Waiting For A Star To Fall
It was a beautiful morning in Cloudsdale – the sun was shining, birds were singing, and Cloudsdale’s Duchess was snoring. Star Catcher had spent most of the night reviewing a boundary dispute between a new pegasus settlement and the Griffin Kingdom. Skywishes hadn’t had the heart to wake her up when she came into work for the morning. She just rearranged Star Catcher’s schedule as best as she could under the circumstances.
But there was one appointment she couldn’t change. She didn’t even bother trying. Getting the pony in question just to agree to a meeting with the Duchess in the first place had been like pulling teeth. Rescheduling it due to a conflict? She’d use it as an escape and then their meeting would never take place. Instead Skywishes watched the clock tick ever closer to 11:00. At 10:30 she woke up her boss and helped her clean up.
“Do you think we can get these drool stains out of the map?”
“I’ll scrounge up another copy – I’m pretty sure I saw one in the library. Go clean yourself up. I’ll take care of your office.”
Star Catcher excused herself to her private restroom and a few seconds later the sound of running water could be heard as she showered. Skywishes made a face as she gingerly picked up the soggy paperwork. “Ugh.” She lit a few candles to help brighten the room and remove the ‘Star Catcher’s been in here so long the room is starting to smell like her’ odor. She sighed. It had been busier than normal lately and Star Catcher had been working so hard she was on the verge of burning out. The boundary dispute was just the latest in a string of crises in the past two months.
Star Catcher returned to the office. “How do I look?”
“Presentable. I’m impressed that only took you twenty minutes.”
“It’s this new haircut. I tell you Daffidazey is an absolute genius when it comes to mane and tail styles. Minimal upkeep and it still looks fantastic.”
“The perfect style for a pony who’s always on the go. Speaking of being on the go, since you skipped breakfast I took the liberty of moving your 11 o’clock to Tira Mi Su’s.”
“My favorite!”
“You’ve been working so hard lately I figured you deserved a treat. And I figured it couldn’t hurt your meeting all that much if her mouth is too full to talk…”
Star Catcher giggled. “Be nice.”
“It’s bad enough I have to be nice when she’s here.” A pair of Royal Guards fell in step alongside them as they left Star Catcher’s office. “I don’t know why you even insisted on meeting with her. She’s insufferable.”
“Because her wish finally came true. I think that’s worth celebrating, don’t you?”
“Yes, but only because it means I never have to hear her whine about it ever again.”
They arrived at Tira Mi Su’s Café and one of their guards took up a position outside the front door. The other stopped at the entrance to the private room Skywishes had reserved.
“You’re thirty seconds late. My time’s valuable, Duchess, don’t waste it.”
“It’s good to see you too, Rainbow Dash. I’d like to extend my congratulations on becoming a Wonderbolt!”
“Yep, they finally recognized my talent.” Rainbow rubbed a hoof on her chest.
“As you can see, wishes do come true. Sometimes they take a little time, but…”
“Stuff it, Star Catcher. This had nothing to do with that stupid wish. I earned this by being the best flyer in Equestria. If anything, that wish was a hindrance, not a help.”
“What?” Star Catcher and Skywishes asked in unison, jaws dropping.
“Yeah, the way I figure it I’ve been the best for at least five years now. I should’ve been on the team a long time ago. But there was that little matter of a date that was given to me. I marked it on my calendar and sure enough, that was the day I got the news.”
“But that’s exactly what I said would happen.”
“Yeah. I think you deliberately had the Wonderbolts keep me off the team for an extra two years, four months, and sixteen days just so you could make it look like you granted my wish.”
“Of all the crazy, delusional…” Skywishes started but Star Catcher raised a hoof to quiet her. She muttered to herself, “It wasn’t even your wish, it was Fluttershy’s.”
“I see,” Star Catcher said. “And why would I do that?”
“To get me to bow down to you, of course. Admit it, it annoys you that I’m the only pony who doesn’t bow down to you.”
Star Catcher rolled her eyes at the response. If anything, the opposite was true: she hated other ponies feeling inferior in her presence. “And how, exactly, did I do such a thing?”
“The same way you do everything else. You seem to know everything that’s going on so you probably just blackmailed Spitfire or something.” Rainbow shrugged. “I don’t really know or care how you did it, but I’m plenty annoyed that you did it.”
Skywishes rose to her hooves but Star Catcher’s magical aura held her back.
“You just sit here on your hindquarters all day, while the rest of us are out actually busting our flanks for a living.”
“Is that so?” Star Catcher asked. “And I suppose you could do a better job?”
“In my sleep.”
“So if you’re doing my job, who would do yours?”
Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof against her chest. “I’m so awesome it would take at least three ponies to do my job.”
“Is that so? See that mountain way off in the distance?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll race you to it. If I beat you, I prove that you’re not the greatest flyer in Equestria. And then you get to prove you can do my job while I take your place with the Wonderbolts.”
“Piece of cake. Prepare to eat my dust, lardflank.”
Star Catcher spread out her wings, easily double the size of Rainbow Dash’s, and made a display of stretching them.
“Ha! Even your wings are fat!” Rainbow Dash spread her own wings. “See, this is the right combination for speed. Muscular and compact.”
“I would have proposed racing to the other side of your ego, but that’s so large I fear we’d never reach the end of it even if we flew for the rest of our lives.”
“Even your trash talk is lame, Miss Prim and Proper.” Rainbow Dash sighed and took her position on the starting line. “Come on, let’s get this over with so I can get back to practice. Some of us actually have things to do today, Duchess.”
“All right. To make this fair, you can go ahead and start the race. You can even jump the start if you’d like. It’ll have no effect on the outcome.”
“Ha! You’re just trying to get inside my head and goad me into giving you a giant head start. Well I hate to break it to you Duchess, but other ponies have tried that trick on me before and I still beat them each and every time.”
“You see right through me. I shall give you a five second head start as a sincere apology for my attempted ruse.”
“Deal.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Now I could beat you with one wing tied behind my back!”
“Just go already.”
And with that Rainbow Dash took off in a rainbow blur. Five seconds later Star Catcher launched herself in pursuit of the smaller pegasus. She caught up to Rainbow Dash halfway to the mountain. Rainbow Dash strained her muscles to their limit and held off the charge from Star Catcher. “She used all her energy just catching up to me. If that’s the best she’s got I’ve got this in the bag,” she thought.
As the two pegasi approached the mountain Rainbow Dash felt a rush of wind go past her. Much to her dismay Star Catcher had passed her. “This won’t do.” Rainbow Dash sped into a dive as a Mach cone formed around her outstretched forelegs. “Let’s see you beat a sonic rainboom, Duchess.” The prismatic pegasus shattered the visible light spectrum, smashing through the sound barrier in the process. Her speed doubled and she veered up and ahead of Star Catcher.
That’s when Star Catcher performed her own sonic rainboom, without needing to dive to pick up speed. A ring of multi-colored butterflies appeared where Star Catcher blasted through the visible light spectrum. Once again she passed Rainbow Dash like she was flying in place. Exhausted, Rainbow Dash could only watch in horror as miles ahead of her Star Catcher touched the mountain peak.
“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t tie one of your wings behind your back after all,” Star Catcher said as Rainbow Dash finally caught up. “Since you’re not the fastest flyer in Equestria, let’s see how good you are at being nobility. I officially abdicate my position in favor of Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow Dash sputtered, “You can’t do that! You cheated! I demand a rematch!”
“We can have a rematch any time you want, Duchess Dash.” Star Catcher bowed to the prismatic pegasus. “Providing we have a full media crew on hoof to witness me beating the feathers off you again.” Star Catcher stood up. “If you need anything, Skywishes can assist you. As for me, I’ll be with the Wonderbolts.”
Rainbow Dash stood there mouth agape as Star Catcher flew away.
Spitfire walked up and down the line of Wonderbolts. Something was very obviously wrong. She ignored the problem, and took rollcall instead. “Soarin’?”
“Here!”
“Surprise?”
“Present and accounted for!”
“Misty Fly?”
“Here!”
“Rainbow Dash?”
“Here!”
Despite their best efforts, several of the Wonderbolts snickered, trying their hardest to keep straight faces.
Spitfire turned to look at the pony responding. “You’ve put on some weight, Crash.”
“I should explain.”
“April Foal’s Day was two months ago, Duchess.”
“I’m not the Duchess anymore.” Spitfire raised her left eyebrow at that. “Rainbow Dash is.” Spitfire’s right eyebrow joined the left one. “And I’m her replacement.” Spitfire had run out of eyebrows to raise, so she took off her sunglasses instead.
Surprise decided to abandon all pretense of remaining stoic and collapsed in a giggling heap. The rest of the Wonderbolts joined her rolling on the ground one by one.
“So let me get this straight. The Duchess of Cloudsdale…”
“Former Duchess.”
“Right, the former Duchess of Cloudsdale has replaced my most promising new recruit.”
“Yes.”
Spitfire leaned against Star Catcher’s face. “In that case, I expect you to pull your not inconsiderable weight, Duchess.”
“I shall give it my all.”
“You’ll give it more than your all. I don’t know what happened between the two of you. I’m not entirely sure I care. What I do care about is this team. We’re the best of the best of the best. And Rainbow Dash is one of the best, make no mistake about it. So if you want to be the new Rainbow Dash, you’re going to be one of the best.”
“If you feel you have another reservist who can fill in until Rainbow Dash is ready to return, I’ll gladly step aside.”
“You’re not getting off the hook that easily, Duchess. What message does it send to Rainbow Dash if she does your job but you don’t do hers? That’s why you’re here, right? Some kind of life lesson gone horribly wrong?”
“Well, yes.”
“What was that, cadet?”
“Yes ma’am!” Star Catcher saluted.
“Better.”
“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
“Very much so. Every day until I’ve got Dash back on my squad. I don’t care who you are, you’re never messing with my team ever again. Now give me five thousand laps.”
Skywishes unlocked the office as usual. She started making a kettle of tea, as usual. She sat at her desk, as usual. She stared at the clock. That was abnormal. 10:07. The door opened. “You’re late, Duchess.”
Rainbow Dash glared at her. “Let’s get this straight. I’m the Duchess, right?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Shut it, Sky Fire.”
“Skywishes.”
“Whatever. If I’m the Duchess of Cloudsdale, that means what I say goes. And if my workday doesn’t begin until whatever time it is right now, that's my decision.”
“Of course, ma’am. I’m sorry, I just thought with such a distinguished background with the Wonderbolts, you’d be more disciplined than this.”
“What was that?” Rainbow Dash wheeled on Skywishes.
“You heard me. This isn’t like your weather job in Ponyville where you can do a day’s work in under a minute and nap the rest of the day. Being a duchess is important. You have responsibilities now. Ponies are counting on you. Your day planner is sitting on the desk in your office, and I assure you that your day is full, Duchess. You’re going to have to work straight through lunch to make up for the hour you’ve already lost.”
