//------------------------------// // 4.b.) Old Memories (Rainbow Dash) // Story: Civilization: Beyond Equestria // by May I Cut In //------------------------------// Author: Brother Malachai Co-Author: May I Cut In “A bad memory serves two as things to a soldier. It teaches them how to avoid similar situations and itagain. But it also reminds them why fighting is never the prefered solution.”-From Rainbow Dash’s Preface for “War Stories From Tartarus: Time Spent On The Colonial Front Lines.”/i] Visions. The collapse of the standard rules of physics and magic. The normal and mundane becoming extraordinary. These are the sort of things dreams are made of. Or Nightmares. Also,nd, betweenwith Luna’s… absence, gone and the stresses of leading a colony the nightmares have become more commonplace. They also became much, much, worse. The cyan alicorn with the rainbow mane tossed and turned in her bed; taking rather unpleasant trips down memory lane. Instead of thinking of more pleasantpleasanter days such as joining the Wonderbolts or earning her horn; she remembered… well, she didn’t really want to talk about it darker days instead. Indeed, she was having a rather unpleasant memory at the moment. The time where she was nearly lost to her friends and she nearly lost them in return. But, then again the road to Tartarus was paved with the best of intentions. “Come on out ponies! I will make you pay for what you have done to me,” roared the infamous Tirek, his horns casting grim shadows across the ground. Behind him was a battered Cerebus. The Princess of Kindness had quietly teleported behind him and teleported out with the massive canine. Indeed, Tirek was too distracted at the time by dealing with the Princess’ of Honesty and Loyalty. “Ya gone too far this time,” Applejack growled, “Celestia has finally given us th’ permission we needed t’ put ya down like th’ mad timberwolf ya are!” “Yeah, that means the buckinpunching shoes are off,” Rainbow Dash in turn replied with her usual cavalier attitude. Or at least, that’s the attitude she used to have back in those days. “Fah! Don’t make me laugh,” Tirek bellowed at them, “I crushed Discord and your Princess Sisters like the weaklings they are! What makes you think you’re going to win? Some silly nonsense about the magic of friendship?” “It beat ya before an’ it can do it-,” Applejack started. However, she didn’t get to finish. Tirek had zapped her with a bolt of his magic from his horns. “Save your speeches for someone who cares,” growled Tirek as he started to stomp towards her. Rainbow Dash, terrified at what she saw, yelled out, “AJ!” She then rushed over to her side and helped to get her up. “Funny. They usually say yer th’ mouthy one,” Applejack replied with a slight cough as Rainbow Dash slung her over her shoulder and started to fly off. Enraged at seeing his quarry flee Tirek roared and charged after them and fired off more bolts. “C’mon AJ! Hang in there,” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath as she dodged the bolts being fired at her. Rainbow Dash was then brought back to the present and the waking world via a rather loud alarm clock. She woke up with a start and a cold sweat. Beads of perspiration formed on her forehead. She wiped it off with a hoof and tried to recompose herself. She tapped the top of the alarm clock and took a deep breath. Time for another day at work she thought to herself. Other than the fact that she slept alone, she had a rather Spartan quarters, lacking in luxury items. She didn’t want to have too many perks. It was unfair for the other troops and citizens after all. After doing a quick checkup of herself in the mirror she went off to put on a sweattop with a hoodie. She then went digging through her medicine cabinet. There they were, the daily prescription antidepressants she took to combat the traumas she had in the past and will probably still receive in the future (as well as a few painkillers). She had to give up the bottle ages ago. As much as she enjoyed drinking cider with AJ in the past she saw what happened to her soldiers that hit it too hard. It wasn’t pretty. Indeed, it took an intervention from her own friends to wake her up a while back. Then again, the warning signs were there. It went as far back as the first time Flim And Flam came to Ponyville. She gulped down her usual cocktail of uppers and painkillers and then proceeded on her way to the PT training grounds. After spending time training with the regular troops, spec ops, and doing some laps, Rainbow Dash was practicing her katas, sweat dripping off her face as she spun, struck, and parried. Due to her position of leadership she didn’t have as much personal time as she used to enjoy, so what little she did have was focused on training. Sure daily PT and combat drills with her guards helped, but she still needed some extra “oomf” to make sure she kept her edge. Without that drive to be the best she wouldn’t be Rainbow Dash, Princess or not. “Oh Twi, why didn’t you tell me how much power you carried within you when you changed,” she thought to herself as she continued her movements, now landing a series of bucks and punches to a