Skyfireby IrresponsibleCupidChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1It was an average sunny day in Ponyville. Everyone was out and about running errands. I was up on a cloud, just getting ready to take my usual afternoon nap. I laid down and gave into the warm darkness of sleep. It was not long before I was aroused by a voice calling to me from below. “Rainbow Dash! Hey, Rainbow Dash! I know you’re up there!” An orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane and tail, I swear she dyed them to be the same color of my eyes, stared up at me intently. I sighed audibly before answering, “Yeah. I’m here. What do you want, Squirt?” I looked down at her again and saw her holding back a chuckle. She almost always laughed when I called her that. When she was done, she looked back up at me. “I got tickets to the Wonderbolts Airshow later! Want to come?” She asked, looking directly at me with her huge purple eyes. “Sure, Squirt. Why not? We’ll go together, alright?” I replied and, not waiting for her to answer, continued, “Alright, Squirt. Go get ready and find me at least 10 seconds before the show. See ya, Scootaloo!” As she ran off to get ready, I fell back into the serene reverie of sleep. • • • “Rainbow Dash! Get up! We’re gonna be late!” Scootaloo called up to me, waking me from a rather amusing dream that included Derpy jumping off a cliff and briefly forgetting how to use her wings. “Yeah, yeah. I’m working on it. How long before the show?” I asked as I stood and stretched my wings. “30 seconds.” Scootaloo replied. I could tell she looked worried. “Well then, hop on.” I flew down to the ground and crouched low enough next to her that she could climb onto my back. “Wait. You want me to climb on your back? You want to fly with me?” Scootaloo’s mouth was almost touching the ground. “Uh, yeah. That’s why I kinda told you to get on my back.” I said sarcastically, then, as an afterthought, “You don’t want to be late, do you?” “N-no, I don’t. I-It’s j-just that I’ve n-never flown before!” She stuttered as she climbed clumsily onto my back. “Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll get you there in one piece.” I replied jokingly. She said nothing else as I took off into the air and headed towards Cloudsdale and the Wonderbolts Stadium. • • • We arrived at the Wonderbolts Stadium 10 seconds early. I quickly found us seats near the front and flew over. I lightly dropped Scootaloo into her seat and sat in my own. Scootaloo was breathless from the flight. “You alright, Squirt?” I asked her, remembering how exhilarating my first time flying was. “Y-yeah. I’ll b-be fine.” Scootaloo replied, still shaking. I stifled a laugh. ‘Yeah, that’s adrenaline for ya!’ I laughed to myself. Our attention was stolen as the Wonderbolts began their routine. They lined up on the aerial runway that they had specially built for this singular purpose. They stood there for somewhere close to five seconds before they flashed into the sky. I watched them wide-eyed as they performed their well-known signature moves. I looked over at Scootaloo and laughed as I saw her trying to stop her jaw from falling open to no avail. I looked back into the sky as the Wonderbolts’ started performing some of their vaguer maneuvers. Then they shot into the sky and gathered into a huddle. ‘What are they doing?’ I wondered to myself as they slowly maneuvered themselves into specific positions in the sky. ‘This is new.’ My thought process continued. I paid my thoughts no attention though, for the airborne ponies above me had started moving. They all dove towards the center of the stadium with Spitfire, their captain, in the center and going straight down. Soarin was right in front of us and Fleetfoot was on the opposite side of the stadium. Blaze, Fire Streak, and High Winds were in between them on the right. Lightning Streak (Fire Streak’s twin brother), Misty Fly, and Silver Lining were in between Soarin and Fleetfoot on the left side. Rapidfire, Spitfire’s brother, was shooting up from below. Surprise was coming in from the corner to my right and above my head. Wave Chill, Manerick and Whiplash were in the other three corners. Manerick and Whiplash were new Wonderbolts who had previously been Royal Guards. Why they quit and decided to join the Wonderbolts beats me. I could tell this was going to be awesome. Oh, I forgot to mention, there were four other Wonderbolts who must have been brand-new because I didn’t know who they were. So anyway, they all dove towards the center at the same time. It was about the time that they were halfway there that I got a bad feeling in my gut. When I get a bad feeling in my gut, it’s either serious indigestion or my instincts warning me that something bad was about to happen. I almost jumped out of my seat when I got the gut-feeling but was luckily able to hold myself back. I saw all of the Wonderbolts turn at the last moment and they all lightly bumped up against each other with their back hooves, using the others as their own springboard. They all flew away from each other in a brilliant explosion of fireworks and sped upwards toward the clouds except for three. I recalled more closely what I saw. ‘Spitfire did what she needed to do, but so did Soarin. One of them had to of messed up somewhe... oh.’ I thought as the realization dawned on me. ‘When Soarin came in, his body was off by a few inches. When Fleetfoot launched off him, he was thrown off balance and barreled into Spitfire.’ I only just realized it because of the fireworks. They had obscured my vision. I flew straight up before turning around and doing a backflip to head downwards instead. I could see Spitfire’s falling form below. Soarin was following to my left and Rapidfire was to my right. ‘Why isn’t she flying back up? Oh, she’s falling backwards.’ I thought as I sped towards her. The ground was coming up fast and Pegasi can’t fly if they’re on their backs. That’s why only the fastest and most powerful Pegasi, including me, can barrel roll. I flew as fast as I could, leaving Rapidfire and Soarin way behind. I could feel the wall of resistance building up quickly, but luckily it was building itself faster than the ground could approach. I felt the somewhat-familiar funnel of air forming around me. ‘This is it, my one chance to save Spitfire and prove myself to the Wonderbolts!’ I thought as I flew harder. Then the funnel shattered with a massive explosion. I felt myself shoot forward like a pony cannon ball. I was going at least twice my maximum speed. I shot underneath Spitfire just before she hit the ground and caught her on my back. I flew as fast as I could back up to the stadium and the other Wonderbolts. When we finally slowed down enough for Spitfire to get off, I reluctantly let her. As soon as she got off, I stopped completely and put my hoof on her shoulder. “You alright, Spitfire?” I asked, concerned. I figured I had a little time before Rapidfire and Soarin caught up to us. “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks to you, Rainbow Dash.” She replied with a quick smile. I could feel myself almost bursting with an urge that I can’t explain. I suppressed it, though, and stayed calm. All I did was smile. “Alright. Just making sure.” I started flying towards my seat but was stopped by Spitfire’s voice. “Wait. I want to talk to you after the show, so here.” She handed me a card that had the words ‘WONDERBOLTS GUEST PASS’ written on it. I smiled so widely I could have sworn that I was grinning literally from ear to ear. “Meet me in my living quarters immediately after our grand finale.” “Yes, ma’am.” I replied with a quick salute. I continued my slow ascent towards the stadium. I was stopped by her voice once again. “Wait.” She smiled like she found something particularly funny. “Don’t call me ma’am, you can call me ‘Fire’, that good with you?” “Yes, ma’am, I mean... Fire!” I replied with another salute. She couldn’t hold her laughter any longer. She burst out laughing so hard that she made me laugh. On top of that, we had to lie on a cloud for a bit to stop ourselves from recreating the previous event. During our conversation, Soarin and Rapidfire had managed to catch up to us when we were rolling around on the clouds laughing our tails off. “What did we miss?” They both asked in unison. That just made me and Spitfire laugh even harder. Eventually, we did stop laughing. Spitfire, Soarin, Rapidfire, and I all flew up together. We were greeted by a chorus of cheers and applause. I had my breath taken away by it all. I flew back up to my seat next to Scootaloo. “Wow! That was awesome, Rainbow Dash!” She said excitedly. “Yeah, it was wasn’t it, Squirt?” I responded hoping to