//------------------------------// // Rainbow Dash // Story: Pegasus Densetsu // by Wyrm //------------------------------// Pegasus Densetsu MLP:FiM by Lauren Faust (Hasbro) Angel Densetsu by Norihiro Yagi Chapter 2: Rainbow Dash Celestia's sun set, and thereafter followed the moon to begin the night. Tales of long ago stated that the Princess Celestia had once a sister who shared this task of changing day to night, with Celestia in charge of the sun and daytime sky, and her sister ruling the moon and stars. Few remember this tale, but less than a lifetime remained before a prophesy would be fulfilled to bring that sister back in the form of Nightmare Moon. But that was still some years away. "Star light, star bright. First star I see tonight. Wish I may, wish I might. Have this wish I wish tonight." Here, in the magical land of Equestria, a yellow-coated pegasus filly was born with a serenely honest and simple heart... "Dear evening star, I wish for peace in Equestria and goodwill toward all beings." ...but her face was terrifying. "It's been a week now, and I still don't have any friends in class. It seems to get quiet when I walk into the classroom, as always," sighed Fluttershy in exasperation, the dark bags under her eyes pronounced by her impeding need to sleep. "I probably should have wished for a friend, instead," she mused, briefly playing with the idea. She did not hold that thought for long, as she shook her head a moment later. "No, peace and goodwill are more important, and I should not waste such a self-centered wish on the first stars out. "There are more stars out now, though. I'll use one of the smaller ones for my personal wish," she said aloud, pressing her hooves together once more. With a quiet, pleading voice, she made her wish for her own: "Please, little star, listen to my wish. Please let me make a friend in class." Up above, the star she had singled out twinkled brightly. "Ah, that star just twinkled!" she said excitedly. "Maybe it heard my wish. I feel like something good will happen tomorrow!" —/— Despite her feelings the previous night, that was last night. As the time grew nearer, the feeling of trepidation of her wish began to weigh heavily on the yellow pegasus's back, along with her saddlebags. Goodness, I'm depressed now. The instant I walk in, silence will choke the class, like always. She was about to open the door, when a recognizable voice floated from behind it. "This is about the time Fluttershy comes," announced Record Time. "You know, for a bad pony, she sure doesn't skip class or show up late." "I swear, my nerves are shot with her being here every hour of every day." That was Cloud Kicker. There were murmurings of agreement, but after those agreements were over, another voice added its opinion. "But is Fluttershy really a bad pony?" Fluttershy recognized that voice! It was Derpy Hooves, the grey filly with the eyes that sometimes had problems fixing on one target. While she was pretty defective herself, it was hard to be afraid of an innocent face with goggly eyes. Derpy continued, and Fluttershy hung on her every word, "Everyone says she's evil or a thug because of her face, but she seems very ernest to me." "The cloud are you talking about?" the pegasus colt called Record Time asked in confusion, "She's not nice." "But she's never blown her stack or anything." "That's because she was not in a bad mood," replied the brown pegasus colt. "I think you're just sympathizing because your eyes are all goofed up." Fluttershy could almost imagine Derpy's face scrunch up with indignation at that. It made her giggle slightly. "Leave my eyes out of it! I just don't see Fluttershy as bad. I think she's really a nice pony." Oh... that star really did hear my wish! A warm tingling was buzzing along her hooves. "Nope. Bad pony," said Record Time, casually and without hesitation. "100% pure and total evil. Absolutely and definitely," Cloud Kicker agreed. When Derpy spoke again, there was a fire in her voice. "You're all horrible!" she said angrily, "Today, I'm going to say hello to Fluttershy! Just you watch!" With that, she grabbed the door handle and flung open the door in frustrated anger... to reveal Fluttershy standing just behind it. Her face, glowing in all of its horribleness, was twitching alarmingly, as if she were in a nasty mood. In truth, it was because of the intense feeling of her possibly maybe acquiring a friend that caused this expression. But her eagerness seemed to have negated her chance, for it startled poor Derpy Hooves so much that she let out a scream of terror. She backed up and curled into a small fetal ball of whimpering, sobbing wretchedness as Record Time consoled her. Fluttershy's wish to the star was in vain. —/— In the Trickster Queens' meeting place behind the school