友達は魔法少女 ~FRIENDSHIP IS MAGICAL GIRLS~

by MythrilMoth


Loyalty 2: シャドーボルツ

Rainbow Dash was in the middle of her evening cooldown run when Lightning Dust jumped down from a roof and fell into step beside her. "Hey Dash," she said.

"Hey Dusty," Rainbow said. "Didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Yeah..." Lightning Dust said. "Hey, you almost done runnin'?"

"Just about, why?"

"I thought we could grab a snack, catch up..." Lightning Dust said. "You were tellin' me you made some new friends...I wanna hear all about 'em."

Loyalty 2: シャドーボルツ

"Good morning, Rainbow-san!"

"Hey Twilight."

"You're in a good mood today."

Rainbow shrugged as she sat down. "I ran into an old friend the other day," she said. "Haven't seen her in a while. Last night, we went out for a bite...we talked. I told her about you and Pinkie and the others. You should totally meet her!"

Twilight smiled. "We'll talk to the other girls, see if they'd like to meet this friend of yours. Who is she?"

"Her name's Lightning Dust," Rainbow said. "I'll tell you all about her at lunch."

* * * * *

Dreadwing's eyes glittered with cold amusement. "You're shitting me. You are shitting me, right?"

"Nope," Thundercracker said. "The girl in the video with the rainbow hair? I grew up with her. Name's Rainbow Dash. We used to be friends." She smiled. "Bumped into her the other night...caught up a bit. She mentioned she had new friends. When I went out today, I went lookin' for her again. She actually told me all about her new friends. She wants me to meet 'em."

Starscream looked up, frowning. "I'm against this," she said. "It's bad enough that this Rainbow Dash knows your real name and face. You're taking a huge risk here..."

"Yeah, it's a risk, but..." Thundercracker shrugged. "If we're gonna use these girls to break open that seal thingie, we gotta know what makes 'em tick, right?"

Dreadwing nodded. "Do it. But don't give anything away."

"You know me better than that..."

* * * * *

"Lightning Dust...we were friends growin' up," Rainbow said as the girls dug into their lunches. "She left Pony City when we were second years in junior high. She was always the fastest sprinter in our age group." Rainbow laughed. "She does parkour now, said racing lost its appeal by the time she was a high school first year."

"Parkour? Goodness...that's dangerous, isn't it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, but Dusty always liked takin' risks," Rainbow said. "Actually..." She looked down at her bento. "When she left Pony City...it was right after..."

* * * * *

"Check this out, Dash!"

"Dusty? What the hell're you doin' up there?"

"Watch me jump this!"

Lightning Dust stood at the top of the sloping concrete bank overlooking the man-made waterway that cut through the neighborhood Rainbow lived in. Rainbow was down below, her shoes and socks off, cooling her feet in the water.

"What the...? Dusty, it's...it's too far! You can't make a jump like that!"

"Sure I can," Lightning Dust said confidently. She pointed at the top of the opposite bank. "I'm gonna run down this bank and jump right up to the street on the other side!"

Rainbow shook her head. "You're stupid," she said.

"I am not!" Lightning Dust took several steps back. Alarmed, Rainbow shot to her feet, scrambling to run up the bank. Her wet feet couldn't find purchase on the concrete; she ended up on her knees, a stinging pain telling her she'd scraped herself.

Lightning Dust vaulted over the edge and down the bank at a hard sprint. Halfway down the bank, she launched herself forward, sailing right over the waterway. Rainbow could only watch in disbelief as Lightning Dust's jump carried her higher...higher...

...she was almost there...

...and then she hit the top of her jump and started to fall...

She must have realized she was about to miss her mark, because she started to brace herself for an impact with the approaching slope, but it was too late. She touched down all fours, and for a brief moment, Rainbow hoped she'd successfully broken her fall and could simply run down the bank to the waterway...

...but then she lost her purchase on the unforgiving concrete, and her foot slipped out from under her...

Lightning Dust tumbled down the slope, scrambling to stop her fall. In her panic, she tucked into the worst possible position to brace for an impact with the ground...

She landed right on her head and fell still.

"Dusty? ...DUSTY!" Rainbow charged right into the water, half-swimming, half-wading, until she reached Lightning Dust's side. Her neck was at the wrong angle, and blood—so much blood—was pooling beneath her head.

Rainbow's own phone was in her bag on the other side of the waterway. She rooted through Lightning Dust's pocket until she found her phone, then called an ambulance.

While waiting for the ambulance, she remained at Lightning Dust's side. Lightning Dust's breath was shallow, and her neck looked so bad, and there was so much blood...

* * * * *

The others stared at Rainbow Dash in horror.

"She almost died," Rainbow said. "They got her to the hospital just in time. She was lucky...her neck healed, but it took time. Her mom was pissed." She sighed. "After that, her family moved away...I tried callin', but her phone stopped workin'. Guess she got a new one or changed the number."

"That's awful!" Fluttershy gasped, hands over her mouth.

"That poor dear," Rarity said.

