Child of the Ransom Victim

by MastermindAI

Rating: teen
Tags: Spitfire, Tragedy, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Thunderlane, Romance, Flitter and Cloudchaser
Length: 39215

Thunderlane fights for his fillyfriend and for his own honor, but he can only do so much before his past comes roaring back to attack him.

A Stallion attempts to run away, hide away, and bargain away his past, but he cannot seem to find the perfect reset switch. When tragedy strikes again, he takes the opportunity to show that he will stand tall. But the ponies that surround him question if he stands for his broken fillyfriend or if he just wants to save his own hide.

Depicts death
Vulgar language

Edited in part by:
Hunter Steel
Dwarvenale

Cover art by:
Dripponi

Published 2016-06-17 18:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-08-11 19:41:50 UTC

Part I

Thursday, June 16

The Present

“Congratulations, cadets,” Spitfire didn’t try to dam up the river of sarcasm, “you have somehow managed to finesse your way to the next stage of your reserves training program. I don’t know how all of you did it, but you somehow scored just high enough to pass to the next portion of training.” She looked down the long line of expressionless faces as the cadets tried to hang on to their cool. Some stood in defiance while the rest tried not to look directly into the eyes of their fiery instructor.

It was a cool late afternoon at the cadet base where the more experienced squadron of cadets just got their results back from the penultimate exam. They would’ve been cheering, but instead they nervously waited for their superior to finish her downgrading speech.

The training was hard work and it never helped whenever the officers sneered at the very sight of newbies, but this time, Spitfire was legitimately pissed. The cadets always told themselves that it would all be worth it when they would fly with the elite, over the crowds cheering their names.

Spitfire strutted straight up to a random mare in the line and leaned in so closely that their muzzles touched, forcing the mare to look at her own terrified face reflected in Spitfire’s bright orange eyes. “...And if it wasn’t for the rookie Wonderbolt Rainbow Dash, I would have personally failed all of you last Saturday.” She backed off from the mare, but she still marched on down the line. “Do you know why?”

“Why?” Flitter demanded, though her voice lacked resentment.

Spitfire paused for a split second after hearing her voice, remembering what had happened. “Because Wonderbolts just don’t slip past the finish line, they rock the whole show. That’s what Rainbow Dash did.”

“Oh, come on!” a burly voice boomed from near the left end of the line. “Why do we have to fly under Rainbow Dash’s shadow? Just because she’s some legend doesn’t mean that we’re slackers.”

Her eyes narrowed as her ears twitched towards the source of the sound. She turned to face the offender. It was Thunderlane, once the best in his class. “And you. You used to be somepony,” she growled. “But for the past few weeks, you’ve been slacking big time.”

“But R-”

“-Forget about Rainbow Dash!” she barked back. “If you actually tried, you could beat her in your sleep. You have to put in the effort and the hours… and Thunderlane, I don’t see a lot of fire under your wings anymore.” Her anger gave way to disappointment.

“Spitfire, I-”

“-Can it, Thunderlane. You know it.” Looking him up and down as he bowed his head shamefully, she decided it wasn’t worth it. “Dismissed.” She walked straight back into the training complex while the other cadets either took off or milled around the cloud field, now feeling the weight of Sptifire’s disapproval.

Cloud Chaser managed to separate herself from her sister after a long and pointless conversation about stallions. Thunderlane noticed her emerge from the crowd of cadets and couldn’t help but to stare into her eyes. It’s not fair, we’ve been living together for a while now, but I still feel like I just met her.

He felt a hoof rest on the back of his neck as she looked up at him before looking down to the side. “Spitfire railed on you today. Are you okay?”

“Okay?” he said incredulously, almost insulted. He scoffed, “I think I can take a little shit from Spitfire. Besides, what she says it true; I haven’t been putting all of my cards into this lately.” Thunderlane looked away as well, fidgeting with his hooves.

“I know. It’s been tough for us.” Cloud Chaser turned Thunderlane’s head to face hers and through his dull yellow eyes, she saw worry’s talons scratching at his mind.

Then he remembered to tell her something.

“I’m going to pick up my tuxedo from the dry cleaners. I’ll look so good at the dance tomorrow,” Thunderlane boasted, perking up.

He lifted her chin and tactfully flexed his muscles, watching that nice dark red color spread across her cheeks and muzzle.

Her eyes darted up and down and a giggle escaped past her lips before she purred, “I almost forgot that I used to be scared of you.”

Her words slid down his throat like vinegar as he remembered the day she invited him over to her home. You still should be, he thought. “I know, I made you comfortable, right?”

“Yeah, I remember.” She turned away, avoiding his piercing yellow eyes.

“Really comfortable.” He leaned in a little closer.

“Thunderlane, please.”

He paused for a moment before sucking his teeth in and sighing.

“Fine. I’ll pick it up and I’ll meet you at home.” Thunderlane gave Cloud Chaser a quick peck on the cheek before spreading his wings and taking off to the dry cleaners.

A blast of cold air swirled around him as he spiraled through the clouds, chattering his teeth. His mind drifted off to the thought of Cloud Chaser giving him that fuzzy feeling in his chest.

Thunderlane shook his head. I shouldn’t be living with her. But he didn’t even fully believe that. She and her sister need me. The indecisiveness made him feel sick.

Eventually, he made it to the dry cleaners. The mare working the counter snarled, “pick a number” before she ambled back into the back room to manage the clothes. Thunderlane plucked a number from the tape wheel with his mouth and moved to the back of the line before he heard a familiar voice.

“Thunderlane,” a haughty voice bellowed; it was just as powerful as Thunderlane’s, but it sounded warmer.

“Hey.” He walked over to a large tan stallion with an orangish crew-cut mane. “How’s my favorite cop doing?”

“Oh, same old, same old. D’you want to stop by for coffee and doughnuts after this?”

“No, I hate doughnuts anyway.” He paused. “So tell me, have you made any arrests lately?”

“No… actually, none this year so far, thank Celestia. There have been whispers of foul-play in the south-side downtown, but that makes sense; the weather is warming up ‘round here.” Thunderlane looked at him confused. “Crimes increase with temperature,” he said mechanically. “It seems bizarre, but it always happens that way.”

“Well, I was just at-”

“-Sir!” The mare at the front desk ran interrupted the two, Thunderlane whipping around to face her. She had a hysterical look on her face, her mane frazzled and her eyes wide.

“What is it?” Thunderlane looked around to make sure he wasn’t missing something obvious. The place looked completely normal.

“Your tuxedo, it’s completely destroyed. I only opened up the bag and I saw that it was completely ripped apart.” She held it up for him to see all the rips. Long cuts dug into the fabric, shredding it beyond repair.

“What happened? Who did it?” Thunderlane spat, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Maybe it’s an accident. I don’t know why somepony would rip up a tuxedo for no reason,” the cop said nonchalantly as he looked down at the floor.

“I come back to the dry cleaners to find that it’s destroyed?” Thunderlane snarled back, turning towards him. “I was going to look the best for the Cloudsdale Gala tomorrow.” The mare simply shrugged, but the officer growled at Thunderlane.

“You were going to look the best? You know it’s for your date. What's the point in trying to impress her when you're already hooked? You’re not just doing this for your own image, are you?” The stallion shook his head as he tried to figure out why he felt what Thunderlane said was so offensive

“No… it’s just that… I guess you’re right, Bucko.” Thunderlane looked back at the cut up clothes and decided not to do anything about it, it was out of his control after all. “Well,” he sighed, “I’ll see you later, I guess.”

“Same. I’ve gotta go myself, the police are holding an important meeting later today.” Bucko waved Thunderlane goodbye before turning back in line.

Ugh, how do they mess an order up that badly? I come to the dry cleaners and find my tuxedo destroyed. It still looked nice, but that thing was decimated. He tried to forget about it and eventually he was able to let it go as he saw his house come into view. It wasn’t as big as the one he used to have in Ponyville, but it looked much nicer and he didn’t really need the space to begin with.

He knocked on the door and Cloud Chaser beamed down at him, but her look shifted when she saw he didn’t have his tuxedo with him.

“Where’s the tuxedo?”

“It’s a long story.” He thought about what Bucko had said. “No, not really. Basically, the dry cleaners said it was somehow destroyed. You should’ve seen it, it was completely ripped apart and everything. Nopony has any idea what happened.” He walked inside, took off his cadet uniform, and hung it on a coat rack standing by the wall to his right. The house opened up to his left, revealing a dining table, a kitchen, and a living space all in one giant room.

“What are you gonna do?” Cloud Chaser closed the door behind him.

“I’ll think of something.” He looked back at the door. “My cadet uniform might look nice.”

“Except you never wash that filthy thing.” She scrunched up her muzzle.

“It doesn’t matter.” He walked into the living room and sat down on his recliner. “Besides, the important thing is that you look good on me.”

“Thunderlane.”

“What?” Thunderlane poured himself a glass of hard apple cider and took a long swig before setting the glass down on a chair stand. “Isn’t it true? I can wear a ripped up, dirty old t-shirt and still look the best at the gala with you next to me.”

“Thunderlane.”

“What?” He looked worried this time, he could feel the fear emanating from her presence.

“I’m going to visit my sister at the orphanage.” She bowed her head but she still kept her eyes on him as she tried to think of what to say next.

“Well, what’re you so nervous about? I don’t have anything else going on tonight, I can go. Let me shower and put on some decent clothes and we’ll be on our way.” He jumped out of his recliner and rushed around the house. He cocked his head at her and boomed sweetly, “Y’know you sound really nervous about the visit. I know it’s in a sinister part of town, but that’s why you have me.” He stood up on his hind legs and threw a few kicks to demonstrate.

She smiled, but it evaporated like boiling water. “The thing is. She-”

“-She what?”

“Flitter says that-”

“-Says what?”

“Thunderlane. Will you let me talk?” She shot him a withering glance, her hot piercing pink eyes gagged his mouth shut tighter than any kind of rope could.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“You can’t come.” Thunderlane wanted to protest, but he stopped himself when he saw the look on her face. When Cloud Chaser saw Thunderlane’s inquisitive eyes, she looked down and sighed. “Please don’t take this the wrong way. Flitter says she doesn’t want you to come, she’s still afraid of you.”

Thunderlane heaved an annoyed sigh. “I…”

“Don’t think too much about-”

“-She’s afraid because she doesn’t know me. I love you… that’s why you’re not afraid of me. If-”

“-That’s not true!” She snapped. The corners of her mouth deepened and she grit her teeth as she tried to wrestle with the thought of the past. “Thunderlane, baby, we have to live with this guilt for the rest of our lives,” she tried to think of the right words, “but we’ll be fine as long as we accept the truth. Don’t lie to yourself, Thunderlane. Don’t lie to me.” She stared him down, but when she looked into his decrepit heart beating inside of him, she couldn’t help but to soften up to him. “I know… look… it… if…”

“Cloud Chaser. We can’t look back, life’s a race. If Flitter doesn’t want me to go, then I won’t go. My first priority ‘round here is to protect you and your sister… even from myself. You go on with your bad self now.” Thunderlane waved her goodbye but he didn’t care to look if she actually left. She didn’t. “I need a shower anyway.”

As Thunderlane left for the bathroom, Cloud Chaser looked at him with a newfound respect; she didn’t realize he was aware that he was a danger to her and her sister. That’s why I love him, that stallion.

Thunderlane dried himself after the shower, walked into his room, flopped down on the bed, and stared up at a poster of the Wonderbolts. Spitfire, Soarin, Rainbow Dash, and all the others were flying in full formation. Spitfire said I’ve been slacking. He sat up. She’s right. I can’t focus on my training.

The door to his room swung open revealing Cloud Chaser. She closed the door behind her and walked over to Thunderlane’s head by the side of his bed.

“What are you doing in here?”

“What’s wrong with being in your room? The guest room is always so cold.” Thunderlane stared at her some more. “I just thought that since we sort of live together now, we should share the same room.”

“We really shouldn’t be doing that.” He trailed off.

“Why not?” She paused. “I know it’s because you take care of me and it wouldn’t be fair to me… I get it.” She didn’t. Cloud Chaser knew that Thunderlane separated themselves to protect her, but that only made the addiction stronger.

“Yeah… I thought you left anyway.”

“Oh, I didn’t want to leave just yet.” She murmured in an unusually low voice.

“Why not?”

“I was just thinking about what you said earlier. You said you would protect me, right?” She prowled around the side of the bed.

“By Celestia, I would.” He got up in excitement, rose up on his back hooves, and kicked the air, just like before. “Any stallion out there who tries to hurt you,” he made a hook with his right hoof, “they’d wish they’d never been born.” He strutted over to Cloud Chaser. “I’ll protect you on all sides.”

Thunderlane yanked her up on her hind legs, making her face even with his, and pinned her to the wall, his forelegs planted on the wall on either side of her. He looked down at her and when she stared into Thunderlane’s yellow eyes and felt his hot breath, she couldn’t swallow the strange sound she made deep in her throat.

“I…” she gasped for air, but the heat in the room infected her lungs, “I want to feel your protection.”

Thunderlane stood dumbfounded for a moment or two before leaning in for a long kiss. Cloud Chaser snuck a hoof behind his neck before feeling a strange sort of weightless as Thunderlane picked her up, carried her, and threw her down on the bed.

He looked back at his door for a split second before climbing on top of her. “Be gentle,” she managed to squeak before her voice was silenced by his lips again.

Thunderlane pulled back and looked into her wide eyes. “You have the cutest shade of red on your face.”

“Shut up and keep going,” she barked. Thunderlane didn’t object and the two passionately kissed each other, both feeding each other that same fiery drug.

Just when Thunderlane’s senses wandered to the burning sensation of her whole body, he jerked up. “I… I can’t do this.” He stood up and shook his head.

Cloud Chaser, who was still embarrassingly sprawled on Thunderlane’s bed, pulled her mane back and whined, “Thunderlane.”

“I’m sorry, Cloud Chaser. It doesn’t feel right.” He turned away in shame.

“Thunderlane.”

“I shouldn’t have to drag you through this. It’ll never feel right.”

“Thunderlane.”

“I can’t simply love anymore. Whenever I feel passion, I’m forced to feel obsession-”

“-Thunder-”

“-And compulsion, and fear, and,” he sighed, “never ending guilt. I can protect you all I want, but even though I try so hard, I can-”

“-Thunderlane. Don’t you say it.” Her eyes widened in the natural tonic mixture of fear and sorrow.

“I can’t love you.”

Cloud Chaser hung her head, but before she could say anything, the gonging sound of the doorbell broke the deathly silence. He looked like he was going to say something, but he simply turned away and opened the door to the main room.

Thunderlane then opened the front door, revealing his friend Bucko the cop. He laughed nervously, “You caught me at a bad time I’m afraid.” Though, when Thunderlane took another look at Bucko, he saw that he wasn’t jumping for joy either.

Bucko grumbled, devoid of any of his usual mirth, “I’m not coming here just to hang out with you, I and the other police are working on a difficult investigation and I’m afraid that you somehow got caught up in the middle of it.” Thunderlane looked to his right for a split second, but Bucko immediately sensed his unease. “It’s about Cloud Chaser, the mare you, how should I put it nicely, adopted back in the first part of March.”

“Bucko, I don’t know-”

“-Don’t worry, Thunderlane. You’re not in trouble. Besides, you wouldn’t stoop to a savage’s level… and even then, you’ve got the stuff to know that you should turn yourself in.” Bucko playfully punched him in the chest as he lightened up. “I’m sorry for what I said back there at the dry cleaners… sometimes words just don’t sit well for some reason. You’re a good friend, Thunderlane. All I need is from you is your permission to talk to Cloud Chaser.”

He sighed in relief, managing to throw some of the weight off his shoulders. “Okay.” He shivered as he ran back into his room. When he opened the door, he was kicked in the gut by the image of Cloud Chaser sobbing into her front hooves as she sat on the edge of his bed. She managed to lift her head to face Thunderlane who was still standing in the doorframe. In that very moment, Thunderlane rushed over and gave her a giant bear hug, unable to think of anything authentic to say.

“I… I know you said you didn’t want to drag me through… through…”

“I know.”

“But I don’t care if I get hurt in the process.” A shiver crawled down her spine. She continued in a strange and desperate screaming voice, “I want you to love me… I know you can’t… I can’t, but please, I feel so cold-”

“-You have to be strong.” He added, “like me.”

“I know.”

“No, I don’t think you know what I mean. Bucko is at the front door.”

“So?” She asked sulkily.

“He’s asking about an investigation, Cloud Chaser. It’s about-”

“-I know what it’s about, okay,” she boomed before standing up and trotting out of Thunderlane’s room, Thunderlane following her close behind. She took a deep breath before saying to Bucko, “what do you want to ask me?”

Bucko responded in an unusually official tone of voice, “Cloud Chaser, I hope you know already that your father Shiverwind disappeared quite a few weeks ago and that since he hasn’t appeared back into the public eye, the police may, if we must, pronounce him dead. If none of the investigators we sent out a while ago to the various ends of Equestria come back with a definitive location as to his whereabouts within two days, then we can only assume that he is dead. I am here to initiate a criminal investigation before that deadline. Okay?”

Cloud Chaser looked at Bucko and then at Thunderlane and then back at Bucko with a strange look. Whatever the look was, it wasn’t surprise. “Go on…”

“You and your sister were the closest ponies to Shiverwind, if anypony knows what happened to him, you would know. Was he killed or did he just disappear?”

The three stood still for a long time, listening to the sound of Cloud Chaser’s cogs and gears spinning at full speed as she thought of what had happened. “I… I remember it was the first time Thunderlane was at my house. We were in… my bedroom…” she was too saddened to feel any embarrassment.

“I get it, keep going.” Bucko tried to keep his demeanor intact.

“Well, anyway, when Thunderlane here was ready to leave, we both discovered that Shiverwind was nowhere to be found. At the time, I thought he just left to run an errand or something, but the longer he was gone, the more and more I realized that he wasn’t ever going to come back. I know only as much as you do; it’s surreal, having somepony you know and live with on a daily basis suddenly disappear with no good physical explanation…” she faded away.

“That’s fine, duly noted.” He growled, “The police have been working on this case for forever at this point and nopony seems to know what happened to poor old Shiverwind.”

A vein of anger pulsed on Cloud Chaser’s forehead. Poor old Shiverwind, yeah right.

“Well, you’ve definitely got ponies on your side Miss. Chaser. The Letter Law Litigation Firm has been chomping at the bit to throw the pony behind all this into the big house… that is, if we can even find the perpetrator. I hear the firm recently hired a really sneaky lawyer with a temper to boot; you’ll definitely win with him on your side. Anyways, I wish all of you the best of luck.” Bucko casually swung his baton a few times before flying away. Thunderlane noticed it was getting dark out.

Thunderlane waited before Bucko was completely out of earshot before saying, “That was… a decent story.”

“Hmm.”

“Cloud Chaser, you don’t have to do anything; this is all on me.”

She exploded in anger. “No! I helped you. You keep forgetting about that part, don’t you? I’ve already chosen to do something about this, and Thunderlane, I’ve already fantasized about the million different ways I could die.” She exhaled, breathing like a choking animal. She shut the front door and trotted over to their bedrooms in the back of the house. “I’m living that nightmare, Thunderlane. We have to live with Shiverwind’s ghost and I can’t live like that.”

“Don’t you worry, Cloud Chaser; if anything more happens to you, I’ll take the responsibility. That’s what strong stallions do.” He spread his wings in determination.

“No Thunderlane, each time you say that you’ll protect me, you only ignore the past. The only way I can move forward in life is if I love you… because I can’t go back there.” Cloud Chaser glided over to Thunderlane’s side. “If you were really a strong stallion, you would love me back to help me recover. That’s what flying teams do, they help each other out.” She pulled Thunderlane’s face towards hers. “I don’t know how stallions feel so much passion when they see beautiful mares, but if you feel anything, please give it to me. I feel so empty without your love.”

“I said I can’t love you. I wish I could love you… but-”

“-How can you be unable to love somepony. You either do or you don’t. Do you ever feel that fire in your blood whenever you see me anymore?”

“Yes, I do. But how does that help you forget?”

She turned around in what Thunderlane thought was anger. She managed to choke back the tears. “I’m a filthy, desperate mare.” She lifted her head, stared vertically out the window, and growled low, “and Shiverwind made me that way.”

Thunderlane filled in the blanks. “Then I came in.”

She didn’t move. “Yes. And I saw my window of opportunity, my ticket to get out of my past, my tour guide. I immediately rushed to him, jumped on him, laid on him, thanked him a million times, I felt your fire and it felt great, and-”

“-I can’t keep making you happy. It’s physically impossible. It’s an addiction.” He paused hoping that Cloud Chaser would turn around. She didn’t. “That’s why I’ll protect you. I’ll make this all right again so that at the end of the day, we can love each other and not feel empty anymore. We’ll fly like the best dual acrobatics team in all of Cloudsdale. Okay?”

She still didn’t move and she didn’t quite seal the leak in her eyes either. “Okay.”

“Weren’t you going to see your sister at the orphanage? I think you need to meet her, you haven’t seen each other in ages.”

“Yeah, I will.” She turned around and slowly ambled to the front door.

Then, Thunderlane had an epiphany.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“I think I should see an old friend of mine. Remember Breezefly? He might help us get through this nightmare.”

“He wouldn’t help us.” But as soon as she said that, a horrified look spread across her face, and in that moment, she wanted so fiercely to tell him not to go. She didn’t do anything. “I’ll be safe, don’t you worry.” Cloud Chaser slammed the door behind her before she said goodbye. Thunderlane milled around his house for a little while longer, thinking about the past and what Breezefly would say.

Thunderlane somberly nudged the front door open and flew silently towards the other end of town while the chilly night air of late spring gnawed its way into his bones. I don’t know if I can remember his house after all this. A few weeks feel like a few years. He flew over downtown Cloudsdale where the stadium home of the Wonderbolts towered over all the other buildings, except for maybe the Rainbow Factory, where any pegasus could find work keeping Equestria’s waterworks running.

As the dense buildings of the city thinned out, he kept his eyes trained on the familiar streets before he finally found the house he thought belonged to Breezefly. He touched down quietly, almost silently, before walking up to the big double doors. To Thunderlane, they looked foreboding… not like they had been before Shiverwind’s disappearance.

He knocked.

“Who could it be at this hour?” Breezefly was right, it was very dark now.

Thunderlane chose his words carefully. “A not-so-old friend.”

No response came, though Thunderlane was absolutely sure that Breezefly had heard him; he imagined Breezefly in his house right on the other side of the door thinking about what he should say and what mask he should put on. Finally, the door opened revealing Breezefly with an expertly crafted deadpan look. “Come in, Thunderlane.”

“Thank you. You have no idea what we’ve been going through, Breezefly.”

“I can imagine.” But his face didn’t share the same sympathy that his words did.

“Look Breezefly, my fillyfriend feels terrible after what happened.”

“I believe that,” he said curtly.

“...And I feel terrible because I can’t seem to love her like I should… and I feel terrible after what happened to her father.”

“Why don’t you say anything, anything, straightforward? I know, I know it’s because of my career and my personality, but…” he sighed. Breezefly noticed how much stronger Thunderlane got over the last few weeks; physically, at least. He always made fun of how weak Breezefly was, but it didn’t really matter. Now, however, Breezefly was deathly aware of the difference. “What do you want?”

“Can you help us out?”

Breezefly got up in a huff, paced slowly around his living room and around his desk, carefully picked up a pair of scissors, and placed it inside one of the desk drawers. He sat down and looked at what seemed like important documents of some sort.

“Breezefly?” Thunderlane urged.

Breezefly continued reading before jotting down some notes and placing a bunch of papers into a raggedy black suitcase bearing his engraved name on a gold leaf placard. He adjusted his shamrock green tie and wrote down some more notes on a sheet entitled Black-White.

“Breezefly!” Thunderlane had enough.

“I already told you how you can help yourself out.” He maintained his even voice as he combed back his feathery sky blue mane.

“But Breezefly, that… what you said before doesn’t help Cloud Chaser.”