building, Firefly and Firecracker moped. "Man, we've been in a slump since that Fluttershy filly crushed Surprise," Firefly murmured. "No kidding," Firecracker agreed. "That psycho means business. You saw how casually she took out Surprise. And that was for a rather harmless (if a bit mean) prank that we didn't even get a chance to pull off." A moment of silence passed between them. "Well, it could be worse. Rainbow Dash coulda seen it and be lording it over us right now. That filly's way too big for her britches," Firefly said aloud. "What does that expression even mean, anyway?" Firecracker looked up at the sudden, unexpected voice. "Well, speak of the schmooze. Hi, Rainbow Dash," she said in greeting. The cerulean pegasus pony, with her mane and tail naturally streaked with the colors of the rainbow and swaying in the breeze, grinned at the two, but especially at Firefly. "Heya, Cheap Knock-Off!" she said teasingly to the pink-coated pegasus. Firefly bristled at the tease. "Stop calling me that, Spectrum Butt!" Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Is that the best you could come up with? Surprise could manage much better cut downs than that, not that they'd be very good." The mention of Surprise's name brought her in a clean segue to that pony, or more properly, her absence. "Where is Balloon Butt, anyway?" Dash asked, glancing about. In answer, Firecracker pointed at the still-fractured wall. "Laid up. Met with the wrong end of a party cannon. She'll be back on her feet soon, though," she said, strongly implying that the crack in the wall had quite a lot to do with it. "Your suspension ended today, I take it." Rainbow Dash grinned. "Yep. You know how it is. Ya pull off the second coolest stunt known to ponykind, and somepony's in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets himself hurt. Kind of a drag," said the rainbow-maned pony. Firefly blinked. "Doncha feel sorry for the teacher?" she asked seriously. Dash stiffened. "A bit," she admitted, "but it wasn't serious, so I really don't get why I was suspended over it. So, anything other than Surprise's losing argument with a cannon?" Firecracker almost didn't say anything, but figured Dashie deserved a heads up. "Just one other thing, actually. A new student showed up and scared the fertilizer out of Cheeraloo." Firecracker shuddered involuntarily, recalling the cannon incident. "Her name's Fluttershy, and she's a right nasty one. They're calling her 'the Nightmare Filly!'" "'The Nightmare Filly', huh?" said Rainbow Dash with a lopsided grin, "Sounds dangerous. And unstable, if Cheeraloo wasn't able to calm her." Firefly jumped up, wild-eyed. "She is! First day here she crushed us!" the pink-coated senior said to the first year. "That filly's the top pony of the school now!" A cocky grin spread across Rainbow Dash's face. "Top pony, huh? Not if I can help it." With that, Rainbow Dash turned around and walked cooly from the alleyway. Firecracker turned to Firefly. "Wouldn't knowing which class she's in help?" "Don't worry 'bout that. She's in class 1G, too." —/— The bell for the between-class break sounded, and as usual, class 1G —Fluttershy's class— was silent and still. This unnerved the yellow filly, who jumped out of her seat and left for the break. Just outside the door, Fluttershy listened for signs of life returning to the class, but heard nothing. Nuts. It's break time, but everypony's frozen to their seats, it seems. They got acclimated to that quicker than I hoped. She turned to trot down the hall. If this keeps going on, I'll never have any friends. A few seconds after she had turned the corner, a new set of hooves stepped into the hallway and up to the classroom door. Rainbow Dash threw open the door with a small slam, drawing the attention of everypony in the class. "Who's that?" Cloud Kicker asked. "It's Rainbow Dash. She's in our class," Derpy answered. Record Time blinked at the name. It didn't sound familiar at all. "Rainbow Dash?" he asked. Sky Dream broke in. "You remember! The filly who pulled that stupid aerial stunt that hurt Mr. Windwright her first day and got suspended for it." Record Time blinked again. "Oh, her," he said, finally recognizing the name. A loud shriek of a chair-leg scraping against the floor announced that the filly in question had chosen a seat. A glance in her direction revealed that Rainbow Dash had chosen the seat on the last row, next to the window. Gasps of shock filled the room. "She... She's sitting in Fluttershy's seat!" "She doesn't know! She was on suspension when Fluttershy came!" "Sheesh, somepony tell her before she gets butchered by that maniac!" For her part, Rainbow Dash wasn't paying much attention to the content of the whispers surrounding her, and thus hadn't quite picked up on the fact that they were fearing for her safety. Oh, yeah! Bask in my awesomeness, suckers! For I'm always going to be 20% cooler than any of you are for pulling off the highly-illegal Glittering Starburst! she thought with not undeserved complacency. Realizing her thoughts, she walked them back a bit, Okay, Mr. Windright got hurt for my foalishness, but that still doesn't dismiss the fact that I performed the most spectacular stunt second only to the Sonic Rainboom! Her smugness returned. And I'll soon be the young mare who put the Nightmare Filly in her place! Cloud Kicker stepped up to Rainbow Dash. "Excuse me, but that isn't your seat. You seriously should move," she whispered. Rainbow Dash frowned. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" "What's with the attitude?" asked the filly testily. "I'm only doing this for your safety! You could be hurt if you remain there!" Now, that sounded strange to Rainbow Dash. While it was true she wasn't in her assigned seat, it usually caused only annoyance, not actual physical damage. "What's the big deal about sitting here?" "That's the seat of the Nightmare Filly, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash's eyes popped open in surprise. "What?" she squeaked. Did she say Fluttershy? She's in the same class as me?! "We just don't want you to be turned into glue," came Cloud Kicker's quite offhand comment. Being 'turned into glue' was not the kind of expression that gets thrown around lightly in Equestria even as a jest, much less the serious implication that Cloud Kicker used it for. Rainbow Dash looked around, seeing the faces of the students surrounding her. They were not staring at her in awe or admiration, but pity and sympathy. This was mega-weird for her: she was no hero(ine) here, just a foal sitting somewhere possibly only marginally less dangerous than under a fifteen tonne weight suspended from a burning cable. Her frustration came out in a single burst. "No! Shut up! I'm not gonna run!" she insisted, then sat down huffily into Fluttershy's seat. "I may be a rebel, but I'll be tanned if I let some cheap punk run me out!" Cloud Kicker looked like she were about to argue with her, but disengaged with a sigh. Whispers came from around the class. "She doesn't understand." "She's brave and foalish." "This is gonna be a bloodbath." Rainbow had to admit, that sort of talk made her more than a little nervous. Normal punk ponies don't incite normal, well-adjusted ponies to say that there was going to be ending of pony lives, even in jest or exaggeration. She, despite all of her delinquent behavior, wasn't one of the truly rotten apples in Equestria. Thankfully, those were few and far between. The sound of hooffalls caused every pony to snap to attention. Rainbow Dash whistled in admiration. Wow! She's got 'em well-trained. The door opened, and the hooffalls came closer, then stopped just a few steps short of the desk Rainbow Dash occupied. Seems the boss pony has arrived. Right, now to see what this Nightmare Filly looks like, the racing pony thought, and turned to face the mysterious young mare. Rainbow Dash immediately wished she didn't, because the face staring back at her... well, she could now appreciate why ponies called Fluttershy the Nightmare Filly. Her face really looked like something out of somepony's nightmares. The way her brow was knitted together in a scowl above eyes made that face look like a bad taxidermy job as she glared at her, while her mouth remained a tight sneer. Rainbow Dash's jaw flopped open, her pupils shrinking to points and her whole body breaking out in a nervous sweat. Her coat managed to become a touch paler blue, as well. Dear Sweet Celestia! She looks like she's on drugs!! Meanwhile, Fluttershy's own mind was in turmoil. Oh, bother. This filly's in the wrong seat, she thought, staring at this strange newcomer. This is most inconvenient, but just telling her to move would be rude. The two continued to stare at each other. What am I going to do now? No matter what I say, it'll sound confrontational, thought Fluttershy, completely unaware that she was already being plenty confrontational. Rainbow Dash steeled herself as she realized the stare contest had already begun. I'm not going to be stared down by some uppity filly with a bad face! Rainbow Dash will not lose this contest! The stare 'contest' lasted a few more tense seconds. How am I going to get out of this conundrum? Fluttershy thought worriedly. Rainbow Dash started to shake at the demon face's unrelenting glare. My rep's on the line here! I can't afford to back down! thought the cerulean filly. Maybe I should just let it go for now. It's just a seat, after all. With that, Fluttershy spoke at last, "Of course... you could stay there... if that's okay with you." It should be noted that