Rush

"How much further Rainbow?!" yelled a lavender coated alicorn (combination of unicorn and pegasus), who had a dark purple mane and tail with a pink stripe in the middle of the hair. She had purple eyes and a pink star can be found on either side of her flank.

"Almost there, Twilight! The sounds came from the other side of the trees up ahead," yelled Rainbow Dash in reply, who was leading the alicorn to the direction of the 'thunder' sounds.

Rainbow Dash found Twilight Sparkle and told her about the noises earlier. Not wasting time, the two flying ponies were on their way to investigate. Rainbow Dash was able to guide her flying companion because when she left Sweet Apple Acres and was in the sky, she viewed the direction of the noises and made a mental note of the general area. Rainbow Dash was really offended at Applejack's suggestion that the pegasus needed help. She hates depending on others. She is an independent mare who prefers to do things her way and solve problems by herself. I could have ignored Applejack's advice and went there by myself. Why didn't I? She mentally asked herself. Partially, because nopony was in immediate danger and there was no need to rush. Even though Rainbow could have handled it herself, it doesn't hurt to have an extra hoof when facing a problem, especially from an alicorn.

There was another reason, one that wouldn't leave her mind. She won't admit it, but she does feel guilty for what she did to Applejack's property. At the time she didn't think that her sonic rainboom (the stunt that breaks the sound barrier) would cause damage to the trees in Sweet Apple Acres. She was more concerned with practicing her stunts for her final test in the Wonderbolts Academy. It was always her dream to become a Wonderbolt and was very ecstatic when she entered the academy. She has worked hard in her training and just needs to pass one final test before she can officially become a Wonderbolt. Rainbow can be a diligent mare if it's the kind of work she's interested in.

Unfortunately, she needs to pay for the damage she caused with her latest sonic rainboom. Applejack was understandably angry with Rainbow Dash and had a talk with the CEO of the weather factory. The two agreed that Rainbow Dash is to work four weeks straight, six hours per day in the afternoon at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack calculated that that's how long it would take for Rainbow Dash to pay off her debts if she consistently worked those hours without slacking. The colored pegasus would still fulfill her weather duties in the morning, but she won't be able to take afternoon naps anymore. Plus, the weather factory will not call Rainbow Dash for special afternoon assignments during the next four weeks, unless there is a big emergency that is. She can't explain it, but maybe that guilty conscious of hers caused her to take Applejack's suggestion to get Twilight for help. Maybe. She mentally thought.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight flew to the other side of the trees, where there was a clearing. The flying ponies were taken aback at what they were seeing. They counted around twenty dead timberwolves, all of them spilling tree sap from their bodies. Whatever was responsible for this carnage is not around, unless it's hiding somewhere nearby.

"I'm going to see if the coast is clear. Hang on a minute," Twilight commanded as she closed her eyes and her horn began to shine, sending sonic waves within a three mile radius. Rainbow Dash scanned the area with her keen pegasus eyes, slowly turning around as she looked. After they both did their sweep of the area, Twilight opened her eyes and said, "It's clear. There's nopony around."

The ponies landed on the ground and began to examine the bodies. Most of the timberwolves had holes on their head, only four of them had one hole in the head. It kind of almost looked like somepony was shooting arrows at them, but these kinds of shots penetrated the wooden skin and exited on the other side of the body.

"What happened here?" Rainbow Dash inquired as she examines the bodies. "It looked like a much more dangerous creature killed these wolves."

"Whatever killed these timberwolves, it got hurt in the process," Twilight replied.

Rainbow looked at her friend with curiosity. "How do you figure?"

"Take a look here," Twilight said, pointing at a timberwolf right next to a tree.

Rainbow came and closely examined the dead creature. She counted five holes in the front and back of the neck, except these were smaller. What was more unusual was that she noticed red liquid on the jaws of the wolf.

"That's blood, isn't it?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes," Twilight replied and observed the red blood on the ground. "There is chunks of it in this spot." She pointed at the small puddle of blood nearby. "The trail ends here though. And judging by the smell of the alcohol here, I can assume that this creature patched itself up and stopped the bleeding."

That made Rainbow Dash worry a little. "So the creature is as smart as us." She looked again at the carnage around her. "I'm not liking this Twilight."

"Your misgivings may be justified Rainbow. Look at this."

Rainbow turned back to see what Twilight was referring to. The latter used her magic to levitate more than two dozen small objects for the former to see. They looked like metal cylinders with a hole on one side. Rainbow cringed at the smell that was coming out of the cylinders, which smelled like if someone was cooking a terrible meal. Most of them were the same size except for five smaller ones.

"What are those?" Rainbow asked as she narrowed her eyes at them.

"Princess Celestia gave me a sample of these in order for me to examine them," the alicorn replied as she levitated the unknown objects into plastic bags and put them into her saddlebag. "They belong to a creature that walks on two legs and looks like an ape that wears black clothes. He's been causing trouble in countries around Equestria."

"What kinds of trouble," Rainbow asked.

"It has destroyed properties, terrorized some of the equines like the zebras, beaten up the local authorities, and has even killed some of the minotaurs, diamond dogs and griffins. You remember Gilda? She's dead now."

Rainbow was shocked to hear this. She used to be friends with Gilda the griffin until they had a fallout a few years ago. Even though she didn't like the griffin anymore, she never once wished for death to come upon her former friend. At least she didn't think so.

"Why would that thing DO such things?!" Rainbow exclaimed, getting upset now.

"Nopony knows," Twilight said, shaking her head and then continued to speak. "The reports I have gotten from the Princess said that every time the authorities approached the creature, it would send them to the hospital. Thank Celestia they are still alive! They would come out of the hospitals with broken bones and concussions."

"My gosh!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed and then made scowl look on her face. "If I see that jerk anywhere in Ponyville, I'm going to put the fear of Rainbow Dash in that son of a nag!" She finished her sentence by punching her hooves together.

"Be careful Rainbow," Twilight said as she leaned forward. "If that thing was able to take out these timberwolves and other more dangerous creatures, then we-"

"Twilight, I got this." Rainbow interrupted with a confident smile. "I'm the toughest and fastest Pegasus in Equestria, remember?" She finished by pumping her chest with her hoof.

Twilight frowned at Rainbow's interruptions and said, "Anyway, we gotta warn the girls about this. I'm gonna let Princess Celestia know about what we found here, and then I'm going to have a talk with the mayor tomorrow. It will be best if she can inform the citizens about the potential threat so they can keep a look out."

Rainbow nodded at Twilight's suggestion and then remembered something. "I'll go tell Fluttershy and Applejack. I was supposed to do some work at Sweet Apple Acres today before I was interrupted by...this." Rainbow was pointing at the dead timberwolves.

"What do you mean you were supposed to do work there? Why?" Twilight asked with confusion on her face.

"I'll tell you another time. I have to get going, I'm late as it is." Rainbow readied her wings and then hovered in the air. "See ya tomorrow," she said before flying away.

"Bye!" Twilight yelled before she flew off on her way to Ponyville.