Author's Notes: If you didn't read the description, then you should know that some future chapter will have a somewhat Slice of Life theme (i.e. chapters that are mainly about talking and character interaction). I do this in order to make a deeper story than just characters punching each other for vague reasons. And it could also be entertaining. Hopefully y'all will like it and that this won't blow up in my face.

“Didn’t I tell you to be careful around Lightning Dust?” Soarin scolded, “Because I specifically remember telling you to tread cautiously, or was I just talking to myself?”

“Enough, I get it,” Rainbow Dash replied, exasperated as she got back up her feet, “I’d rather not be reminded that I was played.”

“Remembering one’s shortcomings makes them stronger.” Soarin said as he got in his fighting position again.

“Where did you get that from, a fortune cookie?” Dash asked as she too got into her stance.

It has been a couple of days since Rainbow Dash’s battle with Gilda. It was currently another sunny day in M.A with a mid-autumn wind. Normally, Rainbow would have been in her morning class right now, but her art teacher Celestia canceled class for the day and nopony knew why. Having some extra time, Dash decided to finally give Soarin the old radio she found in the school basement. She would have done it sooner, but she was too focused on other, Lightning Dust-related, activities.

Dash faced Soarin in his circular ‘home’. Dash stepped forward with her left leg and crouched. She swung her entire body to the left with her right leg extended out. Soarin quickly jumped over Dash’s sweeping leg.

“Alright not bad; again,” Soarin said as he got into his stance again, “So, what have you been up to since you got backstabbed?”

“Oh you know,” Dash replied as she repeated her new technique, “I’ve been looking for Lightning Dust. It’s weird, but I can’t find her anywhere. No one in the girl’s dorm even knows what her room number is. I tried looking for her in the hallways immediately after class ends, but I can’t find her. It’s almost like she doesn’t even go to this school.”

“So what specifically happened? The only thing I know is that she double-crossed you. You mind telling me why?”

“To take over the school because she is able to.” Dash said matter-of-factly.

Soarin let out a long whistle, “Wow, talk about a god complex. Now, use the move I just showed you, but flap your wings in the direction your turning.” He instructed, “So what you gonna do Dash? Are you going to be the noble hero who saves us all from the evil fiend?”

Rainbow chuckled as she stepped forward and swung out her right leg, but this time she flapped her wings once with all of her strength. Dash’s speed and power increased and she managed to sweep Soarin off his feet. Right before he crashed to the ground, Soarin flapped his wings once, did a back flip in mid-air, and landed on his feet.

“You might want to hold off that for now. You may know how to do the leg sweep, but you can still perfect it.”

“Oh please,” Rainbow grinned, her arrogant nature getting the best of her, “my leg sweep is no doubt better than even yours, Soarin.”

Soarin stepped forward with his left leg and crouched down in surprising speed. He flapped his wings as he turned and extended his right leg completely outward. His leg swept both of Dash’s legs and she flopped to the floor. The rainbow-haired pegasus could only stare up in confusion at what just happened.

“Now that is a leg sweep. Keep practicing kid.” Soarin said as he helped Dash to her feet. Once Dash was back on her feet, there was a loud *ding* that rang through the school; signaling an announcement,

“Rainbow Dash,” said a monotonous voice, “please report to the headmistress’s office. Rainbow Dash, please report to the headmistress’s office.”

“Looks like Spitfire wants to see me.” Rainbow said casually as she began to walk away, “Later Soarin.”

“What is it?” Rainbow asked as she turned to face him. She saw Soarin walking toward an old shack at the edge of his living quarters. He entered and then exited the shack with a large bag.

“I live right next to the parking lot and the auto-shop.” Soarin said as he walked up to Dash and dumped the bag next to him, “And since the students in this school always pass nearby and never shut up, I know just about everything that goes on. The other day, I heard a scrawny looking unicorn, I think her name was Twilight, telling her friend of a massive beating you took from the griffon named Gilda.”

Dash said in exasperation, “I keep telling Twilight I had everything in control!”

“No, I was just…dazed! Did Twilight even talk about how I won the fight?” Dash said, her voice filled with pride.

“Oh yeah, she did talk about how you were barely able to get the upper hand at the last second.” Soarin chuckled as he crouched and began to root around the bag, “From all that boasting that you do, I expected you to be in complete control of the fight the entire time. You have to learn Dash that if you boast, you better be ready to back it up. And that’s where I come in; my job is to make you stronger.”

Soarin stood up with 4 pieces of rope. Each rope was roughly 1ft long and had what appeared to be small bags attached to each rope.

“Here,” Soarin passed the pieces of rope to Dash, “tie one to each wrist and ankle.”