the stress of worry had made her voice tight and raspy. Fluttershy's sudden hiss sent a flow of ice-cold water down Rainbow Dash's spine that broke her resolve cleanly over her own knee. Letting out a small cluck of frustration, she abandoned the seat and shuffled toward the door. Fluttershy watched her leave, not moving from her spot besides her own desk. Ah. She left, she observed matter-of-factly. Even when I offered my seat to her, she abandoned it and walked out. The thoughts of the students were of quite different. Her glare is wicked! Fluttershy— the filly who could kill in a glance. She forced the filly who did the Glittering Starburst to abandon her seat. What a freak. I must have embarrassed her, calling attention to the fact that she was in the wrong seat all this time. It must have been super-awkward for her, Fluttershy reasoned, trying to understand what happened relative to her knowledge of interpony relationships, She might be self-conscious about it. I'd better apologize. Meanwhile, the rumor mill was hard at work. "This isn't over between those two." "Yeah, she stared at Fluttershy way too long." "Rainbow Dash just smacked a hornet's nest with a bat... if those hornets fired deadly bolts of steel out their abdomens." Even though Fluttershy was vexed with only a small worry, rumors of the face-off between her and Rainbow Dash spread throughout the school. —/— Rainbow Dash moped at the top of the school building. She had lost the staredown contest utterly. But that face, it was horrifying. The more she thought about it, the more it was obvious to Rainbow Dash that Fluttershy had messed herself up but good with something illegal. Of all the true rotten apples in Equestria, she happened to sit on a truly putrid one. Rainbow Dash knocked her head against the sturdy reinforced cloud column she'd been leaning against. "Cripes, I'm pathetic! I lost in a staring match to that yellow freakazoid!" she murmured. "Perhaps it's just as well. That filly is bad news." "Hey, Spectrum Butt!" came the unexpected voice of Firefly. Rainbow Dash turned around to face her senior and Firecracker. "Waddya want, Cheap Knock-Off?" she asked, annoyed at her interruption. She felt like stewing a bit more. Firefly didn't even seem annoyed by that jab anymore. "I hear you had a little disagreement with Fluttershy," she pressed. "What?! That only just happened!" Firefly grinned. "Rumors spread faster than a rainboom, doncha know? Everyone in school knows about it," the pink filly pointed out. Her grin widened. "They say Fluttershy's gonna kill you!" Rainbow Dash wasn't buying that. "Knock it off, Firefly! All I did was stare at her, and I was the one who broke it off!" "She don't know that. She tried to kill Surprise, even though she didn't look into her eyes. That's why she's on leave," Firefly said casually, "Welp, hope she don't find you." Rainbow Dash was truly disturbed by this news. Road apples! Not poor Surprise! All she does is silly pranks! No harm, no foul! she thought, her mind awhirl. That filly must be totally crackers! Sweet Celestia, I didn't count on this! What do I do?! Her thoughts now forced themselves out of her mouth. "A weapon! I haveta find a weapon to defend myself!" she said in a growing panic, "The kitchen! Plenty of things to fend off a madmare in there!" Realizing there wasn't a moment to lose, she galloped off to the school cafeteria to obtain a suitable means of defense. —/— Finding a large chef's knife in the kitchen, Rainbow Dash deemed it large enough to perhaps make the psycho-pony after her think twice about messing with her. She grabbed it up in her mouth and burst through the door and around a nearby corner. Whereupon she immediately proceeded to crash into another pony coming blindly around the corner in the opposite direction. The knife flew out of her mouth as she grunted with the impact, making a loud clattering sound as it struck and rattled on the floor. Rainbow Dash, nerves shot to hell long ago, snapped irritably at the other pony. "Hey! Watch where yer goin'!" A moment after these words left her mouth, too late to take them back, she realized who that other pony was. It was Fluttershy, of course. "Ah... I found you," hissed the horrific pony. "*gulp*" Dash swallowed reflexively out of fear. F-F-Fluttershy! Dangit! Instantly, she jumped and snatched up the knife that had fallen to the floor. "Sh... shtahy bahck, you mothehrbuhcker!" she slurred around the knife handle. The knife now had its blade pointed right, the same side as her upraised forehoof, both ready to strike. Fluttershy stared at her for a long moment before a stream of tears came cascading down her cheeks. Rainbow Dash recoiled at this repulsive sight, wondering if the yellow pegasus filly was on the brink of a rampage. Meanwhile, these