Rainbow Dash and the Uta Clan

by Zorand

Chapter 1

Lyra and Bon Bon hurried down the dark street, stealing glances behind themselves. They wore long dresses and high heels, which clacked on the pavement with each worried step. They clutched their purses close to their sides, and did their best to watch in all directions at once. Ahead in the distance they could see streetlights, but all around was lit only by the stars.

“I told you we should have gone with Elm Street!” Bon Bon whispered.

“I know, I know. But I thought they’d have fixed the power pole by now. It’s been hours!” Lyra replied.

“Well next time we’re out after dark, how about we take the route that doesn’t hide who-knows-what kind of ne'er do wells?”

“And how about for this time we get through here quietly so we don’t attract any attention?”

As if Lyra’s words had summoned them, two burly men stepped out of an alleyway ahead and blocked their path. Lyra and Bon Bon stumbled to a halt twenty feet away and glanced to the side. Could they cross the street without getting caught? The men began to stride forward, walking faster than the two of them could run in heels. Probably not, then.

“Easy, ladies. No need to be frightened.” One of the men called out. “We’re here to protect you. But, ah, that protection’s not free, you understand. For the low, low price of half the money in your purses, we’ll make sure you make it home safe and sound.”

“Cross our hearts and hope to die.” The other said, making a crossing motion over his chest with one hand.

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other. Did they have a choice? Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. On the other hand, if these two creeps followed them home… This was bad.

“Well, ladies? What’s it going to be?”

With a look of grim resignation, Bon Bon slowly unstrung her purse from her shoulder. The man closer to her held his hand out eagerly, but then suddenly, before he could react, there was a whooshing noise followed by a rainbow streak, and he found himself falling backwards. He tried to step back to catch himself, but for some reason his shoelaces were tied together. With a yelp of pain he landed on his tailbone while his partner could only stare at him in confusion.

“Never fear, ladies!” Came a call from behind them. “Spectrum Sprint is here!”

All four looked to the sound of the voice. There stood a teenage girl in jeans and a t-shirt, with a black scarf with eye holes cut out tied around her face. Rainbow colored hair waved in a breeze she herself had kicked up. She stood in a wide stance with her hands on her hips, elbows jutted out, in a classic superhero pose.

“What-?” Lyra began, but before she could say more than a single word the girl became a blur of motion. She charged between the other two girls, then spun in circles around the two thugs. She pulled a rope from her backpack and tied the two of them together and to one of the non-functioning light posts in the blink of an eye.

Spectrum Sprint stepped back and eyed her handiwork. The thugs began to struggle and shout curses, but then suddenly they had their own socks shoved into their mouths. Spectrum nodded to herself. Job well done.

“No need to thank me,” she said, turning back to the pair she had rescued. “All in a night’s work for the one and only Spectrum Sprint!”

Bon Bon opened and closed her mouth uselessly several times before finally saying, “Thanks.”

“Need an escort home?”

“No, that won’t-” Bon Bon began.

“Yes please!” Lyra interrupted.

Spectrum gave them a smirk. “I thought so. Lead the way!”

The trio of girls quickly made their way back to the well-lit portion of town, then on to their homes. A few minutes later, a police car pulled up to the two thugs, still tied to the light post, and a policeman stepped out carrying handcuffs.

“Third one this week.” He muttered.

-----------------

At noon the following day a group of seven girls sat together in the school cafeteria. Fluttershy and Applejack were talking about the best ways to care for pet dogs, Sunset, Rarity, and Twilight were discussing a homework assignment they had just received, and Pinkie Pie did her best to shove as many bread rolls as possible into her mouth at once while listening to both conversations at the same time. The last girl, Rainbow Dash, was stretched out on the bench, napping.

“I can’t believe he wants us to memorize the entire periodic table.” Rarity lamented. “Do you have any idea how many elements there are?”

“One hundred eighteen.” Twilight said. “And it’s not so bad. I memorized the whole thing for fun in the third grade.”

“Yeah, well, you’re you.” Sunset stuck her tongue out at Twilight. “The rest of us still have our work cut out for us.” She looked meaningfully at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who didn’t seem to be paying attention. “Some more than others.”

“Rh, drn’t wrrrr rbrrt mr.” Pinkie said.

“Swallow first, darling, then talk.” Rarity did her best to glare at Pinkie Pie and her lack of manners, but as usual her glare bounced right off.

“Oh, right! I said, don’t worry about me. I already memorized them for that chemistry themed party I threw for Bunsen’s birthday.”

“Well I’m still worried about Rainbow.” Sunset said. “She slept through Cranky’s entire lecture.”

“Maybe she’s tired from staying up all night studying?” Twilight offered.

