Never Let Me Go

by Argenti Luna

Chapter 4 : The Principal Wants To See You

It was just your average day at Canterlot high, the sound of the lunch bell sending herds of students towards the cafeteria, there eyes desperate to see what delicious food was on offer. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had found themselves at the front of the queue giving them first pick of a wide selection of foods ranging from pasta and meatballs to a cheeseburger and fries. The girls chatted together, discussing what they should choose whilst having to hold their jaws shut as to not drool all over themselves. The pair grabbed a tray each and stacked it with as much food as they could carry and making their way over to the table where the group would typically meet for lunch. As they approached the table two smaller boys could be seen sitting at it, Snips and Snails, who at just the sight of the athletic girl and her party crazed friend quickly fled leaving their attempted claim to the table in the dust. Rainbow Dash snickered to herself almost proud of the fact that simply the sight of her is enough to instil dominance over the table, although it did raise a question in her mind. Did people find her intimidating, was she scary? However, this thought was quickly pushed to the back of her mind as her attention was caught by another duo of girls approaching the table their lunch trays looking near identical with a mix of salad and fruit positioned in portions on their trays.

“Rarity! Twilight!” Pinkie cried out in excitement her mouth already full of food.

“Pinkie it’s been less than 5 seconds, we are not being covered in the splutter from your mouth this early into lunch.” Rarity scolded as she moved away from sitting parallel to Pinkie in the hopes of avoiding coming under fire from any potential shrapnel that would find itself being ejected from the Pink haired girls’ mouth.

“Hey, girls how have your classes been so far today?” Twilight asked trying to shift the group into a conversation.

“Ugh they were super boring, but I just thought about the surprise I have planned for Sunset on Friday, so I managed to survive,” Pinkie said her face shifting from expressing boredom to intense excitement in the blink of an eye.

“Yeah I second what Pinkie said I can only take so much calculus,” Dash sighed a sigh of relief that she could now just focus on filling the hole in her stomach than cramming something she didn’t care for into a hole in her brain.

“Your studies are really important guys, you don’t want to fail and risk a retake or losing out on your future,” Twilight said her concern struck face sticking out like a sore thumb.

“Relax egghead,” A nonchalant Dash began, “I do enough to not fail and besides I’m going for a sports scholarship, not a maths degree,” She finished letting a laugh earning a raised eyebrow from Rarity.

“She’s got a point you know Rainbow they don’t offer scholarships to failures,” Rarity added trying to push a few of the athlete’s buttons.

At this time the shyer member of the group had made her appearance hearing the last half of Rarity’s sentence as she sat down besides Rainbow and adjacent to Rarity. “Rainbow you’re failing?” She asked worried for her friend.

“I’m not failing, I'm Rainbow Dash I never fail,” she announced proudly a smug grin on her face.

“Well you fail to notice some pretty obvious things sometimes,” Rarity said a devilish smile coating her lip.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dash asked as she tipped her head to the side in confusion.

“Nothing darling don’t you worry, now lift your head up you look like a confused puppy,” Rarity answered causing the table to begin erupting in laughter as the last remaining two friends Applejack and Sunset joined them at the table.

“Well what took you pair so long we’ve all been here for about 5 minutes already,” Rarity asked prodding the cowgirl that had sat beside her.

“You can blame Trixie,” Sunset answered, “One of her little magic tricks went off in class shooting confetti everywhere and we all had to stay behind and clean it up.”

“I thought confetti was banned after Pinkie kept shooting it out of her homemade party cannon, which by the way I’m not confident is legal to own,” Twilight mentioned.

“First of all they banned glitter because the janitor got sick of cleaning it up and secondly the cannon is not illegal, I checked and made modifications as needed like were you aware it is completely legal as long as it is powered by pressured air and is under 30 units,” Pinkie said a huge smile on her face.

“Pinkie what on earth could you do with that knowledge?” Applejack asked bewildered by the girl.

“Make a real cannon to defeat my enemies by keeping it within those parameters,” Pinkie replied erupting into a burst of fake evil laughter setting off the rest of the table to laugh with her.

“HA group laughter, CANNON TIME,” She shouted jumping out of her seat in excitement.

“NO! NO! I will not have my lunch ruined by you filling it full of shreds of coloured paper,” Rarity growled, trying to protect her plate with her hands.

“Okay no cannon now, but you just wait,” She said sitting back down with shifty eyes.