“…O.K?” Dash said questionably as she attached each piece of rope to her left wrist, right wrist, left ankle, and right ankle, “So why am I doing this?”

“So far, I’ve just been teaching you how to fight. But that doesn’t matter if you don’t have the body to deal and receive as much damage as possible. These are homemade weights; the bags are filled with sand and each weighs about a pound. I want you to wear these at all times. Whether you’re walking, running, eating, or studying, you wear them.”

“And let me guess,” Dash’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, “I’m gonna have to give you radio parts for more weights?”

“Nope, these weights are absolutely free. Just come over when you don’t even feel the weights anymore and I’ll add another pound to each one. After a couple of weeks, your strength and speed should increase.”

“More speed huh?” Dash grinned as she stared down at the weights, “I like the sound of that. But what’s with the sudden generosity?”

Dash ignored the jab and took the compliment. She walked toward her satchel, which she hung on one of the wooden planks that blocked off the whole area from the school, and then walked toward the gate. As she was opening the door, she paused for a couple of seconds. Then she turned back to Soarin, who was taken aback by the sudden sheepish expression.

“Um, Soarin, remember the other day when you told me that you were a Wonderbolt?”

“Yeah…” Soarin said. He was beginning to worry that his prideful, and arrogant, student was suddenly timid.

“Well, you see, I didn’t believe. So I went online to prove you wrong. And…well…” Dash walked up to Soarin and pulled a picture from her satchel. Soarin took it and grinned as when he saw what it was. The picture was of a pegasus in a Wonderbolt outfit. His gray blue hair was the very definition of sleek. His clean-shaven face was brimming with confidence and arrogance. He was smiling while giving a thumbs-up to the photographer.

“Where did you get this?” Soarin chuckled as he compared what he looked like in his Wonderbolt days to what he looked like now.

“I just looked through archives of past Wonderbolts and I found your picture. So,” Dash thrust her hand into her satchel and pulled out a pen, sheepishness now replaced by excitement, “can I have your autograph?!”

Soarin neatly folded the picture and placed it in his back pocket, “I’ll make you a deal; if you can punch me in the face, I’ll give you my autograph.”

No sooner as he finished his sentenced that Rainbow lunged, her fist aimed straight at Soarin’s nose. Soarin grinned and caught her fist with ease. Rainbow may have been fast, but Soarin was faster. He then shoved Dash’s fist straight to her nose. Recoiling slightly, Dash flapped her wings and did a pegasus-uppercut. Soarin leaned backwards as Dash’s uppercut whizzed harmlessly past Soarin’s chin. He then grabbed Dash’s arm and performed a judo throw, slamming her to the ground.

Dash charged, but stopped when the *ding* sound reverberated across the school.

“Rainbow Dash,” announced a dangerous voice Dash recognized as Spitfire’s, “you have exactly 120 seconds to come my office. If not, you will be suspended. 120 seconds…119 seconds…118 seconds…”

“You better not keep her waiting.” Soarin advised as Dash got her satchel, waved good-bye to Soarin, and flew across the parking lot and toward the academy, completely ignoring the ‘no flying’ rule.
________________________________________
“113 seconds… 112 seconds…” Spitfire said into the microphone, “111 seconds…110seco-”

“Ah, Rainbow Dash, how nice if you to honor me with your company.” Spitfire said sarcastically.

“What is it?” Rainbow panted. Spitfire raised a stern eyebrow and Dash sighed. “Why did you summon me ma’am?”

“Bad news; I always like to start off with bad news to get it out of the way.”

“Then we’ll start off with the good news.” Spitfire said, “Since you started school late this year, let me be the first to tell you after the first 2 months of school, students are allowed to leave school campus after class and weekends. You can go to Manticore Town and see the town hall, or go to old Manticore Ville; I hear they have a great shopping district. You may also explore New Coventry, but I’d advise you to be careful around the locals there.

“With that aside, let’s get down to business. It seems that there are these outlandish rumors that you have been fighting Gilda the griffon. Tell me Dash, are they true?”

“Are you sure? You see, I have recently received information that reinforces these rumors.”

“Then why don’t you tell me who gave you this information, which isn’t true, and I will ‘politely’ ask them to stop spreading them.” Dash said, her mind immediately thinking of Lightning Dust.

Spitfire opened one of her desk drawers and pulled out a flyer. She held it toward Dash, who got up and took the flyer. She groaned as she saw what is was.