Rainbow Dash waved a hoof dismissively. “Lighten up, Skywishes. If Star Catcher can do this job, I can do it in my sleep.”
“Five thousand laps?”
“That’s what I said, newbie. Now get flying.”
It was ten times the normal number of laps given to new recruits. Obviously, this was designed as some combination of punishment and spirit breaker. Despite that, there were no papers to read and sign, no screaming nobles to deal with, and no pompous traditions. There was just the wind rustling through her feathers. It was refreshing, even invigorating. It was just what she needed. Literally getting back to the basics and enjoying the simple pleasures in life. Flying was the very essence of being a pegasus, after all. As the sun set she was struck by the beauty of the cloudscape. “How long has it been since I last flew for the sheer sake of flying?” she pondered as she continued clicking off laps.
“Ma’am?”
“What is it, Surprise?”
“Star Catcher’s completed her laps.”
Spitfire looked at the clock. It had taken all day, but it was supposed to be an impossible task. “That’s impressive. She collapse into bed yet?”
“Uh, no. Actually that’s why I’m here. She’s already gone an additional 700 laps past 5,000 and she’s ignoring my signal to come in and rest.”
Spitfire quirked an eyebrow and laid her sunglasses down on her desk. “I’ll take care of it.”
Spitfire fell into place alongside Star Catcher, matching the former duchess’ furious pace easily. “You’ve already set the academy record for most laps completed.”
“That’s nice.”
“Hit the mess hall and then get some sleep.”
“But it’s a gorgeous night. The moon is full, and look at those stars!”
Spitfire looked up and saw the same night sky she saw every night.
“This is wonderful! I could stay out here flying all night.” Star Catcher did a lazy loop, enjoying the breeze whipping through her mane.
“All right, new orders: fly all night. Surprise, stay out here and keep track of her laps.”
The blonde-maned pegasus whimpered. “But this is so boring!”
“The griffin ambassador will be here shortly. There are a few things you should know about him. He insists on being addressed as His Royal Epicness Geoffrey the Third.”
“Got it,” Rainbow Dash replied, yawning.
“Pay attention. This is important. If he gets insulted, he could walk out and declare war.”
“War?” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Doesn’t Star Catcher ever call anyone’s bluffs? You know what, don’t answer that. I’ll handle it my way.”
“Oh great. If you need me I’ll be in my office, preparing for the imminent griffin invasion of Cloudsdale.”
“Don’t worry, I got this.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Rainbow slipped on a pair of sunglasses as she made her way to the negotiation room. It was merely a small office with a table and a dozen chairs inside. A few portraits of famous pegasi decorated the walls, but aside from that the room was barren. The overall appearance gave a professional vibe, while the pastel blue walls were intended to be calming. Rainbow Dash glanced around and sighed. “Even her décor is boring.” She checked the clock hanging above the door. There was no time to jazz it up before the griffin ambassador arrived. What the room really needed, she decided, was an aggressive wall color like red, and some historical artifacts showing the pegasus tribe’s greatest military accomplishments. Something to give the Duchess a home field advantage during negotiations.
The doorknob creaked and the door was thrust open by a massive griffin, easily dwarfing Dash or even Star Catcher. He could look eye-to-eye with Princess Celestia. Like most griffins, he was covered in well-preened tawny feathers. His claws were sharpened, and he was wearing a burgundy cloak of silk.
“Yo Geoff.”
“You dare insult His Royal Epicness Geoffrey the…”
“Can it, Geoff. I’ve met kittens that were more intimidating than you.”
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Regime change. You’ll find I’m a much tougher negotiator than my predecessor. So let’s make this short. I’ve got better things to do than stroke your ego.” She unfurled a map and laid it on the table between them. “So this is the Griffin Kingdom’s territory.”
“Umn, I’m pretty sure that’s Canterlot.”
Rainbow Dash squinted at the cartographic scroll. “I knew that.”
“Can you even read a map?”
“Not really. Can you?”
“Uh… not really, no. Star Catcher usually does all the work and I just dictate our demands.”
“And she caves into them.”
“Usually.”
“So what do you really want here?”
“Some sort of compensation for the infringement of our sovereignty.”
“Right, of course.” Rainbow Dash turned away from the griffin and smiled. This was too easy. “So how much of a cut do you want?”
“Are you insinuating I would take a bribe?”
“Yeah. How much?”
“For five thousand bits we can pretend this never happened.”
“I’ll give you a thousand.”
“Three.”
“Two, and that’s my final offer.”
“Deal. The pegasus settlement is obviously well outside the established boundaries of the Griffin Kingdom.” Five minutes later the ambassador left, gold bits clinking in his satchel as he walked. Rainbow Dash escorted him out, grinning the whole way.
“What did you do?” Skywishes asked when the prismatic pegasus returned to her office.
“I threw some bits at him.”
“You bribed him? You can’t do that!”
“Sure I can. That’s the whole reason he’s been dragging things out for months. All those perks he’s been asking for? Since Star Catcher was so reluctant to pay him, he’s been milking it for everything else he can get. Instead I resolved the issue and it’s only costing us two thousand bits.”
“What am I supposed to put in the ledger? I can’t just put ‘bribe’ or we’ll be in a lot of trouble.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Call it a ‘consulting fee’ or something. I really don’t care what you put down.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I know, right?” Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest and rubbed a hoof against it. “It took me mere minutes to resolve a conflict Star Catcher couldn’t resolve in months of trying. With Rainbow Dash in charge, things get done fast!”
“It doesn’t surprise me you’re willing to trade accuracy for speed.”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “You totally realize this is how griffins deal with each other, right?” She looked at Skywishes’ befuddled expression. “I guess not. How could Star Catcher not know anything about griffins? Doesn’t that fancy egghead school teach anything useful? Look, I roomed with a griffin in Junior Flight Camp. They push and push and push to get the most they can get – it’s just what griffins do. Yeah, griffins can be pretty grumpy, but trust me when I say they don’t want a war any more than we do.”
“And how do you know that? Seems to me like you just took a major gamble based on nothing more than knowing a griffin when you were a filly.”
“I’ve been to Griffinstone.”
“One does not simply trot into Griffinstone. Nopony’s been there in centuries.”
“Until me and Pinkie Pie earlier this year.” Rainbow Dash grinned.
“How? Star Catcher’s been trying to get Geoffrey to agree to a meeting in the Griffin Kingdom for years.”
“You’re not going to like this answer. We, uh, sort of just trotted right on in. There’s no possibility of a war because we’d walk all over them. I can verify that firsthoof. They’ve got a serious poverty problem, which is why they’re so interested in getting as much money as possible. Which also explains why they don’t want anypony seeing their squalor. They’re disorganized. I saw no signs of a functional government anywhere. They’d never be able to raise an army; the population would revolt if they wasted what little they have in their treasury on something as frivolous as a war. Seriously, Star Catcher needs to get out more. She should know this kinda stuff.”
“If you were really there, then you and Pinkie Pie were the first ponies to set hoof in Griffinstone in several hundred years.”
“So what? There are griffins in Equestria, too. Maybe she should try talking to one. Look, the situation’s resolved. That’s enough work for today. I’m outta here.”
“But it’s only 1:30…” Skywishes’ words went unheeded. Rainbow Dash had already left the building in a rainbow blur.
“495…496...497…498…499…500.” Surprise stopped counting. “Congratulations, you’ve shattered the Academy record for wing-ups.”
“Why quit now? I could extend that record a few hundred more, pretty easily. I might even make it all the way to a thousand!”
“You’ve already set new records for every training regimen you’ve gone through so far.”
Star Catcher paused. “Is that a problem? I’m just trying hard to be the best Wonderbolt trainee you’ve ever had. Rainbow Dash left some pretty big horseshoes to fill.”
“You’re making the rest of us look bad. There’s been some grumbling from some of our teammates.”
“I do have a bit of an advantage.” She extended her wings, more than double the size of Surprise’s. “If I didn’t outperform every other pony here, then I wouldn’t be giving it my all. And Spitfire was adamant that the Wonderbolts only take the best of the best of the best, and that if I was to remain here in Rainbow’s place I would have to become the best of the best of the best.”
“She was trying to break you. It’s what she does. Break down the spirit of any pony that’s too cocky and then build them back up as a team player. The only problem is you haven’t needed to be broken down. Honestly, I don’t think she knows what to do with you. You’ve already proven superior to not only Rainbow Dash, but the rest of us as well. You’re doing so well it’s demoralizing some of the others.”
“That won’t do,” Star Catcher agreed. “I’ll go talk to Spitfire at once.”
“Let me do it. Anyways, you’re done here. Hit the mess hall and then the barracks.”
Another frustrating work day was over. Unlike Star Catcher, Rainbow Dash insisted her job was over for the day as soon as the clock struck five. Nothing Skywishes said or did could get through to the multi-chromatic pegasus that being a duchess was a major responsibility; one that didn’t end just because the working day was over. But when Rainbow Dash wanted to be elsewhere there was little anypony could do to stop her. Skywishes certainly couldn’t keep up with her – nor could any of her entourage of Royal Guards.
There was nothing left for her to do but fly down to Canterlot and see her friends. Since graduating, some of her former classmates had moved away, but there were always a few she could count on to be hanging out at the Cotton Candy Café.
The door chimed as she walked into the familiar restaurant. The overwhelming theme of the café was pink. The walls were pink, the floors were pink tile, the booths were pink, the bulk of the decorations hanging on the walls were pink, and even the tables were pink. But there was something comforting about the plush velour seats she sank down into and the wafting smell of delicious homestyle hay fries coming from the kitchen.
Business was booming, and she struggled to find a familiar face among the crowd. Eventually she spied a mint green coat that stood out from the sea of pink, even if her mane blended in.
“Minty! It’s so good to see you!”
Minty jumped to her hooves and enveloped Skywishes in a giant hug. “It’s good to see you too! How are you? How’s Star Catcher? For that matter, where’s Star Catcher?”
“Due to an unwise wager, she’s currently serving with the Wonderbolts.”
“Way cool! The Wonderbolts are awesome! Especially Rainbow Dash! I’m so glad she finally got on the team. Pinkie’s like so excited she just can’t hide it. She even sang a song about it! Wonderbolts, yeah, Wonderbolts!”
Skywishes cut her friend off before she could get far into the rap. “Well, that’s the thing. With Star Catcher on the team, Rainbow Dash is stuck being the Duchess of Cloudsdale.”
“Oh, I bet she hates that. Uh, no offense.”
“None taken. And good.”
“Why do you have all this animosity towards Rainbow Dash, anyway? She’s a good pony. Really fast and awesome! I mean I know there was some sort of rivalry from a race or something?”