“Just don’t get me and Flutters when you fire it in this direction Pinkie we are innocent in your battle,” Dash laughed teasing Rarity.

“I don’t know Dashie it could be kinda fun,” Fluttershy said piping up in the conversation now she knew she could speak directly to Rainbow Dash.

“Really?” Dash asked a look of surprise struck across her face as she looked over at her shy friend, “You want to be covered in confetti?”

Fluttershy let out a small giggle all of her attention being spent on Dash, “Not afraid of a bit of paper are you now Dash,” The shy girl said a grin forming on her lips.

“Woah of all people to be suggesting I’m afraid of something it’s you Shy the girl who gets scared of her own shadow,” Rainbow said returning the teasing she had received from girl beside her, “Besides I’m Rainbow Dash nothing scares me,” The athlete proudly said leaning back in her chair.

“I should consider myself lucky then that I have such a brave friend to protect me from the pretty paper,” Fluttershy said with a bright smile.

“Well duh you can always count on me and everyone else here to have your back,” Dash responded, earning Fluttershy several other responses from the rest of the group letting her know that they could always count on her if she needed help. However, Rarity had remained silent a devilish look appearing on her face as a thought appeared within her mind.

“Fluttershy I must say you’ve been far more confident this lunchtime, is there a reason?” She questioned as she locked eyes with the shy girl sitting across the table.

Fluttershy’s face turned bright red in embarrassment, she couldn’t believe Rarity would imply something when Rainbow Dash was sat so close. Then again this is something she should have predicted, she already knew Rarity would try and push the pair together, as this was a trait she had spotted in Rarity whenever they had talked about crushes in the past. Rarity considered herself quite the matchmaker you see, often trying to pair Fluttershy up with whoever was crushing on her or who she herself was crushing on. Fluttershy glared at Rarity her face flushed red when out of the corner of her eye she spotted Twilight giving her a smile, winking once they had both made eye contact.

“Well duh, of course, I make others around me feel more confident how else do you think the soccer team thinks they will win every match!” Rainbow grinning boldly, trying to look as proud as possible unaware that she was saving Fluttershy from Rarity's plot.

“Well, Dash’s personality traits are renowned to aid in the boosting of morale so there is a science behind it and that in fact, it is simply her personality that brings out this behaviour. The results would be similar if Pinkie was in Dash’s position as her cheery attitude also helps make others feel at ease and welcome which results in them feeling more comfortable and confident,” Twilight said offering a logical explanation in an attempt to draw attention away from Fluttershy giving her a light smile once she felt no eyes were on either of them.

This worked successfully having caused Dash and Pinkie Pie to begin high fiving each other, beginning to joke around that they should both become to the alphas of the group because of science, earning themselves a few eye rolls and laughs in the process. The main thing here, however, is that Twilights plan had worked earning herself a silent thank you from Fluttershy which she returned with a simple nod before joining in with the laughing girls.

“I must say you saved that very well, I admit I may have overstepped the boundary there, but you did well to recover from it,” Rarity whispered as she leaned closer to Twilights ear. Twilight sat feeling more at home than ever, she patted herself on the back proud that she was able to look out for one of her friends.

The girls carried on with their lunches with conversation and laughter flowing with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash having a few one on one chats here and there as Fluttershy felt surer that she was no longer under suspicions allowing her to begin regaining her confidence.

“You know I’ve been thinking about this weekend I’m not gonna have enough blankets and pillows are you alright bringing some of your own?” Sunset asked chirping up into the conversation.

“Don’t worry darling I have plenty that I can bring,” Rarity said attempting to put the flame-haired girl's worries at ease.

“I can bring my blanket from home, but it would probably only be enough for two people,” Fluttershy added.

“Yeah that’s great, I’ve got enough for maybe three of us at a push so the extra’s would be really appreciated unless you want to get cold,” Sunset replied causing laughter and excitement to fill the group as they talked about the endless possibilities of things they could do. Sadly however this excitement was cut short as three girls approached the table.

“Yo Dash we gotta talk,” The girl at the front asked a sense of command in her voice.

“Yeah no prob Spitfire what’s up, I’ll BRB guys don’t worry,” Rainbow Dash replied getting up from her seat and following the trio to an empty table.

“What do you think that’s about,” Twilight asked the group of remaining friends.