"Eh, she did it to herself," Rainbow said. "Dusty doesn't think before she does stupid stuff. I can tell she's still like that. She actually dropped outta high school so she can focus on parkour."

"Dropped out of...what kind of future does she expect to have?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow shrugged. "She says right now she's a part-timer, doin' odd jobs. Says she likes that life. Probably because it doesn't have as many rules." She chuckled. "Dusty never liked rules."

Rarity frowned. "I'm sorry, Dash-san, but...this friend of yours...she doesn't sound like a particularly savory character."

"Eh," Rainbow said. "She's alright...if you peel off the rind." She plucked a tangerine out of her bag and peeled it, taking a bite of the fruit. Juices ran down her chin; she wiped them off with her arm. "She's a lot like me, only...rougher. Kinda selfish. Kind of a jerk."

"And...you want us to meet her...why?" Twilight asked.

"Because I can tell she needs friends," Rainbow said. "And...I was kinda hopin'...meetin' you all might...might help her." She looked up. "She is my oldest friend. The oldest one that's...still alive."

The girls looked at one another.

"We'd be happy to meet her," Pinkie said with a small smile.

* * * * *

"Hey, this is—!" Pinkie said.

"Heh, yep," Rainbow said as she led her friends to the same yakiniku restaurant where she and Twilight had first met Pinkie Pie. "We haven't been back here in a while...actually, I kinda wanted to bring the rest of you here a long time ago."

"Ooh, yakiniku," Applejack said. "Bet it ain't as good as this one place in Cow Town..."

"This is a part of town I'm not familiar with," Rarity said. Her look was mildly disapproving as she studied the restaurant.

"Oh, you'll love this place!" Pinkie said. "It's great!"

"It really is," Twilight said. "This was the first place where I ever really ate meat."

"Hey, didn't Brittany-chan wanna come?" Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy sighed and shook her head. "She has a therapist appointment today," she said sadly.

"Awww," Pinkie said.

"How's she doing? She doesn't...really say much when she does eat lunch with us," Twilight said.

Fluttershy sighed. "She's...broken," she said. "Badly. It's going to take a long time for her to..." She trailed off.

"Oh hey, there's Dusty!" Rainbow called. She waved. "Hey, Dusty! Over here!"

The girls turned to see an orange-haired girl in black jeans and a black leather jacket running up to them. "Hey Dash," she called.

"Girls, this is Lightning Dust," Rainbow said. "Lightning Dust, this is Twilight Sparkle—"

"Pleased to meet you," Twilight said, bowing.

"—Pinkie Pie—"

"Hi~iiii!" Pinkie sang, waving.

"—Fluttershy—"

"Umm...hello," Fluttershy said softly.

"—Applejack-senpai—"

"Howdy," Applejack said with a grin.

"—and Rarity-senpai," Rainbow finished.

"Charmed, I'm sure," Rarity said, studying Lightning Dust up and down. "You certainly have your own...style."

"Well, you ready to eat?" Rainbow asked.

The girls piled into the restaurant and were led to one of the private rooms by their server. Once they'd placed their orders, Twilight said, "So, Lightning-san...Rainbow-san tells us you're an old friend of hers."

"Yeah," Lightning Dust said. She looked around the table. "So, Dash, you and your friends are those girls that are all over the news, right?"

The group exchanged uneasy glances.

"Yeah," Rainbow said. "It's a long story—"

"Don't care," Lightning Dust said, waving a hand dismissively. "Whatever you're up to, it's cool with me. As long as you're still keepin' in shape, and I know you are 'cause I've seen you run." She chuckled. "Never figured you'd fall in with a bunch of mahoushoujo, though." She smirked at Rainbow. "You bangin' any of 'em?"

"Gah!" Rainbow cried. The other girls made various noises of disgust, surprise, or embarrassment. "Dusty! You know I ain't—"

"Just messin' with you, Dash," Lightning Dust said with a grin.

"Honestly!" Rarity huffed as the server brought their drinks. "Such beastly innuendo!"

"Eh, I've been teasin' Dash about that since we were in sixth grade," Lightning Dust said as she sipped her cola. "She always used to pick fights with kids who called her a queer 'cause of her hair...remember that, Dash?"

"Yeah, and I remember you bein' a total bitch about it," Rainbow muttered as she plucked an ice cube out of her ginger ale and crunched it.

Lightning Dust laughed. "How can I help it? It's just too funny windin' you up about it! I mean, I always toldja to just ignore 'em..." She smirked. "Or better yet, shine 'em on. Play it up, y'know?"

"Why you gotta be like this, Dusty?" Rainbow asked quietly. "I wanted you to meet my friends, get to know 'em...haven't you grown up any at all?"

The others shifted uncomfortably.

Lightning Dust had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry," she said. "I guess...I just missed the way we used to pick at each other." She laughed softly. "You always knew exactly which buttons to push..."

"You never knew when to stop pushing them," Rainbow said. They shared a laugh.

The server brought in trays of meats and vegetables, and the girls began grilling them. "So how's your mom been doin'?" Rainbow asked.

Lightning Dust frowned. "Dunno," she said. "I left home."

