Wind Rider

"I did what I had to do to protect my record. Sometimes, you gotta play dirty to be the best!"

- Wind Rider trying to justify his crime.

Wind Rider is the main antagonist of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode "Rarity Investigates!".

He was voiced by Jan Rabson.

History
Rainbow Dash invites Rarity to Princess Celestia's Royal Garden opening where the Wonderbolts will perform with her as a back up flyer. At the castle dinner Rainbow and Rarity meet Wind Rider, a retired Wonderbolt who's known for holding the long-running speed record for the Wonderbolts. Spitfire shows up to praise Rainbow for her flying skills saying she might break Wind Rider's record, causing Wind Rider to excuse himself somewhere else.

The next day, the Wonderbolts were practicing for the grand opening performance, with Rarity and Rainbow Dash watching them. The Wonderbolts suddenly realized that Spitfire sent a letter saying that she can't make it to the performance since she has to care for her sick mother, Stormy Flare. Because of this, Soarin gets Rainbow Dash to fill in for her, much to her excitement as she flies around with Wind Rider. Then, as Rarity meets Stormy Flare, who isn't really sick, the Wonderbolts are confused by this, but Wind Rider explains that somebody must've written a fake letter just so they could perform, and since Rainbow was the backup flyer, they grow suspicious that she might've committed the crime. Rainbow Dash convinces the Wonderbolts that even though she wanted to fly with them and Wind Rider, she pleads truthfully that she's innocent. The Wonderbolts allow Rainbow to prove her innocence, but if she fails to, she'll be kicked out of the Wonderbolts for life. Rarity, wearing her Detective Shadow Spade outfit, fills in as a detective to investigate the crime and help clear Rainbow's name.

Rarity searches for clues in Princess Celestia's castle, and discovers a piece of rainbow hair on an envelope where the letter was opened, which worries Rainbow that it might be from her. Rarity also notices that the corridor curtains have been moved. Rarity and Rainbow then confront the guards having them tell them if they've ever seen someone pass them the night the letter was written, which they admitted that they took a short cut when someone offered them cake, so Rarity and Rainbow go off to the cake shop to ask the owner, Cinnamon Chai, who bought the cake. Cinnamon answered it was someone with a deep raspy voice wearing a scarf stained with chocolate. Rainbow feels worried that the clues about the rainbow hair and raspy voice might lead to her, thinking she was probably sleep-walking, as well as being annoyed over Rarity talking about fashion, but Rarity is confident that she may know who really made the fake letter.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash return to the Wonderbolt's dressing room where Rarity explains to them that Wind Rider has framed Rainbow Dash all along, much to Rainbow and the Wonderbolt's shock. Rarity explains that the clues she found were appropriate evidence that proves Wind Rider being the culprit:


 * 1) The piece of Rainbow Dash's hair was actually cut in a straight line with shears and hair doesn't naturally fall off in chunks.
 * 2) The envelope had a scent that smelled just like Wind Rider's cologne.
 * 3) The curtains in the castle were unfurled, proving that someone was hiding in there.
 * 4) Rarity unravels Wind Rider's scarf revealing a chocolate stain on it.
 * 5) Wind Rider said "Heh-heh" as a response to Spitfire saying Rainbow Dash could break his record, which Rarity believed was polite yet disingenuous to pretend you're happy when you're not.

This causes Wind Rider to confess that he framed Rainbow, saying he did that just to keep her from breaking his long-time record and that sometimes playing dirty is necessary to win. Rainbow Dash, Soarin and the rest of the Wonderbolts disagree and scold him, saying that a true Wonderbolt should be trustworthy and loyal to their peers. Rainbow Dash then flies to find Spitfire and immediately finds her where Wind Rider hid her and brings her to the Wonderbolts where she strips Wind Rider from his Wonderbolt status for his heinous crime, leaving Rainbow Dash to take his place in the opening performance, much to her excitement. Rainbow Dash thanks Rarity for all her help and apologizes for judging her instincts. Then Rainbow Dash and Wonderbolts finally perform for the garden opening while Rarity and Stormy Flare watch them.

Trivia

 * Incidentally (or not), he is somewhat similiar to the villains from fan-crossover "Turnabout Storm" with "MLP" and "Ace Attorney" by all means:
 * He takes after Sonata, who incriminated Rainbow Dash in a crime, the same way Wind Rider himself did to the same pony, even though it was lighter than a murder (however, due to Spitfire's fate being unknown at the moment, the ponies could even include that version).
 * Wind Rider mostly takes after Ace Swift, the victim of "Turnabout Storm", who actually appears to be the biggest villain, blackmailing his opponents and even threatening to kill his co-conspirator Sonata. Ace Swift and Wind Rider actually have the same motives - put Rainbow Dash away from the participating in some special pegasi event ("Equestrian 500" and "Royal Garden Opening" respectively), where Rainbow could have beaten their records.
 * Also, as many of the characters of "Ace Attorney", Wind Rider breaks down right after his lie was exposed and proved with the solid evidence. Though there were no real criminals in "Turnabout Storm", Gilda's breakdown on the stand was furious the same way Wind Rider's was.