“You know I’m not really sure but considering its members from her soccer team it's probably soccer related.” Applejack replied shrugging her shoulders.

“You’ll have to educate me here on who it is that she’s speaking too?” Twilight asked slightly embarrassed at her lack of knowledge.

“Oh, I can answer you that one since I met them at the try-outs yesterday,” Sunset said taking charge in answering the bookworm’s question. “The one in the middle who’s currently speaking to Dash with the orange hair is Spitfire, she has a bit of an attitude, but it makes her a more dominant player on the pitch. On the left there with the white hair is Fleetfoot, she’s pretty calm by nature but tries to play it cool like Dash, when it comes to her soccer skills her agility is her strong suit. Finally, we’ve got High Winds the one on the right with the blue hair she’s more of a follower of Spitfire than her own personality, but she still has a bit of character to her.” Sunset finished summarising looking to Twilight ensuring she understood everything.

“SOOOO we got Spitfire, Fleetfoot and High Winds, bet you can’t say it ten times fast.” Pinkie spoke not giving Twilight a chance to respond as she began reciting the names as quickly as she could.

While Applejack, Sunset and Twilight joined in with the excitable girl to see who could repeat the names with the fastest pace, Rarity found herself subtly watching Fluttershy who sat quietly watching Rainbow Dash interacting with her soccer team, having once again left at a moment’s notice. Fluttershy knew that Dash had said she would be back soon, but it still left her feeling forgotten feeling each ounce of confidence that she’d mustered slowly seep away. In Fluttershy’s mind, she felt it was petty of her wanting to have the complete attention of someone else, it’s not like they were kids anymore it was more than just the two of them and Dash had her own life to live.

After some time Rarity brought up her curiosity as to what they could be speaking about earning herself the attention of the table and shifting it onto the four girls who were sat on the other end of the cafeteria.

“My lip-reading skills tell me she’s talking about waffles and pixies,” Pinkie said trying to sound like an expert in the field.

“I don’t even think you could fool Derpy with those skills Pinks,” Sunset responded with a chuckle.

“Hey now you leave that poor girl alone she’s brighter than you might think," Rarity said defending the peculiar girl.

“Yeah she has incredible baking skills like she makes muffins as good as I make cupcakes,” Pinkie added the excitement in her voice increasing over the topic of baked goods.

“Hush now Rainbow Dash is coming back,” Rarity said snapping her fingers to obtain the girl's attention as the Rainbow haired athlete returned the table carrying a garment she had received from Spitfire.

“Heya guys I'm back and I bring some pretty big news,” Rainbow said with a huge smile on her face as she sat back down between Sunset and Fluttershy. “This here is for Sunset,” She said handing the article of clothing across to the flame-haired girl.

“Thanks but what exactly is it?" Sunset asked as she started to unravel it her jaw-dropping as it took its true shape.

“Is this the soccer teams’ uniform?” Sunset said asking yet another question, her face forming a smile as she began to piece the puzzle together, “Did I make the team?”

Dash gave a smile and nodded patting Sunset on the back, “That’s right I talked it over with the team and we’ve all come to the agreement that you held your own the best on the field yesterday, so we want you on the team, that’s if you still want to anyway?”

Sunset rubbed the fabric between her hands feeling its silky texture as she took a final moment to process the information she had been given, feeling pride in herself that she was wanted on the school soccer team. “Yeah I’d love to play it was pretty fun yesterday, so I don’t see why not.”

“That’s so awesome!” Dash cheered throwing a fist into the air, giving a nod to Spitfire who was stood at the other side of the cafeteria who upon returning the nod swiftly left walking out into the school corridor.

“You know Dash not to sound like I ain't got no faith in ya, but I thought that was the last we’d see of ya today when you got up and left with those three,” Applejack added.

“Guys come on I know I’ve been gone a lot, but I’ve not been That bad right?” Rainbow Dash asked looking between each girl sat around her at the table.

“It’s been pretty bad darling, not to sound like I'm kicking you down but until yesterday I actually hadn’t seen you for two weeks,” Rarity replied with a wince.

“Yeah you’ve been like a spooky ghost I thought you’d abandoned us all forever and ever and EVER,” Pinkie added putting on a deep voice for dramatic effect causing Rarity to emulate a facepalm as to not smudge her makeup.

“Really that bad, like I had an idea it was sucky after what Sunset and that had said to me but damm,” She cut the sentence short sighing to herself before turning to the pink haired girl beside her, “How about you Shy, you feel the same way?”

