Lairs & Lycanthropy: Revival

by NeoNagasaki

The Board is Set

Terrified eyes burst open with a yell of fright as the young filly sat bolt upright, tossing the worn patchwork cloak to the side. Hooves were placed to the sides of her head as she rolled forward, curling up with her head between her hind legs. The sound of light drops bouncing off the trees could be just barely heard by her in between laboured gasping breaths. Her breathing slowed as the cold sweat covering her whole body caused the chill to seep back into her. Eventually, shaking with both cold and fear, the young filly grasped the patchwork cloak and pulled it over her once more as she slumped to the wooden floor.

Alone, facing the chilling morning she lay staring out into the damp undergrowth; puddles of water formed on the road, muddy and brown, a stark contrast to the walls of green above. Things were certainly better then they were last night. Her makeshift blanket was pulled tighter as she unconsciously thought about the torrent of rain she barely escaped the night before.

Her eyes closed tightly as she tried to remember exactly what her dreams had held. She was almost certain it was of her parent’s brutal execution…again, but for some reason this dream seemed different. There were colours, some other figures alongside her, friends maybe? That was a laugh; she hadn’t had any of those since before she started her wandering, before her parents-… She shuddered again, trying to shake herself out of it. It had been months after all, she knew she couldn’t keep holding onto them like this. It wasn’t that her heart was cold, she just needed to survive, and lingering on thoughts like that only served to distract her. What spore of madness was it that she undertook this journey? Walking hundreds of miles with nothing after losing her parents, she would have quit a hundred times over but at the end of this road she would have the only thing she now wanted from life: vengeance.

She had to get up, she knew she did. To lay here all day would be to admit defeat. She pushed her little body to rise, but it failed her. Every muscle in her tiny frame was sore and screamed at her in protest. Evidently her mind and her body were not in agreement about what was important. Slowly her head pushed its way out of the structure and hung over the overhang to the outside. Tiny raindrops pecked her on the back of the head like light kisses as she stared down at the nigh unrecognizable face staring back from the puddle.

Her light blue fur was damp and mottled with streaks of dirt and filth. The horribly disheveled figure in the puddle stared back at her with uncaring, dead eyes. A white mane hung down on one side of her head, passing her nose. This too, had seen better days. The once fresh white mane was now grey in most parts, and smeared with dirt in others. Worse still, after months of not being brushed the knots had started to add up, turning the mane into one giant tangled mess. She winced, head rearing back in surprise as a teardrop smacked into the image and tore it apart in a flurry of ripples.

Once again the foal put her hooves under her, legs wobbling as she struggled to lift herself off the ground. The pain came as she expected, and she groaned in protest of her own actions. Steadying herself she looked up at the small wooden structure that had given her the shelter she desperately needed the night before. It was a small, simple structure that sat by the side of the road, and as she gazed at it carefully she recognized it as a shrine to the monks of the Kelvar Mountains. Her lips curled into a bit of a smile, such an unfamiliar feeling as of late. Even though her muscles ached and pleaded with her to rest the filly’s left knee bent, the right front knee remaining extended as she bent in a bow of respect.

A sharp pain hit her abdomen, then lulled back into the dull ache she had been ignoring since she awoke. Hunger; hunger had become her new traveling companion, and she liked to talk sometimes. A lot of the time. All right all of the time. She didn’t like it, but at least someone was around she could rely on, even if it was just to hurt her. A careful hoof grabbed her frayed saddlebag and slung it over her shoulders onto her back. Instincts told her to search for food in there, but the hour she spent doing that yesterday hadn’t yielded any results.

The puddle quivered slightly as she jumped out of the small shrine, landing just past its watery edge. Slowly she stretched her aching muscles and prepared for another day of hard, hungry, painful marching.

The story of her journey hadn’t been a pleasant one. Each day since she had managed to pull herself away from her parent‘s lifeless bodies had been the same. The punishing long days turned into punishing long nights. She wasn’t sure what was worse, the days when she forced her aching muscles to move just one more step, or the nights where she had nothing to do but hurt, remember, and cry. But eventually mercifully she dragged her weary body and broken spirit to the massive door of the temple. Her cracked hooves clacked harshly against the door as she collapsed in front of it in exhausted agony. The doors remained silent, indifferent to her plight for what seemed like an age…But eventually the door creaked, then opened, and a single figure stood at the door. Her journey was finally at an end.

In front of her stood a orange stallion with a string of black beads hanging around his neck. Attached to his back was a long wooden staff, held in place by the flimsiest of strings. His dark red mane was tied up in a series of deliberate and carefully managed braids. Slowly his attention was attracted down to the filly on the ground, eyes widening in surprise and confusion.