“It’s a long story. The whole goal of Junior Speedster Flight Camp is to strengthen the flying abilities of young pegasus ponies. On the first day of camp they hold time trials to determine who the fastest flyers are going in. Then they move on to wing-ups to build strength and practicing flying techniques until the final day of camp. All the training culminates in a race to determine the best of the best. Rainbow Dash was the odds on favorite. She had the fastest speed in the time trials way back on that first day so she was the top seed in the bracket. The brackets were set up so that the fastest was paired against the slowest, the second-fastest against the second-slowest, etc. The idea being to ensure that the fastest ponies all managed to get into the second round of eliminations, knocking out the weakest ponies.”
“Okay, that makes sense. I think most brackets are set up that way to make competitions more interesting for spectators.”
“Exactly. That first day of flight camp, Fluttershy didn’t even manage to complete the course. She locked up and just fell right to the ground. So that meant she was destined to face Rainbow Dash in the opening round of the big race. To Rainbow Dash’s credit, she kept the bullies from picking on her, and helped her be a stronger flyer.”
“Like I said, Rainbow Dash is a good pony.”
“Things didn’t go quite as planned. Star Catcher transferred into the flight camp halfway through the summer. Because of that she was completely unranked, even behind Fluttershy. You’ve noticed Starry is a bit, uh, bigger than the normal pegasus.”
“That’s because she’s an alicorn in everything but name.”
“Right. She wouldn’t be the pegasus Duchess if she was an alicorn, now would she?”
“Of course.” Minty nodded in agreement.
“Well, since Dash was protecting Fluttershy, the bullies went after Star Catcher instead. And Rainbow Dash stopped them again. She stood up for Star Catcher. At the time I actually liked Rainbow Dash. She was brave, strong, and fast. The ego was there, too. But it wasn’t as bad then. She made bold claims, yeah, but she backed them up with actions.”
“I follow so far.”
“Then came the day of the big race. The culmination of an entire summer spent training for this one event. Rainbow Dash versus Star Catcher in the first bracket. It wasn’t even close. Starry mopped the floor with Dash. In the first bracket of the first round. Everypony considered it a total upset.”
“Oh…ouch.”
“Yeah. She was crushed. She shouted ‘I defended you!’ and then ran off crying.”
“Can you blame her for that?”
“Not in the least. Going fast means everything to her. But it means absolutely nothing to Star Catcher. She was there to become a better flyer, and Rainbow Dash was a real challenge. She didn’t hold anything back. To this day she wishes she had. She tried hard to apologize and explain things to Rainbow. She even offered to give her the trophy. But no. Dash wouldn’t have any of it. Wouldn’t hear her out and bucked the trophy right out of her hooves. She was the sorest loser I’ve ever seen. That’s when I realized that the pony I held in such high regard wasn’t what she appeared. She looked out for herself first and foremost, and anyone else only when it was convenient. Usually it was only convenient when it would make her look good.”
“She was really young then. I’m sure she’s changed.”
“She still calls Star Catcher ‘lardflank’ to this day. She turned into the very bully she defended Star Catcher against. It was supposed to stop the day her extra special wish came true and she finally became a Wonderbolt. Instead she spewed out insults and accusations. So they set up a race to determine who was faster. If Star Catcher won, she’d take Rainbow’s place on the Wonderbolts, forcing Rainbow Dash to take over the duchy. It wasn’t supposed to last this long. Rainbow was supposed to get frustrated and rage quit right away. Except… Rainbow Dash is surprisingly more competent than I thought.” Skywishes snorted in contempt as she turned and started pacing around the café.
“And that’s a problem why?” asked Minty.
“Because Star Catcher is suffering every minute the Wonderbolts torture her with extreme training exercises designed to break even the strongest ponies.”
“Star Catcher set eleven new Academy records today.” Surprise slouched in a chair across from Spitfire. Even the fading light of dusk couldn’t cause Spitfire to remove her sunglasses, or for that matter, even turn the lights on in her office. Surprise’s white coat was the brightest thing in the office, a fact made all the more apparent by her constant fidgeting.
Spitfire sighed. “We’ve never had a new recruit make it this long without messing up before. No accidents, no rules violations, no showboating… We haven’t even been able to give her a nickname yet.”
“I think I know why, ma’am.”
“Yes Surprise?”
“Most of us joined the Wonderbolts because it was our life’s dream to be the best of the best of the best when it comes to flying. We were all so nervous that first day trying to make a good first impression we caused our own mistakes. Star Catcher isn’t here because this is her dream, if anything she’s irritated that we haven’t pulled up a promising reservist instead of forcing her into the routine. To her this is merely a job – a task that needs to be performed and she’s going to do it to the best of her abilities.”
“She… she’s just doing her job?” Spitfire gasped. “She’s that good, naturally, she can just ease into the finest precision flying team in all of Equestria?”
“Well, imagine if we had Princess Celestia as a recruit. Would you expect anything else but perfection from her?”
Spitfire nodded. “I see your point. But I’ve got to do something about it. Some of the others are overcompensating for their newfound sense of inadequacy. Silver Zoom pushed himself so hard today he sprained a wing. He’ll be out of commission for at least two weeks.”
“I was talking with Star Catcher earlier. I think the best course of action would be to eliminate her training before she sets the bar so high no Academy record will ever be broken ever again. I recommend expediting her audition.”
“So be it. Tomorrow she shows us what she can really do. And it better be good. Rainbow Dash was the most promising recruit we’ve had in over a decade, so Star Catcher better be just as good.”
Skywishes banged on the door to the Duchess’ office but there was no answer. Sighing, she let herself in with her key. Rainbow Dash was sprawled out in her chair, sound asleep and snoring loud enough to disturb the courtroom next door. Unlike all the mornings she came into the office to find Star Catcher had fallen asleep burning the midnight oil, Skywishes had no qualms whatsoever about waking Rainbow Dash up. First she tried shaking her, but that did no good. “I guess we’ll just have to do this the hard way,” she said, grinning. She exited the room and returned with a bucket full of water, which she unceremoniously dumped over the sleeping mare.
Rainbow Dash yawned. “Five more minutes.” She returned to slumber, dripping wet.
“Oh no you don’t.” Skywishes tilted the chair, dumping Rainbow Dash on the floor. “You have an appointment in an hour. We need to leave now if we want to make it to the Dragon Lands in time.”
“Pffft, I can make that trip in two minutes with a wing tied behind my back.”
“Be that as it may or may not be… and I don’t think you’d be here right now if you were truly as fast as you think you are… I can’t fly that fast, and I’ll be going with you. So we need to leave now.”
“Don’t trust me to take care of this all on my own? Bah! This’ll be even easier than the griffin thingamajig.” Rainbow Dash sighed and stretched, then shook herself like a dog. “Why was I all wet?”
“I dunno. Maybe you were dreaming about swimming or sailing? Or maybe you’re just washed up. Either way, if you’re dry now, let’s get going.”
They walked out into Cloudsdale, Skywishes blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted to the bright sunshiny day, while Rainbow Dash was sporting a pair of sunglasses. The droning of a jackhammer wafted on the breeze and Skywishes cocked an ear towards the sound. “That’s odd, I don’t remember approving any permits for any construction in the town square.”
“I did, don’t worry about it. You were busy with other things.”
“Good to see you being proactive.”
“Yeah, proactive, that’s me. Whatever that means.”
Skywishes facehoofed. “It means you’re taking initiative instead of waiting for me to tell you what to do.”
“No offense, but you’re really lousy at giving advice. All those ridiculous things you wanted me to do for that griffin. I had him eating out of my hoof.”
“You got lucky. You can’t count on luck forever. Especially not with the new Dragon Lord. You’re not only making a first impression on Ember, but you’re representing Cloudsdale and the entire pegasus tribe as well. Ember’s the first Dragon Lord to actively seek relations with ponies. We can’t mess this up.”
“Oh ye of little faith. I’m not going to mess this up.”
“Says you.”
The rest of their flight to the Dragon Lands was silent. Rainbow Dash and Skywishes landed in the caldera of an ancient volcano. The lava had hardened to rock millions of years previously, and the dragons had carved it into a series of rooms, in their imitation of a castle. Prominently featured in the center was a throne hewn of solid black onyx. It was as pretty as it was intimidating. Seated atop that massive throne, built to contain the most massive of dragons, was an almost comically small blue dragon.
“Duchess Star Catcher, I presume?”
“Rainbow Dash, actually.” She chuckled. “The new and improved Duchess of Cloudsdale.”
“I was expecting a pony named Star Catcher.”
“She’s currently indisposed. Rainbow Dash is acting Duchess until she’s able to return.”
“Don’t listen to her. She’s a loyalist to the old regime. Star Catcher isn’t returning. She resigned when she found out how awesome I am.”
“Actually, she’ll be returning soon. She’s currently with Equestria’s team of elite flyers, the Wonderbolts. They get called in to handle all kinds of emergency situations. Rainbow Dash is also a member of the Wonderbolts team.”
“I’ve helped save Equestria about a dozen times. Nightmare Moon, Discord, King Sombra, Tirek, the Changelings. Maybe you heard about some of them? I kicked all their respective flanks.”
“You boast almost as well as a dragon, pony. I must say I never expected such audacity amongst your kind.” She motioned to the valley below them. “You see my dragons. One word from me and all of them would race to see which of them could render your flesh from your bones first to win my favor.”
“They’d have to catch me, first.” Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and looked down on the dragons, as if out of pity. “They wouldn’t even have a chance against the fastest flyer in Equestria.”
“More like the fifth-fastest,” Skywishes said under her breath.
Rainbow Dash glared at Skywishes. “She’s just jealous she can’t fly as fast as me.”
“Very well,” Ember paused as she examined the two ponies before her. “I’ve already met with your Princesses who move the sun and moon. My predecessors learned to begrudgingly respect the ponies and not interfere with them. I, however, feel the time has come to explore the options in working together. I learned from our previous Dragon Lord, Spike, the benefits of friendship and cooperation with ponies.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back the hay cart up. Spike was your last Dragon Lord?” Rainbow Dash asked, incredulously. “Little purple dragon, about yay high, green scales.”
“You know of Spike?”
“I hang out with him all the time in Ponyville.”
“It would be most unwise of you to mock me, pony. Spike is a dear friend of mine, and I wouldn’t be Dragon Lord right now without his help. According to dragon customs, you’ll need to prove yourself in a contest before you’re deemed worthy enough of negotiating with. And as Dragon Lord, I choose the challenges. Do you see that pool of lava over there?” She pointed to a smoking volcano several miles to the west. “If you’re lying to me, your challenge will be to dive into that pool of lava, like a dragon. To prove you’re truly as tough as you say you are.”
Skywishes gulped, but Rainbow Dash waved a hoof, dismissively. “My story will check out. So what challenge do I need to face?”
“If you’re truly friends with Spike, then the contest will be something more suited to your talents.”