Everyone on the table had their attention brought down onto Fluttershy the quietest one of them all. However unlike Fluttershy’s usual reaction to this kind of thing, she hadn’t even noticed the numerous pairs of eyes watching her, she was fixated on Dash her thoughts racing on how she should respond. Fluttershy didn’t want to hurt Rainbow Dash's feelings but she needed to know how it had affected her, she wanted to tell her how it was making her feel inside, how much smaller she felt when Rainbow wasn’t around.

“Rainbow..” Fluttershy started letting the words begin to seep out before an orange haired girl who had just approached cut her off.

“Yo Dash,” Spitfire started unaware that she was interrupting, “We gotta get you and hothead here down to the principal’s office, she wants to see you.”

“Why Principle Celestia’s office when we all joined the team they just went over the stuff we needed to know in the changing rooms?” Dash asked warily of the fact that they could be in trouble.

“Yeah she’s just eating her lunch and asked me to take you both to her, apparently the new coach is there too,” Spitfire replied before heading back the way she had gone before.

“Well I suppose we better go Sunset,” Dash said awkwardly aware she was already leaving the group despite the previous conversation.

“Wait I’m hothead, why?” Sunset asked, a mixture of confusion and anger in her voice.

“Well probably two reasons, think you can guess them,” Rainbow replied trying to keep a straight face.

“My deduction would conclude that its one because of your hair colour and two your history of having a short temper,” Twilight answered acting as if it was a quiz.

Sunset did not look amused glaring between both her sporty and nerdy friend, “let’s just go already,” She said her glare breaking into a smile and letting out a laugh that was shared with the group.

“Well I suppose I better see to this I’ll be back as soon as I can and if that’s too late I’ll see you tomorrow,” Dash said grabbing her bag and standing up.

“Trust me if there’s time, I’ll drag her back,” Sunset laughed as she stood up and began walking with Rainbow Dash following in Spitfire's footsteps.

“Well I suppose we can’t blame her for this, after all, it’s by the principals request and the only thing higher than that would be royalty,” Rarity said her eyes glowing with the possibility of a world where Principal Celestia was instead a member of royalty.

“I know that look,” Applejack started, “What are you conjuring up in that their head of yours.”

“Well I just had an idea is all, that for the Christmas ball I could perhaps design our dresses to fit within the theme of royalty like think about it, tiara’s and glass slippers,” Rarity daydreamed over the endless possibilities that she could create.

“I don’t know how many times I’ll need to remind you this but I ain't exactly a dress gal,” Applejack brought up not even sure if Rarity was still listening at this point.

The next 5 minutes went on very much like this with Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy having a separate conversation between themselves letting the two go at it over whether or not Applejack would wear a dress.

“Not even for me darling pretty please,” Rarity begged, begining to flutter her eyelids.

“Don’t do that,” Applejack said the frustration in her voice growing.

“I don’t know what you mean, do what?” She teased giving her best puppy eyes and fluttering her eyelids even more.

“You know what you are doing with those damm eyes,” Applejack cried waving her hands in front of Rarity’s face.

“Darling I promise I haven’t a clue,” Rarity ensued Fluttering more intensely.

“FINE, FINE, I’ll put on the dress if you’ll pack it in,” Applejack said raising her arms to surrender to the more fashionable girl.

“Oh I’ll stop, after all, I need to focus on how many frills you’ll have,” She said still teasing and letting out a giggle.

“You sound like a married couple,” Twilight said jokingly causing Rarity to shoot her a stern look, causing the egghead to recede back out of the conversation confused as to what she had done wrong looking to Fluttershy who was softly giggling.

“You know what this calls for,” Pinkie said standing up with her hands flat on the table.

“No we don’t need a dang party cause I'm wearing a dress,” Applejack said trying to burst the party girls bubble.

“A PA.... oh,” Pinkie started sitting back down causing the whole group of girls to erupt into laughter.

---

At the other end of the school Rainbow Dash and Sunset were standing outside of the principal’s office talking to Spitfire as they waited to be called inside, the conversation they had was kept short and simple allowing them to drop it at a moment’s notice. They talked about a range of things soccer based from potential future plays to the things they saw from Sunset yesterday, letting her know her strong points and potential flaws to work on along with letting her know the plans they have for her, including plays she will be key in. Sunset did her best to follow along with what they were telling her, she knew enough about soccer to grasp what they were saying but hardly enough to be able to fully understand it.