“You don’t like my solution. I understand. You don’t want to be separated… but that’s the best thing for you two to do at this point.”

“What’ll Cloud Chaser do without my protection?”

“Thunderlane, I appreciate your good intentions, but mares can defend themselves… this isn’t the Paleopony Period anymore.”

He chewed on that statement before he eventually swallowed it. “Okay… but I also mean emotionally.” Thunderlane turned away as he blushed a little.

“What’s the best way to get rid of an addiction?”

“Well, you have to…” he trailed off, realizing what Breezefly was really saying.

“You know it’s the right thing to do.” Thunderlane knew exactly what Breezefly was referring to.

“I can’t-”

“-Then get out of my house! I don’t ever want to see you again, especially now that I know you’re killing your fillyfriend from the inside out… as well. Get out.”

“Can’t you-”

“-No, I won’t help you. Not unless you help yourself.” Thunderlane slammed his hooves down on his desk, stood up on his hind legs, and raised his right hoof over him before seeing Breezefly shrinking back into his rolling chair; his green-blue eyes were mixed with fear and resistance. “Don’t do it, Thunderlane; not... again.” His words sapped all the energy and all the anger out of Thunderlane. He got off his desk and trotted back to the front door.

Thunderlane turned back to face Breezefly for a moment. “I’m sorry.”

“Get out.”

Thunderlane didn’t say anything else as he opened the door to the outside. He flew away from Breezefly’s house in defeat, not bothering to look back at his friend’s glare as he slammed the door shut.

Now it was completely dark outside and Thunderlane had only the lights of houses on the cloud ground to help guide him. The lights grew brighter and closer together as he flew over the city. It was eerie how little sound came from the south side during the night, it’s usually packed with ponies during the day.

Once the lights thinned out again, Thunderlane spotted his house. The lights are off, Cloud Chaser must not be home yet. I thought she would’ve been here by now... unless she’s staying at the orphanage. Thunderlane touched down right outside his door, noticing how much smaller and welcoming his door was then Breezefly’s was. He reached for his key inside his saddlebag, pulled it out, and turned the lock only to feel that it was already unlocked. I must’ve forgotten to lock the door.

He pushed the door open and closed it behind him, but when the reverberating sound of the shutting door died down, he heard a bizarre, shrill sound, like a noise a monster would make. It sounded like it was coming from his bedroom and right before he opened the door, he realized that the sound was a crying sound like he’s never heard before. Cloud Chaser. The sound was more intense than anything he had ever heard or even imagined. Thunderlane heard intense crying before, but this was different… it was unnatural.

His hoof rested on the cold doorknob for a moment or so before he slowly turned and opened the door. Sure enough, Cloud Chaser was right there lying on his bed, wrapped up in a blanket, and sobbing with her face in a pillow. Thunderlane sat on the bed next to her. “Cloud Chaser,” he imagined Breezefly telling him to forget about her the first time he met her, “I’m sorry. It’s because of my weakness that I can’t love you. I can still-”

“-I… it’s not…” she trailed off.

“Not what?”

“Y… you are the strongest st… stallion I know.” She rolled over, the fur on her face matted with tears. “But since you always say you will protect me,” he leaned in closer, “don’t take this the wrong way.

This is why I love her, he thought. She’s crying and she still makes sure I don’t get upset.

“I… I…” She exhaled a moaning cry. “I can’t say it.”

“Be strong… like me.”

She nodded and looked straight into Thunderlane’s eyes, worried that he might leave. Despite what happened, she saw the soul of a good and decent stallion, and the thought gave her the determination to say, “I... Thunderlane I was... on the way home from the orphanage... in the south side of the city... I was... raped.” The last word echoed around the bedroom before choking from the oppressive silence. She made sure not to mention what she said to the rapist. Cloud Chaser knew he couldn’t say anything more and so she added, “I know you... always so desperately want to protect me. But…” she couldn’t say anything more either.

I come home only to find that my fillyfriend was raped?

The two of them looked around the room, at the interesting ceiling and floor, and anywhere except each other for the longest time. Then Thunderlane thought of something.

“Will I be a father?”

“I don’t know.”

“If you have a child… what will his or her coat color be?” He asked hoping that Cloud Chaser knew what he meant. Cloud Chaser seemed to understand his implication and she remembered the fuzzy image of that stallion.

“He’ll have a bright orange coat.”

“What about his mane?”

“His mane’ll look grey and yellow like lightning. I bet he’ll grow up to have a clean shaven moustache and a goatee. And he’ll have your yellowish eyes.” She sat up. “What happens if I actually turn out to be pregnant?” She had to state the obvious, “You won’t leave me, will you?”

“I’m a strong stallion, Cloud Chaser; that’s not what strong stallions do.”

“He felt strong and he left as soon as he came. He didn’t hurt me that bad, but everything feels sore below my stomach… and in my heart.”

“I don’t mean that kind of strong.” He tried to sigh, but he only inhaled more air like a rat trapped in the hold of a snake. “I’m sorry I couldn’t pro-”

“-It wasn’t your fault. It was never your fault. Are you going to be okay?” she asked.

He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re the one asking me that? I knew I chose to be with the right mare.” She smiled a little, and when she stared at him some more, her smile widened until it lit up the entire room. “I… I can love you. Cloud Chaser…”

“What?”

“I love you.” He gave her a quick kiss before he walked out of his bedroom. He trotted to the center of his house and stood tall as he took a few deep breaths. I might be a father.

He stood there for a full minute before he jolted into action, flipping over the rickety dining room table, smashing lamps, pictures, and glassware, bucking the drywall and some kitchen chairs, and slamming his hooves down into the floor.

“I haven’t changed. I’ll… I’ll…” he shook, addressing Cloud Chaser’s not present rapist, “You raped my fillyfriend, I’ll throw you in prison. You won’t make me stoop down to your level like I did before”

And then Thunderlane realized something.

I’ll clean my name if I turn him over.

The glorious feeling of having a chance for redemption flowed through his veins as he stood there in the darkness that shrouded their house, and their lives.

Part II

Friday, June 17

The Present

A green blade of grass bowed to the morning wind, tickling the stallion’s muzzle as his eyes groggily opened. He quickly sat up, afraid that he was late for reserves practice, but the grass and the forest around him reminded the stallion of what had happened last night. Nothing mattered to him anymore… except Shiverwind’s death… and what that stallion did to her.

Thunderlane stretched his hooves and his two wings before trotting through a nameless grotto enclave surrounded by what seemed like endless forests. He remembered the look of the forest path from what seemed like a long time ago. Not used to the feel of hard ground ever since he moved, Thunderlane struggled to hike up and down the hills.

Eventually, the forest cleared, revealing one of the larger hills in the area; a hill sprinkled with tangled dandelions and twisty blow flowers. The dirt path disappeared as it wound up the hill, but Thunderlane still trudged through the thick weeds and burs. Sometimes, he purposely didn’t fly; life weighed on him so much that he felt like he might never fly again.

Reaching the top of the hill, Thunderlane looked over the forest and beyond to where the trees thinned out, giving way to farmlands and creeks. At the very end of the horizon rested a giant red barn. Ponyville stood on the other side of the horizon, beyond the barn.

I wish I could go back.

He shook his head, sighed, and trotted down the other side of the hill. Farther and farther down he lumbered until he came across a gorge with a stream running noisily through the bottom. The vines that crawled around the trees hung down into the gorge, making it hard for him to see the other side.

I think this was the place.

When he saw mossy stones strewn about on the other side of the bank, he knew he came to the right location and he flew across. The trees cleared a bit, leaving a space for the sun to shine through more brightly, though the space wasn’t as large as the grotto he awoke in. A slight grade led to a more shapely stone that lacked the moss growing over the other stones.

A tombstone.

Thunderlane knelt down, forcing himself to read the inscription.

Shiverwind

I was not strong enough to stop him,
And he will kill me too.

Thunderlane knew who the inscription was referring to: that vicious demon of hatred got the best of Thunderlane that one day a few weeks ago. Thunderlane wrestled the criminal for a while, but he broke free and killed Shiverwind in spite.

The guilty feeling of powerlessness froze his hooves.

“I’m sorry,” he said alone. He took one last long look at the grave before turning away and plodding back to the gorge, the needles from the weeds poking at his hooves. Instead of flying across, Thunderlane looked down at the churning brook below and noticed the many jagged rocks jutting out from beneath the surface of the water.

He sniffled and quickly tied a dignified mask around his face before inching up to the very edge of the ravine. In an attempt to get over the fear of freefalling, Thunderlane shut his wings tightly against his body.

I can’t cop out at the last second like in my training, this has to be a freefall all the way down.

A warm gust of wind almost pushed him over the edge, but he recoiled in fear at the sudden weightlessness. Thunderlane shook his head and stomped his back hooves on the ground in frustration; he wasn’t even strong enough to jump. Instead, he sat down on the edge with his back hooves dangling down into the yawning valley.

The black and white sensation he experienced felt like he was being torn apart by a pony holding his front hooves and another holding his back hooves. He felt like he was in between death and life.

I’m supposed to be strong.

He prepped himself for the jump again. Funny, he never had a fear of heights before now. Thunderlane backed up, deciding that a running start might take his mind off of dying. He kicked off to a sprint, ran with his eyes shut, and jumped straight into the gorge. Before he could feel the sensation of gravity catch up to him, he felt an unexplainable force pulling him up higher and higher.

Is this what it feels like to die?

Thunderlane didn’t have to answer his own question because he felt the tickling sensation of grass and weeds again. He opened his eyes only to see his pitiful reflection through a glassy pair of bright pink eyes.

“I thought you might’ve been down here. I was looking for you all morning.” Cloud Chaser’s eyes darted back and forth as if there were more ponies present that just the two of them.

“I-”

“-I didn’t know you were gonna kill yourself. Why, Thunderlane?” She stared him down and even though she furrowed her eyebrows and scowled at the stallion, she knew that he could see straight through her, though she also knew that her fear made him feel infinitely more guilty than the strongest kind of disapproving face.

“Shiverwind… and now you… I couldn’t protect either one of you.”

“Don’t you compare Shiverwind and I together, you mule,” she chided. “So what, Thunderlane?” She leaned closer to Thunderlane and spoke gentler, “I got raped last night while you were gone talking to Breezefly about how to clear your name, it’s not the end of the world.”

“But you g-”

“-It was terrible, I know; I felt mortified, ashamed, and disgusting and I never felt more terrified in my life than last night… well, except for the day my dad was killed.” Thunderlane looked down, the freezing feeling returning to his hooves. “Thunderlane, look at me,” she added, “please.”

“What?”

“What are you going to do about me getting raped?”

“I can’t do anything about-”

“-By Celestia you can. I heard you shouting last night about how you were going to turn him in; are you gonna follow through with that or not?”

“Well, I…” but Thunderlane thought of something while he was talking. If I should find that rapist, everything will go back to normal. If I turn him in, I’ll wash my hooves from the weakness and the anger I felt on the day Shiverwind was killed. He remembered Breezefly telling him how he never said anything straightforward. I never think anything straightforward either, I just can’t keep reminding myself about what happened. No matter what I had thought… Shiverwind didn’t deserve to die.

Unlike the rapist, Thunderlane knew exactly what Cloud Chaser’s father’s killer looked like, and he would never forget him until the day he died.

If I turn him in, I… I will be set free.

Cloud Chaser snapped him out of his torrent of thoughts. “Thunderlane?”

“He’ll be buckin’ behind bars before breakfast tomorrow,” he said confidently, leaning to one side.

Cloud Chaser didn’t know how to respond, she’d never been in this position before. “I know.”

“Only the guiltless belong in prison.” Thunderlane stamped his right hoof. Cloud Chaser narrowed her eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to believe what Thunderlane said. It didn’t matter to Thunderlane anyway, he couldn’t afford not to believe it.

“Don’t say things like that.” Thunderlane didn’t respond for a long while and they both looked down. A duck floating downstream quacked, breaking the silence.

He remembered, “Breezefly says I have to-”

“-No.” Cloud Chaser implored. “I can’t live without you. I don’t want to live like my sister all alone; I talked to her last night and she says she can’t focus on her reserves training either. We need to be together if we’re going to become Wonderbolts.”

“Breezefly says it’s better that we’re separated.”

Cloud Chaser barked, “What does he know? That skinny, anxious stallion doesn’t know the first thing about love.”

“He cares about our safety.”

She sighed, “We put ourselves in danger that one day, we can’t forget about what happened. But Thunderlane? What do you care about more? Safety and strength… or love?” She inched in closer, rubbing her head against his chest. “Sometimes loving another pony means you have to show your weaknesses. I only started truly loving you after my father died. And Thunderlane, we’re not safe together; somepony will eventually find out the truth… but it won’t matter because…”

“Because why? I know we love each other, but what does it matter if I have to live with my guilt for the rest of my life?” Thunderlane finally looked at Cloud Chaser again, but now everything he saw, even her, tasted bitter. “I have to live like this forever now.”

Thunderlane knew he made a mistake when she growled low. “What’s more important? Loving me and living with a little guilt or abandoning me on the streets so you can wash your hooves?”

He wasn’t happy either. “A little guilt? I have to see the sneering face of Shiverwind’s murderer almost everyday and you’re telling me it’s only a little guilt?”

“If you were really strong, you would get over your guilt and love me for real. If you got over yourself, you wouldn’t have to hold back like you did last night.”

“I don’t want to choose between clearing my name and loving you. I want to do both.” Thunderlane waved his front hooves in the air as he snarled down at Cloud Chaser; she didn’t back up, but he could smell the fear reeking from her lavender body.

“Then bring that bucker to justice for me.”

Thunderlane relaxed a bit. “For us,” he said smoothly and calmly, now deciding what he wanted to do. “Cloud Chaser, I was about-”

“-I know.”

“And if it wasn’t for-”

“-Thunder, just forget this happened. That’s why you love me.”

He hung his head, but his voice didn’t lose any power. “Right. Do you recognize anything more about the stallion now that you had time to sleep on it? I don’t have much to work with.”

“All I know is that he had an orange coat and a grey and yellow mane… and he was around our age, maybe a little older. I don’t know where to start finding him. I don’t want to waltz right back into the south side of downtown either.”

“You know who would know?” He said as the two of them took off back to Cloudsdale.

“Who?”

“Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts.”

“Spitfire doesn’t like you because you’ve been lazy.”

“Cloud Chaser, this goes way beyond that. Besides, if it’s anypony who knows a bunch of pegasi our age in Cloudsdale, it’s her and her cadres. Don’t worry, I’ll figure this out.” Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser nodded, both feeling that they had put the past behind them for the first time.

The regal Ionic office building of the Letter Law Litigation firm rose from the cloud ground and its white carved marble cloud pillars basked in the glare of the late morning sun. Sunlight spread through the open windows of the new lawyer’s office as he sat there unpacking some documents to start off his shift.

He was just about finished straightening out his desk and taking off his black and white outer vest when he heard a bold knock at his door.

“Come in,” the lawyer said flatly.

The bluish cloud door opened and in stepped a large but young stallion with a bright orange coat and a grey and lightning yellow spiked up mane. He sat down on one of the two leather chairs across from the lawyer’s desk. “I hear you’re the new lawyer around here.” The stallion ran his hoof through his mane and leaned back, watching the lawyer’s every tiny movement.

“That’s right.” The lawyer paused. “So, I am assuming that you want to hire me for a case of yours; no pony stops into a firm just to say hello.” The stark technicality of his voice grated against the orange stallion’s flowy speech, giving him little breathing room.

“Yes.”

The stallion looked like he wanted to say more, but the lawyer was quicker to respond. “I am more specialized in criminal cases myself. I’ve gone to court twice and won twice… though the second time was a ruling based on a technicality. I can also do-”

“-Wonderful,” the stallion murmured in approval. He spoke in a calm and manipulative voice. “As you can tell by the rumors that always float around this… city,” he snarled at the word and continued to rumble pompously, “I implore you to get to the bottom of a case that affects me very personally. You of all ponies should hate how stallions in this city always seem to get away with so much.” The stallion smiled as he sat up a little.

The lawyer fearfully glared at him for a moment before he said, “Go on.”

“You look a little nervous yourself. No matter, I’ll just tell you my case straight. There’s a stallion in this city who’s so desperate to become a Wonderbolt that he has resorted to” —the stallion shot up out of his chair— “murder!” He slammed his left hoof down on the lawyer’s table. “A certain stallion killed another pony because he was blocking his path to victory.”

“Sit down, I know you-”

“-You know who I’m talking about.” He narrowed his eyes. “He killed her father so that he could have her all for himself. He killed her father so that her father couldn’t hold them back from joining the Wonderbolts. I don’t even have to give names, you know who these ponies are.”

The lawyer tactfully waited until the stallion calmed down enough to slouch back into his office chair before continuing. His flat voice was unwavered. “How do you know about Shiverwind’s murder?”

“Your job as a lawyer is to collect evidence to prosecute this stallion, but in order to do that, I have to present to you my case.”

“I know how being a lawyer works, get on with it.”

“I’ll build my case around my suspicion that this mangy mutt of a stallion killed Shiverwind so that he could live with one of his daughters without Shiverwind’s dissent. And, might I mention, they would have the benefit of not having the one obstacle barring them from joining the team.” The stallion looked confident enough, but after the lawyer just stared at him, uncertainty crept in behind his eyes.

The lawyer took a drink of water from a nearby glass before continuing. “I’m confident that you refer to Thunderlane. Thunderlane does indeed live with Cloud Chaser, one of Shiverwind’s daughters, but he adopted her from the local orphanage once he found out that Shiverwind had been killed in the first place. Thunderlane did what any responsible stallion should’ve done… he took her under her wing when her father couldn’t do so.”

“But can’t you see?”

“Sir, I will look into the possibility that Thunderlane murdered Shiverwind, but there is no way that I will find enough evidence… let alone convince a jury that a decent stallion like Thunderlane could kill out of personal gain.”

“So, do you accept the case?”

“All the terms and conditions of the contract are laid out on the form in front of you,” the lawyer spoke curtly.

The orange stallion signed the paper and looked at the lawyer once again. “Look, I’m sorry I got carried away just now. It’s just that this case and ones like it are frustrating. I hate it whenever Cloudsdale’s and the Wonderbolt’s name is associated with crimes like these. Let’s shake hooves on the deal as my apology.” He smiled a bright white smile as he quickly combed his mane back again.

“Oh, it’s fine. You’d be surprised about the intensity of some confrontations here. It’s good doing business with you, Mr. …”

“Ah, right, Firestorm.”

“Well Firestorm, I wish you good luck on your case.” They both nodded before Firestorm walked out of the office and the lawyer sat back down in his rolling chair again.

The lawyer swivelled around to face the large vaulted windows that looked outside onto the main Cloudsdale square with all its little stores and venues. He just sat there, terrified. I’m not sure who that pony is, but I want to know how he knows about Shiverwind’s murder. Shiverwind’s murderer did such an excellent job hiding his bloodied hooves that nopony could ever know who was really behind it.

But the lawyer knew who killed Shiverwind only because he was told by somepony who witnessed the murderer in action.

Firestorm knows stuff he shouldn’t.

And with that, the lawyer heaved himself out of his rolling chair, packed up his briefcase, and sprinted out of his office doors as fast as his hooves could carry him.

About an hour later

Cloud Chaser followed Thunderlane into the Wonderbolts training complex which, to them, looked eerie without any pegasi flying about. Even the barracks beside the track was completely darkened from the inside.

“Do they have a day off?” Thunderlane asked.

“I don’t know, but I still think we should’ve gone to see Spitfire first instead of asking around the market and the post office and all that jazz. The Wonderbolts might’ve been practicing earlier and we probably missed our opportunity.” She rolled her eyes.

“O come on, you agreed to it before.”

“Only after you egged me on.”

“You couldn’t have known that the search was going to be a complete bust,” he whined as the two of them trudged onto the barracks courtyard. “The problem is this stallion doesn’t have a name.”

“Everypony’s got a number and an address, but nopony seems to know who this guy is.”

“The Wonderbolts’ll know. They know about every flyer our age in this town like they know the back of their hooves. I just hope that this stallion doesn’t live out of the view of the public eye… or that he doesn’t live out of town.”

“The Wonderbolts knew about Rainbow Dash long before she was recruited,” she quipped.

“She was an obvious choice though,” he said bitterly, remembering Spitfire’s rant yesterday, “but yeah, you’re right.”

Cloud Chaser paused before walking up the steps to the barracks door and saying, “I hope you’re right about the Wonderbolts.” She paused again as her ears perked up.

Thunderlane was puzzled. “What is-”

“-Sh… do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” But when Thunderlane stopped talking, he could hear a faint screaming voice that sounded somewhat familiar. The two of them looked around for the source of the sound before Cloud Chaser saw a pony with a grassy green coat galloping towards them, crossing the runway.

She squinted her eyes, trying to figure out who he was. When she saw the stallion’s blue-green eyes, she recognized him as Breezefly and looked away in fear.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Breezefly… but never mind him, he didn’t help you. We should leave.” Cloud Chaser walked up a few steps before Thunderlane blocked her path and kept her in place, trying to calm her down.

Confused about Cloud Chaser’s frightened eyes, Thunderlane had to ask, “What are you so scared about? You act like Breezefly’s the rapist. You can tell me anything.” But Thunderlane knew that after this morning, she couldn’t trust him to handle anything… he couldn’t trust himself for that matter.

She gulped, “After we… we…”

“Yeah.”

“After all those weeks ago… after everything was said and done… I…”

“You what?”

“I… went to…”

“Went to where?”

“I went to go see-”

“-Thunderlane!” Breezefly boomed. The loud voice was unusual for him, he usually talked quietly and mechanically. “I’m glad I found you. I didn’t know if the Wonderbolts had practice today or not.”

“They don’t. We’re just here because…” Thunderlane trailed off. He wasn’t sure if Cloud Chaser wanted him to tell Breezefly about her rape. She’s scared of Breezefly anyway.

“I have bad news.”

After Breezefly said this, Thunderlane remembered their conversation last night and Thunderlane’s expression and voice chilled. “I thought you said you never wanted to see me ever again.”

“This time’s different.”

“How?” He yelled.

Breezefly recoiled, but he bit back with a quiet yet sharp tongue. “Save your anger for the pony who found about Shiverwind’s murder.” Thunderlane almost jumped back in fear as Breezefly smiled a bit. “And d’you know who he’s accusing?” His smile faded.

“Who?” He’s accusing me.

“You.” Breezefly stared hard at Thunderlane before his expression softened after a while.

“Who accused me?”

“Why does it matter? This stallion probably spewed his accusation to everypony in the town square,” Thunderlane groaned in fear, “He even went up to the law firm.” Breezefly shook his head in disappointment as Thunderlane grew more and more impatient.

And just then, Thunderlane thought of something he should’ve known all this time, something he should’ve known before he talked to Breezefly yesterday night, something that didn’t make sense. “How do you know that Shiverwind was murdered?”

Breezefly looked mildly confused, but after thinking about the question for a while, fire ignited in his eyes as he turned to stare straight at Cloud Chaser.

“He doesn’t know?” He screamed as loudly as his small frame allowed. The stentorian sound travelled up the steps and into the barracks where a few lights turned on inside. The Wonderbolts were inside after all.

“I…”

“What don’t I know?” Thunderlane was angered as well, but he was too scared to do anything about it.

“After Shiverwind’s murder… you…” he was so pissed he could hardly talk, “you went to see me and you didn’t even tell Thunderlane-”

“-But-”

“-Who so generously adopted you afterwards. Is he not worthy of your trust?” Breezefly paused before continuing, “Last night, I asked him to do the impossible: to separate himself from you for your own benefit.”

Now Cloud Chaser snarled back at him as well. “What do you know about our relationship… about any kind of relationship? You don’t know the first thing about our struggle and you’re demanding that Thunderlane leave me? I’d sacrifice any benefit to stay with Thunderlane… you said it yourself, he generously adopted me.” Cloud Chaser thought she had won the argument, but after staring at Breezefly’s deadpan expression, she grew nervous.