“Sounds good to me, Ember. I guess we’ll just stay here until you can verify everything. Shouldn’t be more than a few days to get a messenger to Ponyville and back. What do you have to eat around here?”
Ember laughed. “I’ll have my answer far sooner than that.” She threw a scroll into the air and vaporized it with green flame. “But you’re right, what kind of hostess am I not to offer a traditional dragon feast for my guests?” She clapped her claws together. “Garble! Food! And lots of it! Now!”
A teenage red dragon pushed a cart filled with the finest of gems into the throne room, bowing before Ember as he did so. “As you command, glorious Lord Ember.”
Skywishes whistled in appreciation of the beautiful gems set in front of the pair of pegasi. “These diamonds are absolutely flawless.”
“Only the best for our guests. Eat up.”
“I ate right before we left, so I’m full at the moment. But Rainbow Dash slept through lunch; I’m sure she’s famished by now.”
Rainbow Dash once more shot Skywishes a look. “You call these flawless? Bah! They’re not fit to serve to a diamond dog.”
Before Ember could reply, she was interrupted by a belch of green flame. “Excuse me. I have some reading to do.” Her eyes rapidly went back and forth as she read the document. “Uh-huh. Yes. All right, so it seems your story checks out. Any friend of Spike’s is a friend of mine, and by extension, a friend to all dragons. Your challenge is to make it to the top of that mountain before your competition.” She pointed to a distant peak. “Garble!”
“Yes, mighty Lord Ember?”
“You’re to race the Duchess to that mountain.”
“As you command, glorious Lord Ember.”
“Go!” Rainbow Dash and Garble wasted no time leaping into the air, and in a blur of blue and red they were gone.
“What happened to ‘ready’ and ‘set’?” asked Skywishes.
“Most dragons start on ‘ready’ so I eliminated that particular ability to cheat.”
“Makes sense. On a side note, I’m assuming you know that ponies don’t eat gems?”
“Of course. Your duchess is very dragon-like in her demeanor. I wanted to see just how far she was willing to go.”
“I’m sorry you couldn’t meet the real Duchess. I’m sure your next meeting will go much smoother once Star Catcher returns to her post.”
“Don’t apologize. I like this Rainbow Dash pony. I can tell she’s not nobility. When your Princesses visited I could tell they hated all the pompous traditions they had to go through. But they went through all the motions anyway. My dad was the Dragon Lord before Spike’s short reign. I watched him since the time I hatched. He spoke his mind and his orders were carried out without fail. Rainbow Dash reminds me of dragons in general, and my father in particular. She boasts and then she has to put up or shut up. Which is why I challenged her. That’s a dragon tradition, and not one I could’ve subjected your Princesses to.”
“So what happens if she wins?”
Ember chuckled. “You mean when she wins. Garble’s not my strongest flyer. If she’s even a quarter as good as she says she is, she’s got this in the bag. Spike speaks highly of her, and I trust his judgement 100%. Especially when it comes to ponies. When she returns successfully, she’ll be treated to a dragon ceremony. I think she’ll enjoy it.”
“Do you treat all your dragons like Garble?”
Ember laughed. “No, most certainly not. Garble’s a special case. He tried to harm both Spike and myself, and well, this is his punishment. At least until I feel like he’s learned his lesson. Sadly, I think it’s going to be a while before he gets it.” She shrugged. “Believe me, I’d rather have a more competent assistant. His cooking is absolutely terrible. How do you burn diamonds? Seriously.”
Skywishes laughed. “If nothing else, he makes a good court jester.”
“A what?”
Skywishes explained the concept as they waited for Rainbow Dash’s return. Garble was still on his way to the mountain when Rainbow Dash returned to the extinct volcano declaring herself the victor.
“Congratulations, you’ve proven yourself worthy of negotiating with. As per dragon tradition, you’re to stand on the balcony and loudly proclaim your name and new title, ‘Duchess of Cloudsdale, Champion of the Pegasus Ponies, and Friend to All Dragons’ to the dragons gathered below.”
Rainbow jumped up on the railing and fluffed out her wings. “Hear me dragons, for I am Rainbow Dash! Duchess of Cloudsdale, Champion of the Pegasus Ponies, and Friend to All Dragons! On this day I have defeated Garble, and through my victory received the approval of your Dragon Lord, Ember.”
“Ha! You’re not so tough, Rainbow Dash. I challenge you!”
“They can do that?” asked Skywishes.
“Well, yes. But they can only attempt to dethrone her in a challenge she’s already won. So she’s not going to get stuck tail wrestling or lava diving. But, she may have a few more races to win…”
A ‘few more’ turned out to be just shy of a dozen. Skywishes had long since stopped paying attention as the dragons around her cheered on their friends’ futile efforts to dethrone Rainbow. “Oh Starry, I wonder what abuse the Wonderbolts are subjecting you to right this second?”
“Wheeeeeeeeeeee! This is the most fun I’ve had in ages!” Star Catcher pulled out of a successful double inside-out loop. Sweat dripped from her brow as she poured on the speed. This was the tricky part. Spitfire had left things rather open with the simple command ‘Impress me.’ For a mare like Rainbow Dash, who had spent most of her life working on various tricks and stunts, this would’ve been almost second nature, but all Star Catcher had was a basic routine she had read in one of the textbooks, pegasus instinct, and speed. Lots and lots of speed. A double inside-out loop, while fun and intensely rewarding, was too remedial to get Spitfire’s attention.
She did a barrel roll to scrub off some speed. There wasn’t enough room for her next trick, and it was imperative to keep the routine going from one stunt to the next so the audience wouldn’t get bored. “Boring? That’s it.” She grinned and dove. Picking up speed, she whipped into a series of corkscrews, blurring into a white streak drilling across the sky.
She leveled out, though her vision continued spinning ahead of her. She closed her eyes and climbed higher into the sky. She opened her eyes and the clouds were no longer spinning around her. With this much altitude she was going to have to do something to offset such a steep climb. While valuable for clearing her head, Spitfire was going to expect some sort of payoff for watching her ascend for thirty seconds. Yeah, it was a cop out, but she was going to have to borrow Rainbow Dash’s signature stunt. Which was almost a given anyway, considering she was filling in for the prismatic pegasus.
She dove for all she was worth. The ground that had been thousands of feet below her was now merely hundreds. Everything around was a blur except for the ground growing ever closer to her. Boom! The sound barrier shattered and there were colorful butterflies everywhere. She continued accelerating, trailing rainbow butterflies behind her, leveling out only as she approached the grass below.
She made a beeline for Spitfire and just as collision was imminent she rose. The butterflies continued going straight, swarming around the yellow pegasus, much to Spitfire’s chagrin. “All right, all right! I’m impressed. Just get these things away from me!”
Most of the magical butterflies left Spitfire to swarm around Star Catcher, though a few remained with the Wonderbolt leader. She paid them no mind.
Rainbow Dash’s inbox was well past overflowing with paperwork. She sighed as she took the top document off. Bureaucracy – she hated it with a passion. Boring ponies like Star Catcher sat in offices all day. But she was a mare of action. She glanced down at the paper in her hooves. It was a carefully prepared budget proposal from Skywishes. One minute there were too many numbers on it. The next it was an origami crane. “Oh stars, now I’m acting like Fluttershy.” She crumpled the proposal-turned-crane into a ball and tossed it expertly into the wastebasket. “Score!”
Skywishes poked her head into Rainbow’s office. “You okay in there?”
“Yeah, I was just reviewing your budget thing.”
“What do you think?” Skywishes asked, beaming. It had taken three drafts, but she was positive she’d dumbed it down to the point where even Rainbow could read it and understand it.
“Could be better. I think you should do it over again.”
“What? But the budget is completely balanced and completely suited to the changing needs of Cloudsdale. Cuts where warranted, increases to offset increasing costs elsewhere, and enough savings to cut taxes two whole percentage points.”
“How much extra do we have if we don’t cut taxes?”
“About 700,000 bits.”
“Awesome! Pay increase for the Duchess!”
“You don’t actually get paid.”
“I do now.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “I’m gonna go withdraw my pay from the treasury. You go ahead with the rest of your budget plans.”
Skywishes sighed. “This isn’t like those Daring Do books you read. There’s no giant room filled with gold and precious gems.”
“Yet. Forget the budget for now. Your new order is to create a room filled with all my newfound wealth. Oh, and make sure it has all kinds of radical booby traps only a mare of my speed and agility can get through.” She grinned as she added an addendum to the request. “And a mare of my size. I don’t want any pretenders to the throne getting in there.”
“You don’t have a throne.”
“Oh, I’m sure I can get one for 700,000 bits.” She grinned as she slammed the door behind her. The framed pictures on the wall rattled and Skywishes sighed. It was quarter after three in the afternoon. There was no way Rainbow Dash was coming back to deal with any of the work she was supposed to be doing.
It was frustrating. Skywishes knew every task that needed to be done, but she lacked the authority to carry them out. She could advise Rainbow Dash, she could prepare things for Rainbow Dash, but she couldn’t actually do things for Rainbow Dash. She flipped through the stack of papers in the inbox – more than half were her own proposals, completely unread.
“Why do I even bother?” she huffed. A little voice in the back of her head reminded her that she was trying to limit the damage so Star Catcher wouldn’t be completely overwhelmed when she eventually returned to her role as Duchess. “If she comes back.” Skywishes shot a hoof to her mouth. “I can’t believe I just said that. Of course she’s coming back.”
She flipped through the day’s mail. Bill, bill, bill. At least she was authorized to write checks. She could at least pay those. The Wonderbolt insignia on an envelope caught her attention. She ripped it open and pulled out a letter from Star Catcher.
Dear Skywishes,
My first show is this Saturday; can you believe it? I’m excited and nervous all at the same time. It would mean the world to me if you’d come out to cheer me on. And bring her royal pain-in-the-flank with you.
Sincerely,
Star Catcher
She grinned. Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one who could take off early from work. She closed the office. Star Catcher was performing in a Wonderbolts derby. The word wasn’t going to spread itself...
Saturday dawned bright and sunny. Of course, with a Wonderbolts derby on the schedule, that was to be expected. If there had been even one cloud in the sky the Canterlot Weather Team would’ve been held responsible.
To call it a capacity crowd would be an understatement. Most of Cloudsdale had turned out to see their former duchess take to the track. The Canterlot elite were out in full force, and rumor had it the Princesses were going to be in attendance as well. Hours before the start of the race the grandstands were full. Temporary grandstands were set up along the backstretch and those filled up less than thirty minutes later. Pegasi gathered clouds, much to the chagrin of the weather team, and positioned them around the racetrack. One way or another, seating would be found for everypony.
The Duchess’ skybox was just as crowded as the grandstands. Skywishes had made it a point to invite all of Star Catcher’s friends from the university to watch her debut in style, while still managing to squeeze in Rainbow Dash’s five best friends too.
