Back Corner

by MONSTERmama

/Rainbow Dash/ as Naruto [Also known as, I refuse to stop beating dead horses]

My Personal Prioriety: Comradery is Sacred

Twelve years ago, in the land of Equestria, a pony-like beast known as the Nightmare attacked Ponyville. In the night of the beast's seige, many a life was lost. That is, until suddenly, our wonderful Princess Celestia stepped in to stop the monster. Unfortunately, this act cost Celestia her life. However, she was able to seal the mare in a newborn foal...

"Wah! Spitfire, stop harassing me!" Rainbow Dash, a young filly of merely three years (or, for those of you who actually know crap about horses, this is roughly twelve--just before puberty), ran through the streets with all the haste she could muster. She tossed a look over her shoulder to see her orange furred teacher gaining on her. No! Dash did not want to have to clean stupid old Mayor Mare's house! This was an outrage!

"Let me go!" Rainbow screamed as Spitfire tackled her.

Spitfire stood fully on Rainbow Dash's body, artfully balancing herself as the blue filly struggled. "Rainbow!" More struggling. "Rainbow Dash!" Accompanied by a stomp, this got the filly's attention and garnered a decent wimper of pain. Spitfire stepped off the younger female, careful to keep a hoof on Dash's primary flight feathers. Though the blue pegasus had not yet been taught the art of flying (barely gliding) no pegasus would struggle against a primary feather hold for how painful and crippling it was. "Rainbow, you've got to stop this! I thought you said this was the year you were going to gradutate? Hm? No proper paige acts like this... no knight would want you."

"You're just a squire yourself," Dash muttered bitterly.

Spitfire narrowed her eyes. "We've discussed this--I'm a squire because it allows me to be home more with Scootaloo. You, on the other hand, have no such limits keeping you back."

"What?"

Spitfire put a hoof over her mouth. "Wait, no, Dash, I didn't..."

Dash hung her head, chuckling darkly. "No, it's alright." She lifted it, bitter smile on her face. "It's true after all, isn't it?"

"... yes," Spitfire admitted. "Us two orphans gotta stick together though, right?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, Teach. Say, ain't I supposed to be in school?"

"... darn it, so am I! I came to find and make an example of you!" Spitfire, forgetting momentarily about the vandalized home picked Rainbow Dash up by her tail before taking off into the sky toward the Academy.

Rainbow Dash sat through the whole week's schooling without causing much of a ruckus, unwilling to be put on probation during the week of exams. Today was finally exam day. She stretched her wings as she eagerly waited, names of the other students buzzing only lightly in her ears. Finally, her own name was called. The room was exclusively pegasi. She jostled through them to the perch from which she would leap.

She puffed her chest out, grinning in excitement. She would show the world what a strong flier she was! Well, glider, anyway...

"Bombs away!" Dash called out as she thrust her wings to each side and threw herself over the edge. In a split second she realized that, while she was gliding, she was going entirely too fast. The chalk board on the other side of the room was fairly unforgiving, but certainly beat spraining an ankle by falling straight down. Dazed, the rainbow maned filly trotted over to where Spitfire and Fleetfoot proctored the test. "How'd I do?"

"You're bleeding again," Spitfire said pointedly. Fleetfoot nudged the other mare, but Spitfire made a show of ignoring it.

Rainbow Dash sighed. She spotted the line for the nurse. She trotted to stand behind Thunderlane. Feeling bored, she touched his flank, causing him to blushingly turn around and demand she stop.

But Rainbow would never stop because she did what she wanted when she wanted and because Thunderlane had the best flank she had ever seen on a colt.

Ever.

"Dash?"

The blue filly stood on a balance beam, idily watching as her friends left for home or waited on younger siblings. "Yes, Fleetfoot?"

"I noticed you're looking kind of down. Wanna joined me to go eat some carrot soup?"

Dash's eyes glittered. "Yes!" She bounded down by Fleetfoot's side, grinning like an idiot.

An hour later, the duo had left the carrot stall and were seated in the meadow of the Ponyville square. They watched the stars coming out, fairly content. Rainbow was nervous--it was so rare to hang out with anyone, let alone Fleetfoot.

"I want you to pass," Fleefoot said, almost reading Dash's mind. The pale mare looked down at the fllly. "Look, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but in the Ponyville library--there's a scroll. It has ancient pegasus flight secrets and spells. If you can get it..." Fleetfoot looked off, letting Rainbow Dash's mind fill in the blanks.

Dash, used to sneaking around for pranks, already knew what to do. "Aw, Fleetfoot, thanks for the tip!"

"Ssh," Fleetfoot chided with a wink. "You didn't hear that from me."

Rainbow giggled. "Haha, okay. See ya'." The filly turned tail and ran, excitement clearly written on her face.

Fleetfoot smirked. "Good luck. You'll need it." The pegasus mare stretched her wings before leisurely taking off into the sky. She would need to pick up her supplies and then patrol...

