Chapter 1 - Visiting Hours (1/2)

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Rainbow Dash wafted down gently on the little fluffy cloud she had selected for her nap. Her hooves touched down with a muffled ‘pomf’ and she finally allowed her wings to relax, letting out a sigh of contentment. She wasted no time fashioning the cloud into a comfortable bed and got herself ready to doze off.

Taking her first nap for the day before 8 o’clock... Most ponies would have considered that the ultimate proof of her laziness, but the truth was that Dash had woken up at dawn to practice her aerial stunts. Early morning was one of the best time for flying: the air was cool so she didn’t even sweat at all, the sky wasn’t cramped by slowpoke pegasi and if Rainbow Dash happened to miss a turn and crash (not that this was likely to happen, mind you), nopony was there to see it.

So, while most ponies were merely starting their days, Rainbow had already racked up several hours of training. Since she was off weather duty that day and didn’t need to save her strength to do her job, she had pushed herself into a nice training session. So, Rainbow was not lazing about, she had deserved that nap and was going to enjoy it.

She had barely finished fluffing her cloud and lying down when she heard a faint buzz. Not opening her eyes, she flicked her ears and swatted the air with a hoof to try and get the bug to leave her alone, but the buzzing only grew louder. With a groan, Dash opened her eyes and scanned the air for the offending insect who dared bothering her. Fluttershy might not approve, but if it didn’t leave her in peace real soon then it was getting squashed, plain and simple.

Rainbow quickly became frustrated when she was unable to find it and confused as the sound only kept growing louder. It seemed to come from the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, so she turned to face the orchards and squinted her eyes.

A little cloud of dust appeared on the road, progressively getting closer and still accompanied by the buzzing of wings.

“Scootaloo?” Rainbow asked herself.

Soon enough, she could see what seemed to be an orange and silver blur heading at breakneck speed on the road. Her wings weren’t buzzing so much as roaring, now that she was approaching Dash’s cloud. The young pegasus’s scooter looked different too, but Rainbow didn’t have time to examine it as Scootaloo passed under her, the sound of her wings dropping a few tones as she now moved away from Rainbow.

“Whoah!” Rainbow’s eyes widened, seeing the dust floating in the air where the pegasus-powered scooter passed a few seconds earlier. A grin appeared on her face, her competitive side prompting her to ignore entirely the fatigue from her earlier flying. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and jump-started so quickly that the cloud she was standing on disappeared in the air.

She pumped her wings, following the trail easily until she caught sight of the purple tail whipping in the wind at the source of the dust cloud. Rainbow accelerated, slowly gaining ground on the speeding filly, wondering since when Scootaloo was able to go this fast. Still, she was the fastest flyer in Equestria, so Rainbow didn’t have much trouble catching up.

Scootaloo disappeared.

It took Rainbow Dash a few seconds to realize that Scootaloo had made a left turn so sharp that she had left her pursuer behind, going in a straight line. Rainbow stuck her wings out and angled herself to lose speed and turn around. It only took her a few seconds to go back to the intersection where she had lost the speeding filly, but Rainbow had already lost a lot of ground.

For a split second, she thought that she might lose that race.

The Rainbow Dash losing a race?

She huffed and flapped her wings harder than ever, launching herself forward at full speed. The town houses turned into a blur as she sped along. She vaguely heard once or twice somepony yelling at her, but by the time whoever was asking her to stop had finished his sentence, she was already far away.

Her vision focused only on her target, the orange pegasus getting closer and closer. She saw her fifty meters ahead, then forty, thirty... Only a little more and–

Scootaloo stopped suddenly, forcing Rainbow to swerve at the last second to avoid crashing into her. Rainbow found herself heading straight toward a wall. She flared her left wing to change her course and narrowly avoided the house, instead heading for a cart that was parked in the street. Rainbow turned both of her wings down, changing her direction at the last second once again, going directly up this time, but not for long.

If one were to look in the sky at this moment, they would have been graced by the unusual sight of a low-hanging cloud with a blue pony’s rump sticking out of its underside, legs kicking in the air and a prismatic tail swishing about.

“Rainbow Dash?”

The voice was muffled, but Rainbow still recognized her almost-sister Scootaloo. After some wiggling and pulling, the clouded pegasus managed to free herself and glided down to the ground near her number one fan. She shook her head to get the last pieces of cloud off her mane and blew out the bits that had gotten in her mouth.

Scootaloo was watching her with a mixed expression of surprise, joy and awe (as appropriate when the best flyer in Equestria was nearby). Rainbow flashed a cocky grin. “Hey squirt! I see you’ve gotten pretty fast. Almost didn’t catch up with you... Almost.”

“You were following me? I didn’t see you there.” Scootaloo started jumping up and down in excitement, her wings fluttering by her sides. “Oh! Oh! We’ll have to do a proper race sometimes. Did you see how fast I was going?” she asked, making a sweeping motion with a hoof to illustrate her point. “And look!”

Scootaloo turned her flank towards Rainbow, who wondered what she was showing to her, until she spotted the picture of a winged wheel appearing in black and silver on the orange fur.

Rainbow smiled and looked at Scootaloo’s face, which was sporting a grin that could have made Pinkie Pie jealous.

“You got your cutie mark? Awesome!” Dash made a celebratory flip in the air and tussled the filly’s mane, making it even more disheveled than it was from wearing her helmet.

“Wait here! I gotta show my mom!” Scootaloo darted inside the house both ponies were standing in front of.

Rainbow Dash realized that this was the first time she came to Scoot’s home. She wondered what kind of pony her mother was... It was a little strange when she thought about it: Scootaloo was close to a sister to her, but they had never met each other’s actual family...

Rainbow hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going while she followed the young pegasus on the road, but now taking a look around, she recognized the style of houses from the southern edge of Ponyville.

Now, Ponyville didn’t really have a bad neighborhood, since there was barely any crime in the city at all, but the south of the town was where the cheapest houses were to be found, which in turn meant that the least fortunate ponies were basically all living here, which, in turn, did nothing to increase land prices and so on...

What appeared to be Scootaloo’s house was typical of the neighborhood: it wasn’t dirty or run-down, but it was the most basic building you could get. A single story house, with a plain greyish coat of paint, plain windows and a plain wooden door. The only things that distinguished this house from the dozen of similar ones in the street were a few potted flowers on the window sills and the “Welcome” doormat.

That and the strange contraption that Scootaloo had rode on. Now that she could observe it, Rainbow found that it didn’t look at all like her old scooter. She turned around the machine, examining it from all sides.

For starters, it had only two wheels rather than four, one on the front and the other at the rear. They were much bigger, too, about half the height of the whole machine. Between the wheels, the body of the scooter was a frame made of metallic tubes shaped more or less like a triangle. A simili-leather seat near the back and two handlebars near the front. Rainbow pushed on one, making the front wheel turn. She guessed that was supposed to steer the whole thing.

“MOOOOOOM!” Scootaloo’s shrill voice snapped Rainbow back to reality. “Mom! Come on out! I’ve got something to show you!”

Some muffled half-comprehensible muttering came back as an answer.

“Come on!” Scootaloo continued loudly. “Get up mom! It’s important!”

“Alright, stop yelling! I’m coming,” answered an annoyed voice from inside.

The orange ball of excitement came back out, almost jumping on Rainbow Dash.

“Hey! Have you seen my new ride?” she asked with the kind of proud smile Rainbow had seen countless times. In the mirror.

“Yeah,” she answered, looking back at the strange machine. “What happened to your scooter, squirt?”

“Nothing,” she answered while trotting on the other side of the contraption. “It’s at Sweet Apple Acres, but I’m not sure I’ll ride it again anyway, now that I have this baby!”

“And what is that thing exactly?”

“Scootaloo!” The two ponies jumped up at the harsh, commanding voice that came from just beyond the doorframe.

Rainbow turned and saw a charcoal-colored earth pony mare walk out of their house. She had a bright orange mane and tail, about the same hue as Scootaloo’s coat, that reminded her a lot of Spitfire’s, only shorter. “What’s all the ruckus?” she asked with a frown.

The mare turned around to look at the Ponyville tower giving Rainbow a look at her cutie mark. It looked like a pair of golden horseshoes one next to the other. The shape was a bit unusual, though.

“8:15? 8:15?!? What the f– fudge?” She walked towards Scootaloo, stomping the ground with each step. “Why’d you come and wake me up this early? And weren’t you supposed to be at Apple Bloom’s place?”

They weren’t horseshoes, Rainbow thought. She had seen these once, but struggled to remember what they were exactly...

She shivered when things clicked in her mind and she realized that Scootaloo’s mom had a pair of brass hooves for a cutie mark. Two questions quickly followed in her mind: why was she looking at Scootaloo that way and what kind of pony has 'punching' as a special talent? She may not have been very big, but she was obviously well muscled, easily on par with Applejack. Definitely not the kind of pony that anyone would want hitting them.

The orange filly deflated a little under her mother's glare, but kept smiling happily. "I'm sorry mom. But I had to show you something. Look at this!” standing on her hind legs behind the machine, she presented it with her forehooves.

Rainbow became nervous at the expression on the face of Scootaloo’s mother. It looked like she was about to bite her face off... Scootaloo, on her side, kept grinning as she showed her contraption. Dash’s eyes switched between the two ponies and she remained ready to spring into action. If that mare was going to do anything to Scootaloo, she would have to go through Rainbow first.

Her mom sat on her haunches with a sigh. “Okay,” she said, interrupted in the middle by a yawn. “What the heck is that?”

“A roadster! Well, that’s what Apple Bloom called it anyway. She built it, so I guess she gets to name it too.”

“Apple Bloom?” Rainbow and Scootaloo’s mom asked almost at the same time.

“Yeah, remember how she got a cutie mark in engineering?”

Rainbow nodded. It was about a month ago that Apple Bloom discovered her talent for design and construction. Applejack didn’t really want to admit it, but there was a good reason that the Apple family’s barns tended to fall every few weeks... Until Apple Bloom drew some actual blueprints, that is.

“Since then, she’s been studying how to make my scooter better. And safer, too. She really insisted on it having brakes, for some reason.” Scootaloo shrugged. Maybe she had so gotten used to crashing into the scenery that she considered it a normal part of driving. “But in the end, she came up with a whole new design! Isn’t it awesome?” she asked, showing the brand new roadster.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” Scoot’s mom answered flatly, “but couldn’t it wait till later?” She yawned again. “I gotta get some sleep, Scoots.” The mare turned around, heading back towards the house.

“Wait, that’s not all!” Scootaloo jumped in front of her mother, showing her brand new cutie mark.

The mare’s eyes widened slowly until they looked like two giant emeralds. “You got your cutie mark?” Scootaloo nodded with a huge grin.

“That’s wonderful, Scoots!” The filly was almost smothered by the bone-crunching hug she received.

“Mom! Too tight!”

“Oops! Sorry, Scoots,” she said as she replaced her daughter back on the ground. “I was just so excited. My little filly’s finally got her cutie mark!” Being denied her hugging, Scootaloo’s mom proceeded to batter her daughter with kisses.

“Moooooom! Stop that! Gah! Come on, not in front of Rainbow Dash!”

The mare looked at a very laughing Rainbow Dash. “Don’t mind me, keep going!” the blue mare said when she managed to catch her breath.

“See? She says it’s okay,” Scootaloo’s mom looked at her with a predatory smile.

“Noooooo!” The filly fell back on her haunches, waving her forelegs to try and keep the attacker at bay.

“Aww come on, Scoots. You’re not embarrassed by your mom, are you?”

“When you’re being all mushy like that I am!” Scootaloo answered with a frown, crossing her hooves on her chest.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re so f– freaking adorable!” she answered, quickly placing one last peck on her daughter's forehead. She giggled, but managed to restrain herself from doing more, even despite Scootaloo’s adorable pout. “All right, get off your butt and let me see that mark, at least.”

The filly complied quickly, with a smile on her face.

“Aw yeah, that looks bitchin’! That’s my girl.” Scootaloo's mom held a hoof near her daughter, which she promptly bumped with a grin.

“Heh. It just might be on par with my own awesomeness,” Rainbow said with a wink. Scootaloo and her shared a little laugh.

The charcoal mare turned around and sized up Rainbow with a discerning eye.

“So, I finally get to meet the Rainbow Dash, huh?”

“Oh right sorry,” Scootaloo said in a hurry, “I didn’t even introduce you two. Mom, this is Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, that’s my mom!”

“You don’t have to call me ‘mom’, though,” the mare added with a chuckle. “I’m Matchstick.”

Rainbow shook her outstretched hoof, wincing a little at the strength of her grip.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Matchstick said, “mostly from Scoots.”

“Heh. Only good things, I hope.”

“You have no idea,” she answered with a roll of her eyes. “So, Scoots, you got that cutie mark for driving that... uh...”

“Roadster!” Scootaloo chirped. “Here, let me show you. You’ll see, it’s awesome!”

The filly quickly strapped her helmet on and jumped on the bike in one move. Forehooves on the handlebars, her hind legs were just touching the ground, keeping her stable. With a buzz of her wings, she darted down the street and stopped a few dozen meters away and turned around, facing the two mares again.

Holding the brake command with a hoof, she flapped her wings faster and faster, raising dust behind her. When she released the brakes, Scootaloo and her roadster shot down the street like a bullet.

Rainbow and Matchstick were temporarily blinded as she rushed past them, both from the dust and their own manes being blown in their eyes. Once she reached the end of the street, Scootaloo almost threw the bike on its flank to make the sharpest turn possible and made another pass in front of the two mares, even faster than the first. Another tight U-turn later, Scootaloo came to a screeching stop in front of them, jumping off the bike and striking a pose for her audience.

Rainbow stomped her hooves and whooped in admiration of the filly’s stunts. “All right Scoots, that was awesome!”

“Are you crazy?” Matchstick screamed, the look in her eyes so angry that it bordered on murderous. “The fuck is wrong with you?”

The whole street quieted down while she glared down at her daughter. Rainbow’s voice got stuck in her throat.

Matchstick raised her furious eyes at a lone stallion who was observing her outburst with a shocked look. “What are you looking at, shithead?” she roared at him.

“No– Nothing,” he stammered, quickly deciding to trot away.

“Yeah, keep walking.”

“M– Mom?” Scootaloo asked pitifully.

“What was that, Scoots? Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Scootaloo cowered into a little orange ball on the ground, stuttering apologies. That was too much for Rainbow, who jumped in front of Matchstick and almost shoved her face in hers.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Rainbow yelled at her.

“Mind your own fucking business!”

Dash gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes at the aggressive mare. “I think it’s my business,” she hissed. “I may not be her real sister, but I don’t care. If you touch a single hair on her, I’ll kick your tail into next week.” She punctuated her threat by a jab of a hoof to Matchstick’s chest.

“Oh, you want a piece of me?” Matchstick raised herself on her hind legs, maintaining her balance effortlessly, while her forehooves went into a guard stance. “Come and get it, then.”

“What, you think you scare me?” Rainbow jumped on her rear legs too. She may not have the same training as the earth pony seemed to have, but with her wings to help her, standing straight wasn’t a problem. “You think you’re tough, huh?”

“I know I am,” Matchstick answered plainly.

Before she had any time to think about it, one of Matchstick’s hooves had taken a jab that stopped only a few hairs’ length short of her muzzle. Rainbow almost fell on her back when she instinctively drew her head back, staggering a couple of steps backwards to keep her balance. She gulped when she realized that she had been too slow, too: Matchstick’s hoof was already gone when Rainbow reacted. That one was only a warning.

Cold sweat started to run down her multicolored mane, but Dash shook her head and scowled in determination. For Scootaloo, she wasn’t going to back down. Matchstick kept glaring at her, clearly not intending to step down either. She had eyes that were promising efficiently delivered pain.

“Stop!”

The two mares froze at Scootaloo’s shout.

“I’m sorry, mom. I’m sorry! Just... stop!” Tears were welling up in her little purple eyes. Scootaloo started sobbing, repeating “I’m sorry”, apologizing for whatever her mother was angry about, even if she didn’t understand.

A look of horror and guilt appeared on Matchstick’s face.

“Oh no...”

She fell on all fours and shoved Rainbow out of the way without even thinking about it. “No no no no no no!” She wrapped Scootaloo in a hug and rocked her gently. “Shhh, it’s alright Scoots. Please stop crying.”

“Sorry...”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Matchstick held Scootaloo against her chest, petting her mane while Rainbow remained too dumbfounded to move.

“It’s my fault,” the mare continued. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. You scared me, that’s all.”

Scootaloo looked into her mother’s eyes questioningly.

“I’ve seen you crash a hundred times with your scooter, kid. That was bad enough, but now that you can go ten times faster...” She squeezed the filly a little tighter. “I just don’t want you hurting yourself.”

Scootaloo hung her head sadly. “I’m sorry, mom... I– I won’t ride the roadster again...”

Matchstick hugged her tight for a moment, then took a deep breath and nuzzled her daughter. “No. Don’t say that, Scoots.”

“Mom?”

She sighed. “It’s your special talent... If you want to ride, I won’t stop you.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” she answered with a nod. Scootaloo’s smile became wider and wider.

“But!” Matchstick added quickly. “You have to be careful. First, you always wear your helmet.”

Scootaloo nodded vigorously.

“Second, no riding in the streets. It’s too dangerous, with all the ponies and carts and stuff. Okay?”

“But... Where can I go, then?”

“I don’t know... Maybe we can find a place outside of town, where there won’t be anything in the way.” Scootaloo gave a little frown at that.

“Hey,” Rainbow piped up, “I know tons of deserted places outside of town. I go there to practice all the time. No worries, squirt. I’ll show you.”

“Really?”

Rainbow nodded with a grin.

“Is that okay mom?”

“Alright. Just... Make sure there’s always somepony nearby. Just in case something happens. Okay?”

Scootaloo agreed immediately, nodding her head so hard it could have fallen off. “This is gonna be awesome! You totally have to race me, Rainbow!”

“You know I will,” she answered with a smirk. “And I’m gonna win too.”

“Oh yeah? We’ll see about that!”

Matchstick chuckled a bit. “Promise me you’ll be careful, though.”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

“Good,” she said with a satisfied nod. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, Scoots. And I’m sorry for swearing, too.”

“Mom, I don’t care about that.”

“You should,” Matchstick said sternly. “No swearing! You’re not a punk. Understood?”

“Yes, mom.”

“Good.” She released Scootaloo from her hug, letting her stand in front of her and mussed her mane one more time. “I’m real proud of you, Scoots. Never, ever forget that, ‘kay?” The filly nodded once more with a bright grin. “Now I guess we’ll have to ask Pinkie to throw you a cuteceañara soon.” Matchstick was again interrupted by a yawn. “Not now, though. I really have to sleep.”

“Oh! Wait!” Scootaloo jumped in the air. “We have to go see dad! I‘ve got to show him my cutie mark!”

“Well, sure.” Matchstick answered.

“Can we go?”

“What, you mean right now?” She raised an eyebrow at her over enthusiastic daughter. “We can’t go today, Scoots. I have to work tonight. And I really need to rest, too.”

“But... But if we catch the first train, we can be back before you have to go to work, right?”

Matchstick shook her head. “Vigil had to take the day off, so I’m pulling a double shift today. I’m sorry, Scoots, I really can’t go today.”

Scootaloo slumped a little. “But then when? Tomorrow’s Sunday so it’s no good.”

“I know. We can go next Wednesday, I’ll have the day off and you don’t have school either, right?”

“But... But that’s like half a week away!”

“I’m sorry,” Matchstick said as she put a hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder. “That’s the best I can do. You know how it is, the hospital has to remain open at all times so I get crappy hours too. And no, you can’t go on your own, Scoots.”

“Wait,” Rainbow interrupted, her eyes going wide as she stared at Matchstick. “You’re a doctor?”

The mare watched her with a befuddled look for a moment, until she burst into laughter. “Ha, that’s cute,” she said with a grin. Once she managed to stop her laughing, she cleared her throat and explained: “I’m a guardsmare. Same hours, much less pay.”

‘Right, that makes more sense,’ Rainbow thought.

“We have to look after the mental patients, after all. Or, you know... Anypony that might try to break in and steal slippers,” she added with a wink.

Rainbow felt her face burning. “A book!” she blurted out. “I was trying to get a book, not some silly slippers.” Matchstick only chuckled at her embarrassment.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo exclaimed suddenly, jumping in the air at once.

“Huh?” the two mares said synchronously. They both stared as the filly bounced up and down the ground like an orange rubber ball.

“Rainbow Dash can take me to see dad!” she said.

“Whoa, slow down, squirt,” Rainbow answered. “I’m doing what now? And where is your dad anyway?”

“Canterlot. We can go together, right mom?”

Matchstick hesitated a little, giving an unsure look at Rainbow. “Easy there, Scoots. You can’t just tell Rainbow what to do.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Rainbow answered. “I didn’t have much plans for today. Besides, Canterlot is like what? Two, three hours flight away? That’s nothing!” she added with a nonchalant pose, polishing one of her hooves on her chest fur.

“You’re gonna fly me there?” Scootaloo asked, amazement on her face. “Oh please mom, please say yes!”

“Scoots, don’t–”

“Pleeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?”

The puppy dog eyes were too much for Matchstick. She sighed in defeat and turned her eyes to Rainbow. “Sorry about this, Dash... You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. I was going to do some exercising today anyway. Might as well go for a flight.”

“Well... Alright, then.”

“Thanks!” Scootaloo shouted while jumping on her mother’s neck to hug her. Barely a second later, she was on her bike. “Wait here, Rainbow. I’ll be right back.”

“Be care–” Matchstick started, but Scootaloo was already gone. “-ful,” she finished flatly. The mare shook her head and sighed. “I swear, that filly has too much energy for her own good.”

“No kidding,” Rainbow answered. “Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with her. I had to catch her falling from a waterfall in the middle of the night once...”

Matchstick suddenly became silent, staring at Rainbow with eyes as wide as dinner plates. Her mouth worked for a moment without any words coming out and when she found her speech again, it was still pretty limited. “You– She... You what?”

“Heh...” Rainbow laughed awkwardly. “Guess she didn’t tell you about that, huh?”

“Bu– Gah! How did that happen? Was she hurt?” Rainbow saw the fear and anxiety in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I caught her in time. Not sure what she was doing out by herself at night, though.”

Matchstick sat on her rump, holding her head in her hooves. “She’s crazy. I’m gonna lock her inside the house, I swear!”

“Hey, relax!”

“Relax?” She raised an eyebrow at Dash. “My daughter almost got herself killed. How am I supposed to relax?”

“I’m there! I’m like her extra-awesome big sister. I’ll keep her out of trouble, don’t worry.”

Rainbow held her heroic pose, wings flared and one hoof raised while she smirked in all her awesomeness.

Matchstick wrapped an arm over her eyes and sighed slowly. “Well, I guess it’s better than nothing... Thanks,” she said with a small smile. “And uh... sorry for... earlier. I know I have a short temper, so... Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Rainbow shot her another cocky smirk. “Good thing you stopped though, I didn’t want to have to kick your tail.”

“Kick my tail?” Matchstick raised an eyebrow at this. “You’re lucky I didn’t rearrange your muzzle, Dash.”

“Like you could even touch me. I’m the fastest pony in Equestria, you know?”

“Hmm hmm. You keep telling yourself that,” she answered with a chuckle.

“What, you think I’m bragging?”

“Quit dreaming, Dash. You couldn’t take me on.” Matchstick flashed her a smirk of her own.

“Pah! I can take you in my sleep!” Dash jumped in the air and hovered near the charcoal mare.

“Care to put your money where your mouth is?”

Rainbow hesitated for a moment. Maybe getting into a fight with her wasn’t such a good idea. But Matchstick had an arrogant smirk that Rainbow couldn’t bear to leave alone. She thought she was better than the one and only Rainbow Dash... Unacceptable.

“What do you have in mind?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“You know the Horsepower Gym?” Rainbow nodded. “They have a ring and some gear you can borrow. We can have a little bout, if you think you’re up for it.”

The pegasus wasn’t feeling all that confident, considering the knowing grin on Matchstick’s face and the fact that she had no experience in boxing...

“Fine, you’re on.”

Rainbow Dash never backs down from a challenge, after all.

“Alright, it’s your funeral. Like I said, I’ll have the day off next Wednesday.”

“Sure, I’ll find some time to whoop your rump,” she concluded, attempting to convince herself at the same time. She could take that mare. Rainbow Dash was a world-class athlete who had fought Equestria’s most dangerous enemies and Matchstick was just a regular security guard. She had this in the bag.

The sound of Scootaloo returning derailed that train of thought as soon enough, the orange pegasus jumped on the ground and rushed to Rainbow.

“Alright, Rainbow. We can go!” she chirped, patting a pair of saddlebags on her back.

Rainbow Dash lowered herself on her knees and the younger pegasus quickly climbed on her back, hooking her front legs around her neck.

“Ready?” Rainbow asked, standing back up again.

“Hyah, Rainbow! To Canterlot!”

Dash gave her a flat look while Matchstick facehooved.

Scootaloo chuckled awkwardly. “Uh... Please?”

Matchstick shook her head and laughed softly. “Well, be careful you two. Rainbow Dash, you take good care of my little girl. And bring her back before night.” Rainbow gave her a salute and jumped into the air. Even with Scootaloo’s added weight, Rainbow had no trouble gaining altitude and built up speed in the direction of Canterlot.

Chapter 1 - Visiting Hours (2/2)

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True to her word, Rainbow only took a couple hours to reach the capital of Equestria. Between that long continuous flight (with only a short break midway on an opportune cloud) and her early morning workout, her wing muscles were starting to feel as supple as wood, so it was with a great relief that the couple of pegasi finally reached the city hanging on the mountainside.

“We’re here, squirt,” she called over her shoulder. “Now, where do we go?”

She felt Scootaloo squirming on her back, moving left and right to examine the cityscape. After a minute of silence, Rainbow called again.

“Sorry, Rainbow,” she answered. “I’m not used to seeing the city from the sky...” She muttered to herself. “Where is it?”

Rainbow Dash slowed down, hovering at what she would have called normally an excruciatingly slow pace, but if Scootaloo needed time to find their exact destination, going fast would only make it harder.

“Hey Rainbow, do you see the train station?”

