//------------------------------// // Fight or Flight // Story: A Future of Friendship, a History of Hate // by Skyeheart //------------------------------// Lightning flashed as sheets of rain poured down on Rainbow Dash and her weather team. It had been at least two hours since they had engaged the storm blowing in from the Everfree's north front, and they were all feeling the fatigue. "Raindrops, get Flitter and Cloudchaser to cover the left edge in a reverse chevron formation!" she called out to her second in command over the din of thunder. "Uh, there might be a little problem with that," the jasmine teal-maned pegasus yelled back. "What problem!?" "AAAAAAHHHH!!" The two of them ducked just in time to avoid colliding with the periwinkle pair as they spun to the ground by a sudden downdraft. "Agh, Thunderlane, give me some extra tailwind, I'm gonna try and-" *CRACKOOM* A blackened, and sightly charred stallion with his mane completely frizzled, dropped like a rock to her right. "He just got hit by lightning didn't he?" "Uh huh." Raindrops gripped Rainbow's right hoof in order to keep her wings steady under the increasing G-force gales. "Captain, we have to fall back! Over half the team has been grounded, we just don't have the wing power to push back a storm of this magnitude!" "We can't just run away from this!" "I'm not saying that, but we need reinforcements! We can regroup at Cloudsdale and request a backup squad." "Do you know how long that's going to take?! If we give this mess of feral clouds another inch, it's gonna hit Ponyville!" "We don't have a choice, there's no other way to combat this!" "There's always another way!" Rainbow Dash huffed up and began to pump her wings. "The RAINBOW DASH WAY!" Oh my stars, is she trying to... "Rainbow Dash! No!" But before Raindrops could pursue the prismatic streak, another gust swept her back. Her purple friend, Cloud Kicker, managed to catch her before she crashed into a high hanging branch. Rainbow Dash flipped and spun as barrages of lightning clipped and grazed her wingtips. Her target was a huge bubbling wall of cumulonimbus in the middle of the storm. Flipping her goggles on, she gritted her teeth for the incoming shock as she burst the skin of the thunderhead and disappeared into the field of electricity. The rest of the team watched in silence as the storm suddenly started to swell and swirl. The winds diverted inward, and the entire surface seemed to cackle with sparks. Then, all at once, a rippling explosion of water destroyed the storm, cloud by cloud as a column of lightning erupted from the center where Dash had disappeared into. Every pegasus shielded themselves with their wings as they were knocked back by the incredible torrent. Raindrops was the first to peek through her feathers afterwards, and saw Rainbow Dash, hovering in a now clear sky, her body buzzing with sparks. She immediately flew up to her with an angry look on her face. "No thanks necessary, just your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash doing her-" She was cut off as a hoof conked her on the noggin. "Forcing a storm-wide cloudburst all on your own?!" "Yeah, I'm just that awesome." Rainbow Dash rubbed her head, still holding her grin as Raindrops glared. "More like you're just that stupid! Do you realize how much electricity you were channeling through that body of yours? That was way too dangerous to try by yourself!" "Hey, danger is my middle name!" she retorted as Raindrops was joined by the rest of the squad. "I thought your middle name was Miriam," Medley, a pine green pegasus, commented. Raindrops ignored her teammate's obliviousness, and continued to lecture her captain. "Look Rainbow, you're not a one pony weather army. You can't keep punishing your body like this. Sometimes, you've got to know when to cut your losses and tag out." "Yeah, but I don't lose. And I especially don't run away like a chicken!" "I'm not saying you're a chicken! What I'm saying is-!" The two proceeded to argue with each other as they flew back towards the town. As the rest of the team followed, a dark shape emerged from one of the black cloud remnants now hovering harmlessly over the forest. A dark pony shape, in black armor with fiery yellow eyes... My Little Pony, My Little Pony Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh… (My Little Pony) I used to wonder what friendship could be Until you all shared its magic with me Big adventure Tons of fun A beautiful heart Faithful and strong Sharing kindness It's an easy feat And magic makes it all complete You have my little ponies Do you know you're all my very best friends? Fight or Flight Rainbow Dash lazily pulled a cloud over Sweet Apple Acres, she really needed a nap after that earful she got from her sub-captain. Raindrops would just not shut up today. So I pull a few violations to protocol, it's not like it's that much more paperwork for her. And why does she always think I'm literally going to kill myself every time I pull off some stunts on duty? The Wonderbolts do that sort of thing everyday! She snuggled down into her soft, fluffy bed, shaping a comfortable groove in the middle. Ah, well. Can't exactly outright blame her entirely. This was the fifth storm this week that blew in. Of course she'd be stressed out, everypony on the weather patrol has had it rough. It's like someone's making these things and just sending them our way...nah. As she was blissfully about to crawl into slumberland, a loud honking made her almost leap off her cloud. "Hi Dashie!" Pinkie hovered behind the pegasus, wearing her element outfit. Her jester's cap sported a spinning beanie propeller that kept her flying, and the arms of her suit were sporting two large horns. "What the-? Pinkie, what are you doing?" "Just playing with all the features my laughter suit has. I've found a new one every hour since I got this! Look! Laughter feature number four-hundred-seventy-six!" She pulled a chord on her flank's left side, and a flower popped up from under her collar spurted out a spicy liquid. "Hot sauce dispenser!" Rainbow Dash sighed. "Very nice Pinkie. Now would you mind if I get back to my nap?" "But Dashie, I just had a super wonderfully funnerific idea we could do with feature number two-thousand and three! That's the paint shoes, by the way." "What, do you want to decorate every apple in this orchard with polka dots?" Rainbow asked with a roll of her eyes. *GAAASP* "Dashie! You can read minds now?! Is that one of your Rainbow Armor's new powers?! Oh boy! That's so neato! Wait wait! Tell me what I'm thinking now! No hold on, scratch that! I just had a more interesting thought! Now read my mind!" "Pinkie Pie, you are SO random..." "Right again! Ok, now I'm thinking of a number between one and-" "Pinkie Pie, what's taking you so long?" Rainbow Dash peeked over her cloud to see Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy below. "Hey guys, what's up?" "You and Pinkie, obviously," Twilight deadpanned. Pinkie keeled over laughing, and Applejack caught her on her back as she fell. "As for us, the cafe at the corner of Maple and Oak is offering a special today for groups of four or more, so I thought we could all get together for lunch." "When they got to me," Applejack continued. "Ah told them ah couldn't break fer chow until ah was done prunin' the south field, so they stuck around to get it done faster." "And then I spotted you pulling up for a nap on your cloud just as I was discovering feature seven-thousand-two-hundred-ninety, which was the horn collar, and I thought, 'hey pinkie, you haven't had a good joke with dashie in thirty-four hours!' So I activated feature three-hundred-twelve, Pinkiecopter mode, and-" "Ok! ok!" Rainbow glided off her perch to join her friends on the ground. "Lunch, huh? I could use a snack as much as a nap." "The more the merrier. Oh, one moment Rainbow Dash, you've got a bit of a bedhead there." Rarity reached over to straighten out a bang, and a sharp static discharge zapped her hoof. "Ah!" she jumped back, rubbing her hoof. "My word, Rainbow Dash, what have you been doing?" "Ooh! Let me try!" Pinkie grabbed a tuft of the rainbow mane, and shivered as the charge tingled through her for a second. "Tingly!" "Oh, yeah, guess I still got some charge left from my Thundertower Thrasher." "Your what?" Twilight asked. "Ah, just some on the fly trick I pulled to get that latest thunderstorm on the Everfree's edge to blow up. I bet it looked even more awesome from the outside of that thunderhead than-" "Wait wait wait wait wait," Twilight interjected. "You dove straight into a thunderhead? That's insane! The electrical field of a single supercell has an average charge of ten gigawatts, and that's just for a level one T-storm!" "Ugh, you're starting to sound like Raindrops. Making out every single thing I do as 'too risky'." "Risky is an understatement! Even if none of the lightning hit you, the sheer amount of ambient energy in the cloud could have fried you