Gritting her teeth the filly pushed herself up one more time, looking the stallion in the eyes with a glare of determination. Finally she made it to her hooves and took a breath, steadying herself. “I have traveled a very long way to be here today, and I’ve almost died more than once. I intend to become a monk, and I’m not leaving or taking no for an answer.” Her legs shook beneath her, threatening to collapse her once more, but sheer force of will kept her standing.

The orange pony tilted his head to the side, drawing in a breath as he sized her up. “I suppose I have no choice but to let you in to talk to Master Hope. But I can’t possibly let you in without knowing your name.”

The filly let a stream of air out through her nostrils, pushing a matted clump of tangled hair to the side “Rainbow Dash.”

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“No!” the orange pony yelled, the crop stinging as it cracked against Rainbow’s flank. Rainbow Dash had learned since that day years ago that this was Brother Meadow, and as it turned out he could be a real pain in the ass.

Rainbow Dash jumped slightly, looking first back at her sore flank, then to Brother Meadow, glaring daggers. Unfortunately Brother Meadow was unfazed. “Ow! Stop doing that!” she demanded, her irritation wasted on this wall of calm.

The monk set down the crop as he returned to all fours. He was personally overseeing her training today, and with good reason. Master Hope hadn’t wanted to take Rainbow Dash in, some bullshit about her heart being full of hatred and not being able to follow rules or find balance or what the fuck ever. Brother Meadow had stood up for her and pointed out that any willing student deserved a chance. Rainbow Dash managed to perplex him as both his best and worst student. He gave out a bit of a sigh as she returned to the uncomfortable meditative pose, balancing on one hoof with her foreleg hooves together and hind leg pulled up. “I don’t get it, maybe you can explain it to me…You spend hours each day on weapon drills and combat practice, you’ve managed to outrun every student even close to your age…”

Rainbow Dash nodded proudly with a wink, her body wavering as she tried to maintain her pose, “Yup, that’s right!” Her eyes widened, and she retreated back into calm introspection when Meadow touched the crop threateningly once more.

“But you avoid meditation, slack off on your chores, and haven’t learned the slightest bit of humility!” He shook his head as he walked around her in circles, as though trying to look her over to diagnose the problem.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at his accusations “It’s not that I don’t care about all that filly-stuff.”

“Philosophy.” Meadow interjected, evident irritation at her flippant nature of his teachings bled through.

“Right, philosophy. But it’s difficult, it doesn’t seem like it has any real world applications!” Rainbow grit her teeth and prepared for another swat that never came.

Meadow only sighed “The four truths are the key to understanding the universe. Once you open your mind to them you’ll be able to find peace, enlightenment and happiness. What greater application could there be?”

“But the second truth is that seeking pleasure is the root of suffering? Right? So that means I can’t try to understand them because I might be happy when I do.” Rainbow Dash sighed impatiently “What is so wrong with wanting to be the best? Why can’t I just be happy being the fastest or the strongest?”

Brother Meadow sat next to her once more, giving up on his search “Such pleasures are wants that can never truly be satisfied. By thinking you can you invite ignorance, which will breed envy, greed, hatred, and anger. Through envy, greed, hatred, and anger, you will cause and receive suffering.” Brother Meadow hung his head low, setting the crop to the side as he started out of the room. “Think on the four truths and meditate my little pony, try to see their wisdom.”

The sound of the closing door brought Rainbow Dash to the ground with a sigh of relief “Oh man, that meditation stuff gets ridiculous…”

A sound from the other side of the room startled Rainbow Dash, sending her up and into the uncomfortable position once more “Oh come on, it’s not all that bad.” The sound of giggling caused Rainbow to open her eyes and turn her head.

“Oh!” Her hooves fell back to earth, “Spirit, it’s only you.” Before her stood a pony of about the same age, known to many of the ponies here as Spirit Brave. He was also blue, although a darker shade than her, and his hair was black, tied into the same series of braids hers now held. Spirit was the closest thing to what she could call a friend around here - well, at least he was another student who she spent time with voluntarily. They shared meals, and he often helped with training, even sparring a few times though it was evident he was outmatched by now. But most importantly, he didn’t rat on her when she slacked off with her meditation, and even covered her when she forgot to do her chores sometimes.

“Yes, it’s just me.” He said with a playful smile. “There is some truth to the four truths you know, and meditating really helps you contemplate it.”

Rainbow Dash gave a bit of a laugh “Come on Spirit, it’s just sitting in a room doing nothing. We waste so much time on it. I came here because a monk fought the ponies that killed my parents.” She thought back, it stung a lot less now “Why are they allowed to go out and kick some ass, but I get in trouble when I want that?”

