Chapter 31 – Honor and Chivalry
The images that raced through their minds were of a special kind of kindness, men holding doors open for women and the like. "Chivalry." Breeze said as the visions faded, "You're Chivalry."
The male sighed in defeat, and looked up to them, "And this is my ideal." he said, and showed them visions of warriors protecting others, laying down their lives for the betterment of the innocent, "It has been my inspiration."
"Honor." Breeze said.
"Then I am Honor." the Meltackian said, and turned to Rainbow Dash, "Why would you be accused of cheating only to have another among our ranks truly be the cheater?"
"Who accused us of cheating?" Rainbow asked, "I bet it was those Suniks!"
"You stopped all of my bolts the second time as if you moved far quicker than the eye could see." Chivalry said as she once again lifted her hand to stop Honor from speaking.
"That's because I can, at least in bursts." he admitted.
"Lies." Honor said, "We have been informed of your treachery."
"He can too." Rainbow said, and we don't cheat."
"Why don't I just show you what I can do." Breeze said and vanished in a ring of dust. The two Meltackians let their eyes grow wide as they searched for him. Rainbow sat there, a smug look on her face.
"Might wanna check behind you." she said and smiled again when they turned around to see Breeze sitting there, a grin on his face and pride in his eyes.
"That is…" Honor began.
"Impossible?" Breeze asked, "Runs in the family."
"No, it must be augments of some sort." Honor accused, only to have Chivalry raise her hand again.
"Might I understand the truth?" she asked, "May I search your memories?"
"You need permission to do that, right?" Breeze said, catching both Honor and Chivalry by surprise, "My brother used to date a Meltackian girl when we were on the Genesis Ark, you have my permission to search my memories…however…" The two looked at him curiously, "…if you see something there embarrassing or private, please keep it between us."
"I've already found out most of your stunts on the Genesis Ark already." Rainbow said, "What else do I have to be ready for?"
Breeze thought a moment, "Well…" he said, "There might be a few other things I'm forgetting about. I just don't wanna risk it is all."
Rainbow shrugged, "I'll find out eventually." she said.
"You always do." he told her and rubbed the back of his head. Chivalry then placed her hand on his head and he closed his eyes.
"Sister, I must advise against this, what if it is a trap?" Honor asked.
"Then I know you will seek justice brother." she said, "However if we are not on the path of justice, then I want to know."
Breeze breathed in, and exhaled deeply, letting himself relax as the Meltackian searched his mind. Shen she was done, he opened his eyes, Rainbow Dash at his side, "You ok?" she asked.
"There were a lot more stunts than I remember there being!" he said in awe.
"Thank you." Chivalry said, and turned to her brother, "It is we who have been wrong, brother."
"What?" he asked, "How can that be? No, he has tricked you."
"It was no trick." she admitted, "There was no resistance. Everything I saw was the truth." She then turned to him, "By the way, that sled you made from broken building pieces would never have survived that hill, I'm surprised you did."
"I made sure I had a huge pile of snow at the bottom but wasn't expecting the rock." he said.
"Huh?" Rainbow asked.
"I broke my sled then became my sled." he told her, "It honestly ended better than it should have."
"So, you're saying that he doesn't have illegal augments?" Honor asked.
"It was all his own skill." she said, and turned to the two ponies, "We apologize for the accusations, and are glad the two of you rose up from such a cheating blow."
"But how can this be? The Suniks assured us that they were cheaters." Honor asked.
"The Suniks are scared of us." Rainbow said, "They're scared that we'll win and keep their emperor from conquering the system."
"A bold claim for such a small creature." Honor said and turned to her.
"Don't call me 'creature', I'm a pony." Rainbow Dash said.
Before the male could argue, Chivalry placed her hand on his shoulder, "Brother, we have proven that they are innocent of the dishonorable accusations made against them, now, we must face their accusers to find out the truth."
Honor simply growled, and turned to his ship while Chivalry turned to the two ponies, "I truly admire you two, such devotion to each other." she said, and bowed her head, "Should you need it outside of the race, the Honor Guard will come to your aid." With that, she turned and floated up to the ship, entering into her own hatch to the gunner seat, and the samurai ship then took off, lifting from the ground before turning around and racing off.
"I think we just made a new friend." Breeze said and smiled.
In return, Rainbow smiled as well, before turning to him, "How exactly did that stunt with the sled turn out?" she asked.
Breeze smiled, "I didn't break any bones, I should have. I didn't die, I should have. I didn't crash into anything after the sled shattered, I should have. I…" he kept going, explaining all of the things that could have happened but didn't.
On the other side of the orb, Blade had vacated the spot in front of the screen, leaving Writch and Twilight both confused and sad that he had left the way he did. He instead had made his way to Fluttershy, his head lying in her stomach as she patted his head, silent tears flowing from his closed eyes as he let the memories flood his mind. She knew why he did this, tears of the memories that he can't forget, the death of someone he loved for so long. The trauma of it all, and she could only comfort him to soothe the pain.
On the way back from a day of training, Rainbow Dash simply sighed, her thoughts wandered as she did, "Do you think this will be worth it?" she asked.
"Helping a friend is always worth it." Breeze said.
"Well, yeah I'd never let Tusks or Pilit down, I guess I'm starting to get homesick is all." she rationalized.
Breeze chuckled a bit, "It's kinda funny." he said, "It started because you wanted to cure my homesickness and now, you're homesick."
Rainbow chuckled a bit at his realization, and smiled, "Yeah." She said, "I just gotta get my head in the game."
"Only thirteen left." Breeze said, "Just gonna get tougher from here on out."
Both of them returned to the garage in silence, each exhausted from the day. "How was your trip?" they heard Tusks ask. Rainbow turned to spy the larger Treeopon, his folded arms and smile greeting them as the two of them touched down.
"We got some good practice in." Rainbow said.
"I heard you got some new moves." he said, and placed his massive hands on both of their shoulders, "Thanks for coming you guys." he admitted, "We wouldn't be here without you." The two ponies smiled at him; his genuine feelings simply worn on his sleeve.
"How's my bro holding up?" he asked, getting Tusks a bit confused, "We met up with a couple of Meltackians, one of whom resembled Councilor Shy quite a lot." And with lowered ears said, "I'm sure the memory is killing him."
"Oh." Tusks said, and lowered his own ears in sorrow, "Yeah. I remember."
"I'm betting he's fine, Fluttershy won't let him brood. He'll be fine." Rainbow asked, and then placed a hoof to her chin, "Do all Meltackians look like that?" Tusks and Breeze both couldn't hold it, the two of them started laughing at what Rainbow Dash had just said, "What?" she asked.
