//------------------------------// // "I'll be fine." // Story: "The Name's Dash" // by calmcalmcalm //------------------------------// "Whoa. This place is..." "Ghastly?" Rainbow Dash snickered at Soarin's shocked expression. They, along with Spitfire and Fleetfoot were hovering at the entrance of Ghastly Gorge, the Wonderbolts all looking surprised. "Well, when I think it's cool, then you know it is!" Dash grinned smugly. "Who in their right mind would think "Hey! I'm gonna fly through here!"?" Spitfire glanced sideways as Rainbow, already knowing the answer. "I would!" Her hoof shot into the air. "I was the one who named this place! Cause it's, y'know... Ghastly." "Creative." Fleet commented from where she was floating. "So, we gonna race or not?" "Oh, you know we are!" Dash shot over to her, pressing her nose against Fleet's. "Unless you're... Chicken." It was at those words that the two mares rocketed off, swerving around rock formations. The remaining Wonderbolts looked at each other, Spitfire rolling her eyes at Soarin's excited expression. They pumped their wings instantaneously, following their friend's lead. "So Fleet." Dash called out to the light blue blur next to her. "Ready for a real challenge?" They were approaching the stretch of rocks that contained the quarry eels- giant, red, terrifying, pony-eating eels. Fleetfoot's reply was stolen by the wind, but her confident expression was answer enough. Rainbow pulled ahead in a burst of speed, her prismatic tail whipping by Fleet's nose. She entered the tunnel-like expanse of stone cliffs, dodging the huge snakes with ease while shouting playful taunts at the pony following behind her. Fleet's yelps echoed off of the cavern walls, the sounds of many narrow escapes. Spitfire and Soarin had caught up and judging from their curses, they were having trouble with the eels as well. Dash broke into the open valley unscathed, turning to look behind her. Fleet's pale mane could be seen rapidly approaching her, a fiery orange one following. Rainbow squinted, but didn't see a sign of Soarin anywhere. "Hey Fleet!" She shouted to the mare as she approached her. "Where's Soarin?" Fleetfoot stopped as she met Dash and looked at her incredulously. "What the damn hell Dash! How'd you do that so fast? And you made it look so easy!" She gaped, ruffling her feathers. Dash paid no mind to the compliments, which was very uncharacteristic of her, and continued her hunt for the stallion. "Yeah, yeah." She waved Fleet's awe off as Spitfire reached them, breathing heavily. "Spits, you seen Soarin?" The captain glanced back the way she came. "He was right behind me a second ago..." Dash's stomach dropped as she heard this. "Aw man, this is bad..." She hesitated for a moment before shooting back into the tunnel. If he went and got himself hurt... The knot in her stomach got tighter as she dodged an eel. No, if I went and got him hurt... She continued weaving through the huge snake-like heads that continued slamming into the rock face. Dash dropped to the ground after a narrow escape, and landed roughly on her hooves. "Soarin?" Rainbow shouted, straining her ears for a reply. She knew how dangerous the quarry eels were, if Soarin had gotten injured... Not only a famous Wonderbolt, but her friend... "Rainbow?" A faint reply sounded from the middle of the tunnel. "Hey Dash, is that you?" Rainbow's ears perked up and she began galloping towards the voice. "I'm coming, hang on Soarin!" She began running faster and faster until her face collided with something. "Oof!" She ricocheted off of the side of an eel, which had shot forward just as she had been about to pass. Dash bounced a couple of times until skidding to a stop on the ground. "Rainbow!?" Soarin's concerned voice came from the other side of the massive eel. "Are you alright?" Dash sat up, dazed, and gingerly brought a hoof to her nose, which had suffered the hardest blow. She winced as she came in contact. "Yeah, that's definitely broken..." Dash wiped the blood away from her face as gently as she could and dragged herself to her hooves. "Did you say broken?" Soarin called from the other side of the slippery barrier separating them. "I hope you mean broken as in you broke the eel with your face, not the other way around..." Rainbow