Chapter 16:Sonic Rainboom
It was the middle of day, the sun shined nice and bright upon the town of Ponyville. Another day for the ponies of Ponyville, and the human pony prince hidden in garbs. It was a nice day for play time among children, hot lunch at businesses, and for the library of Ponyville. It was a nice day for organizing and cleaning books to make the library presentable for readers young ans old. It was a chore Orion was happy to do along side Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.
"There's no way! A pony faster than the speed of light? Absolutely preposterous!"Rarity argued with Orion while putting books back up on the shelves.
"I'm telling you. He was by far the fastest flier I have ever had the pleasure and pain to known,"Orion argued back with a chuckle on the subject of Pegasus pro fliers,"He mastered the speed of light, he was the first one to pull some tricks pass my crystal eyes, and he successfully mastered the art of talking a pony to death…!"
"WHAT?! does that mean he can talk faster and more than me?!"Pinkie exclaimed while giving books to Orion to put away.
"Probably. Shadow Swirl was ready to cut his tongue off at one point!"Orion chuckled as he finished slipping the rest of the freshly dusted books back into the shelf.
"You warrior people have a dark and weird sense of humor…"Applejack mused a bit, but it was more of an eerie and creepy feeling.
"That looks to be all the books. The library looks wonderful Twilight."Orion admitted with his fists on his hips, proud of the work they did together.
"Thank you all so much for helping me clean up all these books, guys. It was a crazy week of studying."Twilight expressed her gratitude to every one that helped her clean up the mess of books.
"I'm still flattered you decided to look up some serious insight on the Equestrian warriors,"Orion admitted as he wiped a bit of book dust off his shoulder,"You were up the whole night looking all of us over. My group, the second comers, and the first group, the first comers!"
"I know…! So much history with the warriors, but all of it is undetailed and missing vital info,"Twilight admitted before thinking of the tragedies of the warriors,"That Necrid Ghoul… He killed all his comrades because he wasn't able to have immortality. And War Fire… He gave his life to save you all."
"He was a good warrior, and War Fire always wanted to go out with a bang. He was the pony of fire after all,"Orion looked to the sky and sighed with a half smile as he then thought of Necrid,"Necrid Ghoul was a murderer and a disgrace to Equestria. I was more than happy to finally put that scum down for good…"
Suddenly he widened his eyes as he notice an incoming missile from the sky. It was screaming in a panic before it's rainbow and cyan blue colors revealed it to be Rainbow Dash. Screaming as she came down like a crashing kite as she slammed through the window and into Orion. Sending both of them slamming into the bookshelves and causing all the books to topple out. Covering every pony in books once more and undoing all the hard work they put in cleaning up.
Rainbow Dash poked her head up first and looked around the library. It was then followed by a mused Orion, who shook off a couple books on his head and glared at Rainbow Dash. The rest of the mares poked their heads out as well, just in time to see Fluttershy enter the room with a cheer.
"Rainbow Dash, you rock…! Woohoo,"Fluttershy cheered, only to gasp upon seeing the destruction Rainbow caused to the library,"Did my cheering do that?"
"No…! Rainbow Dashes reckless flying and garbage trajectory did this,"Orion growled as he pulled himself out of the wreckage of books,"She successfully ruined all that work we did the whole morning."
"Hehe, sorry about that ladies and gentlecolt. That was a truly feeble performance…!"Rainbow groaned as she shook her winded self off and turned to Fluttershy.
"Actually, it wasn't that bad. I particularly liked it when you made the clouds spin."Fluttershy politely complimented Rainbow's performance.
"Ugh, I'm not talking about my performance. I'm talking about yours. That feeble cheering!"Rainbow yelled while this came off as ignorant to Orion.
"You need cheering to help your performance. What you can't believe in yourself so you need others to do it, are you crazy,"Orion decided to give her a good ear chewing for demanding praise,"Demanding praise does not improve your skills one bit. Rather than rely solely on others, why not believe in yourself for a change? That is where you true strength lies. Within yourself…"
"Geez… I swear, it's like you're trying to be my dad or something,"Rainbow crinkled her nose at getting talked down to like a filly that disappointed her father with poor actions,"Whatever… I wish you guys could come to Cloudsdale and see me compete in the best young flyer competition."
"What's that?"Twilight curiously asked about the competition.
"It's an annual flying competition that allows young Pegasus to test their flight skills in front of the Wonderbolts, and Celestia,"Orion said as he nearly choked on a chuckle the moment a thought hit him,"It's also where I heard an old friend was going to make an appearance, only to vandalize the competition…!"