Identifying landmarks was an essential part of flying, meaning the experienced pegasus had no trouble finding something as obvious as a train station: find the tracks and follow them inside the city. “There,” she pointed a hoof at the building.

“Okay so then... Um... Right, then left and down that street, past the fountain...” Scootaloo kept mumbling for a few seconds. “I got it! It’s over there,” she said, holding a hoof over Rainbow’s shoulder.

Dash glided down in that direction, wondering in which building Scootaloo’s dad was. The area seemed to be mostly townhouses and small shops, maybe he worked in one of these... The only construction that looked out of the ordinary was a large, almost square building with a big courtyard in its center. The unusual thing about it was the array of bars that closed the top of that yard, making it look almost like a giant bird cage. She figured that whatever was going on inside, it forbid pegasi flying inside directly.

Rainbow found a wide plaza that she selected as her landing zone. Once on the ground, she lowered herself to let Scootaloo down and let out a relieved breath as she was able to rest her back. She stretched her wings a few times to make sure her muscles wouldn’t be sore in a few hours and finally was able to fold them neatly on her sides.

“So, squirt,” she said nonchalantly, “where to now?”

“This way!” Scootaloo chirped as she trotted down one of the streets crossing at the square.

Rainbow followed her, turning her head this way and that to take in the scenery. She hadn’t come to Canterlot that often and never had much time to just hang around the streets before, so in the end she knew little more than the castle. The rest of the town was still worth seeing, she decided. The architecture reminded her a little of Cloudsdale and despite being made of stone rather than cloud, the buildings around her still looked elegant, for the most part. The one Rainbow and Scootaloo were heading for was a bit more massive, with high, gray walls standing tall, blocking the end of the street.

She quickly recognized that particular building that she had spotted before landing. The purpose of the bars in the courtyard became much clearer once she was close enough to read the large black lettering on the front: Canterlot Central Prison.

“Rainbow Dash?”

Hearing Scootaloo’s voice made her realize that she had stopped in the street, her eyes stuck on the stone walls in front of her.

“Come on!” the filly called her, walking ahead.

‘Why are we going in a prison?’ Rainbow wondered. Her eyes widened as she figured it out.

‘Of course! Her mother was a guard, her father must be one too.’ She nodded to herself and trotted after Scootaloo. ‘I bet they met at work. I wonder why he’s not working in Ponyville too, though... Maybe the pay’s better here?’ Her sight stuck on the massive metal doors in the middle of the building. Why they needed to be that big, she couldn’t guess.

Rainbow quickly caught up with Scootaloo, who was waiting next to a smaller but still heavy-looking wooden door embedded in the thick wall. The two entered, Rainbow a little surprised at the sight.

She expected a prison to be all bars and cells and such. Instead, she stood in a wide room with a semi-circular desk in the middle, staffed by a bored-looking earth pony wearing a tan uniform. Worn tiles on the ground and definitely not fresh paint on the walls, the place would have been enough to make Rarity faint. A few benches stood on the sides, most of them empty since only two other ponies were waiting in the room, one of them pacing around rather than sitting down.

Rainbow and Scootaloo approached the desk. The guard, a middle-aged stallion that looked way too tough for somepony with pink fur, lifted his eyes from a bunch of papers he was scribbling on and set them on Rainbow. She noticed that his eyes were the same color as his mane, a deep ruby, giving him a slightly unsettling gaze. “Hello, miss. Can I help you?” he asked with absolutely no enthusiasm.

“Hi, mister Jawbreaker,” Scootaloo answered before Rainbow had time to say something.

The guard leaned forward a little to see over the wooden desk and smiled as he saw the orange pegasus. “Hey, it’s Scootaloo! Hi, kid. Are you here to see your dad?” She nodded and he gave the room a quick glance. “Your mom’s not here with you?” Jawbreaker asked. “You know foals aren’t allowed in without an adult.”

“I know. She couldn’t come today, but I have Rainbow with me,” Scootaloo answered, pointing to Rainbow Dash.

Jawbreaker observed her for a second and shrugged. “Okay then, let me get the log.” He grabbed a book and quill in his mouth. “I’ll need your name and address,” he added.

Once everything was recorded and Rainbow had properly signed the log, Jawbreaker led both pegasi through a short corridor ending in a grille gate. He exchanged a few words with another guard standing on the other side, who unlocked the door and opened it for Rainbow and Scootaloo. She couldn’t help but feel a little nervous as the door closed behind her with a loud clang. The guard, an unremarkable white unicorn with his face locked in a permanent frown, locked the gate and turned to Rainbow.

“Spread your wings,” he said, sounding bored.

“Huh?”

“I need to search you. Spread your wings,” he repeated, his tone turning into an annoyed one.

“Oh. Of course.” Rainbow complied, holding her wings out while the guard grabbed them with his magic and turned them a bit to look at each side. He also did a quick check of her mane and tail.

Scootaloo submitted to the same treatment, and the guard also got a quick look inside her saddlebags before he declared them clear to proceed. Without another word, he led both pegasi down a corridor.

The trip took less than a minute, after which Scootaloo and Rainbow passed yet another gate that was closed behind them. They entered a small hall that was lined with doors and wide glass windows giving a view inside several smaller rooms. There were a few more guards standing around, too. The two pegasi were told to wait in room number four and headed in.

Inside, all there was were a few worn cushions around a table. The walls were painted in the same pale beige color that was chipped in more than one place, showing the grey concrete underneath. A couple of very narrow windows right under the ceiling gave a little light to the room, but most came from the magical fixture on the ceiling.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash?” She looked down at Scootaloo. “I have to use the little filly’s room.”

“Oh. Sure.”

“I’ll be right back.” Scootaloo dropped her saddlebags on the table and zipped out of the room, while Rainbow plopped herself on a cushion and waited, looking through the window in the hall. She saw a few guards walking around, sometimes guiding what she assumed were convicts, considering they weren’t wearing any uniform. She was quickly getting bored though, since there was little activity to follow and so her mind started to wander a bit.

In particular, she wondered why she was sitting here if she was going to meet one of the guards. This was obviously a visiting room... Didn’t the staff have their own break room or something like that?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. Rainbow turned her head to see a dark red pegasus coming in. He took a few steps and raised an eyebrow when he spotted her. “Are you sure this is the right room?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Yeah,” the guard grunted. “If you don’t wanna see her, just say so.”

The red stallion looked back to Rainbow and shrugged. He came inside and sat down on the opposite side of the table, his back to the window.

Rainbow gulped as she examined him. His mane was a bit unusual, making a color gradient starting with a very pale yellow-green at the base of his hairs and turning into a darker lime green at the tip. His coat, on the other hoof, was a pretty ordinary deep red color. The thing that Rainbow was really focusing on, though, were the tattoos.

Two windigos were painted in bright white and black in his fur, starting near his forehooves and curling up around each leg all the way up to his chest where the heads were. The one on his left side was simply giving a cold glare, while the other was baring its teeth menacingly.

Rainbow tried to analyze the situation calmly. She was sitting in a prison room, alone with a pony that was obviously some kind of gangster and from the amount of muscles she could see, he was in top shape. Nothing to worry about, then...

“Do I know you?” the stallion asked with a gruff voice.

“Uhhh...” Rainbow swallowed the lump in her throat and took her eyes off the windigoes and up to his face. She felt herself sweating as she saw those purple eyes moving up and down her form, measuring her like a piece of meat.

“Hey! Relax, flyer. I’m not gonna do anything to you.”

“I’m... totally relaxed,” she said with a strained voice. “Not nervous at all.” She tried flashing her trademark grin, but wasn’t quite sure it came through.

The stallion chuckled softly. “Right. Seriously though, the guards wouldn’t leave us alone if it was dangerous.”

Rainbow did relax a little at that. It made sense, the staff knew its job and the inmates. They wouldn’t leave her alone in a room with a crazy murderer or rapist... Hopefully.

“This is Canterlot Central,” he continued, waving a hoof at nothing in particular. “The prissy Canterlot hornheads would never keep the really bad ponies inside their city. Just crooks and thieves here...”

Rainbow nodded, relaxing a bit more.

“You still didn’t answer my question, flyer.”

“Uh, right. I...” She looked into his eyes. There was something familiar... She had seen purple eyes like these before, she was certain of it. “Wait... Are you Scootaloo’s dad?”

The stallion looked surprised. “You know Scoots? I mean... Yeah, I’m her old guy.” He watched Rainbow closely once more, his eyes narrowing and his ears flattening on his head.

“Let me guess,” he said with a smirk, “you’re Rainbow Dash.” She nodded, her mouth agape. “Heh. Scoots has been telling me about you for years now... Never thought I’d get to meet you for real.”

Rainbow blushed a little, wondering what exactly her number one fan had been telling him all this time. “Well, I hope she’s been saying good things about me then.”

“Good? From what she told me, you’re as awesome as all the Wonderbolts put together. And then some...” He chuckled a bit. “My name’s Red Currant, by the way. You can call me Red.”

He extended a wing and Rainbow slapped it with one of hers. “Nice to meet you, Red. Heh. I was starting to wonder if Scootaloo had any parents at all, since I’ve never seen any of you around.” She caught herself too late when she saw the smile vanish from Red’s face.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Can’t really go out and visit, huh?”

“Uh, sorry... I didn’t mean to–”

“Don’t worry, flyer,” he interrupted her with a raised hoof. “No harm done. I’m here ‘cause I screwed up, now I’m paying the price...”

The door once again stopped that conversation, this time letting Scootaloo in.

“Dad!” she ran towards Red, giving him hardly enough time to open his hooves and catch her.

“There’s my lil’ bird! How have you been, girl?” he asked, holding her effortlessly in front of his face.

“Great!” The two nuzzled each other and he let her back on the ground.

“Hey, dad! Look!” she turned her flank to him, beaming proudly.

His face turned into a frown, eyes narrowing, boring into his daughter. “You got a tattoo...”

“What? No.” Scootaloo faltered a little under Red’s glare. “Dad...”

Red Currant smiled suddenly. “Just foolin’ ya, kid.” He burst into laughter.

“Wha– Dad! That’s not funny.” Scootaloo sat down on her haunches with a huff, crossing her forelegs on her chest. She gave her father a glare of her own.

“Sorry, Scoots,” he said, calming down a little. “Sorry. Now let me see that mark.” Red grabbed and lifted her to his eye level, examining the picture thoroughly. “That looks great,” he declared with a smile. “How did you get it?”

Scootaloo went into a long retelling of the morning’s events, complete with gestures and sound effects, while Red listened, a happy grin on his face. Rainbow couldn’t help but think of her own father’s face, back when she was just a filly and rambling endlessly about the Wonderbolts and her latest flying stunts every evening when he came home from work.

While Red was listening to his daughter, Rainbow got a look at his own cutie mark. She was no expert on insects, but with a colorful thin body and two pairs of wings, a dragonfly was pretty easy to identify. She wondered what his talent was... It was hard to imagine the tough stallion taking care of animals as Fluttershy did but maybe she was looking too hard into this, she thought. Cutie marks’ significations were rarely straightforward, after all.

Time flew as Scootaloo and her father talked and talked. After at least ten minutes, she finally remembered that she had brought a box of cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner and the three ponies made quick work of them. Rainbow mostly stayed out of the conversation, until the filly explained how she was now like her big sister and was going to teach her all her tricks. Then, she had a chance to chat a little about herself.

Red looked with an amused smirk when she mentioned how she was going to join the Wonderbolts.

“You don’t think I’m going to make it?” she asked with a frown.

“Sorry flyer,” he said, “but every pegasus in Equestria talks about joining the ‘Bolts. Not many make it.”

Rainbow scoffed. “How many are selected for tryouts at the Wonderbolt Academy?” she shot back.

“You were?” Red said with genuine surprise. “Okay, that’s not bad. How did you do?”

“I came out on top of my group and I was made a leadpony,” Rainbow answered with a haughty grin. “And I’m scheduled to go back for training at the Academy next summer. I’ll be in the Wonderbolts before you know it!”

Red’s amused face turned into one of respectful admiration. “Is that true, Scoots?” he asked his daughter.

“Yeah! Rainbow Dash is the best. She even won the best young flyer competition in Cloudsdale. They should make her a Wonderbolt already.”

Rainbow blushed a little, but still reveled in the (totally deserved) praise.

“Well what do you know,” Red said. “Looks like you’re the real thing, flyer. Hey Scoots, you should get as many autographs as you can before she’s famous. There’s good money to make,” he finished with a chuckle.

“Hey, now that I have my awesome cutie mark,” Scootaloo said, jumping in place, “maybe I can join the Wonderbolts too some day.”

“Maybe,” Red said, ruffling her mane with a hoof. “You manage to fly yet?”

“Well, no... Not really,” Scootaloo answered, looking down.

“Hey, don’t worry kid. You’ll fly some day. Just need to get those little wings up to speed.”

The orange filly spread her tiny wings and watched them with a frown. “Why are my wings so small anyway? How am I supposed to fly with these?”

“Hey now, it’s not a matter of size,” Red chided her, poking her on the nose. “Look, I bet Rainbow here has bigger wings than me. And she’s a mare!” The stallion spread his wings as wide as he could, which indeed only gave him a very modest wingspan. “But that’s never kept me on the ground.”

“It’s true,” Rainbow added with a nod, “have you seen Bulk Biceps? That bodybuilding guy? He’s as big as an ox and he’s got wings as small as yours, but he can still fly.”

“See?” Red continued. “And you’re not all grown up yet. You’ll be flying some day, kid.”

“Thanks, dad,” she answered, giving him a hug.

“That’s what I’m here for,” he said softly, petting her mane with a little smile.

“I wish you could teach me,” Scootaloo muttered with her muzzle in his chest. “I mean, having Rainbow as a teacher is awesome... But... I wish you could be the one teaching me how to fly.”

He sighed sadly. “I know, kid. I wish I could, too.” He held her a little tighter.

“It sucks that I only get to see you once a week.”

“Yeah... It does,” Red said in a breath. He kissed her on the forehead to try and keep her cheerful, but the filly started to sob a little.

“We– We’re gonna have a party,” she said, choking a little, “for my cutie mark. I want you to be there.”

“I want to be there too, Scoots.”

“Can’t you come? Can’t they let you out... Like, just for a day?”

Red took a little while to answer. “It doesn’t work that way...”

“But... But... It’s not fair!”

“That’s the way it is, my lil’ bird. You know I did some stupid stuff. I can’t go back and change that now.”

Scootaloo buried her face in his chest and he furled his wings around her in an embrace.

“You... You could break out?” she asked timidly.

“No, Scoots. I can’t.”

She remained silent a moment, sniffling and sobbing while he petted her gently.

“Rainbow could break you out...”

Both Rainbow and Red’s eyes widened a little at what they heard.

“She’s strong and fearless and... and awesome.” Scootaloo watched in her father’s eyes with a hopeful smile. “And with Twilight and Applejack and all the others, they could get you out.”

“Scoots,” he tried to interrupt her.

“And then we’ll be together with you, me and mom. We’ll be... like a real family and–”

“Stop.”

Scootaloo winced at his commanding tone. He was frowning at her.

“Scoots, don’t say that kinda stuff. Not even to joke, this is serious.”

“But–”

“No! I’m not kidding. You have to stay out of trouble, okay? The last thing I need is you becoming a punk.” He pushed her back a little to stare in her eyes. “You’ll just end up like me.”

Scootaloo looked aside. “Well,” she muttered, “maybe if I go to jail I can be with you, then.”

“Shut up!” he said with a glare. “I don’t want to hear that kinda bullshit.” Red’s frown softened a little. “It wouldn’t work anyway, they don’t keep mares and stallions in the same place. And foals your age don’t go to prison anyway.”

Scootaloo watched Rainbow Dash with a desperate look that almost broke her heart. The blue pegasus opened her mouth, but her brain couldn’t come up with anything to say.

“Listen,” Red said softly, using a wing to turn Scootaloo’s head to face his. “You know I won’t be in here forever. You have to be patient.”

“How long?”

He sighed. “I have five years left... But I’ve been behaving. I’m sure they’ll let me out early,” he said, trying to smile a little.

“How long?” she repeated.

“I don’t know... Maybe two or three years? One if I’m lucky.”

“And if you’re not lucky?”

He didn’t answer. He simply cradled his daughter silently for a minute.

Rainbow jumped when she heard the guard tapping on the window. Red Currant turned to watch and sighed. “Looks like it’s time for you to leave.”

“I don’t wanna go!” Scootaloo whined.

“I know, Scoots.” He put her back on the ground in front of him and stood up. “You’ll visit me again soon, won’t you?”

Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah.” She rubbed the tears out of her eyes with a hoof. “I’ll get mom to come, too. I promise!”

“Great,” he answered. With a smile, he kissed her on the forehead once more. “I’ll miss you.”

Red gave Rainbow Dash a glance and turned back to Scootaloo. “Hey, Scoots. Can you do me a favor?”

“What?”

“I’d like to have a few words with Rainbow here. Can you go tell the guard to give us five minutes?”

Scootaloo looked suspiciously between him and Rainbow. “You’re not going to do any gross stuff, are you?”

“What?” Red and Rainbow asked simultaneously.

“Every time you ask to be alone with mom, you start kissing and stuff.”

“No no no!” Red quickly interrupted her, waving his hooves and looking slightly panicked. “I only do that with your mom!” Rainbow blushed when he gave her an embarrassed glance. “I really just want to talk with Rainbow for a minute. So I need you to go out and give that guard your best sad puppy eyes. Can you do that for me?”

“Humph. Fine.”

“Thanks, Scoots. Now give your old guy a kiss.” He held his head down to her level, cheek turned and ready to be kissed. Scootaloo gave him a quick peck. “I’ll see you soon, okay? Be good and do what your mom tells you. And tell her I miss her too.”

Scootaloo nodded and reluctantly left the room.

“Shit,” Red said with a sigh as he watched his daughter close the door behind her. “I wonder how much she’s seen...”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked him.

“We usually do a lot more than kiss...”

Rainbow blushed as his words sunk in. “Wait... You... Here? But... The window,” she said, pointing at the glass that gave a good view outside.

“Yeah, that’s as much privacy as we’re allowed... You gotta take what you can get,” he answered with a frown. “Most of the guards are nice enough to look away... Or at least pretend to.” He looked over his shoulder a second before turning his eyes on Rainbow.

“That guy, though?” he said, nodding at the stallion standing outside. “He likes to watch. Fucking pervert... He’s probably expecting a show right now.”

Rainbow took a look at the guard who was not-so-subtly peeking inside. She felt a shiver run down her spine when she saw his grin. “Eww. Guess he’s going to be disappointed.”

“That breaks my heart,” Red said flatly. “Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“Er, yeah, what did you want to tell me?”

“Well, for starters: thanks.” He gave her a sad smile. “I’m glad to know that there’s somepony to watch over my lil’ bird. Matchstick doesn’t spend as much time as she should with her.

“Now, don’t get me wrong,” he quickly added. “I’m not saying she’s a bad mother. I know she does everything she can, but she has to work hard to pay the bills, so Scoots is on her own most of the time. And I’m not blaming her for anything, this is all my fault. If I didn’t get myself stuck here...”

He let out a long sigh. “It’s too late to cry about the past. It doesn't matter who’s to blame, the fact is, Scoots doesn’t have the family she deserves... So, if you can...”

Rainbow nodded.

“I know I don’t have the right to ask anything from you, but please, keep an eye on her. I’m always scared she will do something stupid. Like when she talks about breaking me out, I think she’s serious sometimes...”

Rainbow fidgeted a little. Until now, her role as an unofficial big sister consisted mostly of being awesome and she wasn’t quite sure what else she was supposed to do.

“You know, it’s almost funny, in a sad way,” he said with a dry chuckle. “When Scoots was born, I promised myself I would be a great dad. I never knew mine, so I wanted to do better, give her a real family... I fucked up good, huh?”

Rainbow watched in surprise as the tough stallion slumped on the table, holding his head on a hoof.

“What happened?” she asked quietly.

Red looked up at her. “You want the whole story?”

She hesitated for a second, wondering if it was her place to get involved with Scootaloo’s family. On the other hoof, if she was going to be an awesome big sister, she couldn’t pick and choose what about Scootaloo she wanted to know... Rainbow looked at him with a determined face and nodded.

Red observed her for a second. “Where did you grow up? Ponyville?”

“Cloudsdale, actually. I moved to Ponyville when I got a job on the weather team.”

“Cloudsdale? Nice place, for the most part. Unless you’re from the lower levels, things get hot sometimes down there. But I bet you grew up in a nice enough neighborhood...” He shrugged. “I’m from the north side of Detrot. Real shitty place. But you must have already figured out that I don’t come from downtown Canterlot...

“So, I said I never knew my father, that’s because my mother’s a whore. She didn’t really keep track of who was the winner of the daddy lottery. Not that it really mattered anyways.” He paused when he saw Rainbow’s shocked face, but simply shrugged. “It’s a living. That’s what she always says... At least she’s an honest mare. So, I ended up raising myself, more or less. Spent my time in the streets... When I was a little older, me and some other young ponies made up our own little gang.”

Red laughed dryly. “We were just a bunch of punks, but we thought we were tough. Look at that...” He tapped a hoof on his tattoos. “Tough ponies got tats, so if you get some, that means you’re a tough pony... Ah well, at least mine don’t look too ridiculous. The only good thing about that time is that I got to meet Matchstick.”

“She was in your gang, too?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah... But she wasn’t like the rest of us. Most of the guys thought we were something big, but not her. All she wanted was to leave the slums and get a life. I thought that wasn’t a bad idea, too... But it’s not easy to do when all your skills are getting into fights and causing trouble.

“Still, you gotta work with what you have and when it comes to fighting, she’s really good. Good enough to get into boxing. I did what I could to train her and become her manager. We had big dreams back then. She started doing fights as an amateur, made a name for herself in the local circuit. All she needed was a chance to get a fight with a real boxer to go pro...”

Rainbow swallowed hard when she remembered what she had agreed to earlier that morning... Red didn’t notice, or maybe ignored it.

“Then I knocked her up,” he said. “She had to stop fighting until Scootaloo was born. And me, all of a sudden, instead of earning enough money for myself, I had to provide for two ponies. And then three... All I knew was the street, so that’s what I turned to. I could have tried getting an honest job... I should have. Getting into crime was just easier for me and I already had some experience. Except, a small-time criminal makes small-time cash, so I stepped things up.”

He watched Rainbow straight in the eyes. “I thought I was tough before,” he said. “But then I got involved with ponies who really meant business. At first, I thought I was gonna be a real gangster. They say that crime doesn’t pay, but if you’re good enough, it totally does... I wasn’t exactly good, though. A couple years later, I was neck-deep in manure. I had to lay low all the time, hiding from the cops, or... worse. Match and Scoots had to make themselves real small too, of course, so her boxing career went down the drain before it had time to begin...

“Turns out, the cops had way more evidence than they needed to arrest me. They were just aiming higher, I was small fry... Then one day, my... boss asked me to burn some pony’s shop because he refused to pay his protection fee.” He made air quotes at the last two words. “And since he wanted to make it an example, I was supposed to burn the building with that pony inside...

“That’s where I drew the line,” he said, looking Rainbow straight in the eyes. “I did torch the place, but I personally took that stallion outside first. I’m not a murderer. For all the crap I’ve done, I’ve never killed anypony. I’ve never even seriously hurt anypony, for that matter... Of course, that guy had taken a good look at me, so it was hard to pretend I didn’t do it.

“So, in the end, the cops charged me with everything they had all at once. I fell for drug trafficking, bookmaking, burglary, counterfeiting... Oh and arson, of course. Their plan was to offer me a lesser sentence if I gave as many details as I could about the family...”

“The family?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t ask, flyer. Better not to know anything about these ponies.”

She was about to insist, but only nodded after seeing his glare. “So, you spilled the beans?”

“No. I pleaded guilty and hoped they wouldn’t go too hard on me. That stallion I refused to kill even sorta witnessed in my favor. That was cool of him.” Red shrugged. “Since I admitted everything and wasn’t convicted for any violent crime, I got to stay in a nice prison, at least. This place is almost comfy. Food’s terrible, though.”

“But... Why didn’t you–” Rainbow narrowed her gaze, staring at the stallion in front of her. “You didn’t want to lose your contacts? You’re going back once you’re out...”

“What? No!” he scoffed. “Fuck Detrot! I’m never going back to that dump. The only thing I want to do when I’m out of here is to get back to my family and live a normal life with them. That’s it. I’m being the perfect convict until then, so they’ll let me out early.”

Rainbow examined him. He seemed serious about this. “I don’t get it,” she admitted. “If it would have gotten you out earlier, why not?”

Red leaned back a little and looked at Rainbow coldly. “It’s true that if I did it, I would already be out by now. This way, I have to wait a few more years, but the difference is that I still have a mare and a kid waiting for me outside.”

“Why wouldn’t they be–”

“Listen, flyer. There are some ponies that you really don’t want to believe that you’ve betrayed them. Get it?”

Rainbow Dash remained silent for a second. “I... get it,” she finally answered.

“I’m glad I got caught, in the end,” he said with a sigh. “It gave me a way out. I’ll get a chance to start over after I’m done here. I heard Ponyville’s a really nice place, too.”

“Yeah, it’s not as cool as Cloudsdale, but it’s got its own awesomeness. It’s where I live, after all,” she added with a grin. That smile quickly disappeared as she remembered one particular pony in Ponyville. “Hey, how good was Matchstick at boxing?” she asked, a little nervousness creeping in her voice.

Red watched her with a bit of surprise. “Really good. Like I said, she could have gone pro if she only had the chance.”

“Oh ponyfeathers,” Rainbow said, letting her head fall on the table with a loud smack.

“What’s wrong?”

“I challenged her to a fight...”

“Okay... Why?”

“Because she said I couldn’t take her on. I might have gotten carried away this time.”

“You ever boxed before?” Rainbow shook her head. “Any kind of fighting?”

“I’m not completely helpless, I’m good with my hooves. I’ve beaten up a bunch of changelings, for one. I fought a dragon once, too.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “How did that go?”

“Not too good...”

Red laughed a bit, then examined Rainbow closely. He scooted a little closer and spoke with a hushed voice. “Okay, I’m only telling you this because I think you don’t stand a chance, and you can never ever tell Matchstick that I told you about this.”