The sapphire pony crossed the room, siding up right next to her, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. “Because they already understand the truths. They go out to make the world a better place for everypony and protect the weak.”

Her eyes rolled once more as the same rhetoric was repeated back to her again. “Alright, enough already. You‘re starting to sound like Brother Meadow. You up for a sparring match? Or maybe some extra training in with the tonfas?”

A dismissive head was shaken at Rainbow as Spirit assumed the stance she had abandoned. “Thanks, but it’s time for me to sit quietly in this room and do nothing. You’re welcome to join me, if you can be quiet.” A light smirk peeked out from his calm demeanor, showing he didn’t think she could.

“Oh, you‘re no fun.” Rainbow accused, toppling him over with a push. Slowly she strut past him on her way out of the room . “But when you’re done sitting around being bored, find me. We can go for a run or grab some lunch.”

He returned her smile from the ground as he pushed himself back up “All right, I’ll hold you to that Rainbow.” With that he hopped back up into the uncomfortable position, it was evident he had practiced a lot more at it.

Rainbow left the room and immediately took to a more familiar place, the training room. The floor was padded for tumbling, and the racks were lined with wooden practice weapons. Around this time of day all the other students were out meditating or resting, it let her practice by herself for a bit. Some time passed as she did some weight training, then practiced her form with a few of the more exotic weapons. She didn’t want to do anything too strenuous though, Spirit usually liked to go for a run after they ate. Rainbow set the wooden weapon back in its rack when suddenly the door burst open, revealing a very distressed looking Spirit. Any notion of playful banter melted away from Rainbow as she saw the look on his face “What’s wrong!” she demanded, charging to his side.

“Rainbow…” he said breathlessly “They’re going to kick the shit out of you.”

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times “What?” She couldn’t have possibly heard that right.

Spirit ignored her as he pushed on with his explanation, moving to the center of the room in a bit of a panic. “I overheard Brother Meadow and Master Hope talking. They decided to teach you how desire breeds anger by putting you in a sparring match with a full monk, ten years older than you.”

Beneath Rainbow’s blue fur she paled. The full monks were monsters, she was good for a student, but a monk would tear her apart. “They’re going to beat the crap out of me, to teach me that wanting to be strong causes suffering? Are they out of their minds?” It felt like she’d been hit with a truck, nothing felt real. Like she was watching some other pony face down a death sentence.

Heavy gasps turned into deep measured breaths as Spirit tried to calm down “You need to show some humility Rainbow…go tell them you meditated, and that you understand why it’s bad. Convince them!” Lines of concern and panic stretched over Spirit’s face. Surely they wouldn’t kill her, but still, a beating from a monk could be pretty brutal.

Rainbow Dash looked about sullenly before rushing to Spirit and grabbing him by the neck lifting him up. “Spirit, listen to me. You need to forget about this. Don’t jeopardize your future because of me. You’re going to be a good monk someday…” She turned, pushing him towards the exit.

“No! We have to figure something out!” he protested, pushing back against her. “You’re-”

“Shhh…” Rainbow Dash absently put her foreleg around him, stroking his mane once “I know what I have to do, please….just go.” Her eyes were sullen as she looked at him. They managed to silence him as he trotted slowly towards the door. He turned back with a look of concern once, as though he was about to say something, then left.

She waited for a moment or two, her breathing getting heavy as she thought of what was to come, and made a decision that she knew would change her life. They wanted to teach her what it was like to lose by putting her in a fight she couldn‘t win. But she didn‘t believe in fights that couldn‘t be won. With a look of determined resolve she stood, making her way over to the weapon rack. Her teeth grit as her hoof reached out for a nice heavy stick.

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Sullenly the blue figure paced back and forth, awaiting her grim fate. This was it, no backing down now. She had made her preparations, for better or worse she had made her choice. That’s when she heard it, the door opened behind her and Brother Meadow stepped in. “Rainbow Dash, Master Hope has asked to see your martial prowess in the sparring arena.”

Solemnly her head raised, looking to her long time teacher with little more than a nod. The walk to the arena was short, but it felt like it took centuries. Each step leaving a sound that echoed in her mind. When she got to the sparring arena there were several ponies sitting or standing around it. The arena was a pit in the middle of the center courtyard filled with sand where ponies sparred.

She faked a smile, posing to the crowd and hopped into the pit. She almost wished she had simply run away. Just opened the front gates and left. It would have been easy enough, but only a coward took the easy way out. Rainbow Dash was no coward.