The flyer was covered in streamers and glitter. The top half of the flyer was mostly filled with Rainbow’s own face, beaming with pride. Below the picture was flamboyant writing that she knew was Pinkie Pie’s hand writing. She read it to herself in the party pony’s voice,

“Hey there! If you’re reading this, then that means you are invited to the BIG PARTY happening in the school basement. This is to celebrate my new best friend Rainbow Dash’s victory over the mean meanie Gilda (who isn’t such a mean meanie anymore.) It’s going to be so much Fun! We have music, cakes, sodas, pony poky, reenactments, autograph signing, bowling, rock climbing…”

Dash couldn’t read the rest as Pinkie’s handwriting became miniscule as the earth pony tried to fit every activity on the flyer.

“Oh, you know,” Dash said, no longer putting on the charade, “inconvenience. You missed a great party; I got a sugar rush every hour.”

“Oh don’t worry, you aren’t. Gilda is currently in charge of cleaning the academy restrooms for the next week. I can’t very well punish Pinkie Pie for planning an ill-advised party. You, however, I can. You will be helping the lunch lady serve food for the next 3 weeks.”

“You’re absolutely right; better make it 4 weeks.” Spitfire opened her desk drawer again and pulled out of index cards that looked like time sheets, “Take these; after every lunch period, the lunch lady will sign one. After all of them are signed, you’re done.”

Dash opened her mouth to argue, but thought against it. She looked down at the flyer and asked, “So where did you get it? I thought Pinkie threw them all away.”

“A student found one of the flyers and she decided it was best for me to know about it.”

“I don’t know. Goodbye.” And with that Dash left Spitfire’s office. The school bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes and the start of lunch. Sighing, Dash made her way to the elevator.

“Hey, you’re Rainbow Dash, right?” said a voice behind Dash. Rainbow turned around and saw a unicorn student. One look at her and Dash new she was a preppy; her smug face simply yelled ‘I’m better than you because I have money.’

“My name’s Minuette, but my friends call me Colgate.” She said, flipping her blue and white hair back as though to give her more superiority.

“Yes. You see, my father is the CEO of the company. Now, enough about me and my vast wealth, I want to talk about you. A couple of us lasses-”

“Oh, I’m sorry. As you would probably say, ‘Me and my homegirls’ were in the audience when you fought Gilda. We watched and you impressed us. So allow me to give you an invitation to our little boxing club. It’s in Old Manticore Ville; just take an immediate right after you cross the bridge leaving the school and you should see our gym. We hope to see you soon.”

And with that Colgate left. Dash merely shrugged off the whole experience; she knew she would be too busy looking for Lightning Dust to join some snobby boxing club. Dash entered the elevator and after 5 flights of elevator music, she reached the ground floor. Rainbow walked to her left and opened the double-doors that led to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was packed as usual, something that always confused Dash. One look at the food made caused Dash to run for the hills. As she walked pass the rows of tables, she caught sight of Berry Punch and Cherry Berry, who waved at Dash. Dash waved back.

Gilda was true to her word and she managed to convince the bullies to stop picking on the weaker students; although Dash occasionally caught them teasing the nerds. Even though that was taken care of, there was still a lot of tension and hostility between Dash and the bullies. After some convincing and threatening from Gilda, Dash met with Berry, Cherry, Daisy, Lyra, and Bon Bon. At first they sat together in silence, but that ended when Gilda gave a lyre to Lyra, who started to play it expertly to a surprised Dash. Then Berry and Cherry shared their hobby of making juices from every kind of berry, Daisy talked about how she would tend to her mother’s flower shop, and Bon Bon shared some toffee that she made herself. Soon they were all talking and Dash learned that the bullies weren’t so bad. A little brutish, but all around O.K mares. After that, they went from hated enemies to close acquaintances.

Dash walked to the edge of the cafeteria and opened the door that led into the kitchen. The kitchen was a moderately spacious room with clean, grey walls. To her right were rows of windows placed in front of a large counter holding food. On this side of the cafeteria, the students would insert some bits into a slot, which would cause the windows to slide open and students would grab their meal and then it would slide back down. To Dash, the only edible looking food was the salad; everything else was either gray or burned. The middle of the room was comprised of 2 long wooden tables; one table held vegetables, fruits, and grains while the other held meats and spices. The far side of the kitchen was lined with cabinets that held every kind cooking utensils, two high-tech looking ovens, and a stove.

As Dash walked into the kitchen, she was surprised to see only one pony working the kitchen. The lunch lady was currently stirring a large pot on the stove. She was a thin pegasus with blonde hair and was wearing a grey chief outfit, which partially camouflaged her grey wings.

“Hello there,” The lunch lady said in a happy voice, not taking her eyes of the pot, “do you need help with something?”