“You have some tips? Weaknesses?” Rainbow raised her head back up when he nodded, making her grin and turn her ears to him.

“First thing you need to know,” he said, “she fights in a southpaw stance.”

“A what-now stand?”

“Southpaw...” Red facehooved. “It means she stands with her right side in front.”

“Oh. Okay... And that’s important?”

“Hoo boy...” He rolled his eyes. “Let’s take it back from the beginning. Usually, a right-hooved boxer stands with the left side in front. He’ll do jabs and guard with his left hoof and wait for a chance to get the strongest punch possible with the right one.” He placed his front hooves in position to illustrate.

“Match does the opposite, keeping her dominant side in front.” He swiveled his torso to show Rainbow the stance. “The downside is that she can only throw short punches with her right hoof, so she won’t land a big knockout blow as easily. The upside is that her jab is very quick and much stronger than you would expect and she can put a lot of strength behind it if she wants to. Usually, she would try to stun you with one of these strong jabs, then connect with a big left hook.”

“But her left hoof isn’t as strong, right?”

“Yes. It might not knock you out, but you’re still gonna feel it, believe me. My point is, watch out for her jabs. Don’t get too close and keep your guard up. You said you’re really fast in the air, maybe you can move fast in the ring too... Here’s something you can try.”

Red grabbed Rainbow’s right arm and extended it in his direction as if she was attempting to punch him.

“When she tries to land a right like that, bob under the punch on her right side.” He demonstrated by leaning to his left and ducking his head under her arm, as if he had narrowly dove under it. “Then, hit a left punch right in her ribs,” he said, extending his left hoof to Rainbow’s side. “She won’t be able to block that.”

“Shouldn’t I aim for her head, instead?” Rainbow asked.

Red shook his head. “Not in that position. You won’t have much strength if you try to hit high. Just get a shot in her ribs, you’ll take some of the wind out of her. You can try a right punch in her gut, too.”

“So, you’re saying I should wear her out?” Rainbow folded her arm again, using her hoof to tap her chin. “Yeah, once she’s weakened, I bet I can finish her up.”

“Hah! Fat chance!” he said with a lopsided grin, “No, I don’t think you can win,but at least you’ll land a few hits. Just remember to move back quickly, never stay close and always keep your eyes on her right hoof. If she can land a good uppercut, you’re done.”

Both ponies turned around when the guard tapped loudly on the glass.

“I guess we should go before I get in trouble. He must be pissed that there’s nothing to see in here,” Red added with a chuckle and stood up. “Hey, one last thing. Don’t talk about my past to Scoots. We told her enough, she doesn’t need to know the details.”

Rainbow mulled that for a few seconds before she nodded. “Sure, don’t worry,” she answered, standing up too.

“Thanks. And thanks for coming, too. It was nice to chat.”

Both pegasi exited the room under the annoyed glare of the guard.

“Took your sweet time,” he said with a grunt. “You think we make our schedule around yours?”

“No, sir” Red answered obediently. “Sorry.” The guard grunted again. Red quickly turned towards Rainbow and Scootaloo, who had rushed to join them. “Goodbye girls, come back soon!”

“Goodbye dad!” she answered, jumping to hug his neck.

“Visiting hours are over. Move it!” the guard said with a grump.

Scootaloo let him go and Rainbow only gave a quick wave. Red Currant turned around and headed to the door, followed closely by the guard. Rainbow watched as he was quickly searched and led to the other side, the gate closing with a clang. On her side, his daughter looked down.

“You okay, squirt?” she asked softly.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah... Let’s get out of here,” Scootaloo answered, heading back towards the visitors’ door. She walked with little energy in her steps, her eyes stuck on the ground. Rainbow herself felt a little down too, watching over her shoulder at the ominous gate separating the inside from the rest of the world.

She had never given much thought to prison life before that day, it had been simple in her mind, clear cut. Criminals went to jail and that was it. Of course, it was fine as long as she didn’t start to consider individual stories of the ponies inside. How many were like Red Currant, separated from their loved ones? The place looked more depressing the more she thought about it.

Rainbow frowned and quickly accompanied Scootaloo out. Once outside, neither of the two ponies looked back and simply walked in the busy streets of Canterlot for a while with no particular destination in mind.

Rainbow’s stomach interrupted the silence with a growl. It had been a while since she had her breakfast and her stomach was not happy about being ignored.

“Maybe we should get something to eat,” she said with an embarrassed chuckle. “Oh ponyfeathers... I don’t have any money with me.” She slumped, her head hanging so low it almost touched the ground.

“I have a few bits,” Scootaloo said, patting her saddlebags.

“I can’t let you treat me, squirt. It should be the other way around!”

“It’s okay. You saved me a lot on the train ticket, actually.”

“Well, okay... I’ll buy you something when we get home, then.”

The two ponies nodded and went to search for a restaurant.

A little while later, the two pegasi were munching on a daisy pizza in a cheap diner. Cheap for Canterlot at least.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash?”

“Huh?” She focused her eyes on Scootaloo, who was watching back with a perplexed frown.

“Are you okay? You’re not eating anything. And you’ve been staring through the window for five minutes.”

Rainbow shook her head and watched her almost untouched half of their lunch. “Sorry, I was just thinking...”

“Thinking about what?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head to the side.

Rainbow took a bite, buying herself some time before answering. “Family, I guess,” she finally said with a shrug.

“Family?”

“Yeah... All in all, your dad looks like a cool guy.. How long has it been since...”

“Four years,” Scootaloo muttered, looking down at her plate. “We moved to Ponyville when he was sent to Canterlot. It’s closer... And I think mom didn’t want to stay in Detrot.”

“What was it like? Detrot, I mean.”

Scootaloo shook her head. “I don’t really remember much. Just a few places... I think we were moving a lot back then, I’m not sure if we even had a real home. What I remember most are some freaky ponies who came to see dad sometimes. They looked really mean.”

“I see...” Rainbow looked at the frowning Scootaloo and smiled. “Well, I’ll just have to be extra-awesome then.”

Scootaloo looked back at her with raised eyebrows.

“Until your dad gets out, I’ll be the best big sister in Equestria!” Rainbow declared with a grin, reaching a hoof across the table to tousle Scootaloo’s mane. The filly slowly smiled too, her eyes brightening up.

“You know, all of this made me realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen my own father.” She scarfed down another slice of pizza. “I can see my parents any time I want, really. I just... don’t.”

“Why not?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head to the side.

“I don’t know...” Rainbow looked outside. It was still the middle of the day, with perfect weather. She stayed silent for a while, her eyes going back to Scootaloo who was chomping down on another slice of pizza.

“Hey, Squirt,” she suddenly said. “You’ve ever been to Cloudsdale?”

“Glowbf–” Scootaloo paused to swallow. “Cloudsdale? No, I’ve never been. Why?”

Rainbow watched a tiny patch of cloud drifting along before looking back at Scootaloo and smiling warmly.

“I was just thinking, today’s a good day to make a little family visit.”

Author's Notes:

Hi, I'm Bud Grazer and this is my story.

Or something... I hope you liked this first chapter. This was supposed to be the whole thing, originally. Just a (not-so-short) one-shot, but it was so well received that I was convinced to write a second chapter, with Rainbow Dash and Matchstick punching each other in the face. Hurray !

A few things I want to say : first, I apologize to anyone from Detroit. Nothing personal, the city has a bad reputation and a very easily ponified name... I couldn't fit a horse pun into "1930s Chicago"... Second, English is not my native language. I'm actually French (Salut à tous mes lecteurs francophones ! Si il y en a...), which is why there are extra spaces in my punctuation sometimes and why I would like you to tell me if anything I say sounds unnatural or just plain wrong. I guess my English is good at this point, but one can always improve.

And of course, don't hesitate to leave a comment if you have some criticism to provide. As long as its constructive.

Thanks for reading, see you next chapter !

Chapter 2 - Float Like a Fluttershy (1/2)

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Gathering her hooves expertly under her, Rainbow Dash landed gracefully on the banister of the library’s balcony. She peeked inside through the window, hoping that Twilight Sparkle was already awake at this hour. Thankfully, she spotted Equestria’s newest princess walking by while holding a cup of tea with her magic. Rainbow tapped on the glass and soon enough, the window opened, wrapped in purple magic.

“Good morning, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said with a warm smile. “What brings you by?”

Rainbow floated in and touched the ground near her friend. “Hi, Twi! I need your help.”

“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked, tilting her head a little to the side.

“You could say that, I guess... I have three days to learn boxing.”

Twilight Sparkle stared at her, blinking for a few seconds. “Okay, that’s not the craziest thing I’ve heard from you...” She calmly walked to the table in the middle of the library and sat down, setting her teacup in front of her. With a wing, she gestured for Rainbow to take a seat, which the pegasus quickly accepted. “Do I want to know why you need to learn boxing?” she finally asked.

“Well... Do you know Scootaloo’s mother?”

“Hmmm... No, I’ve never met her parents.”

“I met Scoot’s mom yesterday. She’s cool, but she’s also really short tempered.”

“I see,” Twilight said, sipping her tea. “I know somepony like that. She can be a hooffull sometimes.”

“I know, right? Anyways, Scootaloo got her cutie mark yesterday...”

Rainbow made a quick summary of the previous day’s events, how she happened to follow Scootaloo’s ride to her home, her meeting with Matchstick and the challenge Rainbow had agreed to.

“You’re going to have a friendly match?” Twilight asked, tapping her chin in thought. “I’ve seen you fight before, I guess you have some training, right?”

“Well, yeah. I practiced some tae-wing-do a few years ago but I stopped to spend more time on my flying skills.”

“You should be fine, then.”

Rainbow Dash looked at her friend with a frown. “Twilight, do you know anything about tae-wing-do? Or boxing?”

“Of course! Tae-wing-do is a martial arts developed by pegasi during the last century, it is based on traditional pegasus combat flying maneuvers mixed with karate and its main focus is on fluid aerial movements and rapid kicks. Boxing has been practiced in some form since the equestrian antiquity, starting from simple bare-hooved fighting into the more codified version that is known today. Modern boxing only allows punching with the forehooves, barring completely all forms of kicks, holds or throws.”

Rainbow Dash watched as Twilight finished her lecture with a proud smile.

“Egghead,” she muttered to herself.

“The two fighting styles are very different from each other,” Twilight continued. “But, who said anything about boxing anyway? Is Scootaloo’s mom... what was her name already?”

“Matchstick.”

“Right. Is Matchstick a boxer?”

“Yup. And if Red is to be believed, she’s a good one.”

“Red?”

“Red Currant. Scootaloo’s father. He’s... uh.” She paused briefly. “I don’t know if I should tell you about him.”

Twilight Sparkle’s brow rose in surprise while Rainbow wondered what she could say or not. Scootaloo never mentioned her father before, so she probably didn’t want his situation to be divulged publicly. Dash’s eyes went to Twilight’s new wings as they twitched, their new owner still unfamiliar with them.

“Wait... Twilight, you’re a princess!”

Twilight stared at her blankly for a moment. “Yes, Rainbow. You realize that it’s been a few months by now?”

“Of course, but that’s not what I meant.” Rainbow jumped in the air, hovering in front of princess Twilight with a grin. “You can do anything you want now! This is perfect!”

“I can’t do just any–”

“You have to keep this to yourself,” Rainbow interrupted her, “okay? The thing is, Scootaloo’s father’s in prison.”

“He’s... Wait, what?”

“But you can get him out! You’re a princess, you just have to say a word. Or... write a letter or something!”

“Whoah, Rainbow Dash! Slow down.”

Rainbow made an effort to quell her enthusiasm and landed back on the ground in front of Twilight.

“You can get a pony out of prison if you want, right, Twi?”

“Well,” she answered, looking in the distance while rubbing her chin in thought. “I would have to ask princess Celestia about that, I’m not quite sure on the proper procedure. But in theory, I think I could give somepony a pardon.”

“This is awesome!” Rainbow jumped back in the air, flitting around in excitement. “Scootaloo will be so happy! Why didn’t I think of this sooner? He could be out before–”

“RAINBOW!”

The pegasus froze and floated back to the ground. Once she was back in front of her, Twilight sighed before speaking up. “I said I could give him a pardon. I didn’t say that I would.”

“What?” She frowned as the words sunk in. “But why wouldn’t you?”

“For one, I don’t know anything about that stallion. What is he in prison for? Is he actually innocent?”

Rainbow sat back down in front of her friend and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well... No, he’s not really ‘innocent’ innocent.”

“Then what is he guilty of?”

Rainbow tried to remember the stallion’s words on short notice. “I think there was drug dealing, stuff like... counterfeiting? He burned a place down too, but he didn’t hurt anypony. Besides, that was all in the past, he’s a good guy now and Scootaloo needs her father!”

“So, you would have me free a convicted and potentially dangerous criminal to do a favor to one of my friends? Rainbow, that’s the textbook definition of an abuse of power!”

“It’s not! It’s...” Rainbow sighed as she found herself unable to contradict Twilight’s logic and slumped a little. “Yeah okay, when you put it like that, it is. But Red really feels sorry about what he’s done and he justs wants to live a normal life now.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because he said so? I visited him yesterday with Scootaloo. He told me his whole story.”

Twilight Sparkle watched Rainbow with a look that seemed almost disappointed. “And you just believed him,’ she said flatly.

“Of course, he was sincere, I could tell.”

“You can’t judge that after speaking with him once! By definition, a criminal is the opposite of honest! He could say anything to get out of jail...”

For a moment, Rainbow remained silent, mulling Twilight’s words. She had to admit that there was a possibility... “But... Why would he lie to me? I mean, it’s not like he would be gaining anything from it.”

“Unless he knew that we were friends. Which is pretty much common knowledge in Equestria at this point.”

Rainbow Dash froze.

Was that possible? Red Currant could have planned this, it wasn’t completely impossible... What if he had asked Scootaloo to get close to her so that she would meet him some day? What if he had prepared his whole story to trick her, to force Rainbow to go to Twilight or even Celestia to get him out?

Red admitted it himself: he was a crook. The only thing he knew how to do was cheat and lie.
What if his whole friendly act could have been nothing more than a façade, designed to benefit him?

“Rainbow?” Twilight’s voice barely registered.

Then again, he seemed to care so much for Scootaloo... And she for him. Can somepony really fake that? Could Scootaloo really be a part of that manipulation? She was only a filly, not a mastermind criminal...

“Rainbow!”

“Uh?” Dash looked up to see a concerned Twilight. “Sorry, I was just thinking... You know, I believe Red Currant was being honest with me, but I can see what you mean...”

“Thank you for understanding. I need to be really careful with my new responsibilities and a pardon is a big deal. I’d rather not risk setting a dangerous pony free, not to mention the possible scandal if the press learned that I did it only because you asked me to...”

“I get it, I get it...” Rainbow answered with a sigh. “Princessy duties and all that... But can’t you at least do him a favor? Get his sentence reduced? Or even let him out just for a day?”

“Hmmm.” Twilight furrowed her brow. “The best case scenario would be to get a reduction of his sentence, combined with a parole. If he really is reformed like you say he is, I won’t need to do him any favors, the judiciary system should take care of this on its own. As for a temporary release? I don’t really know the rules and regulations, but I could always find out...”

The princess hummed in thought for a second. “I could study his case... I’ll have to read up on prison procedures. Maybe some of the charges against him could be re-examined, I’ll have to check the record of his trial, examine precedents... Oh, this is going to be a lot of work!”

“Sor–”

“This is great!” Twilight chirped, grinning broadly and clapping her hooves together.

“-ry?”

The alicorn floated a parchment and a quill on the table in front of her and started scribbling notes immediately. “I’ll get a chance to study the laws and put them to use! There’s so much research to do. I’ll have to check the Canterlot library, I don’t have everything I need here... Ha ha! I knew reading the penal code would come useful someday!” She paused. “It’s been a long time, though. Maybe I should read it again...”

“I’m... glad you’re enjoying yourself...” Rainbow said to the overeager alicorn. “So, will you be able to help?”

“Well, I can’t answer that yet.” Twilight didn’t look up from her paper, still taking some notes as ideas came to her. “But I will look into it. It’s a great chance to learn and to help my friends at the same time!”

“That’s good to hear,” Rainbow answered with a little smile. “It would be great for Scootaloo and her parents.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself now,” Twilight added. “I’m going to need some time and there’s no guarantee that I can actually get him out. I’m not going to use my status to break the rules.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. It was still a good shot: if somepony could find a loophole, the bookworm alicorn was the one. Rainbow hummed a familiar tune, singing “since when does Twilight Sparkle ever fail?” in her head. She was in the middle of the chorus when she remembered something.

“Wait! We got off track.”

“Hmm?”

“I still need to learn boxing.”

Twilight put her notes on the table and focused back on Rainbow. “Why does it have to be boxing? Can’t you use the fighting style you’re familiar with?”

“I don’t know if I want to go into a no-holds-barred match with Matchstick... Plus, I want the fight to be fair, what’s the point otherwise?”

“I don’t think it’s a fair fight if she’s a skilled boxer and you’re not,” Twilight countered.

“Well, that’s why I need you to train me!”

“Me?” Twilight pointed at herself with a hoof. “I’m flattered, Rainbow, but I’m not sure I can help. I mean, I’ve never been in a hooffight in my entire life. I can’t really teach you magic self-defense either...”

“But you learned how to run a race just by reading books, didn’t you?”

“I did, but I only came in fifth, remember?”

Rainbow grinned confidently and crossed her arms on her chest. “You’re not a sportsmare, so of course you couldn’t win. But me? I’m a world-class athlete! If you teach me how to box, there’s no way I can’t become a great fighter.”

“Well, it never hurts to consult some reference books, of course. I’m not sure how much you can learn in only three days, but it would still be better than nothing...”

“That’s the idea. Let’s get to it!”

Twilight giggled a little. “Alright, Rainbow. If that’s what you want. Would you like some tea? I have the feeling that this is going to be a long day.”

“I’d prefer coffee, if you have any.”

“Sure.”

A couple of minutes later, Twilight Sparkle came back with a steaming cup of coffee and a book she had snatched from one shelf on her way.

“Boxing basics, by Brawling Bull,” she read aloud. “This should be a good starting point.”

“Morning, Twilight. Oh, and good morning, Rainbow Dash.”

“Hi, Spike!” the pegasus answered while waving a hoof.

“Keep your hooves up!” Twilight ordered, using her magic to grab her limb and put it back in place.

“You know, Rainbow,” Spike said while going down the stairs, “I don’t think Twilight is your best choice for dancing lessons...”

The two ponies looked at each other at that comment, Rainbow standing on her hind legs while Twilight was on all fours in front of her and using magic to adjust her stance.

“This isn’t dancing, Spike. I’m giving Rainbow Dash boxing lessons.”

The young dragon gave both of them a flat look. “Right, because that makes much more sense...”

Twilight ignored his remark, concentrating on Rainbow’s position. “I said keep your hooves up! The left forehoof needs to be at eye-level, a dozen centimeters in front of your face, the right forehoof should be next to your chin.”

“Alright, just let go of my hooves already!” Rainbow said irritatedly. She focused to get her guard in place just as Twilight had instructed, if only to keep her from touching them.

“Good!” Twilight said with a little smile. “Now the hindhooves...”

“Don’t touch them!”

“Come on, Rainbow, don’t be such a foal, I’ll just–”

“Stop. Touching. My. Hooves.” Rainbow glared at her friend’s glowing horn. Twilight watched her curiously, but finally sighed and let her magic die down.

“Fine. Put your left hindhoof about a half-step forward... Good. Now you should keep that stance at all times. To move forward, move your lead leg ahead and push on the rear leg at the same time, then put your weight on the front leg and bring the rear leg back in position. Now try it.”

Rainbow Dash followed the instructions, taking a tentative step forward, one hoof after the other making a “clip-clop” sound on the hardwood floor.

“Okay,” Twilight said while keeping her eyes on Rainbow’s hindhooves. “Now moving backwards is just the same in reverse: you push on the front leg and bring the front hoof back, then move the rear leg back in place. Take a few steps around the library and remember to keep your guard up all the time.”

Dash complied, moving back and forth and keeping her forehooves in front of her face, ready to block imaginary punches.

“Don’t take too long steps,” Twilight instructed, ”short but quick steps are better, almost like you’re jumping around.”

Rainbow Dash hopped around, taking a couple of steps forward, then back and again.

“This really looks like dancing,” Spike said with a chuckle. He sat down on the steps to enjoy the show.

“Don’t mind him,” Twilight told Rainbow. “Now try to take some steps sideways, always with the same motion. Push from the rear hoof and transfer your weight on the lead hoof.”

“Like this?” She slipped on her right.

“Yes, that looks good. Don’t forget to keep your wings off your sides, don’t let your guard down.”

Rainbow jumped around the library a bit more. Slowly but surely, moving only on her hind legs felt more natural. She tried to picture Matchstick in front of her, following her moves.

“Let’s try this exercise,” Twilight said after a minute. “You must keep a constant distance between you and me. Move back when I move forward, turn around to follow me, et caetera.”

With her magic, the alicorn tucked all the furniture in one corner of the room, giving both ponies a lot of space to move around, then came to stand in front of Rainbow.

“Ready? Go!” Twilight was still standing on all fours and thus had much better control of her movements, but Rainbow was determined to do her best.

Twilight moved backwards at first, letting Rainbow follow her easily, then the alicorn took a quick step forward. Rainbow Dash almost stumbled but remembered the instructions: she gave a swift push with her left leg that sent her back. Just as she was finishing the step, Twilight backtracked again. Rainbow sprung on her right leg and followed the movement.

“Not bad, Rainbow. Let’s make things more complicated.”

Twilight sidestepped on her right, circling around Rainbow and forcing her to rotate herself to keep facing the target. She added more moves, going in every direction. Left, right, forward, backward... Rainbow jumped and spun around the library, concentrating exclusively on the distance between her and Twilight.

“Seriously, how is that not dancing?”

“Ugh. Spike!” Twilight’s head hung down in annoyance. “Think whatever you want, this is boxing hoofwork. The book says so!”

“Why are you guys practicing boxing anyway?”

“Because I need to get ready,” Rainbow said while gesturing for Twilight to resume her movements. She kept talking while shuffling around on her hind hooves. “I’m having a boxing match next Wednesday against Scootaloo’s mom.”

“Really?” Rainbow was facing away from the little dragon but she could easily imagine his dubious face.

“Really.”

“And I agreed to train her for the next few days,” Twilight added. “Spike, would you mind adding ‘reorganise my schedule’ to my schedule?”

“Sure. Do you need me for anything else? As long as it’s not being a punching bag, that is...”

Twilight stopped to think for a second. “I should be fine, you can do what you want today.”

“Great! If you need me I’ll be at Rarity’s.”

Twilight Sparkle smiled fondly as she watched the little dragon quickly write down a note in her schedule and rush to the door.

“Now, back to work!”

Sunday had passed by quickly. Following Twilight’s instructions, Rainbow Dash learned how to stand, move and punch in the exact way that the manuals described. On Monday, she joined with Twilight again in the library after taking care of her weather duties for the day.

Rainbow knocked on the door and its upper half opened soon after, revealing a smiling Twilight Sparkle.

“Rainbow Dash! You’re just in time, perfect.”

She opened the door to let her friend in and Rainbow trotted inside, a grin on her face.

“I’m feeling strong today!” the pegasus said enthusiastically. “So, what’s the plan, coach?”

“I’m glad you asked, Dash. I’ve spent some time this morning coming up with an accelerated training regimen, so that we could cover every possible exercise.”

“Awesome! I’m going to be unstoppable!”

“Well... I don’t know if we can go that far with only two days left.”

“You don’t think I can do it?” Rainbow asked while glaring at Twilight. “I’m the best athlete in Ponyville! No... In Equestria! I’ll show you what I can do.”

Twilight shook her head. “If we had a few months to prepare you, then I’m sure you could be a great boxer, but we only have two days, Rainbow. This really is a very short time. We won’t have time to increase your strength significantly, for example. Our best bet is for you to perfect your technique as much as possible. Starting with... this.”

In a puff of magic, a very tall mirror appeared in the middle of the library. Rainbow saw herself looking back, tilting her head to the side.

“What do I do with a mirror?” both Rainbows asked simultaneously.

“Shadowboxing. This is both a good warmup and a way to analyze your movements. You just have to stand in front of the mirror, throw punches and observe your moves closely. This way, you should be able to see if there are holes in your guard, if you’re making unnecessary movements, if your punches are easy to read and so on.”

“Hmm. Guess that makes sense...”

Rainbow raised herself on her hind legs and stood in front of her double. When she brought her hooves up in a guard stance, she immediately understood what Twilight was saying: she could easily see that her right hoof was too far back and low, not protecting her chin like it should. Rainbow corrected her stance and started punching the air in front of her.

Slowly but surely, her form became cleaner as she performed every punch with the theory in mind: keep the jab straight and quick, like the snapping of a whip without moving the rest of the body, raise the shoulder to cover the chin. Twist the torso to add torque for a hook. Push on the legs and throw the shoulder forward for a straight right...

About ten minutes later, Twilight stopped Rainbow and magically floated a water bottle for her to catch. After a short break, Twilight showed the next exercise’s accessory to a very nonplussed Rainbow.

“A jump rope? Are we training or are we playing foals’ game, Twilight?”

“Training,” Twilight answered very seriously. “I hope you like rope skipping, because you’re going to do a lot of that.”

The rope floated to Rainbow’s hooves, who watched the toy with a blank face. “How is that supposed to help?”

“Good question! This is very important for your hoofwork, skipping rope will teach you to be quick on your hooves and keep a good balance at all times.”

“... If you say so...”

Rainbow had to admit that at least this exercise was pretty fun. With Twilight making her switch through different steps and rhythms, it didn’t become boring and repetitive. The benefit to her movements was also pretty clear as she quickly became used to springing on her hooves rather than just stand in place.

Rainbow’s training session kept going for about half an hour before Twilight declared that they would go outside for a run.

“I don’t mind a little running,” Rainbow told her, “but I already have tons of practice for that...”

“I know, but you’re not going to run on all fours this time.”

“You want me to run on my hind legs? I’m going to look ridiculous...”

