11 - Rebirth

Twilight looked on in wonder, first at the Wonderbolts, who seemed as confused as she was, and then at the pegasus she thought she knew.

“W-what?” asked Surprise in shock.

“I QUIT!!!!!! I QUIT!!!!!! I QUIT!!!!!!” screamed Rainbow Dash as she tore off her Wonderbolt mask, threw it in the mud and stomped on it. “I'M NOT GOING TO DO IT ANYMORE! I DON'T WANT TO BE A WONDERBOLT!” Twilight cast a revealment spell on the enraged pegasus, to be sure she wasn't really a changeling, but the spell only confirmed her persona. That really was Rainbow Dash, tears streaming down her face, tearing at what remained of her uniform, quitting the Wonderbolts.

“Why?” asked Misty in confusion.

Dash ripped off her uniforms leggings with her teeth and spat them onto the ground. “I'm going further into the forest. The rest of you, GO HOME! Tell Spitfire she's in charge again!”

“But... Dash,” warned Silver Lining, “You were wrong. It is dangerous in the forest. If you keep going, you could die!”

“Better than going back with you!” yelled Dash, who had so many tears streaming down her face Twilight wondered how she was able to speak at all, let alone clearly.

The Wonderbolts looked at each other in confusion then at Dash. After a painfully silent minute High Winds asked what the other Wonderbolts were thinking “What do you want us to tell the press?”

“I DON'T CARE!!! Wait a second, scratch that; I do care. Tell them I'm dead!”

The Wonderbolts stared at each other in total confusion, until Lightning Streak broke out in a grin and a hearty chuckle, “I get it!” he called, "Brilliant! We all say you’re dead, and then you rock up to your own funeral with the rescued Princess! You'll be a true hero! Your ratings will skyrock-” WHACK! A rock the size of a stallion’s hoof nailed Lightning Streak's forehead, knocking him unconscious as he fell ten feet into the mud.

“GET OUT!!!” screamed Rainbow Dash, as she picked up another stone and hurled it at Fleet Foot, grazing her ear, “GET OUT OF THE FOREST, BEFORE I BEAT YOU ALL OUT!!!!” Dash ignored Silver Lining and Rapidfire as they returned to collect Lightning Streak from the mud, but went after the rest of the team, pelting stone after stone like a mad mare as they made their headlong retreat down the hill. For a brief moment Twilight wondered, (along with twenty other questions), if Dash intended to chase them all the way Canterlot, but after reaching the foot of the hill, Dash abandoned the chase, collapsed in a pile of mud, and lay perfectly still as though she were dead.

Shining Armor stepped beside Twilight, eyes on the muddy, comatose mare beneath them. “She used to be your friend, right?” He asked, sounding as confused as she felt.

“Yeah.”

“Could you go talk to her and try and figure out what just happened?”

Twilight teleported to Rainbow Dash; she still hadn't moved, but Twilight was relieved to see that she was breathing steadily. “I'm alright Twilight” said Rainbow, eventually without looking or Twilight or opening her eyes.

“Did you just kill Lightning Streak with that rock?”

“Trust me, he has a thick skull, he'll be fine.” Twilight waited, unsure of what to say, until Rainbow broke the silence “...I'm sorry”.

“… For what?”

“I lied. I knew the Wonderbolts weren’t up to something like this, but I brought them anyway. I lied to Shining Armor; saying bringing them was a good idea and I lied to them; saying there was nothing dangerous in the forest, and we were going to pick up the Princess from a secret royal holiday retreat. Now Applejack is dying because I was too stupid to do what I should have done eleven months ago.”

“Which is…?”

“Quit.”

“But... you loved being a Wonderbolt. You kept on saying how happy you were in all your letters.”

“I stopped sending those letters ages ago Twilight, and even at the start, most of what I said wasn't true. They're cowards. Spitfire aside, they have the combined intelligence of a jar of mustard and the only ponies they care about are themselves. When I quit, they thought that I was probably going to die soon, and their biggest concern was still how this would affect their ratings.”