Pinkie Pie and Minty were catching up with each other… and just plain catching one another in a game of tag. Twilight Sparkle was discussing the finer points of magic with the recently graduated Kimono. Rarity and Sew-and-So were critiquing the latest fashion trends. Applejack, Sunny Daze, Sparkleworks, Starsong, Sweetberry, Wysteria, Seaspray, Razzaroo, and Toola Roola had rushed the refreshment table. Fluttershy and Thistle Whistle, meanwhile, had started offering suggestions to Rainbow Dash.
“You should move Cloudsdale down to the ground,” Thistle Whistle said, whistling at the end of the sentence.
“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea, don’t you think so too, Dashie?”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “No.” She wasn’t going to relocate an entire city because one pegasus was afraid of clouds and another was afraid of… well, everything else.
“But think of the increase in tourism if unicorns and earth ponies could visit. Oh! And then we’d be neighbors. Wouldn’t that be nice, Rainbow? And it would be so much better for Tank, don’t you think?”
Rainbow replied with a groan, and Skywishes chuckled. Crazy suggestions were just another part of the job.
“Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! They’re getting into the starting gate! The race is about to start!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “This is so exciting!”
“I hope Star Catcher wins!” Minty exclaimed.
“That would be like, super-duper awesomazing!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down with excitement.
“I wouldn’t get your hopes up, girls. She just joined the team after all,” Skywishes said. “The rest of the Wonderbolts have been performing for years.”
“Yeah. Besides, Fleetfoot is the fastest Wonderbolt. Not including me of course.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her chest. “She’ll win by at least two lengths.”
The starting bell sounded and the competitors took off at top speed. Spitfire jumped out to an early lead, with Fleetfoot, High Winds, and Icy Mist close behind. The four of them broke away from the rest of the pack, with Soarin’ leading the stragglers.
Star Catcher had been training relentlessly for two weeks. The only thing that hadn’t been covered was actually starting the race. She’d missed the start and several valuable seconds elapsed before she got moving. She found herself rounding out the field as they entered the first corner.
“What kind of start does she call that? Fluttershy could’ve done better!” Rainbow Dash laughed.
“But that would mean coming out of that nice cozy stall to perform in front of all those other ponies…” Fluttershy started hyperventilating. “So no, no I couldn’t.”
Racing around the track, Star Catcher adjusted her wings slightly. It had amazed her that none of her new teammates understood anything at all about aerodynamics. They relied on their instincts to adjust their wings and even their feathers, but it tended to result in their overcorrecting or not compensating enough. But with a minimal knowledge of wind resistance, combined with the natural pegasus instincts, a flyer could improve their efficiency by ten or even twenty percent. She wasn’t straining herself nearly as hard as her teammates.
As they exited the second turn, she’d already picked off Lightning Streak, Misty Fly, and Surprise. But it was the backstretch where she showed everypony just what she was truly capable of. She went from sixth to first in one daring move, Surprise slipstreaming behind her.
As Surprise had quickly discovered, Star Catcher’s wake was significantly larger than the others’. She enjoyed the benefits of drafting, while the other Wonderbolts found their own rhythms thrown off by the disturbance in the air as the duo passed them.
“Woooooo! Look at her go!” Razzaroo was leaning on the glass of the skybox.
“That was awesome!” Even the normally reserved Kimono was excited. “She’s got this!”
Star Catcher led Surprise by a length as they entered the third corner, with the rest of the team trailing them by five lengths. Spitfire tucked in behind Fleetfoot and Soarin’ followed her lead. The lighter and more maneuverable trio gained on the lead duo through turns three and four, with Fleetfoot dueling for second alongside Surprise as they exited the fourth corner. But Star Catcher dove to the inside to block Fleetfoot, leaving Surprise hung out to dry on the high side. The former duchess pulled ahead as they approached the finish line, leaving her competitors to battle for second as she charged down the front straightaway. She won by three lengths over Fleetfoot, with Spitfire, Soarin’, and Surprise rounding out the top five.
“Yeah! She won!” Almost every pony in the Cloudsdale skybox was jumping up and down, cheering. Rainbow Dash just grumbled. That win should have been hers.
Next up was freeform, where each of the Wonderbolts showcased their moves. Soarin’ started the show, and was followed in turn by Fleetfoot and Misty Fly. Halfway through the show Surprise performed her routine, leaving the audience laughing at her crazy antics. Normally Spitfire would take the grand finale, but she went next to last, leaving Star Catcher to close the show.
“They’re saving the best for last!” Razzaroo exclaimed.
“You know it!” agreed Minty, hoof-bumping her.
Rainbow Dash stifled a yawn, but only Skywishes picked up on it.
“And now… the Flying Duchess herself, Star Catcher!” The announcer could be heard loud and clear, even up in the skybox. Thousands of hooves stomped in support as Star Catcher calmly flew into view.
There were no nervous butterflies in Star Catcher’s stomach as she passed in front of the grandstands, waving to the ponies. She was used to making speeches in front of crowds almost as large as this, and with political consequences hanging over her head if she messed up. This was a flight. In the grand scheme of things, it was inconsequential. If she messed up, Spitfire would yell at her. Big deal. Spitfire enjoyed yelling at ponies, anyway. She’d get over it.
She started with a double inside-out loop, a move so basic it had fallen out of favor in the Wonderbolts’ quest for ever more spectacular stunts.
“Ha! A double inside-out loop? That’s the best she’s got?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “No Wonderbolt’s done that in at least twenty years because it’s so lame. Any pegasus can do it. Some grand finale this is going to be.”
“She’s just starting her routine. Logically she’d save the best for last. I’m sure she’s got something big planned,” Twilight Sparkle replied.
Coming out of the loop, Star Catcher ascended, then banked hard to the right. She started barrel-rolling into her drill bit move. The polite stomping she heard during her first trick turned thunderous the longer she kept corkscrewing.
In the skybox even Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped. She counted forty-two corkscrews before the former duchess pulled up, and that was only because she’d run out of room. The record up until now had been thirty-five corkscrews, while Rainbow’s personal best after years of practice was a mere thirty-three. “She’s got to be so dizzy now she’ll give up and abandon her routine.”
Star Catcher continued ascending slowly, eyes closed to stop the world from spinning around her. Judging from the applause, that trick had gone over well with the audience.
“She’s getting pretty high up,” Thistle Whistle noted. “I sure hope there aren’t any clouds up there.” She whistled.
“What’s she doing now?” Rainbow thought. “She can’t possibly be about to do what I think she’s going to do…”
A chill ran down Rainbow’s spine as Star Catcher descended. “No, she wouldn’t steal my move. Yeah, we’ve had our differences but she’d never do that to me. Would she?” An explosion of rainbow-colored butterflies interrupted Rainbow’s thoughts. “She would.”
Fluttershy gasped. “So beautiful!”
The entire stadium burst into cheering and stomping. As the applause died down the rest of the Wonderbolts joined Star Catcher for their group precision flying routine.
Dash sat in the skybox fuming. Her signature move had just been performed in front of an audience for the first time during a Wonderbolts show. By somepony other than her. Sensing her friend’s discomfort, Fluttershy put a hoof on her foreleg. “Rainbow, remember when Star Catcher got her cutie mark back when we were in flight camp?”
“Of course, how could I forget? There was an awful lot of property damage, and there were butterflies everywhere.”
“Just like right now.”
It took a minute for Fluttershy’s meaning to sink in. “She got her cutie mark doing a sonic rainboom.” It made more sense than she wanted to admit. The rainboom would’ve shaken Cloudsdale’s very foundations, causing the property damage. While the butterflies… well, they were kind of Star Catcher’s thing, just like a rainbow contrail was her own. But come to think of it, she’d never seen the butterflies before that day.
“I never knew,” Fluttershy said.
“I did,” Skywishes finally admitted. “Not at the time, but she told me years later. She kept it a secret because she didn’t want to diminish Rainbow Dash’s feat. But her cutie mark wasn’t a result of the sonic rainboom. It was a result of a magical surge when she released the butterflies.”
“Well, the secret’s out now,” Rainbow said with a huff.
Fluttershy gasped as something else dawned on her. “I think they’re the butterflies that caught me when I fell out of Cloudsdale during that race you had with the bullies. That means she must’ve done another sonic rainboom before you did.”
“Astute observation, Fluttershy.” Discord popped into the room. “Sixteen of them to be exact. And I felt every single one of them when I was a stone statue. You might be interested to know that each of those little butterflies of hers is made up of my chaos magic. They’re the secret behind her unprecedented pegasus ability to perform magic, her ability to grant wishes, and they’re a general menace to the population as a whole. Oh, and every time she does a blasted sonic rainboom it disturbs my chaos magic. Did I mention that already?” Discord was almost as irritated as Rainbow Dash. “And she’s done ten of them in the last month. Eleven now.”
“I don’t recall feeling any chaos magic when I do a sonic rainboom.”
“Her magic and your magic work very differently. But look on the bright side, Rainbow – at least you don’t get on my nerves every time you do a sonic rainboom.”
“I don’t think she’s going to be happy you told everypony that.”
Discord waved his paw dismissively. “Oh please, Fluttershy. Almost everypony in this room already knows about that incident at Canterlot University a few years ago. I’m just filling in a few gaps in the record. I hope Twilight’s been taking notes. I hate to dump exposition and run, but there are places I’d rather be right now. Lots of them, actually.” He snapped a claw and was instantly gone.
“I hate it when he does that.” Fluttershy sighed. “It’s just so rude to leave without saying goodbye. Don’t you agree, Rainbow?” She looked over to where the prismatic pegasus had been sitting. Rainbow Dash had disappeared just as suddenly as Discord. The remnants of a rainbow contrail leading to the door could just faintly be seen as it faded away.
“Lardflank discovered the rainboom first. Why didn’t she say something? Why didn’t she show it off to everypony?” Rainbow Dash processed the new information as well as she could from inside the fluffy confines of a cloud. It was the one place she was virtually assured of to not to be found. At the very least, she could rest assured knowing Thistle Whistle wouldn’t find her.
She may have cried at some point. The stains on her cheeks and muzzle certainly indicated such, but that was silly. Rainbow Dash was so awesome she was completely incapable of crying.
“That was my best move, lardflank. I’ve dedicated years of my life to practicing perfecting it. And now you’ve taken it from me. So I’m going to do the same thing to you – take that which means the most to you in this whole wide world. …As soon as I figure out what, exactly, that is.” She tapped a hoof against her head. “Come on, Rainbow, think. What does Star Catcher love most?”
The answer hit her like a ton of bricks. “Of course. Being Duchess of Cloudsdale. And she’s hoofed me everything I need to do it, too.”