“If you love him as much as you say, then why didn’t you tell him?” A brief but a no less potent awkward silence followed.

“We were hurt so much already, me telling him about it would just make things even worse and it wouldn’t solve anything. Like I said, you don’t know anything about our relationship.”

Breezefly rubbed his face in annoyance. “I don’t buy any of that shit.”

The three of them could hear rustling sounds from inside the barracks; the Wonderbolts found out they were right outside. A crashing sound made Cloud Chaser think of something. “Well Breezefly, allow me to show you how we feel and maybe you’ll rethink what you said. Last night when you and Thunderlane were talking about how we should be separated, I was…” but her confidence quickly lost steam, she just couldn’t say it.

Spitfire emerged from the barracks and lumbered down to meet them. Whatever the Wonderbolts were doing, they were all interrupted by Breezefly’s shouting.

“Cloud Chaser,” Thunderlane urged. “Breezefly doesn’t-”

“-I was raped last night, okay?” Breezefly’s and Spitfire’s eyes widened. They were blown back at the bold confession. Cloud Chaser royally stared down at Breezefly as his eyes coolly calculated all the possibilities and all the outcomes of what happened. To Cloud Chaser’s surprise, he said nothing to her, but instead turned towards and Thunderlane.

He declared, “I am sure you want to find this rapist and throw him in prison… and I commend you for that.” His eyes and his voice grew as dark as Nightmare Moon’s soul. “But do not… do not do this for yourself, do this for Cloud Chaser.” Thunderlane knew exactly what he meant.

He won’t let me clear my name. He’s not letting me repay my debt. Thunderlane thought about what he said.

“You’re in a bad position, Thunderlane; two stallions want to see you dead. One’s accusing you of murder and another raped your fillyfriend.”

“So?” Thunderlane said.

“I’ll make a deal.” Breezefly paced around the other three. “As long as you keep this stallion hunt about protecting your fillyfriend, I’ll help you along the way. Do we have a deal?” He extended his right hoof out to Thunderlane.

“Deal.” They shook hooves.

“But what about Thunderlane’s accuser?” Spitfire chimed in on behalf of Thunderlane.

“Don’t mind him. In Cloudsdale, Thunderlane’s regarded as a hero… he won’t get very far.” But he’s no hero to me. As long as they’re together, they’re guilty. Celestia, I hope Thunderlane has the strength to do what’s best for them. “I’m leaving.”

“I thought you said you were-”

“-I know. You focus on finding the rapist, I’m going to see if I can find your accuser. Goodbye for now.”

“Before you go, take this key to my house, you might need it.” Breezefly took the keys, galloped across the track, and flew out of the training complex.

Spitfire was still flabbergasted at the revelation, but she managed to say, “Why are you all here?”

“We wanted to ask you if you know anything about the rapist. He’s around our age, I think.” Thunderlane said in an official sort of voice.

“Give me somethin’ to work with.” She paused. “Wait, why didn’t you give your uptight friend of yours any help?”

“I don’t know, he kinda just left.”

Cloud Chaser stepped in to give the description. “He had a bright orange coat and a grey and yellow mane. He’s probably older than us two… although now that I think about it, he’s about your age. I know I don’t have a name, but does that ring a bell?”

Spitfire growled, grit her teeth, and looked away. “That’s my brother.”

“What?” Thunderlane exclaimed, but Cloud Chaser stepped in front of him.

“I’m sure there’s another stallion with the same-”

“-No. I’m certain that’s my brother. There’s no doubt.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.” Thunderlane wasn’t too surprised though, Spitfire wasn’t one to ramble on about her personal life or her family for that matter.

“I would’ve liked to have kept it that way,” she snapped coolly.

“Why?”

She lied, “I don’t know why he does any of the shit he does or what he has to gain from it, but he’s a manipulative bucker, that’s for sure. If you can convict him… you would do me and the Wonderbolts a great favor.” She looked extremely uncomfortable and Thunderlane never saw any weakness from her before.

“What do you mean?” Cloud Chaser implored.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Thunderlane stepped in front of Cloud Chaser and boomed, “We have to know everything about this stallion, and if he’s so toxic, then we have to break his smoke screen. What did he do?”

Spitfire sighed, reluctant to tell them what happened. “Long story short, my brother framed a flyer for a crime he didn’t commit. After Emerald Skies died from a stunt move gone haywire, poor mare, my brother accused a stallion named Drifter of killing her so that he could eliminate competition. At the time, we didn’t know that Emerald had died from an incident and so we went along with what my brother said… he was convincing enough and he was my brother after all.

“Drifter wasn’t jailed because the prosecution had no evidence, but his reputation suffered and he was shunned. That was until we found where Emerald had died and at that point, I knew my brother had lied. He framed an innocent stallion by convincing the public that Drifter had personal gain in killing Emerald. I think…” Spitfire trailed off when she noticed Thunderlane’s face which was a mixture of fear and anger, “what’s the matter?”

“What does this have to do with my fillyfriend getting raped?” He shouted.

Spitfire bit back the natural reaction to yell at her cadets for insubordination, but she was concerned for Thunderlane’s sake, and above all, she was worried why Thunderlane reacted so harshly. “I’m not sure what it has to do with Cloud Chaser’s rape, but my brother is a criminal. There’s no arguing that.”

Cloud Chaser asked, “What is his name?”

“Firestorm.”

“Where does he live?”

“Sixteen hundred Victor’s Boulevard, north side of downtown.”

Thunderlane was confused. “North side? But Cloud Chaser was attacked in the south side, why would he go out of his way to rape my fillyfriend?”

“You’re asking me? I have no idea.” Spitfire shook her head before turning around. “I have heard rumors that he’s tried to pull more cases like the one I said.” She launched into the air. “I’ve gotta go. Good luck on this mission of yours.” And with that, Spitfire flew south and out of sight.

“We have the info we need,” Thunderlane declared.

“So Spitfire’s brother Firestorm attacked me… except her description of him doesn’t sound right. And what about the other stallion who accused you of murdering my father? Is he taking stabs in the dark or does he actually know about the murder? If he really-”

“-Relax. I’ll find this guy, catch him off guard in his own home, fight him until he can’t get up, and drag him into the Cloudsdale police headquarters. I’ll end this nightmare for both of us. We can live in peace.”

“But Breezefly said you can’t turn him in for your own sake.”

“I don’t care. I’m not doing this for anypony, I’m doing this to get a caustic extorter, blackmailer, and rapist off the streets.”

“Don’t lie, Thunder.” Cloud Chaser glared at him as the two of them walked down the steps in front of the barracks.

“Okay, but when Breezefly says that I can’t do this for my name… I can’t accept it. Everything we do is we, we are going to capture this stallion and we are going to live a life free from crippling fear.” Thunderlane leaned in a bit closer. “Who’s the strongest stallion you know?”

After everything that happened in the past twenty four hours, she felt like she could still shake it off. She giggled, unknowingly convincing herself that what happened last night wasn’t the end of the world. They flew off together towards the opulent Victor’s Boulevard with all of its marble cloud mansions.

“There it is; sixteen hundred.” Cloud Chaser pointed to a mansion with a bright cyan colored roof. “So how are we going to do this.”

“I’ll knock on the door and when he opens the door, I’ll buck him in the face. Simple enough.”

“What if it’s like his butler or something?”

“I perfectly capable of apologizing,” Thunderlane huffed as the two of them touched down quietly beside the awesome house. Thunderlane casually walked up onto the portico and knocked loudly three times; he didn’t turn around because he thought he would have enough time to catch him off guard.

Nopony came to answer the door. He knocked again and waited before testing the doorknob. The door was unlocked. Thunderlane stepped inside. It was dark. An electric feeling ran through his nerves as he looked for Firestorm. He left the door open. Further into the house he went.

“Hello?”

Suddenly, a voice rang out from where he had walked in and the door slammed shut making everything pitch black. “You must be Thunderlane.”

“You must be Firestorm,” Thunderlane echoed.

“What are you doing in my house?”

“What were you doing with my fillyfriend?” Thunderlane echoed again.

“Why should I ever tell a criminal like you anything at all?” He boomed imperiously. He turned on the lights. Firestorm was right in front of him. Thunderlane whipped around and bucked Firestorm, aiming for his head, but falling a little low of the target. Nevertheless, Firestorm stumbled back and reared up against the wall to the left. “I should’ve expected a criminal like you to resort to violence. You’re stronger than I thought as well.” He casually walked the kick off. Even though Thunderlane was noticeably stronger than Firestorm, Firestorm wasn’t exactly a weakling. “I’m sure that’s what your fillyfriend Cloud Chaser says to you all the time.” He spoke in a mocking voice, “Oh, Thunderlane, you’re so strong. Well your strength means nothing.” He bolted straight at Thunderlane, completely catching him off guard.

Firestorm landed a kick strait between his eyes. Thunderlane might have been stronger, but Firestorm was insanely fast.

He continued ranting. “I’m strong too, y’know. I broke Cloud Chaser’s hip badly last night. She probably won’t be able to have children, but it doesn’t really matter because, like she says, you’re a strong stallion, you can handle the truth.”

“You what?”

Firestorm’s ears perked up and his smile deepened. “Ah, that’s another thing Cloud Chaser didn’t tell you.”

“What was the first?” Firestorm simply laughed at this for a good long while.

“You know even less than I thought. Poor stallion, you thought you hid Shiverwind’s incident well. Well, your fillyfriend paid for your cover up with her virginity. That’s a shame… but I wouldn’t expect any differently from a criminal. Criminals like you would sacrifice their fillyfriends for their own safety.”

Thunderlane growled and charged at him again, this time flying off the ground. Firestorm didn’t even bother to get out of the way of Thunderlane’s flying kick to his face.

“Destroy me, what does it prove anyway? That you’re a ponycidal maniac? You already know that.”

He laughed some more.

“I didn’t kill Shiverwind!” Thunderlane yelled, terrified.

Firestorm’s laughter immediately evaporated. Now he was legitimately pissed off. He roared, “Don’t you lie to me, Thunderlane!” He took a breath. “You killed Shiverwind and I raped your fillyfriend who, by the way, assisted you with the cover up. I will have you know, Thunderlane, that I performed the lesser of two evils here, and when fate comes knocking at your door, you’ll be found out. What’s worse Thunderlane: rape or murder? Pick one. We live in a grey world after all.”

“I didn’t kill Shiverwind!”

“And I didn’t rape Cloud Chaser. Y’see, I can say that lie because nopony will ever find out... as long as my enemies remain silent.”

“But I won’t, I’ll tell-”

“-Tell who? The police? I don’t think so. Remember, you have a big, fat red target on your forehead. But me? I can convict you at my convenience because I’m as clean as a rubber duckie. Besides, the truth behind Shiverwind’s disappearance is leaking out into the public as we speak. It’ll only be a matter of time before a pony waltzes up to that bold new prosecuting attorney at the Letter Law Litigation firm, if somepony hasn’t already.”

“I didn’t kill Shiverwind!” Thunderlane backed up towards the door in order to protect Cloud Chaser from that bright orange rapist.

“I’m officially talking to a recorder.” His voice deepened. “Allow me to remind you what happened. Quite a few weeks ago, you…” his voice faded away as Thunderlane remembered the incident for himself.

He had been trying for the past few days not to remember the disappearance, but he couldn’t do anything as he plunged head first into his memory.

Part IV

Friday, June 17

The Present

Everything was pitch black at first. After a little while, a droplet of light dropped into the darkness and spread until Thunderlane’s vision was completely flooded. Once the light soaked into his vision, he saw vague blurs of color and motion until everything started to come into focus. Now completely out of his flashback memory, he looked around the brightly lit room, unsure if he recognized the place or not.

“Where am I?”

A crass voice answered him back. “Well I would think you would know where you are, you broke into this place after all. You must’ve fainted or something… I don’t know, I’m not a doctor or anything.” He strutted over to Thunderlane. “I do, however, have enough medical knowledge to know that Shiverwind isn’t coming back from the dead and although I did take the liberty of tying you down to this here table, I would never stoop to your level.” He backed up. “I know you killed him, you don’t have to waste your energy denying you killed him.”

“I want to know how you know.”

“I’m not going to give criminals the luxury of knowing how they bucked up.” Thunderlane pulled on the chain link bindings holding him down on the table. “Consider yourself being tied up as a preview of where you’ll be.”

“You… can’t…” he struggled to say anything at all, he had been found out.

“Can’t what? Throw you in jail? No. That’s the job of the police department. I’m simply here to point their hoof in the right direction.”

Thunderlane thought long and hard before saying, “You’re a vigilante, then.” He remembered Breezefly talking about something like that… he was very passionate about law.

“I guess I consider myself that.” He rubbed his hoof on his chest and looked at it. “But don’t you lecture me on the law, you murderer; sometimes ponies need to take the law into their own hooves when criminals cover their tracks so meticulously as you did.”

Thunderlane remembered what Spitfire said earlier. “What about Drifter and Emerald Skies? You accused them and they were innocent… so much for just vigilantism.”

Firestorm dropped his sarcastic edge. “That’s different,” he snapped.

“How?”

When Firestorm didn’t respond immediately, Thunderlane knew that his question successfully stumped him. He framed Drifter. Suddenly, he thought of something. Firestorm framed me as well… except that I actually did what he accused me of. He’s been guessing all this time and for me, he guessed right. Even after Thunderlane thought this, there was still silence.

“You got me.” Firestorm walked over to Thunderlane and untied his chains from the table, allowing him to move around. “I’ll tell you what. I will tell you how I found out… and I’ll tell you everything else, everything there is to know about me. I’ll say everything in court after the jury makes up its mind.” Firestorm casually trotted away from Thunderstorm and to the front door. “Have fun rotting in prison.”

“Where are you going?”

His eyes brightened and he laughed. “To the police station of course.”

“Oh no you don’t.” Thunderlane threw off the rest of his chains and rocketed straight at Firestorm, kicking him square in the chest.

Unfortunately, Firestorm recovered quickly. “I knew you were gonna fight. Come on,” he barked, “show me how a murderer fights. Fight me with the same anger you used to kill your fillyfriend’s father.”

“Shut up, you bucker.” Thunderlane threw a kick, but Firestorm easily blocked the assault.

“I don’t think so. I’ll tell everypony in Cloudsdale and soon enough, everypony in Equestria will know that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind so that he could have a clear path to the Wonderbolts and so that he could hold dear Cloud Chaser in his hooves for forever.” Firestorm smirked before he threw a kick at Thunderlane’s face, imprinting a hoof mark.

“That’s not true. That’s not why I… I will tell the truth about what I did… and what you did to my fillyfriend.” He kicked lower this time and strangely enough, Firestorm didn’t react as quickly when he shot low.

“Who are you gonna cry to? Who’s going to hear the poor, pitiful tale of Thunderlane the murderer?” He straightened up his voice. “Who’s going to show you mercy after what you did?” He waited. “Nopony!”

“But you-”

“-Yes I did. I raped Cloud Chaser. So what? Once I report you, once I tell the police that you confessed, it won’t matter anymore.” Firestorm leaned in close. “Besides, in a depraved city like this, who are they going to choose to save first? Huh? The one-time offense rapist or a murderer who continues to cover up his crime and put the ponies he knows around him in jeopardy? Thunderlane, might I remind you, I committed the lesser of two evils.” Firestorm turned around, confident that Thunderlane wasn’t going to attack for a little while. “I think I know why you broke into my house. I should have predicted it after I raped your fillyfriend.”

“What?” Thunderlane’s eyes searched for the answer.

“You tried to cripple me enough so that you could drag me to the police. Once there, you would’ve confessed that you murdered Shiverwind and that you were ashamed and guilty and so on… and then you would’ve immediately jumped up in defense of yourself. You would’ve declared, ‘Cloudsdale, this stallion raped my fillyfriend, but I, the white knight Thunderlane, who no longer has a single tarnish on his armor, have captured him and brought him to you,’ and the police would’ve believed you because they, after all, want to see the friendship of magic conquer the day. And what better way to achieve that goal than to have Thunderlane, the white knight, capture the rapist to clear his own name?” His calm voice shook as it grew louder and more fierce. “Everypony would’ve walked away happy… except for me, who would’ve been stuck in prison, paying time for your crime.” Firestorm was yelling at this point. “But that didn’t happen, did it? You were about to capture me, but then I forced you to remember your conscience, I forced you to remember your past, and you fainted. I’m not sure what magic was at work, but I guess I can say that Celestia defends the truth.”

“You liar,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What part of that was a lie? Go ahead Thunderlane, play the victim, you might as well practice your acting skills before you’re thrown in jail.”

“No, Firestorm.”

“I’m done with you. I’m leaving.” Firestorm spread his wings over Thunderlane and in a few large flaps, he flew out the front door of his and his little sister, Spitfire’s house.

Thunderlane managed to shake off the last of the chains. That was weird. I don’t remember going unconscious at all. The quietness of the house reminded him that Firestorm was en route to the police station at that very moment. I can’t just follow him. He thought on his hooves. Cloud Chaser’s still outside, I have to go back home.

Kicking the door out of the way, and leaping outside, he noticed that Cloud Chaser had left.

“Shit. Where is she?” It doesn’t matter, I have to find her before that bucker gets to the police station. Thunderlane spread his wings and launched into the air, flying faster than he did at any point during cadet training. “Come on, come on. My house has got to be close.” He scanned the entire city of Cloudsdale before he saw his neighborhood in the distance. “Finally.” Ugh, he’s probably there already… I just need to get in and get out.

Whirls of cloud spun around his hooves when he hit the ground hard. His house was normal and unchanged, but it looked completely changed now that his free life was about to end. Instead, the house loomed over him and it seemed that with every step he took towards the house, the house only moved farther and farther away from him. Finally reaching his front door, Thunderlane body slammed the door opened and ran inside, expecting Cloud Chaser to be sitting somewhere within earshot.

“Cloud Chaser. Cloud Chaser?” She must not be here.

Thunderlane turned towards the door to fly off again when somepony boomed, “Well, well, well.”

Thunderlane turned around, eyes wide open.

“This reminds me of the same thing that happened here almost two months ago. I was standing on the porch after you had finished burying Shiverwind’s murdered body. Why have you taken so long? I told you what you needed to do to redeem yourself, to bring that old Thunderlane back.”

“Breezefly, I don’t have-”

“-Time for this? You’re right, you should hurry up and get to the police station and say that you murdered Shiverwind out of anger before a lying accuser claims you murdered him out of personal gain. Turn yourself in. Go, don’t waste your time.” Breezefly hid his face and he looked strange, as if he was sick.

“You know, the stallion who raped my fillyfriend somehow found out that I murdered Shiverwind.”

“I’m not surprised. Early this morning, there was a stallion who went into the Letter Law Litigation Firm and, according to what I heard, he accused you first. Your rapist must’ve found that information out from him. You have two stallions who want to see you charged with first degree murder and that number’s only going to rise if you wait.” Breezefly still covered his face.

Thunderlane thought about what he said, and he narrowed his eyes. “Well, Breezefly, if you really thought about everything, then can you explain to me exactly how I’ll stuff Cloud Chaser’s rapist in jail when I’m already in prison myself. Did you ever think of that? Huh?”

Nothing happened for a little while until Breezefly turned to face Thunderlane directly, uncovering his face. Breezefly was holding back tears. Thunderlane didn’t understand why he was so upset, Breezefly was usually too cold and mechanical to feel any kind of emotion, but a guilty feeling crawled inside and rested in his throat.

“Thunderlane,” he managed to say in his normal monotonous voice, though it was in danger of breaking up, “what happened to you? What happened to your strength? You used to be my friend. I used to complain about how you were so brazen all the time and you used to complain about how I only saw things in black and white. I remembered when you were going to become a Wonderbolt no matter what life threw at you. Now you’re just a shadow of your former self.”

“Breezefly, you don’t understand. I… I…” but he couldn’t think of anything authentic to say.

“Remember our deal before you talked to Spitfire? I said that as long as you make capturing this rapist about protecting Cloud Chaser, I will help you. I’ve thought of a way to fix all of this. I’ll go with you to help capture this rapist and then I’ll take care of the rest, it’s my job after all.”

“Oh, thank Celestia, Breezefly. I really need the help.”

“But,” Shiverwind turned his head up to stare vertically into Thunderlane’s eyes, “If you make capturing this rapist about clearing your name of murder, then I’ll walk away from you for forever. You’ll have nopony to bail you out, you’ll have nopony to visit you in prison, and I won’t forgive you. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think you really know what will happen to you if you make this about yourself. You will lose everything and everypony,” he growled as his eyes watered red and the end of his mouth twitched a little.

“I understand, Breezefly. This is all my fault anyway. That’s exactly what he said when I tried to capture him earlier.”

“He said that you shouldn’t arrest him for clearing your name? That stallion is a lot smarter than I thought… but he is right.” Breezefly put his hoof up to his muzzle in thought. “Besides, even if you did arrest him for the sake of cleaning your record… you wouldn’t be able to do it…”

“Why not?”

“Because rape is not as grave of a crime as murder is. I’m sorry, but your murder of Shiverwind is a worse crime that Firestorm’s rape of your fillyfriend was. You and I both wish it wasn’t, but that’s the way it is.”

“That’s what he said as well… but, it-”

“-I don’t want to argue about it any longer; you know what you have to do. Think about it, Thunderlane, where would Cloud Chaser be when you’re not around?” Breezefly said as he wiped the frustration off his face.

Gears turned inside his head as Thunderlane thought about she could be. “The orphanage.”

They both nodded at each other before walking out the door, spreading their wings, and taking off to the skies heading north towards the downtown area. Only the whispering wind flying through their feathers made any kind of sound; the two of them couldn’t seem to talk casually anymore.

As Breezefly and Thunderlane flew over the police station, Breezefly remembered something. “Thunderlane wait.”

“What?”

“That rapist isn’t going to go tell the police about you,” Breezefly declared firmly.

A few different reactions stirred Thunderlane’s face into a confused look as he couldn’t decide if what Breezefly said was a good thing or not. “Why wouldn’t he?”

“I know that sort of criminal,” he huffed as he tried to keep up with his much faster friend. Thunderlane slowed down a bit.

“What do you mean?”

“If he knows about your murder and if he raped your fillyfriend, then… I think he’s trying to blackmail you. What happened last night was only a warning.” Breezefly’s eyes darted around as if to gather more information.

“I still don’t-”

“-Thunderlane, he’s going to tell everypony that you murdered Shiverwind unless you hand over Cloud Chaser to him. He’s probably at the orphanage… he must know where she is.” Breezefly thought of something else on the fly, “Or maybe since she is missing, Firestorm already has her in his possession and will force you to confess your crime as ransom for her return. This criminal is probably going to want some sick and demented satisfaction before he turns you in.”

“It’s a good suggestion, but how can you be sure?”

“I can never be completely sure, but I have good reason to believe that this might definitely be the explanation we’re looking for.”

“Why?”

Breezefly cocked his head to one side before remembering an infamous case a few months back. “Do you know the story about Emerald Skies and Drifter?”

His eyes widened. Spitfire told me that story, her brother Firestorm framed Drifter for murdering Emerald Skies. Firestorm said it himself too. But how does Breezefly know about that story? It’s such a low profile case. Thunderlane thought for a moment. If I say no, then I’ll be lying, but if I say yes, then I might miss something important. “Go on.”

“Drifter did not kill Emerald Skies, that’s for sure, but before Emerald Skies’ stunt incident, the two did get in a fight the night before the rally. Then, of course, Emerald Skies tragically died when trying to perform the Buccaneer Blaze and the court figured out that it was because Drifter bucked up her wings when they fought. Somehow, a stallion—I’m forgetting his name—must’ve found out the cause behind the crash. Well, he threatened to ruin Drifter’s reputation unless Drifter confessed that he abused his fillyfriend the night before the rally.