“It can't have been that bad;” said Twilight sitting down, “What about the magazine article you sent me about the Wonderbolts doing the charity show at the orphanage? You all looked so happy in the pictures, or was that article a fake?”

Rainbow groaned and rolled onto her side to look at Twilight for the first time. “No. That was real. They were more than happy to do a free performance, give the kids rides, let the kids give them face paints, and all the rest of it. But then the cameras left and so did the Wonderbolts, even though half the kids hadn't had a chance to meet us yet. I'd only been a Wonderbolt for a month so I assumed there must be a good reason, but there wasn't; they just wanted to take the evening off and get drunk.”

Twilight took several moments for the implications of what her friend was telling her to sink in. “But if you hated being with the Wonderbolts so much, why didn't you come back to Ponyville?”

“Because I didn’t want to be a weather pegasus for the rest of my life; that was just filling in time while I waited for something worthwhile. I thought that job was being a Wonderbolt, but even after I knew the Wonderbolts weren’t what I wanted, it was better than consigning myself to a normal job for the rest of my life.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know Twilight. I just don't know.”

“Do you still want to try and help reach Cadance and Storm?”

Rainbow looked surprised, “You still want me?”

“Of course.”

“What about Shining Armor? He seems to be the one calling the shots, and I don't think he likes me that much.”

“Come on” said Twilight offering a hoof to help Rainbow Dash off the ground, “Let's go talk to him.”

Rainbow accepted Twilight's hoof, and rolled to her hooves, but realized her wings were too muddy to fly. With a small grunt of disgust, she began climbing the hill beside Twilight. The gradient was steep and tiring, but as they climbed so did Rainbow's fragile spirits and by the time they finished their ascent, Rainbow had almost began hoping that there might still be a life for her after the Wonderbolts. The sun was setting by the time they rejoined Shining Armor, who had reorganized the Wonderbolts’ discarded supplies, and was now trotting around the trees peering into their upper branches.

“What are you doing?” asked Twilight.

Shining Armor glanced at her, glared at Rainbow, and then returned his focus on the labyrinth crown of a sycamore tree. “I'm looking for Pyromite, he's disappeared.”

Rainbow Dash dropped back to her knees when she heard the name, and for a moment Twilight thought she was on the verge of another breakdown. “I'm sorry Twilight. He's dead.”

“What!? How!?”

“He...he flew into a changeling and blew himself up.”

Twilight's horror lingered a brief moment and was then replaced by a soft smile “That's OK; he does that. Part of a phoenix’s life cycle is to burn themselves out and then be reborn from the ashes.” Twilight put her hoof to her mouth, gave a sharp whistle, and Pyromite popped out of a pile of nearby ash.

…........................................................................................................................................................

Storm was at the Grand Galloping Gala. All of Canterlot was alive with the celebration, and as Captain of the Royal Guard, it was his duty to make sure everypony stayed that way. Security was tight (though mostly invisible), and there had been no reported problems; nevertheless, Storm was terrified. Duty weighed heavily on Storm's mind, but paled in comparison to something far more frightening and infinitely more important. Tonight was the night he was going to ask Cadance to marry him.

“Interesting,” thought Storm, “I must be dreaming one of Shining Armor's memories.”

Storm had written out his proposal, telling Cadance how much she meant to him, and had practiced it in front of a mirror hundreds of times. He had memorized every stroke of the letter, but still kept it in his saddlebag for last minute practicing, along with an engagement ring which would please even Cadance's parents. Cadance was singing at one of the many shows that night and Storm had assigned himself security of that hall. He would listen to her sing and then, if he was able, would ask the question.

The concert began and one by one, the finest performers in Canterlot graced the stage with music and song, but each of them was outshone by the last singer who had conquered the stage, Cadance. Storm's heart was pounding as Cadance poured her heart out in song. Every pony there must have thought she sang her love song to nopony in particular, but Storm knew that she was singing it to him, every flawless note proved it to him, (the fact that they were staring into each other’s eyes for most of the song also helped him come to this conclusion). The song ended, Storm, mustered his courage, and waited beside the door she would come out, when one of his lieutenants pulled him away and whispered urgently into his ear. “Captain Armor, the main ballroom had been attacked!”