On the other side of the ring another pony fell into the ring. He was covered in an orange suit, and had a string of black beads encircling his neck. He looked upon his victim with cold calculating eyes. Viewing her not as a girl he was about to thrash, but as a student who needed a lesson. Kind of sick really, that bastard thought he was doing her a favor. “You expect me to fight him!?” She demanded. Shoving a hoof towards the stallion twice her age and size.

The answer came very suddenly as the clearly ancient Master Hope simply looked down at the arena and shouted “Begin!”

The steely eyes blue pony wheeled about, charging towards the monk with a angry combat yell. She could feel the heat of the sun on her back, and the wetness of the tears on her cheeks. She watched as the monk silently began his rush forward, easily outpacing her as he closed in for his attack.

Rainbow watched defensively for any sign of his movements, her gaze drifting to each hoof, trying to determine where the attack would come from. Suddenly the stallion leapt, his left hind leg swinging around for a kick. He was fast, faster than Rainbow Dash, but she didn’t attempt to fight yet.

With a scream of defiance she hurled herself sideways hard, sand flying in every direction as she hit the soft ground. The kick sailed harmlessly overhead, but as his hoof landed he immediately reversed himself, the same hoof flying around at Rainbow Dash. With a yell she reached into the sand, pulling out the wooden practice weapon and swinging it with both hooves as hard as she could.

Knee met with wood and a sickening, splintering crunch audibly filled the area. Immediately it was followed by a howl of pain as the monk started to drop to one knee. Rainbow Dash reared up on her hind legs, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion as she reared the club back.

Blood sprayed across Rainbow Dash’s face and the sand as the club connected with the monk’s jaw. The crack sounded like someone had dropped a bag of rocks and left the monk sailing off his knee and to the ground. An arc of blood shot everywhere until he landed on his back and started forming a puddle of black sand beneath his head. The monk started to get up before the club landed again on his chest, leaving him rolling about in the sand gasping. She glared at him angrily as he rolled around, sand sticking to his bloodied shirt and face. “Are you fucking stupid!” She demanded, “Do you want to fucking die!? Stay down!”

The screams of rage leaving Rainbow’s throat drowned out the cries of the multiple ponies rushing into the arena. Instinctively she pulled away from the hooves coming in, trying to restrain her. A few grabbed her but she angrily broke free and tried to stay on top of the monk. Multiple ponies finally managed to pull the wounded stallion away from her, and wrench the bloody club from her grasp.

The young pony resisted as leather straps were wrapped around her limbs, immobilizing her as they held the straps apart with their teeth. Her mind slowly faded from the adrenaline high of the battle as she relaxed and stopped trying to fight her captors. “All right already! You got me.” She muttered, letting them know she was finished. Her eyes looked up to the stands for Brother Meadow and Master Hope, but they weren’t in their seats. After a quick scan she did manage to find Master Hope, walking away from the monk in the sand, apparently he had checked his injured disciple first.

She breathed heavily, looking up through a mask of her opponent’s blood. “What were you thinking!?” he demanded. His entire body clenched, as though he was using every amount of his restraint not to beat her senseless. “You cheated! You cheated and seriously injured a fellow monk!” The words were spat at her, insults meant to wound her, but they failed to penetrate the cloud of anger that surrounded their target.

Looking up at him an irate, inquisitive eyebrow raised defiance flooded her and bolstered her resolve “I cheated?” her head thrust forward as she spat on the ground in defiance “Fuck you! You send a grown ass monk to beat on a child and then get mad when he fucking loses!?” She stared down the old stallion, knowing full well she was essentially made of toothpicks he could crush her so easily. But at this point she didn’t care, she agreed to give up her quest for vengeance because this asshole told her it would bring her nothing but misery. He betrayed her, she tried, honestly tried to become a monk. She trusted him, she trusted them. All the words about learning patience, all the time spent trying to shut out her unwanted emotions, and this was how she was repaid? They didn’t like what she said so they just planned to kick the shit out of her? Fuck them, fuck them all.

Master Hope grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air “We were trying to teach you a lesson in humility!”

Her glare faltered as her resolve cracked. Slight tears started to form in the corners of her eyes, only her fury was holding them back now. “And I was trying to teach you one of respect!”

Master Hope threw the ungrateful child to the ground where she crashed unceremoniously in a pile “Get her out of my sight.” He was shaking with rage now, his hooves planted firmly on the ground to make sure he didn‘t do something he‘d regret. “If I ever see her in these walls again, I’ll kill her myself.” His voice contrasted his body, coming out as cold and even, as though he had carefully considered the action.