snickered, but instantly regretted it as her nose throbbed. "Eh, not quite..." She flapped her wings and hopped over the eel's body, greeted by a familiar sight. Soarin was flopped on his belly, a large boulder pinning his wing down. He smiled sheepishly at her before noticing her bloody face. "Sweet Celestia Dash, your face!" The Wonderbolt gasped upon seeing her nose. "I'm fine." Rainbow waved of his concern, marching over and inspecting his pinned wing. "You know, I've been in this exact same position before... Of course, it was a tortoise that saved me, but I'll do my best." Soarin wrinkled his brow at that. "A tortoise saved you?" He asked blankly, somehow not feeling surprised. Dash seemed to be full of surprises, and Soarin would bet that a tortoise saving her from a boulder was not the strangest thing to happen. "Yeah, it was awesome." Dash wiped her nose again, wincing. "Rainbow, you're hurt." Soarin reached out, trying to stop her as she began trying to push the boulder. "Leave me here, and go get Spitfire and Fleet." Rainbow looked back at him, almost amused looking. "Leave you here? No way. I never leave my friends hanging." She stubbornly wiped her nose again, shoving the rock with all her might. "Seriously, I'll be fine." The stallion repeated. "And so will I." Dash looked down at him. "How did this even happen anyways?" "An eel hit the rock face really hard, causing a piece to fall off right onto me." Soarin grumbled from his position on the ground. Dash smiled slightly. "Ok, I'm gonna try something AJ showed me. Watch out." She turned around, planting her front hooves on the ground. Soarin raised his eyebrow. "So I take it you're not going to go get help?" Dash replied by shooting her back legs out and bucking the boulder as hard as she could. The rock teetered slightly, and slowly rolled forward. She turned back around wincing as her back hooves touched the ground. "Ow. That's a lot easier with trees." Although the boulder hadn't moved much, it had rolled forward just enough for Soarin to slip his wing out. "Oh, thank Celestia!" He cried, springing to his hooves. "Actually, no. Thank you Dash." He turned gratefully to the mare beside him. "No problem!" She smiled, wiping her bleeding nose again. "No, really. You are insane." "Ok, I'm pretty sure that's not a compliment." She limped forwards, treading carefully on her stinging back hooves. "What I mean is, you could have just left me there. But you decided to stay, and to help me." Soarin looked earnestly at her. "Which is more than my wingmates did." Dash looked around, seeming to notice for the first time that Spitfire and Fleetfoot were nowhere in sight. "Well," She began sheepishly. "I did kind of fly away without any explanation... They're probably still hovering there, confused." "Like I said, you're insane." The larger pegasis grinned down at the smaller one. "But in a good way." "What just happened?" Spitfire glanced at Fleetfoot, who was bobbing in the air next to her. "No idea." Fleet shook her head. "Dash said something about Soarin, then flew away. Right?" The captain tilted her head, a look of confusion on her face. "No idea." "Are you going to be any help at all?" "... No idea." "C'mon featherbrain..." Spitfire rolled her eyes at her wingmate before grabbing Fleet's arm and dragging her upwards. "If we fly above the trench with the eels, maybe we can see where those two went." "Those eels were scary." The pale blue Pegasus commented as she was pulled along. "I still don't get how Dash flew through them so easily!" "She's damn talented." Spitfire replied as they hovered over the eel-infested valley. "But we knew that already." "Yeah, we knew she could fly fast, but I've got a feeling there's more to her than that." Fleetfoot squinted as she stared below her. "Hey! Over there!" Spitfire looked at where she was pointing and could make out a rainbow mane. "Come on, let's go see what happened." The two mares soared towards the ponies on the ground, dodging the occasional eel as they went. They touched down a few yards away from their friends. "Dash! Soarin!" Fleet called, trotting forward to meet them. "What happen-" She cut herself off as Rainbow turned around. "What the hell did Soarin do to you?!" "Hey guys! And my nose? Aw, it's no big deal." Dash wiped