“No, Spitfire sent me. She said I…I…” Dash lost her train as the lunch lady finally turned toward her. Dash saw that she had a kind face, but Rainbow was distracted by the fact the lunch lady was wall eyed. She couldn’t stop staring; the right eye was looking at Dash while the left eye drifted off.

“Are you alright?” the lunch lady asked, her voice was filled with concern for the gaping pegasus.

“Uh…I mean, yeah I’m fine.” Dash shook herself awake from the trance as she scolded herself for staring, “I was just saying that Spitfire sent me here to help you in the kitchen.” Dash took out the stack of time cards.

“Oh, well it looks like we’ll be working together.” The lunch lady smiled as she took the time cards and pocketed them. She then stuck out her hand, “My name is Debra Hooves, but most ponies just call me Derpy.”

“I can’t imagine why.” Dash said with a shaky laugh as she shook Derpy’s hand. Derpy then used a ladle to scoop some soup from the pot into a bowl and passed it to Dash, “Here, I wouldn’t want you to work on an empty stomach. I also have some spare aprons in one of the cabinets.”

Dash stared at the bowl of gray liquid and then to Derpy’s smiling face. Sighing, she drank the whole thing in one go. It burned her throat and the taste reminded her of boiled gym socks, which she knew thanks to a botched Nightmare Night prank.

After choking out a quick thanks, Dash washed her hands, put on an apron, and started to work. For the next couple of minutes, Dash chopped vegetables in silence as Derpy hummed to herself. Then Dash heard a slurping sound and turned to see Derpy tasting the soup. Almost instantaneously, Derpy’s mouth puckered up in distaste. Dash stared in surprise as Derpy poured the soup into bowls and then served it to the students.

“What was that?” Dash said as Derpy returned to her pot and began to stir again.

“Why?!” Dash cried out, “If you know it tasted bad, why would you serve it? And do you smell smoke?”

“Oh, the casserole is done!” Derpy said in a chipper voice. She picked up a broom that was conveniently leaning on the stove, and opened the oven with it. She quickly pulled away the broom as fire burst out of the oven. Dash jumped back in shock by the fire while Derpy calmly walked toward the fire with a fire extinguisher. After the fire was extinguish, Derpy picked up oven mitts and pulled out something completely burnt from the oven. She proceeded to layer it with the vegetables Dash sliced as though nothing happened.

“The cook book said to cook the casserole at 735 degrees,” Derpy said matter-of-factly as she pointed to a large open book to her right. Rainbow walked over to the book and began reading it. She was shocked to see that the book actually called for the casserole to be cooked at 735 degrees. As she continued, Dash saw even more bizarre cooking steps and ingredients. Just when she was beginning to think that the countless blows to the head were finally beginning to affect her, she noticed something.

The lunch lady walked over to Dash as she began to peel of something from the cook book.

“Somepony has been pulling a prank on you Derpy.” Dash said as she waved the strand of tape in front of the wall eyed pegasus; the tape covered the actual information from the cook book and instead showed something obscene. As Dash combed over page after page, she found even more and more tape. Dash couldn’t help but grin; even though this prank caused her to survive off the student store ever since she arrived to the school, she had to appreciate the dedication.

“I have to know something Derpy,” Dash said after a couple of minutes of pulling out tape, “Didn’t you ever question some of these steps? I mean, look at this one; tenderize meat with a rotting wooden plank.”

“Well, I thought it was strange at first, but every cook book I got all had strange steps.” Derpy went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a stack of cook books, “Every one of the books had weird material, so I just thought it was a new trend.”

“Alright then Derpy,” Dash said, “looks like you’re gonna have to get a new cook book; hopefully one that makes sense.”

“Are you sure we should get a new one? I mean, what if the students like this food?”

Dash laughed. She continued to laugh as she walked to the food counter. Holding one of the windows so it wouldn’t slide, She poked her head out,

“HEY EVERYPONY!” Rainbow shouted. The entire cafeteria went silent and everypony turned to face Dash, “I’m taking a quick survey! Here’s the question; how many of you like the food here?!”

A single jock in the back row raised his hand. Dash then moved aside as Derpy poked her head out of the window,

“I’m sorry everypony! Don’t worry, there will be new and better food tomorrow!”

The entire cafeteria erupted in cheers. Students stood up and danced on tables in celebration. In the heat of euphoria, somepony threw their food and it hit somepony else. In a matter of seconds, the cafeteria became a war zone as everypony began to throw their food to just about anything that moved.

Dash quickly pulled Derpy back into the cafeteria just as something grey went soaring to her face.