"What?! Over my dead body your friend is vandalizing the competition!"Rainbow Dash ranted at the thought of a Pegasus trying to ruin the competition.
"He'll be in and out of that place in a flash of light, you'll never see him coming,"Orion shook his head at Rainbow Dashes attempt at being tough,"There's a reason the Wonderbolts gave him the infamous name, The Rogue Lighting bolt."
"The Rogue Lightning Bolt…? Oh…! You're talking about Thunder Blitz, right?"Twilight asked out of the fresh knowledge she learned last night about the warriors.
"The alleged Pegasus that can apparently travel at the speed of light?"Applejack added with much lack of belief in the idea of a Pegasus that fast.
"That's exactly who I'm talking about. I hear he drops in the competition and trashes it while dumping swamp water on the Wonderbolts,"He chuckled while Rainbow tried to blow it off with extreme empty confidence,"You think I'm bluffing too…?"
"Who cares, whether he's real or not. Not even his skill can best my ultimate display of speed,"Rainbow flew up and posed before coming down with a hard stomp,"The sonic rainboom…!"
"The what boom?"Orion questioned the bizarre new move Rainbow described and most likely named after her.
"You really need to get out more. The sonic rainboom is legendary. When a Pegasus like Rainbow Dash goes so fast,"Pinkie Pie started to explain with complete and personal dramatic effect,"Boom! A sonic boom and a rainbow can happen all at once!"
"And Rainbow Dash here was the only pony to ever pull it off."Applejack added while Rainbow was waving her hoof in flattery.
"It was a long time ago… I was just a filly."Rainbow Dash admitted, but drank in the flattery and boosts to her pride.
"Wait so they can believe and call a sound barrier breaking move legend, but they can't believe in a pegasus moving at the speed of light?"Orion groaned in disbelief as he slumped forward.
"Well when you think about it. It sounds way too far fetch to believe, but I know it's real,"Twilight supported Orion and believed in his friend's abilities while the others kept praising Rainbow,"I'm sure if he actually does show up at the competition, they'll see it for themselves, and they will believe you!"
"I hope… They would be irritating Thunder so bad and bruising his pride if he heard that they don't believe in him…"Orion sighed and did his best to shake off the mare's ignorance towards his friend.
"Any who… I gotta go get rested up. Don't wanna over prepare myself,you know? Hehe,"Rainbow chuckled nervously before she flew up and went to leave after a few words for Fluttershy,"You, on the other hoof, better keep practicing. I need a cheering section to match my spectacular performance."
"Ah geez… I need to go, I wanna make something clear with that Pegasus."Orion said before immediately rushing to the door to leave and track down Rainbow Dash.
"Take care, and try not to be too hard on her…!"Twilight called before he was already gone.
He managed to get outside before he saw Rainbow heading for a cloud to perch on. Quickly he flexed his arms and flashed with read before magic wings began to manifest from his back. They flapped as they formed, working as if they truly were wings in nature. They shimmered and sparkled with red before a strong flap lifted Orion from the ground and into the air. He then looked to the cloud Rainbow decided to get her barrings in, and flew at strong speeds to it.
He was up through the cloud within seconds, and landed softly on the cloud. There he found Rainbow Dash sitting with her head lowered, and a chill in her spine. He could finally sense it, she was over anxious about the competition, it involved her doing things the average Pegasus could only dream of doing. She had to do it all, and she needed to do it before a large crowd of pones. Including princess Celestia, and her great idols, The Wonderbolts.
"You know it's normal to be nervous or anxious about something, but hiding it only makes the fear of failure that much worse."Orion explained before Rainbow let her ears droop to the sides before looking to him.
"You gonna give me another lecture about being brave…? Don't waste your breath,"Rainbow stood up and looked to the sky that she flew through since she was just a little filly,"And I don't need you to pity me. Whether I win or not… Maybe it doesn't matter much any more since my race with Applejack…"
"No… In fact it doesn't. Whether you win or lose, it doesn't truly matter in the slightest,"He approached Rainbow Dash and sat cross legged before her, she in turned did the same,"The only thing that matters is that you went in, gave it your all. And you proved that you are in fact a phenomenal flyer."
"And what if I fail? What if I end up making a fool of myself?"Rainbow Dash questioned before Orion chuckled slightly and patted her messy rainbow mane.
"Then it only means you have room to improve, and you can get even better."This was the words of wisdom, Orion himself remembered from Thunder Blitz, the words that drove his friend to become the greatest flyer in the world.