“Even though Drifter was terrified since he didn’t know how that slimy stallion figured out what happened, he refused to pay the ransom since he figured that nothing could possibly be worse than admitting that a stallion beat up somepony he loved. Unfortunately, what he did was worse, he accused him of murdering her out of jealousy for her awesome stunt skills and Drifter was thrown in prison. Luckily, Spitfire found out the truth and although the details are blurry, I know that Drifter was set free. If Cloud Chaser’s rapist is anything like the stallion who accused Drifter of murder, you’ll be forced to make an impossible decision. Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Breezefly’s anger for Thunderlane’s crime vanished after he told the story.

Thunderlane wanted so desperately to say, They’re the same ponies. It’s Firestorm, but he simply murmured, “I understand.”

Not too long after the story did Breezefly and Thunderlane touch down outside the orphanage house. It didn’t take Thunderlane long to notice that practically every police pony in Cloudsdale surrounded the building. Many bystanders curiously watched the scene even though nothing much seemed to happen.

Another crowd of fillies and colts huddled together surrounded by a few dozen police ponies warning the two of them that the building was completely evacuated. Flitter and another mare Thunderlane recognized spotted him from across the crowd.

When Flitter tried to run past the crowd a police stallion said in an official voice, “I’m sorry, but we can’t leave until the premises are completely secured.”

“Can you at least let Thunderlane in?” The mare standing beside Flitter said, she was the director of the orphanage from what he understood.

The guard turned to face Thunderlane. “You must be Thunderlane. Thank goodness you’re here; since you live with Cloud Chaser, the police would be more than willing to let Flitter leave.” The stallion backed up a little when he saw Thunderlane’s worried face

“Where’s Cloud Chaser?”

He looked back to the other cops in confusion. “I thought she was with you,” he finally said.”

“Cloud Chaser is missing then.”

“It must’ve been him,” the guard said quickly. “This place is on lockdown ever since we got a report of a mysterious stallion was creeping around the place. We thought we had accounted for every child, but it looks like Cloud Chaser is gone. It must’ve been him.”

It’s Firestorm. “Do you know what he looks like… the creepy stallion?”

“Well, one of the younger colts thought he saw an orange coat and a grey mane, but he also said that the stallion was super fast, making him hard to detect.” The stallion looked confident with himself after he gave the report.

I have to tell them about the rape now or else I won’t get anywhere. “That description sounds exactly like the stallion who raped Cloud Chaser last night. And now since she’s missing… the same stallion must’ve come back here and kidnapped her.”

Breezefly knit his eyebrows together and turned away. That description also sounds familiar, where have I seen that color coat and mane before? He put a hoof to his forehead trying to recall his memories.

“Hey Thunderlane!” A voice shouted from a ways away and Thunderlane immediately noticed a familiar tan police stallion.

“What’s up, Bucko?”

Bucko exhaled quickly, he never like dealing with sensitive issues. “Hey, I know you’re gonna knock everypony else out of the park during the final race. I want to see your face on those Wonderbolt posters for a change.” His smile evaporated once he remembered the bad news he had to deliver. “Look, Thunder, I have bad news.”

“What is it?”

“The search parties we sent out to find Shiverwind’s body all came back this morning with nothing to show. Since it’s been almost two months since his disappearance, the police have no choice but to declare that he has died. I know your fillyfriend would be upset. Are you okay with this?”

I killed him. “I’m okay.”

“Speaking of your fillyfriend Cloud Chaser, where is she? I know she’s not with you. I don’t know if you mind me asking, but it’s just that this place is on lockdown because of a stallion lurking around this place.” Bucko’s face contorted in anger at the thought of the stallion.

“Eh… I don’t know where she is. We think that the stallion that came here ran off with her.” Thunderlane sighed knowing he didn’t have to lie.

“Aw shit,” shouted Bucko.

Breezefly whispered in Thunderlane’s ear, “Tell him.”

“What?”

“Tell him about the rape. Bucko doesn’t know about all the accusations floating around.”

“Fine,” Thunderlane whispered back before turning back to Bucko. “I have to tell you something.”

“Yes.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Last night after you left, I decided to go see another one of my friends, Breezefly over here, and Cloud Chaser went to visit her sister at the orphanage. When I came back from my visit, I found out that Cloud Chaser was raped on her way home. When I talked to her about what happened, she gave me the same description the little colt did when he saw that weird stallion everypony’s been talking about around here.” Thunderlane looked at Bucko, then at the other cop, then at Breezefly, and then back at Bucko again.

“Wait… my sister…” Flitter tried to swallow the revelation. “Why didn’t you tell me,” she accused.

“What do you think I just did?” Thunderlane snapped.

“You’ve got to be kidding me… now that Cloud Chaser’s missing and the stallion with the same description left the property, she’s probably being…” a tense silence followed.

The other cop said bluntly, “Do you know who he is?”

Thunderlane sighed and declared, “I know for sure his name is Firestorm.”

Breezefly jumped back in shock. “Firestorm? Oh, buck me. I know that name. He was the stallion who accused you of murdering Shiverwind; he was the first to walk into the law firm in Cloudsdale Square. I thought there were two different stallions. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Bucko boomed, “Thunderlane would never murder Shiverwind.”

Thunderlane ignored him, whipped around to stare Breezefly straight in the eye, and roared, “you knew all along?”

“I didn’t know Firestorm was the rapist you were looking for until just now. You never told me a name.”

“He must’ve told you how he figured out…” but Thunderlane stopped himself when he remembered that Bucko and the other police ponies were standing behind him.

“Firestorm,” Bucko grumbled, “he’s the one that framed Drifter earlier this…” he turned around to face a group of guards milling around and bellowed, “Guards! Haul your flanks over to sixteen hundred Victor’s Boulevard, Cloud Chaser is being held hostage for sure.” A team of almost a dozen guards took off north to Spitfire’s mansion.

Immediately afterwards, a stern looking grey stallion with a reddish mane and tail wearing a thick navy blue uniform descended in between Bucko and Thunderlane. He stared at all the ponies around him before looking Bucko in the eye; Bucko stared back at his harsh red eyes and the scar on top of his muzzle. He was the captain of the police guard.

“Bucko. Did you say that all of the search parties were failures?”

“Yes sir,” He responded.

“There must be only one explanation for all of this. It’s the only explanation that will allow us to lock up that monster Firestorm once and for all.” Everypony took in a collective breath. “The stallion who came here earlier and raped Cloud Chaser must be the same stallion who killed Shiverwind. It makes perfect sense that for Firestorm to kill Shiverwind, he wanted Cloud Chaser all to himself and he didn’t want to have to deal with her father. Do you agree?”

Thunderlane stared into the captain’s harsh eyes, but he saw the even colder eyes of Breezefly warning him not to make this about himself. I killed Shiverwind. “Does that mean you’re planning to drag Firestorm to court?” He asked testingly.

“Of course,” he spat.

I need to tell them that Firestorm killed Shiverwind so that they can successfully arrest him and throw him in prison. I don’t want another pony to suffer the same fate as Drifter… and I won’t be next in line. He sighed, knowing Breezefly was listening silently behind him. “Yes. That’s correct sir. Firestorm did murder Shiverwind. I know because Cloud Chaser saw the confrontation go down; she told me because she was too afraid herself to tell the police.”

“Very well then. Since you said all that, you should expect for the prosecution to use you as an eyewitness. I’ll meet up with the other guards at Firestorm’s residence.”

“Good luck on your search,” Thunderlane said as the police captain and Bucko flew off to the north. The remaining guards dismissed the crowd of fillies and colts and some of their foster parents as well now that the coast was clear.

Soon, the only ponies there were Thunderlane and Breezefly who trotted right up to his face and attempted to hold back his anger.

“You… you lied to the police. Wh… what-”

“-I had to Breezefly,” Thunderlane tried to sound like he was equally as pissed off, but he couldn’t hope to match the heat boiling inside his friend, “The police told me they won’t be able to capture Firestorm unless I tell them that he also killed Shiverwind. I want him behind bars and my fillyfriend Cloud Chaser to be safe more than anything.”

Breezefly scoffed, “The police won’t be able to… that’s ridiculous. We’ll see if your right about that. You could have said right then and there that you killed Shiverwind… but you didn’t. Why-”

“-Because Firestorm would go free.” This time, Thunderlane was legitimately angry and he could feel the same fire that lit up his blood the day he murdered Shiverwind outside his house. “You’ve been accusing me of being selfish this entire time, but all I’ve ever done since my fillyfriend was raped is finding this bastard stallion. I-”

“-Don’t twist the truth. You always have your way with words. For Celestia’s sake, you even lied on Shiverwind’s tombstone. What you did back there… you denied that you killed Shiverwind.”

“You’re right. I had to in order to protect Cloud Chaser. If I admitted to killing Shiverwind, he would’ve arrested me right then and there and Cloud Chaser would be left with nopony to defend her should that rapist come slithering back to my house or back to the orphanage again.”

Breezefly short circuited, “But you-”

“-You said to me that as long as I make my mission of hunting down Firestorm about Cloud Chaser and not about my own name, you would agree to help me. I told a lie to the police because I have to be around to protect Cloud Chaser and bring Firestorm to justice. You said it yourself and you just can’t back out of our agreement. Okay?” Thunderlane didn’t even believe what he was saying.

He grit his teeth as his brain wrestled with Thunderlane’s claim. Eventually his claim pinned Breezefly’s brain down. “Fine!” Breezefly shot up into the air and loomed over Thunderlane. “I don’t care what happens to you or your fillyfriend anymore. You should never have moved back to Cloudsdale.” Breezefly flapped his wings in Thunderlane’s face before taking off in the opposite direction of the guards.

Thunderlane stared at Breezefly flying off into the distance before he hung his head. In defeat, he flew back to his cloud home as the afternoon dragged on.

Loud knocking sounds reverberated through Spitfire and Firestorm’s giant mansion. A squadron of about a dozen police guards and the police captain waited by the front door of the mansion for a response. The lights were off, the door was locked, and nopony came.

“He knows we’re hunting him down, he’s not gonna make a sound,” the police captain suggested to another cop.

“If Cloud Chaser was really in there, she’d be screaming for help for sure,” a guard exclaimed.

“Either that or Firestorm found a way to get her to shut up.” The police captain bit back at the guard before whispering to everypony present. “Listen up,” they all leaned in, “All of you have probably dealt with petty thievery and drunken brawls while you were on duty. Maybe you have even dealt with occasional intruder situations or extortion threats. However, none of you have met a criminal mastermind quite like the one we’re about to say hello to right now.”

“What makes him so bad? There’s, like, twelve of us and only one of him,” Bucko snorted confidently.

“Maybe, but before today, we’ve been going after the wrong ponies this whole time whenever a case has something to do with the Wonderbolts. Case after case after case, this Firestorm criminal has expertly framed all of his victims and we’ve never figured it out. Until today, that is.”

“But we still outnumber him.”

“It doesn’t matter how many guards we have, Firestorm will always have the upper hoof if he’s really holding Cloud Chaser hostage. He’ll kill her or something before we get the chance to arrest him. I know you’re close friends with Thunderlane; I want you to listen to me for the sake of his fillyfriend.”

“Okay.”

The captain took a quick glance at everypony before saying, “Alright guards, time to bust down these doors.”

“This is the Cloudsdale police. We have a warrant.” The guard didn’t even bother to wait for a response before bucking the door open. The door didn’t open immediately, but after he heard cracking noises, he simply leaned on the wood and busted inside.

“Spears ready,” the captain shouted.

“Show yourself Firestorm,” another guard shouted nervously as he ambled further into the darkness. “You’re under arrest for the murder of Shiverwind and for the rape of Cloud Chaser. Return her over to us and we won’t have to use violence.” Another guard eventually found the switch to the light, revealing the large and empty foyer.

“Search the house,” a second guard hissed.

“Look,” Bucko boomed as he pointed to what looked like a blanket covering a table. “What is that?”

The police captain trudged over to take a look for himself. On top of the table was a chained down blanket covering something large and eerily pony shaped. “Well, that’s got to be Cloud Chaser under all of those restraints. Let’s get her out of this mad house before Firestorm turns up somewhere; looks like we have a dash of luck on our side.”

A guard from the back of the group unlocked his tool box he brought along because he knew something like this would happen, and wielded a pair of cable cutters. He walked up to the table and said in a gruff voice, “Don’t worry Mrs. Chaser, I’ll get you out of this.”

The cable cutters sliced through the chains like they were bitter, metallic-tasting butter. The chains slithered off of the table, hitting the ground with a loud banging sound. A few of the guards jumped back at the noise.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake, you stallions act like you’re out alone on your first Nightmare Night,” the police captain chuckled. “Just pull the blankets off already,” he looked back to where a few of the guards went searching for Firestorm, “they should’ve been back by now.”

“She doesn’t seem to be responding,” one of the guards mentioned.

“Will you just pull off the sheets already,” the captain groaned as another guard bit one corner of the blanket with his mouth and revealed what was underneath.

A collection of various sheets and pillows tied up to look like a pony stared up at the guards with eyes drawn with red marker. Everypony backed up when they say the fake pony and looked around as if the walls and the ceilings of the mansion might give an explanation.

A guard from the search ran back and declared, “We couldn’t find him,” before noticing the fake pony himself.

“He’s not here.” The captain slammed his front hooves on the floor.

“Where is he? He’s not at the orphanage.”

The captain motioned to one half of the squadron and yelled, “All of you, fly back to the orphanage and make sure all those fillies and colts are safe. Reorder the lockdown if you must.” He turned to the remaining half and shouted, “As for you, fly to Thunderlane’s house and make sure Firestorm hasn’t broken in or anything. He’s targeting Thunderlane just as much as he targeted Shiverwind.”

Almost everypony flew off to their assigned locations.

“Except for you, Bucko; you’re coming with me.”

“Where?” He turned around.

“To the law firm. I have to tell the judge that,” he hung his head, “that we haven’t yet been able to catch Firestorm.”

Bucko cocked his head. “Can’t we just kill this stallion if he’s really this dangerous?”

“I asked about that, but that lump of criminal scum somehow has a defense lawyer and besides, the judge said that somepony else…” he trailed off, not wanting to tell Bucko. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go.” Bucko followed his captain out of the empty mansion.

About a half hour earlier

A long shadow stretched from the side of his house as the sun sank ever lower and as afternoon became evening. His house was now just an empty shell; no life or energy lit up the insides anymore and it was no safe house for Cloud Chaser anymore, she was long gone.

He trudged up to the front door, pulled out a key from his right saddlebag, and turned the key in the lock only to feel that it was already unlocked. Meekly pushing the door open, Thunderlane was enveloped by the darkness.

My fillyfriend is missing, I lied to the police, Breezefly hates me, and this Firestorm stallion is probably reporting me to the police right now. Turning on the switch, the light blinded him as if he never experienced it before. He turned around to face the living area of the house and he saw Firestorm casually lying down on his blue couch.

“Greetings, Thunderlane,” he said in a regal voice.

“H… how did you get into my house?” Thunderlane snarled, baring his teeth.

“Oh, just like any other civilized pony would… with a key.”

“Where’d you get the key?”

Firestorm turned his head up to look at the ceiling in boredom. “I don’t care about the little stuff like you do. What do you really want?”

“Where is-”

“-Cloud Chaser? That’s the million bit question, isn’t it? My memory is quite fuzzy, but there is something that might jog my memory.” He sat up and clapped his hooves together in excitement. “If you confess that you killed Shiverwind all those weeks ago, I might just remember where I stuffed her. Silly me, I’m always forgetting where I put stuff. Last week, I lost my contacts for a full two days and the week before, I lost my keys. I promise, Thunderlane, I’ll remember where I put your fillyfriend if you confess to the police that you killed Shiverwind.”

This is just like what Breezefly predicted would happen. He’s holding her ransom somewhere. I… I can’t buy into it. “The police. I already told them that you raped Cloud Chaser and they’re searching all over Cloudsdale for you. They knew you were at the orphanage.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?” He scoffed. “I guess it was, but Thunderlane, if you’re practicing for your future career in prison, you’re doing it all wrong; you’re not supposed to be threatening jail guards. You should know that.” He laid back on the couch. “I promise you that they won’t find Cloud Chaser… and if I do get arrested, I will make sure that Cloud Chaser either goes down with me or goes down to the Everfree Forest without any wings.”

Thunderlane’s blood boiled and he barked, “you give her back.”

“Wait. I think I remember something about her. Yes, my memory is coming back.” His bright orange eyes burned a hole in Thunderlane’s gut. “I remember the chilling screams as I dragged her through those dark hallways in the orphanage. She called out to you a lot. ‘Thunderlane, help! Help me, Thunderlane; get me out of here.’ That’s so sweet. At least, if I remember correctly.”

“You’re not going to scare me into confessing.”

Firestorm smiled. “Oh, you’re a tough stallion, I like it. I remember something else. Thunderlane, I have to tell you that after a while, her screams got really annoying and since I’m not a masochist or anything, I decided to gag her mouth shut with some bandages I found at the orphanage.”

“Just stop,” he shouted, feeling his body shake. “Listen to me.”

“I don’t usually listen to criminals, but I’ll entertain you for this time only.”

“Firestorm, we can stall as long as long as we want, but eventually the police will find their way here and you’ll be arrested for rape. And d’you know what else they’ll do?”

“What? I can’t wait to hear this,” he said sarcastically.

“They’ll interrogate you, and if you don’t say anything, they’ll capture you and throw you in prison. Your threat won’t work on me or the police. You’ll be behind bars, you won’t be able to do anything.”

“If that’s true, Thunderlane, can you tell me where she is?” He smirked.

“Why are you so sure that she’ll die if you get arrested? What power do you have?”

He didn’t say anything in response and instead, he merely gave a confused look. Thunderlane knew he wasn’t going to be able to glean any more information from him and he resorted to racking his mind for any ideas.

“You’re really sure of yourself. I think… I think she’s in this very house. It’s the only you can assure that she’ll die if the police come knocking.” Once Thunderlane saw Firestorm’s face contort in rage, he sprinted back into his room to check to see if what he said was true.

Luckily, Cloud Chaser was in the first room he checked. She was tied down to Thunderlane’s bed with crude, frayed rope that was probably just as powerful as the chains that Firestorm used to tie Thunderlane down to his table earlier today. Her mouth was gagged with bandages, just like he said. Those pink eyes of her lit up in a vibrant mixture of relief and fear when she saw her coltfriend hover over her.

“It’s okay, I’m gonna get you out of here,” he whispered to the eerily calm Cloud Chaser.

The door flew open with a cracking sound. “Not so fast Thunderlane. I can’t let you have her back until I get the whole story from you.”

“What are you talking-”

“-You know perfectly well what I’m talking about. Y’see, since you told the police about little old me raping your fillyfriend, nopony will ever figure out that you murdered Shiverwind and that your fillyfriend assisted in the cover up and as a result, you two will go on to live happily ever after with me rotting in prison in compensation for your crime.” Firestorm reached into his left saddlebag and unsheathed a knife with his mouth. “But I won’t let that happen. I’ll make sure justice is satisfied.”

Thunderlane wasn’t fazed by the move and instead, the shimmering metal of the dagger spurred his mind into action as he pranced around, looking for a solution. He noticed his bedstand a few meters to the right of him and he spat back, “It takes two to tango, Firestorm.” Lunging towards the bedstand, Thunderlane evaded Firestorm’s heavy hoofed swipe which merely ended up slicing the mattress open. Thunderlane opened one of the drawers and pulled a knife of his own out with his mouth. “Stay away from my fillyfriend.”

“I suppose you think you’re going to scare me away with that little knife of yours, Thunderlane; you’re wasting your time,” Firestorm said through grit teeth as he held onto his weapon.

“I don’t think so.” Thunderlane glared back at him.

Firestorm groaned in annoyance. “You and I both know that we’ll both get ourselves killed if we engage in a knife fight.”

“Yeah,” he scoffed, “says the pony who pulled out his knife first.”

“Tell you what, Thunderlane. I’ll drop mine first if you do the same… it’ll be fair again.”

“I don’t trust you.”

Firestorm responded intelligently, “I’m not asking you to trust me. Do you want both of us to be killed or do you want both of us to survive? You can’t pick and choose when we are so evenly matched.” Firestorm stared him in the eyes. “I realize now that my ransom strategy failed, but that doesn’t mean you’ll run away from your crime scott-free. You’ve got blood on your hooves and there’s no point in spilling more.” Firestorm opened his mouth and let the knife fall, which clanked metallically when it struck the cloud marble ground. “Do I trust you to do the same, or are you just going to kill me like you did Shiverwind?”

“No.”

“No… what? I want you to drop your weapon and defend your fillyfriend like a true Stallion, not like a murderer. You don’t have what it takes to defeat me in hoof to hoof combat, I bested you twice. Thunderlane,” he bellowed, delivering an ultimatum, “either you use that knife to kill me, proving to everypony that you are the murderer you so fervently deny, or you drop that knife, letting me overpower you for the third time and letting me take your precious fillyfriend as ransom once again. I can do this forever. Either way, you lose.”

Thunderlane tried to think under the pressure of Firestorm’s crooked, gleaming smile. “I don’t care what happens to me at this point, I won’t let you hurt her. You’ll see how strong I really am when I defend her,” he shouted, but Firestorm’s face only degenerated into further annoyance.

“Quite frankly, I’ve already seen your strength… and I’m not impressed to say the least. You failed to defend your fillyfriend when I raped her last night and you fought me and lost not once, but twice. And here we are again. If you want to kill me to defend her, get on with it, but it won’t undo what I did to her.” Firestorm frowned, figuring that Thunderlane wasn’t really taking in the gravity of his ultimatum. “Listen buttercup, where’s your strength? You’re a cadet full of hot air, Thunderlane. You’re not strong enough to admit your own crime.” Firestorm stood menacingly across from Thunderlane; he knew he had successfully cornered Thunderlane into a decision he couldn’t possibly make.

However, after a few moments of deep thought, Thunderlane figured out a solution he should have seen a long time ago. Cloud Chaser saw the spark in his yellow eyes and she instantly knew that they were going to live another day.

“I’ll show you where I get my strength from.” Thunderlane remembered what Breezefly said to him about Cloud Chaser yesterday. He ran back to Cloud Chaser and cut the ropes bound around her with the knife in his mouth. Thunderlane had a hard time holding on to the knife with his mouth, but he nevertheless managed to slice through the rope. Next, he cut off the bandages around her mouth, making sure not to nick Cloud Chaser’s face in the process. After Cloud Chaser stretch for a bit, Thunderlane chucked his knife across the room in defiance. “Now you’ll have to deal with my fillyfriend as well, and let me tell you, I don’t think she was all that happy about getting raped and bound.”

Cloud Chaser glared at Firestorm, sensing unease stirring beneath his orange coat. Thunderlane gave Cloud Chaser a quick kiss on the cheek before muttering, “We have to defeat this bucker.”

Firestorm barred his teeth at the new development, but he quickly snarled, “This isn’t a bet I’m willing to take.” He then picked up the knife he dropped earlier and rushed towards the couple.

Cloud Chaser seemed to know exactly what to do; she picked up the rope that had fallen to the ground and threw it at Firestorm’s face. It definitely didn’t stop him, but it did distract him enough for Thunderlane to buck him into the bathroom wall, successfully knocking the knife out of his mouth.

Firestorm got up and shook off the jolt, figuring out only too late that wielding a knife was no longer an option. Thunderlane declared confidently, “Mares can defend themselves, Firestorm; this isn’t the Paleopony Period anymore. I’m strong enough to know that Cloud Chaser can defend herself as well as I can.”

Cloud Chaser chimed in. “You overpowered both of us when we were separated, but let’s see how you do against the greatest couple in all of Equestria.” She smiled at Firestorm as he backed up towards the door of the bedroom.

Firestorm’s eyes widened and darted around the room as he tried to look for a solution, an opening. After a moment or two, he shook his head and growled, “Just because your fillyfriend wants to cover your flanks as much as you do, doesn’t mean that you’ll evade my punishment.” Firestorm barely finished his sentence when he suddenly leapt at Thunderlane. Thunderlane wasn’t caught off guard this time, but before Firestorm made contact with Thunderlane, he suddenly stopped and rammed into Cloud Chaser. Successfully faking her out, Firestorm landed a few well placed kicks on her face until Thunderlane yanked him off of her.