“Well that was fun.” Dash smiled as she looked at the mayhem, “You O.K Derpy?”

“I’m better than O.K.” Derpy said happily as she constricted Dash’s lungs, “Thank you so much Rainbow! You probably saved me from being fired as the worst lunch lady ever! How can I ever repay you?”

“You can start by letting me go!” Dash wheezed as her eyes began to roll to the back of her head. Derpy let go and Rainbow took many grateful gulps of air.

“No, I’m fine.” Dash said quickly as she held up her hands protectively, “The only thing I need right now is information on Lightning Dust.”

“Really?” Dash said, both surprised and excitedly, “Do you know where she is?”

“Well, I don’t know her personally,” Derpy admitted, which made Dash’s spirits sink, “but I do know somepony who does.” Dash’s spirits rose.

“Ms. Luna, the English teacher. We talk whenever we’re in the faculty room. Whenever I ask her about her students, she always praises Lightning Dust; she says that Lightning is an intelligent student who is very humble.”

“If you want to know more about Lightning Dust,” Derpy continued, “you should go talk to Luna.”

“Or you can go right now. After your big help, you deserve to leave early. As a matter of fact,” Derpy smiled as she took out Dash’s timecards out of her pocket. She then searched her other pocket and pulled out a muffin, a live baby chicken, a microphone, a completed rubik cube, until finally she pulled out a pen. She began to sign most of the timecards and she passed it back to Dash, “you have helped me so much, you now only need to help me for one week.”

Dash grinned as she took her timecards, “Wouldn’t you get in trouble if Spitfire found out?”

Rainbow winked back and pocketed the timecards. She took off her apron, grabbed her satchel, exited the kitchen, and ran out of the cafeteria as she dodged the flying food plates. Dash then ran up the staircase, to the second floor, and down the hall to the corridor that led to the English class.

As Dash got closer to her destinations, she heard two ponies talking. As she got closer, she could hear anger in both of the voices. Rainbow began to tiptoe toward the English class and saw that the door was ajar. Peeking inside, she saw two ponies in the class. One was Luna, sitting on her desk. She was starring daggers at a unicorn standing in front of her desk. One look at the standing pony’s clothing told Rainbow that she was a prefect, except that she had a star on her shoulder and was wearing a fedora on top of her pale blue hair.

“Don’t make me repeat myself Ms. Luna.” the unicorn said as she leaned forward, “Where is it?”

“It’s not alcohol. It’s…a new brand of toothpaste I’ve been trying. You should try it Trixie; Faust knows it could only improve your breath.”

The unicorn Trixie chuckled lightly, “Have you fallen so low that you are reduced to petty insults?”

“And is your head so swollen that you think you’re better than everypony?” Luna tried to make it sound insulting, but Trixie merely smiled,

“I don’t think; I know.” Trixie said confidently. Dash was immediately reminded of Lightning Dust and she clenched her fist of frustration. Trixie continued, “After all, they don’t just make anypony Head Prefect. They chose me for my amazing leadership and superior intellect.”

“Your ‘superior intellect’ is just a sham. If memory serves, Twilight Sparkle trounced you in every exam you two took and will ever take.”

Trixie’s calm demeanor was replaced by anger, “Twilight Sparkle is nothing more than a unicorn with some intelligence and slightly above average skill in magic who thinks she’s great. Let me tell you that Sparkle is nothing compared to me. The only redeeming quality about her is that she secludes herself from others so she won’t spread her incompetence!”

Trixie breathed heavily after her outburst as Luna watched with a satisfied smile. After a couple of breaths, Trixie smiled arrogantly, “Alright, I digressed enough. Let’s get back to the matter at hand; I know you’ve been drinking and when I find the evidence, you’re out of here.”

“That’s how you get your entertainment, isn’t it; you just like to bully others to make yourself feel superior.”

“Of course not.” Trixie said, pretending to be scandalized, “I’m only doing it to get somepony like you sacked. After all, what kind of monster drinks in front of the young?”

Rainbow Dash had to shove her fist in her mouth to stop her from laughing; the look on Trixie’s face was priceless.

“Well.” Trixie now looked flustered. After a while, she began to walk out, but turned around and pointed at Luna, “Watch yourself Luna, this is not over.”

Dash quickly hid behind a corner just as Trixie slammed the door open and stomped out. After Trixie was out of sight, Rainbow walked into Luna’s class.

The class was a standard 25 by 32 feet. Most of the room was taken up by desks and chairs all lined up in a row. The walls held posters of authors and bookshelves filled with, well, books. Luna sat behind her desk as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Luna turned to her left and saw Dash. She smiled, “Why hello Rainbow Dash. Please come in, take a seat.” Luna gestured to a chair in front of her desk, which Rainbow took.