Twilight gasped. "You ran away?"

"She kicked me out," Lightning Dust said. "We never really got along." She shrugged. "I'm better off."

"That's horrible," Fluttershy said, eyes wide. "How could...?"

"Look, my mom's a bitch," Lightning Dust growled. "Let's drop it, okay?"

"Sorry," Fluttershy said softly, ducking her head.

"Damn," Rainbow said. "I knew you used to scream at each other all the time, but..." She sighed. "So where've you been livin'?"

"Wherever I can," Lightning Dust said, turning over a piece of beef. "I've been all over Neighpon. I get odd jobs where I can, find cheap places to crash for a while...move on before shit gets ugly...haven't stayed in one place more than four months since I quit school."

"That doesn't sound very smile," Pinkie said.

Lightning Dust gave her an odd look, but shrugged. "Eh. I'm seein' lots of places, meetin' lots of people..." She smirked. "Gettin' in all kinds of fun trouble. And I'm learnin' how to do a lotta things. It's better than bein' stuck in some stuffy classroom all day, wearin' the same ridiculous uniform every day..." She looked around the table. "So, what do you girls do for kicks?" she asked.

"I'm a Net Idol!" Pinkie said proudly. "Though...that's been kinda slow the last couple weeks."

"I enjoy reading," Twilight said. "I'm not from Neighpon, so I'm spending a lot of my spare time learning Neighponese history and culture."

"I'm the captain of the Judo Club and president of the Fashion Club," Rarity said. "I also spend a lot of my spare time teaching my little sister how to be an elegant, refined lady."

"I like animals," Fluttershy said quietly. "My grandmother runs a pet shop with a day camp...I spend a lot of time there. Also, I...have a friend who's been through a tragedy recently. I'm trying to help her...heal."

"Ah don't really do much except school an' hangin' out with these gals," Applejack said. "Ah jes' came t' Pony City a month ago with mah li'l sis...truth be told, Ah'm a bit listless without farm stuff t' do."

"You must be from Cow Town," Lightning Dust said.

"Yep."

As the girls ate, they told Lightning Dust all about their families and Umadakara High School, while she told them about some of the places she'd lived and some of the jobs she'd held.

Two hours later, Lightning Dust's phone chimed. She pulled it out and glanced at it. "Well," she said, "this has been fun, and it was nice meetin' you all...I'm sure I'll be seein' you all again soon, but I gotta run right now." She stood and stretched. "Gotta go to work."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Dust-san," Rarity said.

"Yeah, see you around," Applejack said.

The others bid her farewell.

Once she was gone, Rainbow looked around at her friends. "Well?"

"You weren't kidding about peeling off the rind," Rarity said bluntly. "Although from what I can tell, Dust-san is...mostly rind."

"Ah dunno about that gal," Applejack said. "Somethin' about her sets me on edge."

"She's...nice," Fluttershy said quietly.

Rainbow sighed. "Yeah...to be honest, I...I'm not so sure about her either," she said. "I had hoped she'd...y'know...grown up a bit, but..."

"As you said earlier," Twilight said, "she seems to need friends. Don't give up on her just because she's..." She frowned. "Complex," she finally decided.

"You're probably right," Rainbow said. She plucked a mushroom off the grill and dipped it in sauce. "I dunno about you girls, but I'm about ready to go."

"Me too, I'm stuffed," Pinkie said.

"Ah gotta bring Apple Bloom 'round here sometime," Applejack said. "This is some good eatin'."

Finishing the last of their portions, the girls left the restaurant.

As the six mahoushoujo filed out into the street, the late evening sky suddenly darkened. A black mist rolled in all around them. "What the—?" Rainbow cried.

She heard a series of meaty thumps. She looked wildly around, but couldn't see anything. She reached for her locket...

She felt something strike her across the back of the head.

* * * * *

Rainbow awoke slowly. Her skull hurt, and her eyes felt tight. She quickly discovered she was bound tightly, her wrists tied together behind something cold and hard and her legs tied painfully at the ankles and knees. "What the hell?!"

She looked around and saw her friends around her, all tied to the support columns of an empty, dusty warehouse with a low aluminum ceiling, illuminated by a single bare bulb. The others were slowly waking up.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Oh my goodness..." Fluttershy gasped. "We've been kidnapped!"

"Oh my gosh!" Pinkie yelped. "We're gonna be raped! Or sold! Or sold and raped!"

"Settle down, pardner," Applejack said. "Panic ain't gonna git us nowhere..."

"Oh, you're not going anywhere at all," a scratchy voice said.

A cloud of black smoke erupted in the center of the room. When it cleared, three women stood there, each wearing identical tight-fitting purple spandex bodysuits with black spandex hoods, black leather boots, and black leather gloves. The tops of their boots and gloves were trimmed with jagged gold piping, reminiscent of lightning bolts. They each wore a pair of amber goggles.

"Who are you?" Twilight yelled.

"We're the Shadowbolts," the woman in the center said. Her goggles glinted in the harsh light of the bare bulb. "And if you don't do what we say, everybody you care about is gonna die."