbolts was it?" Rainbow Dash gave a cocky smile. "Or was it something else?" The Stallion looked slightly nervous as he shook his head. "No, we're definitely the Shadowbolts." Upon closer look, Dash and Spitfire noticed this stallion had his tail cut short and his mane styled up like a mohawk. "Show them, Rum- I mean Shadowbolts!" The uniformed pegasi all flew up, and started zooming about. They weaved through the sky, dodging one another as they flew towards each other at neckbreaking speeds, creating shapes from figure eights to stars, to even whipping up a grey and violet tornado, much larger than what Rainbow Dash was able to make by herself. "Well well well! How did you like that Sonic Dashfire?" Rainbow Dash had to admit, it was pretty impressive. She looked upon the rest of the Shadowbolts. One was large, white and bulky with tiny little wings. Two of them had grey pelts and bright sky-blue mane done up in different styles. The last one was smaller than the rest with black and grey mane with a light grey muzzle. Dash gave a chuckle. "Wow, you guys are really something. Rather intimidating I'd say." "Yeah, You bet we are." The leader said. "And after we're done with the Wonderbolts, we're coming for you chumps." "Uh-oh." Spitfire and Spike spoke in unison. "What?" Rainbow Dash stepped closer to the lead Shadowbolt. "What did you call me? I know you didn't call me a chump, CHUMP!" "So what if I did?" The Shadowbolt leader spoke strong but started to back off. "Why wait for the Wonderbolts? I want in on this too. One on one on one. Let's find out who's team is the best, once and for all?" Rainbow Dash stamped into the ground, driving her words home. "Uh... F-fine! In two weeks we'll show down with both you and the Wonderbolts!" "Done!" Dash spit in her hoof and held it out. "Well come on!" With hesitation, the stallion spat on his hoof and did the same, knocking hooves with Rainbow Dash. "See you in two weeks, Rainbow crash!" "Real original." The Shadowbolts took off as Rainbow Dash sat there looking back at them confidently. "Well guys. That should-" "Dashie! What did you do?" Spitfire flew in front of Rainbow Dash. "I just told Thun-" "In two weeks we have a show! Applejack's wedding show!" Spike cut in. "...Oh... um, oops?" Rainbow Dash blushed. "I guess the show just became a bit... Bigger?" "One more problem Dashie." Spitfire made three lines in the ground. "According to Soarin', the competition is going to be composed of five events, one being a tag race. Each team needs six members. We only have three including Scootaloo." "Uh... Guys." "Huh... that is a problem." Rainbow dash placed a hoof on her chin. "Maybe we could each do two contests?" "Dash, Spitfire..." Spitfire shook her head. "No good. It's not allowed in the rules." "GUYS!" Spike shouted, finally getting the attention of the mares. "I, haven't exactly shown or told anypony yet. But, rather recently... I've... well..." Spike turned his back and the mares saw a slight flutter across his spine, then they noticed two large scaled wings erupt from his back. They were large and impressive for the young dragon. "I've sprouted my wings rather recently. I haven't told anyone because they haven't been ready to fly yet, but I think they're strong enough now. So, if I was taught... maybe I..." Spike gave a slight shrug and a smile. "Spike? Are you asking if you can join Sonic Dashfire?" Spitfire smiled. "Spike! We'd love to have you join us!" Dash walked over and slung a front leg over Spitfire's neck. "Spitfire and I have been talking about having you join when you got your wings! Welcome aboard Spike... Again!" Spike gave a large smile and flapped his wings to kick up some dust. "But we still need two more members." Spitfire chimed in. "Not to mention that we need to bring up this whole thing with Soarin', Applejack and Twilight. Twilight especially won't be too happy with us..." Spitfire gave an audible gulp which spike followed up on with a gulp of his own. "Yeah... right... Let's tell Twilight tomorrow... or the next day." Dash looked deep in thought all of a sudden and looked in the direction the Shadowbolts zoomed off to. "Well, we're minus a few pegasus ponies to choose from." "What do you mean Rainbow? We still have Thunderlane and Rumble and Blossomforth-" "That's just it Spike." Rainbow Dash turned to face the dragon again, looking rather serious with the sun glowing behind her head. "Those weren't the Shadowbolts." "What?" Spitfire stepped forward. "How do you know?" "Because I'm the only pony whose ever met the real Shadowbolts. Their leader was a mare, not a stallion. Besides, I already know who they were. It was easy." "Oh? Who were they?' Spitfire inquired. "Thunderlane is the leader, Rumble, Flitter, Roid, and Cloudchaser were with him just now." Dash smiled. So we can't count on recruiting them." "Recruiting?" Spike wondered aloud. "Yeah, I propose we recruit some of the best fliers in Equestria; next to Spitfire and myself of course. "Did you have anyone in mind?" Spitfire stepped forward. "Actually, I do. But it'll sound a bit strange. so bear with me." Spike and Spitfire leaned forward as Rainbow Dash muttered her plan into their ears. "I don't know how we're gonna pull that off." Spitfire said at the end. "It'll be easy, she's always up for trying new things, she's... uh... Eccentric like that!" Rainbow Dash smiled. "And who else?" Spike asked. "Uh..............." Rainbow Dash stopped cold. "I... I guess we'll have to wing it!" she chuckled with a flutter of her wings.