Dash panted as she reached the desolate shrubbery just outside of Everfree Forest. She had distracted Mayor Mare with her impressive mimicry of the male voice, which happened to be Mayor Mare's biggest weakness. Dash looked at her saddle bag, heavy laiden on one side with her treasure. She at once tore out to the scroll, looking over for a technique she figured would be useful.

"Sonic Rainboom?" she dumbly asked. "Wow... it's like it's destiny..."

Rainbow's ear twitched and she looked up from her sweaty labors to see Spitfire snorting from exertion before her.

"Rainbow Dash!" Spitfire all but screamed. "Are you out of your little pony mind?!" Spitfire snatched the scroll away, rolling it up before tucking it into one of her own saddle bags. "Why would you do this?!"

"Augh, stop, no, Spitifre I need that!" Rainbow Dash squealed. The sweaty filly lunged at Spitfire, who merely took flight and then glided away. "Fleetfoot said I could learn this in there--and then I'd pass, and then... and everyone would respect me..." Rainbow looked on the verge of crying. Was her effort all for waste? "I was going to pass..."

Spitfire's eyes widened. Fleetfoot? What?! Crap. Spitfire ran over to Rainbow Dash, wing spread over the filly. "Rainbow Dash, you listen to me very carefully. Fleetfoot tricked you. Fleetfoot is using you, you've got to understand that. However, for now, we've got to get out of here..."

"Why would you do that?" As the voice cut through the air, two blades made of timber wolf claw sailed through the air. They whizzed just over Spitfire's head and barely avoided cutting Rainbow's throat. Fleetfoot landed, armed to the teeth. "Aw, pity."

Spitfire stood protectively in front of Rainbow Dash. "Fleetfoot, get out of here."

"Mm, and let you keep protecting the little blackout?" Fleetfoot stopped talking to take out a nasty looking blade out of the scabboard at her side. The pegasus mare readied herself for battle.

Spitfire hunkered down, flaring her wings quickly to produce sparks. Finally, she began scuffing the ground until her hooves glowed with fire. Both mares ran forward at the same time. Fleetfoot cut off a few of Spitfire's flight feathers, but Spitfire kicked at just the right moment to send Fleetfoot's sword flying. The blade embedded itself into a tree.

"Why are you protecting the blackout?!" Fleetfoot angrily called out as she chased Spitfire. For her share, Spitfire stopped running to kick out with her fiery hooves. Fleetfoot avoided this, but used Spitfire's slight decrease in speed to get even with the other mare.

"You're not supposed to talk about that, Fleetfoot!"

"Why not?! So the blackout doesn't have to know that she killed Celestia?!"

Rainbow Dash, who had been previously cowering quietly at the base of a tree spoke up. "D-Don't call Spitfire a blackout! T-the Nightmare killed Celestia!"

Spitfire was so stunned by the ridiculousness of what Rainbow said that she tripped over her own hooves and came crashing down. Fleetfoot was upon the other mare in seconds, having brought out a knife. Fleetfoot cruelly slashed across the lower portion of Spitfire's throat, blood and screams of pain rushing forth. Satisfied, Fleetfoot turned to the now petrified Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, Rainbow, don't you know? You are the Nightmare."

"What? N-no!"

"Look at your cutie mark. What kind of pony has a black lightning bolt with a moon over it?"

Rainbow quivered as Fleetfoot readied her blade again. The blue filly closed her eyes, confused and afraid. As the blade was supposed to swing, however, a sickening crunch sound interupted it. When Dash opened her eyes, she saw Spitfire facing her. Blood pooled at the orange pegaus's mouth. She smiled down at Rainbow.

"Run, okay?" With that, Spitfire slumped over.

Rainbow Dash stood up, watching in wide eyes horror as Fleetfoot casually noted the damage then readied for what the pale mare probably hoped was her last swing. Rainbow Dash tensed her muscles, frowning visiously. As Fleetfoot swung again, Dash spread her wings and stepped into the air itself. She found herself propelled fifty feet into the air without trying. She glided down at first, but then dive-bombed directly onto a confused Fleetfoot.

The pale mare's back let out a distorted crunch sound but Fleetfoot thrashed. Rainbow Dash stood on Fleetfoot. "Don't ever touch Spitfire! Ever! You hear me?! Never!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "You want a nightmare? Let me show you." Dash tensed her muscles and thought again of the Sonic Rainboom. She clumsily snatched Fleetfoot's tail, dragging the mare into the air with her.

For the next five minutes, Ponyville was treated to a series of rainbow waves and sonic booms.

As Spitfire and Rainbow Dash huddled on the back of the hospital carriage, Spitfire kept a wing over Dash's exhausted body. Spitfire normally wore a denium collar with a silver tag emblazoned with the Ponyville logo. However, Rainbow now graced it in her sleep. Spitfire figured that after they both visited the medical ward, Rainbow could order her own collar. Until then, there was no harm done in letting the blue filly wear her collar.

Still, Spitfire was troubled. Though Dash mostly slept contently, every now and then she would whimper and look around blearly. When Spitifire asked why, Rainbow would merely say "it was a nightmare". Somehow, the orange pegasus doubted this would be the end of Dash's troubles concerning the wretched envy spirit.