tears were from thoughts of a different sort rushing through Fluttershy's mind. Oh my goodness! She looks like she's going to slit her cannons! she realized in dread, This is worse than I feared! She's suicidal, and it's all my fault! The yellow pegasus threw herself at Rainbow Dash, eyes focused on grabbing the handle of the knife, all the while shouting a plea at Rainbow Dash to not take her own life. Unfortunately, Fluttershy never had very good motor control of her mouth due to its tautness. As such, when she gets very stressed, she tends to become unintelligible. Here, for instance, as she lunged for the knife, she meant to scream, 'Rainbow Dash! Don't die!' Instead, all she managed was: "KIEEEEE!!! RIEBEEDAAIEEE! DANDAIIEEEEE!!!" Yeah. Unsurprisingly, Rainbow Dash completely misinterpreted Fluttershy's lunge and cry as proof positive that she was dealing with a psychopathic maniac and drug fiend in Fluttershy. She threw herself out of the way of the yellow pegasus's attack. Oh no! I missed! thought Fluttershy with growing worry. Isn't that maniac afraid of this big ol' knife?! Rainbow's mind reeled. "KIEEEEE!!" screamed Fluttershy again, as she lunged again at the kitchen knife. A scream gurgled in Dash's throat, her mouth occupied with a knife handle, and out of instinct, whipped her head wildly. A line burned across Fluttershy's face, from her right cheek, across her muzzle, over her left eye. Droplets of blood spilt from the fresh gash put in her face. Rainbow Dash knew she was in big trouble now. She had thought the knife just as a means to keep Fluttershy at a distance, but now that she had drawn first blood, things had turned deadly serious. "GEFF AWAYF FRMM ME, YOU NUFF!" she screamed around the knife handle, meaning to say, 'Get away from me, you nut!' "GEFF AWAYF URR YULL GEFF MRRR!" 'Get away or you'll get more!' Needless to say, Fluttershy understood none of this. What she did understand was Rainbow's posture was much different than before. She took the knife away from her cannons! As Fluttershy felt the blood burn down her face in oozing rivulets, her eyes steeled with determination. NOW! Rainbow Dash froze, staring helplessly at the horrifying, bloodied visage of a demon-pony, her eyes burning with malice and that slasher leer stained with her own blood. Dash was scared nearly out of her mind. Once more, Fluttershy lunged. Dash could only raise her hoof in sheer reflex, ragged screams blowing out of her nose unable to make it around her mouth. Meanwhile, Fluttershy let out a final scream of war (?) before clamping firmly onto the remainder of the knife handle, then wrenching her neck powerfully to send the tip of the blade into the wall with a firm and final thud. Rainbow Dash gasped in fear and realization. The knife she had acquired was useless, as Fluttershy was still gripping it by the mouth. The bloodied filly reached up and placed her hoof on the butt of the handle, keeping force on it. Only then did she release the handle. Fluttershy panted as she regained her breath and control over her speech and admired her hooftiwork. That was close. If things went a little different, that would have gone right through her cannon. She took a few more deep breaths. She had to be calm if she were to talk Rainbow Dash out of killing herself. "Don't be so quick to die. Life is a treasure." Her counseling wasn't as calm as she hoped, and there was a scary rasp to it. Rainbow Dash knew then and there that there was no escape from this Fluttershy thug, and there was no reasoning with her. Her back knees gave out and her rump thumped to the floor as she stared at Fluttershy. At the back of her mind, she was thankful that she hadn't voided her bladder yet from the terrifying terror. Rainbow Dash knew exactly what she needed to do in order to save her hide. She could neither resist, nor run away, nor hide. Her only option was to submit. Her cerulean head hit the floor with a thump, bowing to her as she would to royalty. "I'M SORRY!! I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN!! I OWE YOU MY LIFE!!" she pleaded, her voice a high squeal of fear. Internally, Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief and joy. Thank goodness. Rainbow Dash is safe. —/— And so, Fluttershy earned her first friend at Cloudsdale Flight School that day. "Outta the way! Make way for Fluttershy!" roared the cerulean pegasus as she stormed through the door just ahead of Fluttershy. She then turned to gesture at the seat. "After you, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash was just a reckless flier before, but now she's gone full thug! thought various students in class. That Fluttershy... she's uncanny. However, Fluttershy felt as if the distance between her and the other classmates had grown greatly. END CHAPTER 2.