Twilight chuckled. “Probably, but don’t worry. We’re not going very far, so there shouldn’t be too many ponies who will see you.”

Leaving Spike in charge of the library for the rest of the afternoon, the two mares headed out, Rainbow Dash running like a minotaur and Twilight Sparkle flying above her to train her still recent wings.

Rainbow was so focused on her training that she didn’t realize where she was going until Twilight stopped her, announcing that they had arrived. She looked around, seeing a small cottage near a stream, almost on the edge of the Everfree forest.

“Time to meet your training partner for the day,” Twilight announced as they walked to the door.

Rainbow watched her friend with a disbelieving look. “Fluttershy?”

“No, not Fluttershy... Though she has her part in this.” She knocked on the door and the shy pegasus quickly answered, peeking her head out of the door.

“Oh, hello girls. Hum... Did you come here for Rainbow’s training?”

“Yes,” Twilight answered cheerfully. “Are you still willing to help us?”

Fluttershy nodded and lead her friends to the backyard of her cottage.

“What are you two planning?” Rainbow asked while they were walking.

Twilight smiled proudly before answering. “Fluttershy was telling me about one of her animal friends the other day and I realized that he would make a perfect training partner for you, Rainbow.”

Rainbow Dash froze for a moment, one hoof awkwardly in the air. “You’re not going to make me fight a bear, are you?”

“What? No, of course not!”

Fluttershy flew ahead as soon as the group reached the back of her cottage, where a throng of various animals were hanging around. She came back a few seconds later, a kangaroo hopping happily behind her.

“Rainbow,” Twilight announced, “meet Mr Hoppy.”

The kangaroo smiled and waved a hand at Rainbow, who waved back with a blank face.

“I’m going to fight with a kangaroo?”

“Oh goodness, you’re not going to really fight?” Fluttershy looked shocked at the idea. “Hum... Also, Mr Hoppy is actually a wallaroo... But, you’re not going to hurt him are you?” She looked at Twilight imploringly.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Twilight put a hoof over her heart. “I promise that we won’t hurt a single hair on Mr Hoppy.”

“And how will we do that, exactly?” asked Rainbow.

“Simple! You won’t be fighting back, Rainbow Dash. We will be working on your defense exclusively.”

“So... The kangaroo–”

“Wallaroo,” Fluttershy corrected her.

“Whateveroo is going to punch me?” Twilight nodded. “And I can’t punch back?” Another nod. “Come on, that’s not fair!”

“Oh please, Rainbow Dash. I promised Mr Hoppy that he wouldn’t get hurt. Please?” Fluttershy watched her with big, teary eyes that made Rainbow

“Guh...” Rainbow sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. You win, Fluttershy.” She turned to the marsupial next to her. “But you’d better not take advantage of this, okay?”

Mr Hoppy nodded solemnly and gave her a thumbs up.

“This is probably one of your weirdest ideas, Twilight...”

“It is not!” The alicorn used her magic to levitate a pair of bright red gloves out of her saddlebag. “It is a well-known fact that kangaroos are naturally talented for boxing and considering how easy it was to find a pair of roo boxing gloves, I can safely say that I was not the first pony to think of that idea.” Twilight Sparkle levitated the gloves to Fluttershy, who grabbed them and helped the wallaroo to put them on.

Rainbow saw a second pair of shiny black gloves, these ones designed for a pony, float near her. She sat down and took one with her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise when the magic disappeared and she realized it was much heavier than she expected.

Rainbow slid her left hoof in the glove, wriggling her foreleg until it was covered up to her fetlock, then repeated the same process with her right hoof. Unlike the roo’s gloves, pony gloves looked more like thick padded boots than anything else.

“Let me lace these for you, Rainbow.” She gave Twilight a harsh glare that was answered by an eye-roll. “I won’t touch your hooves, just the lacing.”

Rainbow relented and held her forelegs in front of her, still watching Twilight with a frown. To her relief, the alicorn stayed true to her word and only took a second to tie up the laces, securing the gloves tightly on Rainbow’s hooves. The pegasus flexed her legs a few times to get used to the stiffness of the simili-leather.

Before she even realized it, Rainbow had a padded helmet on her head, quickly tied up by Twilight, then a mouthguard floating in front of her muzzle.

“Where did you even get all this stuff?” Rainbow asked, trying to scratch her head and failing between the gloves and the headgear.

“The sporting goods store. They let me borrow all of it, free of charge... I suppose being a princess has its advantages,” Twilight said with a sheepish grin.

The mouthguard bobbed in front of Rainbow. She accepted the invitation and bit on the plastic piece, earning a satisfied nod from Twilight.

“Fluttershy? Is Mr Hoppy ready?”

“Yes, Twilight. Hum... You’ll be careful, right?”

“You should ‘e more worried a’out me,” Rainbow sputtered through the mouthguard.

“Oh, of course I’m worried. But... Mr Hoppy has given me his word that he would go easy on you.”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Twilight said soothingly. “This is just a training session, everything will be alright. Now, let’s get started.”

Pegasus and wallaroo took position in front of each other.

“Now remember, Rainbow. You must try to avoid being hit, without striking back. Just do as we learned in the manual: block with your gloves, bob and weave, use your hoofwork to stay at a distance. Ready?” Rainbow and Mr Hoppy both nodded. “Start!”

The first punch almost took her by surprise, but Rainbow managed to angle her head at the last second and let it slip harmlessly on her helmet. The wallaroo attacked relentlessly, but his moves were slow enough that Rainbow could anticipate them and block, dodge or parry the hits. As they became more and more comfortable, the two fighters increased their pace.

Rainbow Dash found that with her quick hind hooves, she was able to jump back and avoid completely the most dangerous punches. She grew more confident, almost dancing around him at times, but when she slowed down, Mr Hoppy threw quick and precise hits that gradually took their toll on Rainbow.

“Remember to keep your wings off your sides,” Twilight instructed when Rainbow had forgotten and folded them against her body.

“Why is that so impor– aaaargh!” The reason became instantly clear as the wallaroo threw a left hook on her right side.

Being mostly bone and feathers, wings could never really be toughened up and every single hit hurt way too much to simply be ignored. Rainbow Dash didn’t waste any time to unfurl and keep her wings straight in her back, as far away from the fight as possible. She also quickly learned to keep her elbows in a position that would cover her wingbases.

The training session kept going for a good while: as Rainbow grew more tired, she also improved her technique and thus was able to keep going without letting the wallaroo simply pummel her. His punches didn’t land often and when they did, most of the time, Rainbow managed to let them slip by instead of taking them straight on. Still, Mr Hoppy eventually wore her out. More than once, she instinctively brought her wings back on her sides and every time without fail, a painful punch reminded her of why that was a mistake.

Fatigue set in, the pegasus moving sluggishly and simply covering herself up by the end. The sweat was stinging her eyes, making it harder and harder to see the incoming attacks, so Rainbow was immensely grateful when Twilight called an end to the session. She let herself fall on her back in the grass, with no intention to move again any time soon.

Fluttershy hovered above her, looking concerned. “Are you alright, Rainbow? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Don’t fret, Fluttershy.” Rainbow waved a hoof to dismiss her worries. “It’ll take more than that to knock me out.” She turned her head to the side, to get a look at Twilight. “What do you say, Twi? Was I awesome or what?”

Twilight giggled before answering. “Well, it’s hard to quantify awesomeness, but you managed to avoid more hits than you took, which is pretty impressive for a novice. Let’s hope that this is enough for your match.”

“I’m sure it will be,” Rainbow answered with a grin. “I’ll win that fight. Matchstick won’t even know what hit her!”

“Remember that she has years of training, Rainbow.”

“I know, I know. But I have a good feeling about this, I know I’m going to win.” She smiled as she already imagined herself standing victorious in the ring.

“Well... Maybe. You do seem to have some natural talent, after all.”

“Of course!” Rainbow looked back at Fluttershy, still hovering over her. The shy pegasus stared back, blinking while Dash simply kept smiling.

“Oh... Umm, I’m sure you’ll do good, Rainbow...”

Fluttershy wasn’t much of a liar, but Rainbow kept her smile on. There was not much point in calling her friend on this... If Fluttershy didn’t believe in her, then she would simply have to prove her wrong.

The Ponyville library was definitely not quiet. Thankfully, nopony was trying to read a book in peace, because the room was filled by the sound of jump rope whizzing around and snapping on the ground, combined with the clip-clop of Rainbow’s hooves hopping up and down on the hardwood floor. She almost didn’t hear it when somepony knocked on the door, but she ignored it anyway, letting Twilight take care of the visitors while she focused on her hoofwork.

“Ha! So it’s true!”

Rainbow paused as she recognized Applejack’s familiar drawl. The farmer pony walked inside the library and stopped in front of her with an amused grin.

“Ah thought Apple Bloom had misunderstood somethin’, but you really are goin’ to box Scootaloo’s mom, aren’t you?”

“Heh. Yeah, I see news travel fast.”

“Well, the crusaders seemed to be pretty excited about it.” Applejack chuckled a little. “Ah’m not a big fan of boxin’, but Ah reckon Ah want to see what you can do, RD. What’s with you and lil’ Scoot’s mom, though?”

Rainbow harrumphed. “Matchstick said I couldn’t take her. I’m going to prove her wrong, that’s it.”

“Matchstick? Wait...” Applejack frowned. “Ah know that name... Is she a big, black, mean-lookin’ mare? Orange hair?”

“Yeah, you know her?”

“Is she Scootaloo’s mother? Ah didn’t know that... But Ah’ve seen her fight.”

“What? When? How?” Rainbow had flown instantly, sticking her face straight in Applejack’s.

“Whoah, hold your horses, Rainbow. Ah saw her fight...” She tapped her chin in thought. “‘bout a little under a year ago, Ah think. Like Ah said, Ah’m not much for boxin’, but Big Macintosh likes it and Ah came with him that one time. He just likes watching mares tussle with each other, if you ask me...”

Applejack sat down on the ground and adjusted her hat by reflex before continuing. “Anyways, one time Ah went with him to the gym to see a fight, but then when it was over, there’s that one mare who comes up to the ring and starts talkin’ about how she can beat the stuffin’ outta the winner. And she did. The fight lasted for three rounds before she gave up.

“So then that gal starts sayin’ she’s the best and nopony in Ponyville can beat her and everythin’. Ah swear Ah had half a mind to just get up there and buck her in the face, but that Matchstick mare came to the ring instead. She knocked that braggart out in two minutes.” Applejack laughed at the memory. “That shut her up good! And she didn’t open her mouth again when she woke up, just got out of the gym real quick.”

Rainbow Dash frowned when she saw Twilight giving her a troubled look.

“Humph. So she’s that good, huh? Then I’ll just have to train harder. What’s today’s program, Twilight?”

“Hmmm? Ha, yes. Speaking of gyms, that’s where we’re headed. Hopefully, we can find you a real sparring partner this time.”

“Sure, that’s... Wait, why didn’t we do that yesterday?”

“Because it’s closed on Mondays,” Twilight answered plainly. “We can go whenever you’re ready.”

“Mind if Ah come?” Applejack asked. “Ah don’t have any better plans for today.”

“Why not?” Rainbow answered with a shrug. “The more, the merrier.”

She was proved right when they met Rarity on their way, who quickly revealed that she was as curious as Applejack, having heard of the incoming fight from her own little sister.

The four ponies entered the Horsepower gym. There were about twenty ponies in all, most of them training on various fitness equipment while Bulk Biceps, the hulking white pegasus, was screaming at them. Whether he was trying to motivate them through fear or simply too intense to realize his loudness was up to debate.

“Ugh. Now I remember why I never visit this place,” Rarity said with a disgusted face as her eyes went from one sweating pony to another.

“You know, Rarity,” Applejack said as she walked next to her, “maybe you should come here sometimes. Gettin’ plenty of exercise if good for your health and your figure.”

“My figure?” The refined pony scoffed. “Applejack! Are you insinuating what I think you’re insinuating?”

“Am Ah? Ah don’t think Ah done any insinuatin’,” she answered with a lopsided grin.

“Don’t listen to her, Rarity,” Rainbow added.

Rarity nodded with a satisfied smile.

“Most stallions like big rumps anyways.”

Her face distorted at Rainbow’s words.

“Why, you little...” The pegasus quickly flew away, laughing her (slim) rump off and leaving a fuming Rarity behind, who quickly exploded. “Come back here, Rainbow Dash! I need feathers for a new headdress!”

Applejack rolled on the floor, tears coming to her eyes from the laughter while Rarity pursued Dash all around the gym.

Both ponies were engulfed in a flash of purple magic and reappeared in front of Twilight Sparkle. Rarity kept trying to catch Rainbow, who was still flying away... while both floated in place, thanks to Twilight’s magic. The princess sighed and gently chided them.

“Please, girls. Let’s remember that we’re all friends here.”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash eventually calmed down and Twilight let them down on the ground.

“Sorry, Rarity,” Rainbow said with a genuine smile. “I was just kidding. No hard feelings?”

“Humph. Very well, I shall forgive you this time.”

“There, much better.” Twilight said with a satisfied grin. “And there really is nothing to be upset about, Rarity. A reasonably round rump is actually a sign of good health.”

Rarity scoffed and glared at Twilight... who was smiling honestly and obviously meant every word she had just said in a positive way. The fashionista ground her teeth and cleared her throat, composing her face again after a great effort. “Thank you, Twilight,” she said in a strained voice. “That is... very reassuring.” She gave a harsh glare at Applejack and Rainbow to stop their snickering. “Now that this is out of the way, I believe we were brought here for other matters than the state of my derrière, weren’t we?”

“Eeyup,” Applejack said with a chuckle. “We need to help Dash from gettin’ her own dairy-air whooped.”

“Let’s see if we can borrow some equipment,” Twilight told Rainbow.

A few minutes later, Rainbow and Twilight had secured all the necessary gear and headed for the part of the gym dedicated to martial arts training. Next to the empty ring, several punching bags of different shapes and sizes were hanging from the ceiling, one of which was currently being beaten by a familiar charcoal mare.

“That’s her, ain’t it?” Applejack asked as she pointed at Matchstick.

Rainbow nodded in confirmation. “Since we’re here, let’s go say hi.”

Matchstick was proceeding to pummel a tiny bag hanging at head level. It was bouncing fast enough that Rainbow had trouble following it with her eyes, yet a punch sent it flying back every time it swung forward.

“Hey, Matchstick!” Rainbow called. The mare gave a glance over her shoulder and smiled. She gave the bag a final, powerful punch before turning around.

“Hi, Rainbow. What brings you here?”

“Training, of course! Still up for that fight tomorrow?”

Matchstick grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from her forehead before answering. “Sure thing, flyer. Who are your friends?” she asked, glancing at the three other mares. Her eyes widened when she spotted the alicorn standing next to Rainbow. “Uh... Your highness!” Matchstick gave an awkward little bow.

“Please, just call me Twilight. I could go without the whole ‘princess’ thing...”

Twilight Sparkle’s gentle smile made Matchstick relax, but only a little.

“I’m just here as Rainbow’s friend,” she added, “so just ignore my title. Is that okay with you?”

“Y– Yeah... Sure thing, your high– I mean... Twilight.”

Rainbow decided to move the subject away from the alicorn in the room. “This is Applejack,” she said, pointing at the farmer mare by her side.

“Howdy!”

The down to earth pony was making Matchstick a lot more comfortable than the princess when the two shook hooves.

“And Rarity,” Rainbow finished.

“A pleasure to meet you. I understand you are Scootaloo’s mother?”

“That’s right. You know her? She hasn’t been causing you trouble, has she?”

“Oh no, nothing of the sort.” Rarity let out a small giggle. “Well, maybe a little. She is often with my sister Sweetie Belle and also Applejack’s little sister Apple Bloom. The three can be a hooffull sometimes, but nothing that couldn’t be expected from young fillies.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean...” Matchstick smiled a little and turned to Rainbow. “So, Dash. You came here for practice? Good, it’s hard to find somepony that can put up a fight against me in Ponyville. I hope we can have some fun.”

“Put up a fight?” Rainbow smirked. “I’m going to beat you fair and square, Matchstick.”

“Beat me... Heh. I thought we would just play a little, but if you want a real fight, I’m your mare.”

“Sure, I do. I don’t want you to have any excuses after I beat you.”

Matchstick burst into laughter. “I like that kind of thinking! We won’t have much time to get everything ready, though. We’ll need a referee...”

“Ooh! I can do that!” Twilight piped up. “I’ve read all the rules, it seems pretty straightforward.”

“That works for me,” Matchstick answered with a shrug. “I’ll make sure we have the ring tomorrow. Let’s say... six o’clock. Five rounds should be enough... You’ve got everything you need?”

“I think so,” Rainbow said while looking in the bag holding her borrowed equipment. She took out hoofwraps, gloves, headgear and a short.

“Ugh... You’re not intending on wearing that... thing,” Rarity said as she pointed at the pair of trunks. “Are you, Rainbow?”

“What’s wrong with them?” Matchstick asked. “It’s part of the mandatory gear.”

“Really? Why would you have to wear something so... drab to fight?” The fashionista sneered at the pair of faded green shorts that Matchstick was currently wearing.

“How else do you know if you’re hitting below the belt... You ever get punched in the tits, miss?”

Rarity almost strangled herself at the unexpected question, making Applejack giggle next to her. “Wha–? I– You... I most certainly have not!”

“Well trust me, you wouldn’t like it. At least it’s not as bad as for stallions, or so I hear...”

The sophisticated pony cleared her throat and adjusted her mane. “I see. Then, if you insist on wearing a pair of shorts, I shall ensure that they are presentable. Stand still, this will only take a minute.”

Before Matchstick had time to understand what was going on, Rarity had somehow procured a measuring tape and was already writing down her measurements in a small notepad.

“Wait... What are you doing?” the confused mare asked.

“I won’t let you wear something so dreadful if I can help it.”

“What’s wrong with my trunks? I’ve had them for years...”

“Yes, I can tell... Where do I start? The color clashes horribly with your fur, the cut is amateurish at best and they are clearly worn out beyond redemption.”

Everypony looked at the old shorts, only now noticing the errant threads hanging from loose stitches and a few rips and tears in places...

“Worry not, darling! I will have you look fabulous in no time! Now, your turn, Rainbow Dash.”

“Wha–?” Rarity was already hovering the tape around Rainbow’s barrel.

“I can’t let you look unsightly by comparison, now can I?”

“Of course not...” Rainbow said flatly.

“There! I have everything I need. Ooh! I already have some ideas for your attire, Rainbow. I shall get to work immediately if I want these to be ready by tomorrow. My apologies, girls, but I must take my leave!”

With that, Rarity walked away, her head held high and her gait transpiring elegance.

“That was... strange,” Matchstick said, scratching her head.

“Let’s hope she doesn’t try to turn this into a fashion show,” Rainbow added.

Applejack laughed a little. “Ah think she just wanted to get outta the gym. This place is just too ‘uncouth’ for her.”

“Whatever, let’s just get to training!” Rainbow jumped into her own pair of borrowed shorts and started to get the wraps on her hooves.

Next to her, Twilight Sparkle levitated a checklist in view. “Alright, Rainbow. You should start with the speed bag.”

“Got it.” She looked around at all the punching bags hanging around the room. “Which one is the speed bag?”

Matchstick chuckled and pointed over her shoulder at the small bag she had been hitting earlier. “I’m done with it, knock yourself out.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and walked in front of the tiny bag. She stood up on her hind legs and punched it tentatively, sending it bouncing around like Pinkie Pie on a good day.

“Don’t hit it hard,” Matchstick explained. “The speed bag is not about power. It’s about timing, precision and endurance. Watch.”

She stepped in front of Rainbow. “Give it a little punch and wait until it swings back.” Matchstick demonstrated, giving the bag a little push that sent it swinging back slowly, then hit it again as it moved closer. She went on at a slow pace, alternating with her right and left hooves, allowing Rainbow to get a good look. “When you got the hang of it, you can start striking harder so it’ll swing faster.” Progressively, Matchstick accelerated until the bag was nothing but a blur in front of her, bouncing back and forth with a rhythmic slapping noise. She grabbed it with both hooves to stop it and walked aside with a grin, letting Rainbow try her hoof at it.

Following the instructions, the pegasus started slow. It took her a while to find a decent rhythm. Every time she wanted to speed up, Rainbow eventually missed or hit the bag at the wrong time, breaking its momentum or sending it tumbling to the sides, but her determination wouldn’t let her give up. Instead, she took her time and learned from her mistakes until she found the best way to move her hooves.

“Not bad,” Matchstick said next to her. “Not bad at all, for a rookie... Well, I have some training to do, too.” She walked away, while Rainbow kept focusing on the bag.

Under Twilight’s supervision, Rainbow practiced in a simulation of boxing rounds: three minutes of exercise followed by one minute of rest, again and again. During one of these down-times, she observed Matchstick doing her own practice.

She was beating a heavy bag, turning around and throwing quick combinations, high and low. Even if Rainbow had little knowledge of boxing by that point, she could appreciate Matchstick’s moves. Her hoofwork was not particularly fast, but clean and efficient. She moved back, slipped to the sides and stepped forward in time with the bag’s swings as if she was fighting a real pony. The really frightening thing were her punches... She had great hoof speed, almost too fast to be seen and judging by how the bag swung, she knew how to put a lot of power behind them too.

“Ah wouldn’t want to be that bag,” Applejack told Rainbow in a low voice. The farmer gave her a worried glance that only made Rainbow frown.

She blew a puff of air through her nose and went back to the training. Nopony said it would be easy, but she would beat Matchstick.

Several rounds of practice later, Twilight declared that Rainbow should try sparring with a real pony. Naturally, her first thought was to ask Matchstick. The charcoal mare dismissed her with a laugh. “I’ll play with you tomorrow, Rainbow.” She stopped hitting her bag to give her a smirk. “But I think I know who can spar with you. Hey! Berry!”

A plum-colored earth pony with a grape and strawberry cutie mark approached. “Rainbow Dash, you know Berry Punch?”

“Oh yeah, she’s always at Pinkie Pie’s parties,” Rainbow said while waving at her. “Drinking all the punch,” she added to herself.

“Great,” Matchstick continued, turning to Berry. “Rainbow is looking for a sparring partner, why don’t you give it a try?”

“Perfect!” Berry said with a smile. “Just give me a minute to get ready.”

Rainbow scratched her head while she watched her walk away. “Berry knows how to box?”

“She’s been training for a few months now,” Matchstick answered while resuming her workout on the heavy bag. “I coach her sometimes. The two of you should be a decent match, I think. Be careful, her technique is really sloppy but she hits like a buffalo. Well... This is just a spar anyway, you two aren’t supposed to go all out.”

A few minutes later, Rainbow and Berry were facing each other in the middle of the ring. Dash was relieved to find that her training from the previous day had paid off: as Matchstick as said, Berry Punch lacked accuracy and her hits were quite easy to anticipate and avoid.

Matchstick wasn’t kidding about her power either... Every time Rainbow failed to dodge or parry a punch, she was struck by a tremendous hit. Dash was no stranger to unwanted impacts, usually involving a failed flying trick and a solid object in her way... Berry Punch was easily comparing in strength to some of her finest crashes and she could tell that the earth pony was still holding back.

Rainbow Dash concentrated further. She couldn’t take many of these hits and even blocking them was a big effort, so she decided to rely on her speed. She moved back when a punch was coming, then forward for her own counter-attack. She bent down to let a hook sail above her head and sent a few body shots before jumping back out of range.

The session went on for a while like this: Rainbow avoided most of the blows directed at her and hit back with lightning-fast speed. Berry simply shrugged off her hits and kept attacking, showing a seemingly endless supply of stamina.

Then, Rainbow let her guard down while jabbing. A straight right went right into the open space and struck in the middle of her chest. With that single shot, Berry punched all the air out of Rainbow Dash’s lungs. She fell on all four, struggling to breathe.

“Berry! Take it easy, it’s just training!” Matchstick called her out from the side of the ring.

“Sorry! Are you okay, Rainbow?”

“Guh... Y– Yeah, I’m fine.” She panted a little, but managed to get back up.

“Take a minute to breathe, Rainbow.” She turned at Twilight’s voice. The alicorn was watching her with worry. The same look that Applejack was sharing, right next to her... No, not worry: there was no uncertainty in their attitude. They were convinced that Rainbow Dash had no chance to win.

Dash frowned again. She would show them.

Chapter 2 - Float Like a Fluttershy (2/2)

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After spending most of the day doing light practice and reading up on boxing theory with Twilight Sparkle, the two ponies headed for the gym. They found Matchstick warming up in the ring and the Cutie Mark Crusaders standing near one corner. Rainbow approached them and exchanged greetings with Scootaloo.

“Hi, Rainbow,” Matchstick said, walking up to lean on the corner post. “I see you’ve met my staff.” She winked at the crusaders, who smiled earnestly.

“Your staff?”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders Corner Ponies!” the three shouted simultaneously.

“Heh. You guys are still doing all that crusading business?”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom answered with a nod. “We gotta keep crusadin’ until Sweetie Belle finds her cutie-mark.”

“I see. But I thought you would be rooting for me, Scoots.”

Scootaloo pouted and crossed her arms on her chest. “Maybe I would if you hadn’t told mom about the time I fell in a river. She took my roadster away!”

“You’ll get it back when you’ve learned a lesson about safety.” Matchstick wagged a hoof at her. “I don’t want you falling off cliffs anymore.”

“It was just the one time!” Scootaloo wilted under Matchstick’s first-rate angry mom glare and just mumbled under her breath.

“Well... Who’s going to stand in my corner, then?”

“Don’t you fret none, RD. We’re here.” Rainbow turned to see Applejack walking by, followed by Fluttershy and Rarity. “Good afternoon, y’all.”

Fluttershy simply smiled and nodded her salute.

“Good afternoon,” Rarity said, “I see we made it in time. Perfect! Miss Matchstick, I trust you will find these much more fetching.” A pair of beautiful golden shorts levitated out of Rarity’s saddlebag and in front of Matchstick.

“Wait... You actually got me a new pair of trunks?”

“Got? I tailored them for you, darling.”

Matchstick watched her, blinking. “Wha–? There’s no way I can afford those, I–”

Rarity interrupted her with a raised hoof. “Not another word! I wouldn’t have you pay for these. Simply knowing that you won’t be wearing that dreadful old thing is payment enough.”