To be fair, the only time ponies would use the word ‘bright’ to describe Rainbow Dash was when describing the colors in her hair. But when she put her mind into it, she could accomplish almost anything. And it didn’t hurt that she had an invaluable resource at her disposal. She drained her negative emotions into the cloud surrounding her, letting it turn into a storm cloud as it took on her troubles. With a mighty kick it released those emotions as rain, and Rainbow Dash took the opportunity to wash the tears from her face. She had a reputation to uphold, after all.
Fortunately for Rainbow, the pony she was seeking had stayed behind in Canterlot when the rest of their friends returned to Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle was taking the opportunity to see her mentor Princess Celestia, as well as her parents, and a few friends from school. Finding her was easy enough – the Royal Canterlot Library was too powerful a temptation for Twilight Sparkle to resist.
“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow Dash looked around the room. Shelves of books as far as her eyes could see, but no ponies to be found. “Huh, that’s odd, the librarian said she was in here.” She turned to leave.
A flash of light caught her attention. Twilight and another pony teleported into the room. “What do you want, Rainbow Dash?”
“Just checking up on my favorite egghead. Practicing teleportation again?”
“No, I was showing my friend Moondancer Haycart’s Technique.”
“Who and what now?”
Twilight sighed. “Moondancer, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash, Moondancer. Haycart’s Technique is a complex spell that allows one to actually enter a book. It really helps absorb knowledge.”
“Oh, that would be perfect…”
“No, it wouldn’t be perfect for Daring Do adventure stories. Anyway, is there a reason you’re here disturbing our very short amount of practice time?”
“Well, yes. I need your help. I need to be a better duchess.”
“You’re finally taking your obligation seriously?” Twilight’s attitude changed instantly. “Oh, that’s wonderful! I’ll help you any way I can. Oh, and we can even practice Haycart’s Technique while we work on your issue.” Twilight levitated a book over. “Yes, this should be perfect. Moondancer, do you think you’re ready to try the spell solo?”
“Sure, but I don’t really see a need for me to absorb Majesty’s Guide to Being Royalty.”
“You don’t have to. Just zap Rainbow Dash in and we’ll continue practicing while she learns.”
“Wait, I don’t want…” Rainbow Dash became a pegasus-shaped outline inside the book. “…To be a novice spellcaster’s guinea pig.” She sighed and looked around. So this is what it was like to be in a book. It was nothing like that enchanted comic book Spike had inadvertently trapped them all in. It was just text. Lots and lots of text. “How the hay am I supposed to learn all this?”
Twilight’s now enormous face loomed over the book. “Fly, Rainbow, fly.”
“Oh, right. Also, you have some broccoli caught in your teeth.”
Discord stood by the window, overlooking an upside-down mountain range. The house and landscape around him continued moving independently of one another, and soon his lake of chaos magic came into view. He snapped his claw and everything stopped moving. “Three. Two. One.”
There was an explosion in the middle of the lake as thousands of multi-colored butterflies emerged from the turbulent waters and disappeared.
“The part that truly hurts is just how predictable she is. It’s chaos magic, for crying out loud. Do something different for once! Even those ridiculously sappy ‘extra special wishes’ were more entertaining than this; at least there was some variety to them.” He scratched his chin with his claw. “Five minutes and twenty-seven seconds until her encore.”
“You’re not Star Catcher.”
“I know. I’m her totally radical replacement.”
“You’re also not Ploomette. As tradition dictates, I’ve memorized the entire pegasi line of succession and you’re not in there at all.”
“Star Catcher recognized my sheer awesomeness and abdicated in my favor.”
“This is most unexpected.”
Rainbow Dash savored her host’s discomfort. They were currently sitting in the royal suite in the most expensive restaurant in Canterlot. The room was secluded and soundproof, for privacy. The walls were mahogany, and the booths had the softest cushions she had ever sat on. Not quite cloud-level soft, but they were definitely the softest synthetic material she’d ever felt. And the arrogant bore sitting across from her had an even more luxurious suite at the castle.
She’d made sure to pick the most expensive option on the menu, even if she couldn’t pronounce it or, for that matter, identify it. It had barely any flavor, and the portion size reminded her of the last time Rarity had gone on a diet.
Rainbow was here on business, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun at the Unicorn Prince’s expense. Prince Blueblood was a known flirt, so Rainbow let her natural charm take over. She batted her eyelashes in a way she’d seen Rarity do a hundred times before when she wanted a stallion to do something for her. “Really, why do we need to drag those insufferable bores into this? You’re here. I’m here. Just the two of us.” She brushed a rear hoof along his leg. “I picked out this fancy dress to wear just for you and you haven’t once complimented it.” She pouted.
“It’s um, a fine dress. I don’t recognize the label.”
“Carousel Boutique. With locations here in Canterlot, Manehattan, and of course the original location in Ponyville.” She leaned in for the kill, drawing her muzzle within inches of his. “You must have heard of the designer, Rarity.”
Blueblood pulled his head back from Rainbow’s and his eyes opened wide in shock. “Never heard of her.”
“Really? You’ve never heard of the Element of Generosity?” Rarity might be too much of a ‘lady’ to throw that in Blueblood’s face, but Rainbow Dash had no use for tact. “Funny, I know she’s stayed at the same castle you live in. And, I distinctly remember seeing you with her at the Grand Galloping Gala a few years ago. She didn’t look all that happy to be there though. She’s a close personal friend of mine.”
Blueblood’s eyes darted towards the door. He knew this mare’s reputation. Fastest pony alive. Only pony to ever perform a sonic rainboom. Element of Loyalty. Loyal to her friends above all else. And he had spurned one of those friends. There was no way he could possibly outrun her, and his guards were outside the room with hers. He gulped. “All right, so what do you want?”
“First, an official letter of apology to Rarity. She’s too polite to ever ask for such a thing personally, but I know she’d absolutely eat that up. She might even forgive you for it. No promises, but she might. And if she forgives you, then I forgive you.”
“I can’t do that. To concede would be to show that I was wrong. It would be a sign of weakness.”
“Yeah, I know. So if you don’t, I guess I can show everypony just how really weak you are. Chase you out of here, maybe pummel you in front of a few reporters. And with your reputation, no one would question me if I said you were trying to get fresh with me.” She grinned maliciously.
Blueblood rested his head in his hooves and started weeping.
“You’re a disgrace to your crown, you’re a disgrace to your country, and you’re even a disgrace to your gender. Openly crying in front of a mare; what are you, a colt or a stallion?” She paused, waiting for him to compose himself, but he didn’t. “You’re the most weak-willed, pompous excuse for a prince I’ve ever seen. I bet Star Catcher normally coddles you at these meetings, doesn’t she? You’re just the type of complete basketcase that she just loves to help. You may have noticed already, but I don’t do that.”
Rainbow stood up from the table, where Blueblood remained blubbering, stammering out random incoherent words between his sobs. “Look, I don’t even remember what official business I’m supposed to be here on. I’ll have Skywishes send a list of demands to you tomorrow. You agree to those, and we’ll forget all about the Gala incident. Okay?”
Blueblood nodded between sobs and Rainbow wolfed down the rest of her tasteless meal. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go eat some real food now. I’ll see that you’re not disturbed for the next few hours so you can finish crying in peace.” She slipped out the door, motioning for Skywishes and the rest of her entourage to follow her. “Oh, and boys. You may want to leave him alone for a bit. Your boss can’t handle the heat – he really needs to get out of the kitchen.”
They walked out of the restaurant and Rainbow turned to Skywishes. “Is he always an emotional wreck?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
“Uh?”
“I gave him some food for thought. Speaking of food, I’m starved. Let’s grab some grub.”
“But we just left the restaurant…”
“Yeah, yeah. I want real food. Donut Joe’s is open, let’s go!”
What most surprised Star Catcher about her new job was that she’d developed a love of travel in a short period of time. For once in her life she was seeing the real Equestria – not the controlled environment of Cloudsdale or the ivory towers of Canterlot. Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Baltimare, Trottingham, Vanhoover, Seaddle, Detrot, Las Pegasus… the cities had all been there for centuries, but they were all new and exciting to her. But it was the small towns she loved the most. Appleloosa, Gaitlinburg, Pumpkin Lakes, and today’s venue, Ponyville. As nice as the big cities were, the smaller towns gave her the opportunity to actually interact with the fans who had come to see the Wonderbolts.
A lot of those fans were coming just to see her, which was flattering and a bit embarrassing all at the same time. But she knew full well royalty was always a big draw to the general public. If Princess Celestia were to perform a show with the Wonderbolts, Equestria would grind to a halt as at least 80% of the population would be drawn to the show.
The show had gone off without a hitch, and now she was sitting at a table signing autographs with the rest of the team.
“You’re not as good as Rainbow Dash.” The words hurt more than they should have. Star Catcher turned to look at the pony who had addressed her. Before her stood an orange pegasus filly with pink hair.
“Hello, my little pony.” Star Catcher recognized the face. Her mind processed the data from tens of thousands of butterflies as she continued the conversation. “And why do you say that?”
“’Cause Rainbow Dash is totally radical! She puts on a real show! When you’re out there flying you look like you’re bored stiff.”
“I take my flying very seriously.”
“Don’t you know how to have fun?”
“Of course I do, Scootaloo.” Scootaloo… daughter of Honolu-loo; no wonder she looked so familiar – there was definitely a family resemblance now that she was looking for it.
“How do you know my name?”
“Your mom is one of my mother’s closest friends.” Which didn’t explain why Honolu-loo had never introduced her daughter to them. She continued searching her butterflies for answers. “Come on, why don’t the two of us go for a fl…” Abort, she can’t fly. Magic deficiency from birth. Unable to hover for more than a few seconds. Lives in Ponyville with her sister Cheerilee to circumvent the Cloudsdale School District’s emphasis on flight training. “…Go for an ice cream. My treat.”
“You know my mom?”
“Well, yes. I see her periodically.”
“Oh. So you see her as often as I do then. She lives in Cloudsdale while I live here in Ponyville with my sister. I see my parents on weekends and holidays.”
With the filly’s disheartening words ‘education reform’ bumped itself up to the number one position on the list of things she needed to do when she resumed control of her duchy. There was no excuse for breaking up families.
“C’mon, let’s go get that ice cream. And you can tell me all about how I can improve my routine and be more like Rainbow Dash.”
“I need you to write up a list of all that stuff I talked to Blueblood about last night. You know, our demands and all that.”
“Demands? We don’t have demands. We have suggestions, a series of objectives, ranked in importance to obtain from the Prince. The idea being he would make counter-offers and the two of you would go back and forth until you could both agree on everything.”
“Oh, he agreed to everything we want.”
“Please tell me you didn’t beat him up.” Skywishes facehoofed. Granted, that would instantly remove this nitwit from the duchy, but Prince Blueblood certainly didn’t deserve… okay maybe he did deserve a little beating if his reputation was anything to go by. Star Catcher was rarely in a good mood when she returned from meetings with him.