"Then… Just worry about improving myself. Don't rely on just my friends support, right?"Rainbow asked in a sudden tone and bow of submission, and her first act of humility.
"It's what Thunder Blitz did, and he is without a doubt, the current fastest flyer in Equestria,"Orion nodded lightly before Rainbow cracked a small smile,"Now after a bit of chillaxing. What say we get ready to sow Cloudsdale what a truly gifted Pegasus looks like?"
Before they knew it, Orion was flying to Cloudsdale alongside Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. It had been at least a couple centuries since he had visited the city made of clouds. The very first home land in the prime area of Equestria made and controlled solely by the Pegasus race. He could have sworn the city looked a lot smaller than it use to be, a lot more Pegasus too. He saw at least twenty Pegasus flying around the city, some of which were heading toward the cloud Colosseum.
"I assume that is where the competition is taking place?"Orion asked the obvious question before they went in for a landing.
"Yep. The best of the best are going to be flying at their best in that Cloudosseum!"Rainbow explained before they made a soft and swift landing upon the cloud made ground.
"Nice digs, it's clearly new, and it's good for flight events and practices."He thought before they were interrupted by a gang of three young stallion Pegasus.
"Well, well, well…! What do we have here?"The lead Pegasus questioned the more obvious question.
"It's our old friend, Rainbow Crash!"The second one suddenly insulted Rainbow Dash with what was most certainly a kid nick name.
"Get kicked out of any flight schools lately?"The lead stallion asked before a lift of the eye brow came to Orion, along with the urge to throw smack talk right back at the bullies.
"You gob shites FLUNK out of any flight schools lately?"Orion threw insults right back, given the less intelligible voices the stallion's had.
"No…maybe…so what?!"The third stallion questioned, only to confuse himself.
"For the record I was never kicked out. I just quit…!"Rainbow clarified what the stallion was trying to talk about.
"Right, just quit huh? Ask her about the sonic rainboom."The second one asked with a chuckle.
"That's just an old mare's tale. You don't have the skills to try something like that." The leader mocked before Orion stood in front of his friends and approached the stallions.
"And you think YOU three brainless oafs have such skill? Or do you need to try and break the will of the truly skilled because you're nowhere near their level?"Orion's stood over the lead stallion while his muzzle barely touched the prince's gut.
"Well… Maybe we do…! Maybe we just don't want to show it off…!"The leader was sweating, but tried to look brave, even in the face of some pony that read him like a book.
"Or maybe… You're scared because she's better than you, and you can't take it,"Orion poked the stallion in the chest as the friends hid behind the bully,"But you're welcome to try and prove me wrong. Put some action where your mouth is big talker…!"
"We're…too good…! We wouldn't want to ruin the competition with our-"The third stallion tried to boast, but was quickly cut off by the cutthroat trash talk of Orion.
"Bullying, stupidity, lack of skill, lying that you're good? Yeah, you little colts certainly would ruin the competition."Orion had the stallions backed into a corner before taking flight.
"Well… Whatever, we just know she's gonna fail like she always does…!"The leader gave last words before taking off as fast as he could.
"We'll see…"Orion stuck his nose up as the lackies quickly followed behind their leader.
"Thanks… Not sure what that does for my confidence, but I'm glad those guys are gone."Rainbow Dash was grateful, but the words of the bullies lingered regardless.
"Old acquaintances of yours?"He asked with curiosity and was answered by Fluttershy.
"They were bullies back in school. Rainbow Dash was the only one that protected me from them,"The shy Pegasus gave him the whole back story short and sweet,"Guess they still can't let go of the past… Ever since Rainbow showed them off in school…"
"That would explain…quite a bit actually…!"He understood perfectly, knowing he was almost completely on the money.
"What am I gonna do? Every pony is going to see me fail. The Wonderbolts will never let a loser like me join,"Rainbow started to worry about the chance that she would fail,"Princess Celestia will probably banish me to the Ever Free forest. My life will be ruined!"
"Hey…! Don't forget what we talked about, it doesn't really matter whether you win or lose,"Orion got her to cool down and recollect her thoughts in a calm matter,"Besides, Celestia would never banish you for such a thing, shes too kind and spineless to ever want to punish any pony…!"
"Odd… We've grown to have the utmost respect for the princess,"Came a grunting and deep stallion voice from behind that gave Orion the ear twitch that shouted, royal guard,"Then again you old warriors aren't exactly regulated to be respectful to the royal family."