alive!" "Look, if I hadn't done that, the storm would have reached Ponyville! I was protecting you guys!" "A storm we can handle, losing you is entirely different story!" Rarity chided. "Come on. All I am is a little tired and hungry." Rainbow Dash leaned back against one of the apple trees waving a reassuring hoof. "As long as I'm in the sky, there is nothing, I repeat NOTHING that can ever get the better of me!" Just then, a large explosion sounded from town. The six mares turned to see smoke rising from the town hall, and for a brief second, an armored figure seemed to circle around the smoke before disappearing behind the building, where another explosion sounded off. "Run! We're under attack!!" Flames danced around the houses as trails of lightning ignited the straw roofs. The winged assailant stopped over a huge flower cart that Daisy, Lily, and Roseluck were trying to haul away and dropped straight down, creating a smoking crater of burning potpourri. The three mares scattered for their shop all the while crying in fright. "He's going to burn the entire town and roast us alive!" "We're all doomed!" "The horror! The horror!!" The large stallion raised a hoof as it ignited in flames, and with a stamp, sent a shockwave of fire crashing into Quills and Sofas. Davenport emerged from the smouldering wreckage coughing. "Why...what does everypony have against the quills?" A slightly singed Mayor Mare finally manged to safely navigate out of the burning town hall with a megaphone in her hoof. "Everypony, please remain calm! Return to your homes at once in an orderly fashion and-" her speaker clattered to the ground as she fell silent, mouth agape as the attacker hovered inches away from her. Her eyes widened in fear as he raised his hoof once more. "Alright! That's enough demolition out of you!" The stallion turned to look at the entrance to the square. Standing with their elements equipped, were the bearers of harmony with Rainbow Dash leading the pack. Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the ashen chains and crimson scarring, along with a large sword mark over the metal that covered his flanks. "You..." "Elements of harmony. I knew this would draw you out," the armored stallion coldly stated. "Next time just knock on our doors," Applejack spat back. Disregarding her completely, he swooped in low and planted his hooves firmly in the ground before them, sending a small tremor outward with the force of his landing. "We were never properly introduced." He shook his mane to side and looked at his foes with a burning gaze. "I am Fury Cross, the herald of vengeance. And I am here to complete what my master has started." "And that would be?" Twilight pressed. "Destroying the elements of harmony!" With a nicker and snort, he stamped a hoof in finality. "The world he and I envision have no room for such a weak and pitiful ideal like friendship!" "We'll see who's the weak one after you've had a few rounds with me!" Rainbow Dash said trying to stamp her hoof in the same manner. "Hmmph." Fury Cross opened his wings as he turned to the side, distancing himself a bit. "That's laughable, considering you couldn't even touch me the first time." "Oh, yeah?!" Rainbow lunged forward only to be jerked back by the tail from Applejack. "Easy there RD," she said through her teeth. "Don't let 'im rile you up." "You'd do well to listen to your apple-loving comrade," Fury Cross said. "She has the common sense to know what's out of her league...and back off like a good coward." "Coward?! COWARD?! Nopony calls Rainbow Dash a coward!" "Really? You could have fooled me, the way you and your friends cling to each other like a tortoise to its shell!" And with that, he went straight into the the air, kicking up a cloud of soot. "Come on element of loyalty! Show me what you've got unless you're scared!" "You....you...." With a mighty buck, Rainbow Dash forced her farmer friend to release her jaws as she rocketed off after him. "YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR OWN DEATH WARRANT, BUB!!!" Applejack tumbled back into one of the overturned vegetable stands, a basket landing on her head. "Applejack, are you okay?" Twilight asked as she rushed over and lifted the basket off. Fluttershy and Rarity gasped in their respective horror and disgust as Applejack now sported a lovely black eye. "We gotta git Rainbow back here 'fore she hurts herself...and so ah can pay her back for this lovely new shiner." Streaking across the sky, Rainbow followed the smoking trail with steeled determination. "You're gonna be rubbing iodine over those smoking chains for a century when I'm done with you, you-" "And just who are you chasing?" Rainbow suddenly turned her head downward left to see Fury flying below and behind her. In an abrupt turn he veered off in another direction. How? When did he-? Ah, forget it! Screeching to a halt on all fours in mid-air, she arched her wings up and dove after him. Flying over a blanket of alto-cumulus, she brought herself down with a mighty kick at his head. "Gotcha!" "I'm over here." Her head swiveled so fast she almost felt her collarbone snap. Fury was hovering twenty meters to her right, the trail of smoke indicating that he had somehow managed to move that far in less than a millisecond. And another millisecond was all it took for her to see his figure shrinking into a dot in the sky as he sped away again. She ground her teeth as her hooves shook. "Oh you wanna play this the hard way? We'll play this the hard way!" Straining her wings to the limit, she caught up a third time, winging just over the herald. With a quick motion she lunged to grapple his neck, but came up with nothing but air. She looked upwards to see him and grabbed again, then to the left, and then right in front. He positioned himself directly underneath her with his back to the ground and his forelegs nested behind his head and his hindlegs crossed. His wings weren't even flapping that hard as they raced above the clouds. "I'm not much for childish taunts, but I believe the phrase goes as such: Neener neener neener~" "RRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGH!!" Rainbow's face went as scarlet as the scars on Fury's armor as she swung again and missed. This stallion was flying circles around her and not even trying! Her! The fastest flyer in Equestria!! He throttled off again under the sea of clouds, and Rainbow dived bombed after him, a look that spelled murder on her face. That cocky air-headed windbag of flames! She could feel the resistance building in front of her. I'll teach him not to take me seriously! The air started to cone as she squinted to shield her eyes. He wants my best shot...HE'LL GET IT A HUNDRED AND TWENTY PERCENT!!! A ring of multi-colored light exploded outward as a rounding boom shot her like a notched crossbow bolt straight at her foe. Fury Cross had just enough time to turn around when the shockwave sent him reeling out of control. He had not even stopped spinning when a blur of cyan struck him hard in the chest. They whirled downwards back into the town, where Rainbow Dash directed the stallion's backside right into the clocktower. They crashed right through and she skidded him across the nearby rooftop before releasing him over the edge. She relaxed her legs as she heard a crash below. She had only a second to catch her breath when Fury Cross rose to meet her again at eye level. "So, that was the infamous sonic rainboom..." he murmured. "Not bad. But for a legendary skill, it leaves something to be desired." Rainbow Dash was as infuriated as she could get. He was still mocking her? And her signature move no less? There wouldn't be a grave deep enough to dig for him! But before she could do anything, a lasso of vines suddenly flew up and snagged Fury's lower legs. In a quick motion Applejack tugged hard and brought the surprised stallion to the ground with the makeshift rope she had fashioned with Fluttershy's coat of flora. "NOW EVERYPONY!" She whipped the vines over him in a hogtying manner as Rarity shot her orbiting gems in a fierce barrage. They stuck to the folds of the armor joints and pinned him down as Twilight levitated several dozen barrels and crates over, collapsing it on him. Pinkie honked a polka-dot just little below and left of her belly, and a large pair of turrets shot up from her shoulders. They let loose a stream of white and brown gooey liquid that covered and hardened over the debris. "Laughter feature ninety-four, cake batter and molasses cannons!" The five mares looked up to Rainbow Dash, glad to see she hadn't been gravely injured, but were surprised to see that her expression did not share their relief. "Hey, what gives?" she exclaimed. "I had him right where I wanted and you cut me off!" "You're welcome Rainbow Dash," Rarity reminded her ungrateful friend. "I didn't ask for an assist!" "Didn't need ta. From what we saw down 'ere, you looked like you were gettin' your flank kicked eight ways ta Sunday." Rainbow