Thunderlane thought he had stopped Firestorm, but Firestorm was simply too quick for his own good and he fired back with a side kick to Thunderlane’s jaw. Cloud Chaser rushed up to him but Firestorm noticed her as well and kicked Cloud Chaser on the side of her neck before whipping around to buck at Thunderlane. Unfortunately for him, Firestorm bucked too low and only Thunderlane’s left hoof was damaged. Thunderlane quickly recovered and rushed Firestorm down, but he aimed too low as well and Firestorm managed to hop out of the way.

Meanwhile, Cloud Chaser burst through the bedroom door and out into the main living space of the house. When Firestorm emerged from the bedroom, Cloud Chaser picked up one of Thunderlane’s empty glass bottles of apple cider and slung it at Firestorm’s head. The glass shattered on the back of the head and even though it did no damage, Firestorm reached back to feel the impact, worried that blood might be trickling where he couldn’t feel it.

Thunderlane exploited Firestorm’s reaction and bucked him in the side of his hip. Unfortunately, he recovered quickly, ducked under another bottle thrown by Cloud Chaser, and kicked Thunderlane square in the face, sending him stumbling backwards.

Firestorm didn’t pay attention to Cloud Chaser silently gliding and landing behind him and when he finally turned around, she wrapped her right hoof around Firestorm’s neck, attempting to choke from behind. His choking alerted Thunderlane who saw Firestorm writhing in pain before Cloud Chaser released him back towards Thunderlane. Firestorm recovered quickly and bucked Thunderlane in the face. This time, Thunderlane managed to shake off his headshot and bucked Firestorm again. He still aimed too low, but this time, he managed to slam his hooves into Firestorm’s legs. Another quick strike to the legs made Firestorm cry out in pain as he slowly lowered himself to the ground.

Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane loomed over Firestorm, but even though he was crippled, he still managed to hang a brash smile on his face. He chuckled softly.

“What do you want now?” Thunderlane roared.

“You’re free now. You defeated the villain.” Firestorm managed to say despite the burning sensation in his chest. “With little ol’ me out of the way, you won’t have to worry about doing jail time anymore. Even though you murdered Shiverwind, you got me out of the way, the one stallion who knows what you did, and without me, you’ll go free.”

“What are you saying?” Cloud Chaser kicked him on the side of the face.

Firestorm purred coldly, “I’m tired of playing the villain. My real purpose was to throw you two behind bars for what you did to Shiverwind, but since you’ll kill me if I try to fight any more, I’ll happily confer the title of villain onto the both of you.” Firestorm sat up and faced Cloud Chaser; he stared deep into her eyes. “I find it strange that you are so adamant about defending Thunderlane. After all, you were the one that-”

A loud knocking sound interrupted Firestorm. “This is the Cloudsdale police.” The familiar voice of the police captain rang true throughout the entire house. Cloud Chaser ran over to the door and let the entire squadron into Thunderlane’s house.

Firestorm said to himself, “Now it’s time for Firestorm the martyr to accept his fate.”

Thunderlane turned towards Cloud Chaser and said worriedly, “What was that, what was he talking about?”

“Thunder, it was… I-”

“-Thunderlane, it’s great that we showed up when we did.” Bucko smiled at his weary looking friend. “It looks like you did the hard part for us already. I knew you were always capable of defending yourself and your fillyfriend; the other police doubted you all the way here, including the captain.”

“Yeah… well I had some help with that.” He motioned to Cloud Chaser who gave a little nod.

Bucko frowned. “You definitely do not want to mess around with her, Thunderlane.” The three of them laughed for a long moment before the police captain stepped in.

“Firestorm,” he announced as he shackled him in a pair of shining hoof cuffs. Firestorm didn’t struggle, but his fierce orange eyes warned the captain that he was holding back a whole other animal. “You are under arrest for the intrusion of Loving Wings Orphanage, the rape of Cloud Chaser, and the murder of Shiverwind. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to a defense attorney and if you cannot afford a lawyer, a public attorney must be provided for you. Got it?”

“Yes,” he said.

He didn’t kill Shiverwind. Thunderlane panicked as the squadron moved towards the front door. “Wait a minute.”

“What is it, Thunderlane?” The police captain tried to paint an amiable expression on his face, but he couldn’t shake his hard personality.

“Okay, now I know that Firestorm raped Cloud Chaser and intruded into the orphanage… but you can’t confirm that Firestorm killed Shiverwind, you don’t have any evidence. I know I hate that stallion, but I don’t think he killed Shiverwind…” he faded. Thunderlane looked like he wanted to say more, but he couldn’t bring himself to confess.

“We’ll let the court decide if Firestorm’s guilty or not. As for you, the prosecuting attorney told me to ask you whether or not you would take the stand as the plaintiff,” Thunderlane looked confused, “the main prosecutor in the case against Firestorm.”

“I have to end this. Firestorm has been framing cadets for a long time now. I won’t pass up the opportunity to shut my fillyfriend’s rapist in jail. I’ll be the prosecutor.” Thunderlane paced.

The captain smiled and said, “We’ll win this case. We have two live witnesses and the best prosecuting attorney in Cloudsdale… no, in Equestria.”

“I’ll finally be free,” Thunderlane said as the police left his house. He walked back to the bathroom in order to clean up all the cuts he got from the skirmish. We’ll finally be free. Thunderlane looked up in the mirror and saw the face of Shiverwind’s murderer. I have to see the sneering face of Shiverwind’s murderer almost everyday. When Thunderlane finished washing up, he walked out of the room and stared at Cloud Chaser, realizing that he couldn’t bring himself to love her now.

He knew he wasn’t free.

Part V

Friday, June 17

The Present

As the red sun touched the horizon, an eerie calm settled over Cloudsdale and over Thunderlane who wasted no time flying to the courthouse near the center of the city. Hundreds of ponies had already gathered outside, waiting patiently for the trial to begin.

How do they know about this? Who told them? Thunderlane wondered as he landed right outside two massive double doors. The words TRUTH and JUSTICE etched on each of the doors glared down at him and he swallowed hard at the thought of being questioned. Come on, I have to annihilate my guilty conscious.

“Sir, y’ must be Thunderlane. Am I correct?” A guard boomed officially. He and his comrades blocking the gathering crowd of ponies wielded spears twice their length.

“Yeah,” he said as he stared back at the crowd. Over a hundred pairs of eyes stared back at him, reflecting the sun’s dying light in a sea of shining colors.

Thunderlane turned back to face the guard when he said, “Go on inside. The prosecuting attorney isn’t here yet… y’ just have to sit tight. We’ll let everypony else in when the judge gives us the all clear warning.”

“Okay.”

“Good luck. Ach, I know you won’t be needing it, this is probably the easiest open and shut case of all time. That bucker Firestorm’s guilty for sure. ‘S a good thing you found out about his murder, or else he’d still be crawling around this city.” Thunderlane was about to say something, but the guard quickly turned around and joined the other police in keeping the crowd out. Just before he entered, he noticed a buzzing noise in his ears and he knew without a doubt that the sensation came from the pissed off chatter from the crowd.

When he walked inside, the door behind him closed, making a loud slam that echoed throughout the entire building. Rows upon rows of seats sat empty and without anypony around, every single little hoofstep snapped on the cold ground like distant thunder. Thunderlane tried to look at the other end of the building and sure enough, he found the judge, Firestorm, Cloud Chaser, and a few police.

Where are the lawyers? Thunderlane eventually made it to the speaker’s floor and looked up to address the judge. “Your honor, where are the attorneys?”

“The prosecuting attorney said he would be late getting here and I’m not sure if the lawyer representing the defense will even show up or not.” The judge tipped his head at Firestorm who begrudgingly sat in between two stocky guards. “The court appointed him to Firestorm, but he’s not exactly the responsible type.” The judge, who completely did not care about whether the defense attorney decided to show up or not, leaned back in his chair.

Thunderlane didn’t know what to say and so he simply turned around and plopped down on one of the chairs on his side of the building. He barely noticed Cloud Chaser walking up to him before she kissed him on the cheek. “Thunder, aren’t you excited? We’re finally going to be free. I know what you said last night about not being able to love me… it’s okay, after this, you won’t have to hold anything back.”

Her glistening pink eyes shone back at him, but Thunderlane couldn’t bring himself to look her straight in the eyes. Instead, he turned to face Firestorm and whispered, “You know that’s not right. I wanted to kill him for raping you… I really did… I could’ve done it, but he’s right. I-”

“-Don’t you say it. We know what we did and we can live with the pain, but nopony else has to know what happened.”

“I can’t live with his ghost. He’ll haunt us forever.”

“Do you want a little guilt or a lifetime in prison, Thunderlane?” She scowled. “Please don’t confess. You don’t have an obligation to tell anypony else about what you did, it’s nopony else’s business.” She stared down her muzzle at him before Thunderlane nodded. The glare on her face reminded Thunderlane of Breezefly’s warning to stay away from her and not to date her anymore.

He sighed before asking, “Where is our lawyer?”

“The judge says he’s coming late, but I don’t know who our lawyer even is. The judge said that the new attorney from the law firm in town just decided to represent us… no questions asked.”

“Huh.” Thunderlane stood up, not knowing if he should be excited or terrified about the new information.

A long awkward pause followed before the judge announced to Firestorm and his guards, “Now that everypony involved in the case is here, I think we should start with some news from the public attorney’s office. Firestorm?”

“Yes?” He said disgustedly

“The court was unable to find a lawyer to represent your side of the case. Unfortunately, since your public attorney hasn’t shown up yet, you will have to argue your case pro-se.”

“I understand.” Even though he questioned the legality behind the action, Firestorm didn’t bother to argue with the judge, he was already doomed from the start. The judge looked like he wanted to say something else, but a few mumbling voices from the entrance of the building caught his attention.

A large, lumbering stallion sporting a plaid light blue shirt and slacks plodded down the main aisle before stopping in front of the judge. He readjusted his glasses and swallowed a cough before saying, “Sorry I’m late, your honor.”

“The prosecuting attorney told me he was going to be late, but you have no excuse. Explain yourself.”

“Long story short,” he said, coughing some more, “the court had some issues with the venire.” The lawyer turned to the direction of more mumbling. “There are the jurors,” he pointed out as a cluster of twelve disgruntled ponies limping to the front of the room. They ranged from cooks to doctors, weather pony workers to janitors, and none of them, it seemed, favored either side of the case judging by their appearances. Eventually, the court clerk led them to the jury box and whispered some basic directions about some procedures Thunderlane didn’t really care for.

Cloud chaser nudged him and whispered, “You would think Breezefly would’ve volunteered to be on the jury; he knows a lot about this case already, and he has a career in law after all.”

“That’s not how it works. The jury is a random selection and they would never pick somepony who knows something about the case. To be fair though, Breezefly doesn’t know anything about the case to my knowledge.” Thunderlane remembered wistfully, “I only know that because Breezefly told me back before the incident.”

“Well… Breezefly does know something about the case. We might not know how he knows what he knows,” Cloud Chaser lied, “but he does know that you killed Shiverwind, and that’s enough for them to disqualify him from the jury.”

“But they don’t know that he knows, Cloud Chaser. To them, Breezefly knows nothing.”

“What if they do know?”

Thunderlane narrowed his eyes. “I don’t think they know, but anyway, they wouldn’t let a lawyer sit in the jury box.”

Cloud Chaser shook Thunderlane. “Do you know what you just said? If he’s a lawyer, he could help us. He could be our lawyer-”

“-No. Breezefly is done with us,” Thunderlane said wistfully as he remembered his warning not to be with Cloud Chaser again.

“Should I let the crowd in, your honor?” The clerk asked the judge.

“Let the police in first, then the crowd. The prosecuting attorney should be here at any moment.” The judge leaned back in his wheeling chair and perused the crowd as they rushed in to take the seats near the front first. All one thousand seats, including the balcony up above, were filled and quite a few more ponies had to stand outside of the building. Husbands and wives, children and grandparents, and everypony in between were mumbling about the craziest case that Cloudsdale had ever seen.

The clerk methodically stomped his front two hooves on the ground to get the audience’s attention. “Silence.” The audience quieted down somewhat, but after ponies noticed that nothing happened, a strange and complete quiet followed.

Seconds on the grandfather clock next to the judge’s chambers ticked by.

Without warning, the two double doors closest to the left side of the building blew open, tearing apart the fragile silence that hung over the court. Hoofsteps pompously pounded on the marble cloud floor as the prosecuting attorney rushed to the front of the room. Each step echoed off the vast walls of the building.

“I am sorry that I am so late, your honor. I hesitated after I accepted to represent the prosecution because of my own personal… dealings.” The grassy green coated stallion danced around something the judge could definitely tell was momentous.

“That is quite alright, Mr. Breezefly. Take a seat next to the prosecutor.” Breezefly bowed and walked over to Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane. Neither Cloud Chaser nor Thunderlane could wipe the look of terror off their faces when Breezefly sat in between them.

“B… Breezefly, what are you doing here?”

He spoke dangerously soft, “The directory of the orphanage and the police captain wanted me to represent their case. I said I would do it for no cost at all. Besides, the police captain and your friend Bucko were very proud when you said you wanted to be the prosecutor against that evil, evil villain Firestorm.” Breezefly narrowed his eyes at Thunderlane. “They said they wanted me to get to the bottom of the truth.”

“Since when are you a practicing lawyer?”

“Since I was hired after the interview after your first cadet race the day you murdered Shiverwind. I was hired by a big firm the day my friend murdered his fillyfriend’s father. I never told you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you became a lawyer?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you murdered somepony?”

“Why do we have to tell everypony in Equestria that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind?” asked Cloud Chaser. “We’re both guilty for what we did, why do we have to throw ourselves into the fire again?”

“Your coltfriend thought he was going to convict Firestorm of murder and leave Cloudsdale along with you with no strings attached. That doesn’t sound like a pony who admits he’s guilty to me.”

Cloud Chaser remembered what happened the very first thing in the morning. She talked Thunderlane into not jumping into the gorge and into finding Firestorm so that they could live with each other without holding back. “No Breezefly. If you have to know, I said that.”

Breezefly sat up in a stinging sensation of fear and anger. “You told Thunderlane to turn Firestorm in to clear his name?”

“I told him to turn him in… and he wanted to as well. It’s just that…”

“...I couldn’t make it about her,” posited Thunderlane.

“And why not?” He barked.

“We can’t live together with Shiverwind’s ghost still looming over us. Don’t you see? Convicting Firestorm in exchange for wiping my past of murder is the only way we can move forward and live our lives.” Thunderlane shook his head.

“I don’t want to argue about this anymore. I have told you over and over and over again. You just can’t do that. I waited for eight arduously long weeks for you to have the balls to turn yourself in for a murder you committed. I waited for you to own up to your crime. But you didn’t.” Breezefly motioned to the audience behind him. “This time it’s a little different. You can’t turn yourself in, you can’t wager your crimes against Firestorm in here, and you cannot, must not, will not, shall not, not not not, absolutely not… lie. These ponies behind me are angry and if you lie, if you try to get out of saying the truth, and in so doing, you incur the wrath of those ponies, which is now aimed straight at Firestorm, I will not be burying your dead body like you did to Shiverwind. Got it?” Breezefly knew he had bluffed, but he was confident that he made his point clear.

Thunderlane didn’t say anything.

“You can fight me in court if you want, but I’m telling you, this is what will happen. Whether you choose to agree with me about your crimes or not doesn’t matter, you still have to know that… well… you’re screwed. Got it?”

“I got it,” Thunderlane sighed.

“And you too.” Cloud Chaser simply nodded. She was much more afraid of the audience than Thunderlane. Breezefly’s angered face slumped into disappointment and sorrow as he turned to his worn black suitcase with golden letters etched into a placard with his name and the phrase Letter Law Litigation Firm, Attorney at Law. He unbuckled the buckles and pulled out a blank manila folder and inside the folder, he examined a document entitled Black-White.

“Is the prosecution finished collaborating so that we can begin the case?”

“We are finished, your honor.”

The judge faced the audience and raised his right hoof, alerting everypony that the case was starting.

The clerk boomed, “All rise.” Everypony in the hall stood up. He continued, “The Cloudsdale Supreme Court is now in session. Judge Starsky is presiding. Please be seated.” Everypony sat down except for the ponies outside the building.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlecolts. Today I am calling the case of the employees and the members of Loving Wings Orphanage, Cloud Chaser, and Thunderlane verses Firestorm. Mr. Firestorm, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty.”

“Very well then. Are both sides ready.” He looked at Breezefly first.

“Ready for the prosecution, your honor.”

Firestorm’s lawyer stood up slowly and coughed, “Ready for the defense, your honor.” He nervously smiled a bit before sitting back down.

“Will the clerk swear in the jury?”

A tall and lanky cinnamon red mare ambled over to the jury and announced so that only they could hear, “Will the jury raise their right hoof? Do each of you swear that you will fairly try the case before this court, and that you will return a true verdict according to the evidence and the instructions of the court, in the name of Celestia and Luna?”

“We do,” the stallion at the front and left end of the box declared.

Breezefly knew exactly what to do. He stood up and walked over to the jury and said, “Your Honor and ladies and gentlecolts of the jury, my clients charge the defendant with intruding into the Loving Wings Orphanage, the rape of Cloud Chaser, and…” he looked back at Thunderlane for one long second “...the murder of Cloud Chaser’s father, Shiverwind.” The audience booed at Firestorm. “We have a glutton of eye witness testimony to work with today as well as evidence found by the prosecutors themselves. The defendant must be guilty as charged,” Breezefly lied.

Before the defense lawyer stood up, the judge interrupted the processes by addressing the audience. He said sulkily, “I do not want to hear any booing, cheering, or anything else that disrupts this case. We are in court, not at a hoofball game.” The judge cleared his throat before motioning to the defense.

The audience clapped for Breezefly before they sulkily shut up when Firestorm’s lawyer stood up. He spoke in a strange raspy voice that didn’t match his physicalities at all. He said, “Your honor and ladies and gentlecolts of the jury, look at how convenient all of this is. Not twenty four hours after Firestorm was accused of rape and not an hour after he was accused of intruding into the orphanage and killing Shiverwind, He is shunted off to court. Most criminal cases take much longer than this, much longer; but this time, the court immediately decides to try him as soon as these accusations were brought forward. Something’s not right,” he purred to the audience, “the prosecution is hiding something.

“Today, your honor, I will refute the claims of the prosecution who have used Firestorm’s past history of framing cadets as a vehicle for covering up their own crimes. I will argue that it was Thunderlane who is responsible for much of these crimes. Notice how he would’ve been forced to argue pro-se if I hadn’t have shown up. None of the other public attorneys in this city wanted to represent him because they do not believe anything he says. When I asked the court about why my fellow public defenders refused the case, the court told me that they all resisted when they were appointed to Firestorm. But did the court make sure that the public attorneys followed through with their sovereign duty? No. Why? Because the court didn’t care enough to make this trial fair. But that’s okay, because tonight I will expose the truth. Firestorm is not guilty.” The audience murmured as he sat down, but the jurors weren’t so convinced and they whispered nervously among themselves.

After the audience settled down, the judge said, “The prosecution may call its first witness.”

“The prosecution calls Firestorm to the stand.” Breezefly stared straight at Firestorm and he returned his glowering look.

The two guards escorted Firestorm into the witness box and the clerk nervously approached Firestorm as he sat. She whispered, “Please stand.” Firestorm looked down at her as he rose and he could sense her fear. “Raise your right hoof. Do you promise that the testimony you will give in the case before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, in the name of Celestia and Luna?”

“I do. Try asking that to those liars.”

The judge leaned over and hissed, “I don’t want anymore of your sass or I will hold you in Contempt of Court.”

She ignored both of them and continued, “State your name for the record.”

“Firestorm.”

“Thank you. You can sit now.” The clerk quickly left the witness stand and sat on the other side of the judge.

Breezefly quickly stood up and rushed over to Firestorm, but before he said anything to him, he asked the judge, “request to speak to the witness in private momentarily.”

“As long as you do not ask questions, you may do so.” The judge narrowed his eyes, unsure if what he said was a good move or not.

Breezefly leaned in close and whispered so that nopony, not even the judge could hear what he said. He mumbled, “I am here to make sure that justice is done. You and your lawyer have to trust what I’m doing, Firestorm, I hope you understand and accept what I’m saying. You have to trust me.”

“I understand.” Firestorm peered back at Breezefly jovially. “Thank you.”

The judge said, “Are you finished?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Please proceed with the questioning.”

Breezefly asked all of his questions loudly and with authority so that nopony could question what he had said. He boomed, “do you suspect that my client Thunderlane killed Shiverwind?”

“I do.” The audience booed, but they quickly shut up when the judge glared out at them.

“Why is that?”

“I knew Shiverwind. He wasn’t happy with his older twin daughter’s obsession with training to become a Wonderbolt and he made his disapproval apparent to Thunderlane. He thought Thunderlane was some kind of cavalier who had convinced Cloud Chaser to fly with him and to train with him for the Wonderbolts. I had reason to believe Shiverwind when he said that Thunderlane was a rapist and it turned out that my belief was proven true.”

“Why?

“Because Thunderlane killed Shiverwind.”

Breezefly scowled. “You’re begging the question, and besides, that’s quite a backstory, Firestorm, but you haven’t answered the question.” A few members in the audience chuckled with Breezefly’s witty response.

“Thunderlane didn’t like that Shiverwind disapproved of his relationship with Cloud Chaser and the fact that he called her a rapist. He killed Shiverwind so that he could be with Cloud Chaser and not have to worry about a disapproving father barring them from flying together. After all, they’re en route to becoming Cloudsdale’s best flying acrobatics team.”

“In the wide, wide realm of Equestria, how can you possibly prove that?”

“I don’t have to prove it,” the audience booed. “I’m innocent until proven guilty, am I right? You’re supposed to be a lawyer.”

Judge Starsky rolled his eyes knowing that a Contempt of Court charge wouldn’t really change anything, but he also knew that he was unfortunately right.

Breezefly smiled and chuckled to himself a little. “You may be the defendant, but you’re making an accusation, and any and all accusations require proof. I’m asking you again, how do you know that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s awfully fortunate for you. In the mean time, I’ll ask some less incriminating questions, and for the sake of the jury, I’ll force you to tell the truth if I must. I know enough to do so. Why were you friends with Shiverwind in the first place?”

“We both wanted to prevent Thunderlane from becoming a Wonderbolt.”

He walked around a bit more now that he was confident that Firestorm was going to answer his questions. “You explained why Shiverwind didn’t want Thunderlane to become a Wonderbolt; he didn’t want that stallion to inspire his daughter to fly with the fastest team in Equestria. But why do you not want Thunderlane to become a Wonderbolt? You don’t seem to have a dog in that fight.” He looked at the jury and noticed somepony out of place for the first time. “And why did you go so far as to using the accusation that Thunderlane murdered Shiverwind, an accusation that you fabricated as blackmail, just because you didn’t want to see him wear the Wonderbolts uniform?

“I didn’t want Thunderlane to become a Wonderbolt because I don’t want to see a pony who murdered somepony else to fly with the Wonderbolts.”

“But you only kn… suspected that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind after you were already friends with Shiverwind and after he had already died. Why did you so desperately want to bar Thunderlane from becoming a Wonderbolt before you met Shiverwind?”

“It’s the same reason I didn’t want Drifter to become a Wonderbolt, or Rocket Flash before him, or even Rapidfire before him. There were many other… easier ones in between those big names.”

“And you attempted to frame all of them, right?”

“Not initially, but I became more successful as time went on.”

“Why did you frame all of these ponies? Drifter’s name was eventually cleared after all earlier this year.”

“I had to frame all of these ponies?”

“Why?”

“As punishment.”

“For what and for whom?” Breezefly looked around nervously, he definitely did not see this coming.

“I tried to arrest all of these cadets… the cadets that ponies could easily suspect were behind certain accidents and disappearances because I wanted to punish a certain jury member for her crimes.”