get her to laugh a little. I was actually starting to feel a little embarrassed. I know what you’re thinking. Rainbow Dash? Embarrassed? No way! But it’s true. I used to like being the center of attention, still do when it suits my interests, but I was really uncomfortable with the amount of ponies looking at me, awestruck. I was just trying to shift the attention off of me. Granted, I think now that it was a little mean to place it on Scootaloo, but it worked. The Wonderbolts had a pretty dull show after that. They kept doing simple stuff and tricks that couldn’t get moved. They did get progressively more dangerous though. Finally, they did a huge series of different tricks as their grand finale. It was more spectacular than what happened earlier. They did the same trick that they messed up the first time again at the end and pulled it off without a hitch. I finally got to find out what happens after they fly into the clouds. Rapidfire was the last one to fly in. As soon as they were all there, the clouds started spinning into a huge vortex. It grew longer and longer until it reached out through the bottom of the stadium. Then they began launching themselves out and hurtling downwards, one at a time. The vortex never even came close to breaking apart, that’s how good they are. By the end, it was just Spitfire holding it all together. She started twirling the clouds into a funnel around herself. She then destroyed all of the clouds simultaneously and used the resulting pressure wave to shoot straight up into the sky. She was going so fast that I couldn’t see her in the end. When I saw her again, she was just a speck against the sun. Then she shot downwards. She went down so fast and caused so much friction with the air that she was followed down by a slowly rotating cone of fire. She shot past us and was followed by not only the fire, but now a super-heated airwave as well. Everyone in the stadium cheered a lot louder than before. After she slowed down, all the Wonderbolts flew off to either their respective living quarters or the cafeteria. I couldn’t tell which, but I was pretty sure that all Wonderbolts are either hungry or tired after a show, sometimes both. As I stood up to leave, I remembered about Spitfire and Scootaloo. Scootaloo needed me to take her home and Spitfire wanted to talk to me in private for some reason. I saw Soarin and Rapidfire approaching me. “Scootaloo, I’ll fly you home. Just give me a second.” I watched as she nodded to say she understood before turning back to Rapidfire and Soarin. “Spitfire would like to see you, I assume you have a guest pass?” Rapidfire began, watching me nod. As I opened my mouth to say something, he cut me off. “And before you say anything, I would like to say that you can just call me ‘Rapid’ if you want.” “Thank you, Rapid. Just give me a sec, alright? I gotta get this kid home.” I replied, motioning with one hoof towards the anxious young filly behind me. He nodded in understanding. I trotted over to Scootaloo and crouched down so that she could get on. “Come on, Squirt. Let’s get you home.” Chapter 2After dropping Scootaloo off at her home with a quick goodbye, I flew back towards the Wonderbolts Stadium. I touched down just outside the entrance. I looked in through the doorway and saw nothing. Nopony was moving around inside. Heck, I couldn't even see anypony! Ignoring the ominous warning running through my head, I continued inward. 'If this was Ponyville, this would have Pinkie Pie's name written all over it.' I thought solemnly. I stopped briefly at the front desk and listened down each hallway, angling my ears to focus my hearing. I would have looked down the hallways as well if it weren't for the fact that they were dark. I closed my eyes and focused on what I was hearing. I couldn't hear anything, all was silent. I stood there listening to the silence for a few seconds before a loud crash from above my head made me suddenly alert. I slowly made my way towards the stairwell that I knew was down one of the five hallways. My hoof bumped up against what felt like a wooden plank. 'A piece of siding from the wall must have fallen off and broken.' I thought as I picked up the plank in my jaws. I tested the swing of my board while continuing towards the stairwell. It was a nice, solid swing. It felt heavy enough to knock a fully grown stallion out cold but not so heavy that it's uncontrollable. I walked slowly towards the stairwell, a little nervous about what I was about to come face to face with. At least I could see something because of the lights that kept lighting as I passed before darkening again as the next one flickered on. It was actually a little unnerving. The stairs were made of heavy clouds and reinforced with enchanted metal rods. My hooves made no sound while making contact with clouds, it’s a trait most pegasi are born with and moving silently is a skill that can be useful in certain situations. Of course, the upstairs hallway was just as dark as the lower halls were. The light that seemed to follow me had split in two and followed up the railings on either side of the stairwell before reforming above my head. The closer I got to where I heard the crash, the more noises I could hear. When I reached the center of the hallway, I could hear muffled grunts and low voices from the other side of a door. I walked over and put my eye to the keyhole and swiveled one of my ears so I was listening through the wood. What I saw and heard shocked and angered me. A big, black pegasus stallion with a dark red mane stood over Spitfire, who was tied to a wooden chair with a gag in her mouth. “So, the high and mighty Captain of the Wonderbolts. What a pleasure to meet you.” He spoke sarcastically, taking the gag off of Spitfire and leaning in closer to whisper something I couldn’t catch into her ear. Although, judging by the look on Spitfire’s face, it couldn’t have been a compliment. “The same to you, Blood Tail.” She replied with mock pleasure before giving him so fierce a glare that if looks could kill, he’d be dead a thousand times over. “Ooh, that hurt. That really hurts me. Not! Ha-ha-ha! Nice try, vampony!” He said, slapping her across the face. Hard. So hard I could see her eyes watering. “I am not a vampony you bastard! If I was a vampony, would you be alive right now?” I could almost see the flames of her anger being fanned whenever he spoke. “What’s this? A vampony in denial of the truth? Bad vampony!” He spoke harshly, striking his hoof across her face a second time. I almost bucked the door open before my rational thinking caught up to me. ‘Whoa. Calm down. Spitfire’s best chance of survival relies on me being silent.’ I thought as I sat down once again. The conversation continued. “Hit me one, more, time and so help me Celestia I’ll...” Spitfire began in a threatening tone. “You’ll what? Make empty threats? Not even Celestia can help you now, vampony! You’re all alone! No one will help you! And even if they would, they can’t!” “...I’ll scream.” Spitfire finished. “What was that, vampony? I can’t hear you! Speak louder!” He countered, hitting her across the face again and leaning in closer so he could hear better. ‘You won’t hear at all soon.’ I thought to myself as I saw Spitfire drawing in a deep breath. “I said, I’ll SCREAM!” She did. She let out all of her compressed fury with only a single breath. I’ll admit, I was jealous. “AAAH! Celestia damn you, vampony!” He yelled in Spitfire’s face. “No more playing around! Now, you’ll tell us everything we want to know or we’ll force it from you.” “Who’s ‘we’?” Spitfire quipped. “Me, Myself, and I. Now, since I answered your question, you’ll answer mine. Just common courtesy, you know.” He said sarcastically with a wicked smirk on his face. “Hang on a second, I have another question.” Spitfire said with a smirk that rivaled Blood Tail’s. “Boy, you sure are nosy for a pony who’s about to be interrogated and tortured in the most despicable and maniacal ways thinkable by all of Ponykind. I guess you can have another question but that’s it.” He replied, his smirk becoming slightly less genuine. “Why me?” Spitfire asked. “Really? You can ask any question in the world, and you chose ‘Why me’?” His answer is skeptical. “But, I’ll answer anyway. The reason ‘why you’ is because you’re just a weak vampony who can’t do anything useful. That’s why.” “Really? I always pictured myself as a strong vampony who killed ponies who do this sort of thing to other ponies. Weird.” Spitfire replied, her maniacal smile growing even larger every second. “You know, I’ve had just about enough of your tongue full of trickery.” He said acidly. “So what do you say we cut that troublesome tongue out, hmm? No smart retort this time? Good. I don’t want to hear a word come out of your mouth unless I ask you a question. Clear?” “Crystal, bitch.” She said in an equally acidic tone as her bindings suddenly snapped and she jumped forward, taking both myself and Blood Tail by surprise. The knot of fur, mane, tail, and hoof was impenetrable. I heard hoofsteps coming from the direction of the stairwell and did my best to melt into the darkness behind me. Luckily, the light had refocused it’s attention to the four or five pegasi charging up the stairwell. I grabbed my board again and looked at how many pegasi were near the door. ‘Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, ... twenty three?! Dear Celestia, that’s a lot of guards!’ I thought as I threw my board over their heads and down the stairwell. It worked. All but three guards went to investigate, and I’m sure it was only because the three at the door hadn’t noticed. I stalked up behind all three of them and smashed their heads together as hard as I could. It may have been a bit too hard because the pony in the center had his brains liquefied. The other two, sadly, were only unconscious. I went back to eavesdropping on the happenings on the other side of the door. I was disappointed after seeing what had happened in the fight. Spitfire was back in the chair only this time she had chains around her holding her back. “Gonna try that again, vampony?” Blood Tail taunted. But of course, Spitfire couldn’t make a comeback because of the gag in her mouth. “Didn’t think so. Now, to get on with your interrogation.” He reached down onto a silver tray covered in an assortment of interrogation equipment. I couldn’t just break through the door and save Spitfire yet, could I? I just needed to figure out what Blood Tail’s favored interrogation technique was. I kept watching. I winced as he hit her so hard that her head whipped off to the side. “Not going to try anymore funny business, right you worthless vampony?” He kept walking round her while continuing to annoy her. • • • After watching the interrogations for another hour and a half, I finally figured out Blood Tail’s favored interrogation technique; taunting. He had finally removed the gag from Spitfire’s mouth and let her speak. Much to my chagrin, though, she listened this time and only spoke after being asked a question. I don’t think Blood Tail liked it either. I looked at the unconscious bodies below me and saw a pair of bolt cutters on one of their backs. I wasted no time in scavenging all the weapons and items that could be used as weapons from their bodies. I then went back to watching the interrogations. Blood Tail was obviously getting frustrated that he wasn’t getting a straight answer for whatever question he had asked but besides that the interrogations hadn’t gotten anywhere. Then I saw my chance. Blood Tail had his eyes closed and was facing towards the large window on the opposite side of the room. I slowly and quietly opened the door, motioning to Spitfire with my hoof to keep quiet. I had brought the bolt cutters and two long knives with me. I slid through the room and over to Spitfire’s side. “I’ll get you out of here. Just don’t blow my cover.” I whispered half-jokingly, before becoming serious once again. She nodded to show she understood. I looked around the back of the chair and watched as Blood Tail made his way towards his usual spot in front of Spitfire. As he walked around, I walked in the opposite direction at the same pace. He started talking again but I didn’t here what he said; I was too caught up in the task at hoof. I pulled the bolt cutters off of my back, holding one handle down with my hoof while using my mouth to move the other handle. I winced as the bolt cutters came together with a sharp clang, cutting through the chains like a hot knife through butter. “Spitfire, catch!” I called as I stood up and tossed a knife to Spitfire. She caught it in her teeth and mumbled thanks before pointing the knife straight at Blood Tail. Spitfire motioned with her hoof to Blood Tail, implying that if he took one more step he was going to become a bunch of little pony pieces. He quickly stepped back and threw his hooves over the back of his head. “C’mon, Spitfire! Let’s go!” I mumbled around the knife in my mouth. We ran as fast as we could through the halls of the Wonderbolts’ Stadium interior. We desperately zigzagged through dead ends and turnabouts, like a giant maze that spelled death for us if we got caught. After a couple minutes of stumbling about in the dark I decided to take flight to get a better view. Or, I would have if I could. I was so eager to escape whatever pursuit there might possibly be that I forgot about the ceiling. I flew up into the ceiling, bending my wing out of shape so much it hurt to move it. “Here! Get on my back!” Spitfire said to me, extending her hoof to help me up onto her back. I did what she said and we took off. I was actually starting to convince myself that we were going to escape before I heard a whooshing noise as something metal flashed past my head. ‘Oh dear Celestia, don’t tell me they have guns!’ I thought as more metallic objects clattered to the ground around me. “Spitfire! Watch out! I think they’re shooting at us!” I warned Spitfire. “I don’t think those are bullets they’re firing!” She said back to me over her shoulder. Closer inspection upon the metal things showed that Spitfire was right. They weren’t bullets. They were darts. “I think these are actually more dangerous than bullets! We don’t know what might be on these dart things!” I warned her once again. We were almost at the exit. I could see light through a small window up ahead. I flexed my injured wing again. It was fine. It didn’t even hurt a little bit, but that may have been the adrenaline. I noticed that the window is only big enough for one of us to fit through. “Spitfire, we may have a problem!” “What? What’s wrong now?” She asked worriedly. I pointed ahead with one hoof. “Oh, boy. I don’t know if we’ll even be able to fit through that window.” She continued, stopping as a dart buried itself halfway into her skin right between her shoulder blades. I could see her movements faltering. I slowed down to help her before feeling a slight prick behind my shoulder blades. The last thing I saw before I was swallowed by the darkness was Spitfire smiling and saying, “At least we tried.” Chapter 3My eyes blinked open slowly. They didn’t get far before shutting completely again. ’Someone needs to turn off the sun.’ I thought to myself, practically prying my eyes open again. For awhile I couldn’t see anything, it was all blurry. I could see a yellow-colored shape huddled next to me. ’Spitfire!’ I said to myself, recognizing her almost as soon as I had seen her huddled form. Then I noticed another shape moving towards me. I could almost make out the features of his face. “Ah, you’re finally awake. The tomboy awakes before the Wonderbolt.” I would have given him a nasty comeback if I could’ve found a way to speak around the strip of cloth in my mouth. “You do know that I was aware of your eavesdropping presence the entire time and was waiting for you to make a move, right?” I finally found a way and whipped my head back, sliding the gag off at the same time with my tongue. “Blood Tail,” I whispered under my breath, too low for him to hear me. The gag dropped to the floor soundlessly. “What was that? I want to know every word you say so that it can be put in the history books. Yes, I can see the title now. ‘Blood Tail: A Biography on the Only Pony who Tamed the Great Rainbow Dash’.” He spoke with laughter hidden beneath his words. ’Tame me? How does he think he’s going to tame me?’ I thought to myself, knowing exactly how he could “tame” me, as he put it. “If you think you can control me, you got a whole lot to learn.” I spoke in the most threatening tone possible. Sadly, it didn’t turn out as planned. My voice cracked as the words came out when I looked at what my heroine had been reduced to. Just the thought makes me get all emotional. ’Looks like I’ll just have to pony up and support both of us for now. I can’t let him break me! I have to stay strong for Spitfire, for my friends, and for the other Wonderbolts!’ I thought to myself, gathering what little hope and courage was left in my soul. “Oh, I’m the one who’s got a lot to learn? Boy, you’re one to talk.” He was mocking me, I could feel it. He was mocking Spitfire, too. That was the part that finally unleashed my temper that had been threatening to go out of control when he first started talking. I’ve got this innate sorta sixth-sense that tells me when either one of my friends or myself are being bullied or teased. It can come in useful some times. I felt my rage consume me like a wildfire. I felt my muscles straining against my bindings. Then I felt no restraint. ’I just snapped chains.’ I thought to myself in awe. Then the rage took over again. “You may want to run, Blood Tail. If you don’t, your tail really will be covered in blood after I tear it off. Now, get out!” I yelled at him at the top of my lungs. He spread his wings and sprinted towards the windows on the opposite side of the room. “I’ll do one step better than that. I’ll fly!” He called back as he soared through the windows. I sank to my knees as soon as he was gone. Being angry was really exhausting. Then I remembered about Spitfire. I turned around and saw that she was still unconscious. ’She’s so cute when she sleeps.’ I thought in admiration of her strong muscles, sleek body, and full wings. Yeah, I’ll admit it. I had a crush on Spitfire. It’s not like she’d find out anyway so I might as well say it. I walked over and used the last remaining bit of my anger-strength to snap her chains as well. She was still asleep, so I lifted her onto my back and flew her up to a cloud. After setting her down, I pulled other clouds over to hide her. I quickly flew back to the Wonderbolts’ building and grabbed a piece of paper and a quill. I dipped the quill in some ink and wrote a quick message telling Spitfire that I was still in the building looking for the other Wonderbolts. I flew back up to Spitfire and laid the note on her chest before taking off again towards the building. • • • I awoke with a start. I wasn’t in the building anymore. In fact, I was on a cloud. I sat up and felt something fall off of my chest. I picked it up and looked at it. It was a note. I read it aloud. Spitfire, I just wrote this quickly to tell you that I am searching the Wonderbolts building for the others. I scared Blood Tail away and brought you to that cloud. You were unconscious the whole time. Please don’t go anywhere, I’ll be back shortly. ~ Rainbow Dash • • • The interior of the Wonderbolts building was empty. I didn't find anypony inside at all. The only other pony I saw was the corpse of one of the new, unknown Wonderbolts. The fact that there was only one casualty actually surprised me. 'Hey, this means the Wonderbolts have an opening! Yes!' I thought to myself, forgetting momentarily about the cost at which the biggest chance of my lifetime came with. Another pony's life is a horrible thing to take away, and a pony's life is also the hardest thing to give up. Not wanting to think about it anymore, I flew out of the front doors only to be immediately tackled into a nearby cloud by an incoming yellow blur. 'Spitfire.' I thought as I felt her hooves wrap around me. 'Does this mean... Spitfire... what?' My thoughts and wonders were cut off abruptly by Spitfire, who was staring into my eyes with hers. Her eyes were deep, piercing orange pools of fire. They were beautiful. She was beautiful. "Spitfire, I..." I began before I was cut off by Spitfire's hoof on my mouth. The feel of her light, velvety yellow coat was amazing. "I know." She responded before leaning in towards me. Our faces got closer, our noses bumped. Then we closed our eyes, and kissed for the first time. • • • Later that day, both Spitfire and I were off around Ponyville minding our own business. We had agreed not to tell anyone about us being together yet, although it was strange that Spitfire was hanging around Ponyville when she lived all the way over in Cloudsdale. I assumed she just didn't want to be too far away to help me if I got into trouble. I could handle myself in most situations but I think it was her way of repaying me for saving her life. Twice. Then I saw Rapidfire and Soarin dive out of the clouds. They touched down lightly in front of me and Spitfire walked over from the market stall she had been at. "Hey Soarin, Rapid." Spitfire spoke calmly, as if nothing had happened. But, in fact, the opposite was true. The biggest thing in her life, and mine, had just happened a few hours ago. She gave Rapidfire and Soarin both a quick glare before walking over to my side once again. "Hey Spitfire. Where have you been?" Rapidfire was getting suspicious, I could tell. "I haven't seen either of you all day. Well, I saw you, Spitfire, but not since what happened at the Wonderbolt's Arena." "Still at the Arena. I was rescued. No thanks to you two. Why? Why did you abandon me and that one new guy, what was his name?" Spitfire was almost visibly fuming. "Thunderhead, Spitfire, his name was Thunderhead." Soarin spoke in a deeper and more serious tone than usual. "Yeah, him. Well, you could have at least rescued me for pony's sake! I'm-" Spitfire got no further. She was cut off by Soarin's voice; deep and threatening. "Spitfire," Soarin spoke with menace, and I could tell that Spitfire had crossed the line. "Thunderhead was my brother." The shock alone caused Spitfire to sit down, her jaw agape. I wasn't as shocked, they did look a lot alike, but my jaw did drop. Even Rapidfire, who was Soarin's closest friend, obviously had not known that Thunderhead was Soarin's brother. Soarin immediately flew off. Spitfire quickly regained her senses and took off after him. I followed Spitfire, leaving a very dumbstruck Rapidfire standing in the middle of Ponyville Market. "Soarin, wait! I-I'm sorry about Thunderhead, okay?" Spitfire attempted to make peace with her co-captain, but only managed to make it worse. "No. No, it's not okay. My little brother is dead! And all you think about is yourself! I don't understand why anyone would want to be anywhere near your selfish, lame-excuse for a pegasus! I know that I sure as buck don't want to fly anywhere near you!" Soarin's rage seemed to all be released at once. I saw that he looked short of breath and saw what he was saying. "Soarin, does this mean-?" I began before he cut me off. "Yes, Rainbow Dash! I'm quitting the Wonderbolts!" His shouted words made my jaw drop once again. For a brief second I felt a flash of sympathy towards Soarin. Then it was replaced by a mixture of anger and pride. "Don't ever yell at me like that, Soarin." I spoke in a threatening tone. My rage wasn't quite as deeply felt as before but still took hold of my entire body. Unfortunately, Soarin obviously couldn't take a hint. "Oh yeah? Let me tell you something. I can speak however I want!" Once again he shouted the last part at me. His yelling just managed to fan the flames of my anger. I spun around in midair and bucked as hard as I could towards his face. He wasn't expecting me to attack him and he was caught off guard as both my back hooves connected with his forehead, sending him tumbling backwards through the air. As he regained his balance, I motioned for Spitfire to fly off with me, if nothing else then just to get away from Soarin and his bad attitude. "Change your mind yet?" I called over my shoulder as Spitfire and I took off farther into the sky. "I seriously hope you didn't. I think I'd enjoy bucking you in the face again." The last glimpse I got of him was his face; contorted with anger as well as pain. I just turned around and kept flying. • • • I can't remember how far we flew or how long we flew but I finally slowed down long enough to see where I was. 'Funny, this looks a lot like... my... bedroom...' The realization dawned upon me as I saw Spitfire's shadow approaching my doorway. 'Oh, buck! Where can I put all these Daring Do books so that Spitfire doesn't see them!' But it was already too late. "Dash? Is something wrong?" Spitfire asked, a concerned look on her face as she walked over and sat next to me. "What's that behind your back?" "N-Nothing!" I stammered quickly, my sweat trying unsuccessfully to quench the fire burning in my cheeks. "I don't have anything! What are you talking about?!" Spitfire's brow furrowed and I could tell that lying wasn't going to get me anywhere. With a reluctant sigh, I brought forth the Daring Do books I had been holding behind my back. "Are those Daring Do books?" Spitfire asked. "I didn't know you read!" She was almost squealing with excitement at being able to learn something new about me. 'At least she's not upset about me kicking Soarin in the face.' I thought to myself as Spitfire fought to regain her composure and self control. "Yes, I read. It's not something I want getting out anymore than it already has, though!" I spoke sternly, which seemed to quiet her down a bit. "What? Is there something wrong with reading?" I asked suspiciously. "No. Nothing at all. What gave you that idea?" Spitfire replied in a similar manner. "Nothing, just curious." I answered as I pulled Spitfire into a hug. She gave me an all-knowing smile before returning the embrace.