"Royal guards… Well, respect is something you earn and fight for, it's not something you're born with,"Slowly Orion turned around to meet the two white stallion's in golden armor, happy that he remembered his crystal disguise,"Now, is there something I can help you gentle colts with? Or will you continue to violate my sense of smell with your breath?"
"Very funny mister…Crystarr."The left guard snorted to look tough and brush off the disrespect.
"The princess is currently in a royal tent half a mile east of Cloudsdale city,"The guard spoke, and Orion was ready to blow them off, satisfied that they too bought his disguise,"She learned that you were coming to Cloudsdale to spectate the competition. She has…requested a private audience with you."
"I'm here with friends. I don't need to bother myself with her royal highness getting pampered by servants in a gold made tent…!"He denied and went to rejoin Rainbow and Fluttershy.
"She says it regards some threats against her and her sister princess Luna! Death threats,"These next words made him pause while the girls even felt their hearts freeze from the information,"She really would like to speak to you about these threats…!"
"How long has Celestia and Luna been getting these threats…?"He looked to the guards off the corner of his eyes without turning.
"Approximately two weeks and four days so far."The right guard answered before Orion looked to the cloudy ground and sighed.
"There has been no evidence or anything to go on about. Just letters in strange ink."The left guard added before Orion thought for one long moment.
As much as he waned to simply blow it off out of spite for his sister. Now that her and Luna's lives are being threatened, his old brotherly instincts were overpowering his warrior instincts. He looked to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, only to see Twilight and the others arriving. With the rest of the gang arriving, at least the two Pegasus would have the company they needed. He clenched his left hand into a fist and put it to his chest before turning to the guards with his answer.
"Very well… This better be worth my time."He answered.
"Good. We will guide you to the princess's location when you're ready."The left guard turned and sprouted his wings at the same time as his fellow guard on the right.
"I gotta go for now, Twilight and the others are about to arrive, don't know how, but they are. If she asks where I am, tell her it's private matters,"He quickly informed the two Pegasus mare's before looking back to the guards,"Lead the way, and make haste…"
The Pegasus guards took off while Orion gave his friends a small wave, good bye. He then jumped and started hopping cloud to cloud to follow the stallions. If he had used his wings, he would have been discovered to be Celestia's brother rather than the first comer he impersonated. The guards were at least nice enough to fly through seas of clouds. It made jumping from cloud to cloud easier and a efficient way to travel through the skies without wings.
It was almost half an hour before they had finally arrived to a hidden cluster of clouds. They dove right through the barrier of clouds, and their vision was obscured for a few seconds. Once they nurst through the mass of clouds, there they discovered a large cumulus cloud. It's shear size was more than big enough for a large white tent streaming with gold edges and rose like patterns. Orion almost felt impressed, but it was simply another accessory only Celestia would want.
Further inspection pointed out at least eight guards circled around the tent. While four others were simply playing horse shoes, only Celestia would allow such games during a dangerous time. At the very least, they could have remained vigilant of any suspicious activity.
"Is it normal for royal guards to play games rather than defend the princess?"Orion asked before they made their landing upon the edge of the large base.
"Their shift ended. They're on break right now."The left guard spoke in a slight growl.
"So while an assassin sneaks in and opens a couple veins on the princess, her guards are enjoying a game of horse shoes,"Orion blatantly mocked the guards as they slowly made for the tent,"Half these guards aren't even going to use their weapons. They're gripping their spears so loosely. A child could smack those things out of their hooves."
"I really wanna just pike you in the eye…!"The right guard boldly stated while Orion only chuckled.
"Feel free to try. Just remember to actually hold your spear, and don't drop it in the process."Orion joked as the left guard lifted the tent opening up for the prince to enter.
He ducked slightly to enter the tent and was immediately greeted by a soft carpet like floor. Gold and fuzzy under his feet, complimented by white, cozy chairs with gold legs and arm rests. Clearly his sister had went through some sort of immortal life crisis they normally get once a century. Seemed like she was definitely over compensating for something as he found the princess herself. Sitting before a golden mirror, brushing her mane while using her magic to polish her horse shoes.
She looked up for one second, and that's when she saw him in the mirror. She was quick to finish her horse shoes and slip them back on while placing her crown back on her head. She sighed in relief strangely enough, and put on a smile for Orion.
"You look…worried…"He decided to open with a straight forward observation.
"I was until you arrived. The guards have already told about the death threats, I assume?"Celestia asked before getting out of her chair and taking up some sort of yellow parchment.