nearby punching bag. Indeed, after her own change she found it harder to control her power than to let it all out. But still, she learned the consequences the hard way of letting her power run loose during the Nightmare Prism incident. “Never again,” she told herself that day, and she stuck to that promise ever since. It was an odd sensation, being so powerful you could be a danger to the ones you cared about, and yet practically helpless in other situations. But, then again, that’s why she trained. She trained to better control her powers and to build up the areas where she may have been lacking. Although she may have wanted to, she couldn’t just train or fret about the recent disagreements between her and the other Elements. She had a colony to run after all, and they depended on her leadership for survival. Satisfied with the devastation she had inflicted upon the boards, bricks, and punching bags around her, Rainbow Dash stopped to do some cooldown exercises and some stretches. A routine she learned the necessity of the hard way early on during her athletic training in Cloudsdale. Whether she’d want to admit it or not; she was glad the girls introduced her to the spa. While she may have not cared for the more “frilly” aspects, the massage therapy and hot tubs were pure bliss on sore muscles after a long day of training. She will definitely try to get one set up in the colony when time permitted (but she would probably end up publicly denying having a hoof involved). “Scootaloo, get the shower ready for me, will ya?” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “I’ll never hear the end of it if I show up to my ‘royal duties’ smelling like a laundry bag filled with week-old gym socks that was left in the rain.” Scootaloo had just arrived at the quarters mere moments ago to brief Rainbow Dash on the upcoming events of the day, as well as help her equip her royal armor and regalia. “Sure thing, Princess!” Scootaloo replied, “Wow! I’m still amazed at you though! You did both regular and Elite Guard PT this morning AND you did combat drills AND you flew several dozen laps before you even started on your martial arts training!” “I know,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Twilight did a similar routine with the others and I when she first got her Crystal Palace back on Equestria. She was trying to avoid going back to her new home at the time, so she literally spent several days training with me, digging holes for Applejack, and working with the other girls. All without hardly breaking a sweat! She still had a nasty case of sleep deprivation though. I’ll admit, it was still pretty funny when she rambled things like, ‘I’m Princess Pancake!’ in her sleep deprived haze.” That elicited a giggle from Scootaloo as she gathered towels and other items for Rainbow Dash to use while cleaning. “Don’t tell her I said that though, ok?” Rainbow Dash shot her a wry look, “She’d die from embarrassment if she knew I was still telling that story.” “Deal,” Scootaloo promised with a smile. After a quick shower, cleaning up her teeth, mane, and hooves and a quick inspection of her Royal Regalia and Body Armor, she suited up and headed over to the Chow Hall. After dealing with the usual series of salutes, bows, and various Guardponies yelling “Princess on Deck,” and having to tell the various personnel to go back to their duties, she finally got to sit down for a brief moment and enjoy some breakfast. Accompanying her was her retainers and advisors. They included (but were not limited to), her old Wonderbolt alumni Lightning Dust, Soarin’, Fleetfoot, and Spitfire, as well as Gilda, Scootaloo, and Daring Do amongst others beings both Wonderbolt and non-Wonderbolt. In many ways, this was a dream team for her, for it put many of her old friends (and even a few rivals) under one roof and under her direct command. “About time ya’ showed up Dweeb-o,” Gilda replied while munching on some Griffinstone Scones. The other Wonderbolts (except for Lighting Dust, who was laughing at the insult) and Scootaloo glowered at her. The Element of Loyalty merely smiled at her knowing and replied back: “Dweeb-o’ or not, I’m still the one that pays you.” “But I haven’t been paid.” Gilda replied back. “Exactly. I’ll pay you when you actually earn something,” Rainbow shot back with a ponyfeather-eating grin. “Hah! Shots fired,” Lightning Dust laughed some more as she saw the griffin turn red in the face and frown at Rainbow Dash. “You’re lucky we’re friends Dashie,” the griffin growled through a gritted beak. “Heh, what are friends for,” Rainbow asked as she started to eat an insanely high and large stack of pancakes. “Heh, who’s Princess Pancake now,” Scoots asked. “Scoots!