“Seriously?”

“Of course.” Rarity smiled genuinely while Matchstick simply kept blinking.

“Wow,” she eventually said. “Thanks a lot, Rarity.” Without wasting a second, Matchstick took her ancient pair off and slid into the new one. The fabric’s luster made the golden color shine as if she was actually wearing jewelry, reinforced by a silver outline. The black bands on the sides matched her coat perfectly, making it look like it had been stitched directly on her.

“Now, that looks bitchin’!”

“I don’t know if I would have used that term,” Rarity answered with a cute chuckle, “but I am quite satisfied with how these turned out. Now don’t worry, Rainbow,” she said, turning to her pegasus friend. “I didn’t forget about you.” A second pair of trunks appeared out of her bag and found itself on Rainbow’s behind in ten seconds flat.

Rainbow Dash twisted herself around to get a good look at them. They were a simple black with a white outline at the belt and in an imitation of her cutie mark, a rainbow lightning bolt was running from that white part on each side of her legs.

“Aw yeah, those are pretty awesome. Thanks, Rarity!”

“My pleasure, Rainbow.”

Twilight Sparkle arrived near the ring, wearing her own special gear: a black and white striped shirt.

“Nice costume, Twilight. Are you disguised as a zebra?”

“No, Pinkie, I’m the referee...” She rolled her eyes, then froze. “Wait, how long have you been here?”

Everypony jumped when they realized that the pink party pony had apparently appeared out of nowhere. Somehow, they had managed to miss the bouncing mare...

“Oh, I just arrived a minute ago. I would have come sooner, but I had to prepare a celebration party for the winner. And a cheering up party for the loser, too.”

Applejack watched her with an amused grin. “Huh. And what’ll you do if the match is a draw?”

Pinkie Pie completely impossibly stopped in the air mid-bounce, with her jaw hanging low.

Applejack poked the pink pony, with no reaction. “Darn. Ah think Ah broke her...”

“Ha, don’t worry Pinkie,” Rainbow told her. “I’m going to win, there’s no way we’ll end up with a draw.”

She resumed her bouncing and smiled. “Thank you, Dashie!”

“Girls,” Twilight said after clearing her throat, “I think it’s time to get ready.”

Twilight magicked all of Rainbow’s gear in front of her. She almost took it before she paused. “Helmets? I thought that was only for training.”

“It’s an amateur match,” Matchstick answered while putting her own headgear on. “Only pro fights are done without helmets.”

“Oh. Okay then...”

Rainbow took everything under a wing and went to her corner to wrap her hooves. With Rarity’s help, she got her gloves on and all laced up, then her helmet and mouthpiece. In the opposite corner, Matchstick was waiting for her. Twilight had taken her place in the center of the ring and addressed both fighters. “If you’re ready, we should get started. As soon as... Wait.” She gasped. “We have no timekeeper!”

Pinkie bounced higher than usual. “Ooh, I’ll get one!” She zipped out of the building in a pink blur and came back before anypony had time to say anything, carrying a blue unicorn mare on her back.

“Where am I? What happened?” Minuette looked around her in panic until she saw the pony under her and calmed down. “Oh. Hello, Pinkie. Did you need something?”

“Yep! We need a timekeeper for the match.”

“Timekeeper? Match? What?” She gave a good look at the gym, with the mares in the ring and all the ponies around waiting to see the fight. “Whatever, I’ll do it.” She hopped off Pinkie’s back and took her place by the bell.

“Perfect!” Twilight smiled and beckoned the fighters near her. “Remember the rules: no hitting below the belt, no biting, no hitting with any limb apart from your hooves. If one of you is knocked down, the other must go to a corner while I make the count. The fight will go for five three-minutes rounds, with one minute between each. Now touch gloves.”

Rainbow and Matchstick bumped their hooves.

“Perfect. Let’s get... Pinkie, what are you doing?”

Pinkie Pie was walking around the ring on her hind legs, carrying a large panel saying “Round 1” above her head.

Twilight just shook her head and waited for her to finish before giving the timekeeper a nod.

*Ding!*

Rainbow and Matchstick stood up on their hind hooves and stepped in front of each other. Rainbow tried to get close, but Matchstick threw a few quick jabs to make sure she had to stay at a distance. Red Currant’s advice stayed on her mind: always watch out for her right hoof.

After a minute of both ponies circling each other, Rainbow understood that Matchstick didn’t want her getting close. Dash bobbed under a jab and stepped forward, ready to strike. She threw a short punch in Matchstick’s sides, but only found her elbows as she had already gotten her guard back in place. Rainbow narrowly avoided the counter-attack by stepping back.

Matchstick pursued her, stepping forward as she was backtracking and throwing more jabs. By reflex, Rainbow brought her hooves close to her face to cover her head completely and managed to block a combination that would have hit her straight in the chin otherwise. Dash threw her own jabs while stepping away from Matchstick, preventing her from continuing her assault.

Both mares went back to circling each other in the center of the ring, searching for an opening. Rainbow thought she had found one several times, but Matchstick let each punch slip harmlessly to the side of her head at the last moment. On the pegasus’ last attempt, Matchstick found a hole in Dash’s guard and threw a quick jab directly in her face.

Rainbow was only stunned for a split second, but it was enough. Match hit her with a long right, again in the face, and Rainbow had to cover up with her right hoof, while trying to counter-attack with the left. Matchstick bobbed under it with no difficulty and while she was crouched, hit Rainbow with a strong left hook in one side, then a thunderous right in her stomach.

Rainbow Dash buckled and fell on all fours.

Twilight stepped up, sending Matchstick in the corner while she started counting.

“One... Two... Three...”

*Ding!*

It took Rainbow a moment before she realized why Twilight had stopped the count.... Saved by the bell. She turned around at the voice of Applejack calling her in the corner and sat down on the stool she placed on the ring.

Fluttershy flew in front of her, beating her wings to give her some air, while Rarity took her mouthpiece away with magic and levitated a bottle to her.

“You okay there, RD?” Applejack asked. “She didn’t knock you out, did she?”

“No,” Rainbow answered after swallowing some water. “She just surprised me. I didn’t think anypony could hit that hard...” She rubbed a hoof over her stomach and winced. She was definitely getting a bruise later. In the ring, Pinkie was walking around with the “Round 2” panel.

“You’re a tough one, Rainbow. It’ll take more than that to stop you, right?”

“Right!” Rainbow said, taking on a determined face. “I’m unstoppable.”

*Ding!*

Rainbow bit on the mouthpiece levitating in front of her and went back to the center of the ring, intending to never let Matchstick hit her again.

She almost rushed in front of her opponent, with a simple strategy: use her speed to make sure she wouldn’t get hit and strike only when she had an opportunity. The bigger and heavier Matchstick couldn’t follow Rainbow’s moves around the ring and the two seemed to dance for a while. When Matchstick stepped forward, Rainbow slipped to the side and turned around her opponent, always keeping a comfortable distance between them. Matchstick’s quick jabs only found the air.

The pegasus waited patiently for her chance, getting used to Matchstick’s moves. Her unorthodox stance was a bit unsettling, but it also meant that she focused mostly on her right hoof and Rainbow had only this one to watch. Dash progressively let her come closer, let her jabs get very near her face, but never reaching. After almost two minutes, she finally saw the opening.

Following Red’s instructions, she slipped under the jab and leaned towards Matchstick to hit her in the ribs. She struck where she wanted, but Matchstick didn’t make any sign of feeling that hit and Rainbow had to quickly lean back to avoid a short left coming her way.

Rainbow smirked. Matchstick wasn’t invincible... Dash could keep hitting her while dodging her punches. In front of her speed, the strong mare was defenseless.

Rainbow Dash grew a little bolder. She bobbed and weaved under Matchstick’s punches, throwing her owns in every opening she could find. It almost seemed easy: duck and throw a few body shots, step back to avoid the counter-attack. A golden opportunity presented itself: Matchstick tried to hit her with a straight right but she was too slow. Rainbow slipped outside and stuck her eyes on her target. With a strong overhoof left, she struck Matchstick right on her face...

And nothing happened. Matchstick may have not even registered the punch. Rainbow had hit her hard, she knew it... And yet, her opponent simply took it without even a groan.

Rainbow’s surprise slowed her down for a moment that Matchstick didn’t let go to waste. Rainbow was hit by a light jab and a left hook to the head before she had time to pull back. Matchstick pressed her advantage, forcing Rainbow to backtrack until she felt the ropes behind her. Without any more room to escape, the pegasus could only cover herself with her gloves while Matchstick bombed her with body shots.

Rainbow quickly realized that if she stayed here, she would go down soon. She threw herself on Matchstick in what Pinkie would have considered a weird hug, but it allowed Rainbow to turn around, away from the ropes before Matchstick powered out by pushing the pegasus away with both hooves. Rainbow had room to move back again, but not before taking an extra jab to the head...

*Ding!*

Both mares walked back to their corners.

Applejack moved close to her while Fluttershy and Rarity were giving her air and sponging her off. “That was a good round, Rainbow. You got some nice punches in there.”

“Yeah, but it’s like I’m hitting a brick wall. I don’t think she even felt them...”

“Don’t worry about that, just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Don’t let her hit you, okay?”

Rainbow nodded. She would be fine as long as she wouldn’t let Matchstick strike with those huge blows...

That got her to thinking. Matchstick did hit her in that round... A lot of times, actually but she didn’t really hurt Rainbow the way she did in the first round. Could she be tired already? After five minutes?

Pinkie circled in the ring with the “Round 3” sign.

*Ding!*

Rainbow continued with the same tactic, being quick on her hooves and taking opportunistic shots, but as she expected, her punches barely seemed to faze Matchstick... The strange thing was that every time that she was struck back, Rainbow wasn’t really fazed either. The pegasus frowned as she formed her own theory and in a way that would make Twilight proud, decided to test it out immediately.

Rainbow opened her guard on purpose, offering a perfect target to Matchstick. The experienced fighter didn’t waste time and hit Rainbow in the chest.

She barely felt it. Giving Matchstick another opportunity, she was struck again, this time on the head.

“You’re getting sloppy, Rainbow,” Matchstick told her through her mouthpiece. “Tired yet?”

“No, I was just testing something.”

Rainbow stepped forward to strike Matchstick, not even bothering to cover herself properly. The two mares hit each other at the same time, doing no real damage on either side. She was certain now...

“You’re holding back!” Rainbow growled at her. “You’re not even trying to beat me...”

Matchstick raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Maybe you’re better than you think...”

Rainbow huffed and rushed forward, sending a flurry of hits. She didn’t even care for her guard at all and got hit a few times. There were no doubts... Matchstick wasn’t taking Rainbow seriously. She didn’t see her as a threat and was just having a little fun.

Dash gritted her teeth... or tried to through her mouthguard. “What are you doing? Take this seriously!”

Matchstick only gave her a curious look, but made no move to attack, only making Rainbow even more upset.

She exploded. Jumping forward, Dash unleashed a hurricane of punches in Matchstick. Mustering all of her speed and stamina, she pressured her relentlessly. She threw punches everywhere she saw an opening and Matchstick defended, blocking most of them and giving only weak counter-punches in return.

Rainbow put all of her strength in her hits. She smirked when a right hook in the ribs got a groan out of Matchstick. The earth pony finally tried to fight back, but Rainbow dodged and sneaked a quick combination right in her face. Matchstick tried to step back, but Rainbow followed, bobbing under the punches and striking her in the gut. When she straightened back up, Dash threw a vicious uppercut that missed only by a hair.

Matchstick’s eyes widened. Rainbow didn’t wait and threw the hardest left she could, straight in her face.

She fell on her back.

Rainbow needed a second to believe it, then grinned. “Ha! Take that!”

“In the corner, Rainbow!” Twilight pushed her away and turned to Matchstick.

The earth pony rolled over on her belly and stood up at a count of five. She gave Rainbow a harsh glare.

“I thought you were better than that, Matchstick.” Rainbow smiled cockily.

“Hold your horses, flyer. You just made me lose my balance.”

“Pah! Maybe I was wrong. You’re not holding back. You just can’t keep up with me, old mare!”

“What did you call me?”

Rainbow simply held her ground under Matchstick’s icy gaze.

“Fine. You want a fight? You’ll get one. But remember you’ve asked for it.” She got back into her stance, glaring daggers at Rainbow. “Make sure you remember that when you wake up.”

Matchstick rushed forward and threw jabs quicker than ever. Rainbow barely had time to see them coming. She covered her face with her gloves to block.

Her hooves did stop the hits... Only to hit her own face as she was unable to handle the power.

*Ding!*

Matchstick kept her eyes on Rainbow even as she walked away to her corner. Those green irises gleamed with barely restrained fury by then.

Rainbow walked back to her own corner with a smirk. Now, things would be interesting.

“Did you really have to rile her up like that, Rainbow?” Applejack asked from her side.

“What? I don’t want her to let me win out of pity. I’m better than that. I’m going to beat her at her best. Just watch.”

Applejack simply looked away in silence while Fluttershy and Rarity gave her worried looks. Rainbow frowned and ignored them, staring at Matchstick across the ring. She seemed to be in the same state, ignoring whatever the crusaders were telling her and glaring at Rainbow.

They barely noticed Pinkie showing the “Round 4” sign around.

*Ding!*

Rainbow decided that she shouldn’t waste time and go for the offensive. She stayed close, ready to exploit any opening. Each time Matchstick threw a punch, she slipped and struck back as she had done until now, taking advantage of her speed.

Rainbow saw a straight right coming her way and slipped outside, ready to strike Matchstick’s ribs again, only to find an elbow in the way... The punch she tried to dodge had never come at all and Rainbow fell for the feint. After blocking Rainbow’s attempt to hit her, Matchstick threw a huge right hook in her unguarded face.

Rainbow Dash staggered backwards, rattled by the impact. Matchstick had no intention of letting her recuperate and Rainbow found herself fleeing all around the ring, only staying alive thanks to her superior hoofwork. The short respite forced her to reconsider her strategy... If Matchstick was able to feint her like that, her counter-attacking tactics would be seriously hampered. That left one solution: straight-up offensive.

Rainbow no longer stayed out of range. She ducked and slipped between jabs to find an opening. Matchstick moved one of her hooves a little too far and Rainbow had a chance to hit her in the face with a left. She put all of her weight behind it, earning a grunt from Matchstick.

She also earned a huge swinging punch in her ribs that made her wince and stagger back.

Another opening as Matchstick spread her hooves a little too much. Rainbow struck her in the chest and received a hoof in her face in response.

Every time Rainbow had a chance to hit Matchstick, she took it, but invariably paid the price by getting a terrible punch back.

It didn’t take Dash very long to understand Matchstick’s tactic. She was simply trading punches with Rainbow. One for one. The difference being that Dash’s hit merely inconvenienced the seasoned fighter while Matchstick’s blows were shaking the pegasus like one of the Apple’s trees on harvest season...

Rainbow hesitated, she clearly wasn’t going to win a war of attrition and needed some time to think up of a new strategy. Unfortunately, her brief pause was like an invitation to Matchstick. She charged and threw a series of left jabs that Rainbow barely avoided. She tried to slip outside again, only to be met with a huge right.

The pegasus fled again, wondering what had failed as she dodged more left jabs.

Left jabs?

Her eyes widened as she realized that Matchstick had switched her stance at some point, throwing all of Rainbow’s defense off. She almost panicked, unable to decide on which side she should slip out, which hoof she needed to be watching for... Soon, it no longer mattered as Matchstick punched her hard in the liver, almost making Rainbow faint from the pain. She still managed to remain conscious, but her hooves went down and Matchstick used her face like a punching bag. A quick left stunned her to make room for a straight right, followed by a huge left hook.

Rainbow saw stars and fell.

She expected to land on the mat, but was caught in Matchstick’s arms. The earth pony held her up and whispered in her ear.

“Don’t go down yet, Rainbow. I’m not done with you.”

Rainbow felt a chill running down her spine. She had to get away. If only her legs would stop wobbling and carry her instead...

To her surprise, Matchstick didn’t attack but simply held her up until Twilight came to separate them. Rainbow Dash staggered back, struggling to stay on her hind legs. All she could see was Twilight’s face, giving her a critical gaze.

*Ding!*

The pegasus basically let herself fall on the stool in her corner. She had never been so thankful for a seat before...

Even as Rarity and Fluttershy fussed to help Rainbow catch her breath back, Twilight walked closer and observed her.

“I think you’re done, Rainbow,” she said bluntly. “I’m ending this.”

“What? No!” She almost jumped out of her seat, only held back by Applejack. “I can do this. Don’t stop the fight, Twilight!”

“Rainbow, you can’t–”

“Don’t stop the fight!”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, then exchanged a look with Applejack and the others. She seemed almost sad, but eventually sighed and nodded before going back to the center of the ring.

“I can do this,” Rainbow repeated. Nopony said anything, simply focusing on their tasks until the next round.

Rarity gave her the mouthpiece back as Pinkie announced the fifth round.

*Ding!*

The minute of rest had allowed Rainbow to get back into the fight. Now that she knew what exactly Matchstick could do, she opted to remain careful. At this point, any mistake would certainly be the last for her.

Unfortunately for Rainbow, she hadn’t seen all the tricks yet. Matchstick lured her by dropping her guard for an instant. The pegasus threw a left jab to the face, only to find it intercepted by Matchstick’s own left hoof hitting her a little above the elbow.

Her guard completely thrown away, she was too late to stop the right coming straight for her. Rainbow’s head shot back under the impact and she staggered one step back. Matchstick threw a strong right in her gut and by reflex, she lowered her hooves to cover her midsection... which left her face open for a quick jab followed by a straight left. She raised her hooves back up again, but left a space open in the center. She only had time to see the right uppercut coming.

She saw the ceiling above her.

“... eight... nine...” Twilight’s voice...

“Ten! Matchstick wins by knockout.”

What?

Twilight’s face appeared above her. “Rainbow? Can you hear me?” She waved a hoof over her eyes.

“Uh... Yeah...” Rainbow sat back up, spitting her mouthpiece away and stroking her chin with a gloved hoof. “Urgh... Twilight, why did you start counting at eight?”

The alicorn stared at her, blinking for a few seconds. “I didn’t,” she finally said. “You were out for the first seven seconds.”

“... Dang.”

“Oh my... Rainbow? Are you hurt?” Fluttershy landed softly in front of her, looking even more worried than usual.

“I think I’m ok... Did I really lose?”

“‘fraid so, RD.” Applejack walked next to her. “You went down like a felled tree.”

She lost... Rainbow frowned as the news sunk in.

“Hey, don’t look down,” Applejack said. “That was one heck of a fight. Ah didn’t think you’d last this long.”

“Rainbow!” Scootaloo had suddenly appeared in front of her. “You okay?” She didn’t even leave her time to answer before turning to Matchstick. “Mom! You said you’d go easy on her!”

“Well, I tried to,” Matchstick protested. “But she wouldn’t let me!”

Rainbow’s frown turned even more bitter. She tried to remove her helmet, only to fumble helplessly with it because of her gloves.

“Let me get this for you, darling.” Rarity quickly undid the straps and took the headgear away from Rainbow. “You gave a brilliant effort tonight, Rainbow.”

She didn’t listen. She didn’t care. She simply struggled with her gloves, getting more and more frustrated as the tight lacing refused to go. With an annoyed groan, she tried to rip them with her teeth, to no avail.

“Rainbow, calm down,” Twilight said, putting hoof on her shoulder.

She pushed it away and went back to struggling with her gloves until it became clear that she had no chance of winning that fight either. “Darn it! Get these things off already!”

Rainbow stuck her hooves in front of Twilight. A brief flash of magic later, the laces were untied. She bit on the gloves and yanked them away one by one, throwing them on the floor.

“Rainbow...” Even Fluttershy’s quiet voice couldn’t calm her down. As soon as she was free from her gloves, Rainbow jumped in the air and flew away from the gym, leaving her friends behind.

Rainbow was sulking.

She knew she was acting like a foal, but she didn’t care. She sat on her couch, only to stand back up and pace around a minute later. She walked to her room and flopped on her bed. She remained there for a solid ten seconds before jumping back up and heading to her kitchen. One glass of water later, she was back on the couch. And then pacing again...

Rainbow hated losing so much... She was mad at everything: at Matchstick, at her friends and at herself.

Crawling around on the cloud floor, the poor Tank had a hard time following his mistress.

Rainbow gave the placid tortoise a look... She wasn’t mad at him at least, he had nothing to do with this whole fiasco... That still didn’t help much her disposition.

She sat down for the umpteenth time. There was still something bugging her and she realized that she had never taken the time to remove her shorts. With a grunt, she slipped them off her thighs and threw them on the ground.

Five seconds later, she fluttered near and picked them up. She knew that Rarity had most likely spent a lot of time on these and she had to respect that... Rainbow placed them neatly on her bed, to be washed later.

Every time she watched the pair of colorful trunks, she couldn’t help but think of her defeat. And of what her friends had said...

“Ah didn’t think you’d last this long.”

“I think you’re done, Rainbow”

“You said you’d go easy on her!”

Rainbow kicked a wall in frustration, dislodging a tuft of cloud with a “pomf”. She turned around and caught it before it went far and put it back in place. She finally sighed in frustration. What was she supposed to do?

Tank gave her his usual tender smile and the corner of her lips tugged up, just a little bit. She grabbed him with her front hooves and went to sit on her bed, holding the pet in front of her face. He took the opportunity to lick her muzzle affectionately.

“Thanks, Tank,” she said quietly. Her eyes locked on the Wonderbolts poster on the opposite wall.

Her lifelong dream...

“You believe in me, don’t you, Tank?” He didn’t answer, of course, but smiled at her.

Rainbow’s gaze fell again on the poster.

“Rainbow Dash!”

Her eyes widening in surprise, she looked back at Tank. He simply stared, as if telling her “it wasn’t me.”

“Rainbow Dash!” The voice came from outside her house. “I know you’re in there.” She frowned as she recognized Matchstick calling her. “Come out or I’ll get somepony to fly me up there so I can drag you out!”

With a roll of her eyes, Rainbow dropped Tank on the floor and walked to a window. She spotted the mare on the ground below.

“What do you want?”

“I want to talk.”

“I don’t. Leave me alone!”

Matchstick furrowed her brow and stayed silent for a second. “Fine, then. I kicked your sorry butt, so you owe me a drink.”

“What? Says who?”

“Says me! And I’m collecting right now, so come down here.”

Rainbow Dash considered flying away or even simply ignoring Matchstick, but she probably would keep bothering her anyway. With a groan, she walked out and floated down to the ground.

Matchstick simply beckoned her with a nod and walked in the direction of the town center.

A short time later, Rainbow and Matchstick were sitting on each side of a bar table, a mug of cider and a glass of whiskey between them. Matchstick raised her glass, waiting for Rainbow to follow her. With a half hearted shrug, she clinked her mug against the glass and took a few swallows of the cider. It was nowhere near as good as Apple family cider, but at least it was hard cider.

“All your friends were worried about you,” Matchstick finally said. “I told them I’d talk with you... I think Pinkie Pie is planning a party to cheer you up.”

Rainbow didn’t answer, observing the froth in her mug floating on the tiny waves of the cider sea.

“What’s this about, Rainbow? You can’t handle being beaten?”

She gave Matchstick a sour look. “I hate losing...”

“That’s it? Why do you even care about a boxing match? You’re not a boxer, Dash. I don’t think you’ll ever be one...”

Rainbow frowned, raising an eyebrow while staring at Matchstick.

“You’re too nice,” she finally said. The tough mare took a sip of her whiskey before continuing. “Answer this: did you want to hurt me?”

“... No...”

“I could tell. That’s why you’ll never be a true fighter.” She put her glass down and sighed. “It’s boxing, Dash. Sure, there are rules, theory, technique and fancy names for everything... But in the end it’s all about two ponies beating each other up until one of them can’t stand anymore. If you can’t hurt somepony for no other reason than because he’s in the ring with you... You can’t make it.

“Sure, you can move fast and with some proper training you would be pretty good, Rainbow. You could even win some matches if you’d get really good technique. But eventually you would face a pony who just fights like a machine. The kind who can just keep hitting you for two hours without breaking a sweat. There’s only one way to stop those: they have to go down before you do and they won’t go down just because you ask nicely.

“I don’t think you have it in you,” she said softly.

Maybe she didn’t... Rainbow took another sip while she mulled her thoughts.

“Did you want to hurt me?” Rainbow finally asked.

Matchstick shrugged. “You were there. What do you think?”

“... I think you did.”

She nodded in confirmation.

“Why?”

“It’s nothing personal, Dash. That’s just who I am. That’s how I fight...” She emptied her glass and signaled the bartender for a new one.

“That’s not much of an explanation,” Rainbow muttered.

Matchstick sighed. “Well... I haven’t had an easy life. It left me kinda pissed off.”

“You mean the gang thing?”

Matchstick watched Rainbow with surprise. “How do you know about–” She frowned. “Red... How much did he tell you?”

“Not much about you actually, he told me his own story, mostly.”

Matchstick chuckled. “Yeah. He likes the sound of his own voice... So you know the basics, we grew up in the slums. Things are messed up over there, law of the jungle and all that... I learned to fight half because I needed to. Where the guard doesn’t go, a pony must be able to protect himself. That goes double for mares.

“The other half was because I liked it. I used to pick fights with anypony who so much as looked me wrong, back in the days. I gave a lot of beatings, took a lot too... It was just a way to vent, because everything in life seemed unfair to me. My family was dirt-poor... Still is, actually. And I always heard about rich ponies who threw away money like it was burning their hooves. That and a ton of other things made me mad. I was always pissed off and I needed somepony to blame and then beat up until everything could be better.”

Matchstick let out a sad chuckle. “I used to fantasize about going to Canterlot to beat princess Celestia. Punch her face until she swallowed her teeth... I thought it was her job to make everypony happy and... Bah.” She sighed. “It took me a while to understand that beating up ponies wasn’t going to help. It wasn’t anypony’s fault really... Sometimes life just sucks for no reason, you know?”

Rainbow hummed noncommittally while the bartender appeared with a new whiskey for Matchstick. She took another sip before continuing her story.