“What in the name of the Two Sisters are you saying?” Breezefly roared. “Who are you talking about?” Breezefly followed Firestorm’s eyes and noticed that one jury member covered her body with a coat and a sun hat. It seemed that nopony in the court really noticed anything out of the ordinary until now.

The clerk rushed over to the jury box and told the mysterious mare, “take off your coat and your hat, the defendant wants to know your identity.”

She mumbled under her breath. “Of course he does.” She complied hesitantly. The orange coat and fiery mane of Spitfire was easily recognized by everypony. Everypony, even the members of the court, gasped when they realized the family connection.

Some ponies stood up in protest and some even chanted for Firestorm to be convicted right then and there.

“My sister. Spitfire!”

“Silence!” Judge Starsky bellowed. He couldn’t believe that Spitfire was actually partial to the case when the court picked her. There was no way the court could’ve known that Firestorm the rapist was the brother of the most famous flyer in all of Equestria. The crowd didn’t settle down immediately and a few guards had to convince some members to sit down. “All rise. This court is in recess for ten minutes.”

Most of the audience and all of the jurors stayed put, but the judge and a few other members of the court got up and promptly left the room. When Judge Starsky walked into a hallway on the other side of the building where other officials ambled around in confusion, he shouted to get their attention, “Who was in charge of the venire?”

An official meekly stepped forward and said, “I was, your honor.”

The judge tried to curb his anger. “Did you know that Spitfire was the sister of Firestorm? How did you vet these jurors? How can the court be confident that these jurors are completely and utterly impartial if a witness calls one of them out? Huh?”

Even though the official was soft spoken, he narrowed his eyes, sensing that there was some foul play at work. “I vetted Spitfire. I asked her if she had any relation to any members of the court and she said no. I told her if she knew Firestorm and she said no.”

“Are you saying that she lied?”

“I am.”

“Ugh.” The judge tapped his foot, trying to think of a solution out of the current quagmire. “Why did you allow a member of the Wonderbolts onto the jury if you knew this case had something to do with their involvement?”

“I didn’t know that. Until Firestorm said something, I had no idea that the Wonderbolts were even a twinkle in the eye of this case, and to be fair, you didn’t know the Wonderbolts had anything to do with this either. If I had known that Spitfire was the sister of Firestorm and that the Wonderbolts had something to do with this case, I would have sent her home.” The official waited for his response.

“So you’re saying this is all just bad circumstance?”

“Yes, your honor.”

The judge put a hoof to his face. “We’ll continue this case, but I’m afraid that somepony will just demand a retrial soon after the verdict. For Celestia’s sake, this has never happened before.”

“I don’t think there will be a retrial, Firestorm has no support and nopony will call for a court appeal if this is all just mere circumstance. Besides, his defense lawyer was picked for a reason.” The judge slowly nodded in agreement.

“Very well then. Since I cannot do anything about this development, I will have to call the court back into session.” The judge walked back into the court where all of the court members and most of the audience had returned.

Before the judge sat back down on the bench, the official whispered, “why is he incriminating himself?”

“I don’t know,” Judge Starsky said sternly. He turned to face the rest of the court. “The Cloudsdale Court is now reconvened. Please be seated. Please continue, Mr. Breezefly.”

He wasted no time. “So you wanted to punish Spitfire, who you claim to be your sister?” Breezefly simply stood there, stiff from swallowing the bizarre information.

Firestorm said slyly, “To answer your question, I wanted to punish Spitfire.”

“For what? And how does framing ponies translate into punishing Spitfire?”

“Let’s go back to the case of Drifter and Emerald Skies, shall we? Y’see, I framed Drifter, but I didn’t initially accuse him. Everypony knows the case now, but it bears repeating. The night before an important stunt show, Emerald Skies’ coltfriend or husband… I don’t even know… beat her up over some argument or another and although that in itself wasn’t a strictly criminal act, she died because Drifter messed up her wings. I knew about it and I framed him for murdering Emerald Skies. I told him that I would do something much worse to him if he didn’t tell the police that he beat her up. He didn’t go for it and, well, here we are now. I only accused him of murder after he already said he wouldn’t turn himself in; sound familiar?”

Breezefly looked like he had a bad taste in his mouth. “Okay, sure. But why does this punish Spitfire?”

“To be fair, some ponies believed that something fishy was going on, some ponies believed that Drifter might have killed Emerald Skies and you, Breezefly, were one of those ponies. Of course, I was the only one who openly accused him of it. Don’t get me wrong, though, I only accused Drifter because I knew that other ponies knew it was a distinct possibility, and it turns out that all the sheep in Cloudsdale listened to the wolf, and so they went along with accusing him of murder as well.”

“You didn’t answer the question, Firestorm.” Breezefly looked annoyed.

“Good observation,” he laughed, but the judge glared at him and Firestorm knew what he was thinking. “Both before and after I accused Drifter of murder, Spitfire didn’t lift a hoof. She turned a blind eye towards the accusations, and even when everypony thought the fact that Drifter killed Emerald Skies was crystal clear, she continued to ignore Drifter. She didn’t do a damn thing. And it’s not like this is the first time something like this has happened. Spitfire has a track record of accepting criminals into the Wonderbolts, criminals who so tactfully cover up their hoofprints. She ignores all the accusations, all the allegations, and she does so in order to surround herself with a contingent of flyers who will deflect any accusation that she harbors criminals. They do this because the criminals themselves are grateful for her ignorance.”

“But these ponies aren’t criminals, you framed them. They were innocent before. How do you explain that?”

“Drifter may not have killed Emerald Skies on purpose, but by beating her up, he killed her when her Buccaneer Blaze move went terribly wrong. The only reason I framed some of these ponies is so that I could expose their crime to the outside world. Either they confessed to whatever crime they did commit or if they didn’t, I went and fabricated a crime that the citizens of Cloudsdale would kill in revenge for. Regardless of what they chose, they lost their reputation for a while, at least until the court later found that ‘a mysterious pony’ had framed them.

Firestorm continued, “But Spitfire continued to accept these criminals. I hoped that by framing more and more ponies, I would be able to expose Spitfire’s criminal sanctuary to the rest of Equestria. I was wrong. In addition, there were many ponies that I was unable to frame despite my knowledge of their crimes. I won’t get into the details, but I knew that Spitfire was covering for these ponies. Rapidfire, Fleetfoot, a few others. On down the list.”

Breezefly cleared his throat loudly, trying to stop the audience from getting too restless. He asked, “If what you say is true, and given your past record, that’s rather hard to assume, what exactly did Spitfire do that convinced you that she needed punishment… in your own words? Was it the first time she allowed a criminal that you knew about to be a part of the Wonderbolts?”

Firestorm leaned back and said nonchalantly, “As a matter of fact, no. Her first huge mistake was abandoning one of the most popular flyers in the Wonderbolts during the tryouts for the Equestria Games. When Soarin clipped his wing on an obstacle, he was quickly hospitalized. Spitfire told him that he would still be on the team by the time the big race rolled around. Well, no. Spitfire decided that Soarin wasn’t good enough for her and she asked the cadet we now know as Rainbow Dash to fly in his stead. Essentially, the Wonderbolts abandoned him.”

Breezefly nodded as he figured out where to go with the new revelations. “Sure that was rather cold hearted of Spitfire, but that’s not a criminal offense. Why did you frame cadets instead of talking to her and convincing her to stop like a normal pony?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I did at first. She wouldn’t listen. Spitfire would never cut corners during a race, but she continued to bend the law more and more until she got to the point where she pardoned criminals to be on the Wonderbolts. I talked to her, she didn’t listen. I talked to the guards, they didn’t listen. Even now she distances herself from me because I pose a constant threat to exposing the fact that she cuts all these corners… that she performs crimes of omission. Believe me, I hated seeing the Wonderbolts grow into an asylum for these wretched pegasi, but the only thing I could do was to wrestle suspicious cadets into the jail cells in which they belong. That was the only way to prevent criminals from becoming Wonderbolts… like Drifter, and like Thunderlane.”

“Now, ponies of the jury, take note that this sounds exactly like the insane logic that the general populace of Cloudsdale believed he would say… like a vigilante. Since you have basically self-incriminated yourself by attesting to framing ponies for crimes they didn’t commit, I think you should share more information. You’ve been acting as the judge, jury, and executioner all this time, Firestorm, and I think it’s time to stop acting like it. Let’s continue, why do you care?”

“Why does it matter?”

Breezefly said smoothly, “Don’t be rude, I asked you first.”

Firestorm looked nervous for the first time since he took the stand. “I am Spitfire’s brother; I said that before the recess. She liked to pretend I didn’t exist and I came to find that feeling mutually beneficial. Her fervent denial of my very existence must’ve been how she managed to work her way into the jury.”

Breezefly looked around the courthouse jokingly to prove a point. “That didn’t work out so well, I can imagine. I can believe that it was personal. Your relationship with the cadets, however, was anything but personal. Am I correct?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, I find it hard to believe that you would frame cadets to punish Spitfire. After all, you could have easily accused them of the various misdemeanors and crimes they actually did commit and thereby ensuring that they were brought to justice as well as ensuring that they couldn’t fly for the Wonderbolts. If you did that instead of framing ponies, you wouldn’t be sitting where you’re sitting now. And to go back to the case you mentioned about Soarin and Rainbow Dash, I am certain that Soarin doesn’t hold a personal grudge against Rainbow Dash for taking her spot. I trust he knows that she was simply caught in the crossbow fire and that she was merely a pawn in Spitfire’s chess game. Right?”

“Right.” Firestorm had no idea where Breezefly was taking this.

“So why didn’t you have the same neutral attitude to the cadets you framed? After all, they weren’t responsible for what you accused Spitfire of doing.”

“Oh, but they became responsible. Those cadets knew what they were doing. They hoped that if they were drafted into the Wonderbolts, they would be able to mask their record under their new uniform. They partook of Spitfire’s amnesty and because just as guilty.”

“That doesn’t explain why you framed them when you could’ve just reported their actual offenses to the police. Sure you’re passionate about justice being met, but that doesn’t translate into framing ponies for crimes that were much worse than the ones they actually committed. Even Drifter didn’t intentionally kill Emerald Skies like you said. I have a simple question. Why did you frame those ponies given what you already told the jury?”

“I started out accusing them of their crimes, but nopony listened; including the police for the most part. The circumstances surrounding all of their crimes were just the right condition for them. Mellow Wind accidentally died from food poisoning, Emerald Skies suffered an unexplainable accident,” he paused and looked at Thunderlane, “Shiverwind mysteriously disappeared.” He laughed to himself and some of the audience roared back at him.

“Silence! Sit down, all of you. I will see to it that audience members be removed if they cause any more disruptions,” the judge roared as more ponies stood up against Firestorm.

“It’s nice that you mentioned my client Thunderlane. Earlier you said that you knew Drifter beat up his… fillyfriend, Emerald Skies, and thus you were able to frame him. How were you able to frame Thunderlane if you don’t know anything about him? I find it hard to believe that you just whipped out an accusation from thin air.”

“But I know what he did,” Firestorm snapped, now visibly frustrated.

“Yes. You’ve told us that multiple times. How do you know what he did? How was your speculation confirmed? Sure you suspected that he was behind Shiverwind’s disappearance, but please, tell us how you could possibly have confirmed that suspicion.”

“I can’t tell you.”

“I think you can. You have lips and a mouth.” Breezefly glared at him. “Oh. I think you meant you won’t tell us. Why are you worried? Is it because the method in which you obtained information was criminal?”

Firestorm hesitated for a long moment. “No.”

“Are you sure? Because I’ll call my client Cloud Chaser up to the stand and I’ll ask her to confirm if what you said was true or not. If you really are a true vigilante, then nothing would stop you from obtaining what you need to know and nothing would stop you from declaring to this court that any action taken to throw a pony in prison was simply the means to an end. If you were a true vigilante like you say, you would have no problem announcing to this court what actions you had taken to obtain the information. So, Firestorm, how did you confirm your suspicions?”

“I figured out that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind when I raped his fillyfriend Cloud Chaser last night.” A rolling horrified moan swept throughout the audience. “She was walking back from the orphanage and I pulled her to the side and threatened her to tell me that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind or else be raped. She said she would never tell me the truth and so I did what I had to do. I raped Cloud Chaser and beat her until she screamed to me the truth.”

Breezefly took a few steps back, surprised that Firestorm actually accepted his challenge. Why is he incriminating himself? What does he have to gain? “What did she say?”

“Don’t you know already?”

He barked, “What did she say? Did she say that Thunderlane murdered Shiverwind? Did she?”

“Yes.” The audience burst into an angry fit for the third time and the judge promptly banged his gavel on his desk in order to calm the ponies down. This time the guards had to move in and take some rabble rousers outside.

“When she said that Thunderlane murdered Shiverwind, did you stop bucking her?”

“Not immediately, I wasn’t finished yet.” The audience murmured in discontent, but they quickly quieted down for the rest of the explanation. “After that, I broke her hip so that Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser couldn’t have a child and claim that good things come from bad times… as they say.”

Breezefly put a hoof to his face. “Let me get this straight. After you raped her, you thought you could mosey on up to the law firm and declare that Thunderlane had murdered Shiverwind, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you did because you talked to me about convicting him. And do you remember what I told you?”

“You told me ‘how do you know.’”

“Right. I said I would look into it… but I can’t look into anything if you don’t give me anything to work with. I might have gone and entertained your little accusation, and Celestia forbid the jury thinks that Thunderlane actually murdered Shiverwind, but Thunderlane said somepony raped Cloud Chaser. Cloud Chaser must’ve told Thunderlane a description and a name and he went after you, but you only got in trouble when he told me your description. After that, you were arrested, right?”

“Right.”

“Why then, did you rape Cloud Chaser when you ran the risk of exposing yourself to Thunderlane and to this court? You basically self-incriminated yourself. And why did you self-incriminate yourself here? You could have pleaded Celestia’s Silence. You must know that Thunderlane’s no wimp, he’s a fighter, and he traced the crime straight back to you.”

“At the time, I thought I had abused Cloud Chaser into being so terrified that she would never dare tell anypony else about the traumatic experience.”

“And how’d that work out?”

“Fine, actually.” The answer caught Breezefly by surprise. “To my knowledge, Cloud Chaser never did tell Thunderlane that she told me about his murderer. He finally figured out the truth when you, Mr. Breezefly, gleaned that answer through your own questioning. You thought you could trap me into answ-”

“-But I’m not framing you like you were going to say. You failed at keeping your little vigilante stunt afloat and, on top of that, you had to resort to holding Cloud Chaser hostage. And so when the guards arrested you, you consigned to defeat, which is why you confessed to the rape of Cloud Chaser earlier. The court is done with you, no more questions.” The audience cheered as Firestorm walked off from the stand, but Firestorm managed to cast doubt that Thunderlane’s hooves were completely clean.

“The defense may question its witness,” the judge announced.

“I have no questions,” Firestorm’s lawyer bellowed.

“Very well then, the defense may call its next witness.”

“I do not need to call a witness to the stand at this time, I only need to cross examine the prosecution’s witnesses,” Firestorm’s lawyer said officially as he leaned back in his chair.

“Very well then.” The judge turned to Breezefly. “The prosecution may call its next witness.”

“May we have a very brief discussion, your honor?” The judge nodded. Breezefly turned back to face Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser. “I don’t know what Firestorm’s lawyer is up to. I’ve served as a paid intern for him before and I know he’s both lazy and terrible at his job, but during the Emerald Skies case, he didn’t exactly help the defense out. He’s got something up his sleeve, I can smell it. I think he might actually try to defend Firestorm.” Breezefly turned back around and announced, “The prosecution calls Cloud Chaser to the stand.” Cloud Chaser quickly got up and walked to the stand and remained standing.

The cinnamon red clerk said rather quickly, “Raise your right hoof. Do you promise that the testimony you will give in the case before this court is be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you Celestia and Luna?”

“I do.”

“Can you please state your name for the record.”

“Cloud Chaser.”

Breezefly slowly drank some water from a bottle at the corner of his desk before walking up to Cloud Chaser. “Firestorm says that you told him that your coltfriend, Thunderlane, killed Shiverwind. Is that true?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I never told him anything.”

“Go on.”

“Firestorm just tried to blackmail Thunderlane solely based on his suspicion that he killed my father. Sure neither of us liked Shiverwind, he was a terrible father, but Thunderlane didn’t kill him.”

“Why do you think Firestorm would claim that you said otherwise?”

“I think he might have thought that we both had a guilty conscious or something. Even if what he says is true, he would still have to lie to the authorities about where he got the information because rape is a crime. Look, I don’t even know why the court is entertaining the idea that Thunderlane murdered somepony, that’s just a fabricated lie made by the defendant.”

Breezefly said, “We’ll see. So Firestorm failed to get any information that he wanted from you. And yet at the same time, he still went through with his accusation. He could’ve gone on to accuse Thunderlane without having to endanger his record with rape. What do you think about that?”

“I think that after Firestorm failed to crack me open, he decided it wasn’t worth the trouble to confirm his suspicions any longer. And to be fair, suspicion is the only thing that’s really needed to ruin a stallion’s reputation.”

“Thank you, I do not have any more questions, your honor.”

“Does the defense have any questions?”

“We do have some questions, your honor.” Firestorm’s lawyer ambled up to Cloud Chaser.

“Your lawyer Breezefly is hardly above this case,” he purred. “He was very much active in the events earlier today. Why do you think Breezefly agreed to help Firestorm if he refused to tell him how he obtained the information about Thunderlane’s murder?”

“I didn’t know that happened.”

“Breezefly explained it when he was questioning Firestorm. He listened to his accusation this morning… my question to you is why do you think Breezefly agreed to help Firestorm?”

“I don’t know… and it doesn’t really matter since he’s convicting Firestorm of rape now.”

“Why would Breezefly accept a case if his client won’t tell him how he got the information?” The lawyer’s voice still sounded smooth, but there was an edge of desperation mixed in as well.

“I don’t think he would do that. I think he agreed only because he knew he would turn around and convict Firestorm… but that’s not possible either because Breezefly didn’t know Firestorm was the rapist at the time. Firestorm tried to use Breezefly’s ignorance to throw Thunderlane in jail, but he failed because I resisted him when he raped me. It’s ironic because by wanting to be absolutely sure that Firestorm’s suspicions were correct as a safeguard to protect his own name, Firestorm raped me, making himself more vulnerable to the prosecution. And on top of that, Firestorm’s suspicions were not confirmed. He lost twice.

Cloud Chaser went on, “Ladies and gentlecolts of the court, it is clear to everypony that Firestorm’s blackmail was a setup. He even had to resort to holding me hostage and it was only because Thunderlane came back to his house that he was able to free me from this monster’s chains. The guards can tell you that. I have to ask you: what is more believable? Thunderlane killing Shiverwind in order to take me into custody, or Firestorm killing Shiverwind, my father, so that he can be free to rape me without repercussion?

“He didn’t get the information that he wanted from me because there was no information to begin with. Firestorm knew that and he could’ve just accused Thunderlane without raping me… but he did rape me. It was because he wanted to traumatize us into remaining silent when he planned to prance around Cloudsdale, throwing his murder accusation into the wind. He didn’t want information, he wanted me to be a ‘good little filly’ and to ‘not say a word’. Well, Firestorm,” she turned to look at him, “look where you are now.”

Firestorm looked like he wanted to protest, to flip the defense table, to pound on the floor, and to storm out of the building all at once, but he simply leaned forward.

The lawyer said, “The defense has no more questions,” and walked back to his table.

“The defense may call its next witness.”

“The defense does not wish to call in another witness at this time, your honor,” Firestorm’s lawyer said before plopping back down in his chair.

“The prosecution may call its next witness.”

Breezefly shouted to the over-packed courthouse, “the prosecution calls Thunderlane to the stand.”

Thunderlane hung his head for a brief moment before slowly walking to the witness stand. Oh shit, oh shit. What am I going to say. Breezefly knows I killed Shiverwind. Celestia, help me. He spotted the clerk walking up to him and the rest of the crowd, thousands of them, all staring at him. He never had a problem with audiences, he was used to them when he flew in competitions. But this was different.

“Please stand.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay, I know you’re nervous.” Thunderlane glanced to the side to escape the glare of the crowd and he spotted Bucko guarding the entrance to the jury room who smiled back at him. “Look at me,” she said softly. “Please stand. Raise your right hoof. Do you promise that the testimony you will give in the case before this court is be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, Celestia and Luna?”

“I do.”

“Please state your name for the record.”

“Thunderlane.”

“You may be seated.” The mare walked away, almost brushing against Breezefly as he walked up Thunderlane. He looked into Breezefly’s green-blue eyes and tried to see if he still had a little spark of friendliness that he used to have all the time. It was ironic, Thunderlane used to make fun of Breezefly all the time for being weak, but now Breezefly was about to interrogate him like a criminal.

“Now Thunderlane,” he spat, “the prosecution, the orphanage, and all of these ponies in the crowd want to believe that Firestorm is also responsible for Shiverwind’s death in order to make the case more comprehensive. Do you agree with that?”

Should I lie? He already knows the truth… “No.”

“You don’t think that all of the charges brought against Firestorm are legitimate?”

“Uh… that’s right.”

“Which charge is that?” Breezefly was purposefully taking foal steps.

“I don’t think Firestorm is responsible for Shiverwind’s death,” Thunderlane declared curtly. He briefly looked at Cloud Chaser before Breezefly blocked his vision.

“How odd of you to think that,” he said sarcastically. “I can guarantee you that Firestorm will go free if the culprit behind Shiverwind’s murder is not found. Cloud Chaser will be in danger if you do not tell the court who murdered Shiverwind.”

“Why is that?”

“You weren’t paying attention. I didn’t accuse Firestorm of killing Shiverwind when I examined him and your fillyfriend said that she wasn’t raped for information. This and many other things are really inconsistent. The jury is not convinced, Thunderlane. Not one iota of evidence has been produced. I have not proven and I have not tried to prove that Firestorm had raped your fillyfriend, he confessed that himself; I also did not try to prove that Firestorm killed Shiverwind. So, as we stand now, Shiverwind goes free if the jury deliberates. Even though he confessed, there is still no evidence. But there is one thing that condemns him. There is one thing that makes him guilty of gleaning information from Cloud Chaser. There is one thing that makes him guilty of attempting to frame you.

“On down the line, Firestorm has been framing ponies for crimes that seemed suspicious and plausible, yet were nevertheless not committed. Cadet after cadet after cadet he accused and the court declared all of them innocent and declared that the accusations were mere guesses. But yesterday, Firestorm pulled another card from the deck… and he guessed right this time. It just so happens that his accusation came true, did it not?

“Thunderlane.” He swallowed hard before saying, “Did you kill Shiverwind?” Breezefly stared Thunderlane down like a cornered beast until he couldn’t help but to feel some sympathy. He looked down at his document titled Black-White and he grew nervous. And then, after a long pause, Breezefly did what Thunderlane never would’ve expected. Breezefly kneeled down in front of Thunderlane like he was begging. “Please. Celestia.” Breezefly sniffled. “D… did you kill Shiverwind?”

Dead silence followed.

…

I’m doing this for Cloud Chaser. Firestorm will be locked up, I can end this.

…

Breezefly whispered, “My old friend is in there somewhere.”

I have to end this.

…

“I…” his voice evaporated. “I… I killed Shiverwind.”

One huge collective gasp rolled through the audience followed by a mixture of booing, yelling, mumbling, and hoof stomping.

The judge pounded his gavel again, but the crowd didn’t settle down. “Silence. Guards!” The police rushed into the crowd and wrestled everypony back down to their seats. They suppressed the anger in the crowd, but they didn’t completely defuse the bomb.

“Why?” Breezefly snapped, still kneeling on the ground. “Did you kill him out of defense?”

“No,” Thunderlane said firmly.

“Did you kill him out of ang-”

“-No!” Thunderlane shouted resolutely.

“W… why? Why?” Breezefly couldn’t hold back his burning terror. “Why!”