“What brings you here?” Luna said. Dash noticed that the teacher’s cheek were slightly rosy red. Rainbow opened her mouth, but closed it. After some thinking, she asked “Who was that girl and why were you two arguing.”

Luna sighed, “That was Trixie Lulamoon; head prefect of the school and self-proclaimed genius. She feels she so much better just because of her position, but she only got it because she was the only applicant with decent grades. Lulamoon is just another corrupt figure who enjoys making herself feel superior.”

“She didn’t look so superior when you talked about Twi showing her up.” Dash grinned.

Luna chuckled, “It’s no secret that Trixie becomes practically livid when Ms. Sparkle is mentioned; although, nopony really knows why that is. Anyways, it appears I am Trixie’s latest victim in her crusade to make everypony else feel miserable.”

“She has been slandering my name! She keeps telling everypony that I’m a drunk!” Luna cried indignantly.

Rainbow was about to point out that Luna could report Trixie for slander just as Luna reached into her right desk drawer, and pulled out a bottle in a paper bag.

Dash could only watch with a deadpan expression as Luna took long draughts from the bottle. After the 4th of 5th one, Luna stopped and smacked her lips. With a satisfied smile, Luna turned to Dash, who merely raised an eyebrow. It took a while for Luna to realize what she had done.

Luna’s eyes widened in panic as she stammered, “Th-this isn’t what you think! This is…um…umm…” As Luna tried to think of a good lie, Dash quickly reached out and tore the bottle from Luna’s hand. Luna stared in horror as Rainbow pulled out the bottle; revealing a transparent bottle with pale gold liquid. Dash took a whiff of the bottle and reeled her head back.

“O.K, so I do, on occasion, indulge myself with a drink or two.” Luna admitted with a sigh, “But, it is merely apple cider. Not the strong one mind you, the weaker, less alcoholic, kind.”

“Yeah right, and I’m slower than a turtle with a broken leg.” Dash snorted as she read the label of the bottle, “E.F, that’s the brand. I’m pretty sure apple cider does not start with E.F. No, this is Everfree Forest whiskey. Whiskey made from the rye from the Everfree forest, and if I remember correctly, it’s 50% alcohol.”

It was Luna’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “Since when were you an expert on beverages?”

“My 2nd stepfather was an avid drinker.” Dash stated with a shrug. She walked over to one of the windows on the left side of the room. Rainbow opened it and looked outside; she was one story above the ground and there was no pony in sight. She then proceeded to dump the whiskey out of the window and onto a rose bush below.

“Is that really necessary?” Luna complained as she watched the bottle being emptied.

“Yes; mainly because we can’t let Trixie find any alcohol near you or else she’ll probably go to the head and get you sacked. She doesn’t have any proof of you drinking, right?”

“Good; I’m gonna get rid of the bottle so she won’t get any evidence. Ms. Luna, you should know that a drunken teacher, while funny, isn’t the best teacher.” Dash proceeded to put the empty whiskey bottle in her satchel and walked of her to Luna’s desk. She held out her hand.

“What?” Luna asked. Dash glared at Luna until the teacher sighed and reached into her desk drawer and pulled out two more bottles.

“You really do have a problem.” Dash stated bluntly as she put stored the bottles in her satchel.

Luna sighed sadly, “Let me just start off by saying that I love to teach and I love my students. But…English is so finicky; it’s always changing. It’s difficult to teach the students something as complex as this, it’s stressful. I get so frustrated that I need something, and whiskey is that something. And with this added pressure of being found out and fired…” Luna sighed again deeply, “I need another drink.”

“I would suggest flying; it’s a lot healthier.” Dash said, remembering the times when she was angry or stressed and she couldn’t find anypony to punch; she would simply take to the air and just fly.

Dash began to walk away when she stopped and stared at Luna, who stared back innocently. Rainbow then walked back to the teacher’s desk, opened the left desk drawer, and pulled out two more bottles.

“If it helps,” Luna said as Dash walked to the door, “I was a lot worse before.”

“I used to have secret stashes of whiskey all over the school. You name it: in the cafeteria, the auto shop, in trash bins, even in the mare’s bathroom.”

The two shared a laugh at this confession. After a while, Rainbow said the obvious,

“Please don’t tell me it’s the same trophy case that’s right next to the headmistress’s office.” Dash urged. Luna could only grin sheepishly.

Rainbow sighed and then grinned, “Buck my life. Alright, I’ll grab the stash and then find a place to dump all the whiskey.”