Storm galloped behind his officer into the ruined ballroom. Luna's statue had been shattered, along with the six decorative columns behind it, scared ponies scampered through the destruction mixed with what seemed like every animal from the gardens. Storm's eyes took all this in a moment and then rested on Cadance's brother Blue Blood, leaning against a wall, covered in a mysterious goo, similar to what changelings use to imprison their victims. Galloping to his side, Storm found Blue Blood seemingly unrestrained by the mysterious goo, but shaking too much for Storm to examine it closely. Through garbled breath, Blue Blood proclaimed he had been attacked, but couldn't describe what sort of creature had done it. Confident that his hopefully future brother in-law wasn't in immediate danger, Storm had one of his guards escort the Prince home, while he turned to interviewing the other witnesses to the invasion.

Eventually Storm traced the attack to five ponies, each wearing near full body dresses, all acting highly erratic, and none of whom had been seen in Canterlot before. They had entered the Gala together, along with a sixth unidentified suspect, and then split up at the gate. Four of them had entered the ballroom and, on signal, had begun a choreographed dance of destruction which was immediately reinforced by the fifth suspect who drove most of the animals from the gardens into the ballroom to help spread confusion.  All the suspects fled the scene however at the unexpected arrival of Princess Celestia.

The entire case had made Storm suspect changeling infiltrators from the start, everything pointed too it: the concealing dresses, the suspicious behavior, Blue Bloods failure to describe his attacker, the fearful reactions by the garden creatures whose animistic instincts Storm had learned to trust, all leading to the highly coordinated attack on ballroom. True, the attack had done no real damage but by now Storm was certain that the ballroom hadn't been the target; it had succeeded in distracting his security forces for several hours and there was still the unaccounted for sixth suspect whom he inferred was their leader.

Storm didn't sleep that night but spent the next eight hours investigating every possible target the infiltrator might have had: checking the treasury, armory and museum for signs of a break in, checking classified documents for signs of tampering, checking water and food stocks for poison... nothing. The next morning Storm reported the situation to the Princess and requested permission for a city wide search for signs of six suspected changeling infiltrators, and to put Canterlot on high alert until they were found. The Princess had simply laughed at him, laughed at him, then told him no such search was necessary, there was no danger and he should talk to his sister more often.

Confused, angry, dejected; Storm had made his way back to his quarters to sleep. As he entered the barracks however his squire stopped him and said that he had left his saddlebag in one of the theaters the night before and somepony had turned it in that morning. Suddenly realizing what had happened Storm tore open the saddlebag the moment he was alone, and instantly realized that the ring was gone! He ran back to the hall Cadance had sung in the night before and searched high and low for hours until he'd exhausted every possible place it could be. The ring had cost thirty-two thousand bits! It was unique; hundreds of years old... he would have to buy a different one. Returning one last time to his quarters, almost crying in frustration Storm pulled out the letter to read it last more time before going to sleep. At the bottom of his proposal, one word had been added: “YES”, and a pink feather had been taped beneath it. It had been The Best Night Ever.

Storm woke to an anguished howl as though Death itself had been captured and was being tortured by its enemies. A few seconds passed and an answering call screamed from the opposite direction. The terrormongers were hunting. They would cry out and then scan for any flickers of fear, draw closer and repeat the process until they found their targets; like a macabre version of the game macro polo Storm use to play as a foal. Storm had heard them thousands of times, and though he was never quite use to them, he no longer excreted any fear they could use to find him. But it only took one pony's fear to attract the terrormongers, and there were two ponies in the burrow.