“I didn’t make peace with the universe all of a sudden, of course. Even today I’m still bitter about a lot of things, but boxing has given me a way out. I used to hope I could become a pro, maybe even a champion. For once, beating up ponies could actually accomplish something and if I didn’t win, then it would be back to the slums. That’s why I get mean in the ring: it’s like the pony in front of me is the one who’s responsible for everything that ever went wrong in my life. So, yeah... I want to hurt it. Bad.”

Her eyes went softer for a moment. “I hope I didn’t go too hard on you. I still don’t get why you wanted me to beat you up...”

“That’s not what I wanted,” Rainbow answered sourly. “I didn’t think you’d go all psycho because I called you old...”

“Hey! I’m twenty-seven. In what universe is that old?”

“Sorry, sheesh... I just wanted you to fight seriously, that’s all.”

“I know. And I did... But why? I was going to take it easy, win by decision... Or even let you win. It was just a friendly match, nopony cares about the result. I certainly don’t.”

“Well I do!” Rainbow said harshly. She grabbed her mug and downed it in one go, before waving it around for the bartender to see.

“But why? Why did you have to win at something you’ve never even done before? I don’t get it...”

Rainbow slumped on her seat. “Because nopony thought I could,” she said quietly.

Matchstick tilted her head to the side. “What?”

“Nopony thought I had a chance against you. My friends, even Scootaloo... They expected me to lose. They didn’t believe in me.”

“I... That’s...” Matchstick kept shut as the bartender came back with a new mug for Rainbow.

“They didn’t believe I could do it... And they were right.”

“I...” Matchstick looked down at her drink. “I don’t know if I really understand...”

“It’s just...” Rainbow propped her head on her hooves. “I’m always telling everypony how good an athlete I am. Because I am good and I know it. And... Well, usually, everypony believes me. They rely on me. They trust me...

“But then, when somepony doesn’t... I can’t just let them be right. I have to prove what I can do, you understand? Because if they’re right... If I’m wrong...”

Rainbow Dash looked down, absorbed by her cider. “It’s hard to explain. Becoming a Wonderbolt isn’t easy. I think I can do it, but if I’m wrong...”

She felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Hey, everypony in Ponyville knows you’re the best flyer, flyer.” Matchstick gave her a wink. “You don’t want to prove them wrong, right?”

Rainbow let out a small chuckle. “No... I suppose not.”

“I wish I knew what to say... I guess all I can tell you is to always do your best. At least if you fail, you’ll know that it just wasn’t meant to be. That’s how I see things anyway.” Matchstick rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m not good with motivational speeches... Believe in yourself, kid, bla bla bla...”

“Heh. Yeah, that’s not a speech for the ages.”

“Whatever. Let’s just drink, then.” She raised her glass again, followed by Rainbow and the two mares chugged their drinks down.

Matchstick looked at the empty glass on the table. “Maybe I’m not a good example anyway. I never realized my own dream... Probably never will, either.” She pouted sadly.

“Becoming a pro?”

“Yeah. And a champion, too. I want to have a big title belt around my sexy milf hips!” Her eyes widened at her own words. “The fuck am I saying? Looks like the booze is getting to me...” She smirked at Rainbow. “You know what that means?”

“I think I do,” she answered with a grin.

“Another!” The two gestured at the bartender for the next round and chuckled together.

“But seriously, I often wonder what my life would have been. If it weren’t for Scoots... I’m a horrible mother,” she said, pouting and pushing her glass distractedly. “I can’t help but think of how things would have turned out without her.”

Rainbow had to admit that this was a slightly disturbing train of thought... “Do you think it would have been better?” she asked.

“Better?” The bartender gave Matchstick the opportunity to think of her answer. “Hmm... I don’t know. I would have gotten pro, that’s for sure. I don’t know if I would have won, though. Maybe I could be a champion by now, or maybe I would have gotten flattened by everypony, it’s hard to tell... But there would be no Scoots... And that? That would suck.”

“You like her that much, huh?”

“Are you kidding? From the day she was born.” Matchstick smiled fondly. “When I saw that little filly standing up and trying to walk to me... Well, if you have foals some day, you’ll understand.”

Rainbow smiled too. “I think you’re a pretty good mother, you know.”

“You do?”

The pegasus simply nodded.

“Heh. Thanks, flyer. And you know what? I’m sure you’ll be a Wonderbolt some day. It’s not just the booze talking, either. You’ll be the damn best Wonderbolt ever. Scoots says so and I believe her!”

Rainbow chuckled, soon joined by Matchstick.

“And they’ll make you captain. And build a statue of you in Cloudsdale!”

“Damn right, they will!” Rainbow shot back.

That last part might be a bit too much... Then again, it was Rainbow Dash’s dream and realistic dreams were for boring ponies.

No, Rainbow Dash was meant to aim higher than anypony before or after her... and then make it true. She grinned to herself as she already pictured the cloud statue in the center of the sky city.

In front of her, Matchstick smiled back. “And when they do, you know what?”

She raised her glass again.

“I’ll buy you a drink.”

Chapter 3 - Overcast Irony (1/2)

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A few days earlier in Canterlot, near a restaurant where two pegasi were just finishing off their lunch…

“You want to go to Cloudsdale?” Scootaloo asked. “Now?”

“Sure,” Rainbow Dash answered her. “It’s been months since I’ve seen my folks and I feel like visiting them. Unless you don’t want to come…”

“Are you kidding? I’ve always wanted to see Cloudsdale!”

“Then hop on, squirt. No time like the present!”

Scootaloo climbed on Rainbow Dash’s back, hooking her legs around the mare’s neck and taking the opportunity to discreetly nuzzle her multicolored mane.

“Can you really fly that far? You’ve already carried me all the way here.”

“Did you forget who you’re talking to? I can make it from Ponyville to Cloudsdale in one non-stop flight. So, doing it from Canterlot? That’s nothing.”

Rainbow jumped in the air and flapped her wings, gaining altitude quickly. In a matter of minutes, the regal city of Canterlot and its packed streets were far below the two pegasi. Despite the appeal of the bright walls and extravagant towers, they flew away without turning back, leaving behind the luxury of gold and marble only to head towards another extraordinary city. It did not take long before a cloud bank appeared in the distance.

At first, only a slightly dark spot could be seen over the horizon, but as Rainbow Dash flew closer, the city slowly revealed itself as it really was. It grew and grew, seemingly with no end in sight. After an hour, when the two pegasi were halfway between Canterlot and Cloudsdale, the cloud city was already a gigantic cloud and as they got ever closer, it became a literal floating mountain.

A puff of vapor. A minuscule droplet of water… Some of the most insignificant things imaginable and yet, when millions upon millions gather together, these can form clouds bigger than anything earthbound. In more ways than one, Cloudsdale was a cloud: thousand of pegasi, like water had stuck together and focused their efforts to create something bigger than any single, reasonable pony could ever imagine.

Cloudsdale, the greatest city in the sky.

For Rainbow Dash, the view was familiar, almost ordinary even. For the little filly on her back, the sight of the humongous cloud city growing bigger all the time felt like a dream. A surreal view, so impossible that it had to be true, for no mind would ever be so crazy as to hallucinate it.

With the distance closing, the two flying ponies could progressively see more and more details in the city. What seemed to be only one big cloud at first defined itself into an intricate sculpture of multiple clouds of all shapes and sizes. Cloudsdale appeared both chaotic and ordered since only pegasi, used to consider everything in three dimensions, could truly understand its layout. But even for non-flying species who could not appreciate the city’s complex organization, there was still a lot to admire: almost every building was a piece of art by itself, as unlike regular earthly materials, clouds were able to adopt almost any shape a sculptor could wish to give it.

Tall columns that would have been at home on the ground if they had been made of marble stood next to cloud rings, floating in the air and reminding everypony that Cloudsdale was definitely not on the ground. Ordinary walls and roofs lined empty stretches of blue sky that were roads in name only. Pegasi were much too attached to their freedom to limit themselves to a single, well defined path…

Near the top of the floating city stood the Cloudiseum, shaped exactly like the stadiums that unicorns and earth ponies would build. Around it, liquid rainbows flowed into rivers, spilling over the edges of nearby clouds and spreading every possible color into the air, a reminder for anypony looking up that the pegasi were the masters of the sky.

Cloudsdale could have been considered the greatest display of arrogance from its prideful builders, but only the most bitter and cynical ponies could bring themselves to criticize the majestic city when it was floating in front of their eyes.

For Rainbow Dash, the sight had lost some of its impressiveness, although it had been replaced since by familiarity and affection for her hometown. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw that for Scootaloo, the feeling of awesomeness was not dulled at all. Dash smirked at the gaping filly, whose eyes kept wandering all over the city.

“So, do you like the view?” she asked, knowing full well the answer.

“Its… Awesome!”

Scootaloo almost jumped from excitement on Rainbow’s back, making her chuckle. “Hang on, squirt. I’ll give you a tour.” Acting on her words, she angled her flight to go around Cloudsdale rather than head straight in.

“This huge building right there, is the weather factory.” Dash pointed a hoof at the facility taking up a whole neighborhood.

“Wow! Is this where all the clouds come from?”

“Most of them,” Rainbow answered. “Some small towns that don’t need much water just make theirs locally and some of the big cities like Las Pegasus have their own weather factories, but Cloudsdale has the biggest one in Equestria. Every cloud from Appleloosa to Baltimare is made here.”

While Scootaloo oohed in wonder, Rainbow Dash continued her circular flight around the city. A few smaller factories appeared after a little while, filling the space of Cloudsdale’s industrial district. None came close to the titanic weather-making facility that seemed to try and hide them, but some were still remarkable for other reasons: there were the traditional hoof-crafting workshops where weathervanes of all sizes were made -mostly for tourists-, an impressive airshipyard where the wooden skeleton of an unfinished blimp was taking its form, and the very unassuming warehouse that was used by one of the most curious industries. Every day, Cloudsdale’s feather collection service delivered the prime material used by the Plushy Pegasus pillows production plant, makers of Equestria’s finest all-natural pillows since 1671.

As the factories left their places to ordinary commerces and residences, Rainbow headed higher. “Check this out,” she said when they were facing Cloudsdale’s stadium.

“What is this?”

“The one and only Cloudiseum, of course! The place where the one and only Rainbow Dash won the youngest flyer competition.”

“Ooooooh…”

Dash took Scootaloo on a quick flyby above the floating arena. A few pegasi were at work inside, setting up a cloud track for the evening’s races, which -according to Rainbow Dash- were not really worth seeing since the Wonderbolts weren’t participating.

The flight tour continued into Cloudsdale noisiest and most densely packed area on a Saturday afternoon: the sky bazaar. If the Ponyville market was dense and lively, the pegasi had a whole extra dimension to set up their stalls in, resulting in a district that was at least ten times busier. Pegasi-pulled wagons on their way to make deliveries were flying at high speeds only a few millimeters from each other, threatening to bombard the lower levers with their produce at the first wrong maneuver. Shoppers loaded with bags were spiraling and orbiting their way around each other and between stalls. Sellers were doing their best to attract customers by shouting the virtues of their wares as loud as they could and trying to cover the ambient noise of hundreds of conversations, salutations between neighbors and gossips between nosy friends.

To the cacophony of sounds added the myriad of colors, only a small part of it coming from the displays, since most of them were found in the feathers and manes of any imaginable hue. The white fluffy clouds stood as the canvas to the painting of a deranged artist trying to mix every single color in his palette at once.

The exotic smells coming from the numerous fruits, herbs and spices flown in from every corner of the world were merely the finishing touch on the insane sensory overload provided by the bazaar.

Rainbow Dash snickered when she saw Scootaloo’s expression over her shoulder, as the little filly’s eyes kept switching from one spot to another, trying to take the whole spectacle in and naturally failing.

“This place is crazy, huh?” Dash asked her passenger.

“So many pegasi…”

“Ha! Yeah, I tried to take Fluttershy shopping here once…” She shook her head glumly. “It didn’t end well.”

Scootaloo’s answer turned into a yelp when a large, black griffon dove in front of them and blocking the sun from their view for a moment with its huge wings.

“What’s wrong, squirt?” Rainbow smirked. “Are you scared? Griffon got your tongue?”

“Me? Scared? Nuh huh. No way… Uhmm… Griffons don’t eat ponies, right?”

“Pffft! If they did, do you really think we’d let them live in Cloudsdale?”

“I guess not...”

“Exactly. Anyways, this is the town hall...” Rainbow Dash showed a tall building, sporting elegant columns all around to support its roof. A few steps led down from its entrance to a small plaza decorated with cloud sculptures and another marvel of pegasus magic: a fully working fountain, hovering a little above the rest and modeled after the Neighagra falls.

This was the last highlight of the tour, as Rainbow headed into the residential area. Even though the cloud homes were impressive in their own right, most of them paled in comparison to the rest of the city.

Rather than one giant stretch of homes, Cloudsdale habitations were gathered in smaller blocks, each floating on its own apart from the rest but close enough that there wasn’t a feeling of separation from one to another.

The more modest blocks were hovering near the bottom of the city, where the sun often struggled to reach. The houses there were small and cheap, packed tightly in groups of several dozens at once. Accordingly, near the top of the city were the more luxurious homes: floating mansions and manors sometimes taking up as much as one half of a whole block.

Cloudsdale’s summit was crowned by the grandest of all, a gigantic estate decorated by dozens of statues. And unlike the rest of the city’s statuary, those were not made of cloud but marble, gold and gems. Gardens containing real trees and flower bushes were maintained by an entire crew of selected earth ponies, held aloft above the rest of the Cloudsdale by the same magic that kept the tons of necessary dirt in their cloudbeds.

“What is that place?” Scootaloo asked from her perch on Rainbow’s back. “Is that some kind of castle?”

“Almost. This is Heart Hunter’s home. He’s probably the richest pony in Equestria. Maybe the whole world. I think he invented airships or something…”

“Really? This is just one pony’s home?”

“Yup,” Rainbow Dash answered with a chuckle. “It’s crazy, huh? I heard that stallion tried to buy the princesses’ castle in Canterlot once. They say that he offered so much money that princess Celestia actually considered it. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that he payed the Wonderbolts a million bits for a private show in his estate.”

The two pegasi flew away from the extravagant manor and headed for a much more plain-looking block floating at a medium altitude. Houses about the same size as the one she had in Ponyville were spread around, cozy homes with each their small cloud backyard. A picturesque stream of liquid rainbow was cascading through the neighborhood and evoking nostalgic feelings from the similarly-colored mare. Memories of foalish fights with her neighbors came to her mind, always followed by a scolding that could never convince her to stop and thorough scrubbings from her mother trying to remove the extra colors from her fur.

Rainbow Dash flew along the edge for a little while, until she darted inside a narrow street. She angled herself without even realizing it, muscle memory driving her on the path that she had taken thousand of times before. By pure reflex, she flared her wings to lose speed and came to a stop exactly as she landed on the fifth’s house front yard. Her hooves dug slightly in the soft material and she turned over her shoulder. “That’s our stop, squirt.”

Scootaloo looked down, swishing her tail before taking a deep breath and jumping off Rainbow Dash’s back. Her eyes widened as she sunk in the white fluff, but did not go through. She pawed the cloud a few times, then jumped in place, giggling as she bounced on it.

“Is this the first time you walk on a cloud?” Rainbow asked with an amused grin.

“No, but the last time was really long ago, when I was just a foal.” Scootaloo jumped into a flip and landed on her back, the cloud holding her softly as if to make sure that she wouldn’t hurt herself. “This is so cool!” she squeaked as she rolled and bounced around.

“Heh. Then knock yourself out, ‘cause my mom won’t let you do that inside the house.” Dash’s expression turned flat as she added: “Trust me…”

Rainbow gave the laughing filly a minute to have her fun, then turned towards the door, chuckling on the way. With a hoof, she hit the small bell hung above the door a few times.

After a short wait, the curtain that acted as the door opened to reveal a violet-colored stallion staring at her with a pair of blinking golden eyes and a befuddled expression. If there was any doubt about his relationship to Rainbow Dash, the stallion’s mane was a dead giveaway, being an exact copy of hers.

“Hi, dad!” the young mare said with a wave of her hoof.

This seemed to get his mind into action, as the stallion grinned so wide that his smile could have blinded someone if it had caught the sunlight at the right angle…

“Dashie!”

He reared up, holding his forelegs opened in an invitation. “Come here, girl!”

Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof, but almost immediately froze. She gave a quick look behind her at Scootaloo, who only smiled in silence. Dash’s eyes went back to his father. One of his eyebrows raised quizzically and his smiled drooped a little.

Dash looked at Scootaloo again, the filly only tilting her head to the side as she failed to understand what was going on.

She looked at her father again… His arms drooped a little…

“Oh, what the hay…”

With a strong push of her legs, Rainbow Dash jumped into the awaiting arms and wrapped her own behind her father’s withers.

“Dashie!”

“Daddy!”

The two laughed as Rainbow Dash’s father used his strong legs to keep her off the ground and turned and twirled around until the two pegasi looked like a psychedelic spinning top. It only lasted a few precious seconds, though as he put her back on the ground rapidly and dropped back to four hooves with a grimace on his face.

“You’re getting too big for this, Dashie,” he said while rubbing his back. “Ow…”

“No way… You’re just getting soft, dad!”

“Well, maybe I’d get more training if you visited more often,” he answered with a playful smile, before nuzzling his daughter affectionately. “So, what brings you by, my little speedster?”

“I felt like visiting,” Rainbow Dash said with a warm smile, her ears twitching in excitement. “Also, I wanted to introduce you to somepony.”

Taking a step aside, Dash fanned a wing to present Scootaloo.

“Hi, mister!” The little filly buzzed her wings and smiled broadly. Dash could have sworn she saw a halo above her head for a second.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash’s father’s face took on a strange frown. He scratched the back of his head with a hoof. “Dashie…” he said slowly, still keeping his eyes on the grinning filly while his ears drooped down nervously. “Is there something you didn’t tell us? Wait… How old is she?” He stared at his daughter. “How long have you been hiding her?”

“Hiding? What do you– Wait. What?” The young mare jumped in the air and held her hooves up defensively. “Whoah whoah whoah! What are you thinking, dad? This is Scootaloo, she’s a friend, from Ponyville.”

“A friend? A friend! Of course, silly me!” A forced grin etched itself on his lips while he croaked a few strained laughs. “The way you introduced her, I thought that… Nothing. I didn’t think anything at all. Nope! So. Scootaloo, huh? Nice to meet you kid. I’m Rainbow Storm.”

The orange filly beamed at him. “Nice to meet you! Wait… Your name is Rainbow too?”

“Of course!” Storm answered while wrapping a leg around his daughter’s shoulders. “It’s a family tradition: if you get a rainbow mane, you get a rainbow name! Anyways, how do you two know each other?” he asked Rainbow Dash. “I thought you hung out with these five girls we hear about all the time?”

“Well,” she answered, “everypony knows Scootaloo in Ponyville. She’s always buzzing around town on her scooter. Heh! You should see her dad! You’d be impressed.”

“Is that so?” Rainbow Storm asked, laying his gentle eyes on Scootaloo. The little filly blushed and somehow smiled even wider that before.

“Sure,” Dash continued. “She might approach my own levels of awesomeness… Some day.”

“Ha! Now that’s some high praise,” the stallion laughed. “You’d better live up to it, kid!”

“I will!” Scootaloo answered eagerly.

Rainbow Dash enjoyed the smiles on her family member’s faces for a second before asking her Rainbow Storm if her mother was around.

“Sure is,” he said. “Let’s go see her, girls.”

Both mares nodded in approval, before the stallion stopped them with a raised hoof.

“Wait a minute…” A devious, lopsided grin appeared on his face. “I think I just had an idea...”

The Rainbows’ residence’s living room was a rather simple one, with only a sofa and a couple of armchairs, all made of cloud and arranged around a coffee table. Only one earth-made object could be seen in the otherwise uniformly white room: a radio. Rainbow Storm entered with Scootaloo riding on his back, while Rainbow Dash hid herself behind the cloud couch.

“Firefly!” her father called. “We have a visitor.”

“Coming!” a mare answered from another room. “Who is it?” she asked, her voice getting closer.

“It’s your daughter.”

“Really? This is awesome!” A cheerfully pink mare entered the room, her blue mane swinging around her neck as she skipped her way. “Oh Dash, it’s been so long since…” her voice died down as her purple eyes swept over the room. They stopped on Rainbow Storm and the filly whose head was peeking from atop his own.

“Where is she?” the confused mare asked. “And… Who’s that?”

Storm and Scootaloo exchanged a curious glance while Dash did her best to muffle her giggles.

“What are you talking about, Fi’? Don’t you recognize your own daughter?”

“Hi, mom!” the orange filly chirped, happily waving a hoof at Firefly.

“Huh– Guh– But…” She blinked a few times and shook her head. “What?”

“Love of my life,” Storm said with a concerned expression. “Is something wrong?”

From her hiding spot, Rainbow Dash savoured the look of utter confusion installing itself on Firefly’s face.

“Storm, dear…” she said softly and slowly, in the way that one would talk to a crazy pony when trying not to anger him. “Did you hit your head?”

“What are you talking about?”

Firefly pointed at the filly on her husband’s head. “This is not Rainbow Dash.”

Storm and Scootaloo exchanged a look of shock, gasping dramatically. The orange pegasus jumped down and walked closer to Firefly.

“Has it been that long since you’ve seen me?”

“Ha! You’re awesome, squirt!” Rainbow Dash whispered to herself.

“I don’t get it,” Storm added. “Why do you say this isn’t Dashie?”

“Why?” The mare blinked, looking horrified at her husband’s words. “Why? Just– Just look at her!”

“Hmmm…” Dash’s father made a show of examining Scootaloo, scratching his chin with a hoof, squinting his eyes and humming in thought for almost a whole minute while the little filly remained completely natural.

“Well, now that you say it,” he began, “you look a little different, Dashie. Did you lose some weight?”

“Just a little,” Scootaloo answered casually, brushing a hoof against her chest.

“Well, you look great.”

“Thanks, dad!”

Firefly watched the two with saucer-sized eyes and her jaw trying to make its way to the floor. “What… The… Hay…”

That was the last drop for Rainbow Dash, who exploded in laughter, rolling on the floor behind the couch. A few seconds later, her laughing only doubled when Firefly’s head appeared above the sofa’s edge, gaping her mouth like a fish out of water.

“Aww,” Rainbow Storm moaned. “Couldn’t you heve held on a little longer? We really had her going...”

Firefly’s gaze went from one pony to the other, her face progressively switching from confusion to irritation. With a huff, she walked right in front of her daughter, who was struggling to breathe by this point, and almost sticking her nose into Dash’s.

“Rainbow Dash,” she growled. “Is that the best way you think of to spend your time? Trying to make your poor mother crazy? I was beginning to think you’d been replaced by some weird changeling…”

The young mare’s laughter eventually died down enough for her to say a few words. “It was dad’s idea!”

Firefly instantly spun in place to face Rainbow Storm, making the stallion wince at her terrible glare.

“You!” she said darkly. “I should have known that kind of foalish prank could only come from you.” The pink pegasus shook her head in exasperation. “What have I done to deserve a husband like this? You’re always pulling off ridiculous stunts like that… I swear, you’re worse than a foal sometimes.”

Firefly paused for a moment in her diatribe, but only to take a breath. It was still enough for Rainbow Storm to give her a warm smile and tell three words.

“I love you.”

Firefly, the metaphorical wind suddenly sucked from under her wings, seemed to deflate a little. She huffed, but the frown disappeared from her face as she shook her head again. A half-sigh, half-moan escaped her lips. “You’ll make me crazy some day,” she muttered.

The stallion only stepped forward with a happy grin and nuzzled his wife tenderly. Rainbow Dash, after having taken back the control of her lungs, joined in to show her affection too.

“Hi, mom,” she said softly. “Sorry I didn’t visit earlier.”

Firefly sighed. “Don’t worry about that, Dashie. I’m just glad to see you every chance I get.”

The three ponies huddled together a while, until Firefly’s head shot up suddenly. “Wait…” Craning her neck, she stared at the little orange filly standing in the middle of her living room. “Who is that pony?”

Dash chuckled and walked next to the young pegasus, wrapping a wing around her. “This is Scootaloo, my new little sister.”

“What?” two voices asked at the same time.

Dash’s parents exchanged a confused glance that made the young mare roll her eyes. “She’s not really my sister… I’ve just agreed to take her under my wing. Isn’t that right squirt?”

“Yep!” Scootaloo bounced in place, a large smile plastered on her lips. “Dash’s gonna teach me all of her moves! Right, sister?”

“Sure thing… If you can keep up with me, that is,” Dash said with a wink.

“Awwww. Aren’t they adorable?” Rainbow Storm said, hugging his wife under his wing and watching the two “sisters” with an easygoing smile.

“Adorable?” Dash scoffed. “We’re too cool to be ‘adorable’, dad.”

“Right, right. Silly me.” He rolled his eyes while his wife giggled.

“So, Scootaloo,” Firefly said while walking to an armchair and plopping herself on the fluffy seat. “What’s your story? How did you meet my daughter?”

“In Ponyville,” the filly answered. She jumped up on the couch and sat herself before continuing. “Everypony in Ponyville knows Rainbow Dash. She’s always flying around town kicking clouds or practicing her moves. Like that one time, she combined a looping and a corkscrew, then flew straight up before making a one-eighty turn to dive down, then a series of barrel rolls and…”

Rainbow Dash smirked and sat next to Scootaloo while the little pony went on and on about her favorite subject. For the next five minutes, the blue pegasus mare basked in the adoration Scootaloo entertained for her. Meanwhile, Firefly nodded and hummed, asking question here and there. Rainbow Storm chuckled and, after mussing his daughter’s mane -despite her annoyed glare-, went to fetch some drinks. By the time he came back with a tray loaded with four glasses of orange juice, Scootaloo was talking about the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the numerous efforts they had gone through to find their true callings.

“I see that it worked,” Firefly said while pointing at Scootaloo’s flank. “Good job! Looks like you’re the kind of pony who knows how to get what she wants. Never forget that, kid: if you want something, you have to work and fight for it. It’s the only way.” Scootaloo simply nodded while Firefly continued. “And be sure to make everypony give you what’s rightly yours.”

