Genetic Dead End

by peacevic

Chapter 3

Genetic Dead End ch. 3

Everypony was so slow!

At first, it seemed like Dash would be able to get this evacuation over with super quickly and go help her friends. She'd arrived at the concert area, Ice only slightly behind her, and found Mayor Mare almost immediately. The mayor had thought Dash was pranking her, until a glare from Ice convinced her to take the situation seriously.

But then Dash's momentum hit a wall of slow ponies.

"Come on, hurry it up! Get outta here!" she shouted at a few stallions who were lingering near the stage. Then she zoomed up to hover by her brother, who was watching the crowd for potential problems. "Can you believe this?! It's the slowest evacuation ever!"

"Most of them probably don't think there's anything to really worry about. We weren't specific about what the threat was."

That set Dash to grumbling, but she couldn't deny that Ice was probably right to insist they be vague. Twilight would be swamped with official complaints if everypony found out there was some crazy cult at large.

"So how are the Wonderbolts treating you?" Ice asked, snapping her out of it.

"About the same as anypony else, I guess."

He nodded. "That's good."

Dash drifted around her brother. "It'd be better if I had some actual competition, though. Don't get me wrong- Spitfire and Soarin are cool and all, and they're great flyers, but everypony knows the only edge they have on me is experience. I'll catch up to him soon enough."

Ice frowned at something and dropped low. It didn't take more than a half-second for Dash to spot what'd caught his attention. She followed after him.

"... and I'm not moving 'till they get here," Granny Smith finished, her hooves dug in against Ice's gentle pushing. Little trenches were proof it wasn't a very effective resistance, though the stubborn old mare redoubled her efforts when she noticed Dash's arrival. "Rainbow Dash, tell this big galoot to mind his own beeswax, would ya?"

"Granny, you've got to get out of here. It's not safe."

"Oh, poppycock! This is Ponyville, we barely have to worry about the Everfree. What sorta danger could there possibly be? I said I'd meet Applejack and Apple Bloom at this here spot, so that's what I'm gonna do."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. AJ's whole family could be ridiculously stubborn sometimes, and that was coming from her! "Applejack's helping Twilight deal with the ne- the problem. And Apple Bloom probably already gotten out of town. You're just about the only pony left."

Granny Smith's eyes had narrowed slightly when Dash almost blurted out a certain word, but she let it pass and sat back, forelegs raised, like a foal asking to be picked up. Ice sighed and lifted her up, holding the old mare so gingerly it was beyond comical. Dash was forced to give them a few seconds head start, as her laughing fit was far too intense for her to fly. She quickly caught up once it subsided, though the occasional snort forced its way out. Ice's scowling didn't help her self-control.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Rainbow," he said after a while. "Equestria's a pretty big place. Somepony somewhere will be able to challenge you, I'm sure of it."

"I already know somepony I can compete with- you." It wasn't the way Dash had been planning to broach the subject, but since he brought it up...

"I'm not sure I know what you mean-"

"Come on, Ice, you're smarter than that! You know exactly what I mean," she interrupted. "You'd be able to get into the Wonderbolts no problem. Or you could be a Captain like Twilight's brother. Or whatever! Why are you doing... this?"

"I thought the point was to save Ponyville," he quipped.

"Ice..."

He groaned. "Look Rainbow, it's complicated. I-"

"Is it me?"

"No! Celestia, no." Ice shook his head vehemently. "It's true that finding ponies that are as fast as we are's hard, but that's why I've never let you win at anything. You've always beat me fairly. You're the most competitive pony I've ever met, little sister, and I don't need my fancy degree to know that my letting you win would hurt you more than any loss. I'd never do that to you, Rainbow."

"Then why aren't you doing something better than just being a bodyguard?"

"Look, I'll admit that I've... drifted around from job to job. I even earned a degree in something I don't care about because I didn't know what else to do at the time. But now I've finally found something that interests me. Peacevic can be arrogant, abrasive, and-occasionally- quite irritating. Despite this, he's never ignored somepony in trouble. He hates seeing ponies get hurt, and he put himself bodily in the way- whether I'm protecting him or not. It's not about him being a popular entertainer, with crowds of ponies in love with his work. It's that he can't help but get involved. A life of going around helping ponies seems like one worth living, don't you think?"

"Such an upstanding young stallion," the forgotten Granny Smith put in.

Rainbow Dash facehoofed, then smiled and shrugged. "Alright, I get it. I don't like it, but I get it. You have to explain it to Mom and Dad, though. I'm not gonna."

"Fair enough."