The mail, the mare, and the other mare"You WHAT?!?!" The ever busy Twilight, was only recently informed of the 'competition' that Sonic Dashfire had gotten themselves into during the upcoming wedding. "Uh... Yeah. Sorry." Rainbow Dash blushed and rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof. "Sorry? Don't apologize to ME, apologize to Applejack and Soarin'! That's supposed to be THEIR night, and now YOU intend to turn what was supposed to be a half hour performance into a huge three-way contest." Twilight was positively fuming as her mane started to flare up and her hide turning red. "So much for 'not wanting to take the spotlight from AJ on her special day.'" Twilight then turned her attention to the other two. "And you two. You just LET her make a plan like that?" Spitfire was taken aback, falling back onto her haunches, her eyes opened wide and she pointed a hoof towards her wife, almost like a reflex. "Hey, it's her fault." "Thanks babe." Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth. "Hey, I love you, but I won't be punished for you screwing up. Sorry love." Spitfire smiled and gave a slight shrug. "Twilight, It's not that big a deal." Twilight almost broke her neck as she turned her attention to Spike. "Not that big a deal? Do you have any idea how much I have to move around and re-plan in order to fix this?" Twilight looked like she was about to erupt in a burst of flame. Spike walked over behind the lavender mare and started rubbing into her shoulders with his claws. "Look, I'll make the plans for you Twilight. I am your number one assistant after all. It's the least I could do. We'll talk it out with Applejack and Soarin' and make everything work out." Twilight snorted like a bull, but then her breathing returned to normal as Spike smoothed out a knot in her neck. "Fine... But you have three days to finish a schedule that will fix this problem Spike. If not, Celestia help you." "Three days. No problem." Spike chuckled as he turned to Spitfire and Rainbow Dash. "Go on guys. Go give word to AJ and Soarin'.And don't forget to look for new recruits as well." "Will do Spike." With that, Dash turned and walked out of the library with Spitfire in tow. "Well, that went better than expected." "We have our favorite teenage dragon to thank for that." Spitfire said with a smile. "We owe him one." "We owe that dragon a lot more than one honey." Rainbow Dash laughed. "Now, is her place left or right?" "Are you serious? You don't remember where Sweet Apple Acres is?" "Not Sweet Apple Acres. Our new recruit's home." "OH! Well shouldn't we tell Soarin' and Applejack first?" "Ah, we can tell them later. Right now we need to recruit quick and train hard. Now... it's right." Rainbow Dash continued on, but turned her path to the right. Spitfire gave out a sigh and followed after. "She's not even a pegasus! How are we going to get her to fly with us?" Rainbow Dash turned her head and smiled at her lover. "Trixie." "Who?" "Twilight's girlfriend, duh. Trixie knows a spell that can work once per day. It allows the user to become either a pegasus, a unicorn or an earth pony for the day. If we can convince her to-" "Watch out!" A sudden SLAM bashed right into the two mares as they were walking about. For a second there Rainbow Dash thought she was color blind as she noticed a grey hoof where hers should be, then she noticed the bubbles above it and let out a sigh. "You okay Rainbow Dash?" "Yeah Derpy, I'm alright." Dash sat up, pushing the wall-eyed pegasus off of her. "Delivering the mail again?" "Yup! I'm covering for Raindrops today. She's home sick. But I'm nowhere near as fast as she is, so I thought that I'd go really fast today, but bugs started flying into my eyes, so I closed them." The blonde pegasus gave a doofy looking smile. "Smart huh?" Spitfire gave out a laugh. "Oh Derpy, you need to see where you're going...Wait here one moment." With a sudden BOOM and a trail of fire, Spitfire was gone. About a minute later and a similar BOOM echoed in the distance, and Spitfire was back with a pair of goggles around her neck. "You've certainly been practicing, haven't you?" Rainbow Dash chuckled as she bumped Spitfire's shoulder with a hoof. "Maybe a bit." She took off her goggles and handed them to the mail horse. "Here Derpy. Now you can go fast, and keep your