“Whoa…”

“Beautiful…”

“Still as magnificent as the first time I saw them…”

A group of male colts working in the cloud factory had formed a messy circle around Rarity, much to Rarity’s delight and Twilight’s annoyance.

“Why thank you dears. You know, its been quite some time since I had these bad boys out, isn’t it Twilight?” She simpered, enjoying the attention.

“Yes…and I regret doing it as bad as the first time.” Twilight groaned. “Look, stallions.” She exclaimed, blocking them from the view. “I understand that those wings are really pretty, but could you go back to work?”

“Aw come on, princess.” One of them snickered. “You’re just jealous that your wings aren’t as great as Rarity’s.”

“Oh for Celestia’s sake…” She groaned, slapping herself in the face. “Rarity, if you don’t follow me right now I’m going to remove those wings. Either you keep them, or I carry you the whole trip. Remember what happened last time?”

“Oh don’t remind me.” Rarity gasped. “I didn’t remember eating that much that day. Oh well.” She waved to the drooling colts. “I suppose I’ll meet you boys later!”

“Ok, bye!”

“Call me”

“I love you Rarity!”

Blushing, she picked up the pace and flew back towards Twilight.

“Well, its not unhealthy to receive a few compliments every now and then. I’ve gotten used to being a designer and not the model.” Rarity admitted.

“I suppose. But as I told you before, what we need to do right now is find somepony who knows anything about Rainbow Blaze in the north corner of Cloudsdale.”

“Isn’t that where the Equestria Games were held?”

“Yes, but before and after that the stadium is used for training the Wonderbolts. I did a little research, and Rainbow Blaze was part of the elite team when he was young.”

“The Elite Team?! Those positions are only for the best of the best!”

“Exactly. Something must have happened that damaged his career from being a Wonderbolt Superstar and celebrity to…you know, a worker in the cloud factory.”

Flying down, they saw groups of colts and mares dressed in uniforms training all around the giant stadium, with a familiar blue mane and white coat seen at the center.

“Is…is that my brother?”

“Oh! Twily!”

The stallion turned around, and upon seeing Twilight, galloped towards her and embraced her graciously in a soft hug before letting go.

“What are you doing here? Did Celestia ask you to supervise the Wonderbolts instead of me?” Shining Armor asked hopefully.

“Um…No. We’re here to find out some information about Rainbow Blaze.”

“Do you know him? Or do the other members know?” Rarity questioned.

“I don’t seem to recall him at all, Twilight. I spent most of the time in the Guard Training Academy, so I don’t really know most of the Wonderbolts to be honest.”

Taking the whistle hanging from his neck, he blew hard, causing all of the Wonderbolts to stop their training and immediately gather in front of him.

“What is it, your Highness?” One of them asked politely.

“Um…do you guys know who Rainbow Blaze is?”

There was a short silence before a few of them started to chuckle.

“Oh, Rainbow Blaze? Yeah, we know him.”

“The one who always came first.” Another one added, causing most of them to laugh heartily from the perverse sense of humor.

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight said, puzzled.

“You don’t want to know…” Shining Armor replied. “Look guys, can you just tell my sister about Rainbow Blaze…without the satire? Save that for the evening.”

“Oh don’t be such a party pooper. We were just kidding around. Lighten up a bit.”

“If you don’t give me a firm answer in the next five seconds, I’ll lighten you up.”

The laughter died instantly. Shining Armor used to be one of the most malicious pranksters in not just the guard academy but to other schools as well. Most of their memories with him were still strong.

“Fine. Rainbow Blaze came here labeled as a gifted athlete fifteen years ago with me.” A slightly older colt came into view as the rest of the group stepped back. “My name is…”

“Oh my gosh Oh my gosh Oh my gosh! CAPTAIN HORSEBUCKLE!!!” Rarity screamed. “You’re one of the best members of the elite!” She quivered.

“Um…yes. Hello there.”

“You’re…talking…to…me? Aah!” Rarity said before fainting over-dramatically onto one of the colts’ arms, much to their amusement.

“Wow…really should have brought Applejack.” Twilight muttered quietly to herself, dragging her view away from the stallions carrying the fainted unicorn and back to Horsebuckle. “So you were friends with Rainbow Blaze?”

“Best friends. We still hang out sometimes in the Cloudy Mare to have a drink and talk about stuff. Well, not as often as usual.”

“Could you tell me anything about a mystery mare?” Twilight inquired. “There has to be some sort of connection between him, the mare, and the reason he quit his job.”

“Mystery mare? The only mystery mare that I know he has is his wife!”

“Wait…what?”

“To be honest, I should have known from the start, when she first showed up in this stadium to set up the clouds for training. One look to both of them, and any-pony would know that he was a goner.”

“But didn’t he try and keep it a secret until the final exams?” A mare asked.

“Oh yeah, well he did, but at that time those two had already been dating under our snouts for a year or two. Good times, hearing him tell us when he was drunk during the senior prom. Remember how mad you were?”

“Oh shut up. He was MY date!” The mare huffed, flying off to continue training.

”Was Rainbow Blaze kind of a ladies’ man?” Twilight assumed.

“Oh boy, me and him used to be called the Hounds of Baskerville. Everywhere we went there was always a group of mares and colts worshipping us since we were such gifted athletes. To be honest, we could have sweet action any time we want.”

“Sweet Action?” Twilight managed to say before Shining Armor placed his hoof on her mouth, giving Horsebuckle a very fierce stare.

“Right…sorry. Yeah…it was a great life then. Famous, popular, and strong. But then, at the day of the finals, Rainbow Blaze quit the team and became one of the common workers in the cloud factory, and he married Firefly a year after that. It was a sad day for us but a lucky day for our captain. She only managed to join the team because Rainbow Blaze left. But now I’m sure that she can beat me and Blaze anytime.”

“Who is the captain of the Wonderbolts?”

“Spitfire. But I don’t think she is the mystery mare you’re looking for. She was the only pony who was jealous and did not get along with Blaze, and I never seem to see them around the same place. It’s pretty strange to be honest.”

“That seems like a very possible suspect…” Twilight whispered to Shining Armor.

“I don’t know about that.” Horsebuckle chuckled. “I may be older, but it doesn’t mean that my hearing isn’t as superior. Rainbow Blaze came across a LOT of mares in his peak…Cloudchaser…Clear Skies…Flitter…Flutter…all of them could be your suspects, to be quite honest with you.”

“Ok. Thanks for the help.” Twilight nodded. “Oh, where did you take Rarity by the way.?” She added, almost forgetting.

“She should be awake already. We threw her into one of the cloud cannons.” Dumb-bell replied.

BOOM.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!”

“…This is going to take longer that I thought.” Twilight groaned to herself as she watched the wonderbolts fly towards Rarity.

“So…much…longer.”

Author's Note

Dear god Wonderbolts...I'm trying to make this story PG.