Sunset gave Twilight a flat stare. “This is Rainbow Dash we’re talking about, you know.”

“I know.” Twilight sighed. “But one can always hope.”

“Come to think of it,” Applejack said, breaking from her conversation with Fluttershy, “She’s been napping through a lot of classes recently. More than usual, I mean.”

“Oh no, you don’t think she’s sick, do you?” Fluttershy said.

“Probably just up all night playing video games.” Sunset said with a roll of her eyes. “I saw her looking at that Marvel vs. Capcom game at the mall the other day.”

The group began to debate about what could have gotten Rainbow so tired recently, but a minute in Rarity noticed Lyra and Bon Bon walking up to join them.

“Well hello, darlings. How did you like those dresses I made for you?”

“Oh, they were very beautiful, thank you.” Bon Bon said, “But we actually came over here to thank Rainbow Dash for last night.” Sunset spit out her drink. “Would it be rude to wake her up to thank her?”

Applejack kicked Rainbow from under the table. She rolled off the bench and fell onto the ground before springing up into a fighting stance.

“Whazzat? Who’s there? I’m not afraid of you!” Rainbow blinked her groggy eyes a couple times, then relaxed and rubbed the back of her head. “Oh, right, lunch time. I, heh, I guess I dozed off there for a minute.”

“More like twenty minutes! Did you have a good dream?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Oh it was so totally awesome! Ok, so there, I was on this pirate ship, right? I had a cutlass in one hand and a revolver in the other, and all around me were this horde of ninjas. So I-”

“Ninjas.” Applejack arched her eyebrow at Rainbow.

“What? What’s wrong with ninjas?”

“On a pirate ship?”

“Look it was just a dream, alright?”

“Ahem.” Bon Bon cleared her throat “Rainbow, I wanted to thank you for saving us last night. I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t come along.”

“Huh what? Oh that. Wait, no, I mean, what are you talking about?” Rainbow put on her best poker face. It wasn’t very good. “I was up all last night studying for that test in, um, history?”

Bon Bon gave Rainbow her best disbelieving stare. It was pretty good. Instead of saying anything, she held up her phone and showed the whole table a picture of herself, Lyra, and Rainbow Dash standing in front of two thugs tied to a light pole. Rainbow was wearing a black scarf around her face with eye holes cut out, and had her first two fingers up in a ‘V for victory’ pose. She was also grinning like a maniac.

“Oh, that. That’s Spectrum Sprint. I hear she’s this totally radical new superhero that showed up recently.”

“Spectrum Sprint.” Applejack said flatly.

“A new hero who has blue skin, rainbow hair, and looks like she’s your height and build.” Rarity said. “And, tell me, what’s her super power?”

“Super speed!” Lyra offered helpfully.

“Right, yes. So, a ‘new’ superhero who looks exactly like you, has your superpower, and who’s name is just a synonym for your own? And you actually expect us to believe that this is not you?”

“But I- I mean, she- was wearing a mask!”

Rarity gave a long, drawn out, well practiced sigh.

“I thought we agreed to avoid using our powers too much.” Sunset said. “Remember the whole thing about amping eachother up?”

Rainbow waved her hand dismissively. “I was way far away from any of you girls. I’m sure it was fine.”

“So you finally admit it was you?” Applejack asked with a smirk.

“What? No, I… ok, fine, yes, you got me. Happy?”

“As a pig rolling in mud.”

“Um, actually,” Fluttershy said, “Pigs roll in mud to keep cool. So, if one is rolling in mud, it probably means that she’s too hot and not happy.”

“Y’all know what I mean.”

“Anyway,” Bon Bon said, “Thank you.” The warning bell for the end of lunch rang. “Oh, we should get going. Thanks again!”

“Have a lovely day!” Rarity called after the retreating pair.

“So is this what you’ve been doing all night?” Sunset asked, standing up to clear her tray. “Besides the potential problem with our powers, you’re also sleeping through a lot of classes. You should really just let the police handle it.”

“What, so I should have just let Lyra and Bon Bon get mugged? There weren’t any police there, you know!”

“You know that’s not what I mean. Look you can’t just go looking for trouble.”

“Can too! And you can’t stop me! We have these powers for a reason, and that reason isn’t to just fake snow days!”

“Now calm down, Rainbow.” Twilight interjected. “There’s no reason to shout.”

“NO, YOU CALM DOWN!” Rainbow slammed her tray onto the table, stood up, and stomped away from the group.

“Well that could have gone better.” Twilight said with a frown.

Pinkie Pie shook her head as she reached over to pat Twilight’s from across the table. “Oh Twitwi, don’t you know you never tell someone to calm down?”