Cadence was pacing ceaselessly from one end of the burrow to the other, worry plastered on her face thicker then diamond dog war paint. Storm was about to try and comfort her about the terrormongers when he heard them cry a second time. This time they were closer, yet Cadance didn't so much as flinch, making Storm wonder if she even heard them at all. It wasn't until the terrormonger's cried for a third time (which was far too close for comfort), that he finally understood the petrified glances she kept throwing his way. She did not care about what she must have thought were some wild animals of the forest; she was afraid that she had lost Shining Armor, and that Shining Armor had lost himself. This was the fear that was attracting the terrormongers.

Storm stirred on his bed and Cadance stopped pacing and looked at him, giving a pathetic attempt to smile. Her mane shifted and for the first time Storm noticed a ring planted around the base of her horn, its red gem glowing in the lamp light. It was the same one Shining Armor had given her in his dreams and she still wore it proudly. The terrormonger's called again; they would be here soon if Cadance's fear was not extinguished. If Cadance needed her fiancé to stop worrying, then fine, Storm would be her Shining Armor.

“I remember-” he said slowly at which Cadance scampered to where he lay, took his hooves in her own, listening intently. “I remember when I gave you that ring, at the Grand Galloping Gala... the night we were attacked by changelings.”

Cadance blinked, her eyes suddenly glistening with tears, and a radiant smile graced across her cheeks as she threw her hooves around his neck in an embrace. “We weren’t being attacked.” she said after a long, painful, exhilarating moment, “It was just Twilight and her friends having some fun.”

Storm was about to ask who Twilight was but caught himself before he made that mistake. He was trying to make Cadance think he was getting better; she seemed to take it for granted he remembered 'Twilight' and to undeceive her would shatter the frail courage she had found. “I'm sorry,” he said softly “I'm sorry I didn't give you the ring myself.”

“You did your duty, like you always do; but please try not to let duty interfere, when you replace this ring with the kind it promises.”

Storm thought for a moment and then placed his hoof over his chest “I promise, that when we get married, it will be like everything we have ever dreamed and nothing will come between us.”

Cadance smiled gently, at first Storm thought she was going to cry again but she didn't quite seem as excited as he thought she would be. Then he realized what was wrong: she didn't believe him. She wanted to, she was trying to, but for some reason she couldn't give up her doubt. Regardless of what Shining Armor's relationship was with Cadance, at least she wasn't afraid anymore; and the next pair of terrormonger calls showed that they had overshot the burrow. Promising to marry somepony elses' fiance was wrong; Storm knew that, but before honesty or possible emotional pain came survival. That was Storm's number one priority.

…........................................................................................................................................................

As the dense foliage rolled past repetitiously, two contrary yet powerful sentiments swirled inside Rainbow Dash's mind. The first was shame; endless, suffocating shame. Against every warning, beyond all sense, without any excuse, she had led a pack of gutless morons into a situation she knew they couldn't deal with. Excuses tried to flourish and drive away her guilt but they were drowned in a river of cold truth. She had known that leading them into the forest was a bad idea, but out of stupid pride, she had insisted they were fit for anything, and now her deception had nearly killed the element of honesty.

The second emotion, contrary yet almost unhindered by her guilt, was ecstasy. She had finally done it. At long last; she had actually quit the Wonderbolts. She had thought so much about leaving, even more then she had once thought about joining them, but had never had the courage to do it before now. For the last several months, she had lived under the shadow of fear that one day a featherweight irritation would cause her to snap and she would go ballistic, bringing everything she had worked for to an ignoble end. Or that she would play out her dark fantasies such as leading the Wonderbolts into the arctic labyrinth, and then leaving them there; seeing if they could navigate their own way out before freezing to death.

To her immeasurable relief, it hadn't been a straw that broke the camel’s back, but a solid case  to which she finally said 'no more', and compared to her expectations she had done so in a remarkably calm and dignified manner. Now she was finally rid of them and even if she died that night, she would die as a free pegasi. The thought of freedom imbued her with a feeling of weightlessness as though a pair of heavy shackles had been removed from her wings.