Dash butted her head against Applejack's as she locked her magenta eyes into the farmer's green ones. "Did you not catch that last awesome move there? All I needed was my second wind!" "Come on girls, he's down and out, that what matters right..." Twilight stopped as she sniffed the air. "Do you smell burning pancakes?" They all turned to look at the sticky rubble prison that was smoking and blackening with intense heat. With a crack and a zap, the pile flew away in charred remains as Fury Cross emerged, his armor sparking as if was ready to burst into flames any second. "Well, element of loyalty, I must say I'm disappointed in more ways than one if this is all you can amount to with such craven tactics." "Craven?" "It means-" "I can guess what it means, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shot a dirty look at her egghead friend and an even dirtier one at her enemy. "And just what about my tactics is so 'craven'?" "Pushing me into a six on one ambush in the middle of our duel? The weak and gutless are the only ones who resort to that sheer level of outnumbering. Are you so afraid that you need others to fight your own battles for you?" "I. AM. NOT. AF-AWP!" Applejack came down on Rainbow's backside with a full body tackle, pinning her on all fours. "Oh no ya don't RD. You are not gonna take his bait again!" Fury Cross harrumphed again as he began to climb the sky. "Clearly I cannot expect a fair fight here and now. I'll be seeing you later...cowards." Rainbow Dash screamed and cursed as he disappeared into the vast blue. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!! WE CAN'T LET HIM JUST GET AWAY WITH THAT! NOT LIKE THIS!!" "That's precisely what we're doing Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said. "If we continued to battle here, it could cause a lot of damage to the town and a lot of ponies could get hurt. Just look at what collateral your little skirmish did alone!" "Come on, it couldn't have been that bad!" A large clock face fell to the ground in the background with a deafening clang. "I'm fairly sure the Mayor and Time Turner are not going to agree with you on that point," Rarity hinted. Fluttershy then got closer to inspect the areas underneath her friend's wings. "Oh my, Rainbow Dash, you're hurt!" Rainbow looked to her side and lifted her right wing. Sure enough, underneath on an unprotected spot of her barding was a gash that went across the length of her side. Huh, must have gotten that when I crashed into that smoldering brickhead. "Ah, it's nothing. I don't even feel it. What I do feel though, is a need to beat the tar out of that jerk who gave it to me!" She then winced a bit as she suddenly felt a twinge of pain when she flared her wings. Twilight shook her head. "Our priority right now should be assisting the town with repairs and helping the injured or trapped anyways. We can deal with Fury Cross later." "Yeah, Dashie! Turn that frowny upside downy! There's a lot of ponies here that need a quick pick me up after this morning and we're going to be ones to give it with a 'we successfully defended Ponyville from the herald of vengeance' party!" "More like we held each others hooves and got labeled as scaredy-cats party..." Dash muttered to herself as she started to walk off and pick up some broken planks. "Oh, yeah, Rainbow Dash? One more thing." She turned to see Applejack with a hoof raised. "Yeah? What is it A-" "I am so spiking her next cider glass with some liquid rainbow." The cyan pegasus sourly hauled a large cart full of debris towards the outskirts near the Everfree with her inward yellow friend, who was fixated on the fresh black and blue ring around her eye. "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash. I have ointment that can clear that right up. Oh, and I should probably get some to Applejack as well." She then looked at Rainbow's right wing, which had been clutching its side ever since. "And...I really think you should let me look at injury there...if that's okay with with you." "You know what Fluttershy? It's not okay with me. It's just a little cut that can heal on its own. I'm not one of your little animal patients that needs to be babied around every minute on the minute! So quit smothering me like you're my mom!" She winced both in pain and regret as her cut started to flare up and Fluttershy backed away a few paces like she had been struck on the nose. *sigh* "Sorry, Flutters. I've...just been in a bad mood today. I'm the fastest, toughest, and bravest pegasus around, and yet nopony seems to be thinking of me like that lately." "For good reason too, if you ask me." The nearby tree to the side of the road burst into a bonfire as Fury Cross stepped out from behind. Fluttershy immediately squeaked and she dove behind Rainbow Dash as he approached with a clanking in each step. "I had hoped to eventually meet with you one on one. But it seems you can't go anywhere without at least one your entourage to help you to your hooves. You didn't even bother to come after me." "You've got it all wrong, metal mouth! I stayed behind because my friends needed me. I wasn't scared to chase you!" "Words are cheap. And the more you bark, the more I wonder if it's really you that depend on them. When danger threatens, you never meet it head on, you rush to their side like they were some security blanket. You may have fooled yourself and the others that you're protecting them, but I see the truth. You're protecting yourself. Your ego, your life, your very place in history. You're too afraid to try anything without somepony nearby to rescue you should you fail." Rainbow could feel the pain at her side grow sharper as she flared her wings, but she didn't care. "I don't need anypony to rescue me! I don't need a bodyguard, a cheering squad, a medic or anyone! And I certainly never FAIL! I could clip your wings with one hoof tied behind my back...SOLO!" "Prove it." Fury circled to the side, never breaking eye contact with Rainbow. "I have an encampment at Rider's Ravine due south of here. In three days time, I will leave that encampment at ten on the morn for Ghastly Gorge to the west. Meet me in combat and we shall see how brave you truly are." "There and done," Rainbow spat back with her hoof clenched up, already psyched at showing the herald up at his own game. "Good. I shall be seeing you soon." Fury turned away, and after walking a few steps, he paused before addressing her one last time. "And Rainbow Dash..." He slowly craned his head over to the scowling mare. "You had better come alone." An eruption of fire consumed his image, and he vanished as the flames died out. Rainbow Dash unfastened her harness to the cart as she smirked with spunk. "I'll be there alright. And I'll kick your tail to the curb so hard you'll have change your name to Fury Loss!" "R-rainbow Dash...you're not really going to fight him by yourself are you?" Fluttershy peeped from underneath the cart. "Of course I am! That pompous jerk already made the top of my list the minute he called me a coward! Once I batter him out of the sky, nopony will ever have the nerve to call me that again!" "But...Ghastly Gorge is really dangerous, you got trapped there once and almost starved to death!" "My wing was stuck under a rock for fifteen minutes," Rainbow Dash did not have to reserve to admit that those exact thoughts had passed through her mind before Tank had helped her. "I know that place better than anypony else. If anything, the advantage is mine! You got nothing to worry about." "But...uh...well...I suppose if the others think-" "NO!" Rainbow Dash's face pressed firmly against Fluttershy's."The gang cannot know about this! If they find out I'm heading off to scrap with Fury, I'll never be able to meet him alone! And I'll never be able to prove I'm not a wimp who hides behind her friends!" "But...um...well..." "I'm serious Fluttershy!" Rainbow poked her hoof at Fluttershy's chest. "You cannot tell them anything! You have to promise me to- no, Pinkie promise me you won't blab about what just happened here. That's how important this is to me." "But...I...I-" "Pinkie Promise me Fluttershy!" "But-" "Pinkie Promise!" Fluttershy gulped, and with a few hurried squeaks she went through the motions of crossing her heart, flapping the ends of her hooves, and then sticking one in a closed eye. "Good! Thanks Flutters!" Rainbow Dash showed her first genuine smile for the day, and then took to the air towards her favorite practice spot. "Wait! Rainbow Dash! Where are you going?" Fluttershy called out after her. "I got three days to train and I'm not going to waste a single second of them!" The sun peeked in through the window of Applejack's bedroom as it crested the orchard below. The warm, gentle rays tickled the earth pony as she stirred from her warm bed. Mmmm...crack of dawn. Time to git up and start today's chores. That topsoil'll need turnin' before the dew dries out. She snuggled against her soft, comfy pillow as her old