"Yes… No evidence, no clues to who it is. Only notes with strange ink,"He approached her, and was suddenly hugged by Celestia before feeling her heart pounding against him,"Hmm… I'm guessing you just got another one today? Your fear certainly appears to be mounting."
"Yes… I had to make sure Luna was hidden within her room, guards surround her in the hundreds,"Celestia levitated the yellow parchment to Orion to show today's threat,"This came to us this morning, speculating that they may attack at the cloudoseum."
"Smart of you to assure your sister's safety… Whether your choice to attend the competition? Could be bold or just plain stupid."He took the parchment and unrolled it before reading the threatening letter scrawled with ink that was oddly bubbling.
Celestia…! Your rule over Equestria has made ponies lazy, weak, and soft. This harmony leaves a disgusting stain upon Equestria's soil and poisons it. Changing it to this land of weakness and peace, but that is not Equestria's true self, and we will not allow you to poison it any further. You were a fool to be so bold as to attend the Cloudsdale competition. Now all Pegasus will witnessed the cruelty and misery that is the true form of Equestria, as they all watch you burn. Your skin, flesh and blood will melt from your bones while their minds will be scarred from your dying shrill screams. Without your brother… Your days are limited…!
"Looks like you may be dealing with some pony… From our past…"Orion made his guess judging by the way the note was worded.
"But… There can't possibly be any pony left from those times…!"Celestia feared while finally releasing the stallion she saw simply as the first comer crystal barer.
"In case you have forgotten. The enemies from old Equestria weren't exactly easy to kill…!"He pointed out a serious reminder of the enemies they once fought a long time ago.
"True… What do you suppose we do about this…?"Celestia asked while going back to the mirror to finish brushing her mane.
"You're already here, you might as well remain undeterred and attend the competition,"Celestia felt a twitching chill in her neck at the suggestion, but she did not want to look like a coward,"I'll be watching vigilantly… After all I promised to support Rainbow Dash in the competition. Plus Thunder Blitz, the second comer may arrive as well… He vandalizes the competition every year."
"So there will be hidden security at least… Very well, I will attend the competition regardless,"Celestia agreed and manage to keep a full smile with bravery,"I'll have to only bring two guards with me. I don't want to cause a need for concern among the subjects."
"Smart move. Now I need to get back to Cloudsdale, you should get ready too,"He recommended as he turned to the tent entrance to exit,"The competition will start within the next hour. You don't want to disappoint the subjects…"
"Very well… I just hope Orion is safe from these assassins…"Celestia worried before finally finishing her mane.
"He is… Trust me…"He looked forward and left the tent, slowly passing by the guards.
"Farewell… My friend."Celestia gave her good byes to the mysterious warrior before he left.
"That was quite a strange reunion. Better get to Cloudsdale before the competition begins."He huffed and steeled himself before jumping cloud to cloud and disappearing off towards Cloudsdale.
A half an hour later he had finally returned to the city just in time. The cloudoseum was already filling up with Pegasus ponies that gathered to see the best of the best. His eyes helped him to track down Twilight and the others finding their seats while Rainbow was still nervous. He exhaled and jumped before quickly scaling the cloudoseum and entering from above. He made his landing over the ring, and landed from a thirty feet fall before landing in the stands.
Conveniently, he had landed right next to Twilight and the others. Surprising her and the other mares while simply sitting down and looking down to the cloud grounds. His eyes were kicked into full gear, scanning the entire cloudoseum, watching for any strange activity.
"There you are! Rainbow Dash said you had some private business to take care of."Twilight shook him out of focus for a moment before they all sat down, except for Rarity, who appeared to be missing.
"Well…consider my private business done. Where's Rarity?"He asked while trying to watch over the entire cloudoseum.
"She's…participating in the competition…"Twilight nervously smiled before he looked back to her with full red gem eyes.
"How the hay is she doing that? She's a unicorn pony if I recall."He asked as he then began to search around and found Rarity prepping herself and her strange butterfly like wings.
"I…kind of tested a flying spell out on her in hopes of allowing us to stand on clouds and support Rainbow Dash,"Twilight explained while Orion barely processed what she said,"I just gave her the first flying spell we could find in the mess of books we had to clean up."
"You gave her the butterfly wings. You DO know there's another spell next page that allows her to grow Pegasus wings right?"He asked while not taking his eyes of the cloud grounds.