-----------------

Rainbow Dash sat on the lip of a downtown office building, watching the last vestiges of light fade on the horizon. Everything seemed peaceful tonight. Should she take the night off? She could probably use it. Her backpack taunted her from where she had set it down on the roof behind her. Inside were the results from her chemistry exam, and she had gotten nearly every question wrong. She really should study, she supposed. If her mom found-

A swirl of green light shot skyward from somewhere several blocks away. Magic! Rainbow Dash scooped up her backpack and leapt off the roof. Thirty feet into her fall she felt within herself for the glow of power and pushed. She felt her ears grow and migrate up the side of her head, felt the increased weight of her hair lengthening, and, most importantly, felt wings shoot out from her shoulder blades and extend through the slits she had carefully cut into the back of her shirt and jacket. Ten feet above the sidewalk she gave one powerful flap to kill her speed and landed in a classic superhero pose: On one knee with one hand to the ground and the other out to her side.

Rainbow held the pose for a second as her transformation reversed and she returned to normal. It was a shame that she could never hold it for long without the rest of her friends present, but it was enough for a long fall down or a quick leap up. A glance side to side revealed that she was alone on the street; no one had seen. Shoot. All that show for nothing? Well, it could count as practice, she supposed.

Now she reached for her other source of magic, the one held on her wristband. This one she could tap for longer, but she did have to be careful, as it took longer to recharge, too, if she used it all up. As she pulled the magic into herself the rest of the world slowed to a crawl. Well, she assumed. There wasn’t actually anything around her moving right now. But that’s how it usually worked.

Rainbow took off at a sprint in the direction she had seen the other magic coming from from the rooftop. As she rounded a corner from one street to the next she confirmed that her magic was working exactly as expected. This street had cars on it, and they were moving slower than Fluttershy did when she had to leave her pets behind. Rainbow wove between them for a few blocks for fun before turning down a side alley. If she had her bearings right… Yes, there! A small group of people were standing around something that glowed with that same green light, although it no longer lept to above the rooftops.

Rainbow stopped a few feet from the group, set down her backpack, and dug through it for her mask. Rarity may have been right about it doing little to hide her identity from anyone who already knew her, but it was a classic! And it always worked in the comics, didn’t it? Rarity did have a point about the name, though. She needed a better one.

Mask securely tied in place, she walked a circle around the group. Three men, two women, all in their twenties or early thirties if she was any judge. Most interestingly, they were dressed all in loose fitting black clothing with full face masks. Ninjas! Rainbow almost squeed in excitement, but stopped herself before she let anything out. Totally uncool.

What were they all huddled around, though? She pushed her way between two of them to get a better look. The two women shifted effortlessly under her touch, and as soon as she let them go they hung mostly in place. Rainbow could see them slowly, ever so slowly, tilting to either side from the momentum of her push. If she didn’t steady them before she deactivated her powers they would either fall over or be forced to catch themselves. Nevermind that now, though. She finally had her eyes on the prize, and what a prize it was. An actual, honest to goodness treasure chest! Being a superhero was the Coolest. Job. Ever. And inside the treasure chest? A statue of cow, of all things. Ok, so not everything could be awesome.

Rainbow put the two women back in their places (approximately) and stepped back to consider her options. She could just take the cow and run, but so far as she knew these ninjas hadn’t actually done anything wrong, even if it did look like they were hauling off ill-gotten riches. Tell her friends? They usually wanted to be involved if something magical was afoot, but the conversation at lunch came back to her. They didn’t want her to be a superhero. Too “dangerous.” Not enough studying! Phaw. What did they know? Who even needed to study something stupid like chemistry. She was a superhero!

Well then, tailing these goons it was. Rainbow retreated back to where she’d left her backpack, put it on, then hid behind a dumpster. Once she was certain she was well and truly hidden, she released her speed magic.

“What was that? Who’s there?!”

“Something shoved me!”

“Did you all see that rainbow streak?”

Oh, right. She wasn’t invisible just because they couldn’t react until she slowed down again.

“Over there, behind the dumpster! I see a sneaker!”

Dammit! Rainbow pulled on the magic to slow time again and stepped out from the dumpster. Three of the ninjas were just starting to run towards her, while the other two had managed to close the chest and looked like they were getting ready to haul it off in the opposite direction. Dash nodded her head appreciatively. These ninjas were fast. Too bad nothing was as fast as she was. She ran to a corner ahead of the chest-carrying ninjas, making sure she was completely out of sight this time, and let go of her magic again.

“This way! Follow the rainbow!”