foe lethargy came at her in full force. Agh, it's just one of them mornin's when even I don't feel like getting up. Maybe just a 'nother ten minutes...I can let Big Macintosh cook breakfast today... *WHUMP* "Eh?" Applejack forced her eyes open as the unusual thumping sound happened again. *WHUMP* *WHUMP* Stretching out of bed and hopping over to the window, she looked over the sill and towards the barn out back. Then a bale of hay flew right out the top of it and into the front garden. "Good gravy! What in tarnation?" Applejack was wide awake now as she slapped on her hat and galloped down the stairs and out the front steps. She rounded the side of her house just in time to dodge another projectile of bundled grass from the loft window. She marched right up to the large double doors and kicked them open. "Alright, I don't know who'll ya'll think ya...Rainbow Dash?" Her expression switched from confrontational to quizzical as she watched her athletic friend proceed to punch and toss the haybales all over the inside like they were punching bags. "Uh, Rainbow...whatcha doin'?" "Working out. What's it look like I'm doing?" Rainbow proceeded to smack her next target with a, no pun intended, haymaker. "Looks ta me like you're makin' a mess out of my barn," the farmer retorted, her initial surprise now giving way to annoyance. "I'll clean it up when I'm done." The brash pegasus proceeded to to lie flat on her backside as she piled several stacks on her hooves in a makeshift bench press with a couple spare boards of wood. "Hey, AJ. While you're here, think you can stack a few more bales on top here?" "Uh, sugarcube, I don't know what kinda special training this is, but this doesn't look safe ta me." Rainbow Dash grunted as she proceeded to lift and lower her load. "No pain, no gain. I started last night with only two blocks of this stuff, now I'm up to seven!" "You've been thumpin' round on those boards all night?! Rainbow, you really oughta get offa there now, that loft ain't built to take that kind of stomping." "I'll be done in a minute, I got ten more reps to go." "Seriously, Rainbow, ya really should stop that." "Why? Cause it's too dangerous?" Rainbow snapped at Applejack, her eyes narrow and piercing. "Cause you're scared of what will happen to me? Well don't be! Because I'm not scared! There's nothing to be scared about when you're as tough as I am! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go back to feeling the burn!" Her scar then burned deeply as if on cue. She clutched her side at the sudden spasm of pain, and the tower of hay unbalanced itself and collapsed upon her. A creaking sound of warped wood filled the barn, and the loft gave away sending the mass of straw tumbling down to the floor, pegasus and all. A bruised Rainbow poked her head out to meet her orange friend who had worry in her eyes, but displeasure on her mouth. She looked up to the new hole in the second floor and sheepishly chuckled. "I can clean that up too." Twilight busily scanned through some notes as she dropped some magnesium in a beaker. "Spike, can you fetch me the Periodics? I need to double check the melting point of cobalt," she called upstairs. She waited for a minute, but heard no reply, not even the pitter-patter of little dragon feet. "Spike? Spiiiiiike~?" Sighing, she switched off her burner and proceeded up to the foyer of the library above. "You better not be napping on the job again." When she reached the top of the steps however, she found that the library was deserted, no sign of her foster baby dragon, asleep or otherwise. "Spike? Where are you? This isn't the time to be playing games with me." Suddenly, she sniffed the air as some salty aroma wafted across her nostrils. Was somepony cooking something just outside her library? Curious, she trotted to her door to open it up, then proceeded to open her mouth as well and scream. There, tied to a skillet over a bed of hot coals, was Rainbow Dash, her coat singed and sweaty as she breathed heavily. And turning the skillet while feeding his fire to the coals, was her little purple and green assistant. He jerked his head to meet the flabbergasted unicorn, a bead of sweat rolling down his head. "Uh, this isn't what it looks like Twilight." That was all he could get in before Twilight charged and tackled him to the ground. "HOW COULD YOU SPIKE! I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS! IS THIS ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR DRACONIAN INSTINCTS KICKING IN?! IF IT IS I PROMISE I'LL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO KEEP YOU FROM BECOMING A PONY EATING MONSTER!!" "Hey Spike! Why'd you stop?" Twilight's neck suddenly snapped to see Rainbow Dash lifting her chin to see what was happening. "Oh, hey Twilight. Would you mind letting go of Spike so we can get back to my training?" "....Ponybeingroastedalivesaywhat?" Twilight's eye twitched as thought of Rainbow Dash wanting her assistant to grill her into ponyburgers sank in. "Yeah, I kinda had the same reaction when she asked me to do this too," Spike said from underneath her hooves. "Apparently RD here wants to build up her tolerance to heat." "And you thought the best way to do that is to broil yourself over an open fire?!" Twilight's emotional swing went a full one-eighty from psychedelically paranoid to outrageously upset and irked. "Rainbow! You scared me to death! I thought Spike was trying to cook you!" "Heh heh, yeah. That was pretty funny. You should have seen Rarity's reaction when she saw it." Rainbow then nodded her head over to the side and Twilight saw sprawled out on all four legs on her back, eyes rolled into her head, her fashionista friend, fainted dead away. "Three whole hours and she still hasn't woken up." "What?! You've been at this for over three hours?!" Twilight immediately levitated a bucket of water over Rainbow, doused her and the coals, and yanked her off as she undid the ropes. "Rainbow Dash! Of all the reckless things you've done this week, heck, this lifetime, this takes the cake!" She then directed a glare at Spike. "As for you mister, back inside, upstairs, NOW. I'll be up shortly so we can discuss the consequences of today's actions more thoroughly." Spike grimaced, he knew all too well what was coming with that tone Twilight used. No gems for a year if he was lucky. He trudged back inside the library with his head hung low, and as he closed the door behind him Twilight once again cast her disapproving glare on her friend. "And you. I really don't know what's gotten into lately but-" "What's gotten into me? What's gotten into you?" Rainbow Dash shook her hoof at Twilight. "I used to zoom and flip and even crash all the time with you encouraging me to get up and try again, harder, cooler, and stronger. Now all I'm hearing from you and everypony else is 'don't do this Rainbow Dash!' 'It's too dangerous Rainbow Dash!' 'Worry worry worry, scared scared scared!' I'm still the same awesome, cool, and most of all, brave Rainbow Dash you've always known, so why can't you treat me the same way?" "Rainbow Dash, crash landing into a field of flowers and charring yourself over hot coals are two completely different things! I'm concerned because you've never acted this way before, what are you trying to prove?" Rainbow Dash leaned in close as she practically spat in her face. "I'm trying to prove that I don't need my friends to fuss over every little thing I do! Which I wouldn't have to do...if they actually did let me do it in the first place!" And with that, she zoomed off, leaving the dazed scholar in a cloud of dust all the while holding her cut which was blazing even more than her body. "It's been two whole days since I last spoke with Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy quietly said to her bunny Angel as they walked back from the market. "I haven't seen her since. I hope she's alright. She looked even more antsy and agitated than when she wanted to break that storm record." Angel just gave a tug on her mane and shook his head as he hopped on her back, tired of hopping along. Fluttershy just smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, you're right Angel. I shouldn't worry so much to point where I can't do anything but worry. It's just that I feel that we should be doing more for Rainbow Dash, but we can't do anymore if my friends don't know about her- *gasp* oh no! Did Rainbow Dash not want me to tell you either? I'm so sorry if she did, I-" Cannonfire sounded in the distance, and Fluttershy's wings locked in instinct. Angel snapped her out it by tugging her mane like some reins, and she was suddenly galloping towards where the noise was. Peaking over a large rock, she saw Rainbow Dash with Pinkie's party cannon and a large pile of rocks. Rainbow stuffed several hoofuls of the melon-sized stones into the barrel, and then snapped the trigger to automatic as she flew into the air. The cannon fired the huge chunks of solid earth at the pegasus at an alarming