“Oh boy,” Storm said, slapping a hoof to his face. “Here we go again.”

“Hush you,” the pink pegasus sid. “It’s important.”

“She’s just a filly, don’t bother her with that kind of stuff.”

Scootaloo nudged Rainbow Dash and asked her quietly what the couple of pegasi was arguing about.

“Don’t worry, squirt. Mom’s just giving her usual union leader speech. You get used to it…”

“Union?” The filly raised an eyebrow. “A union of what?”

“A labor union,” Dash began to explain before Firefly took over.

“A union’s a group of ponies working together to make sure their rights are respected.”

“And if you listen to mom,” Dash added, “every single pony should join one.”

“Well, duh!” Firefly said, throwing her hooves in the air. “How are ponies supposed to protect themselves otherwise? In fact, I still don’t understand why you’re not unionized, Dash.”

The young mare sighed. “I’m a weather pony, mom. It’s gotta be one of the cushiest job in Equestria and I’m employed by the government anyway.”

“That’s no reason to–”

Rainbow Storm interrupted his wife before she could go on. “Love of my life, I don’t think this is the time for this. Don’t bore Scootaloo with politics… Why don’t you show her your sculptures instead?”

The filly stared at Firefly for a moment. “You make sculptures?”

“I sure do! Cloud sculptures. Do you want to see them?”

“Yeah, that sounds cool!”

“It is,” Rainbow Dash said with a grin. “You’ll see.”

With a graceful beating of her wings, Firefly flew through the room and motioned at Scootaloo to follow. Dash watched them leaving, then turned her eyes back to her father.

She smirked. “Well played, dad.”

The stallion groaned. “Don’t make it sound like I just wanted to get rid of your mother… There isn’t a filly in the world that wants to hear about laws and rights and all that jazz.”

A certain purple pony briefly flashed in Rainbow Dash’s mind, but she was not exactly an ordinary pony… Rainbow Storm’s voice pulled the mare back out of her thoughts.

“So”, he asked, “how’s life in Ponyville these days?”

“Oh, you know… Same old.”

“Well, as long as you’re healthy… How’s that quiet friend of yours? Fluttershy, right?”

Dash shrugged. “She’s alright, too. Still takes care of all the animals of the region… She’s getting bolder with time, but it’s still hard to get her out of her cottage usually. Discord’s supposed to be her friend now, but I still don’t trust him.”

“Discord? Wow…”

Dash shrugged again. “What about you guys? Anything interesting happening in town?”

“Not much. The Cloudsdale Eagles can’t win a match, but I guess that doesn’t qualify as ‘news’...”

“Not really,” the young mare said with a chuckle. “I’m glad to live in Ponyville this season.”

“They just can’t do anything right since Thunderclap went to the Baltimare Dolphins… Hey, Ponyville should really get itself a team. Maybe we’d have a chance against a small town. Maybe you could even play for them!”

“Then nopony would have a chance!” Dash laughed. “But seriously, I don’t have time for this, I too busy training for the Wonderbolts.”

“Ah yeah, of course,” Rainbow Storm said. “How’s that going?”

“Pretty well. I came out on top of my class at the academy. It’s just a matter of time before I’m part of the team.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” her father said with a small smile. “Just don’t quit your job yet.”

The smile that had graced Rainbow Dash’s face for most of their conversation disappeared, evicted by an annoyed frown. “What's that supposed to mean?” she asked coldly.

“It means what I said, nothing more… You speak as if you were a Wonderbolt already, but you aren’t. Don’t quit your job until you’ve got something real to replace it.”

“I won’t need it for long, anyways.”

“So you can be patient,” Storm answered calmly. “There’s no point in taking unnecessary risks.”

Rainbow Dash took her eyes off of him, staring at nothing through the window. “It’s not unnecessary, If I didn’t have to work the weather, I’d have a lot more time for my training.”

“You’re actually considering this?” Rainbow Storm’s voice remained quiet, but his calm speech was not a good enough façade for his daughter...

The familiarity that comes with many years had taught Rainbow Dash every subtle aspect of her father’s voice. Just like an experienced musician playing the same instrument for so long can hear variations in its music that no one else can, the young pegasus could perceive every single change in her father’s speech. The timbre, the pitch, the volume and intonation… His voice was an entire orchestra playing a symphony of disappointment and worry.

Rainbow Dash did not take her eyes off of the nothing she was intently watching and did her best to keep her own voice neutral as she answered. “I’ve thought about it, that’s all. Don’t panic, I haven’t given my resignation yet.”

“I hope so… I know how impulsive you sometimes get.”

“Impulsive?” Frowning, Dash turned her gaze back on her father. The look of serious concern on his face heated up her blood. “I’ve thought about it. I’ve really thought about this, I know what’s at stake, what I risk and what I can do.”

Rainbow Storm sighed and closed his eyes. “Listen I’m just asking you to be careful… Don’t give up what you have now for something that you might get later.”

“Might?” Dash threw her hooves in the air. “I will make it into the Wonderbolts, dad.”

He gave Rainbow Dash the most infuriatingly loving and kind look he could. “I hope you do, Dashie. I really do. The only thing I want you to do, is to make sure you have something to fall back to in case things don’t work out.”

“Fall back? Oh come one dad. There’s no way I can fail. I’m the best young flyer! I made a strong impression on Spitfire. Several times! It’s in the bag!”

“Just like I thought when I was your age.” His expression took a certain hardness as he spoke. “I was like you and I dropped everything to move to Cloudsdale. School, family, friends, everything, just to go after my dream. I didn’t care about burning bridges ‘cause I was so sure I’d become a pro player…

“I was good, Dashie. Really good. I knew it and everypony else told me so. ‘The best receiver I’ve ever seen,’ they’d say. ‘You’ll go far.’ ‘You’re a future legend...’ Yeah, right! I tried and tried, but I never made it. If I was the best, then that still wasn’t good enough.”

Rainbow Dash sank deeper into the couch, crossing her arms and looking away from her father.

“I just don’t want you to go through the same manure that I did,” he said, doing his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “I don’t want you ending up selling hay fries at Speedy Feedbags for a bit a day. I tell you, if it hadn’t met your mother, I’d have gone crazy back then.”

“Fine,” Dash growled, “I get your point. I’ll keep my lame job… It’s not like me to give up anything anyway.”

“You dropped out of flight school…”

Dash’s head snapped back to face him so fast she could have snapped her neck. “That was ten years ago! How long are you going to keep bringing that up, dad?”

“Sorry.” he brought up his hooves defensively. “I didn’t mean–”

“Forget it.” She jumped off the couch and turned her back to him. “I’ll go see what mom’s up to.” The young mare headed off into the hallway. Either her father had taken the hint of he didn’t have anything to add, but he made no attempt to stop her.

Chapter 3 - Overcast Irony (2/2)

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Rainbow Dash walked down the corridor, towards the back of the house where her mother’s workshop was set up. Before she reached it, she heard Firefly’s voice through the door.

“Wait! Be careful with the–”

“Gyah!” Scootaloo’s yelp was accompanied by an electric noise.

“... storm clouds,” Firefly finished flatly.

A curious expression on her face, Rainbow peeked around the edge of the doorway.

Only a pegasus could possibly have made any sense of the room Firefly used as her workshop: the material she used for her sculptures being the same that constituted the floor, the walls, the ceiling and most of the furniture, any other type of pony would have been completely unable to tell what was part of the house and what was part of her cloud reserve.

Instinctively, any pegasus knew the difference, allowing Rainbow Dash to see not a messy clump of clouds, but a room containing a table, neat stacks of untouched clouds, shavings piled in one corner and a lot of sculptures, either finished or still in-progress. And in the middle of all of this was an orange filly with a mane looking like a purple porcupine. A few black stains covered her body and hair, and a few wisps of smoke still rose from her singed fur.

“Are you okay, kid?” Firefly asked. “These clouds are pretty heavily charged.”

“I’m fine,” the filly answered in a shaky voice, “all good…”

“Nice manecut, squirt!” Dash entered the room, a broad grin on her lips. It only went wider when Scootaloo went cross-eyed, trying to get a look of her hair from below.

“Don’t tease her, Dashie…” Firefly took on a scolding air, but it didn’t last for long, as she began to snicker at the sight of Scootalo’s purple afro. “Good thing pegasi are lightning-proof… At least, now you know why you have to be really careful with storm clouds.”

“Got it,” the filly said with an embarrassed grin.

Firefly let out a tiny giggle, like a delicate bell tingling before turning back to Rainbow Dash.

“Is everything alright? I thought I heard you yelling.”

“Yelling?” Dash blinked a few times, trying to remember how loud she had been when arguing with her father… She dismissed the thought with a shake of her head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry.”

“If you say so,” Firefly said, shrugging. “Anyways, Scootaloo,” she continued with a gentle smile. “That’s it for my workshop. Do you like it?”

“It’s cool,” the young filly answered. “Your sculptures are really nice! Everypony must want to buy them.”

“Oh, I don’t sell them,” the pink pegasus said. She walked in front of a half-finished statue of a dragon, about the same size as Scootaloo. Its head was only a rough and round block of cloud but he already seemed to stand proudly, his wings flared in an intimidating display. A fearsome monster guarding jealously his own corner of the worktable.

“You don’t?” Scootaloo’s head tilted to one side.

“I make a living handling storm clouds for Equestrian Electric. If I did this,” she showed her sculptures, “for money, it would be a job... That would take all the fun out of it.”

Rainbow Dash smiled when she saw the familiar expression on Firefly’s face: the glint in her eyes, the twitching of her ears, the lips forming a pensive pout… While anypony watching the cloud would see only a lump of cloud, for that one pink pegasus, it was already something else. Something beautiful about to appear. A flower bud, eagerly waiting to blossom…

Staring intensely at the statue through narrowing eyes, Firefly started working on the cloud. With her hooves, she pressed on the white fluff, squishing some of it and forcing it a little further. Progressively, one prod at a time, she formed a rough shape. She then started using her extended feathers to smooth and flatten some parts or pull and stretch on others. A quick swipe cleanly cut one bit away. A puff of air sent the cloud shaving away…

Hooves, wings and mouth worked together, slowly transforming the clump of cloud into a dragon’s head. Sharp spikes, scales, even the serpentine eyes were there, so lifelike that one could have expected the strange little white dragon to fly off on its own.

After several long minutes of work, Firefly stepped back and gave her work a critical look. Although Rainbow Dash could only consider it as perfect, the pink mare hummed and turned to her stock of storm clouds. Delicately, she bit a minuscule piece off and headed back to her sculpture.

Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash exchanged a brief, curious look before focusing again on Firefly.

Still holding the tiny tuft of storm cloud between her teeth, she approached her mouth from the dragon’s maw and carefully, with slow and precise moves, inserted it inside the sculpture. Firefly blew gently to drive the cloud deeper inside the throat.

And as in a fantasy tale, the creator instilled life into its creation…

At least, that was the impression Rainbow Dash got when the storm cloud started rumbling and flashing, sending miniature bolts of lightning out of the sculpted dragon’s mouth.

Firefly stepped back, nodded in satisfaction and touched her wings to the cloud, smoothing an almost imperceptible lump on the back of the dragon. After a few seconds, she walked away.

“There!” she said while a proud smile took its well-deserved place on her lips.

“Wow…” Scootaloo seemed unable to say anything else. Her mouth was gaping in wonderment and her eyes were practically sparkling, mesmerized by the cloud dragon.

Firefly chuckled. “Not bad… What do you think, Dashie?”

Rainbow Dash allowed herself a moment to examine the work of art, letting her impressions sink in first. Then, she meticulously selected the words that could appropriately describe her feelings: “Wow…”

“Aww thanks!” Firefly chirped. “That’s what I was going for.”

“Yeah… You’re still the best, mom.”

“Did you doubt it?” She gave her daughter a playful wink, then wrapped a wing over her back and pulled her close. “Thanks, Dashie.” The two mares smiled as they watched Scootaloo stand up, her forehooves propped on the edge of the table to examine Firefly’s masterpiece more closely. The young filly had her ears flattened on her head and was holding her breath, probably expecting the slightest breeze to unravel the sculpture.

“You can touch it if you want,” Firefly said with a chuckle. “It’s set now, it won’t budge anymore.”

Scootaloo gave her a curious glance for a few seconds, then turned back to the cloud dragon. She poked it with the tip of her hoof, pulling it back immediately. Like a kitten experimenting with a new toy, she became bolder with every prod, slowly realizing that the once delicate cloud had become as solid as rock.

“How did you get it to do that?” Scootaloo asked, scratching the back of her head while her eyes remained glued to the statue, perhaps expecting to see the difference.

“It’s overcast iron… Don’t you kids learn about clouds at school?”

“Ponyville is an earth pony town,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Oh, right… Well, it’s the same process as with construction clouds, like the walls or ceiling.” Firefly stomped a hoof on the floor a few times, illustrating her point when it failed to go through. “To keep things simple: pegasus magic can make clouds harder, even as tough as stone or metal. You actually need a jackhammer to break them apart, so don’t worry about my statue!”

“This is so cool…” Scootaloo’s eyes widened in wonder. “I didn’t even know that pegasi could do that. Can I do that?”

“Of course, it’s the same magic that lets you walk around the house. Do you want me to teach you?”

The little filly nodded so hard that Rainbow Dash actually worried about head falling off her neck.

Firefly chuckled. “I’ll show you the basics, then. You can always ask Dashie if you want to know more, later… But first things first. You should really clean yourself up. You look like a spent firework.”

Scootaloo gave herself a quick look, then grinned sheepishly.

“Bathroom is the second door to the left.” The filly did not need to be told twice and darted out of the room.

Firefly let out a nostalgic kind of sigh. “She reminds me of you, when you were her age…”

“She is kinda awesome,” Dash said. “Not as much as me, obviously, but she’s on the right track.”

“Heh heh. You should be careful Dashie,” Firefly said in a sing-song voice while a lopsided grin appeared on her face. “She’s younger than you, it’s only a matter of time before she surpasses you.”

“Yeah, right. That won’t happen before I’m so old I won’t have any feathers left.”

“Oh, I don’t know… I think she’s already got you beaten in some areas.”

“Huh? Like what?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Adorableness. Cuteness…”

“Pffft. These aren’t awesome.”

“I think they are. Foals are awesome, don’t you think?”

“I dunno.” Dash shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it this way.”

“Maybe you should. I know I’m thinking about it…”

“About foals?” Firefly answered with a hum, making Rainbow Dash stare at her with a curious face. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that seeing that little pony running around brought back some memories… Sometimes I wish I could have another foal at home.”

“A– Are you trying to tell me… that you want to have another baby?”

“Nah… I’m getting a bit old for that. Plus, I don’t think you father would agree.” Firefly shook her head. “No, this is a young pony’s game… A young, athletic and awesome pony’s game.”

Rainbow Dash stared at her mother, who was pretending to inspect one of her sculptures with an air of pure innocence. The only thing missing was the nonchalant whistling… Rolling her eyes, Dash decided to respond with a little pretending of her own.

“I guess you could always adopt, then…”

“Maybe, but I would prefer if it was in the family. You know? Somepony close to me.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin in thought. “Like a cousin, then? I’m sure Jetstream will have a foal soon. He got married last year, right?”

Firefly’s tone remained casual, but Dash could detect the first signs of impatience in her voice… “He also moved to Fillydelphia. I won’t get to see much of his babies…”

“What do you want me to tell you, then… Go with the adoption.”

“You know Dashie, when I said that I was too old, I meant for raising a foal, not for making one. Why, even last night, your father and I–”

“Aaaaaaah!” Rainbow jumped to stuff her hooves in her mother’s mouth before she had a chance to say anything that would be eternally impossible to forget. “Mom! I don’t want to hear that!”

“Hmmmpf hmmpf!”

“Alright, no more beating around the bush,” she said with a frown. “I got the hint. I’m not having a foal, mom.”

Firefly furrowed her brow, then pushed her daughter away to answer. “Why not?”

“First, I’m single. Second, I don’t have time for that. I would have to stop training for… What? A year? How am I supposed to make it into the Wonderbolts like that?”

“What are you saying? That you’ll never have a family? Is being a Wonderbolt so big that it should take up all your life?”

Dash snorted. “I have a family. You’re half of it.”

“You know what I mean…”

“I do, but I want to be a Wonderbolt. You know that! And I will be one.” She gave a shrug. “Maybe I’ll find a decent guy and have some foals after that… And even if I don’t, so what? There’s no rule saying that I have to have kids, is there?”

“Well, no…” Firefly answered quietly. She looked down at her hooves. “It’s just that I don’t want you to wake up one day and find out you’ve missed out on your life.” She laid her violet eyes on her daughter, looking at her tenderly, but with worry. “Time flies, Dashie. It flies faster than you think. Faster than you…”

Rainbow Dash snorted at that comment, but her mother only kept talking. “It’s great to see you pursue your dream. It really is… But don’t you think there oughta be more to you than the Wonderbolts?”

“It’s not the only thing, mom…”

“What else is there? I know you don’t care about your current job…”

“There are my friends!”

“I’m glad they’re there for you… And you should really introduce us to them by the way. You’ve been talking about these five mares for years and all I’ve seen of them is the pictures in the papers every time you guys save the world! You’re not hiding us from them, are you?”

“Of course not,” Rainbow Dash replied, rolling her eyes.

Firefly patted her daughter’s head with a wing, coaxing a nostalgic smile out of the young mare who felt like a little filly for a second. “If you become a Wonderbolt–”

“When I become a Wonderbolt.”

“Right, right… When you become a Wonderbolt, you’ll be traveling over Equestria year-round.”

“Yeah? So?”

“You won’t have much time for your friends… I’m not saying that it’s a bad or a good thing. That’s just the way it is. You know that, don’t you?”

Rainbow Dash only frowned and did not answer.

“Being a Wonderbolt is a full-time job,” Firefly said softly. “As full-time as full-time can be. You’ll be lucky if you can do anything besides stunt-flying.”

“It’s what I want to do,” Rainbow Dash answered quietly.

“Is it the only thing you want to do?”

The young mare bit the inside of her cheek…

“I just want to be sure that you realize what kind of sacrifice you’ll have to make.”

“I–” Dash’s voice stumbled inside her throat, coming out as only a croak.

She did not get much time to fight against her disobedient vocal cords, as Scootaloo came back, looking much cleaner as before and just as excited. She hopped and bounced around while chatting about clouds, giving Rainbow Dash a chance to excuse herself, explaining vaguely that sculpture did not have enough action for her. The young mare walked away, her eyes fixed on her hooves and pondering her parents’ words. In some kind of trick that Discord may have been proud of, they were wrong and right at the same time…

More than a decade of exhausting training, efforts, sacrifices… The same stunts practiced hundreds or thousands of times… So many crashes that she could have had a designated bed at the Ponyville hospital… Some ponies said that Dash bragged too much about her skills, but after everything that she had done to earn them, didn’t she deserve it? After all, she had already accomplished a lot.

But it still hadn’t paid out.

When Rainbow Dash lifted her eyes again, it was to an unexpected sight. Instinctively, she had walked into her old room. Sweeping her eyes over the room, she saw the many mementos spread around, as many seeds in a field of memories. Many of those sprouted as soon as she saw them and remembered every detail about how and when she had obtained them. Her room was like a encrypted book telling her whole life in a way that only her could decipher.

There were trophies, medals, ribbons and prizes… Each one spoke of a race or another contest that she had participated in. The oldest ones were participation prizes, then the following were bronze and silver medals. As soon as the first gold trophy appeared, the lesser prizes became rarer and rarer.

Dash’s eyes stopped on a poster hung on the wall, showing three Wonderbolts in their flight suits and autographed by Rapid Fire. A long time ago, she had decided that one day, she would be the one signing posters for over-excited little pegasi. She was close now. Very close…

Not quite there yet.

Trophies and medals. Congratulations and vague promises. Words… That was all she had earned by then. Rainbow Dash had proved time and again that she had potential.

Rainbow Dash sighed and threw herself on her old bed. The plushy cloud wrapped around her back like an old companion while she lazily watched around the room, wondering what made it feel somehow different from how it used to be…

One of her poster, which used to be crooked for as long as she could remember, was now hanging straight. The magazines that always lied in a mess on the floor were stacked into a neat pile. There wasn’t a speck of dust on her souvenirs and the old action figures that she never stored away were nowhere to be seen, most likely packed in one of the boxes that were sitting in the corner.

Somepony who would have seen the room may have concluded that it belonged to a very clean and organized pony, two adjectives that didn’t really fit Rainbow Dash. In truth, the room didn’t really belong to anyone anymore and was kept nice and clean through the efforts of her mother ever since she had moved out.

A room kept almost intact. The room of a foal who dreamt a foalish dream: being a Wonderbolt… Rainbow Dash held a leg above her eyes. She saw a strong limb, lean and sculpted by the muscles rolling under her skin. Big, strong legs. Adult legs…

“Hey!”

Dash swiveled her head to the side, seeing her father standing in the doorway.

“Can I come in?”

Rainbow snorted. “It’s your house, dad.”

“It’s still your room,” he said while walking in.

“It doesn’t feel like it,” she muttered.

Rainbow Storm sat next to her bed and gave her a slightly worried look. “Are you still mad at me?”

Rainbow sighed for what felt the hundredth time that day. She folded her arms under her head. “I wasn’t mad at you, dad. It’s just that… I dunno…” Her efforts to find the right words did not yield any results, letting Storm speak up.

“I wanted to let you know,” he said softly, “that I’m not trying to tell you what to do with your life. Whatever decision you make, I’ll always be there to help you when you need it. And I know your mother feels the same way. I just… get worried about you sometimes. You’re my only foal and I want you to be happy. That’s all.”

A slightly bitter smile tugged the corner of Dash’s muzzle as she said a short thank you.

For a while, both ponies dove into their own thoughts and the room became so quiet that their simple breathing sounded deafening.

Keeping her eyes straight above her, Rainbow Dash eventually spoke up. “Say, dad… Do you think I’ll make it?”

He took a couple of seconds before answering. “I don’t know the future…”

“But what do you think?” she insisted.

“I think you can do it. But I also know that things sometimes don’t go the way they’re supposed to.”

“Gee, thanks for the encouragement, dad.”

“I’m being honest,” he said, so quietly that it was almost a whisper. “You’re not a foal anymore, Dash. I’m not going to sugarcoat the truth.”

“Yeah, I’m grown up now, aren’t I?” Rainbow Dash frowned. She couldn’t help but think of Scootaloo’s parents. Her mother and her boxing career that ended before it even began. Her father and all the years of his life that his mistakes had cost him… The young mare turned her head to look into her father’s golden eyes. “Is this stupid?” she asked. “Is this just a stupid foal’s dream? The Wonderbolts… Now that I’m an adult, should I just give that up and live a ‘normal’ life?”

Rainbow Storm hummed in thought and let his eyes wander over the many trophies in the room. “I don’t think it’s that simple,” he finally answered. “Being an adult doesn’t mean not doing what you did as a foal. It just means that you have to make your own decisions and think about the consequences by yourself.”

“If I make it, I’ll be one of the most famous ponies in the world. If I don’t, I’ll just be an idiot who’s wasted ten years of her life for nothing…”

“That’s often how it works, unfortunately,” the stallion answered. “Nopony cares about the losers… That’s why we all want to be winners, I guess.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash let herself fall on her back again. “So, what do I do?”

“Find a way to turn your foal dream into a grown-up dream.”

The mare reflected on this advice for a silent moment, her eyes fixated on the cloudy ceiling but not really seeing anything.

Her father’s face appeared in front of her, bringing her mind back to reality. He brushed her mane away with a hoof and, as gently as a butterfly landing on a delicate flower, he placed a kiss on her forehead. Rainbow Dash stared at his smiling face a moment, until her lips were sporting a smile of her own.

This moment was the one that the stallion’s stomach chose to practice it’s impression of a roaring dragon. Rainbow Storm chuckled embarrassedly.

“Your mother’s decided that we need to go on a diet,” he said. “I just got one lousy salad for lunch… Hey!” His face suddenly lit up, like a foal’s on Hearth Warming Eve. “Why don’t you stay for dinner? Firefly will make us a real meal if you’re there!”

Rainbow Dash giggled. “I’d love to, dad, but I have to take Scootaloo back to Ponyville. I think her mom would literally kill me if I brought her home late.”

“Awww…” The pout on his face was almost enough to make Dash accept her father’s offer, but she stayed true to her word.

“Sorry. Besides, you could afford to lose a little weight. You’re getting chubby, daddy.”

Rainbow Storm sat back on his haunches and looked down at his barrel, indeed quite round and healthy-looking. “I’m not fat,” he said poking a hoof in his gut. “And anyways, a little padding only makes me more comfortable. They don’t call these ‘lovehandles’ for nothing!” The stallion grabbed his belly and shook it. “I’m plushy!” he said with a silly grin.

Rainbow Dash only rolled her eyes at another of her father’s antics, wondering which of the two pegasi was the most grown-up.

“Well, I think I’ll go see what my lovely wife is up to now. Are you coming with me?”

“In a minute, go ahead.”

After tousling up her mane with the tip of his wing, Rainbow Storm stepped out, leaving Rainbow Dash alone with her thoughts.

Nothing had changed. Her room was still the same flying-obsessed pegasus’s room. Her father was still the same kind and goofy stallion. Her mother was still the same hard-headed but devoted mare… Nothing had changed, but everything still felt different, as if something forgettable but important had been moved, just enough to disturb her, but not enough to be obvious…

Dash let out a weary groan and jumped to her hooves. She walked towards the door, dragging her hooves as if the floor’s clouds were a batch of highly sticky cotton candy holding her legs down. As she passed the doorframe, Dash gave her old bedroom one last, melancholic look and left with a frown.

Back in the living room, she found Scootaloo and both of her parents, chatting about this and that. The little filly beamed when she spotted Rainbow Dash, almost exploding in excitement.

“Rainbow Dash! Look!” She pointed an orange hoof at the table.

On top of it, a small cloud sculpture was standing: a wheel with a pegasus wing attached on each side, a three-dimensional version of Scootaloo’s cutie mark. It was flawless, the fluffy cloud having been smoothed and polished until it looked like a piece of marble.