“Nah. Been there, done that. Beating him isn’t nearly as rewarding as you’d expect it to be. Once he saw how epic I am he caved immediately. Oh, and add ‘relocate Equestria’s capital to Cloudsdale’ to the list.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? Cloudsdale would make a great capital!”
“It’s in the sky. Earth ponies and unicorns would have to go to a lot of trouble to get here. Cloudwalking spells, balloon rides…”
“Details, details. Think about the prestige for Cloudsdale if we were the national capital. I bet that would increase all the comm…commer….business downtown.”
“Commerce. The word you want is commerce.” Skywishes sighed. “And the Princesses are in Canterlot. That’s always going to be the national capital.”
“We could just bring the Princesses here. We’ve got our own palace. Hay, I bet if they see how great I am at being a duchess they’ll abdicate just like Star Catcher did! And then I’d be Princess of Equestria!”
“But our palace is smaller than Canterlot Castle. I mean, if we let the Princesses move in, you’d have to give up your treasury room. And I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get some death-defying traps for it. I had to call in some favors, bribe a few building inspectors. I’d hate to let all that effort go to waste.”
“You actually bribed somepony?” Rainbow Dash asked, incredulous. She slapped Skywishes on the withers. “There’s hope for you yet! I knew I could be a good role model for you. This is how you get stuff done in the real world!”
Skywishes sat at her kitchen table, head buried in her hooves. Noticeably absent were the butterflies that always followed her around. She was one of the few ponies that knew Star Catcher’s deepest secret – the butterflies act as her eyes and ears, allowing her to be present in multiple locations at once, and giving the impression of omniscience amongst the other ponies. So Skywishes deliberately shut them out of her kitchen as she pondered what to do. Rainbow Dash was too stubborn to quit, despite being bored out of her mind acting as the Pegasus Duchess, while Star Catcher was having more fun than she’d had in her entire life and was in no particular hurry to get back to her duties.
Most annoyingly, Rainbow Dash was surprisingly competent at the job. A fact she made sure to rub in Skywishes’ face each and every day. The side effects of her month long rule were annoying, but not particularly pressing. The treasury was a little emptier than it had been, but there were plenty of reserves still. Star Catcher’s relatives were complaining about the usurper but to be fair they complained about a lot of things, even when Star Catcher was running things. Skywishes sighed. She couldn’t blame her friend for wanting to escape the political madness where the subtlest of actions could have unintended ramifications.
“There’s only one thing I can do…” she whispered as she got up and opened a cabinet drawer. “I know I promised never again, but there’s no other way.” She choked back a sob. “I’m sorry, Star Catcher… so very sorry.”
Elsewhere in Cludsdale, Rainbow Dash was sprawled out on the Duchess’ bed. It was much larger than her own, and made from the finest clouds to ever come out of the weather factory. Even though she’d been sleeping in it every night for the last month, she couldn’t help but caress the soft clouds. “Life is good.”
She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. Just as she had always suspected, being a duchess wasn’t hard work at all. Sure, there were fewer naps than when she was Ponyville’s weather manager, but really all she needed to do on a daily basis was make a few decisions here and there, and then let other ponies do all the work. Like Skywishes. Now there was a mare with misplaced loyalties. Rainbow Dash was thrice the duchess Star Catcher was, yet Skywishes insisted on always dragging her predecessor’s name into every conversation. ‘Star Catcher would do this’ followed by ‘Star Catcher would never do that’ or some other such nonsense. Lame.
And with a little luck the throne she had ordered would finally be delivered tomorrow. She smiled as that thought turned into a dream, as she quickly passed into slumber.
Star Catcher’s cutie mark glowed as she flew in formation with the rest of the Wonderbolts team. She could feel the warmth of the glow on her flank, even if she couldn’t see it due to the blue and gold uniform covering her. “My cutie mark? But that could only be… No, it can’t be. Skywishes and I agreed never to do that ever again.”
Distracted, she missed her mark and flew off course.
“Where do you think you’re going, Duchess?” Spitfire asked, annoyed.
“Something’s come up. I’ve got to go.” Star Catcher kept flying, even when Spitfire and Soarin’ took off in pursuit after her. A few strong wingbeats were all it took to leave them in the dust. “No more extra special wishes, Skywishes. Not after that …incident… with Discord at the university. I can’t let that… that monster take hold of me ever again.”
The kite appeared in her field of vision, and true to form a pony was chasing it. But what shocked her was who was chasing it. “Skywishes?!?” She blinked in confusion as she slowed down. She scanned her butterflies but there was no record of her friend uttering the magic words.
“But what if Discord interferes again?” The kite glowed with her magical aura and she jerked it away from Skywishes. She landed in front of her friend. “I don’t know what you wished for but nothing could possibly be important enough to risk that fiend’s trickery.”
“I wished for a friend.”
“While that was very noble of you, need I remind you what happened the last time we did this?”
“I didn’t wish on behalf of a friend. I mean I literally wished for a friend. Specifically, I wished to have my best friend in the whole world back.” Tears were streaming down her face but she didn’t care who saw her crying. “Starry, I’ve missed you.” She wrapped her forelegs around Star Catcher in an embrace. “Please come back. I don’t even have to catch the kite for you to grant my wish. Please?”
It was hard to shock Star Catcher. Between her butterflies and years of training for a career in politics, she had a reputation as an ice cold pony with a stone-faced expression. There were very few ponies who could get the drop on her, and absolutely none willing to play poker with her. But her icy façade cracked instantly and she embraced Skywishes for all she was worth. “I’m sorry! I didn’t… I didn’t know you missed me. You could’ve written. Or said something.” She motioned to the butterflies. “That’s what they’re there for, after all. I’d have come running.”
“Are you sure? I tried to say something to you last week at the Wonderbolts Derby. But you were too busy.”
Spitfire and Soarin’ finally caught up and landed a few dozen yards away from the awkward scene. Soarin’ shuffled his hooves. “Maybe we should just go back. This looks kind of personal.”
“Yeah,” Spitfire agreed.
As they launched into the air Star Catcher called out to them. “Wait!” The two Wonderbolts landed. “I quit.” Star Catcher slipped out of the spandex uniform and levitated it over to Spitfire. “I’ll have Rainbow Dash back on your squad tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” asked Spitfire. “It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
“Dash is talented, but she has some discipline problems,” Soarin’ replied. “Her first few days with the team were rough, and she’s had her moments since then too. But you’ve been flawless since you started with us. And we’ve never seen a faster flyer. I think I speak for the whole team when I say we’d like to keep working with you, regardless of whether Rainbow Dash comes back or not. There’ll always be a spot open on our team for you, Star Catcher.”
“I appreciate that, and I enjoyed my time working with you both, and your team. I can honestly say it’s the most fun I’ve had in years. But I was just reminded of what I gave up. I’m sure you understand when I say friends come first.”
Spitfire looked to the ground, while Soarin’ glared at her. “Yeah, that’s a lesson Rainbow Dash taught me when I tried to replace Soarin’ at the Equestria Games.” She sighed as she looked up at Soarin’. “How many times do I need to apologize for that?”
“You don’t,” Soarin’ replied. “I would’ve done the same thing to you. We were all focused on winning. It’s what the Wonderbolts do. Er, it’s what the Wonderbolts did.” He turned back to Star Catcher. “Sorry about that. It’s been an honor working with you, Duchess.” He bowed and Spitfire followed suit. They saluted when they stood up, then flew off.
Star Catcher walked back to Skywishes and draped a foreleg over her withers. “Let’s go home.”
The first thing Star Catcher noticed upon her return to Cloudsdale were the statues of Rainbow Dash.
“Like the new town decorations? Rainbow Dash has proven herself to be quite adept at your job. And with each new success her ego gets just a bit bigger.”
“I’ve been away at Wonderbolts camp for a month. There are dozens of statues of her! Just… how?” She gagged at a statue of an alicorn Rainbow Dash simultaneously raising the sun and lowering the moon. “Who approved this blasphemy? We’re removing this one immediately.”
“She’s spending the funds in the treasury at a rate not seen since Hurricane the Third.”
“A pony who was deposed by Princess Celestia on behalf of citizens irate with the numerous tax increases he imposed upon them,” Star Catcher recited the period of pegasi history where their independence as a tribe ended in favor of uniting with Equestria. “And are those…?”
“Battle flags of the former Pegasus Empire? Why yes they are. Seems some ponies are using Rainbow Dash’s exploits as proof of ‘pegasi superiority’ and suggesting we separate from Equestria entirely.”
“How did I not know about any of this?”
“That’s a good question. Where have your butterflies been hiding?”
“Let’s see, my normal entourage is at Wonderbolts Academy, all of the rest are watching over my friends as usual, and yours have been confined to your home for the past month. Still, there should’ve been some with Rainbow Dash.” She focused hard on her magical insects. “Which are trapped in your closet.”
“I didn’t want you worrying about what was happening in your absence,” Skywishes confessed. “You seemed so... so happy. I’ve never seen you that happy. So I kind of rounded up all your butterflies here in Cloudsdale to keep you out of the loop. Besides, in all honesty she didn’t mess things up too badly.”
“Well, Cloudsdale’s still standing. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but I’ll file this under ‘best case scenario’ nonetheless. Now let’s find Rainbow Dash and end this madness once and for all.”
“You want the job back? You said it yourself, we can have a rematch any time I want. With a full media crew on hoof to witness me beating the feathers off you.” She grinned. “Of course, if I lose, I guess I’m still stuck being Duchess. It’s not too bad, really. Servants to get me whatever I want, whenever I want it. And I keep showing what’s her name up.”
“Skywishes.”
“Yeah, you. You don’t think I can do anything. But I keep proving you wrong, isn’t it great? And best of all is the royal treasury. Do you know how much money is in there? It’s awesome! I can buy anything!”
“And you have,” Skywishes reminded her. “Anything and everything, for that matter.”
“Cloudsdale looks much better with all these new statues if I do say so myself.”
Star Catcher sighed. “All right, what do you really want?”
“I told you, a rematch. You got lucky once, you won’t beat me twice!”
“Is your ego really that fragile that you need to prove you’re faster than me?”
“Hay yeah. You’ve been performing with the Wonderbolts for a month now. And you’ve been performing my routine, including my sonic rainboom in front of my adoring public. And they love you! Don’t you have enough ponies fawning over you just by being a duchess? Now you’re the ‘Flying Duchess’ which is about the stupidest name for a Wonderbolt I’ve ever heard, by the way. Did you have to take my fans too? Now I’ve got to take your place and live up to the expectations you’ve set. I’ve had to earn every one of my fans; they didn’t just start following me because I was born into the right family like you. So you bet your flank I want a rematch so I can blow the feathers off your wings.”
“So if I let you win in front of the media, everything goes back to normal?”
“You’re not getting off that easy. I’m going to beat you fair and square. No throwing the race just to let me win. If you put no effort into it, neither will I.”