rate. She ducked, dodged, and looped around the incoming projectiles, batting some back every so often as well. One round came out in a rather erratic flying pattern, and Rainbow misjudged the trajectory, leading up to her attempt to block it with her hoof with a smash to her head. "Ohmygoodness!" Fluttershy immediately flapped over to catch her friend before she hit the ground. "Ughn...that's gonna bruise...what the-? Oh, hey Fluttershy." "Rainbow Dash, is this....your training?" "Yep! I was able to get Pinkie Pie to lend me her party cannon so I could hone my dodging, dexterity, and stamina. I gotta be able to take what I can dish if I'm gonna send Fury packing!" Fluttershy looked all over Rainbow Dash's body. She was covered in bruises from top to bottom, her wings were ragged with some feathers out of place, and of course that scratch from before was still there, but for some reason it looked like it had grown instead of shrunk. "Um, Rainbow Dash? Are you sure you should be doing this? This fight, I mean. Maybe there's a less...painful resolution?" Rainbow's face hardened as she crossed her forelegs. "Yeah, you'd like to talk it out right? Avoid conflict or maybe just run away and hide like a little mouse? Fluttershy, maybe you're comfortable with the title of timid hovering over your head, heck, maybe you like it. I know I wouldn't have you any other way. But that's not me. I don't back down from anything, I'm not a coward. Fury Cross wants a brawl, and I'm gonna give it to him." "But all this intense training...it's looks like you're just beating yourself up..." "Hey, I'm taking care of my body. In fact, it's time to rehydrate." She winged over to a large canister she had to the side of her cannon and took a huge swig. She convulsed back as she clutched her stomach, biting her tongue. Wondering what kind of drink would make her jerk so much, Fluttershy took the container and peeked inside. "T-this is liquid rainbow!" she gasped. "Why would you be drinking something so bitter and spicy that our bodies can barely digest?" "Gotta...*hurk*...train my insides too...compared to this...Fury's assaults are going to be like pillow fights!" "Rainbow Dash...um...I really think you should tell Twilight and the others about-" "I said no!" Rainbow Dash was once again up in Fluttershy's face. "Don't you get it Fluttershy? They're part of the problem. It's not just Fury that's questioning my nerve now, everypony else is doing it too! I know the gang thinks they mean well, but they just don't understand that they're hurting me some other way at times. I mean, what good is being the most awesome flyer in all of Equestria if you don't have the cred to back it up? A mare's gotta do what a mare's gotta do." "Well, at least...maybe I could..." "No, Fluttershy," Dash's voice was softer now as she couldn't stay aggravated in front of her unassertive friend for long. "You can't come either. Fury wants me and me alone. Even if you just stand there, it'll defeat the purpose of this whole duel." "But...it's really really dangerous! Fury's really really dangerous!" "All the more reason I should go by myself. The less ponies that get hurt, the better." Rainbow Dash cocked her head to the side as she gave Fluttershy a comforting nuzzle. "Come on, Flutters. You know all those years ago back when we were fillies, all the times I stood up for you at Cloudsdale Academy, even took a few punches?" "Yes." "Well just think of it like that. I went against the odds all on my own and never backed down, and I always came through for you. So have a little faith in me. I know if anypony genuinely knows my courage, it's you." "Yes...I-I know. B-but that doesn't mean everypony else doesn't-" "I know, I know. Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight...I know they really don't think I'm actually a wimp after what Fury said. And I don't really need to prove anything to them...but, I just want to do this for myself, is that so bad?" "Well...that is..." Rainbow Dash patted Fluttershy on the back of her head. "Hey, it's not like I'm trying to harvest every orchard in Sweet Apple Acres in a day. This is just one pony I'm up against. I'll be fine." She then looked into her eyes with a warm smile that Fluttershy had not seen in a long time. It was not the cocky, brash smile she usually wore when she was laying back, having a good time, or bragging about her stunts. Nor was this the super giddy grin she had after a good prank or when she was geeking out about her idols. This smile, was the kind of smile Rainbow had only ever worn for her, and more recently, her close circle of friends. It was a glowing, devoted smile that a mother would give her filly as she tucked her into bed, promising that there were no monsters underneath or in the closet, the kind of smile she had on when they first became friends. "Fluttershy, I'll beat Fury Cross, and I'll come back a-okay. I Pinkie Promise that. Okay?" Fluttershy felt a growing smile on her face match Rainbow's as she nuzzled her back. "Okay Rainbow Dash. Just please be careful." "No prob." Rainbow Dash then left Fluttershy to her groceries as she went back to reload the cannon. "And hey, you can get a victory party prepped if you want too!" Fluttershy gingerly open the door to her cottage and set her bags down. "Angel, I'm thinking a nice cucumber and eggplant medley with a parmesan garnish tonight. Would you mind rinsing the vegetables?" As her little white friend hopped off into the kitchen, Fluttershy's thoughts turned back to Rainbow Dash. That warm smile flashed in her mind again, the smile of a true blue friend she had known longer than anyone, a smile that filled her with joy and comfort. Then that smile disappeared into a wall of fire and lightning as the twisted metal chains of Fury Cross appeared, growling as he stamped every last speck of cyan into oblivion. Fluttershy squealed in horror as she desperately tried to wipe the image from her mind. No. No. Rainbow Dash said she'd be fine. Fury Cross wouldn't be able to...he-he couldn't! She then heard a loud crack outside, peeking out her window, she saw Rainbow Dash off in the distance. She charged right into a large boulder, smacking against it like a thrown pie. "Agh, he made it look so easy..." she muttered. Rearing back to a cloud's height, she came at it again. As her hoof connected, there was a bit of a crunch sound as she squeezed her eyes shut in pain, and as she opened them again her mouth blossomed into a grin as she inspected a large gaping crack that went all the way down the rock. "Perfect! Now for a bigger one!" Fluttershy bit her lip as Fury's indomitable form haunted her again. Rainbow Dash...she loved her so much. Growing up, she was like the sister she never had. And...and...she was suffering so much right now, going off to try and patch her ego by taking on one of the most dangerous ponies in the world all by herself. A pony who could....could... Her face scrunched with conviction as she wiped a tear from her eye, she knew what she had to do. Rainbow Dash lazily glided back to her house. Her wings ached and her legs were sore. But it was all worth it! She was officially prepared for anything Fury Cross would throw her way tomorrow, and with a hearty dinner and a good night's sleep she'd be a hundred and twenty percent by sunrise! Errn...dinner. I forgot all I got left in my fridge is that week old takeout and some nachos. Aw well, I'll sneak an apple or two off AJ's farm in the morning on the way over and pay her back later. She took a few untroubled steps into the darkness after opening the door, and it slammed shut behind her. Jerking her head around, she saw Applejack standing squarely behind her, her backhoof on the knob. "Hello Rainbow Dash, we's got to talk." Rarity flipped on the lights as Twilight magicked all the windows shut and Pinkie locked the vents. "What the heck's going on here?" Rainbow exclaimed as she was boxed in by her friends. "What are you all doing here?" "Like I said, we's got to talk," Applejack coldly stated. "'Bout you and little bout with that Fury fellow tomorrow." "WHAT?!" Rainbow Dash quickly scanned the group and found who she was looking for. Her angry eyes narrowed in on a trembling Fluttershy, tentatively peeking out from behind Rarity. "FLUTTERSHY!! YOU TRAITOR!! YOU PINKIE PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T TELL!!!" *GAAAAAAAAAAAAASP* Pinkie Pie was instantly upon Fluttershy, her scowl almost as big as Rainbow's. "Fluttershy! You never told me you Pinkie promised Dashie!" She tapped her hoof on the long wavy locks of her friend like she was scolding a puppy that wet the floor. "Bad! Bad friend! Bad! Bad! Bad!" Before she could get to the forevers, Twilight pushed her away and turned her back to Rainbow Dash. "No, Pinkie. Fluttershy was right to tell us this, even if it was done under the wrong circumstances." She then gave her cyan friend a look of utter annoyance. "Rainbow Dash, why in Equestria did you