Chapter 1It was an average sunny day in Ponyville. Everyone was out and about running errands. I was up on a cloud, just getting ready to take my usual afternoon nap. I laid down and gave into the warm darkness of sleep. It was not long before I was aroused by a voice calling to me from below. “Rainbow Dash! Hey, Rainbow Dash! I know you’re up there!” An orange pegasus filly with a magenta mane and tail, I swear she dyed them to be the same color of my eyes, stared up at me intently. I sighed audibly before answering, “Yeah. I’m here. What do you want, Squirt?” I looked down at her again and saw her holding back a chuckle. She almost always laughed when I called her that. When she was done, she looked back up at me. “I got tickets to the Wonderbolts Airshow later! Want to come?” She asked, looking directly at me with her huge purple eyes. “Sure, Squirt. Why not? We’ll go together, alright?” I replied and, not waiting for her to answer, continued, “Alright, Squirt. Go get ready and find me at least 10 seconds before the show. See ya, Scootaloo!” As she ran off to get ready, I fell back into the serene reverie of sleep. • • • “Rainbow Dash! Get up! We’re gonna be late!” Scootaloo called up to me, waking me from a rather amusing dream that included Derpy jumping off a cliff and briefly forgetting how to use her wings. “Yeah, yeah. I’m working on it. How long before the show?” I asked as I stood and stretched my wings. “30 seconds.” Scootaloo replied. I could tell she looked worried. “Well then, hop on.” I flew down to the ground and crouched low enough next to her that she could climb onto my back. “Wait. You want me to climb on your back? You want to fly with me?” Scootaloo’s mouth was almost touching the ground. “Uh, yeah. That’s why I kinda told you to get on my back.” I said sarcastically, then, as an afterthought, “You don’t want to be late, do you?” “N-no, I don’t. I-It’s j-just that I’ve n-never flown before!” She stuttered as she climbed clumsily onto my back. “Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll get you there in one piece.” I replied jokingly. She said nothing else as I took off into the air and headed towards Cloudsdale and the Wonderbolts Stadium. • • • We arrived at the Wonderbolts Stadium 10 seconds early. I quickly found us seats near the front and flew over. I lightly dropped Scootaloo into her seat and sat in my own. Scootaloo was breathless from the flight. “You alright, Squirt?” I asked her, remembering how exhilarating my first time flying was. “Y-yeah. I’ll b-be fine.” Scootaloo replied, still shaking. I stifled a laugh. ‘Yeah, that’s adrenaline for ya!’ I laughed to myself. Our attention was stolen as the Wonderbolts began their routine. They lined up on the aerial runway that they had specially built for this singular purpose. They stood there for somewhere close to five seconds before they flashed into the sky. I watched them wide-eyed as they performed their well-known signature moves. I looked over at Scootaloo and laughed as I saw her trying to stop her jaw from falling open to no avail. I looked back into the sky as the Wonderbolts’ started performing some of their vaguer maneuvers. Then they shot into the sky and gathered into a huddle. ‘What are they doing?’ I wondered to myself as they slowly maneuvered themselves into specific positions in the sky. ‘This is new.’ My thought process continued. I paid my thoughts no attention though, for the airborne ponies above me had started moving. They all dove towards the center of the stadium with Spitfire, their captain, in the center and going straight down. Soarin was right in front of us and Fleetfoot was on the opposite side of the stadium. Blaze, Fire Streak, and High Winds were in between them on the right. Lightning Streak (Fire Streak’s twin brother), Misty Fly, and Silver Lining were in between Soarin and Fleetfoot on the left side. Rapidfire, Spitfire’s brother, was shooting up from below. Surprise was coming in from the corner to my right and above my head. Wave Chill, Manerick and Whiplash were in the other three corners. Manerick and Whiplash were new Wonderbolts who had previously been Royal Guards. Why they quit and decided to join the Wonderbolts beats me. I could tell this was going to be awesome. Oh, I forgot to mention, there were four other Wonderbolts who must have been brand-new because I didn’t know who they were. So anyway, they all dove towards the center at the same time. It was about the time that they were halfway there that I got a bad feeling in my gut. When I get a bad feeling in my gut, it’s either serious indigestion or my instincts warning me that something bad was about to happen. I almost jumped out of my seat when I got the gut-feeling but was luckily able to hold myself back. I saw all of the Wonderbolts turn at the last moment and they all lightly bumped up against each other with their back hooves, using the others as their own springboard. They all flew away from each other in a brilliant explosion of fireworks and sped upwards toward the clouds except for three. I recalled more closely what I saw. ‘Spitfire did what she needed to do, but so did Soarin. One of them had to of messed up somewhe... oh.’ I thought as the realization dawned on me. ‘When Soarin came in, his body was off by a few inches. When Fleetfoot launched off him, he was thrown off balance and barreled into Spitfire.’ I only just realized it because of the fireworks. They had obscured my vision. I flew straight up before turning around and doing a backflip to head downwards instead. I could see Spitfire’s falling form below. Soarin was following to my left and Rapidfire was to my right. ‘Why isn’t she flying back up? Oh, she’s falling backwards.’ I thought as I sped towards her. The ground was coming up fast and Pegasi can’t fly if they’re on their backs. That’s why only the fastest and most powerful Pegasi, including me, can barrel roll. I flew as fast as I could, leaving Rapidfire and Soarin way behind. I could feel the wall of resistance building up quickly, but luckily it was building itself faster than the ground could approach. I felt the somewhat-familiar funnel of air forming around me. ‘This is it, my one chance to save Spitfire and prove myself to the Wonderbolts!’ I thought as I flew harder. Then the funnel shattered with a massive explosion. I felt myself shoot forward like a pony cannon ball. I was going at least twice my maximum speed. I shot underneath Spitfire just before she hit the ground and caught her on my back. I flew as fast as I could back up to the stadium and the other Wonderbolts. When we finally slowed down enough for Spitfire to get off, I reluctantly let her. As soon as she got off, I stopped completely and put my hoof on her shoulder. “You alright, Spitfire?” I asked, concerned. I figured I had a little time before Rapidfire and Soarin caught up to us. “Yes, I’m fine. Thanks to you, Rainbow Dash.” She replied with a quick smile. I could feel myself almost bursting with an urge that I can’t explain. I suppressed it, though, and stayed calm. All I did was smile. “Alright. Just making sure.” I started flying towards my seat but was stopped by Spitfire’s voice. “Wait. I want to talk to you after the show, so here.” She handed me a card that had the words ‘WONDERBOLTS GUEST PASS’ written on it. I smiled so widely I could have sworn that I was grinning literally from ear to ear. “Meet me in my living quarters immediately after our grand finale.” “Yes, ma’am.” I replied with a quick salute. I continued my slow ascent towards the stadium. I was stopped by her voice once again. “Wait.” She smiled like she found something particularly funny. “Don’t call me ma’am, you can call me ‘Fire’, that good with you?” “Yes, ma’am, I mean... Fire!” I replied with another salute. She couldn’t hold her laughter any longer. She burst out laughing so hard that she made me laugh. On top of that, we had to lie on a cloud for a bit to stop ourselves from recreating the previous event. During our conversation, Soarin and Rapidfire had managed to catch up to us when we were rolling around on the clouds laughing our tails off. “What did we miss?” They both asked in unison. That just made me and Spitfire laugh even harder. Eventually, we did stop laughing. Spitfire, Soarin, Rapidfire, and I all flew up together. We were greeted by a chorus of cheers and applause. I had my breath taken away by it all. I flew back up to my seat next to Scootaloo. “Wow! That was awesome, Rainbow Dash!” She said excitedly. “Yeah, it was wasn’t it, Squirt?” I responded hoping to get her to laugh a little. I was actually starting to feel a