“Thank you Rainbow Dash.” Luna said as Dash opened the door, “May I ask why you are helping me so much?”

Standing in the door way, Rainbow flashed her trademark, heroically arrogant smile. Suddenly, a bright light appeared behind Dash and a sudden wind cause Dash’s hair to flow majestically as she said, “I’ve have had a lot of teachers, but you’re one of the first that really shows she cares for her students. I can’t let somepony like you get fired just because you have a problem.”

After a couple of seconds, there was the sound of clanking metal. Dash turned around to see a custodian hitting a cart filled with spotlights and fans.

“Sorry about that.” the custodian grunted as the appliances powered down after the thrashing they took, “These darn things are on the fritz.”

The custodian walked off and Dash shrugged off that little encounter.
________________________________________
After a quick elevator trip, Dash stood in front of the trophy case on the 5th floor, right next to Spitfire’s office. The case was 6ft tall and 5ft wide. It had handles on the center that were locked with a chain, so there was no way of opening it. Rainbow peered in through the glass panels, looking at trophies, medals, plaques, pictures and for the incriminating evidence. Eventually, Dash saw the outlines of two bottles; they were behind a picture of Luna holding a trophy.

‘Real sneaky Ms. Luna,’ Dash thought sarcastically as she took a couple steps back from the case, ‘hide your whiskey behind a picture of yourself.’

Dash ran forward and rammed her elbow into the glass panel and the sounds of breaking glass echoed through the deserted floor.

“What was that?!” somepony said in the headmistress’s office. Dash quickly grabbed the bottles and prepared to fly over the railing and down the floors when she saw prefects running up the stairs toward the 5th floor. Dash then began to process her situation: she was trapped in the 5th floor with prefect closing in and she was holding two bottles of whiskey in her hand.

Thinking fast, she flapped her wings and flew down the corridor to her right. She sped through until she saw a door. Dash tried to open it, but it was locked. The second door she tried was the same; she could hear prefects shouting out commands. Third door was also close; sounds of footsteps began to get closer. Faust must have been hearing Dash’s prayers as the 4th door she tried was unlocked and she entered the room. Leaning against the door, she allowed herself a sigh of relief.

After a while, Dash walked to the center of the room and looked around. Even though it was dark (she didn’t dare turn on the lights), she knew it must have been a teacher’s office. There was the standard desk facing the entrance, there were shelves that were packed with paint containers and paint brushes, portraits hung on the higher parts of the walls, and an easel stood in the middle of the room. As Rainbow began to realize whose office this must be, the door opened and the lights turned on. Turning around, she saw Ms. Celestia standing in the doorway, holding two large bags, and wearing a very confused expression.

“Rainbow Dash, what do I owe for this pleasant surprise?” She asked bemusedly.

Dash turned to face the art teacher, “Oh, you know, I just came by to visit.” She tried to put on a calm and cool expression, but it looked more like a frightful smile.

“Um, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia asked as she stared at the pegasus’s right hand, “what are you holding?”

Dash looked down and felt her heart stop; she forgot that she was still holding the bottles she retrieved from the trophy case. At this point, Rainbow could do one of two things; she could either tell the truth and rat out Luna, or she could lie, protect somepony she barely knew, and risk expulsion.

“You mean these?” Dash said, her voice border lining coolness and nervousness, “These are just bottle of non-alcoholic apple cider.” Rainbow really didn’t know why she was being chivalrous, but she didn’t question it.

Celestia walked to her desk and placed her bags on it. She then walked up to Rainbow Dash and raised a stern eyebrow,

“The thing I find interesting is that those ‘non-alcoholic apple cider’ look very similar to Everfree Whiskey.”

“Whaaaat?” Dash tried her best to sound confused and innocent, “Come on Ms. Celestia, why would I be carrying whiskey?”

There was a knock on the door and the two mares turned to face it. Celestia walked over to the door to open it while Rainbow hid behind the desk.

“Yes?” Celestia said as she opened the door. Dash peeked around the desk and saw that it was a prefect,

“Ms. Celestia, have you seen anypony suspicious around? Somepony broke into the trophy case, but it looked like nothing was taken. However, we still want to punish the student for this blatant crime.”

“Wait a second,” Celestia said slowly as she comprehended the prefect’s words, “somepony broke into the trophy case, but didn’t take anything?”

“Then yes, I did see somepony suspicious.” Celestia said, causing Dash swear silently, “I saw somepony running down the halls and then going down to the 3rd floor. If you go now, you might just be able to catch him.”

“Thank you.” The prefect said as he sprinted down the corridor and toward the stairs. Celestia turned back to her desk and was greeted by a gaping Dash.