her nose, grinning as she spotted them. Soarin smiled sheepishly as he saw the sharp glare being directed at him. "Soarin, if you messed up Rainbow's face- which by the way, is way cuter than yours-" Fleet was cut off by Spitfire. "Why don't you just let them explain?" "Ugh! Why do you have to be so rational?!" The mare shook her pale mane out of her eyes and sat down heavily. Rainbow snickered at her friend's antics before explaining. "Well, I know these eels can be pretty dangerous, and when I noticed Soarin hadn't come out, I assumed the worst." She snickered. "Turns out the idiot just wasn't fast enough to outfly a rock!" "Hey!" Soarin huffed at her. "Didn't you say the same thing happened to you?" "Shush." Rainbow continued. "I kind of flew face-first into an eel, which is why I look like this." She pointed at her face. "But how come he's not still trapped under a rock like a little foal?" Fleet pointed at the stallion. "Um, excuse me-" Soarin was cut off once again by Dash. "I kicked it." She said matter-of-factly. "No big deal." The other two mares blinked at her. "You kicked a boulder, and it moved?" Spitfire raised her eyebrow. "How big was it?" Soarin pointed to their left at the large rock. "What the damn hell?!" Fleet nearly tipped over. "How did you not break both your legs?" "A trick Applejack showed me." Dash smiled smugly. "But it works better on trees." The two Wonderbolts glanced at each other. "So not only is she super fast and agile, she's also really strong!" Spitfire nodded at an impressed Fleetfoot. Soarin grumbled at them. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a huge boulder on top of me, no big deal. Thanks for asking." Dash snickered at him as the others raved about her. She decided not to tell them about her aching back hooves- she didn't want to look weak in front of her idols after all. Soarin rolled his eyes and stretched his wings, ready to take to the air. He flapped them once before falling, landing right on top of Rainbow. "Oof!" Rainbow's smaller frame was pinned to the ground as Soarin flailed around, trying to get up. He winced as he got to his hooves, looking at his right wing- the one that had been caught by the rock. Dash climbed to her hooves, wiping her still bleeding nose as she stood. She raised her eyebrow at the grimacing stallion. "Are you sure you're fine?" Soarin stretched his wing out again, and gave a tentative flap. "Maybe... Not." He sat down heavily, looking like he was going to cry. Fleetfoot approached, looking concerned. "Dude, you are so not fine." She poked his wing, causing Soarin to grunt in pain. Spitfire swatted Fleet's hoof away before looking down at Soarin. "Soar, before you start freaking out, why don't we go get your wing looked at?" She pulled him to his hooves and gestured for the other two to join her. "He can't fly, and we don't want to walk through the gorge." Fleetfoot groaned. "Ugh. We're gonna have to carry him, aren't we..." She trailed off as Spitfire nodded. Dash hooked her hooves under one arm, Spitfire under the other. Fleetfoot sprang into flight as the mares lifted Soarin into the air. He looked at his friends sheepishly. "Sorry about this." He attempted flapping with his good wing to help out. "You're such a dumbass." Fleet commented from ahead, doing nothing to help. "Shut it." Soarin called back. Spitfire rolled her eyes, adjusting her grip on Soarin's arm. "Stop squirming, or we'll drop you." Soarin instantly froze as Spitfire said this. They were still over the valley, and he had no desire to be the quarry eel's dinner. Spitfire glanced over at Dash, who was trying to wipe blood from her nose while holding onto Soarin at the same time. "Where's Ponyville's hospital? I don't think you showed us." "Yeah, I didn't think we would be needing to go there this soon in your visit..." Rainbow snickered as Soarin turned bright red. "It's kinda near Twi's castle. Can't miss it." "Hey Rumble!" A high pitched voice reached the ears of a young colt. The pale pegasus whipped his head around, looking for who called his name. A filly had just entered the arcade and was waving at him from the door. "Oh, hey Sweetie Belle!" He greeted the unicorn who was making her way over. "What's up?" Sweetie placed herself in front of the machine Rumble was