"Like I said, I just went with the first one we could find. And what are you looking for?"Twilight finally had to ask about his extra vigilance around the competition as he then spotted Celestia arriving.
"Fillies and gentlecolts! Please rise and give welcome our beloved, princess Celestia!"The announcing Pegasus welcomed the princess herself with only two guards at her side.
"There she is… And here comes the group on Thunder's dump list…"Orion verified Celestia's arrival and saw the Wonderbolt's arriving as well.
"Maybe he's looking around in case of cheaters. There were a few cheaters last year."Fluttershy pointed out a good cover for Orion to use as the announcer introduced the Wonderbolts.
"Please welcome our celebrity judges for the best young flyer competition! The Wonderbolts!"Every pony continued to cheer as the team of Wonderbolts gathered on a cloud to watch.
"Yeah… Cheaters… That's what I'm watching for…"Orion answered before full focus was now on the games.
"And now, lets find out who will take the prize as this years best young flyer!"The final announcement came with another cheer before the games began.
"And so it begins…"He spoke only to himself as he spectated the competition and the princess.
The competition felt long and fierce for many young Pegasus competitors. So many potential flyer's, so much talent that could prove so useful to Equestria. Thunder Blitz himself would almost be impressed, but most flyers were doing just the basic tricks and maneuvers. Nothing too impressive or bold, not only that, Rainbow Dash had yet to perform for the crowd. She was the only one that was worth his time in this little flying competition, that and his friend's "little" visit.
His visions continued to watch over the princess, he could feel her getting nervous. She was almost as nervous as Rainbow Dash appeared to be as she kept switching contestant patches. She was really that scared to participate because she didn't want to end up looking like a failure. Two out of three sights to see were cringy as hay to watch, but he had to do it regardless. An hour later, the competition was nearing the end, and Rainbow Dash could no longer avoid the competition.
After a strange talk, it appeared Rarity was going to be flying alongside Rainbow Dash. Perhaps for more support, seemed a good way to encourage Rainbow to shrug off her cold hooves. Then again she was quite dressed up to perform for the crowd, it figured as much. Finally the duo entered the cloud grounds and readied to take flight to begin their routine. Rainbow was first to take off in her casual speed while Rarity hung back a bit for gracefulness.
So far nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the disaster Rainbow was going through. She was a complete mess with her high speed strafing, and she even began knocking everything over. He sighed, and feared that Rainbow's worst fear was going to become a scary reality. She went for the clouds and started to make them spin as she had done before in practice. However, her lack of confidence proved to be the cause of her poor performance as she wiped out with a cloud.
She even accidentally launched one of the clouds right at Celestia herself. However, it was no concern when it came to safety, it was only a harmless fluffy cloud after all. She looked at Orion with concern, but he only rolled his eyes about her fear over a cloud.
"It's a cloud, it won't hurt you much. Focus on the event you baby."He groaned as he suddenly found his vision captured by Rarity's sudden trick that required a lot of height.
She was flocking like a butterfly high into the air, her will and strength being tested to the limit. Upon reaching her full height, she sprouted her wings wide and proudly. The sun reflecting through her colorful wings and filling the cloudoseum with rainbow colors. It had appeared that Rarity may have actually outshine Rainbow Dash, and even outshine all the competitors. Though Orion was no fool to what she had done, and what she had done, was go over the wing's limit.
"Oh no… The wings can't handle that much sunlight…!"He realized just in time to see the wings suddenly burn away to dust.
"Uh oh…"Rarity realized the destruction of her wings before she began to fall, screaming in fear.
"Oh no…! Her wings evaporated into thin air!"Twilight panicked while the Wonderbolts themselves sprung into action.
They dove for Rarity with Rainbow Dash right behind them for back up. However it would be Rainbow Dash that would be the only hope thanks to Rarity's flailing hooves. The Wonderbolts were suddenly knocked out cold by the unicorn's hooves, and were now falling as well. Now it seemed that Rainbow Dash was on her own, no pony was there to support her now. She almost felt like she just wanted to give up, but then Orion's words echoed in her head.
It kept her going, and picking up speed before she was suddenly on the verge of breaking the sound barrier. A path of rainbows followed her from behind as she finally decided to tough it out. Rather than depend on every pony to encourage and push her, it was time for her to believe in herself. She felt the beating of her heart before she suddenly exploded, leaving a large halo of rainbows in her wake. Suddenly Orion almost lost track of her as she was in fact traveling faster than the speed of sound.