“You may enter,” A commanding voice came from behind the door causing the girls to enter one by one into the dimly lit room seeing a woman sat behind a desk on one side of the room her cyan coloured eyes almost glowing in the darkness with her dark blue and lilac hair flowing behind almost emulating the night sky.

“She has asked you go straight in,” Vice-Principal Luna said in that same tone urging the girls to carry on over to the other side of the room where a door stood with a shining light seeping through the gaps and into the shaded office of Luna's. The three girls moved together greeting the woman behind the desk before entering into the other room.

This office was very much, unlike the one they had left behind them with the difference being like night and day, the office room having large windows on every corner of the room allowing massive amounts of sunlight to filter in with a desk sat in the centre of the room which housed yet another woman, Her hair was like a stream of daylight brandishing light mellow colours and her eyes a calm shade of pink. She wore a yellow jacket with a sun pinned to her chest, “Ahh, hello girls I’m glad Spitfire found you, I had a few things I needed to go over with Sunset and since you are the team captain Rainbow Dash I felt it was appropriate you were present.”

“Of course Principal Celestia, what do you need me to do?” Sunset asked starting to question what kind of sports team needed this kind of official initiation.

“Oh, it’s nothing major just need you to sign a few things that say you give us permission to take you out of the school grounds for matches. Usually, your parent or guardian has to sign it but well you’re a bit of a special case,” She said looking at Sunset with a warm smile as she flipped a document around for her to sign.

“And what did you need me and Dash for?,” Spitfire asked raising the question as she stood leant against the back wall of the office.

“Well that’s the main reason you’re all here together rather than me just chasing Sunset down for her to squiggle her name down, then hunting you down for this, it’s very exciting news you see,” Celestia said getting a little ahead of herself.

“Wanna tell us what it is?,” Rainbow Dash questioned motioning with her hand for Principal Celestia to carry on.

“Of course well you see Vice principal Luna and I have been interviewing for the position of the new Gym teacher and Coach and since you are both the Captain and Vice-captain of the soccer team we felt it appropriate that you should be formally introduced,” Celestia said to the three girls in the room before pushing a button on her desk to turn on the intercom, “Luna could you send in the new coach please?” She said lifting her hand away from the button to continue speaking to the girls directly.

“Now from what we’ve been told he himself was a star athlete and a captain of a soccer team himself, so he’s got the playing experience, and for coaching experience he’s not only a personal trainer but has done private coaching for several professional soccer players and that’s not even everything,” Celestia said in a kind tone.

“He sounds great, it’s exactly what the team needs to give us that edge over everyone else,” Spitfire said eagerly, coming away from the wall and heading over to the desk in the centre of the room.

“He sounds like my Dad,” Dash said jokingly.

“That’s the other thing,” Celestia said her soft smile still holding on her face, but her sentence was cut short by Luna opening the door and guiding the coach inside with the three girls turning around to see who their new coach would be. A tall man with short rainbow coloured hair stepped into the room looking at everyone with a smile,

“You guys ready for Canterlot high to take the trophy this year.” The man said extending his hand to shake Spitfires.

Sunsets jaw dropped at what she’d heard there’s no way this was actually Rainbow Dash’s dad although the similarities were there with the hair and everything, Sunset turned to Dash preparing to ask her if it was actually her dad, but she already got her answer just from seeing Dash. Rainbows face had lost nearly all its colour and her jaw was dropped wide open.

“Uh, you alright there dash?” Sunset asked nudging her friend with her elbow.

Rainbow shook herself trying to accept the reality of the situation, this was her dad, in school. Why was he in school? Why was he now her coach? Rainbow Dash slowly turned her head to face Sunset and silently mouthed, “This will not end well for any of us.”

Author's Note:

Heya guys it's me again

Hope you like the chapter and remember you can always leave me your thoughts and suggestions.
I also appreciate any criticisms you might have or any corrections you might see slip past my checking

Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it

Comments

[Justanotherstory26]

Rainbow dash dad will act as a barrier for rainbow dash and her friends (especially Fluttershy) my only hope is that rainbow dash dad would learn to let her daughter go.
Correct me if I’m wrong.

[Argenti Luna]

9681387
Well, your first part will be answered in the next chapter, the last part you will have to wait and see