little embarrassed. I know what you’re thinking. Rainbow Dash? Embarrassed? No way! But it’s true. I used to like being the center of attention, still do when it suits my interests, but I was really uncomfortable with the amount of ponies looking at me, awestruck. I was just trying to shift the attention off of me. Granted, I think now that it was a little mean to place it on Scootaloo, but it worked. The Wonderbolts had a pretty dull show after that. They kept doing simple stuff and tricks that couldn’t get moved. They did get progressively more dangerous though. Finally, they did a huge series of different tricks as their grand finale. It was more spectacular than what happened earlier. They did the same trick that they messed up the first time again at the end and pulled it off without a hitch. I finally got to find out what happens after they fly into the clouds. Rapidfire was the last one to fly in. As soon as they were all there, the clouds started spinning into a huge vortex. It grew longer and longer until it reached out through the bottom of the stadium. Then they began launching themselves out and hurtling downwards, one at a time. The vortex never even came close to breaking apart, that’s how good they are. By the end, it was just Spitfire holding it all together. She started twirling the clouds into a funnel around herself. She then destroyed all of the clouds simultaneously and used the resulting pressure wave to shoot straight up into the sky. She was going so fast that I couldn’t see her in the end. When I saw her again, she was just a speck against the sun. Then she shot downwards. She went down so fast and caused so much friction with the air that she was followed down by a slowly rotating cone of fire. She shot past us and was followed by not only the fire, but now a super-heated airwave as well. Everyone in the stadium cheered a lot louder than before. After she slowed down, all the Wonderbolts flew off to either their respective living quarters or the cafeteria. I couldn’t tell which, but I was pretty sure that all Wonderbolts are either hungry or tired after a show, sometimes both. As I stood up to leave, I remembered about Spitfire and Scootaloo. Scootaloo needed me to take her home and Spitfire wanted to talk to me in private for some reason. I saw Soarin and Rapidfire approaching me. “Scootaloo, I’ll fly you home. Just give me a second.” I watched as she nodded to say she understood before turning back to Rapidfire and Soarin. “Spitfire would like to see you, I assume you have a guest pass?” Rapidfire began, watching me nod. As I opened my mouth to say something, he cut me off. “And before you say anything, I would like to say that you can just call me ‘Rapid’ if you want.” “Thank you, Rapid. Just give me a sec, alright? I gotta get this kid home.” I replied, motioning with one hoof towards the anxious young filly behind me. He nodded in understanding. I trotted over to Scootaloo and crouched down so that she could get on. “Come on, Squirt. Let’s get you home.”
Chapter 2After dropping Scootaloo off at her home with a quick goodbye, I flew back towards the Wonderbolts Stadium. I touched down just outside the entrance. I looked in through the doorway and saw nothing. Nopony was moving around inside. Heck, I couldn't even see anypony! Ignoring the ominous warning running through my head, I continued inward. 'If this was Ponyville, this would have Pinkie Pie's name written all over it.' I thought solemnly. I stopped briefly at the front desk and listened down each hallway, angling my ears to focus my hearing. I would have looked down the hallways as well if it weren't for the fact that they were dark. I closed my eyes and focused on what I was hearing. I couldn't hear anything, all was silent. I stood there listening to the silence for a few seconds before a loud crash from above my head made me suddenly alert. I slowly made my way towards the stairwell that I knew was down one of the five hallways. My hoof bumped up against what felt like a wooden plank. 'A piece of siding from the wall must have fallen off and broken.' I thought as I picked up the plank in my jaws. I tested the swing of my board while continuing towards the stairwell. It was a nice, solid swing. It felt heavy enough to knock a fully grown stallion out cold but not so heavy that it's uncontrollable. I walked slowly towards the stairwell, a little nervous about what I was about to come face to face with. At least I could see something because of the lights that kept lighting as I passed before darkening again as the next one flickered on. It was actually a little unnerving. The stairs were made of heavy clouds and reinforced with enchanted metal rods. My hooves made no sound while making contact with clouds, it’s a trait most pegasi are born with and moving silently is a skill that can be useful in certain situations. Of course, the upstairs hallway was just as dark as the lower halls were. The light that seemed to follow me had split in two and followed up the railings on either side of the stairwell before reforming above my head. The closer I got to where I heard the crash, the more noises I could hear. When I reached the center of the hallway, I could hear muffled grunts and low voices from the other side of a door. I walked over and put my eye to the keyhole and swiveled one of my ears so I was listening through the wood. What I saw and heard shocked and angered me. A big, black pegasus stallion with a dark red mane stood over Spitfire, who was tied to a wooden chair with a gag in her mouth. “So, the high and mighty Captain of the Wonderbolts. What a pleasure to meet you.” He spoke sarcastically, taking the gag off of Spitfire and leaning in closer to whisper something I couldn’t catch into her ear. Although, judging by the look on Spitfire’s face, it couldn’t have been a compliment. “The same to you, Blood Tail.” She replied with mock pleasure before giving him so fierce a glare that if looks could kill, he’d be dead a thousand times over. “Ooh, that hurt. That really hurts me. Not! Ha-ha-ha! Nice try, vampony!” He said, slapping her across the face. Hard. So hard I could see her eyes watering. “I am not a vampony you bastard! If I was a vampony, would you be alive right now?” I could almost see the flames of her anger being fanned whenever he spoke. “What’s this? A vampony in denial of the truth? Bad vampony!” He spoke harshly, striking his hoof across her face a second time. I almost bucked the door open before my rational thinking caught up to me. ‘Whoa. Calm down. Spitfire’s best chance of survival relies on me being silent.’ I thought as I sat down once again. The conversation continued. “Hit me one, more, time and so help me Celestia I’ll...” Spitfire began in a threatening tone. “You’ll what? Make empty threats? Not even Celestia can help you now, vampony! You’re all alone! No one will help you! And even if they would, they can’t!” “...I’ll scream.” Spitfire finished. “What was that, vampony? I can’t hear you! Speak louder!” He countered, hitting her across the face again and leaning in closer so he could hear better. ‘You won’t hear at all soon.’ I thought to myself as I saw Spitfire drawing in a deep breath. “I said, I’ll SCREAM!” She did. She let out all of her compressed fury with only a single breath. I’ll admit, I was jealous. “AAAH! Celestia damn you, vampony!” He yelled in Spitfire’s face. “No more playing around! Now, you’ll tell us everything we want to know or we’ll force it from you.” “Who’s ‘we’?” Spitfire quipped. “Me, Myself, and I. Now, since I answered your question, you’ll answer mine. Just common courtesy, you know.” He said sarcastically with a wicked smirk on his face. “Hang on a second, I have another question.” Spitfire said with a smirk that rivaled Blood Tail’s. “Boy, you sure are nosy for a pony who’s about to be interrogated and tortured in the most despicable and maniacal ways thinkable by all of Ponykind. I guess you can have another question but that’s it.” He replied, his smirk becoming slightly less genuine. “Why me?” Spitfire asked. “Really? You can ask any question in the world, and you chose ‘Why me’?” His answer is skeptical. “But, I’ll answer anyway. The reason ‘why you’ is because you’re just a weak vampony who can’t do anything useful. That’s why.” “Really? I always pictured myself as a strong vampony who killed ponies who do this sort of thing to other ponies. Weird.” Spitfire replied, her maniacal smile growing even larger every second. “You know, I’ve had just about enough of your tongue full of trickery.” He said acidly. “So what do you say we cut that troublesome tongue out, hmm? No smart retort this time? Good. I don’t want to hear a word come out of your mouth unless I ask you a question. Clear?” “Crystal, bitch.” She said in an equally acidic tone as her bindings suddenly snapped and she jumped forward, taking both myself and Blood Tail by surprise. The knot of fur, mane, tail, and hoof was impenetrable. I heard hoofsteps coming from the direction of the stairwell and did my best to melt into the darkness behind me. Luckily, the light had refocused it’s attention to the four or five pegasi charging up the stairwell. I grabbed my board again and looked at how many pegasi were near the door. ‘Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, ... twenty three?! Dear Celestia, that’s a lot of guards!’ I thought as I threw my board over their heads and down the stairwell. It worked. All but three guards went to investigate, and I’m sure it was only because the three at the door hadn’t noticed. I stalked up behind all three of them and smashed their heads together as hard as I could. It may have been a bit too hard because the pony in the center had his brains liquefied. The other two, sadly, were only unconscious. I went back to eavesdropping on the happenings on the other side of the door. I was disappointed after seeing what had happened in the fight. Spitfire was back in the chair only this time she had chains around her holding her back. “Gonna try that again, vampony?” Blood Tail taunted. But of course, Spitfire couldn’t make a comeback because of the gag in her mouth. “Didn’t think so. Now, to get on with your interrogation.” He reached down onto a silver tray covered in an assortment of interrogation equipment. I couldn’t just break through the door and save Spitfire yet, could I? I just needed to figure out what Blood Tail’s favored interrogation technique was. I kept watching. I winced as he hit her so hard that her head whipped off to the side. “Not going to try anymore funny business, right you worthless vampony?” He kept walking round her while continuing to annoy her. • • • After watching the interrogations for another hour and a half, I finally figured out Blood Tail’s favored interrogation technique; taunting. He had finally removed the gag from Spitfire’s mouth and let her speak. Much to my chagrin, though, she listened this time and only spoke after being asked a question. I don’t think Blood Tail liked it either. I looked at the unconscious bodies below me and saw a pair of bolt cutters on one of their backs. I wasted no time in scavenging all the weapons and items that could be used as weapons from their bodies. I then went back to watching the interrogations. Blood Tail was obviously getting frustrated that he wasn’t getting a straight answer for whatever question he had asked but besides that the interrogations hadn’t gotten anywhere. Then I saw my chance. Blood Tail had his eyes closed and was facing towards the large window on the opposite side of the room. I slowly and quietly opened the door, motioning to Spitfire with my hoof to keep quiet. I had brought the bolt cutters and two long knives with me. I slid through the room and over to Spitfire’s side. “I’ll get you out of here. Just don’t blow my cover.” I whispered half-jokingly, before becoming serious once again. She nodded to show she understood. I looked around the back of the chair and watched as Blood Tail made his way towards his usual spot in front of Spitfire. As he walked around, I walked in the opposite direction at the same pace. He started talking again but I didn’t here what he said; I was too caught up in the task at hoof. I pulled the bolt cutters off of my back, holding one handle down with my hoof while using my mouth to move the other handle. I winced as the bolt cutters came together with a sharp clang, cutting through the chains like a hot knife through butter. “Spitfire, catch!” I called as I stood up and tossed a knife to Spitfire. She caught it in her teeth and mumbled thanks before pointing the knife straight at Blood Tail. Spitfire motioned with her hoof to Blood Tail, implying that if he took one more step he was going to become a bunch of little pony pieces. He quickly stepped back and threw his hooves over the back of his head. “C’mon, Spitfire! Let’s go!” I mumbled around the knife in my mouth. We ran as fast as we could through the halls of the Wonderbolts’ Stadium interior. We desperately zigzagged through dead ends and turnabouts, like a giant maze that spelled death for us if we got caught. After a couple minutes of stumbling about in the dark I decided to take flight to get a better view. Or, I would have if I could. I was so eager to escape whatever pursuit there might possibly be that I forgot about the ceiling. I flew up into the ceiling, bending my wing out of shape so much it hurt to move it. “Here! Get on my back!” Spitfire said to me, extending her hoof to help me up onto her back. I did what she said and we took off. I was actually starting to convince myself that we were going to escape before I heard a whooshing noise as something metal flashed past my head. ‘Oh dear Celestia, don’t tell me they have guns!’ I thought as more metallic objects clattered to the ground around me. “Spitfire! Watch out! I think they’re shooting at us!” I warned Spitfire. “I don’t think those are bullets they’re firing!” She said back to me over her shoulder. Closer inspection upon the metal things showed that Spitfire was right. They weren’t bullets. They were darts. “I think these are actually more dangerous than bullets! We don’t know what might be on these dart things!” I warned her once again. We were almost at the exit. I could see light through a small window up ahead. I flexed my injured wing again. It was fine. It didn’t even hurt a little bit, but that may have been the adrenaline. I noticed that the window is only big enough for one of us to fit through. “Spitfire, we may have a problem!” “What? What’s wrong now?” She asked worriedly. I pointed ahead with one hoof. “Oh, boy. I don’t know if we’ll even be able to fit through that window.” She continued, stopping as a dart buried itself halfway into her skin right between her shoulder blades. I could see her movements faltering. I slowed down to help her before feeling a slight prick behind my shoulder blades. The last thing I saw before I was swallowed by the darkness was Spitfire smiling and saying, “At least we tried.”
Chapter 3My eyes blinked open slowly. They didn’t get far before shutting completely again. ’Someone needs to turn off the sun.’ I thought to myself, practically prying my eyes open again. For awhile I couldn’t see anything, it was all blurry. I could see a yellow-colored shape huddled next to me. ’Spitfire!’ I said to myself, recognizing her almost as soon as I had seen her huddled form. Then I noticed another shape moving towards me. I could almost make out the features of his face. “Ah, you’re finally awake. The tomboy awakes before the Wonderbolt.” I would have given him a nasty comeback if I could’ve found a way to speak around the strip of cloth in my mouth. “You do know that I was aware of your eavesdropping presence the entire time and was waiting for you to make a move, right?” I finally found a way and whipped my head back, sliding the gag off at the same time with my tongue. “Blood Tail,” I whispered under my breath, too low for him to hear me. The gag dropped to the floor soundlessly. “What was that? I want to know every word you say so that it can be put in the history books. Yes, I can see the title now. ‘Blood Tail: A Biography on the Only Pony who Tamed the Great Rainbow Dash’.” He spoke with laughter hidden beneath his words. ’Tame me? How does he think he’s going to tame me?’ I thought to myself, knowing exactly how he could “tame” me, as he put it. “If you think you can control me, you got a whole lot to learn.” I spoke in the most threatening tone possible. Sadly, it didn’t turn out as planned. My voice cracked as the words came out when I looked at what my heroine had been reduced to. Just the thought makes me get all emotional. ’Looks like I’ll just have to pony up and support both of us for now. I can’t let him break me! I have to stay strong for Spitfire, for my friends, and for the other Wonderbolts!’ I thought to myself, gathering what little hope and courage was left in my soul. “Oh, I’m the one who’s got a lot to learn? Boy, you’re one to talk.” He was mocking me, I could feel it. He was mocking Spitfire, too. That was the part that finally unleashed my temper that had been threatening to go out of control when he first started talking. I’ve got this innate sorta sixth-sense that tells me when either one of my friends or myself are being bullied or teased. It can come in useful some times. I felt my rage consume me like a wildfire. I felt my muscles straining against my bindings. Then I felt no restraint. ’I just snapped chains.’ I thought to myself in awe. Then the rage took over again. “You may want to run, Blood Tail. If you don’t, your tail really will be covered in blood after I tear it off. Now, get out!” I yelled at him at the top of my lungs. He spread his wings and sprinted towards the windows on the opposite side of the room. “I’ll do one step better than that. I’ll fly!” He called back as he soared through the windows. I sank to my knees as soon as he was gone. Being angry was really exhausting. Then I remembered about Spitfire. I turned around and saw that she was still unconscious. ’She’s so cute when she sleeps.’ I thought in admiration of her strong muscles, sleek body, and full wings. Yeah, I’ll admit it. I had a crush on Spitfire. It’s not like she’d find out anyway so I might as well say it. I walked over and used the last remaining bit of my anger-strength to snap her chains as well. She was still asleep, so I lifted her onto my back and flew her up to a cloud. After setting her down, I pulled other clouds over to hide her. I quickly flew back to the Wonderbolts’ building and grabbed a piece of paper and a quill. I dipped the quill in some ink and wrote a quick message telling Spitfire that I was still in the building looking for the other Wonderbolts. I flew back up to Spitfire and laid the note on her chest before taking off again towards the building. • • • I awoke with a start. I wasn’t in the building anymore. In fact, I was on a cloud. I sat up and felt something fall off of my chest. I picked it up and looked at it. It was a note. I read it aloud. Spitfire, I just wrote this quickly to tell you that I am searching the Wonderbolts building for the others. I scared Blood Tail away and brought you to that cloud. You were unconscious the whole time. Please don’t go anywhere, I’ll be back shortly. ~ Rainbow Dash • • • The interior of the Wonderbolts building was empty. I didn't find anypony inside at all. The only other pony I saw was the corpse of one of the new, unknown Wonderbolts. The fact that there was only one casualty actually surprised me. 'Hey, this means the Wonderbolts have an opening! Yes!' I thought to myself, forgetting momentarily about the cost at which the biggest chance of my lifetime came with. Another pony's life is a horrible thing to take away, and a pony's life is also the hardest thing to give up. Not wanting to think about it anymore, I flew out of the front doors only to be immediately tackled into a nearby cloud by an incoming yellow blur. 'Spitfire.' I thought as I felt her hooves wrap around me. 'Does this mean... Spitfire... what?' My thoughts and wonders were cut off abruptly by Spitfire, who was staring into my eyes with hers. Her eyes were deep, piercing orange pools of fire. They were beautiful. She was beautiful. "Spitfire, I..." I began before I was cut off by Spitfire's hoof on my mouth. The feel of her light, velvety yellow coat was amazing. "I know." She responded before leaning in towards me. Our faces got closer, our noses bumped. Then we closed our eyes, and kissed for the first time. • • • Later that day, both Spitfire and I were off around Ponyville minding our own business. We had agreed not to tell anyone about us being together yet, although it was strange that Spitfire was hanging around Ponyville when she lived all the way over in Cloudsdale. I assumed she just didn't want to be too far away to help me if I got into trouble. I could handle myself in most situations but I think it was her way of repaying me for saving her life. Twice. Then I saw Rapidfire and Soarin dive out of the clouds. They touched down lightly in front of me and Spitfire walked over from the market stall she had been at. "Hey Soarin, Rapid." Spitfire spoke calmly, as if nothing had happened. But, in fact, the opposite was true. The biggest thing in her life, and mine, had just happened a few hours ago. She gave Rapidfire and Soarin both a quick glare before walking over to my side once again. "Hey Spitfire. Where have you been?" Rapidfire was getting suspicious, I could tell. "I haven't seen either of you all day. Well, I saw you, Spitfire, but not since what happened at the Wonderbolt's Arena." "Still at the Arena. I was rescued. No thanks to you two. Why? Why did you abandon me and that one new guy, what was his name?" Spitfire was almost visibly fuming. "Thunderhead, Spitfire, his name was Thunderhead." Soarin spoke in a deeper and more serious tone than usual. "Yeah, him. Well, you could have at least rescued me for pony's sake! I'm-" Spitfire got no further. She was cut off by Soarin's voice; deep and threatening. "Spitfire," Soarin spoke with menace, and I could tell that Spitfire had crossed the line. "Thunderhead was my brother." The shock alone caused Spitfire to sit down, her jaw agape. I wasn't as shocked, they did look a lot alike, but my jaw did drop. Even Rapidfire, who was Soarin's closest friend, obviously had not known that Thunderhead was Soarin's brother. Soarin immediately flew off. Spitfire quickly regained her senses and took off after him. I followed Spitfire, leaving a very dumbstruck Rapidfire standing in the middle of Ponyville Market. "Soarin, wait! I-I'm sorry about Thunderhead, okay?" Spitfire attempted to make peace with her co-captain, but only managed to make it worse. "No. No, it's not okay. My little brother is dead! And all you think about is yourself! I don't understand why anyone would want to be anywhere near your selfish, lame-excuse for a pegasus! I know that I sure as buck don't want to fly anywhere near you!" Soarin's rage seemed to all be released at once. I saw that he looked short of breath and saw what he was saying. "Soarin, does this mean-?" I began before he cut me off. "Yes, Rainbow Dash! I'm quitting the Wonderbolts!" His shouted words made my jaw drop once again. For a brief second I felt a flash of sympathy towards Soarin. Then it was replaced by a mixture of anger and pride. "Don't ever yell at me like that, Soarin." I spoke in a threatening tone. My rage wasn't quite as deeply felt as before but still took hold of my entire body. Unfortunately, Soarin obviously couldn't take a hint. "Oh yeah? Let me tell you something. I can speak however I want!" Once again he shouted the last part at me. His yelling just managed to fan the flames of my anger. I spun around in midair and bucked as hard as I could towards his face. He wasn't expecting me to attack him and he was caught off guard as both my back hooves connected with his forehead, sending him tumbling backwards through the air. As he regained his balance, I motioned for Spitfire to fly off with me, if nothing else then just to get away from Soarin and his bad attitude. "Change your mind yet?" I called over my shoulder as Spitfire and I took off farther into the sky. "I seriously hope you didn't. I think I'd enjoy bucking you in the face again." The last glimpse I got of him was his face; contorted with anger as well as pain. I just turned around and kept flying. • • • I can't remember how far we flew or how long we flew but I finally slowed down long enough to see where I was. 'Funny, this looks a lot like... my... bedroom...' The realization dawned upon me as I saw Spitfire's shadow approaching my doorway. 'Oh, buck! Where can I put all these Daring Do books so that Spitfire doesn't see them!' But it was already too late. "Dash? Is something wrong?" Spitfire asked, a concerned look on her face as she walked over and sat next to me. "What's that behind your back?" "N-Nothing!" I stammered quickly, my sweat trying unsuccessfully to quench the fire burning in my cheeks. "I don't have anything! What are you talking about?!" Spitfire's brow furrowed and I could tell that lying wasn't going to get me anywhere. With a reluctant sigh, I brought forth the Daring Do books I had been holding behind my back. "Are those Daring Do books?" Spitfire asked. "I didn't know you read!" She was almost squealing with excitement at being able to learn something new about me. 'At least she's not upset about me kicking Soarin in the face.' I thought to myself as Spitfire fought to regain her composure and self control. "Yes, I read. It's not something I want getting out anymore than it already has, though!" I spoke sternly, which seemed to quiet her down a bit. "What? Is there something wrong with reading?" I asked suspiciously. "No. Nothing at all. What gave you that idea?" Spitfire replied in a similar manner. "Nothing, just curious." I answered as I pulled Spitfire into a hug. She gave me an all-knowing smile before returning the embrace.