The two emotions danced around each other repeatedly in her mind, slowly connecting into a single idea. The life she had been living had been a disgrace, she had lied to her friends and almost cost Applejack her life; but that was behind her now. She had divorced her past and would never go back. Perhaps now she could start making up for her mistakes; finding Storm and Cadance would make a good start.

Rainbow Dash was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn't realize the sun had long since set, until Shining Armor stopped at the base of a mammoth tree “This is where we spend the night.”

“It's a little exposed don't you think?” cautioned Rainbow “Wouldn't we be better off in a dell or in dense thicket where we wouldn't be seen as easily?”

Shining Armor smiled and began charging up his horn, there was a bright flash and the company found themselves in a large wooden room. Looking out the small slits that made for windows, Dash saw nothing but thousands of trees leaves, and guessed from the feel of the air and the slight sway under her hooves that they were high in a tree house.

“This is a base Zecora told us about.” informed Shining Armor “It's never long before the terrormongers find these places, so were always building more, but this one at least is brand new and hasn’t been disturbed.”

“How can you tell?” asked Twilight.

“See that ward?” Shining Armor pointing to what looked like a crystal lantern in the corner of the room giving off a pale blue light. “If a terrormonger or changeling comes near it, it will permanently shift to red. The fact that it's blue means this place hasn't been discovered. We're safe for now, but after tonight we probably will have to start sleeping outside and take turns keeping watch, so enjoy the last night of undisturbed sleep you'll have for a while.”

Half a dozen bunks lined each side of a central isle with a kitchenette on one side, a stack of crates on the other, and a pair of lanterns hanging overhead. Several small doors were places at odd intervals and heights, and Rainbow guessed their placement had more to do with the shape of the tree then convenience for the inhabitants. It was a refreshing difference from the opulent halls of Canterlot where half the room would be filled with fancy looking junk that had no use. Here, nothing was for show, everything had a purpose.

“There should be some spare equipment in those crates” Shining Armor thought aloud, “I'll  have a look.” Twilight levitated a sleeping Pyromite off her back and set him down on a perch then shrugged off her saddlebags and placed them under one of the bunks. Rainbow was about to choose the bunk beside Twilight when she heard a jingling sound and saw Shining Armor holding out a quartet of chain mail leggings. “Try these on” he offered.

“I ain't putting on socks for you.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter. These are so you don't cut your own legs learning how to use these” Shining Armor held up a pair of thick horseshoes; at the side of each of them was a pair of spikes connected at a right angle on a hinge that attached to the shoe. A set of springs ensured that one of the spikes would always be horizontal to the hoof, while the other spike would be parallel, either pointing in front or behind. Right now the spikes were in the frontal position. Shining Armor clicked the metal into the back position and small blades shot from the base of each shoe. “Kick your right shoe forwards against your left knee to eject the blade from your right shoe, kick backwards to retract; vice-versa for the left shoe, understand?”

“That's... cool.”

“They're yours if you want them, but without the leggings you’re probably going slit your own legs.”

Having knives that came out of her shoes would be awesome, Rainbow couldn't deny that, but there was still a problem, “We don't have a farrier.”

“I could do it if you let me.” Shining Armor offered, levitating up a set of nails.

What!? No way was she letting him anywhere near her hooves! Dash raised her right hoof to tell him to back off and tried to verbalize an argument, but almost inhaled a fly that was buzzing past, Dash clamped her mouth shut and spit it – click – Dash felt a small tap on her hoof and retracted it before Shining Armor could wreck her hoof, but as her hoof hit the wood it made a distinguishable 'clank'. Dash looked down in horror and wonder to see her hoof was already shod, she'd... hardly felt a thing.

“The next one?”

Dash couldn't go around with just one shoe on, and trying to pull the one out was as likely to cause harm as putting in a new one, so with teeth grit; Dash offered her other hooves which Shining Armor shod just as easily. Rainbow Dash trotted up and down a few times to get a feel for her new shoes, then donned the thin suit of chain mail that went with them.