She launched like a bolt and suddenly snatched Rarity up into her arms. While the Wonderbolts piled on her back just in time for Rainbow to make loop into the sky. Allowing her to make a rainbow over the cloudoseum, it appeared that Rainbow had saved the day. Orion nodded at her quick actions, but suddenly gasped as one angle of his vision spotted what appeared to be a giant ball of fire. He looked over it's trajectory, and verified that it was aimed at Celestia.
He shot to his feet and raised his hand to the princess to conjure his crystals. It was a five second delay upon the crystal pillar's arrival since they were in fact in the sky, far away from the ground. The pillar did in fact pierce through the clouds and appear before the princess to protect her. However Orion did not realize fast enough that Rainbow Dash had made a second lap around the cloudoseum. Upon her arrival, Rainbow Dash barely noticed the ball of fire, flying right at her.
It appeared to be too late, even Rainbow Dash was not fast enough to dodge the ball of fire that she was now on a collision course with. There was nothing Orion could do, even he wouldn't be fast enough to stop it. The worse appeared to happen, Rainbow was illuminated by the fire. Her life flashing before her eyes before something else had suddenly flashed before her. A bright yellow and blue flash of light blinded her before she felt herself being carried in strong hooves.
Orion didn't even see the sudden anomaly appear before the ball of fire was frozen. Enveloped within a cage of blue electricity, it all happened so fast before the orb of fire was sent to the sky. It all happened in the simple blink of an eye, the next thing they all saw was fire and lightning. Detonating together in the sky to form a mass of storm cloud, while Rainbow Dash found her and Rarity in the middle of the field. Rarity was simply sitting on her flank, but Rainbow was in a pair of strong hooves.
Her heart was racing a mile a minute before she looked to the face of a rescuer. The rescuer was in fact the one Orion had spoken of, the great Pegasus that glowed bright blue from line like tattoos all over his body. His cloudy gray mane and tail poofing and moving like a cloud. His glowing yellow and blue eyes looked to Rainbow Dash while she blushed from being in such a position. She looked around, seeing Rarity was safely on the Pegaus's strong back, while the Wonderbolts were ok, aside from facing planting into the clouds.
"Nice flying… But you may want to work on your finish…"He suddenly smiled slightly while Rainbow tried to find her voice.
"Uh…thanks… For saving me that is. But… Who are you…?"Rainbow questioned before she was released from the stallion's arms and able to stand again.
"You're rescuer for a start. But just call me Thunder Blitz."The stallion chuckled while slowly releasing her at the same time that the Wonderbolt's raised to their hooves to see him.
"Oh my gosh, the Rogue Lightning Bolt! Wonderbolts, arrest that-"The fire maned leader known as Spit fire was cut off from her command as a massive load of green swamp water splashed all over the Wonderbolts.
It forced the team of Wonderbolt's to fall to their belly's, becoming overwhelmed by the smell. They were coughing and gagging on the stench as some Pegasus in the stands backed away from the team of elite Pegasus flyers. Orion chuckled and shook his head, seeing Thunder up to some of his same old dirty tricks when it came to the Wonderbolts.
"Thunder Blitz… Made it just in time…!"Orion smiled upon seeing his speedy friend once more.
"That's your speedy friend? I didn't even see him coming, how did he do all that?"Applejack asked but then realized the answer just before drooping her ears for being wrong.
"Guess Thunder Blitz is pretty real, and so is his speed."Twilight admitted with a warm feeling of excitement to actually see a Pegasus of such caliber.
"Super duper real! He really really moves at the speed of light!"Pinkie exclaimed.
Moments later, Rarity was in the balloon so she wouldn't fall through the clouds. While Orion and Thunder privately met up for some rekindling of friendship, Twilight and her friends were together. They talked about the experience and the heroism of Rainbow Dash. Though Rainbow Dash could only looked to Thunder Blitz, for he was the true savior. It started to rain, while Thunder sighed and looked to his old friend.
"You came just in the nick of time it seems, you saved a lot of lives today."Orion admitted while Thunder simply scratched at his mane.
"It's what we do. We've been doing it for thousands of year Orion,"He looked to Rainbow Dash with a half smile before winking at her,"She's quite a talented Pegasus… Too bad the Wonder boars want to recruit her into their power hungry cult."
"I know… But she wants to become the greatest flyer in Equestria, and she believes that will happen with the Wonderbolts,"Orion explained a bit about Rainbow Dash, seeing as Thunder took interest in her,"She'll learn in time what it means to be the greatest."