Rainbow Dash struggled against the bonds wrapped around her arms as she was dragged through the halls of the temple and brought to the main doors. Though she struggled her pulls and tugs were futile. Every tug found two ponies’ mouths at the end of each strap. Two burly monks opened the doors and the group heaved the straps and let go, sending the young mare sprawling into the dirt with a crunch. She couldn’t bring herself to stand, or even look up from the ground as the sound of the solid oaken doors thudded against her ears. With no one finally watching she couldn’t hold onto her anger anymore. All the pain and sadness she held from when she found out about the fight till now forced it’s way out through her eyes. Slowly she curled up on the ground and wept, feeling just as helpless and vulnerable as she did the day her parents died.

“Hey….” Rainbow could barely look up as she felt a hoof press gently against her back. She couldn‘t bring herself to look at the sapphire figure that stood over her. She just curled up tighter on the ground and cried. Slowly Spirit lowered himself to the ground and put a foreleg over her, holding her carefully as her sobs slowed.

“Spirit…” Rainbow Dash sniffled, but she couldn’t find any words appropriate.

“It’s ok Dashie.” He muttered, “I won’t tell anyone you cried after winning a fight.”

This brought a burst of sad laughter from the pony, who hit him playfully “Shut up.”

His smile helped somewhat as he got to his hooves and wiped the tears out of her eyes. Then he helped her to her hooves as well. “Don’t worry about it Rainbow, there’s lots of places out there ponies can be happy, hell there’s even other monasteries we can go to.”

That raised an eyebrow, slowly it clicked as she looked him over. Strapped across his back were proper leather saddlebags, and a familiar patchwork cloak, funny, it seemed smaller now. Rainbow’s tear and blood stained face softened even more as she realized what he was offering. “What? No, no you’re staying here. You’re a good student, and I know this is your calling…This stuff just wasn’t for me.”

Spirit lowered his head, his smile faltering “I’ve got some bits, and some food, even a bit of wine. We can-”

“No.” She said, this time more aggressively. “You’re not going to jeopardize your future over this. You’re a monk, Spirit. If you leave you’ll spend your life wishing you could finish your teachings. I can’t let you suffer because of me. Let my mistakes end with me, please.”

Spirit closed his eyes for a while. “I’m never going to see you again, am I?” All the teachings about not wanting failed him as a pain ripped into his heart. Desire leading to pain, yeah, that sounded about right. The saddlebags fell to the ground as he moved over to her, hiving her a firm hug “I’ll miss you.” he muttered softly.

Rainbow Dash hugged him back, then looked him over as he stepped back, now covered in blood. It made her smile a bit “I’ll miss you too.” she told him. With that he headed back to the monastery, they exchanged one long forlorn look before the oaken doors closed, and he was gone from her.

She started walking her mind deep in thought as she contemplated her actions and what she could have done differently. She didn’t know why it was so hard for her to accept the training, she really did try, but it felt as though who she was, was already set, and simply poked out despite what she did. She didn’t know exactly how long she walked in her deep contemplation, but reared back in surprise as she was a town. Her eyes drifted over the large sign at the side of the road: Welcome to Apple Springs! it stated cheerily, with pictures of happy birds and sunshine. “Fuck you and your fucking sunshine.” she growled angrily at the birds.

“Uh…” A brown stallion spoke up from beside her, looking her over strangely. She turned on the pony she hadn‘t noticed in her daze, whomever he was, he seemed to be tethered to a wagon with supplies. “They’re not real birds…and it’s not real sunshine.” he told her helpfully. Rainbow shot him a dirty look “Right, but fuck em’. Fuck em’ and their fuckin’ sunshine.” His eyes widened, before he decided it was pertinent to agree, looking the sign over contemptuously.

With that wrong righted, Rainbow Dash looked to right another wrong with the world. She had yet to get smashed because that monastery of pussies wouldn’t allow it. Now if only Applejack were here to- She cut herself off from that thought. For some reason lately she kept having weird thoughts, thoughts of having wings and flying, of ponies she never met. Somehow the further time moved the clearer those thoughts got. Well, she’d fix that. She made her way away from the brown stallion and into the nearest tavern.

With a sigh she sidled her way up to the bar and started to consider what her life would be like now. She didn’t know where to go from here, she had almost no skills, no contacts, and didn’t know much about the world. The only thing she was really good at was fighting, and no one would hire a mercenary her age. As the bartender approached she raised a hoof to get his attention “A screwdriver please…” she muttered.

The bartender was a white stallion a good deal older than her, and not in very good shape either. His stomach and hips bulged out a good inch further than most ponies, but he moved without it seeming to bother him too much. Even though he was out of shape he seemed well groomed enough, his fur and blue mane seemed to be meticulously well groomed. Perhaps it was to keep it from getting in whatever they served here. “A what?” He questioned her, leaning on the counter as he moved in closer.