try and hide this from us?" "Because I knew you would react this way!" Rainbow threw her hooves into the air as she flittered in a circle. "All obsessively worried and nosy! Clinging to me like I'm gonna kick the bucket any moment, like I'm some frail and sickly foal who can't face down a single pony in a fair fight!" "Fair fight? Does the sayin': 'it's a trap' mean ANYthing to you?" Applejack said with incredible wonder. "Indeed, it's quite clear that savage is anything but honorable," Rarity agreed. "And even if that weren't the case, gallivanting off all on your own to an insanely dangerous location just to prove some silly point is outrageously foalish." "Some silly point?! SOME SILLY POINT!? I knew you wouldn't understand!" Rainbow Dash's voice was so loud, it felt like the pillars of cirrocumulus holding the building together would fall apart any time. "You know what? I couldn't care less what any of you say at this point! I'm not letting any of you come with me to Ghastly Gorge!" "You seem to be misunderstanding something Rainbow, we're not going to be accompanying you to Ghastly Gorge," Twilight matter-of-factly stated. "You're...not?" Rainbow Dash floated only inches above the floor in a puzzled manner. "Yep, cause you ain't goin' either!" Before Rainbow could react, Applejack pulled her lasso from underneath her hat and roped Rainbow down. "Git her wings girls!" Rainbow screamed in frustration as four of her five friends piled on, binding her body every which way. When they all finally stepped back, she looked more like a huge misshapen lump of yarn than a pony. "Get me outta of this you turd-stuffed turkey brains!!" "Nothing doing Rainbow," Twilight expressed with great finality. "You're staying like this until tomorrow evening." "Why can't you get it?" Rainbow rocked back and forth, struggling as much as she could against the ropes. "If I don't meet that stallion on his own terms, he'll think I'm a loser forever! This is my only chance to prove him wrong!" "Honestly, Rainbow Dash, is satisfying that pride of yours against one pony really worth tearing apart your own body and throwing your life to the wind?" Rarity asked. "YES!" "Wrong answer, sugarcube!" Applejack tightened the knots and hefted her up the stairs. "Now yer goin' ta bed and yer not leavin' this house fer the next twenty-four hours!" "You'll thank us for this later Dash," Twilight said as she began to roll out some sleeping bags for an overnight watch. Fluttershy peeked out from behind Rarity again, and nervously met Rainbow's gaze, her lips quivering. "I-I-I...I'm sorry Rainbow...but I-I-I...really...thought this was for the best....I didn't want to risk losing you." "SHUT UP FLUTTERSHY!! I'VE STUCK MY NECK OUT FOR YOU DOZENS OF TIMES, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?! WE...ARE OFFICIALLY EX-FRIENDS AS OF NOW! I HATE YOU!!!" Applejack slammed the door behind her as she bucked the yowling pegagus onto her cloud mattress. "For someone more gift-wrapped than a heartswarming eve present, she sure can be a hassle ta carry." She stopped in mid-step at the bottom of the stairs as she noticed, along with everypony else, Fluttershy's big aqua eyes beginning to water as a high pitched whimper began to emanate from her bitten lip. "F-fluttershy? Hon? Don't let what Rainbow said get t'ya...I'm...I'm she didn't mean-" Fluttershy buried her face into the sofa cushions and sobbed quietly before another word could get out. "Is she alright yet?" Applejack asked Rarity as the ivory unicorn joined them in the kitchen to help make breakfast. "Afraid not," Rarity said with a sullen glance back towards the living room. "She's been crying all night. The poor dear, she must really be beating herself up about this." "Well I certainly can see why Dashie would be so upset at her," Pinkie pouted with her forelegs crossed as she finished flipping a pancake. "I mean, she broke a Pinkie promise! Nopony breaks a Pinkie promise. Not unless you want to lose a friend's trust FOR-" Withering glares from the other three ponies were cast on the poofy-maned party pony, and she immediately gave a nervous grin. "Uh, I mean, I guess she could forgive her. But she has to do something super duper extra special to make up for it. Like maaaaaybeeeee....a 'I'm very sorry I had to save you from killing yourself by breaking a pinkie promise' party! One that would last for an entire week! With presents, cake, and a super fun obstacle course!" "I think for this situation...we should try something a little more discreet," Twilight said as she levitated a couple of the flapjacks onto a plate, poured some boysenberry syrup over it, and put it on a tray next to a bowl of fruity cereal with a glass of pear juice. "For starters, we can give Rainbow Dash her favorite breakfast. I'm sure she'll be in a much better mood with a full stomach and willing to listen to us afterwards." Twilight crept with the tray into the living room and looked over the back of the couch. Fluttershy lay there, head nestled deep between the cumulus cushions, completely damp from tears. "Fluttershy?" she cautiously asked. A muffled mewl answered her. "Fluttershy, we made breakfast. Would you like to help me take Rainbow Dash's tray up to her?" The sofa cushions mewled again as the pegasus squirmed further underneath the fortress of fluffy pillows. Twilight sighed. It was still too early to try encourage her meek friend to patch things up. She and Dash probably needed more time to let things settle. Carrying the tray up, Twilight knocked on the door of Rainbow's bedroom. "Rainbow Dash, I have breakfast. I'm coming in." She turned the knob and pushed inward. "I know you're still mad at us, and a part you has a right to be, but-" The platter fell to the floor, spilling everything as Twilight dropped her hold on it. The bundle of ropes that held Rainbow Dash were laid out all over the bed, each one frayed and chewed through, and just above the bed, a large hole in the ceiling just big enough for a pegasus to squeeze out of had been pounded out. "She's gone!" No sooner had those words left her mouth, Twilight found herself shoved aside by a butter yellow pegasus who had miraculously leapt from the couch to the second story at a pace equal to a Wonderbolt. "No...Rainbow Dash..." "That doggone RD, when I git my hooves on her, Fury is gonna look like a cute little kitten compared to what I'm gonna put her through!" "Let's focus on saving her first!" Twilight said to Applejack as the perilous rocky valley came into view. Galloping right to edge of the cliffs, the five mares looked left to right, north and south. "Um, Twilight, darling? There's nopony here." Twilight squinted her eyes, trying to focus further out. "But she has to be here, Rarity! There's no other place that she could have gone. Fan out girls! And if you see either Rainbow or Fury, signal to us." "What kind of signal to want?" Pinkie asked, "Do want something subtle like..." She leaned close and mumbled softly into her ear with cupped hooves, "memobemomememomummble..." She then stood on her hind legs with her hooves waving wildly. "Or do you want something like: CAW CAW!! CAW CAAAAAAAAAW!!! RIIIIIIIIIIIIICOLAAAAAAA!!" Her yodeling melody filled the canyon with echoes as her friends stared at her in wonder. Twilight shook her head slightly in order to regain herself. "Subtle, let's go with subtle." Rider's Ravine was not nearly as long or as dangerous as Ghastly Gorge, but the wide walls and large plateaus made for a much better suited arena. It still had its hazards though. The particular wind currents that passed through blew in a way that eroded many portions of rock into sharp jagged edges, and the numerous high overhanging arches that resulted from rainwater taking more of the bottom than the top were brittle, making rock and mudslides frequent in this area. Rainbow Dash had not gone that far in until she found what she was looking for. In one of the deeper depressions of the bedrock, beneath a huge ringed column of sandstone, Fury Cross stood in the shadows, his armor glowing in the dimness like smelted iron. "You're early," he greeted her as she descended. "Guess your head is not all muscle if you were able to deduce my message's true meaning." "Why else would you mention where you were holing up prior to our showdown? Ghastly Gorge was just a decoy to get my friends away." "The fact that you determined that can only mean you wouldn't come alone to our agreed destination after all." "Well I'm here alone now!" Dash shouted as she adjusted her helmet. She fought the urge to cringe in front of Fury. Her gash had been acting up all night, and it was beginning to hurt again as she thought back to how her friends tried to prevent her from proving herself. "Now put your dukes up and let's rumble! The faster I knock you silly, the faster I can rub it in their faces!" Fury Cross took off like a shot, angled so that he would sharply turn over in the air and stomp Rainbow just above her