“I’m faster than you and you know it.”
“Prove it. We’ll race to the mountain again. And this time I’ll smoke ya. I’ve been practicing!”
Star Catcher rolled her eyes. All the practice in the world could never compensate for heredity. As such, she wasn’t keen on showing off. “Fine. We’ll race tomorrow at high noon. But we’ll race on the track at the Cloudsdale Coliseum. There are grandstands for the media. Once around the track, winner take all.”
“Now you’re talkin’! I’m gonna mop the floor with you!” Rainbow Dash pumped a hoof in the air. “I’m gonna go call a press conference. Be there!” She flew off, leaving Star Catcher alone with Skywishes.
“What were you thinking? You’re faster than her, and she knows it too. If you win, I’m quitting. I’m not working with that egomaniac another day. Furthermore, I’m moving because I don’t want to live in any town she’s in charge of.”
“Have some faith, Skywishes. Rainbow Dash will beat me tomorrow, and she’ll do so fair and square.”
“Discord, I know you can hear me.”
The draconequus appeared in Star Catcher’s living room. “What do you want?”
“I’ve resigned my position with the Wonderbolts. I won’t be disturbing your chaos magic anymore.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
“But there’s one favor I’d like to ask from you first. I’d like to grant just one last extra special wish.”
“You’ve been free to grant wishes this whole time.”
“Specifically without you corrupting it.”
“After that little incident at the university, I promised Celestia I wouldn’t interfere in any of your so-called ‘extra special wishes’ ever again. My work-release depends on it. Otherwise I go back to being a pigeon perch in the Canterlot Gardens.”
“Oh. Well, I still need permission to break the ‘one wish per pony’ rule.”
“What rule? It’s chaos magic, for crying out loud. You can’t put rules on chaos. It just doesn’t work like that. And this is why I don’t share my magic. You ponies are so dreadfully boring. Order, structure, rules, laws. Bah! These are all the antithesis of chaos. So go ahead and grant your silly little wishes if it makes you feel better.”
“Oh, thank you, Discord. Perhaps you’re not such a foul fiend after all.”
“And perhaps you’re not the stuck up, high-and-mighty spoiled brat I thought you were.”
At high noon the next day the bleachers at the Cloudsdale Coliseum were full of reporters and photographers. Rainbow Dash bragged to them about how she was about to win Star Catcher’s spot on the Wonderbolts and how soon the former duchess would again be the current duchess.
Skywishes paced back and forth, nervously. “You’re going to throw the race, right?”
“I’ll do no such thing. If she wins today, she’ll have earned it.”
The gates pulled away and the two pegasi took off in a flash. With no head start this time, Rainbow Dash fell behind Star Catcher as they approached the first turn. She tucked in directly behind her, taking advantage of the larger mare’s slipstream. The white pegasus went deep into the corner, taking a high line through the curve, leaving the inside line open for Rainbow to shoot past her.
Rainbow Dash extended her lead through turn two, but Star Catcher once more resumed the lead halfway through the backstretch. Once more Rainbow Dash drafted behind Star Catcher, and when they got to the third corner she zipped past her. This time Star Catcher tucked in behind Rainbow Dash, but her larger size reduced the benefits of slipstreaming the prismatic mare.
Coming out of the fourth corner Star Catcher remained right on Rainbow’s tail. She pulled alongside, attempting the same slingshot maneuver Rainbow had used on her, but it was too little, too late as Rainbow Dash soared across the finish line in first.
Rainbow Dash rushed to the bleachers to brag to the reporters, while Skywishes galloped over to Star Catcher.
“You were right. But how’d she beat you?”
“What did you notice when you attended the Wonderbolts Derby?”
“That you perform her signature move better than she does.” Skywishes smirked at the thought.
“Aside from that.”
“Well, you got a slow start, but you still won the derby.”
“Right, with superior straightaway speed. But the other Wonderbolts are smaller and more maneuverable, like Rainbow Dash.”
The light bulb clicked on in Skywishes’ brain. “They corner better than you.”
“Rainbow Dash accelerates faster than I do, and has sufficient straight line speed to keep up with me, and then stretches her advantage in the corners. I calculate that in a match race on an oval track she’ll beat me nine times out of ten. Whereas I’ll win 100% of the time in a straight line, assuming a distance of at least three hundred meters.”
“That was a brilliant idea.”
“She got her win fair and square, and I made her work for it too. Now there’s just one last thing to do. Follow me.” She led Skywishes over to Rainbow Dash, who had just finished up her interviews with the press, urging them to use words like ‘decimated’ and ‘humiliated’ in their articles in the next day’s paper. “Rainbow Dash.”
“Star Catcher. I told you I’d kick your flank this time.”
“Can it.”
“Oh, sore loser. Boohoo, Rainbow showed you who’s really hot stuff this time and you can’t take it.”
“You fail to grasp just how little I care which one of us is faster. Right now I have something important to ask you. Now that we’ve gone through all of this, do you believe in extra special wishes or not?”
“Of course not.”
“I thought you might say that. Do you remember back in flight camp, how you wished for Fluttershy to be a stronger flyer?”
“Yeah, so?”
“It happened.”
“Yeah, with my intense workout regimens!”
“I seem to recall that it was two weeks until the end of camp and you still weren’t confident in Fluttershy’s abilities. And that’s when you made a wish.”
“Is there a point to this?”
“I’m making an exception to my ‘one wish per pony’ rule because you, Rainbow Dash, have an extra special wish to make.”
The multi-chromatic pegasus rolled her eyes. “And why would I do that?”
“Because you have nothing to lose… but someone near and dear to you stands a lot to gain.”
“I’m listening.”
“You’re going to wish for Scootaloo. She has a magic deficiency. There’s nothing doctors can do for that, and you and I both know she’s never going to fly no matter how hard you train with her.”
“Whoa, low blow bringing Squirt into this.”
“Are you really willing to dismiss her only chance to fly?”
Rainbow Dash paused and thought about it for a moment. “No. No, I’m not. What do I need to do?”
“Catch a kite,” said Skywishes.
“Catch a wish,” completed Star Catcher.
“Fine. I’ll play your game one last time. But not for you, I’m only doing this for Squirt.”
“That’s the very nature of an extra special wish. They’re not meant to benefit you. Extra special wishes are the selfless wishes you make on behalf of a friend.”
It was a short chase. Rainbow caught the kite before it had gone fifty yards.
“Star Catcher?”
The duchess looked up from the workload Rainbow Dash had graciously allowed to pile up in her absence. “Come in, Skywishes.”
“I figured I’d find you down here. Did you get any sleep last night?”
“With all this needing to get done?” She motioned to her inbox. “Not a wink. So what else changed while I was away?”
“You have a treasury room now.”
“A what?”
“A room filled with gold and precious gems. And booby traps. Lots of ridiculously over-the-top booby traps.”
“This I have to see…”
Skywishes led the way and Star Catcher gazed in wonder at the room. It looked like something from a Daring Do movie set. “See all the tiles on the floor? They’ve all got your cutie mark, mine, or Rainbow Dash’s. If you step on Rainbow’s, it’ll jolt you with a lightning bolt. In order to make it across, you have to step on all the tiles with your cutie mark on them.”
“Ha!” Star Catcher laughed. “I bet she loved that.”
“Oh, she got shocked right away. Dashed right into the room before I could explain what to do and fried herself. I got a good laugh out of that… well, I did after I made sure she was okay. So I told her that if I had made it so her cutie mark was the right one, it would be too obvious. And she agreed with me. And then she chewed me out for the other cutie marks not being Daring Do’s and Spitfire’s.”
“So what happens if you step on one of your cutie marks?”
“Absolutely nothing. As long as you avoid the Rainbow Dash lightning bolt cutie marks you’re fine. I was going to make it so that if you stepped on one of mine kites started flying at you but well, they’re not really all that intimidating. She probably would’ve suggested they needed chainsaws or something.” Skywishes rolled her eyes.
Star Catcher walked into the room. She had to duck to avoid hitting her head. “Really low ceiling.”
“She wanted it that way specifically so you couldn’t come in here and steal her treasure. The whole thing is designed to be too small for you to go through. But I fudged the dimensions a bit. Her perception of you is more than slightly… how shall I put this… she thinks you’re morbidly obese. It was ridiculously easy to make her believe this would be too small for you.”
Taking great care to only step on the tiles with Skywishes’ cutie mark or her own, Star Catcher slowly made her way across the treasury. Halfway through the room the tiles stopped. “Now what?”
“Once you go past here, you trip this beam which sets the ceiling to start collapsing. You’ve got to fly as fast as you can to get all the way across the room before you get crushed. Oh, and spears shoot out of the walls from both sides as you go through. Star Catcher? What…what are you doing?”
The duchess flexed her wings. “Sounds like a challenge.” She grinned a cocky grin that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Time me.” Less than two seconds later she had crossed the room, before any of the spears could even fire. She grinned from the far side of the room, holding up a big pile of gold bits. “That’s actually really fun. You should try it!”
Skywishes watched as the ceiling touched the floor, then started its slow climb back up. “No thanks.”
“I like this. It’s not quite the same as a Wonderbolts training course, but it certainly is a challenge. I bet it’s even more challenging first thing in the morning when I wake up.” Star Catcher clopped her hooves together. “Oh yes, I think that’s the perfect way to start the day. Really gets the blood flowing, don’t you think?”
“I think you’re starting to sound a bit too much like Rainbow Dash. Perhaps I should get Ploomette now and suggest she deem you unfit to rule?”
Star Catcher giggled. “I’m merely teasing you, my friend.” She made her way back across the room. “So how do these spear launchers reload themselves?”
Skywishes pulled a lever on the inside of the wall and the spears all retracted back into the wall. “They’re chained.”
“Clever!”
“Can I dismantle it now before somepony gets hurt?”
“That would probably be for the best.”
The two pegasi walked back to Star Catcher’s office to find a stallion in a brown uniform waiting for them.
“Delivery. I just need you to sign here. I hope you don’t mind, but it was heavy so we left it in your throne room.”
“I don’t have a throne room.”
The delivery stallion laughed. “You do now.”
Star Catcher followed him to her public office, the one too fancy for her tastes. Inside was a massive throne, hemmed from the finest wood and covered in intricate carvings of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark.
“That’ll be 700,000 bits.”
“Rainbow Dash! When I get my hooves on you…”
“Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow Dash blinked an eye open. “Yeah Squirt?” Rainbow Dash opened both eyes wide. She was on her nap cloud high above Ponyville – and so was Scootaloo.
“I…I can fly. I don’t know how, and I’m not entirely sure this isn’t some kind of dream. But just in case it isn’t, can you please teach me everything you know. Please?”
“You got it, Squirt.” Liquid pride filled her eyes as she ruffled Scootaloo’s mane with a hoof. “I guess sometimes wishes and dreams really do come true.”