“Because… because… I believed killing him was… the right thing to do. After I saw how he treated me… and especially Cloud Chaser...” Thunderlane’s emotions shifted from raw fear to raw anger. “And I know now that Shiverwind didn’t deserve to die… but he didn’t deserve to talk to anypony. He didn’t deserve to talk to his daughters the way he did. I killed him out of justice... because he called me a rapist and he suspected me of running off with his daughter. He was a terrible, terrible stallion. But it was my fault. Cloud Chaser and I felt bad enough for him that we dug a proper grave for his body… even though I knew he didn’t deserve that either.”

“Was it out of respect or was it to hide the evidence?”

“The grave is definitely not hidden, it has a headstone.”

Breezefly stood up and backtracked a little. The audience still buzzed behind him. “If you killed Shiverwind, why did you accuse Firestorm of your crime?”

“At first I didn’t. I wanted to throw Firestorm in prison for raping my fillyfriend because I wanted clean my name by handing him over to the police. I tried to capture Firestorm to clear my name.”

“What?” Breezefly turned around, completely pissed that he said exactly what he tried to argue to Thunderlane not to say.

“Cloud Chaser wanted me to clear my name because she wanted me to live my life without any ghosts from the past.” Breezefly turned his back on him. “Listen, Breezefly, I’m telling you the truth: I wanted to turn Firestorm in so I could clear my name.”

“So it wasn’t anger. So it wasn’t defense.” Breezefly narrowed his eyes, “What kind of sick justice do you think Equestria operates using? Did you think that by turning him in, you would be able to wash away your past?” Breezefly snarled, releasing all of his pent up anger from the last few months, “I guess you can tell that hasn’t gone well. Thunderlane, I can’t, I can’t help you anymore. You’re too far gone for me to help. Maybe a stronger stallion will roll by, but you’re the same selfish stallion you were when you first met Cloud Chaser and Cloud Chaser is the same selfish mare when she first met you. I’m leaving you after this case.” Breezefly couldn’t stop himself from shaking. “Thank you, I have no other questions, your honor.”

“Does the defense have any questions?”

“Yes, your honor. I-”

“-Wait.” Firestorm interrupted.

“The defendant may not talk out of term. I ask you to-”

“-Ladies and gentlecolts of the court,” he boomed imperiously, knowing that the judge had all but lost control over the court. “Thunderlane here is the larger evil. He murdered Shiverwind out of what he calls justice, he tried to push that crime onto my record, and he wanted to throw me into prison all because he wants to wash his hooves of the blood he spilled eight weeks ago. I merely raped Cloud Chaser to gain information. Thunderlane is a much worse pony than I am. There’s no doubt about-”

“-No.” The singular word hushed the crowd. “Even though many ponies may believe that murder is a worse crime than rape… and I can’t say if I believe that or not. Firestorm will and forever shall be the worst pony to have lived in Cloudsdale. I may have blood on my hooves, but I stand here at this witness box as the lesser of two evils.” Breezefly turned his back on Thunderlane. “I may have only wanted to bring you to justice because I wanted to selfishly clean my name of my crime and in so doing, I put my precious Cloud Chaser at risk. She was held hostage after all.

“I know now that turning you in in exchange for clearing my name won’t compensate for my wrongdoing, and that telling the truth won’t make the guilt or the punishment go away,” Breezefly’s ears perked up, “but even after all of my crimes and my selfish reasons are said, I firmly believe that I am the lesser of two evils because I, whether you believe it or not, I feel guilty. I do have a guilty conscious and I’m proud of it. I wouldn’t be the stallion I am today if I didn’t feel guilty for the crime I committed eight weeks ago. I don’t know how I’ll reconcile my crimes when I’m in prison, but I can tell you that my guilt sets me free.

“Firestorm, on the other hoof, feels no guilt at all.” Breezefly turned around as the crowd went ballistic. “He is evil because he has no guilt.” Thunderlane shouted, “He is evil because he doesn’t care that he raped my fillyfriend. He is evil because he calls it a means to an end. He is evil because he framed all of those cadets for crimes they didn’t commit. He is evil because he treats her sister, Spitfire, like a criminal for harboring flyers that want to so fiercely turn over a new page in their lives, just like I do. Firestorm doesn’t care about laws or about hearts and spirits. Whatever form of justice he thinks he has, it’s twisted and wrong. I’m sorry, but he’s not reconcilable; remember that.” Knowing that the judge and the police were no longer in control of the crowds, Thunderlane stepped down himself and walked into the crowd.

The crowd overpowered the police and many of them flew straight towards Firestorm. Thunderlane couldn’t see what happened to Firestorm, but he could tell by the incessant screaming that it wasn’t good. With the crowds to protect him from the police, he managed to slip by all the way out of the courthouse.

Once he was outdoors again, he flew away from the courthouse. He didn’t even know where he was going, he just kept flying and flying. The sky was pitch black now and it was hard for him to imagine that all of this happened within the span of one day.

Thunderlane found a stray cloud floating above Cloudsdale and he sat on the fluffiness. Fear, anger, and sorrow all danced together in his heart and all he could do was think… emotionlessly… like Breezefly who could only see the world in black and white. He saw that Firestorm and Thunderlane were both criminals, and he acted accordingly. He didn’t care if Thunderlane felt guilty, he was still just as responsible as before.

Eventually, Thunderlane couldn’t even think anymore. He simply sat there, unable to do anything; his very soul was in shock.

The faint summer night breeze woke up his senses and he saw that the breeze came from the gentle flapping of Cloud Chaser’s wings.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I did you a great disservice today, Cloud Chaser. I’m no better than your father.” He looked down in defeat before she slapped him hard.

“Don’t you ever compare yourself with the stallion you killed. You’re still better than he was.” She paused suddenly. “Breezefly is right.”

“He doesn’t know what I… I…”

“I know he doesn’t have the same feelings that we have, that we’re capable of having. But he is right. If you want to show me strength, go back to the courthouse and turn yourself in. I’d rather visit you in prison than to escape with a ghost following us.”

“They’ll arrest you too. You aided and abetted.”

“Y’know.”

“What?”

“All of this would’ve been avoided if you just decided to buck me last night like I wanted.” She grinned.

“You…”

“I’m kidding. If you turn yourself in and if you’re locked up, you’ll finally be free. And me too, I’ll be there along with you.” They nodded at each other and flew back to the courthouse.

Firestorm felt a great weight lifted off of his shoulders as he flew for what he thought was the very last time.

Part VI

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Part III

Saturday, April 30

The Past

“It’s freezing out here,” whined Breezefly as he and Thunderlane casually flew through the clouds and the buildings of Cloudsdale on their way to the Wonderbolt training complex. The sun was still below the horizon and the cold night reminded them that winter still lingered.

They passed through the center of Cloudsdale, staring at all the buildings as they tried to shake off the cold. The quiet morning allowed them to focus on things they didn’t see during the day like the pastries in the bakery, the ‘help wanted’ sign inside the window of the law firm, and all the ponies working bizarre shifts they rarely saw.

He shivered. “Yeah, it is cold. Once I get the blood pumping, it won’t matter anymore,” Thunderlane boomed confidently, his eyes twinkling with excitement for his first race as a reservist. “I’m stoked that you could watch my first race, I know normal ponies don’t get up at five in the morning just to race.”

“It’s fine, It’s nice that I’m up anyway, I have an important interview this morning and I hope I get the job.” Breezfly assumed that Thunderlane knew what he was talking about, but Thunderlane was so nervous about the upcoming race that he completely forgot about Breezefly’s new job. The two of them flew up to the front gate of the training complex before Breezefly stopped flying. He said confused, “So, how does the reserve work again?”

“There are about a half a dozen races that the reservists compete in to become a Wonderbolt. Each race, more and more ponies are cut from the reserves until only a few ponies in the highest class are eligible to become a Wonderbolt. I’m gonna make it to the top.”

Breezefly smiled back at Thunderlane. “You’re the best flyer I know, Thunder.”

“You’re the best friend I’ll ever know. I remember when I used to only visit Cloudsdale for flight camp--I lived in Ponyville at the time--and you helped me get used to the place. I was shyer then, and-”

“-Now you’re the most brazen stallion in this city.”

“Well anyway, I remember when you defended me in front of those three bullies that one day. I remember the looks on their faces when you told them to shut up and to race me… and I ended up blowing them out of the water. If it wasn’t for you, I might never have realized that I was an awesome flyer.”

“If it wasn’t for you, I might never have realized how good I am at lecturing ponies.” The two of them chuckled. “Now with this new career, I’m gonna be a professional lecturer.” The two of them laughed. “Don’t worry, you’re gonna do fine,” he said, putting a hoof on Thunderlane’s shoulder for a moment before flying up to the stands where the other guests and relatives were mingling.

Thunderlane quickly lined up with the dozens and dozens of other reservists before Spitfire could notice that he was late. Towards the other end of the line, he noticed Cloud Chaser standing awkwardly next to a stallion named Drifter. Even though Thunderlane had only been dating Cloud Chaser for a few months, he still couldn’t stand anypony else standing next to her.

Especially not him. Thunderlane remembered the rumors. He killed his wingpony Emerald Skies after the first day of reserve training. I don’t trust him with anypony. He was right, everypony else gave him a wide berth in the line.

“Attention,” shouted Spitfire. The cadets snapped into position forming one single file line down the runway. Many of the cadets looked into Spitfire’s eyes, trying to figure out what kind of regimen she planned to shove them through before the big race. “I can feel all of your fear. I’m sure it’s comforting to hear that over half of you will be gone in an hour, but since I’m nice, let’s have a little warm up race to take your minds off of your imminent failure.”

The cadets simply stood there, not really sure what was going on.

“What are you waiting for? Twenty laps. Move!” Spitfire shouted as the reservists clumsily took to flight. “Don’t kill yourselves with this little race, all of you need to conserve your energy for the real deal.” She glowered at a straggling stallion. “But that doesn’t mean you can lollygag. Push it, Drifter.

Thunderlane pushed ahead of the other cadets within the span of only a few laps and he managed to keep the lead up until he crossed the finished line. He and the other recruits panted, feeling a little bit more relaxed despite the cold.

“That was one of the sluggish races I have ever seen. Now that you got all the slowness and laziness out of your systems, it’s time to line up at the starting line.” Spitfire’s glare prompted all the recruits to rush into formation.

“Now what? Aren’t we gonna train before the race?” A stallion said a little too fast.

“Yeah, what about, like, stretching and stuff?” Another mare quipped.

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “I told you to come prepared. It’s too bad for all of you out there who didn’t think to train during your free time. I gave you plenty of time to prepare for this race.” Spitfire marched on down the line of pegasi, looking at each one of them through her sunglasses and straight into the eyes. She knew immediately which ponies were nervous and which ones were completely cool. Spitfire eventually made her way over to Thunderlane. “I bet you think you have this race in the bag; you remind me of Rainbow Dash… I like that.” She noticed Thunderlane was standing next to Cloud Chaser and smirked. “Just don’t get all lazy and mushy on me, okay?”

“Yes ma’am.”

She stepped back to address the entire squadron. “Take your positions.” The crowd in the stands stopped mumbling to themselves as the cadets lined up before the starting line. “On your marks.” The reservists leaned into position and spread their wings for the first push. “Get set.” The audience could hear a collective inhale.

A horn sounded from somewhere behind them and the pegasi lurched into action. Soon enough, they were all out of sight, enveloped by a grey thundercloud blanket that loomed over Cloudsdale.

Spitfire flew back to the stands with a few guests and friends of the reservists. The grey clouds obscured the flyers from her prying sight, but she knew they would have to come down eventually. The racers had to fly around Cloudsdale one hundred times.

A security pony flew up to her and said, “Spitfire.”

“What?” Spitfire didn’t turn to look that the guard.

“Eh… y’know how y’said that if, uh, your brother ever tried to interrupt a,” Spitfire whipped her head around and shot a deafening glare at the stallion, “...tried to interrupt a… a race… that I should ignore anything he says.”

“What about it?” She hissed.

“Uh… he says you might want to-”

“-What?”

“...Listen to him… or else he, well, he says you might lose your best reservist.” The guard stood there awkwardly while his mouth grew into a nervous smile and his eyes darted around.

Spitfire stared back icily and snapped, “What does he want?”

Just then, an orange pegasus with a grey and electric yellow mane pushed the guard out of the way and trotted right up to Spitfire. He easily returned Spitfire’s stare; he knew that Spitfire needed to hear what he had to say. “What do I want, you say?” he asked rhetorically. “I think you know perfectly well what I want.”

“Where were you? You’re supposed to stay at home.” Anxiety crept behind her eyes.

“Stay at home?” Firestorm chuckled. “I’m a free spirit, little sis. Besides, you don’t trust me to stay there every second of every day, that’s just ludicrous. I feel like I’m under house arrest.”

“Where were you?”

“ Oh, nowhere important, I promise. It’s not like you would trust me to tell you where I really was. But that’s okay… because I don’t trust you either anymore.”

“Where… were… you?”

Firestorm sat right next to his sister Spitfire as the two of them watched the racers reemerge from the clouds above; one lap down. His expression changed into something indecipherable. “D’you know Thunderlane?” He paused, realizing how dumb the question sounded. “Of course you know Thunderlane. He’s the best flyer in the reserves and you know it without question. I’ve also noticed he’s been-”

“-Where-”

“-I’m so glad you asked that,” he interrupted. “You see, I’ve noticed that Thunderlane has been hanging around a mare named Cloud Chaser and I can’t help but to notice some… similarities. If you really want to know where I was, I was talking to her father, Shiverwind.”

“Why-”

“-Truth be told,” he interrupted again, “Shiverwind hates Thunderlane. I can’t imagine why. Though, I suspect he isn’t very fond of his daughter either.” He looked at Spitfire, waiting for a response.

“Why does any of that matter? You’re gonna try to ruin his reputation just like you did to Drifter and to countless other reservists.” She stood up and glared down at him, but Firestorm was not fazed at all.

“Ding, ding, ding, you are correct, Ms. Spitfire, you win the game. It took you long enough.”

“But why?”

...

Firestorm’s acidically jovial demeanor was replaced by cold anger and frustration. He walked away from Spitfire and towards the edge of the stands while making sure that everypony else was out of earshot. “You should really be thanking me.”

“What? Why the buck should I do that?”

“I have risked my freedom on many occasions in order to keep the Wonderbolts… clean. Above all, I have kept your crimes a secret from the rest of Cloudsdale. That’s why you should be thanking me.”

“What crimes? You’re the one who continues to frame ponies for crimes they don’t commit-”

“-And it’s all to remind you of what a wretched mare you’ve become. That is how I’ve risked my liberty, my life. It’s inappropriate that a criminal like you continues to order me to stay out of the public eye when you acquiesce to reservists who are suspected of felonies like Drifter and all the stallions and mares that came before him. You can’t deny what you’ve done.” He turned towards the guard he shoved out of the way earlier. “I think I’m done here.” He spread his wings and took off in an icy fury.

“You get back here!” Spitfire yelled, but Firestorm was already too far away.

The guard nervously trotted up to Spitfire and quivered, “Eh… what was that all about?”

“Don’t listen to anything he says. He’s a manipulator and I don’t really know why he does any of the things he does.”

“Can’t you arrest him?”

“He’s committed no crime.”

“But didn’t we figure out that Emerald Skies was killed because of a stunt accident and not because Drifter killed her? Can’t we arrest Firestorm for accusing Drifter of murder?”

“We can’t.”

“Why?”

“He only ‘suspected it,’” Spitfire said in a mocking voice of her brother. “He’s too slippery anyway.” She paused for a moment. “I can’t warn Thunderlane either or else my brother’ll find out.” He hates me too, I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to arrest me or kill me or whatever. I don’t even know why does he’s doing this. She hit herself in the head. Come on Spitfire, nothing he says is true, it’s all just a flurry of lies. She backed up from the from the edge of the stands. But what if it’s true this time? I can’t risk him framing the Wonderbolts.

Spitfire and the guard flew away from the stands now at a loss of what to do.

A few hours later

The reservists flew around the Weather Factory on their last lap. Everypony turned up the heat and blitzed for the last mile, fueling the fire underneath their wings. Spitfire hovered at the finish line, waiting to cut the pegasi who would move on in their training from those who would be sent home.

Thunderlane was nowhere to be seen.

A mare with a navy blue coat came in neck and neck with another mare with a blood red coat. A beige stallion quickly followed in third place. After that, the racers thinned out until Thunderlane roared passed the finish line in ninth place.

He circled around and landed next to the other reservists, attempting to catch his breath. Thunderlane comfortably made the cut, but his clear lead over the other cadets was completely lost. Looking at the finish line, Thunderlane noticed Spitfire tying a chain across the two flag poles once a yellow coated mare crossed; everypony behind her was officially cut from the training program. Thunderlane turned back to face the other cadets, not wanting to see the disappointed looks of the other recruits.

“Tough flight.” Cloud Chaser waltzed up to Thunderlane and shoved him in the shoulder.

“Did you make the cut?”

“Of course, I was right behind you for most of the race.” She noticed his face fall. “Hey, don’t let your spirits sink, even the best flyers have their off days. Besides, I don’t want you to lose that personality of yours just because you can’t prove yourself every second of every day. We’re just ponies after all.”

“Yeah. Thanks for supporting me all this time. I guess that’s why I love you.” He made sure everypony else was far enough away.

“Oh Thunderlane, you sound so cute and stupid when you try to be romantic.” He blushed, beating himself up over how easily he was trapped. She giggled for a while before her expression darkened a little. Thunderlane could see her eyes weighed down with tiredness. “Look, we’ve been dating for a while… I think you should finally meet my father Shiverwind.”

“I’m sure that’ll go well for me. From what I heard, I’m gonna get slaughtered.” But when Thunderlane noticed that Cloud Chaser’s smile was completely evaporated, he stopped chuckling. “Oh… I’m sorry, I thought-”

“-It’s fine, Thunder. I’m only asking because dad wants to see you. Believe me, I would never drag you over to see my father if I had a choice.” She leaned in close to Thunderlane. “When I turn eighteen, I want to run away with you. I feel like I’m in prison.” A deep silence settled over the two of them before Cloud Chaser finally said, “Let’s get this over with. I’ll deal with Spitfire.”

The two of them flew up to the finish line, but they turned around when they saw that Spitfire had disappeared.

“Where is she?” Cloud Chaser wondered.

“I don’t know.” Thunderlane looked down at a Wonderbolt crew worker. “Let’s ask him.” He quickly dived down and landed right in front of the guard. “Where is Spitfire?”

“Eh… she has some, uh, personal business to attend to.”

Thunderlane’s yellowish eyes narrowed, but he simply shrugged and walked away, not wanting to deal with Spitfire’s constant sarcasm anyway. “Alright, we need to get out of here,” he boomed before taking off. Cloud Chaser meekly followed behind, terrified of what her father might say.

However, before Thunderlane completely left the training complex, he saw his good friend Breezefly waving at him from below, trying desperately to get his attention. Cloud Chaser didn’t notice anything.

“Stay here, I want to talk to my friend before we leave.” Cloud Chaser was about to object, but she heard an edge of anxiousness in his voice and decided not to say anything.

Thunderlane touched down right in front of Breezefly and said, “What is it?”

“Awesome job out there. I know you didn’t make first, but I noticed you beat your previous mile time by almost thirty seconds.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I must be the only one that notices stuff like that.” Breezefly looked really pleased with himself, but his jovial mood dissolved into worry. “You’ve never done an endurance race like that before, have you?”

“No.”

“Well, you did good anyway.” He paused, not wanting to divulge what he really wanted to say. “Look. You’re my friend, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And you trust me, right?”

“Of course I tr-”

“-Then you have to listen to me… for your own safety.” He rubbed the back of his neck

Thunderlane backed up and barred his teeth. “What are you saying, Breezefly? I can protect myself from anything at all. Me, you, Cloud Chaser, anypony along the way, I can protect any of them. I don’t get what you’re saying. ‘For your own safety,’ what do you really mean?”

Breezefly let Thunderlane calm down; he knew he hit a sensitive nerve. He continued, “As your friend, I want you to stop dating Cloud Chaser.”

…

“What? Why would I… why would you… if I…” he short circuited.

Breezefly said in an uneasily calm voice, “Listen, Thunderlane. You have to stay out of trouble. If you keep dating her, you will be dragged into a relationship that will drain all of your energy, that will make her always anxious all the time, and that will make it impossible for you to truly love her with all your heart.” Breezefly could see red hot anger devouring Thunderlane whole and he could see his yellow eyes glow with a lethal rage he never saw before in his life. But he ignored all of it and forged on. “And I, I know her father, Thunderlane. Shiverwind, from what I know, has already destroyed your chance to make a lasting relationship with her. You don’t want to do this, I’m telling you…”

“...And what if I do? If her father is really as bad as you say, we can just run away and forget about Shiverwind.” Thunderlane still shook in anger, but he felt a tiny drop of appreciation for Breezefly’s counsel.

“You can’t just fly away. Even if you fly faster than Rainbow Dash or Spitfire herself, the blood of the past will always slash and tear into the present. I hear lawyers talk about it time and time again… about how criminals think they have successfully locked their skeletons in their closets. And yet they are the ones who can’t sleep at night because of them. Criminals are afraid of the monsters of their past.” Breezefly looked like he wanted to continue, but he trailed off instead.

“But we’ve done nothing wrong. We aren’t criminals.” Thunderlane’s anger reignited again. “What’s criminal about wanting to save Cloud Chaser from her father if what you say is true? Huh? Answer me that, you bucker.”

“Control yourself, Thunderlane. I know you and if you get too protective, you will lash out. You can’t go out with a mare who has a nasty home life and a turbulent heart willy nilly like you’ve been doing all these years-”

“-Well then I’ll stick with Cloud Chaser. Besides, I love her more than any other mare before her.” Breezefly stared at Thunderlane vertically with a deadpan look.

“You won’t be happy… neither of you will. I’m telling you, I’ve already thought about what you were going to say before you even said it. If what I heard is right, she’s broken beyond your repair.”

“No. I will try to fix her… I will help her. I won’t ever listen to anything you say; you’re always a pessimist anyway.”

“Fine. If you aren’t going to be mature enough to listen to my advice, just go and try to prove me wrong. I won’t help you when you come crawling back to me.” Thunderlane tried to fly away, but Breezefly snapped at him. “You’re so predictable. Before you fly away, I have to tell you something.”

“What? What could you possibly want from me now?”

“For the safety of both of you, you must stay away from her. You can keep on ignoring me like you have, but don’t forget I said that, okay?”

“I will help her,” he boomed.

“Okay?”

“You’ll see. I’ll be there for her… always.”

“I’m asking you a question: is that okay?”

“Yes-”

“-Then every action you take must be for her sake. Okay? I’m not looking at the old, selfish Thunderlane anymore, I’m looking at a new Thunderlane; a Thunderlane who will help and protect her, a Thunderlane who won’t save his own coat or prove his point if it hurts her, a Thunderlane who might, just might have the good sense to do what’s right for both of them.” Breezefly’s voice grew deeper and more epic. “Go to Cloud Chaser’s home, learn what it’s like to live like she does, and tell her that you have to leave for both of your sakes. Don’t let the old you take control of your mind and heart and tell you what to do. Fight the old you off… and do it for her sake because you’ve already disrespected me. Okay?”

“I can’t tell her-”

“-I thought you were Thunderlane, the strong stallion who said you would protect her from anything at all. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, Celestia dammit, get out of my sight and go be her hero.” Breezefly still looked pissed, but there was a certain stirring behind his eyes. Before Thunderlane completely left, he thought he smelled a little bit of pride in Breezefly.

But when Thunderlane saw Cloud Chaser again, his fiery anger was sapped and replaced with chilly fear. I can’t tell her I have to leave her. I can’t. He shook his head. No, I don’t believe what Breezefly says, we can escape, we can leave, she’s almost eighteen.

“What did he say?” She asked in a soothing voice.