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Oh, sorry,” Scootaloo exclaimed in a near panic. The griffin leaned over and asked Scootaloo, “Now tell me, is there something you want to tell your ol’ Auntie Gilda?” Scootaloo waved her hooves in front of her in a near panic and exclaimed “It’s nothing, I assure you! It’s a loooong boring story!” Rainbow Dash merely glowered back at Gilda with her eyes in a slight squint and snorted in annoyance. Gilda wanted to press the issue, but decided to let it drop, for as much as she liked to tease Dash, she didn’t want to deal with an enraged Alicorn that was also the fastest being from their homeworld. “Suit yourself,” the Griffin shrugged as she went back to eating her scrambled eggs. “Still,” she concluded, “that sounds like one interesting story. Whatever it is.” After breakfast, Rainbow Dash decided to make a quick stop by a newly-established Barber Shop. There was something she had to take care of before starting her work day at the office. “Mornin’ Sharp Cut.” replied Rainbow Dash. “Well, hello Princess! It’s about time you showed up! I figured you were overdue for a regulation manecut,” the barber exclaimed. “So what do you have on your mind?” “Well, I know my usual short cut from both my civilian and Wonderbolt days were usually up to snuff, but I’m thinking of something different. Maybe a flat top? Something to let the troops know that I am serious about us going on a war footing if we need to and that I’m not letting myself go.” “Princess, you are renowned around here for both your long training hours and hours in the office. I doubt anypony would accuse you of ‘slacking off,’” the barber replied in turn. “Nonetheless, my mind is made up. Go ahead and give me a standard issue Flat top,” the Princess replied as she got into the barber chair. “If that’s what you want,” the barber shrugged as put the cape around the front of her and turned on the electric razor. …... “Hmmm, what do you think is taking Dash so long,” Gilda inquired as she started looking through a stack of papers. “Beats me.” commented Spitfire as she went through her own stack of files, “I can’t imagine what a mess both the paperwork and computer files are going to become when this colony gets-” “ATTEN-SHUN,” Scootaloo yelled out, having noticed that Rainbow Dash had finally arrived. “As you were,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, as she just wished the others would stop making a fuss and get back to work. Alas, the staff in the office was taken aback a bit by her new haircut, for it was now on display since she had took her helm off. “Highness, you got a new cut-,” Scootaloo started. Rainbow Dash hoofwaived this and replied, “Yeah yeah. I know. I got it because I wanted to look a bit more professional. That I was taking my leadership of this new colony more seriously. You know?” “Of course, Princess. I think I for one at least can understand that,” replied Spitfire as she put her pen down for a second. “Hey, as long as you’re happy with it ma’am,” commented Gilda in turn. “Heh...I was just hoping ol’ Squirt here would be happy now that we got matching manecuts,” Rainbow chided as he tousled the top of Scootaloo’s mane.” “Awww, Princess! Could you please stop embarrassing me in front of the staff,” Scootaloo pleaded. That comment in turn got the whole office to burst out into uproarious laughter. The guards outside of the entrance could only look at each other in confusion over what was going on inside. After a long day of work and diffusing several issues amongst the troops and civilians, Rainbow Dash was finally on her way back to her personal quarters. As she was on her way back she heard a familiar voice coming from the back. “Princess Dash! Wait, I need to speak to you!” “Yeah Squirt, what is it,” she asked as she slowly turned around to see Scootaloo. “Well, I’m just here to give you the final updates of the day, Princess.” Scoots replied. “I see” Dash commented. “Well, considering the sensitive nature of some of the info you probably have, let’s continue this talk in my quarters. After entering, Scoots continued, “The initial troops have armed up at the armory and are performing guard duty and patrols in town and we are presently working on training more troops and an explorer team. Our team of scientists are working on developing the tech needed for Sonic Fencing and building more colony transports, as you requested. Also, about earlier…” “Oh, you’re still worried about that,” Rainbow laughed, “Scoots, my second or not, you are still a card! I’ve forgiven you already! It was an accident and I understand.” “Oh, thank you Princess! I really do appreciate this,” Scoots continued until she was interrupted. “Jeez, here we go with the ‘Princess’ again,” Rainbow started, “I told you, unless we’re in public or on military ops, it’s just ‘Rainbow’ or ‘Dash.’ You are my godchild after all.” “I-I know Dash,” Scootaloo continued, “but it’s-” “Military Decorum, I know,” Dash completed the statement. After all, she’s heard it before on so many occasions from Scootaloo and so many others it wasn’t even funny. Dash then said, “Look, Scoots. As I’ve said; we’re not on the clock and we’re not in public here. So, just call me Dash for the time being. Okay?” “Uhm, sure Dash,” Scoots replied, “By the way, we stumbled on some actions that Princess Fluttershy has been doing involving the local wildlife. Certain actions we figured you would probably find...unreasonable.” Dash sighed as she slowly took off her body armor and crown. She then looked over at Scoots, and with much resignation replied, “Continue.”