“Now these to finish the set these-” offered Shining Armor holding up two long razor blades, each with a small hinge in the middle, “Are for your wings.” For once, Rainbow didn't resist but stretched out her wings for Shining Armor to adjust the straps and fit the blades around her wings. The blades were incredibly light, and fit like a dream.

Shining Armor stepped back to inspect her in her new suit of armor, “Now you look a little bit like a Ranger.” his horn glowed again and three apples floated out and hovered mid air at one end of the room. “Let's see if you can use your new weapons.”

Dash ran forwards, flicking her bladed wings at the apples, slicing through each of them effortlessly. “Good, now try it when they're moving” he said levitating another three apples in midair bobbing up and down. Dash turned on them with a vengeance, slicing them in half as well. “Dinner is served,” said Shining Armor, dividing the apple pieces between the three of them. Shining Armor teleported out of his armor, placing it on the bed opposite Rainbow Dash, then lay down on the bed opposite Twilight and started eating his apples. Rainbow and Twilight followed suit and the three ate in silence.

“You should fold the spikes under and into the shoe, locking the blade in the retracted position, that way there's nothing to poke you and you won't accidentally eject your blade while you sleep.” Shining Armor instructed as he shifted his pillow to make it more comfortable. “Anything else before we say goodnight?”

“Wait!” protested Twilight, “Aren’t you going to tell us more about the Rangers?”

Shining Armor groaned, “We won't have time to answer all your questions tonight Twily.”

“Just a few questions?”

“Your idea of 'a few questions' would take till tomorrow afternoon.”

“A very few questions?”

“Alright,” Shining Armor sighed, “What do you want to know?”

“Where do the Rangers come from? How are they recruited?”

“Most of them come from the Royal Guard like I did. Ponies willing to fight to defend Equestria are drawn to the Guard, where we shift the strong from the weak. The strong recruits get sent here to fight in the forest; the weak are kept in Canterlot where duties are mostly ceremonial. Retired and off duty Rangers keep an eye out for potential recruits in exchange for a spotter’s fee. Sometimes recruits find us, and some ponies just get recruited accidentally, I guess you two would fit into that last category.

Once somepony is recruited, they typically go through several months of training before they're sent past the first dragon wall. As they gain experience, they're gradually sent to the more dangerous parts of the forest where they stay for longer. Raw recruits are rarely sent beyond the first dragon wall and seldom more than for one week at a time.”

“Why, what happens if they stay longer?”

“It varies from pony to pony but typically violent insanity. There's only so long you can live in a world where half of what you see isn't real, killing images of your family and friends before losing your mind. For veteran Rangers, one month is considered the safe limit before going insane, if they’re in a group; for those very few, very elite Rangers who hunt alone, the recommended limit is fifteen days. Sometimes lost Rangers can be helped, others spend the rest of their lives in mental hospitals, and some have grown so used to having things that look like their friends and family, they have to be put down to prevent them from going on killing sprees when they get back to Equestria. A hay of a reward for the sacrifices they've made.”

“So... how many of the Rangers are insane?”

Shining Armor thought, “Sometimes I think any pony who chooses to be a Ranger would have to be at least partially crazy, other times it seem like the Rangers are the sanest ponies in the world. As for going violently insane it usually depends on what steps they take to defend their sanity.”

“Like what?”

“Well, music tends to be one of the most popular forms of therapy practiced by the Rangers, storytelling is another, drawing a third. Despite the twisted nature of their lives, or maybe because of it, the Rangers seem to have a remarkable knack for creativity. The Diamond Dog stronghold of Uthraig is one of the few places where Rangers can safely gather on a regular basis and has played host to many war councils, and has borne witness to countless works of art which would shame the great halls of Canterlot by comparison.