“A screw-driver.” She repeated, annoyed. This time enunciating the syllables much more clearly. He still held a look of puzzlement on his face that made Rainbow sigh “Get me a glass of orange juice and put a shot of vodka in it. It’s only two ingredients!”

The stallion leaned back as he reached for the rows of bottles that lined the shelves behind him. As he set a glass down on the counter he cleared his throat carefully “Ahm sorry miss…” He apologized “Just haven’t heard that one before is all. Where’d you hear about it?” He questioned as he started to pour the orange juice.

“I…” She paused. Where the hell did she hear about that drink? It seemed right, but she’d never drank before…right? “Uh…the merchant who delivered supplies to the monastery told me about it. I assumed it was from here…sorry.” She looked away, trying to keep it together.

At the mention of the monastery the bartender froze, but only for a moment. The bits clattered against the counter next to the glass. Rainbow examined the counter carefully for a moment, it wasn’t just worn, it was scratched. It looked like it had taken some pretty solid hits in all honesty, even some places had dents. With that she turned around, looking at the rest of the tavern. The walls were worn and scratched, and the floor had some clear damage to it. There was even a stain at one point…sauce of some sort, maybe? The room was lit with a dull orange light that reflected off of each cup and bottle in the place. Blinking she checked the windows and saw that they were boarded up from the inside.

Slowly Rainbow turned to question the bartender at the strange bar and the damage, but she stopped, seeing that he was busily stashing bottles underneath the bar and getting them out of view. That’s when she heard the sound from beside her of a larger, well built mare approaching. Her fur was a dark grey and her mane was a multitude of dye colours, blue, black, and green most evident. There seemed to be some sort of battle scar right above her left eye, possibly from whatever was made into the hide armor that was draped around her. “The hell you doing here, monk?” The gruff voice asked accusingly.

Eyes flitted about carefully as Rainbow sensed danger. Everyone in the place had suddenly gotten a bit more quiet and set their things to the side, almost as though they were expecting something. Perhaps it would be best if Rainbow tried to resolve this peacefully. Then again, perhaps it would be better if the ocean wasn’t salty. Rainbow’s pink eyes held a bit of a gleam as she turned to the mare, sizing her up as though a fight breaking out in a public place was an option. “It’s a tavern. I’m having a drink.”

The woman gave out a harsh laugh. “Yeah? I know your type, monks…” She seemed to find monks funny. “Your kind are pathetic you know that? You just sit there and take shit from anypony. It’s cause yer all fuckin’ cowards.” Rainbow Dash’s hackles raised as she grit her teeth, looking at the mare silently. She hadn‘t had the best day, she knew it was wrong to drop someone with a hoof to the face for a simple insult…but still. “I hear that monks are supposed to be good in a fight, but you spend all your time hiding in your mountain don’t you?”

“Oh that is fucking it!” Rainbow screamed, standing up and cracking her head into the mare’s jaw. The mare stumbled back a few steps, as though in shock that the young mare had dared to fight back “Take it back!” Rainbow demanded, pawing at the ground like she was preparing to charge.

The mare…actually…smiled. Smiled! “Make me.” She said bluntly, a wad of blood was spat from her mouth to spatter against the ground. She eyed Rainbow Dash pleasantly, like they were playing some sort of game. Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in fury, she was toying with her! With a scream Rainbow Dash charged, her hooves clacking noisily against the ground as they met with the soft wood.

It was difficult to say exactly what happened next, or how the other patrons somehow got involved. But the entire bar erupted into violence. Rainbow Dash got some good shots in, but she was hit a few times too. One pony actually grabbed her by the hair and rolled her over the counter where she crashed into the spot where the bottles once were. As she lay on the ground nursing her back she saw the bartender hiding behind the counter “Thanks for moving those…” She mumbled as she started to get back up.

“Oh no problem miss.” He replied, holding her screwdriver up for her to take it down in one gulp. It burned as it slid down her throat and somehow felt familiar. The thought was pushed aside as she used the counter as a vault and flew back into the fray. A few minutes of angry punching later and Dash limped out of the bar and started to make her way down the street. Could she go anywhere without ponies trying to kick her ass?

Slowly she looked to the alley beside the tavern. It wasn’t exactly clean, but it was empty enough. Just a nice shady strip between the two buildings. She staggered in and collapsed into the dirt, leaving a cloud of dust flying about. Slowly she moved, rolling her pack off her with a thunk. Rainbow Dash moved her hind leg carefully, it was sore. A sharp intake of breath was put out as she looked into the pack for something that might help.