head. Rainbow swerved to the side, and corkscrewed around to his back with jab. A mighty retaliating buck struck her hard into the side of the walls. The pain felt a hundred times worse than Pinkie's party cannon. Rainbow Dash wiped her face of the rubble and lunged back out, curving upward. Even if it was wider than Ghastly Gorge, Rider's Ravine was still a pretty closed space, so the advantage had to be the high ground, or in her case high air. Fury Cross was instantly upon her, landing several more hits to her chestplate as they flew parallel to each each other. Rainbow Dash kicked back in turn, but it seemed to be having less impact on him, as if he had been chucking boulders with a catapult whist she was flinging pebbles in a sling. Out of the corner of their deadlock, Rainbow noticed a wide cluster of stone tower formations coming up across the lowland run. Time for a little game of Chicken! She kept her gaze mostly on Fury, making sure he was keeping close enough to her when they reached the obstacles. The spires were getting closer. Fury was not even bothering to look ahead. After all, he was strong and fast enough to break through solid rock. But what about several dozen rocks? The pillars were close enough so that any pegasus that collided with it at the speeds they were going at would end up bouncing off them all. Thirty feet. She tensed her wings, ready to pull to the side at any second. Twenty feet. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her. Ten, nine, eight, seven...she hadn't felt a rush like this since she saved Rarity that day at the young fliers competition. Five... Rarity...she was probably worrying herself sick for no reason right now at Ghastly Gorge with the others. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy... Four... Fluttershy...how Dash hated her right now. Three... She was one pony that should have believed in her no matter what! Countless years of rescuing her flank, keeping her safe from bullies, and she still didn't have the faith in her to think she could hold her own against this stallion! Two... Trying to get her to back out? To run away and keep her safe? To Tartarus with those crocodile tears of hers! Fluttershy didn't care at all about how she felt! One.. And she didn't care for Fluttershy either! The scar suddenly burned. Fury Cross broke away effortlessly. Rainbow Dash tried to bank, but the sudden pain caused her wings to lock. In a series of cries, she found herself thumping left and right against multiple stone columns, each collision threatening to snap her spine in two. She could have fanned her wings to try and stop, but at this point the rocks would tear them apart before she got enough drag. Finally, she cleared the chamber of crashes and slowed enough to get her bearings. She had barely enough time to notice a shadow cast over her and look up, when a blazing hunk of bridled fury came crashing down on her. Twilight reappeared on another cliff edge. "Anything yet?" "Nope!" Pinkie appeared right behind her hanging upside down from a large underpass with binoculars in her hooves. "We've searched high an' low, Twi," Applejack said as she overturned a large rock at the bottom. "Neither hide nor hair of anypony!" "This makes no sense!" Twilight rubbed her head to placate a headache that had come from all the teleporting she had done. "This was the only place Fury Cross could be at this time!" Fluttershy suddenly poked her head out of a shrub she had been investigating. "Wait, time? What time is it?" Pinkie pulled a hoof watch from her mane. "About...a quarter til ten! Why?" Fluttershy opened her mouth... You cannot tell them anything! You have to promise me! Have a little faith in me. I know if anypony genuinely knows my courage, it's you. WE...ARE OFFICIALLY EX-FRIENDS AS OF NOW! I HATE YOU!!! And she instantly shut it. Rainbow Dash couldn't even stand the sight of her now. If...if she told them she knew where she was...she'd loathe her forever. But...but Rainbow Dash is in big trouble right now! No! I broke her trust already once! I don't want her to hate me even more! I don't want her to hate me too, but...but I don't anything bad to happen to her even more! Eyes closed tightly, she argued with herself as the others grouped around her. "Fluttershy? Dearie? Do you know something?" "Please Fluttershy, don't be scared, we're here for you." "Pretty please? I won't let Dashie get mad at you." Rainbow Dash... Thoughts of her friend filled her memory all of a sudden. The time she weathered her first thunderstorm below the clouds cuddled with her for comfort. Rainbow Dash... The time she went after one her chickens into the Everfree forest...and Rainbow Dash put off her practice time so she wouldn't be going in alone. Rainbow Dash... The day Rainbow Dash got her first second place ribbon at the Cloudsdale sports festival, and how she cried together with her in private before making her swear not to tell anypony. Rainbow Dash......I'll always love you...no matter what you think of me. She rubbed another tear from her eye as she looked to her friends with cold determination. "I know where Rainbow Dash is." Rainbow Dash plummeted into the ground for the tenth time. Her body screamed to her head to just lay down and play dead, but she just yelled back at it harder to shut up and employed her aching wings once more. Gunning herself at the stallion, she attempted an Immelmare turn to try and get a clear shot at his wings. Grounding him was her best chance at this point. The burning sensation at her side forced her to freeze up at the critical juncture though, and she fell against the face of the cliff. I should be able to do this stuff in my sleep! What's going on?! "You seem even weaker than before, element of loyalty," the herald of vengeance spoke as he soared overhead. "You wouldn't have happened to have sustained some sort of injury prior to our engagement, have you?" WHAT? Her cut! He knew! It...he gave it to her on purpose! "You...what did you do to me!?" she demanded. The helm Fury wore masked all facial expressions, but Dash could swear by the glint in his eyes, he was grinning right now. "That's no ordinary gash on your side. It is a wrath wound, an infliction that feeds upon your rage. The more angry you get, the more it saps your strength." Rainbow lunged out at Fury only to be caught by the neck by a single hoof. She pulled against him with her forelegs and kicked as hard as she could with her hind ones, but by now it was like flailing bags of jelly rather than flexing muscle. "You...tricked me..." "You have no one to blame but yourself, Rainbow Dash. Had you but kept your emotions in check, the wrath wound would have done nothing. Yet you allowed your enmity against me to stew whist you waited. Anger is a powerful tool, I use it often myself. But it is a poison unless utilized properly, which you have failed to do. Though I must admit, I did not expect you to be this drained. Could it be I was not the only one you bared resentment to these past three days?" Rainbow's eyes widened as she suddenly recounted every moment she snapped at her friends during her training. How she berated them for thinking she wasn't tough or brave enough. How she didn't care that she was worrying them to no end...and that every time she did, the wound hurt more and more. "No...I...I-" "Congratulations are in order, Rainbow Dash. Today you have proven you are not a coward. You are something worse, a fool." With a roundhouse swing, Fury flung her to the ground. Hearing a sickening crunch from her backside, Rainbow didn't need the pain to tell that her wings had broke. "Let this be your final lesson, champion of loyalty. There's a fine line between bravery and ignorance, a line that apparently for you, does not exist." With a mighty neigh he jammed his hoof straight into the bluff, forcing the entire wall to crumble into an avalanche. "FAREWELL RAINBOW DASH!" Rainbow Dash's face broke out in panic as boulders twice her size rumbled down towards her. No! Dang it! Move, body! MOVE! But not a single fiber in her frame obeyed, all she could feel was the unbearable pain that spread from her wound to the rest of her being. The rocks were nearly upon her now. It was in that moment, Rainbow Dash knew she was not going to be able to escape. She was going to be buried and crushed under twenty feet of sedimentary rock. And yet, it not fear Rainbow Dash felt, what she felt was an unbelievable sadness. Her friends had been right all along, she had been stupid. Not only that, she had been an outright jerk. She had bitten off more than she could chew and had blown up at them for trying to say otherwise. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy....oh, Fluttershy. All the nasty creatures and ponies she had defended her timid friend against in her life, and yet she had been the nastiest of all. Just because she had tried to shelter her from one little thing. A tear escaped her as she closed her eyes and braced for the end. "I really blew it big this time. I'm...I'm so sorry guys." "That's okay Dashie! We forgive you!" Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open to see a happy pink face smiling over her. "Wha-? Huh? B-buh-?" She looked up to see the rockslide had stopped in mid-air, suspended by an aura of purple and white. Turning her head to the back, she saw Twilight and Rarity wearing their elements on top of one of the arches, levitating the gravel away. A roar of anger erupted from Fury Cross and he dove straight at his wounded quarry to finish her off himself. But he had only made it halfway when a blur of yellow and pink collided with him, smashing him against the bedrock below. "How....dare you...." Fluttershy fully bared her teeth as she screamed him with a voice even louder than she used at the gala. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FRIEND!!!" She picked him up and swung him over upside down in a frankensteiner with her vines. "Woah, nelly." Applejack could not help but stop and stare for a moment at the sheer audacity and forcefulness of the overprotective mama bear she saw before her while she tried to help Dash to her hooves. "It's always the quiet ones, ain't it?" "Whoo Hoo! Go Fluttershy! Teach that meanie a lesson!" Pinkie said as she rah-rahed with a set of pom-poms. "No sense in lettin' her have all the fun," Applejack said, turning the brim of her hat back with a grin while passing Rainbow a golden apple from her neck. "Here sugarcube, chew on this. Ah found out the other day these apples on ma hide are plenty powerful. Hey, Fluttershy, let me have o' piece that there action!" With a flying body slam, she came down on Fury Cross like a giant sack of potatoes. Steam hissed from Fury's armor again, his anger crystal clear now, only to get extinguished by a mess of tangerine foam, stunning him long enough for Fluttershy and Applejack to piledrive him again. "Laughter feature two-eighty-eight! Orange soda fire extinguisher!" As Pinkie Pie bounced ahead to give the pair a helping hoof, Twilight teleported right next to Rainbow, who was hesitatingly munching on the energy restoring apple, with Rarity in hoof. "Rainbow! Thank goodness we made it in time!" Rainbow looked away, her shame still fresh on her mind. "Guys...I...uh..." "No need for words darling," Rarity said as she busily molded a splint from her gem gown and fastened them to her wings. "Right now all you need is to sit back and let us-" A bolt of lightning whizzed by her and she immediately turned to send her floating jewels at her attacker. "Do you mind?! We are trying to have a civilized and tender heart-to-heart moment here!" As the white unicorn became embroiled in the heat of battle, Twilight finished the first-aid as she concentrated a restomancy spell on her, and peeling off a rune from her cloak, she pasted it on the wrath wound, sealing it away. "Rainbow Dash, you know we're not doing this because we think you're weak or scared, right?" "Yeah, I...I do." "And Rainbow Dash? We're sorry. For everything. We love you Dash, and there's no way we would ever want you to think we don't care...about yourself, or your pride." Rainbow Dash turned her head away again, only this time to hide that she was blushing. "Yeah...thanks. You're the most awesome pals a mare could ask for." Fury, finally breaking out of the momentum, proceed to get airborne and reclaim the advantage. But with a quick barrier spell, Twilight had him rebound and land face-first in the dirt. His eyes turned to gaze up at Rainbow Dash, now standing right in front of him. "So...it all comes back to this, doesn't it? Hiding behind others when it all seems hopeless? Unable to take defeat like a proper warrior?" "You know what, Fury?" Rainbow Dash snarked. "I just realized something. I have a wonderful life, a good home, and some of the best buddies in the whole world who always think I'm the bravest, bestest pony to ever fly the skies. As long as I got that, what do I care what you think?" Fury was then blasted into the air by Twilight, and got pounded down in mid-air by Fluttershy, took a blast from Pinkie's party cannon over to Rarity, who stuck him full of sharp garnet edges while passing him to Applejack, who gave him a solid tree breaking buck back to Rainbow, who lifted her hoof, her lightning shaped emblem on her chestplate glowing brightly, and sent Fury crashing into the wall with a right hook. The arch right above him broke apart, and with a surprised cry, the herald of vengeance now lay thirty feet under a pile of bedrock. Rainbow Dash looked to each of her friends as they now crowded around her. She scratched the back of her neck. "Well guys, I....really don't know where to begin. There's just...so much I...well...you know." "We know apologizin' ain't yer strong suit. So we'll just settle for a simple sorry, RD. No need to go blubbering on us for the next few hours," Applejack said with a shrug. "And a thank you," chimed in Rarity, "Especially for a certain dear courageous pegasus with a heart of gold without whom we wouldn't be having this conversation now." She parted to make room for the shy, yellow pegasus, no longer in Flutterage mode, who slowly crept up inch by inch to Rainbow Dash. "I...I'm sorry Rainbow...I told them again. Are you...mad at me?" Rainbow's hubris told her to fight back the tears, but her heart said aw, what the heck?. Fluttershy suddenly found herself being squeezed very tightly by her fillyhood friend, whose speech was choking on every other word. "How...could I possibly be mad...at the very best friend who I love so much? Thank you Fluttershy, after all the times I've saved your hide...today...you're my hero." Fluttershy sniffled, and although her cheeks grew wet, her smile only widened. She eagerly returned the hug, and it wasn't long before the others joined in as well. Twilight's nose twitched suddenly as she sniffed the air. "Um, girls...do you smell brimstone?" The rubble pile from corner of the ravine exploded as Fury Cross reappeared, seemingly unscathed. His armor no longer looked like it was on fire, he literally was awash in flame now. "Elements of harmony....you have made me very...very...angry. And this display of such pathetic camaraderie only furthers my ire!" Rainbow Dash stood firmly in front of the group as they stared off. "You may think it's pathetic, but hey, we're not the ones who got their flanks handed to them today! And before you try that coward line again, let me just say this. As long as I'm there for my friends, they'll be there for me. Their cowardice is my cowardice, just as my bravery is theirs!" Fury's eyes darkened, as if something Dash said had touched a nerve. "....you will see one day Rainbow Dash, the only pony you can ever truly count on...who you can be loyal to...is yourself!!" Having had the last word for the day, he disappeared into a mushroom cloud of intense heat, leaving behind nothing but scorched earth. Applejack turned back to look at Rainbow, who held a small wry smile on her face. "What? You're not goin' to being all we gotta go after 'im?" "Meh, discretion's the better part of valor as somepony once said. Besides, if anything, he's the one acting like the coward now." And then they all laughed. Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned that being brave doesn't mean you have to go looking for trouble every chance you get, and it certainly doesn't mean letting other ponies pressuring you to do...less than bright ideas. Having others fight some of your battles for you isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of companionship. There is no I in team after all. Sometimes, the real brave thing to do is to admit when you're in over your head before you actually do lose your head. Sincerely, Rainbow Dash "A buddy system?" Raindrops was in disbelief at what she just heard her captain suggest. "Yep, I'm petitioning that all weather patrol jobs have a minimum member requirement of two or more. Everypony needs someone to watch their back, even pegasi as awesome as me." "That's so..." "So what?" "Brilliant! This could eliminate so many work related accidents and cut response times in half! But I never thought you would be the one to try and push it forward!" "What can I say? Wouldn't be that awesome if I didn't surprise everypony once in a while. So here, get these petition forms filled out, while I head to Cloudsdale to make the proposal official." "Yes captain!" Raindrops hummed to herself as she sat down and begin to write. This will great. Work will be much easier to manage if this bill goes through. Multiple teams sharing the duties, sharing the productions, sharing the documentation- She blinked, looked down at the stack of papers, slowly drawing the epiphany that her captain had just stiffed her the paperwork that she herself should have been doing...again. Raindrops took off like a shot after the rainbow trail. "CAPTAIN! Oh, captain? We need to have little talk about how buddy systems work!"