eyes open, so you can see where you're going, and hopefully not bump into everypony." Derpy gave out a rather sudden gasp as she swiped the goggles and put them on. "Thanks Spitfire! Well, I better be off!" And with that, the grey pony took off, leaving a trail of letters behind her. Spitfire picked up an envelope and gave a little 'tsk'. "Poor Mr. Breezy won't be getting this letter today." She put it down and chuckled with Rainbow Dash. "Say, why don't we have Derpy join us?" "Uh... I dunno if that'd be such a good idea." Rainbow Dash scratched behind her ear with a hoof. "Oh come on. She'd be great with some training." Spitfire smiled. Suddenly they heard another smashing sound come from a few feet in the direction that Derpy flew off to. "Um... a LOT of training." The two started walking again until they got to a house where two ponies were sitting on the porch, one on all four, the other sitting on her rump. "Yo! Lyra and Bon Bon!" Rainbow Dash waved to the two mares to attract their attention. The mint and cream ponies looked over and waved back. "Bon Bon, do you mind if we borrow Lyra for a moment?" Bon Bon shook her head and motioned for Lyra to head on over. The unicorn gave her lover a little peck on the cheek and rose up on her hind hooves, walking as only a bipedal pony could. "What's up guys?" Lyra said as she leaned against her house. "We want you to join Sonic Dashfire." Rainbow Dash announced. "Sure, sounds fun." "Wait, just like that?" Spitfire was taken aback. "But you can't even fly, how are you planning to join us?" Lyra gave a shrug. "I'm sure there's a spell or two that could help me out." Rainbow Dash gave a smile towards her partner. "Told ya so." Dash extended a hoof to shake with Lyra. "Welcome aboard Mrs. Lyra. We'll find you a spell to get you airborne in no time." "I've always wanted to fly!" Lyra spread her front legs and motioned like she was a plane. "So, what do I have to do?" "Let's just get you initiated with the other team members." Rainbow Dash turned to walk away. "C'mon." "So, you decided to recruit Spike, I can understand that, but how are we going to get Lyra into the air?" Scootaloo sat next to Dash and Spitfire within Sugarcube Corner, slurping down a strawberry shake with hot sauce (a Pinkie Pie special). Rainbow Dash smiled and slapped a rather thick book down on the table next to her own Rainbow Smoothie. "With this!" The title was crossed out with the words 'Property to THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE.' "And how will this help?" Scootaloo asked through her teeth, straw in her mouth. The other three mares smiled at one another. "Watch this." Spitfire grinned and turned her attention to Lyra. The minty green pony returned a smile of her own. She brought both of her front hooves on top of the table, focusing and grunting. Her horn glowed a with a yellow light, then her back had two yellow glows appear as well. After about a minute, Lyra's horn disappeared and was replaced with a pair of wings. Lyra smiled and fluttered her brand new wings. "And that is how she'll be flying with us." "Pretty neat eh? and when we're done with her wings, we'll just have Trixie change her back to a unicorn. The spell can last for up to three days." Rainbow Dash smiled. "But, we're not allowed to spread knowledge of this spell to anypony else. Trixie was very reluctant to let even us know about this" Spitfire added in. "Then why did she give it to you?" Scootaloo asked. "We threatened to tell Twilight about the book and how Trixie had an 'encounter' with the red pony that was here for three days." Lyra smiled a wicked smile. "And why go to all this trouble? I mean, not that I don't want Lyra, but wouldn't it have been easier to ask Gilda?" Scootaloo took another gulp from her shake. "No good, she's joined the Wonderbolts rather recently." Dash Explained. "Blossomforth?" Scoot tried again. "Dashie has the feeling she may be number 6 of the Shadowbolts." Spitfire sighed. "And I get that feeling too. Call it a mare's intuition." "Derpy?" As soon as Scoot said that there came a unanimous 'eh...' from the other three ponies at the table. "Yeah, I get it. So, we still need to find another member. Who is it gonna be?" The four ponies sat in thought for a moment. Then a moment became a while, a while became an hour, and an hour brought them to closing time. Walking out of Sugarcube Corner, the mares realized that it was now raining. "Wait a minute." Spitfire tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and pointed her to the sky. They saw a blue and yellow streak zooming by, pounding down on all of the clouds with great speed and precision. "One of the contests is weather prowess. That pegasus is one of the best weather mares I've ever seen." She turned to look towards her lover. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Rainbow Dash gave an ear to ear grin. "I'm thinking that's our ticket to victory."