Muscles tensed as Rainbow froze; something was wrong. Her ears perked up, flicking a bit as she listened to the sound of the breeze, and the clanking of bottles being put back next door. Then, the unmistakable sound of a hoof hitting dirt behind her. Her hind leg’s cries of protest were ignored as she leapt up, moving into a defensive position as she stared down the mare that had approached her in the first place.

The mare didn’t seem threatening in the least, all in all she seemed rather pleasant, it was unnerving. The strange mare let out a bit of a laugh, her left eye slightly darker than the last time Rainbow had checked. “Calm down child, the fight’s over. One of the better bar fights I’ve been in actually. Maybe you monks aren’t so bad after all.”

Rainbow’s heart was racing and she had to slow down a bit to think. She didn’t leave her defensive posture, but she waited, blinking in confusion. “What?”

The mare leaned against the wall wiping something wet from her flank, from the smell coming off of her it might have been some sort of cheap ale “What? You’ve never been in a bar fight before? You monks need to lighten up.”

Each time the woman referred to her as a monk it landed like an unpleasant blow against a sore spot. “I’m not a monk, they kicked me out for wining a fight.” Rainbow stood up to her full fight, abandoning her combat posture and looking to the side, trying to indicate she wasn’t going to answer that one.

The mare paused, putting her forelegs on the ground “Oh…where are you staying now?” The mare looked Rainbow over more carefully now, a bit of a sly smile crossing her face, like a thought had crept into her head.

Rainbow shrugged, picking up her bag and throwing it over her back “I don’t know, but I’ll figure something out. The temple can’t be the only place in this world.” She wasn’t about to let this pony see that she didn’t have her life together right now.

This provoked another laugh from the mare “I should say not! Me and my clan live in tents out in the woods. Me and my friends just come to town sometimes for supplies and the occasional bar fight.” Rainbow paused on that thought. She hadn’t thought about what life would be like living out in the wild. She had her parent’s house, then the temple. Honestly the thought of waking up every morning to the fresh smell of grass and the rustle of trees sounded nice. Strange, that was exactly what she had on her first journey, and back then it felt terrible.

Perhaps opportunity knocks more often than one would think, “Could I crash there for awhile? I’ll do chores or something…” she asked coyly. She wasn’t sure exactly how to ask for something without seeming like she needed it, it wasn’t exactly a skill they taught you in temple.

“I’m sure we can find something to do for you. But I can’t take you there looking like a monk.” The grey started to move around Rainbow, looking her over as she drifted into careful consideration. “My name is Boarstalker, and I suppose if we undid all the monk knots you’d pass for a respectable enough urchin.”

Rainbow Dash, gave a careful bow to her new unexpected ally, “My name’s Rainbow Dash.”

The mare pursed her lips with a raised eyebrow, thinking “First, never do that again.” Rainbow Dash stood up, now embarrassed at the formality she had become accustomed to, “Second, your name’s Rainbow huh? You’d fit in better with my clan if you died your mane and tail. Perhaps we could dye it the colours of the rainbow, you know, to fit your name.”

A sly smile passed over Rainbow’s lips as she thought about life as a wild pony. “Maybe….but not pink….”

------

Rainbow Dash laughed happily as the full grown mare bounded between trees. A full multicoloured mane and tail flowed behind her as she outpaced one of the other stallions from the camp. The other stallion was out of breath, but wide eyed he bolted after her, his black and red mane flowing in sharp contrast to his green coat. The stallion, Rushing Waters, was no slouch, but no one in the entire camp could contend with Rainbow in a hoof race. “Move it Rush! Is that the best you got!” She teased playfully as she leaped agilely over a log and turned quickly to make a face at him.

Her snug coat of hide armor was a hindrance at first and had felt uncomfortable, but after three years it fit her like a glove. As Rush jumped to move over the log Rainbow turned and bolted off again. The cyan mare shifted her weight again as she felt a tug. She knew what it was, the massive two hooved claymore resting on her back was hard to forget about, but she loved it. It had been a present from Boarstalker a few months after she came to the camp, and was just one more thing that made her stand out.

Her head twitched ever so slightly to cast a glance back at Rush, his sword was a reasonable size, and a good deal lighter, but that only made her cooler for still being able to outpace him. She skirted around a massive tree and came to a stop, pressing her back against it. After a moment Rush raced past and looked back at her questioningly.

It only took a moment and a motion for Rainbow to get him to follow her lead, running back to the tree. She paused and put a hoof to her lips “Shh…” her head slowly peeked around the tree and back the way they had come, after a moment or two of watching she slumped down, turning her head back to him with a laugh “I think we lost them.”

