Starting A Flame

by Star_Shade

Chapter [3] Pulling the weight

“Are you sure it was a good idea to let her join? Dasher was pretty unstable when she left. I am surprised she was able to pull herself together,” said Shining Moon. He and Moon Melody were going over the list of new recruits.

“Wouldn’t be the first time we have taken on risky ponies like her. She has a type of fire inside of her that once kindled, could start a powerful flame. You remember her standing up to Dawn Lighter? That took guts. Not just anypony can do that. I definitely think we can use her,” replied Moon Melody.

“I don’t think I can train her personally, she has too strong of a personality,” said Shining Moon, tapping his chin in thought.

“Having her run through our basic training will settle that down. We can mold her, use her strengths for our benefit,” continued Moon Melody, laying her hoof on the white unicorn’s shoulder.

“But if we push her too hard, she may break. We need strong leaders, or ponies that can continue should any of us fall. We have been able to lead because most ponies do not know who we are, should that change, it could be disastrous for us,” Said Shining Moon, starting to pace the room.

Moon Melody watched him closely. “I know, but it is a risk we have to take. You have heard the whispers, words of a coming leader for the rebellion. We need to find whoever that is, and figure out what our next plans are.”

“Well, we are putting a lot of faith in these rumors! How can we be sure this is the right move?” said the stallion angrily.

“I know, but right now, that is our best bet. They could be fake or real, but we still need a good leader,” said Moon Melody, walking over and placing a calming hoof on his withers. “One thing at a time.”

---

After her discussion with Moon Melody, Dasher was smuggled out of the city, this time conscious. However, as soon as she was outside of the city limits, she had a hood thrown over her head. With a muffled cry of annoyance, she felt the strange feeling of being teleported.

Once the hood was taken off, Dasher was exposed to her surroundings. Stepping off of a teleportation pad, Dasher looked around. A forest surrounded the area, with a thick treeline on the edges of a large clearing. Buildings had been erected everywhere around the area, with tents placed close to the margins. Ponies of each tribe were walking around leisurely, running, or working out with a drill sergeant. Dasher was quickly shoved forward to a building, which she later learned was the administration facility. Being debriefed, and told that her training would begin the following day cycle, Dasher was sent to a sleeping barrack and promptly fell asleep.

The following morning, and every morning after, she was unceremoniously awoken by a bucket of freezing cold water. Her new commanding officer would yell in her face to get clean and head to the pavilion for duty, with a long day of work following shortly after.

One day Dasher and two other pegasi who she didn’t care to get to know had been tasked with working together to lift a set of crates. An instructor cleared his throat to get all of the ponies’ attention and then began, “I, along with a few other coaches, have decided to make a race out of this little exercise. Each group will be monitored, and the top three that come in first shall have the following two days off. Good luck!”

Now this was something that Dasher could get excited for! Shaking herself out of her stupor of boredom, Dasher started stretching. Rubbing and prepping her wings, Dasher walked over to her two teammates. “So! Are you two excited for this race?” she asked giddily. They just looked at her with funny expressions before trotting a few paces away to continue their conversation. Not to be discouraged by their unenthusiasm, Dasher felt ready to win this race!

Dasher instantly regretted purposely pumping so much blood into her system. She huffed and pulled against the ropes fastened across her back and barrel, but to no avail. All of her energy was being wasted. Looking back, she saw the two other pegasi simply chatting away. Chatting! Like this was just a simple walk in the park. She Dasher yanked at her restraints angrily. The tug shook her teammates considerably, with one of them losing their wing stroke. Out of sync, the mare plummeted a few meters before regaining herself. Catching up, she called over their supervisor, who was already flying up to them.

He then flew over to Dasher. “What were you thinking? Do you have any idea what would happen if this precious cargo was damaged?” he yelled. Dasher quickly tuned him out, mumbling a quick apology once he finished. Sighing, she resigned herself to be set in last place.

As her group continued at their snail speed, Dasher noticed another group had paused ahead of them. Once her group met theirs, Dasher was able to hear the yelling of all four ponies arguing. Fitting together their words, Dasher concluded that the group somehow had hit one of the buildings below, and were all throwing the blame at each other.

Looking down, Dasher was right in her deduction, seeing the top part of one of the armory buildings broken off. Transferring her gaze back to the group, Dasher noticed that the rope that connected all three of the pegasi together had begun splitting. Doing a double take, Dasher rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing things right.

“Hey! I think your rope is about to snap!” she called to the group, but it seemed that her words did little to puncture the argument. Checking down again, Dasher bit her lip, spotting a group of earth ponies working out right below the arguing group and their crates. Dasher called out again, but her words were snatched by the wind. Deciding to take matters in her own hooves, Dasher started undoing her restraints.

Fumbling for a bit, she was just about to finish when her instructor flew towards her. “Hey, what are you doin--” he started, before Dasher zipped around him, placing a rushed fitting around his sides before diving.

“Sorry, gotta save some ponies byeee!” she yelled, spiraling downward. “Clear the area!” she cried as soon as she landed in the front of the drill sergeant.

“You have no authority to comman--” the drill sergeant began, before Dasher rudely directed her attention upward, pointing at the incoming danger.

“Everypony, scram!” Dasher yelled again. An audible snap from above sent a shiver down her spine. Most of the earth ponies immediately sprang into action, dodging away. A few stumbled, but were able to pick themselves up and move. One mare in particular just stood, frozen in fear. Dasher jumped and tackled the pony out of the way, just as the air compressed behind her.

Hyperventilating, Dasher attempted to bring air back into her lungs. Looking back, she saw the mare she had just saved stand up suddenly. Stumbling around, the earth pony wobbled before sitting back down to stable herself. Finally getting her breathing under control, Dasher walked over to inspect the mare.

“I, uh… think you just saved my life! Thank you!” she said as Dasher came into view. Batting away her compliment, the rainbow-maned pegasus circled around her silently, making sure nothing was broken before launching back into the air. “Wait! I didn’t even get your name!” shouted the mare. Dasher didn’t even turn back.

---

Dasher was eating lunch in the huge mess hall the following day. With an hour to spend, she sat alone, enjoying her food. Lost in fantasy, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a food tray landing beside her. Annoyed, Dasher turned to find the same mare she had saved looking at her nervously.

“Hey uh… my name is Moon Nettle, and… I kind of wanted to thank you for saving me yesterday,” the mare said pensively, shifting from one hoof to another.

“Whatever,” mumbled Dasher, returning back to her food.

“Well, I also noticed that you were sitting alone and thought you could use a friend to sit with,” continued Moon Nettle quickly, slightly stumbling over her words.

“I am not really into the whole ‘making friends’ business anymore. So thanks, but no thanks,” replied Dasher, hoping to end the conversation.

“Oh, okay,” responded Moon Nettle awkwardly. “I just wanted to show you some form of kindness for what you did.”

“Do I look like I care what you think? Maybe it was a mistake saving you, if you are going to bug me like this,” responded Dasher angrily, emphasizing her point by slamming her hoof onto the table and staring right at her.

Moon Nettle wilted at her gaze. “Sorry…” she mumbled, on the edge of tears. Picking up her tray, she moved away. Dasher simply harrumphed before turning back to her food. Had she watched Moon Nettle leave, she would have seen her sit down at another table, cross her hooves and lay her head down, alone.

Author's Note:

Pretty much rewrote this chapter, and the following chapter. Looking back, Dasher's transition from sadness to happiness is a pretty big mood whiplash, next chapter I will go into more detail on how that plays out.

I also decided to reupload so that people get a notification of what I am doing, hopefully this doesn't bug anything up too much.