Dammit, dammit, dammit! Having a rainbow trail behind you was 100% certifiably awesome, but it didn’t help with stealth missions. She slowed time yet again, and winced as she felt the stone on her wrist grow hot. Starting and stopping her speed magic seemed to drain it faster than just leaving it on, and she was getting low on time. Ok, this time make sure to run only where they can’t see you. Hmm… there. Up the fire escape and onto the roof. With her wings she could follow them in real time from rooftop to rooftop and see where they were taking the cow.

Once she was on the rooftop ahead of the ninjas carrying the treasure chest, she peeked over the edge and let go of the magic again. The ninjas wasted no time, with the first three running to the alley she had gone down while the other two whirled around and started going a different direction. Oh, right, they had seen her run ahead of them. Oh well, even without her super speed she was faster than any silly ninja, and the other three wouldn't find her up here. Her rainbow trail only lasted about a second after she slowed back down again.

Rainbow ran to the edge of the roof, activated her wings, lept to the next rooftop, and let go of them. She continued like this, from one roof to the next, as she kept a careful eye on the ninjas below. Sometimes she had to leap across a street, or up or down a couple stories when the roofs were uneven, but with her wings it was no trouble at all. She kept up the pace for nearly a mile, but then, between one roof and the next, her quarry vanished. Rainbow skidded to a halt and backtracked. No they hadn’t turned down a different street, either. Where had they-?

“Silly rainbow girl. You think the great Uta Clan would not watch the rooftops?”

Rainbow whirled around to face the voice behind her. There, on the opposite side of the roof, was one of the ninjas who had tried to follow her. She stared in disbelief. How had he kept up? Then, before she had time to regather her wits, she saw the other two ninjas across the street, on top of the building she had just come from. They ran to the edge, lept off, and practically flew over the entire street to land next to the first ninja. Rainbow’s jaw dropped. They didn’t even have wings! Ninjas. Were so. Cool!

“What will it be, rainbow girl?” The first ninja said. “Must we fight, or will you leave us in peace? We have no quarrel with you at present, but if you choose to interfere then we will not hesitate to defend our interests.”

Rainbow puffed up her chest and beat one fist against it. “The name’s Raptor Laser,” wait, no, that was stupid. “Captain Raptor Laser.” No, still stupid. “And I keep this city safe. What are you doing with a magic cow?”

The ninja crossed his arms over his chest. “And what harm are you protecting this city from tonight, little miss?”

“I’m the one asking the questions here! And I told you, it’s ‘Raptor Laser’.” Until she could think of something better, at least.

“Well, little miss,” Rainbow Dash ground her teeth at the title, and she swore she could see the ninja smirk as he said it, “We are merely transporting our grandmother’s beloved porcelain figurine to her new home. Nothing you need concern yourself with.”

“Oh yeah? Well I’m on to you. And I’ll be watching.” Rainbow pointed two fingers at her own eyes, then jabbed them towards the ninja.

“Are you? If you really wanted to know what we are doing, shouldn’t you have been watching for our two cousins below, instead of watching us?”

Rainbow whirled back around to scan the streets below her. No ninjas anywhere to be seen. And, upon turning back to face the ones on the roof again, found no sign of them either. So. Awesome. But also frustrating. She ran to the edge the ninjas had been standing on and looked around for them, but didn’t really expect to find much. Nor did she.

With a sigh, Rainbow sat down on the lip of the building and stared up at the stars. All that work and nothing to show for it. As awesome as she was, she could use a hand with this kind of thing. Super Speed was the best power, of course, but it didn’t do her much good if she didn’t know where she needed to run to. If only the other girls were willing to help her with this. Actually, maybe they would? This time it was actual, bonafied magic. They couldn’t tell her to just let the police handle this one!

With a smile back on her face, Rainbow fell backwards off the building, summoned her wings to twist gracefully through the air, landed gently on the ground, then walked home. A clocktower nearby chimed, and she checked the time. 11:00pm?! Rainbow pulled on the magic on her wrist and ran home. It was a good thing the stone had had time to cool off during that rooftop chase; she wasn’t sure it would have worked if she’d tried to activate it again immediately after the last time.

Once she got to her house she carefully snuck around back and climbed the gutter pipe up to her bedroom window. It was well past her curfew, but before she left she had told her parents that she needed to study and couldn’t be interrupted. They’d never know she was out. Once inside she took off her mask, stashed her backpack under the desk, then paused. She really should study, she supposed. Maybe. Ok fine, yes, she should. Rainbow sat down in her desk chair, pulled out her chemistry book, and fell asleep within a minute.

Comments

[Devious Dazzle]

I personally had tons of fun reading this!

Here have a quick edit of RD wearing a mask. 😸

i.imgflip.com/3iut6h.gif