The Band of Loyalty

Rainbow woke up in the middle of the afternoon and made her way to the bathroom to wash herself off. She was absolutely mortified with King's actions. It had always been bad, but to pin down a geriatric woman, even one that still had some fight left in her, was going too far.

"What a wonderful morning!" chirped King, smiling as he looked into the mirror. "Isn't it wonderful, Rainbow?"

No response came from Rainbow, save for a scowl.

"Oh, come now, Rainbow, you're not still mad about me keeping Fluttershy, are you? I told you she can come back next time if you behave."

"It's not just that," growled Rainbow. "It's a great many things. It's the fact that you're taking down helpless mares that can't fight back. It's the fact that you're taking so many, and not giving any of them a chance to appreciate me of their own accord. It's the fact that last night, you attacked a little old lady who only wanted her family back. But most of all, it's the fact that the only ponies you've been taking have been my closest friends!"

King shook his head. "I've taken down your enemies," he said. "Spitfire was standing in your way, trying to keep you from performing. Soarin tried to have you sanctioned for sexual misconduct. You call those ponies your friends?"

"I do," replied Rainbow, folding her arms. "They're good ponies who were just doing their jobs. They're supposed to be careful because other ponies depend on them."

King sighed. "Okay, I'll admit that I've mostly been targeting your friends. What did you expect? They're the ponies that you regularly hang around with. If you sat around with your greatest foes, I might be inclined to take one of them, but you have yet to introduce me."

Rainbow thought for a moment about that. She really didn't have that many enemies; most of the ponies she met absolutely adored her. A few rivals, perhaps, but no enemies, per se. Nopony had actually wronged her in years.

Suddenly, she knew who to take down. "If you want to take down somepony who has no regard for me, and make them adore us, I know just who you should go after."

Rainbow landed just outside of Las Pegasus, the desert wind coaxing her to move further into the city. This was exactly where she needed to be.

"Are you sure this is right?" asked King. "Quite honestly, I'm not sure this is the best place to acquire attention from anypony. It's all so flashy, I can't fathom anypony being able to see you shine here."

"Trust me," smiled Rainbow. "We're only after one pony here, and she'll be able to spot me from a vast distance. Especially if I do this." Pinning her lead pony badge to her Wonderbolt uniform, the bait was complete. Now she just had to wait for the right bite.

Walking around town, she wasn't mobbed as much as she might have expected. Then again, King was right, and there was a lot to see. Every so often, somepony would approach and ask for an autograph, but that was it. Most notably was a pegasus colt who had filled up an autograph book with several other Rainbow Dash autographs. None of them had been from her, which didn't come as a shock when he complimented her on her costume, saying that is was the closest he'd come to actually believing that he was talking to the real Rainbow Dash.

It took a bit longer for word to spread that the real Rainbow Dash was here in the city, but once it had caught on, it wasn't long before the fated meeting Rainbow had been hoping for to occur. An aqua pegasus in a black and green jumpsuit approached, seeming to be quite flustered. "So, the rumours really were true, after all. And here I was about to give up after the fourth fake Rainbow Dash I ran into was a stallion. And yet, here you are in the flesh."

Rainbow smirked. "Hello, my dear. Surprised to see me here?"

"Very much so," sneered the mare, narrowing her amber eyes at Rainbow. "I thought for sure you'd still be in Cloudsdale, yukking it up with your Wonderbolt pals in your fluffy, cushiony beds."

"Normally, I would be," smiled Rainbow, cracking her shoulders. "However, I'm out here with a special purpose. And for that purpose, I needed to find you, Lightning Dust."

Lightning shrugged. "Here to beg me to come back to the Wonderbolts? Forget it. I'm more than happy to stick around here, being paid top dollar for the kind of thing that Spitfire can only dream about."

"No, no," chuckled Rainbow. "Spitfire knows nothing about this. I'm here on my own accord."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I came out here looking for you."

Lightning folded her arms. "One is inclined to ask why."

"My reasons are my own, and you won't hear them until I've seen what I need to."

Lightning shrugged. "Whatever you're really here for, make it quick. You know how quick works, right, Dash?"

Rainbow blew a raspberry. "Who do you think you're talking to?" Glaring right into Lightning's eyes, Rainbow stepped forward until they were mere inches apart. "I'm here for a race. A race against you, specifically. I'll even let you set most of the terms. Set a location, advertise if you want it spectated, talk shit on me all you want in the leadup. But I only have a week, so make it snappy. You know what snappy means, right, Dust?"

The tension in the air between them was so ridiculously tight that the smallest snap could rip the entire world apart. Despite the fact that it was Las Pegasus, a quiet stillness hung in the crowd.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Lightning smirked and snorted. "Thursday at eight in the evening. The Washouts headquarters. I'll save all of my shit talking for when you lose." She turned to leave. "Unless you decide to pussy out, that is." With a flap, she flew off to set up advertising.

Rainbow made her way to a hotel to rest up for the night. "Was that your desired outcome?" asked King. "You wanted to antagonize her?"

Rainbow nodded as she sat down to her room service. "Absolutely. She's regularly interfered with the Wonderbolts, and she's also endangered Scootaloo. If I'm going to be changing the ponies around me, I want it to be for the better."

King smiled. "If you say so. I don't think she'll willingly suck you off, though."

Rainbow scoffed. "Since when do you care about having consent?"