Rushing waters shook his head slowly, “You enjoy this entirely too much you know that?” he panted lightly before he too collapsed against the tree. “Those were Apple Clan Rangers you know? They could have killed us.” He seemed a tad more shaken than she was, but it was his first run, he’d get used to it.

Rainbow Dash snorted as she flexed her forelegs “Please! No one can beat the mighty Rainbow Dash!” With that she pushed her forelegs up, wiping the fresh earth from her flank. “You didn’t think they were just going to let us steal their apples did you?”

Rushing Waters put a hoof to his face annoyed “If you knew they were going to catch us why didn’t you just wait till nighttime?” He sighed, lowering his hoof to paw through the apples they had managed to pick, all hanging in a burlap bag he had wrapped around his midsection.

“Bear traps, idiot.” She remarked playfully, tapping him on the head with her hoof “They’re a lot harder to see at night.” She rolled her eyes as she dropped into a canter back towards the camp. “Come on Rush, they’re gonna be hungry.”

Rush pushed on after her “Well, shouldn’t you carry some of the apples?” he questioned.

“Noooope.” she replied bluntly, wincing from the sharp pain in her side. She smiled anyway and looked him over carefully, he didn‘t notice. They talked for a while after that, it was a big event, Rainbow remembered her first raid, she had gone with four others. They didn’t have a lot of faith in her being able to do it, up to that point they had made fun of her for being a monk and a goodie-goodie. But she showed them.

As they made their way into camp there was a bit of a cheer for the pony of the hour as they closed in. Rainbow gave Rush a reassuring nod and broke away from him, leaving him to his parents and friends. This was a big day for him, and his first skirmish against the Apple Clan. After seeking her out Rainbow found her way to Boarstalker. They sat down next to each other and watched the prideful celebration commence.

Boarstalker took a deep breath in, the air was crisp and it was starting to get colder. It would be winter soon, so raids on the surrounding areas were heavier than ever in preparation. Rainbow finally took the time to look up at the trees, their leaves now a beautiful swirl of reds and golds. “How’d he do?” Boarstalker asked evenly.

Rainbow Dash sighed “He’s a newbie, he made a mistake and alerted the Apple Clan without even noticing it, they came in shooting. If I wasn’t there he’d be dead for sure.” Rainbow shifted uncomfortably, the now seeping wound under her armor starting to bother her. “I took a bolt to the shoulder, I don’t think it’s serious though.”

The grey mare looked over to her slyly “So he’s a lot like a certain ex-monk I know?” She shifted her weight, making the scar on her flank more visible to Rainbow Dash. This brought a smile out of Rainbow Dash. She still thought of her monastery days, before she had to chance death to take food, but here she was happy. With a smile she nodded her understanding. “Oh, while you were gone a mare came into the camp, pretty thing too, even smells nice.”

A laugh was shared between them “Allright, I’ll bite, where’s the prissy city pony?” the blue mare asked, looking around. A sudden shocked look of realization shot through Rainbow as she saw the mare. A mare with a clean, brushed white coat. The one with the neatly brushed and styled purple mane. Everything came rushing back all at once as Dash stared mouth agape at the mare sitting in the campsite “R-Rarity?”

Comments

[ALIENwolve]

Good intro. Lot's of emotion, some character motivation, establishes personality and gives the reader preference to the character. The cursing is in a somewhat more acceptable context (Though "They're going to kick the shit out of you" is just the least serious line for something that's supposed to be serious).

When you call Rainbow Dash "blue," the mind calls up a deeper shade than what she normally is. If you don't intend it to be that shade of blue, you need to specify a little.

The bleed-through of the original character slowly achieving self-awareness in pieces is pretty nice.

You describe two pieces of an entire fight and effectively just say "a bar fight happens." Dis be bad idea. It provides a window of opportunity to present Rainbow's legitimacy as a monk warrior and you just "PUSH A TO SKIP CUTSCENE."

You mention Boarstalker's name before she does and the reason this happened is because it was in the same paragraph in which you were intending to introduce the name.

[NeoNagasaki]

1912349
I stand by assertion that some people just swear more than others and that sometimes it'll be frivolous. That said, the particular swear word you pointed out is unnecessary for a student of that religion, I'll fix it.

I suppose you're right about Rainbow Dash's colour, I'll correct for it when I introduce her but I don't think it'll be necessary every time I refer to her later on.

I cut that fight scene out because I knew the chapter had gone way over what I'd meant to get. I thought I might be adding in combat specifically to add in more "action scenes" I'll try putting it back and looking it over. I'll correct the Boarstalker issue while I'm at it.

Thank you.