“Oh, nothing important. We were just joking about the race.” He thought of something. “Do you trust Breezefly?”

“I do. He’s a lot like you… except not as fast,” she snickered, “and not nearly as hot headed.”

“Who’re you calling hot headed? I’m not hot headed,” he said accusingly.

She giggled, almost forgetting that they both had to meet her father. “Come on now. I don’t want to stay here too late, the weather ponies are scheduling a wild thunderstorm later today.” She looked up, noticing that the sky had already darkened considerably. Even though it was only the afternoon, the sky made it seem like it was the middle of the night. “We’ll get my dad out of the way soon enough.”

If only Shiverwind wasn’t around like Breezefly said, we wouldn’t have this problem. I don’t even know who he is.

Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane flew east towards the city where Cloud Chaser lived, leaving behind Breezefly and Thunderlane’s past self behind, hopefully for forever.

A bright thunderclap lit up the row of ionic pillars in front of them, revealing a two story dwelling carved into the side of a cloud much like all the other homes in downtown Cloudsdale. It was Cloud Chaser’s home. Lights flashed on inside one of the windows warning the two that Shiverwind was home and that he had noticed them.

Good timing too, the rain is falling harder now. “What should I say to him?” Thunderlane asked nervously.

“I don’t know. Just act natural… you’re more nervous than I am for some reason.” Normally, Cloud Chaser would poke fun at Thunderlane’s fear, but she was too scared herself to say anything.

Cloud Chaser didn’t bother to knock and the two of them walked right in. In the middle of the room and right in front of them were stairs that lead up to the second floor. To the right was a dingy kitchen and a folding plastic table and plastic chairs that served as their dining room. To the left was a living area filled with lots of trash and empty bottles. On the left wall was a brand new poster of the Wonderbolts; it was a giant mural-sized landscape poster and it looked like it cost a pretty bit.

Suddenly, hoofsteps galloped down the stairs as Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser noticed a shadowy figure emerge. The figure stepped into the light revealing Flitter, Cloud Chaser’s little twin sister.

“Hey sis,” she said tiredly but enthusiastically nonetheless. She backed up, noticing Thunderlane, “Woah, nice catch sis. I always thought you were lying whenever you talked about having a coltfriend. Where can I get another one of him?”

Thunderlane felt his face burning as the two of them broke out in laughter.

“The Wonderbolt reserves. All I had to do to get him was to ignore dad and race with the other cadets. It turns out I’m pretty good.”

“No, really good,” Thunderlane corrected.

“I’m not at your level.”

“You came right behind me.”

“True.” She turned to look into the living room and noticed a new stain in the carpet. The color looked unusual. “Hey Flitter, where’s dad?”

“Oh, he’s out talking with a new friend of his, he’ll be back at any moment. He has to be or else he’ll be pummeled by the thunderstorm. I just read the news earlier and they said the factory workers made over a thousand thunderclouds today… they haven’t done that in at least a decade.”

“Did he say anything about me?”

“He said he’s eager to hear how the first race went.”

“‘Eager’ is an interesting choice of words,” she growled.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you know, Flitter? Dad doesn’t want me to become a Wonderbolt. He says trying out for the team is a useless waste of time.”

“Yeah, well he’s a hater. Besides, you have a coltfriend who is first in his class. Maybe if you marry him,-”

“-You’re getting a little ahead of yourself there-”

“-You wouldn’t have to deal with dad anymore.” Cloud Chaser froze as soon as Flitter finished.

That’s it. That’s how I’m getting out of here. Thunderlane will become a Wonderbolt and I’ll live comfortably with him for the rest of my life… I won’t have Shiverwind breathing down my back all the time. I’ll… I’ll be free. She stared at the landscape Wonderbolts poster.

“I see you hung up the poster I gave you. I thought you would’ve hung it up in your room,” Thunderlane commented idly.

“My room isn’t big enough for it to fit.”

“It looks nice anyway.” Thunderlane noticed Cloud Chaser’s odd expression. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s kind of awkward to ask right now… but I just thought… that… since we’ve been dating for a while and since we’ve flown together and been in a relationship for a long time, do you think we… we should… stay together. I mean, once I’m eighteen and once Shiverwind has no more legal custody over me, do you want me to live at your house and…”

“...I know what you mean. Escape. Start over. Cloud Chaser,” he put a hoof over her shoulder, no longer caring that Flitter watched them, “I… I want that… an escape. I want that for you too. But I…” For the safety of both of you, you must stay away from her. The memory sabotaged his thoughts. For the safety of both of you, you must stay away from her. The line ricocheted around in his head like a nightmarish bouncy ball. The old Thunderlane. I have to fight him. He shut his eyes as he thought of the right thing and the easy thing fighting for power over his mind and heart. Thunderlane decided, “...I will stay with you… for your sake. I want you to be comfortable with me, to be safe with me, to be loved with me. Okay?”

She nodded her head and looked up at him with those glossy, radiant pink eyes of hers, and suddenly, they looked a million times more beautiful. I’m saving her, Breezefly. I can’t be wrong, he argued in his mind. Her icy mane shimmered more brightly than he ever noticed it before. I’m doing this for her sake, Breezefly. The old me won’t come back. I’m free. Thunderlane couldn’t peel his eyes off of her and he couldn’t help but to say, “Cloud Chaser…”

“Hmm?” She moaned.

“...You don’t know how badly I’ve wanted to-”

And just then, the front door violently swung open and a thunderclap revealed the toothy grin of Shiverwind. His silvery coat and his crew cut icy blue mane only reflected his masked anger for all of them to see. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he hissed softly as he prowled around the two of them and into the living area.

“No, you aren’t,” Thunderlane said shakily.

“Good.”

“Dad, did you hear that Cloud Chaser will marry Thunderlane?” Flitter said excitedly in a fangirlish sort of way.

“Not now Flitter,” Cloud Chaser whispered through grit teeth.

“Really now. That’s the first I’ve heard of it.” He slithered a little more to the left side of the room. “I guess being a really good cadet flyer for the Wonderbolts is all he has to do to convince you to sleep with him. How convenient... how pitiful.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?” He snapped.

“Why are you so rude to Thunderlane? He has never been anything less than respectful.” Cloud Chaser made sure to sound frustrated with her father, but deep down, she was deathly terrified.

“Don’t play games with me, Chaser. I’ve been noticing things about you two that you might not know about. Why do you keep doing this reserve business?”

“I made the cut.”

“Oh, congratulations, you made the first cut out of many, many other cuts. Good job,” he glowered sarcastically.

“You weren’t there to see me race; how can you say good job?”

“Me not being at the race should give you the tiniest of hints that I don’t support your quest to become a Wonderbolt,” he delivered the last part in a mock heroic voice. “Besides, the real question is: what was your place?”

“What?”

“You heard me! What was your place?”

“Uh… tenth…”

“Tenth place. You know that the Wonderbolts only take the top one or two flyers from each class, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So then why in Celestia’s regal land of Equestria are you even trying? It’s not because you want to be like your knight in shining armor, eh?”

“Dad, to tell you the truth…” Shiverwind’s eyes widened when he didn’t hear any shakiness in her voice, “I’ve been flying in the reserves with Thunderlane because he is the first in his class and that when, like Flitter said, I marry him, I will live comfortably for the rest of my life.” Cloud Chaser said the truth. She even dared to add, “Away from you.”

“Interesting.” He turned to face Thunderlane. “What was your place in the race today?”

The two of them exchanged glances. Thunderlane pawed at the ground before meekly murmuring, “ninth.”

“Ninth place? That’s so cute. You two were flying together? Aww. Unfortunately, it looks like Cloud Chaser’s fantasy isn’t coming true if you got ninth place today.”

“Everypony has their off day,” Thunderlane remarked, remembering what Cloud Chaser told him earlier.

“Bullshit. Rainbow Dash had a perfect first place record for every single race and she was even waitlisted. Don’t you understand. You just can’t waltz into the Wonderbolts.”

“I-”

“-I think you do understand,” he snarled. “You’re doing this because you think you’re hot stuff and Cloud Chaser’s doing this because she’s a naive little foal who can’t tell the difference between a stallion who wants to take care of her and feed her and clothe her and a stallion who just wants to buck her.” Breezefly turned towards Cloud Chaser. “Go upstairs to your room now. I’m going to ask for this insane cadet… this rapist… to leave. Now!”

“No.” The firm declaration flew a few laps around the room in victory before it kicked Shiverwind straight in the gut.

“No?”

“That’s right. I’m not listening to you anymore. I’m done.”

“You’re not going to listen to your father, the person who feeds you, pays for your doctor visits, pays for your physicals, pays taxes so you can go to school for free, devotes free time so I can listen to you carry on and whine about your issues? Dammit, filly, it’s out of my own goodwill that I feed you and keep you alive; if I was any less generous,” he pointed to Thunderlane, “like all those thieving and manipulating stallions such as him over there, you’d be dead. Now go upstairs to your room and stay there or I will send for the police.”

Cloud Chaser, no longer feeling rebellious, strutted up the stairs in a mixture of absolute terror and anger.

“And as for you, I want an explanation.” He shouted at Thunderlane.

“I’m not a rapist. I never-” Thunderlane’s rage was cut short by a sudden ripping sound. Shiverwind tore the Wonderbolts poster off the wall and shredded it into a shower of confetti.

“Get out of my house. I won’t let you mess with me, my home, or my property.”

“You mean your daughter.”

“You-”

“-Shiverwind. I will take care of your daughter. I will give her back all the years she has never lived because of you. All you are doing by shoving me out of your house is postponing the inevitable. You heard her, she’s leaving you whether you’re strong enough to accept it or not.”

“Don’t lecture me. There is nothing reasonable about what you’re doing.” Thunderlane was about to bite back with another remark, but Shiverwind snaked out of the front door, barred the door from the outside, and ran away from his own house.

Thunderlane wrestled with the door knob before he gave up on the device, stood back, and bucked down the door from the inside. The door and the chair that was propped up behind it shattered in a single kick. “Where are you?” He shouted as he felt the flames in his body growing into an inferno. He’s trying to make it sound like I’m the criminal. He shook at the thought of Cloud Chaser crying alone in her room. He’s responsible for making Cloud Chaser’s life miserable; he's ignored her, neglected her, and abused her… and now he’s gonna accuse me of rape? He boomed. “Get over here, Shiverwind, show me that you really care about your daughter… show me that you’ll defend her.”

Shiverwind lumbered back into view. “You can’t twist the truth, Thunderlane. I was tipped off by a good friend of mine that you would show up eventually and that you would try to play these mind games on me. Well it won’t work. He confirmed my suspicions as well, I always knew you were a rapist.” He twitched in rage as his sharp blue eyes bore into Thunderlane’s soul with a hatred he couldn’t help to understand.

The inferno burned and consumed Thunderlane; his greyish blue mohawk mane was seared in the heat and his eyes blazed furiously as they focused straight on Shiverwind and the pain and sorrow he had caused his daughter over the years. And to think I only learned about how much of a bucker he’s acted like to her for the past eighteen years of her life for the first time today. He bellowed, “I may have my flaws…” he opened his wings, ready to charge, “But I’m not a rapist.” Thunderlane shot straight at Shiverwind and although Shiverwind saw the attack coming, he didn’t have enough time to get out of the way.

Thunderlane slammed Shiverwind against the marble wall of his dwelling.

“You can’t have have my daughter…” Thunderlane shoved both of his front two hooves into Shiverwind’s neck in an attempt to get him to shut up. “You… filthy… rapist.”

“No. Shut up.” Thunderlane applied more pressure, having already successfully pinned him beyond escape. “Since you won’t let your daughter go, I have no choice but to defend her and to take care of her like you should have all these years. I have to kill you to free her.” Thunderlane threw a fast jab straight at Shiverwind’s face, causing some crackling sounds to resound across the empty streets.

Shiverwind flew straight up into the air, waited for Thunderlane to catch up, and sent a hurling kick straight into Thunderlane’s gut. The staggering hit forced the fire within Thunderlane to concentrate into a deadly sharp focus. “Give her up.”

“Over my dead body,” Shiverwind snarled.

“So be it,” Thunderlane spat before he flew straight at Shiverwind. He tackled him in mid air, sending the two of them into an aerial tailspin. Shiverwind managed to pry Thunderlane off of him, but he only opened himself up to a quick kick to the chest. Thunderlane flew up again, but Shiverwind yanked on his wings before he flew too far away.

Thunderlane whipped around and shot a hook at Shiverwind’s face before he threw a kick right back at him. This time, however, Thunderlane wasn’t fazed at all and he lunged at Shiverwind, shouldering him in the muzzle and sending him tumbling downwards. Shiverwind managed to catch himself before he slammed into the cloud ground. Unfortunately for him, Thunderlane flew down with all the speed he could muster and kicked Shiverwind as he fell from the sky. Shiverwind stumbled back for the first time, allowing Thunderlane to take shot after shot at him.

Eventually Shiverwind bellowed, “Enough. I’ll stop. Just stay the buck away from my daughter.”

“No,” Thunderlane roared. “I won’t be talked down. I have to kill you for what you’ve done to her all her life.” He rushed at Shiverwind, and before he couldn’t step out of the way, Thunderlane landed a kick that tore open a huge gash on the side of his face. Shiverwind tried to prop himself up, but after a few moments, he collapsed on the ground. I won’t tolerate this bastard pushing around my fillyfriend, I have to end this once and for all. Thunderlane loomed over Shiverwind, lifted up his front right hoof above his head, and slammed it down on his face.

He could hear the stentorian snapping of tendons and bones, warning him that Cloud Chaser’s scourge had finally been vanquished. He could see Shiverwind’s sharp eyes slowly lose focus and he could feel his angry breathing slow down until he didn’t feel anything at all.

When Thunderlane finally realised what he had done, he stepped back, noticing that he had carved a monstrous hole on the side of his face and multiple bruises all along his side and on his chest.. Once blood flowed from the gash and from his mouth, Thunderlane couldn’t bring himself to look at him anymore. The heavy downpour quickly washed away the blood before it matted to his coat.

Thunderlane stepped back some more, his anger completely extinguished as it gave way to a sensation that straddled between pathological fear and icy satisfaction. His mind couldn’t decide how to react and his heart had trouble finding any pity. The one thing Thunderlane did know was that he was now in mortal danger… he knew the world was against him now.

“No.” He looked around wildly, now panicking. He felt his breathing go out of control as his heart raced faster than any race he’s ever raced. “I…” The old Thunderlane… he did this… Breezefly. Cloud Chaser. “I…” He shook his head, trying to stymie the tears. How do I tell Cloud Chaser?

Hoofsteps sounded inside the house, warning Thunderlane that Cloud Chaser had left her room. Thunderlane slipped inside before Cloud Chaser had the chance to investigate outside.

“What happened, why did you go outside?” She looked around some more. “Where’s dad?”

…

Thunderlane moved his mouth to make sure it was still working, but no sound could escape. Finally he managed to say, “Where’s Flitter?”

“She’s asleep. What’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a dead pony.”

“Do you like your father?” Thunderlane said bluntly.

“No.”

Thunderlane gulped. “Then… I-I think you should come outside with me… hold my hoof… it’s harder for me than it is for you…”

“What is going on?” But when Cloud Chaser didn’t hear an answer, she shrugged and followed Thunderlane slowly outside. Cloud Chaser’s eyes widened when she saw the body of her father lying on the cloud ground covered with blood and rain water.

“Cloud… Chaser… I… it was my fault. I…”

Strangely, Cloud Chaser became more articulate when she heard what he said. “We need to forget about this, Thunderlane. My dad is out of the way. We can live together happily now that he won’t try to divide us anymore. Take me away, Thunderlane, I don’t want to feel like shit anymore.” She paused to think. “We need to bury the body.”

Thunderlane thought quickly. “There’s a forest on the outskirts of Ponyville… Everfree Forest, that’s it. Nopony will ever go looking in there.”

Cloud Chaser hurriedly picked up the body first and Thunderlane helped, heaving up Shiverwind’s front two hooves while Cloud Chaser picked up his back two hooves. The two of them flew in unison through the cloud ground and down towards Equestria below. Luckily, nopony saw them leave with the body.

The thunderstorm kicked into full force as the hidden sun plodded into evening. Raindrops covered the entire body, making the corpse feel nasty under their hooves even though the rain did a good job of masking the smell. Thunderlane steered the two of them down to a small clearing in the middle of the forest and when the two of them almost touched down, they noticed a stream cutting through a gorge nearby with some rocks and boulders covered with moss strew about the glen.

Strangely, both of them instinctively looked at the top of the hill. “There, we should bury him there. I’m sure nopony will find the body unless they’re already turning over every corner of Equestria.”

“Thunderlane,” she managed to say, spitting out the rainwater. Her big mane was uncharacteristically flattened.

“What?” He sounded worried, like he was being interrogated.

“We don’t have a shovel.”

“What are you looking at me for? I’m not an Earth Pony.” He looked around at the enveloping forest. “I’ll figure something out, stay here. You’ll be safe, I promise.” Thunderlane flew out of the glen and over the forest into farmlands and orchards where apple saplings grew. At the horizon, he could see a large red barn; he decided to fly over there. There’s got to be shovels in this barn.

When he reached the barn, he touched down as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake anypony. He remembered that this place was Sweet Apple Acres, run by Big McIntosh. It’s been, like, forever since I’ve been to Ponyville. Luckily for Thunderlane, there was a shovel that leaned up against the side of the barn. He snatched the shovel with nary a sound and flew back to the gravesite that he and Cloud Chaser picked up.

“I’m not sure where it was.” Thunderlane hovered above the tree line, searching for the glen with the hill and the gorge, but he couldn’t find the place for the longest time. “There it is.” Cloud Chaser’s bright cerulean blue coat gave the location away. He landed right behind Shiverwind’s head. “I got the shovel.”

Thunderlane drove the shovel into the ground and attempted to yank up all the grass only to have the handle of the shovel fly back into his face. Cloud Chaser was too scared to say anything funny and Thunderlane only tried harder to start a hole.

“I may be fast, but I don’t have to be an Earth Pony to be strong.” Cloud Chaser looked up at him. “I’m gonna dig this grave right. Two meters deep and everything.”

“You can’t do that, we’ll be working into the night if you try that. Besides, you hate him… I hate him.”

“No, Cloud Chaser, it’s still a crime what I did and it’s the least I can do.”

“But you killed him out of anger.”

“No. I mean, I was angry, I was angry for you… but I felt a strange sort of serenity when I finally landed the killing blow. I felt like I did the right thing, but since I can’t feel pity for Shiverwind, I know now that I killed him out of weakness.” Not wanting to entertain the argument any further, Thunderlane simply shook his head and continued digging. He dug that grave for almost two hours before he was finally finished, and he was so concentrated on the task that he didn’t even realize Cloud Chaser had left.

It’s okay. I wouldn’t’ve stayed. Where’s she going to go? Thunderlane looked around the glen until he found an unusually clean and symmetrical boulder lying on top of the piled up dirt. Turning the rock over, Thunderlane noticed the name Shiverwind etched into the stone. “This must’ve been Cloud Chaser when I wasn’t paying attention.” He noticed that the stone was soft; it was clay.

He remembered what Breezefly told him. He let the old Thunderlane get the best of him.

I was not strong enough to stop him. The clay was almost too hard to write at this point, but he managed to etch an epithet anyway.

And he will kill me too. Thunderlane removed the tombstone from on top of the dirt pile, dragged Shiverwind’s body into the two meter deep rectangular hole, filled the body up with the loose dirt, and slammed the tombstone down at the head of the grave.

A headstone defeats the purpose of making this secret… nopony will find the grave anyway… and they won’t know that I did it. He read the epithet again. The writing makes it sound like somepony else other than me murdered him. Great! That means I won’t be found out if a pony finds this place.

Thunderlane said aloud as if he was another pony, “Thunderlane didn’t kill Shiverwind.”

“Thunderlane killed Shiverwind,” confessed Cloud Chaser. The figure behind the other side of the desk looked confused and startled for a moment before he leaned over and buried his face in his hooves. He looked defeated by the news. Cloud Chaser added, “I know you had that interview earlier today and that they agreed to hire you next week… and now that you know that Thunderlane killed Shiverwind… you’re probably going to use all of your power to prosecute him,” he nodded along with what she said, although the figure didn’t say anything, “and I know… I don’t want it to be… but I know it’s the right thing to do,” Cloud Chaser’s voice broke up, “but please… I don’t want Thunderlane to leave me, he’s my last protection. Please don’t try to throw him in prison.” Cloud Chaser, not able to handle the truth anymore, broke down on the figure’s desk.

A shaky voice quivered from behind the desk, “W… why?”

“T… to protect me.”

“I don’t believe you. Were you in danger?”

“Well-”

“-Were you in danger?”

“N… no.”

“Did he kill out of anger?”

“He said no.”

“It’s murder then. There’s no doubt… it wasn’t out of anger… it wasn’t out of defense. And Cloud Chaser, do you expect me to have pity on that poor soul? Do you expect me not to take action?”

“I don’t know… just don’t throw him in prison.”

The pony growled a little before he stopped as if to think. “I… I cannot begin to explain how angry I am.” His voice grew dangerously soft. “It is for the better that stronger stallions like Thunderlane have more anger than weaker stallions such as myself. Stronger stallions can vent their anger a little bit at a time… a little bit here and a little bit there, and nopony really questions their bellicose nature because they are strong and they can release their rage safer that way.” He trailed off, noticing Cloud Chaser’s skeptical eyes. “Weaker stallions tend not to have the capacity to hold much anger within themselves solely because of their nature. Cloud Chaser, it is a terrible, terrible shame, then, when a weaker stallion is filled with an incomprehensible, indecipherable, inexhaustible rage because when he tries to vent his anger, he will be shut down by the stronger stallions around him. And what will he do?”

“I don’t know.”

“He will manipulate the universe around him so that he becomes equal in power with the source of his rage. If you know what I mean. He will fight unfairly, shiftily, and he will not stop until all of his bottled up rage is spent. In one single explosion, a weak stallion will destroy himself and everypony around him if given the opportunity to vent… everything, every wrong that was done to him. Does that describe anypony you know?”

“Uh…”

“That describes me!” He smashed his hoof down onto the desk, rattling all the papers and documents strewn about the surface. “I don’t know who Thunderlane is anymore. After what you said, I want to shred him to pieces like the wolven he has become. I think I know what it feels like to so desperately want to kill somepony now. And Cloud Chaser?”

“Y… yes?”

“You’ve convinced me not to do so. Yes, I have the power to throw him in jail, but that will not prove anything. Cloud Chaser, in order for Thunderlane to redeem himself, he must admit his murder and turn himself in. I know it will be hard for you to let him go, but he must be separated from you… it’s for your own safety.”

“Thank you so-”

“-But if he runs away, if he denies it, if he claims he killed out of self-defense, if he claims he did so out of anger, if he uses the excuse of insanity, if he tries to do anything else to clear his name, I will lose all respect for him and I will personally make sure that my anger is satisfied. It’s goodbye for now, Cloud Chaser, but never forget a weak stallions rage. Thunderlane must turn himself in.”

Cloud Chaser simply nodded before trotting silently out of the stallion’s house. He waited long enough for Cloud Chaser to fly out of sight before he flew away himself.

Hopefully Cloud Chaser is at my place. Thunderlane flew casually, not wanting ponies to question his nervous look; though, there were no ponies prowling the streets now because of the vicious storm.

Once Thunderlane’s house came into view, he noticed a figure standing under his patio overhang and leaning against one of the pillars.

“Hello?”

“Thunderlane,” the voice sounded exactly like Breezefly’s.

“What are you doing out with this kind of weather?” He said defensively.

“I can ask you the same question. Though, I wonder, how did the visit with Shiverwind go?”

“It-”

“-Because I already know, Thunderlane, I won’t say the tiniest of words about the matter as long as you promise to turn yourself in. Turn yourself in, Thunderlane. You killed Shiverwind. No, you murdered Shiverwind.”

Turn yourself in. The line echoed in his head as his mind was pulled from his turbulent flashback and into the present.