Another important aspect of keeping your sanity lies in knowing how to pace yourself, and take long periods of downtime between tours. The more experienced you are the longer your allowed to stay in the forest, but even I spend at least twice as long outside the forest as I do inside. Most Rangers go back and forth from the forest to relaxed positions in the Royal Guard, but many others have ordinary jobs like what Applejack’s father probably had. Rangers come from all over Equestria, but mostly they live near the outskirts to the forest so they can be close to their posts in case of an emergency; while living normal lives in between tours, often with marefriends or even wives who don’t know the truth about the Rangers.”

“Or coltfriends” added Rainbow Dash

“What's that?”

“You said ‘marefriends’ when you talked about the Rangers families; you're assuming that the Rangers are all stallions.”

“The overwhelming majority of them are.”

“What!?” asked both mares together, shocked at the concept of a male majority in anything.

“By how much?” asked Rainbow.

“Maybe... four or five to one.”

Twilight looked at him in confusion and then her mind started baking sense of it. “B.B. you said that most Rangers live near the edge of the forest when they're off duty, so they're closer to their posts?”

“True.”

“And off duty Rangers, are always on the lookout for new recruits?”

“Correct.”

“Then, recruitment would be higher; the closer somepony was to the forest?”

“Also right.”

Twilight's eyes widened and then finally put the last pieces together. “In the last Ponyville census, there were five mares for every stallion, despite the similar birth rate of colts and fillies. Is that-...”

“Yes” finished Shining Armor. “I was wondering how long it would take you to figure that one out.” Shining Armor recognized the look on Twilight's face. She had come to a realization, totally new and unexpected that would take her several hours to digest. If he finished the conversation now then there'd be time to get to sleep before she thought of anymore questions. “Are we done for the night?” he asked with a yawn.

“Yes.” answered Twilight after a pause.

Shining Armor smiled lay his head down. “Goodnight.”

“How do you know Storm?” asked Rainbow suddenly.

Shining Armor lifted his head back up and pricked his ears towards Rainbow and scrutinized her carefully, “I'll give you an answer for an answer; I'll tell you what I know about him, if you tell me what you know.”

Dash turned silent.

“Are you his wife?”

“No.”

“His marefriend?”

“Ummm, I'm not sure.”

“You don't know if your his marefriend or not?” giggled Twilight. “I don't know much about relationships, but that sounds like something you should know. Do you want to be his marefriend?” Rainbow said nothing but the deepening shades of pink her face was impossible to hide. “When did you meet him?”

“Monday.”

“So you only knew him for one day? He must have made quite an impression. What happened?”

“Um... well..., it started with Storm bashing up a bunch of evil ponies, and then I burnt down the theater, and then we danced.”

Twilight's looked at her strangely then burst out in giggles, “... you have one strange idea of courtship Rainbow Dash!”

“What did you say about burning down the theater?” asked a horrified Shining Armor.

“It was an accident, I was running away from some Royal Guards and I accidentally knocked over some candles and set the Canterlot Theater on fire.”

“WHAT!?”

“But Storm said it was OK,” Rainbow quickly added, “He used his authority to pardon me.”

“What authority?”

“The authority you gave him, he told the guards if there was any problem they should talk to you.”

Shining Armor stared at Rainbow Dash, mouth open and eyes wide in horror for several long moments and then broke into a amused scowl. “And when the guards came to see me, who were they going to find house sitting my body? The cleaver rascal.”

“So does this mean I'm still in trouble for burning down the theater… which was an accident?”

Shining Armor tried to look grave, but couldn't hide the merriment in his eyes and at the edges of his lips. “Let's worry about rescuing Cadance and Storm for now, and think about it later.”

“So what about you, how do you know Storm?” asked Rainbow eager to focus the attention back to Shining Armor before he inquired of the details of the theater, and decided she did deserve punishment after all.

“What you said was hardly a detailed description.” objected Shining Armor

“Well... I bet you couldn't give a better story.”

“How stupid do you think I am?”

“Well...”

Shining Armor glared at Rainbow.

“Come on B.B.” pleaded Twilight, “Tell us a story.”

“...Fine;” he conceded “I'll tell you.”

Chapter twelve >>> Tales of the Past