“You shouldn’t leave your mouth open, you might swallow a fly.” Celestia joked as she walked to her desk and began to unload the contents of her bags on her desk.

“Did you want me to turn you in?” Celestia asked as she unloaded on her desk cartons of fruit juice, water bottles, and boxes of crackers.

“Then I don’t see a problem.” Celestia smiled as she unloaded her second bag. Dash continued to stare a Celestia in confusion until the alicorn gave the pegasus a smile and said, “If I turned you in, that would just cause bring trouble to Luna. After all, teachers aren’t supposed to be drinking on school grounds.”

“It’s O.K, I know about Luna’s fondness of whiskey. And it’s obvious that you broke into the trophy case to get Luna’s alcohol. I’m just glad it was you since you seem to be defending her. For that, I thank you.”

“How did you know about Luna’s little problem? Are you two friends, or do you also, you know,” Dash pretended to take a drink from the whiskey she was holding.

“The only think I drink is tea. I know because Luna and I are close. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go to Luna and confiscate her liquor.”

“I already got that covered.” Dash said as she put all of the whiskey bottles in her satchel on Celestia’s desk, “I had a chat with Ms. Luna and I convinced her to get rid of her booze. I was gonna dump these after I got Luna’s stash from the trophy case. But, well, you know what happened after that.”

“You actually got Luna to part with her, as she calls them, drinks from the gods?”

“Yep.” Dash said, leaning back on the desk and looking very pleased with her work.

“Well I must say I’m very impressed. I thought I was going to have to do this all on my own.”

“Is that why you cancelled class this morning; to prepare yourself?” Dash asked as she nodded to the bags and its contents.

“Yes; I have had my suspicions that Luna would have a relapse again, so I spent the morning going to every store to get supplies in case my suspensions where true. And it seems that they were. But I must know; why are you helping Luna? Did something happen while I was away?”

“Yeah; Trixie happened.” Dash scoffed, “She threatened Luna that she’ll get her sacked. Normally this would be a good, you know; the alcoholic teacher gets what they deserve. But Ms. Luna isn’t your regular alcoholic teacher, she’s a teacher that cares for her student. And she’s one of the first teachers I actually like and respect, so I can’t let Trixie get her sacked.”

“I thank you for helping Luna through her ordeals.” Celestia said, bowing her head slightly. She then got all of the bottles of whiskey and placed them inside the bag, “Don’t worry about these; I’ll dispose of them.”

“Thanks. Well, I off. I better warn Luna that your gonna give her an earful.”

“Please do.” Celestia smiled as Rainbow walked out of the art teacher’s office. Dash walked back to the elevator and went down to the 2nd floor. She stepped out of the elevator, did a quick check for prefects, and ran to Luna’s classroom. The alicorn was still sitting in front of her desk, and she was currently chugging what looked like a gallon of water.

“Wow you must be thirsty.” Dash noted as she took a seat across from Luna. After the container of water was empty, Luna tossed it behind her,

“The water keeps me hydrated, which is a good thing when you’re in my state. So were you able to dispose of the alcohol.”

Luna sighed, “Looks like it’s another round of ‘rehab’. But, I’m very grateful for her support. And I’m also grateful for your help Rainbow Dash, so if there’s anything you need help with, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Well, there is something.” Now that Dash finished her little heroic quest, it was back to business, “I was wondering if you could tell me something about Lightning Dust.”

“Oh Lightning Dust,” Luna said in a loving tone that irked Rainbow, “she is one of the best students I ever had the pleasure of teaching and I’m not alone in when I say that; just tell any other teacher and they’ll tell you the same. Lightning Dust is intelligent, hard-working, and very caring.”

Dash snorted; she couldn’t believe that Lightning Dust actually managed to get the teachers eating out of the palm of her hand.

“Oh, you know,” Dash tried to act casually, “I was just wondering if you’ve seen her around lately? I’ve wanted to ask Lightning Dust something.”

Luna began to think, “Hmm…I don’t know too much about her social life; she hardly talks about it. However, I have seen her talking a lot with the wealthy students recently.”

Dash was confused; why was Lightning Dust talking with the preppies? Dash decided she would go talk to the preppies about Dust. And she knew the perfect place, their boxing gym. After all, she’s already got an invitation. Might as well use it.

“Alright, thanks for the help Luna.” Dash said as she got up and began to walk out.

“Rainbow Dash,” Luna said, “if you want, you can tell me your message to Lightning Dust. I’ll make sure to pass it on to her when I see her.”

Bully: Manticore Academy

by the silver-maned pony

Chp 7: New ponies to meet and punch