playing on. "Oh, not much..." She smiled at him. "I was just wondering what you're planning on doing tomorrow?" Rumble paused his arcade game and scratched his head. "Uh, I don't have any plans... Why?" He raised an eyebrow at the filly. "Well, I know Scootaloo was looking for somepony to have a lovely picnic with, and you would be perfect for the job!" Sweetie exclaimed. "A picnic? That doesn't sound like something Scoots would be into..." Rumble looked quizzically around. "And even if it was, why wouldn't she ask me herself? It's not like she's shy or anything." Sweetie remained quiet for a moment, thinking. "Uh, she couldn't ask you herself because..." She wrinkled her brow. "Because... She fell in a big hole in the ground!" "What?" The colt looked alarmed. "Scootaloo fell in a hole? Is she okay?" Sweetie Belle waved her hoof. "Oh, she's fine. The fireponies are there, they'll get her out. So does this mean you can have a picnic with her?" She blinked expectantly at him. "Um-" Rumble leaned away from the unicorn as she cut him off. "Of course you will! This is perfect!" Sweetie clapped her hooves together, squealing slightly. "Meet her at 12 o'clock in the park!" And with that, she galloped back through the door, leaving behind a confused colt. "Oy mate." A voice called through a thick Trottingham accent. "What was that all about?" Rumble leaned around his arcade machine, meeting the eyes of Pip Squeak from across the aisle. The spotted colt was seated at another machine, and had paused his game to talk to his friend. "I... don't really know." Rumble shook his head. "Apparently I'm having a picnic with Scootaloo, who fell in a hole?" As soon as he finished speaking, the door burst open again. Sweetie Belle stuck her head in and waved wildly at Pip. "Hey Pip! You're coming to!" She shouted. Pip began to say something, but Sweetie spoke over his voice. "Applebloom will be waiting!" Her head disappeared, and the two colts warily met each others eyes. "She kind of scares me..." Rumble muttered to his friend. As if on cue, Sweetie reappeared. "And Button Mash, I'll be expecting you as well!" She hollered before disappearing. An earth pony looked around wildly as his game was interuptted. "Huh? Did I hear my name?" Button Mash asked, the propeller on his hat spinning slightly. Nopony answered. "No, seriously. I paused my game for this, it had better be something important." Rumble sighed. "Just meet us at the park tomorrow Button. 12 o'clock sharp." He turned back to his game, the other two following suit. "Applebloom?" "Here." "Sweetie Belle?" "Here." "Scootaloo? Here." Scootaloo checked off names on the Cutie Mark Crusader attendance sheet, the others seated around her. "Alright, let's get this meeting started." "First order of business-" Applebloom began, as Sweetie interuppted her. "Please don't be mad!" She cried, covering her face with her hooves. Scootaloo and Applebloom met each other's eyes before slowly turning to the unicorn. "Sweetie... What did you do..." The littlest Apple sighed. Sweetie looked sheepishly at them. "Well, earlier today... I was walking past the arcade..." She began. "And?" Scootaloo prodded her. "And I saw Rumble, Pip, and Button Mash in there." "And?" Applebloom winced, preparing for the worst. "And, I thought it would be fun for us to hang out with them!" Sweetie tentatively looked at her fellow Crusaders. "Ok." Scootaloo shrugged. "We already see them at school." "Yeah, but..." Sweetie bit her lip. "I may have asked them to go to a romantic picnic with us tomorrow..." "Sweetie!" The orange pegasus groaned. "We told you getting coltfriends was a stupid idea!" "But you and Rumble would look SO cute together!" Sweetie cried. "And Applebloom and Pip! I just couldn't help myself!" Scootaloo rolled her eyes as far as they would go. "Fine, but you know I'm only saying this because of Soarin and Rainbow. Don't tell her, but I think coltfriends are totally lame." "And I'll only go because of Pip's accent." Applebloom stated, crossing her hooves. Her face turned red as the other two stared at her. "What? It's excotic..." Scootaloo stuck her tongue out as Sweetie Belle began to coo. "That is ADORABLE! Also, Scootaloo, I may have told Rumble you fell into a hole and the fireponies had to save you." "What?"