It was then that they saw princess Celestia approaching the group of mares. Most likely to congratulate them on the performance and understand what exactly happened. Thunder simply changed his sights to the Wonderbolts, knowing that they were waiting for the moment to go after him. He was after all The Rogue Lightning Bolt. And he was at the top of the list when it came to the ponies that the Wonderbolts were hunting down for crimes against their organization.
"Tia seems to be in better spirits… Did you see who shot that ball of fire?"Orion asked as they got on the topic of the sudden fire ball that nearly fried Rainbow.
"No… I saw a typical pony in a cloak, but it was either snatch him up or let your friend there burn to a crisp,"Thunder answered with more of a mystery than an answer,"But I take it, the fire ball was meant for some pony else?"
"It's real target was Celestia. Rainbow Dash was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."Orion informed his friend that simply looked back one more time to see Rainbow earning the crown of victory.
"Rainbow Dash huh? After seeing how fast she flew, I was thinking Rainbow Flash was a better name for her,"Thunder complimented before getting a bit serious again,"Look, if you're coming back from exile. Then I guess I'm back as well. I'll watch the skies for these assassins."
"Thank you… And one more thing… I go by O for now. Celestia does not deserve to have me back,"Orion made something clear with his friend before Blitz was in the sky again,"Equestria needs me, not her. So keep my identity to yourself will ya?"
"Sure, no problem…. I'm gonna high tail it right now before the stink bolts find their barrings and come after me,"Thunder said before rising to the skies, capturing Rainbow's attention as she ran to wave to him,"See you around! And keep up the good flying there Rainbow Flash!"
"Strange... He wasn't as chatty as he use to be... Might just be the new times are getting to him."Orion thought and spoke to himself.
"Rainbow Flash!? Is that a insult or a compliment?!"Rainbow called to him, but instead was blown off as the stallion disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Believe me… It's a compliment Rainbow…. And let me just say I'm glad you finally found the strength to believe in yourself,"Orion approached her and the rest of her friends with his opinion,"When all else was gone, you put faith in yourself, and fought against the daunting odds. You even stood up to a ball of fire meant for the princess. That took guts."
"Thanks… I'm glad I could actually impress some pony like you, and…him…"Rainbow admitted with some blush left over from her close encounter with Thunder.
"And Rarity, I hope you learned your lesson about grabbing the spot light and ruining your friend's confidence."Orion now had some words for Rarity.
"I certainly did… I learned that it's quite important to keep your hooves on the ground and be there for your friends."Rarity explained her lesson learned from the mistake that nearly costed her life.
"Excellent, well done Rarity, and well done to you as well Crystarr,"Celestia gave praise to Rarity and turned to Orion for some choice words,"Thanks to you, I live to guide Equestria another day towards the future. Even to this day, your warrior conviction has never been stronger."
"Just do me a favor and don't die princess. Your death would mean the end of all harmony,"He made his wish sparkly clear before looking to Rainbow Dash getting kissed up to by the bullies from before,"Oh look, the trash talkers have come to suck up to the superior Pegasus. Betcha they will think twice about spouting garbage that they can't back up."
"Indeed…"Celestia smiled, looking a bit to the disguised brother, feeling warm and safe under his watch.
Twilight had then stood between the brother and sister with a smile at the sight. In a way, she got to see the brother and sister side by side, somewhat happy to be by each other's side. Knowing that no matter the hate that surrounded the siblings, their family passion still remained. No matter what, Orion would still be there for Celestia, and Celestia would always respect his wisdom. Rainbow Dash then came back together with the group to share in the moment of friendship.
"Hehe… Funny thing, I was gonna hang out with my new Wonderbolt friend, but,"Rainbow chuckled while her eyes sparkled upon seeing Thunder Blitz flying around a bit more before taking off,"Those guys kind of stink at the moment…!"
She laughed, as did the whole group of ponies at Thunder's little prank. Aside from the attempted assassination on Celestia and Rainbow Dash, and the minor attack on the Wonderbolts. Humor still persevered for the group, all they could do was simply laugh off the heart stopping event. While fiery hollow eyes were watching them from the hills below. Growling before the figure disappeared in a flash of fire and pitch black smoke.
It probably isn't, but I feel it is in a way, sorry this one may be a bit rushed. But I wanna make sure these chapters get to all of you on time, I never wanna leave you all hanging. Hope you like Thunder Blitz, and next episode. In the spirit of the show following certain individuals at times, we will not be following Orion in the next one. Feel free to guess which lucky pony we'll be following in "the stare master" Stay pony friends!