“Cool,” Rainbow Dash said with a little smile. “Nice work, mom.”

“I didn’t do it alone.” Firefly patted Scootaloo’s head. “Your little sister is pretty good at cloud sculpting, in fact.”

“And she was just telling us how she earned her cutie mark,” Rainbow Storm added. “Sounds like she likes high-speed stunts just as much as you do.”

Firefly smiled kindly at the orange filly. “She fits right in with the rest of us.” She laughed. “Nothing but crazy flyers and race ponies in the family tree.”

The four pegasi discussed and ended up into a contest of sorts, each telling the others stories of their most outlandish and exciting stunts. Rainbow Dash’s many flights through Ghastly Gorge gave made her a strong competitor, but it was hard to tell if Firefly’s night flight into a storm cluster -because of a stupid bet- was more or less insane…

The biggest surprise was probably that Scootaloo would have definitely won, if the Cutie Mark Crusaders could have pulled out some of their most ambitious plans. Maybe not so unfortunately, they had been unable to get their hooves on some necessary components, including high-yield explosives and a giant jar of marmalade. How those were supposed to help get them their cutie marks had been lost to time and the less said about the marmalade, the better.

While they talked, Rainbow Dash couldn’t shake the strange feeling in her gut… The feeling that something was just a little bit wrong. Something impossible to find at the time, but that would look completely obvious in hindsight… Until then, she was stuck with that uncomfortable impression.

As she looked around the room to try and find a clue as to what was causing her malaise, she noticed that the sun was already well on its way down to its nightly retreat. When she told Scootaloo that it was time to leave, the look of disappointment on the filly’s face almost made her heart stop.

“Sorry, squirt,” Dash said, feeling like a complete monster in front of her puppy eyes. “I don’t want to know what your mom would do to me if I didn’t bring you back.”

“But we just got here.”

“It’s been hours already and I don’t want to fly in the dark. We just gotta go now.”

“Okay…”

“Don’t feel down, Scootaloo.” Rainbow Storm nudged her with a hoof. “You can come visit us any time you want. How does that sound?”

The filly managed to smile again. “That sounds great.”

Firefly clopped her hooves together. “Perfect. And make sure to get Rainbow Dash to visit her poor, lonely parents more often,” she said with a wink. The aforementioned pegasus only roller her eyes, something that proximity to her parents seemed to cause quite frequently.

After making a few promises to come back soon, Rainbow Dash walked outside and after some final wavings, hugs and nuzzles all around, let Scootaloo climb on her back. She walked to the edge of the cloud that held her parent’s house.

“Alright, squirt,” she said over her shoulder. “Let’s go home.”

As she was about to jump down, Rainbow Dash suddenly heard the words she had just said and froze.

“Uh… Rainbow Dash? Aren’t we going?”

“Wha– Oh, yeah. Of course…”

“Is something wrong?”

“I– I’m just tired… But don’t worry, it’s just gliding down to Ponyville from here.”

“Okay, then.”

Dash leaned forward and let gravity take her the rest of the way. One second later, the pegasus and the smaller pegasus riding her were soaring through Cloudsdale.

Rainbow Dash only paid minimum attention to her surroundings, too busy thinking about the house she was leaving behind her. She had finally figured out what was different, but it only left her with a bitter feeling.

“Huh?” Scootaloo jerked a little on her back.

Rainbow Dash cleared the lump in her throat before speaking. “What’s wrong back there?”

“I just felt a drop of water… Is it raining?”

Dash sniffled, keeping her head facing in front of her. “Yeah. Must be the rain...”

The floating city of Cloudsdale was made of only two things: water and magic. A mathematician had once calculated that if every cloud in the city was to precipitate at the same time, the downpour would create a small sea in the middle of Equestria, over fifty meters deep. Of course, that was a purely hypothetical scenario, since Cloudsdale’s population had absolute control over the weather, more so than in any other part of the country.

A pony who’d never lived there might not know it, but it never rained in Cloudsdale.

The drops of water flying in Rainbow Dash’s wake had another source: the simple yet disturbing realization that the house that she had just left, the house where she had grown up, was not her home anymore. Nothing had changed there. Not the building. Not its occupants. Not the neighborhood.

Nothing except Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash?”

The blue pegasus hummed in answer as they reached the edge of Cloudsdale.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For today. I got my cutie mark, I got to hang out with you, visit my dad, see Cloudsdale…” Scootaloo hugged Rainbow Dash as best as she could from her position. “Today was the best day ever!”

“Heh.” Dash felt a little of the weight lifting from her chest, a small, timid smile even finding its way on her face. “My pleasure, kid. My pleasure…”

Author's Notes:

I make this story taste so bittersweet... As you imagine Rainbow Dash carrying Scootaloo into the sunset, listen to some bittersweet music to go with it :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uGN19ZRSjQ

I find my writing style really dry sometimes, so I've tried to make things a little more poetic with this chapter. Let me know if my prose turns too purple so I can bleach it.

So, as you can see, I've decided to revive this story. I've had some time to think and I believe I have enough ideas to make a decent story now. Will we get to see Red getting out of prison ? Sure. Before he's served his whole sentence ? Now I can't answer that. That would be spoiling :3

And now, I would like to call to your generosity, my fellow bronies : Is there anyone interested in drawing some art for me ? I'd like a cover that's not just a cropped screen cap...

As usual, let me know if any mistakes slipped by. Thanks in advance and have a nice day or night.

Chapter 4 - Just Another Day (1/2)

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Hoofsteps echoed on the marble steps of the southernmost tower in the royal castle, coming from Princess Celestia herself as she made her way to the balcony. As she often did, she wondered idly as to how it must have felt to wake up after sunrise… The last time she had not raised the Sun by herself was so far away that she could barely remember it. She recalled catching a nasty flu three or four centuries earlier that had her bedridden for a few days... The ponies had started to panic when the night had gone on longer than usual, before enough unicorns had been gathered to move the Moon and the Sun in her stead…

“Maybe I could ask Luna to replace me for a while,” she mused. “Maybe until the Summer Sun celebration; that would give me a few weeks... I did take over her job for a thousand years, after all. I think she owes me that much...”

Those lazy thoughts quickly vanished when the white alicorn reached the balcony and saw the princess of the night facing the Moon. Luna’s ears twitched at the sound of Celestia’s golden-shod hooves on the tiles and she turned around to greet her older sister.

The expression on the princess of the night’s face would have seemed neutral or even cold to most ponies, but Celestia knew her sister enough to realize that she almost never displayed her emotions on her face. Except in the most extreme circumstances, she would remain unreadable… Unreadable to anypony except Celestia, of course. The princess of the day had no trouble seeing the hint of a smile on her young sister’s lips and the softer than usual look in her eyes.

“Good morning, sister. Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning, Luna.” Celestia gave her a radiant smile. “The night was peaceful, though a bit short.”

“You always complain about nights being too short at this season…”

“You always complain about nights being too long in winter…”

Luna gave a cute little cough. “Well… Do you still refuse to give up all this season business altogether?”

A playful smile on her lips, Celestia rolled her eyes. “You know that, as much as ponies control nature, there are still some rules we need to follow.”

“We could turn Equestria into a tropical country if we timed ourselves properly.”

“Let’s keep the days to twenty-four hours… Speaking of which, I believe dawn is due in a minute.”

Luna gave a small nod, turned towards the sky and spread her wings while a blue haze appeared around her horn. Immediately, the Moon drifted down, then disappeared, turning the sky pitch black, only peppered with the bleak light of the twinkling stars. The magic disappeared from Luna’s horn and the alicorn turned towards her sister, waiting for her to do her part.

Celestia took the same pose, a golden cloud wrapping around her horn as she connected with the Sun. Right on schedule, it lifted up above Equestria, bringing it the light and heat necessary to prepare another beautiful day of late spring.

The two princesses basked in the warmth of the morning Sun’s gentle rays for a while, Celestia with a broad smile, Luna with a subtle one.

“This never gets old,” the white alicorn said with a tone echoing both serenity and amazement.

“Indeed… Unlike you.”

Celestia stared at her sister with a frown, while Luna still kept her stern face… until she brought a hoof to her lips, giggling behind it as she saw her older sister’s expression. Said sister simply rolled her eyes and sighed, but with the traces of a grin appearing on her lips…

Only a short distance away, Canterlot Central Prison was standing, as it always had been, a large square of plain stone that would have looked inconspicuous in any other city. In Canterlot, it stood apart next to the intricate architecture of even the most modest homes and next to the palace, it seemed to be a mistake, a building that was designed for another town and dropped in the capital after some mix-up in the planning…

There was no mistake, though: the prison’s only fault was to be designed for functionality in a city where looks were the most important aspect of life. But, while Canterlot’s nobility, its bourgeoisie and everypony hoping to be somepony could lift their noses up and snort in disgust at the ugly construction, they could do so safely, never having to fear that one of its inmates would leave without being allowed to.

The efficiency of the sturdy walls were not in question, but before the prison was first opened fifty years earlier, the entire upper class of Canterlot had stopped its bickering and backstabbing to agree on something, an event so rare that only princess Celestia could hope to see more than once in a lifetime... They all agreed that only “inoffensive” criminals should be held inside, just to be safe… As a result, Canterlot Central Prison still held a perfect record, never once losing hold of an inmate.

For most of these ponies, the prison was only a short break in their lives. An accident. A pony became too greedy, made a mistake and received his sentence. Two months. Three months. Six months. Sometimes a year, rarely more than two… When they came out, it was like a particularly bad vacation or a terrible job assignment. They picked up what was left of their lives and tried to piece together what had fallen apart. For the luckiest ones, it was almost as if nothing had happened.

For Red Currant, it was… weird.

The early hours of the day always gave him mixed feelings. On one hoof, it was one of the rare times when the entire prison was quiet and nothing was asked of him; until the beginning of the day’s schedule, he could just lie in his bed and think. On the other hoof, he was left alone with his thoughts and he had no choice but to be honest with himself. There was no way to lie or cheat his own mind, no way to silence it or run away.

As the Sun slowly rose, Red was reminded once more just of how much prison had come to define his life. He knew he had about five minutes before the guards came to wake the prisoners up. Every morning for the last year or so, he had woken up on his own, five minutes before the official time and no matter how much he tried, he could not go back to sleep. Thus, Red Currant had five minutes to himself, which he usually spent lying on his back, his eyes looking at the tiny square of sky they could see through the barred window. There was a cloud in his line of sight this morning.

The pegasus wondered how long he hadn’t been able to enjoy something as basic as lounging on a fluffy cloud… “Four years, nine months and… five days. No, that’s how long I’ve been here, but I was locked up before the trial, so…” He tried to remember how long the official procedures had lasted, but couldn’t get a precise count this time. “Five years, at least…” He sighed as his wings twitched instinctively.

He used to feel like a prisoner in his former life. Because of what he did and who he did it with, Red did not have that much freedom. When the boss asked for something, it was in everypony’s best interest that he got it. Fast, if possible… Red had become an errand colt, barely able to do anything he wanted to.

But now that he had lost all but the most basic freedoms, he had gained a great appreciation of them. Whatever mess he had gotten into before, he could always fly off and rest on a cloud once in a while. Go down to a bar and have a drink. Buy a paper and read the comics. Spend time with his wife…

With an angry grunt, Red lifted a hoof and knocked it on the side of his head, strong enough to jostle his mind away from the depressing thoughts. If he started to think like this, his whole day was going to get even more depressing than usual. Throwing the sheets away, he rolled off his bed and landed on the ground with four simultaneous “clops”, then headed for what passed as the bathroom in his current home.

Red Currant’s cell, like every other one in the building, had only the necessities: aside from his bed, there were a toilet and a sink in one corner, and a few shelves to hold the things he was allowed to keep. Namely, a brush for his feathers, another one for his hair, a few comic books and a rather impressive stack of Pent Horse magazines that, to be honest, he did not read for the articles. As for the things that he wasn’t allowed to keep, the stallion had prepared several hiding places in his cell.

Before he came to prison, most of Red’s illegal activities had been buying, transporting and selling things that were not supposed to be bought, transported or sold. From cheap drugs to fake money to foreign luxuries that never passed between the hooves of a customs officer, he had carried almost anything that had monetary value and even though the prison guards were actually trained to find contraband, they didn’t really stand much chance against a seasoned smuggler like him.

He had perfected a system in his hiding that, so far, had succeeded in keeping safe what he really wanted to keep safe. The least valuable items were roughly hidden: one of the bricks in the wall had been pulled out and broken in half, turning it into a sort of improvised cupboard. He could have made it difficult to spot, but that particular one was supposed to be found by the guards, which was why he hung a poster of Spitfire in front of it, making it the most unimaginative hideout possible. So far, it had done its job of convincing the prison staff that Red was terrible at hiding his loot.

Of course, he did not rely simply on that impression: sooner or later, somepony would figure it out and make a more thorough search of his cell. In that case, they would most likely notice the place where his mattress had been opened up and sewn closed again… Inside, they would find some cigarettes or salt-licks, depending on his stock.

The trail did not stop there, though. Some guards might be satisfied, thinking that they had found his main hoard, but smarter ones would realize that sewing the mattress obviously required sewing materials… A sufficiently thorough search would let them stumble upon the “main” cache. The bed frame itself had been modified: the surface where the mattress lied was just a little higher than in the other beds, a difference almost impossible to notice but that left a lot of room to store whatever Red needed to in the improvised secret drawer. A testament to what could be accomplished by a pony with a creative mind and lots of free time, this one was not meant to be found easily, to give the impression that there was nothing else to be found. It also held all the tools that the guards could expect to find, leaving them no reason to suspect that there was another cache.

The pegasus splashed some water on his face to finish waking himself up and looked in the mirror hung above his sink. He couldn’t help but smirk as he thought of the hole in the wall, perfectly hidden behind his reflection. His personal wall-safe that could only be found by taking the mirror off the wall. The key, in the form of a screwdriver, was perfectly safe inside the water tank of his toilet, carefully worked into the mechanism to look like a part of it and basically impossible to find, unless one knew exactly where to look. He used this ultimate cache for the things that could get him in real trouble, although at the time, it only contained a bottle of plum brandy.

A horn blared through the cell block, meant to wake the sleeping prisoners, but only jerking Red out of his thoughts. The day’s routine started by a basic cleanup of his cell: mostly making his bed and tidying up whatever was out of place. Just like every other morning, it left him with some time to kill. Just like every other morning, he did a few stretches and a couple dozen of wing push-ups. He finished just before the morning’s roll call began and took his place behind the door.

The guards shouted their usual commands, every cell’s door opened and every cell’s occupant stepped outside, standing still. Two guards then passed between the prisoners, one of them holding a clipboard and ticking names as the other confirmed that every inmate was there. Unsurprisingly, no one was missing and the group of prisoners were instructed to move. In one big, almost orderly file, they headed for the showers.

As usual, the guards oversaw the prisoners with bored looks, the weirdness of being paid to watch fifty stallions cleaning themselves having long turned into a new sense of normalcy. Only a few new faces, who must have been in for less than a few days, still looked uncomfortable.

Breakfast came and went, with the usual bland mush they were given every day. After that, the prisoners were gathered and taken to the workshops where they would labor for the rest of the morning. Red barely saw time passing, the routine devouring it like a monster made of pure boredom. His hooves followed the path they knew, while his mind wandered.

In his daydreams, he tried to picture what Ponyville looked like, based on what he had heard from his family and the occasional inmate who knew the little town…

Ponyville was waking up to a beautiful morning; the sun was already a good way above the horizon as the longest days of the year were approaching. The blue skies seemed to spread joy in every creature of the small city: on the ground, ponies trotted on their way to work or whatever errand they had to run, dogs chased each other playfully, merchants were smiling as they were getting ready to open their store… In the sky, pegasi flew here and there, some of them moving clouds around to prepare the day’s weather, and birds were chirping melodies as beautiful as they were whimsical.

One purple pony in particular was trotting down the street with a smile on her lips and skip in her step. Between the sun rays warming her back at the perfect temperature, the fragrant smell of the season’s many flowers and the friendly inhabitants waving at her, being in a bad mood would have been a real exploit. She even found herself singing a tune without even realizing it…

“Morning in Ponyville shimmers
Morning in Ponyville shines!
And I know for absolute certain…”

Twilight Sparkle paused and gave a wary look around her.

“I’m… almost completely certain,” she said to herself, “that everything is going to be fine.”

Although her rational mind knew better than to believe in silly superstitions and that “jinxing” anything was possible, she had learned the hard way that events could take a turn for the worse without warning.

The mare gave her still “fresh” wings a look and shook her head. “No reason to be pessimistic,” she told herself. “It’s a beautiful day and I’ll enjoy it as much as possible!” With a renewed good mood and humming on her way, she trotted towards the town hall.

The Ponyville tower struck eight o’clock the moment her hoof reached the last step leading to the front door. The pleasure of a schedule being followed by the second added to her smile while she grabbed the handle in her magic and pulled.

Her royal highness princess Twilight Sparkle stood in front of the door, blinking as she was trying to understand the perplexing puzzled offered to her. She pulled on the handle again, only to come to the logical conclusion that the door was not opening, which in turn told her that it was locked. What she could not figure out was why the door was locked.

“Is today a holiday?” she wondered. “The blossom festival was a few weeks ago and there aren’t any other holidays before the Summer Sun Celebration… Unless princess Celestia instated a new holiday? No… I would have been informed of that.”

She suddenly gasped. “Unless the message was lost! What if Spike forgot to tell me? Or if he spilled tea on the scroll again and didn’t tell me because he thought I would be mad at him?

“No! Calm down, Twilight…” She took a deep breath. “I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation. Why would the princess even create a new holiday? There hasn’t been any important event recently…

“Except from my coronation. Oh no! Princess Celestia made a holiday for me and I don’t even know! Ponies must be expecting me for the celebration. Where is it? In Canterlot? I don’t even know where to go. This is terrible!” Twilight’s eyes widened so much they looked like they were about to pop out of her head. “What if I’m supposed to make a speech? I haven’t prepared anything!

“This is bad. Real bad… My first official duties as a princess and I’m not even going to show up! Princess Celestia is going to be furious. She’ll take my crown away… No, that won’t be enough... After such an affront, I’ll be banished from Equestria!

“I need to go home and pack my bags… Where am I even going to be exiled to? I hope it’s not Zebrica, I’ll never get used to the heat…”

Somepony loudly clearing their throat thankfully interrupted the princess’s trainwreck of thought. After blinking few times, Twilight eventually realized that the mayor was standing next to her.

“Is everything alright, your highness?” Mayor Mare gave Twilight a curious look. “You seem nervous.”

“Nervous? Uh… Wait!” She shook her head. “Why are you here? Were you looking for me?”

“Looking for you? No...” the mare answered slowly. “I was just on my way to open up the town hall…”

“Oh! Right! Of course… Please do.” Twilight stood still with a very strained grin on her face. The mayor stared at her for a moment, until the princess realized that she was in the way and stepped aside, chuckling awkwardly. While Mayor Mare unlocked the door, Twilight gave a glance at the other ponies behind her. Two were the mayor’s assistants and looked simply bored, waiting for their boss to let them in. Another was an earth pony mare that Twilight did not know, a pony with a pristine white coat of fur that made her bright red mane stand out all the more. She giggled a little as her blue eyes caught Twilight’s own, making the young alicorn blush.

Twilight took a deep breath and put a hoof to her chest, then exhaled while extending her leg, symbolically pushing her worries away. After internally repeating to herself to relax, she managed to follow her own advice and a few seconds later, a much calmer princess walked into the town hall.

The interior of the building was rather simply laid out: the first floor was a single, wide room that could sometime be used for special occasions, but otherwise served as the working space for Ponyville’s admittedly modest bureaucracy. A desk near the entrance was staffed by a young mare, taking care of the simple requests or directing ponies towards one of the four other desks spread near the back of the large room. The mayor herself had her private office on the first floor, but on that day, Twilight Sparkle had no reason to visit her in person, since she only needed some simple paperwork processed by the town’s administration and sent to Canterlot. Provided everything went according to schedule, she would have the detailed files about Scootaloo’s father by the end of the week.

As expected, Twilight was sent to a desk after explaining her request to the mare at the entrance. What was not expected, though, was that as she reached her goal, she found nopony waiting for her there. The princess looked around, seeing no one coming towards her and sat down, giving the desk a closer look.

Somehow, it seemed to embody the definition of “plain” entirely. The wood was neither luxurious or cheap. It showed a little wear, but couldn’t have been more than a few years old… On its surface, some papers were stacked on one side, various quills, pens and pencils were waiting at the other end, next to an assortment of stamps and colorful forms. Following some unwritten rule of office personalization, a framed picture was standing next to a plaque where Twilight could read the name of Scroll Call.

The only thing missing from this display of anonymous bureaucracy was the bureaucrat himself… Twilight Sparkle frowned as she was left alone and wondering where that employee might be.

A few minutes later, an earth pony stallion made his way towards the desk. The princess followed him with her eyes as he walked nonchalantly, a paper bag held in his mouth. Like his desk, the pony was plain: a dull brown coat of fur and a gray mane… even his cutie mark was ordinary looking, a simple scroll rolled up on his flank. The stallion’s expression read like a prime example of what fatalism could do to a pony. There seemed to be no life in his brown eyes, making him look like a machine as he trudged towards his desk. If that pony had cared about his job at some point, it was probably in a previous life…

Trying to remain positive, Twilight smiled warmly at him.

“Good morning,” she said with a cheerful tone. “I was starting to wonder if I had the right desk.”

The stallion’s eyes switched from apathetic to slightly annoyed. “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled around the bag in his mouth. “I’m late, I know.”

He finally let himself fall to his haunches in his seat and dropped down the paper bag before pulling a coffee cup out of it. The first thing he did was take a long and loud sip, then quickly shuffled through the “in” pile of papers on his desk. This took a couple of minutes, during which he ignored princess Twilight royally.

Finally, Scroll Call deigned to give her some attention. After slurping on his coffee again, he laid his eyes on her and asked what he could do for her.

“Just a little thing,” Twilight said, levitating an envelope in front of him. “I need a copy of a pony’s criminal file.”

The stallion sipped loudly. “This kind of information is the responsibility of the ministry of justice,” he said in a droning voice. “You should ask them, really.”

“Oh yes, I know that, but their office is in Canterlot and I was hoping to save the trip.”

“Then send them a letter.” He punctuated his answer with yet another noisy slurp.

“They don’t give that kind of information with a simple letter. The ministry needs my demand to be verified and transferred by your services…”

The stallion stared at her, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know… I’ve never heard of that kind of procedure…” Twilight’s eye twitched at the noise of his coffee being vacuumed into his mouth.

“Excuse me, could you please stop doing that?”

“Doing what?” *sluuuurp*

“That. It’s really annoying.”

Scroll Call narrowed his eyes a little, but still put his cup down.

“Thank you,” Twilight said with a strained smile. “Now, you just need to fill the proper form, then certify the forms I brought and send the whole file to the ministry.”

“Like I said, I’ve never heard of that procedure. I’m not sure I can do anything for you.”

“Oh…” Twilight blinked a few times. “I’m pretty sure you do… I mean, it’s just a stamp and some basic paperwork, nothing more.”

“I don’t know…”

“I think anypony working here could do it, actually… You do work here, do you?”

“I’ve been working here for the last twelve years,” he said calmly. “And I’ve never heard of that procedure.”

Twilight had to pause and concentrate for a moment to make sure that she would neither groan, slap a hoof on her face or flip that stupid desk on that stupid stallion… After counting to ten internally, she spoke again.

“That’s quite alright,” she said with the kindest tone she could muster. “I have checked that procedure myself and I’d be happy to explain you what needs to be done.”

“You know,” Scroll Call said coldly, “I doubt I have the proper authority for this.”

“W– What? Why not?”

“Affairs involving any of the ministries are usually the mayor’s responsibilities. I’m just a simple employee…”

“B– But you don’t even know what you need to to!”

“Sorry, but this sounds like some serious business. I could lose my job over this…”

Twilight grinded her teeth together for a moment. Her dentist might not have approved of this, but it was still better than saying what she had in mind at the time… After taking a long and deep breath, she spoke again, her tone having difficulties remaining civil.

“Well then, could you please verify what I say, so that you could tell me if taking care of my request is or isn’t a part of your job? And trust me, it is.”

The stallion glared at her, the grabbed his cup of coffee and took a good, long sip before answering.

“I’ll have to check with my supervisor,” he said before standing up and leaving Twilight to fume in peace.

While she was trying to remember if a princess could single-hoofedly have a pony arrested on grounds of them being a pain in the rump, Twilight heard the clopping of hooves approaching her. She turned around and spotted the same white and red mare from earlier, looking amused again. With a little more time to study her face, Twilight saw the first signs of wrinkles around her eyes, placing her around her forties. Her green eyes, on the other hoof, still had a sort of youthful glint in them.

“Hello, your highness,” the mare said, giving her a quick but elegant bow. “I’m sorry to stick my muzzle into what isn’t my business, but it looks like you’re having trouble with that ‘devoted’ worker.”

Twilight sighed. “You can say that again… I expected this to be nothing but a formality, but I think I’ve just stumbled upon the most unhelpful pony in all of Equestria…”

“Ah yes, Scroll Call is one that is best left to do what he does best: nothing.” The mare’s voice sounded warm, but in a sort of motherly way that could become stern and commanding with just a subtle variation in her tone.

“I take it you’ve had to deal with him?”

“Unfortunately… I have spent quite a bit of time in Ponyville’s town hall recently, so I had the chance to get a good look at all the employees here.” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced myself! My name is Mozzarella. Mozzarella di Bufala, if you want to get fancy.” The white mare bowed again, more formally this time.

“There’s no need for that,” Twilight quickly said, waving for her to get back up. “Please rise… I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

“Of course, Equestria’s newest princess,” Mozzarella said with a little smile. “Everypony knows who you are.”

Twilight blushed and averted her eyes for a moment, while the mare came closer and sat down next to the princess. In doing so, she gave her a quick view of her cutie mark: a scale, tipped to one side under the weight of a stack of bits.

“I have quite a lot of experience with obtuse bureaucrats, sadly. And I can tell you already that you won’t get anywhere with this one.”

“That may be a little harsh…” Twilight said. “Sure he’s clearly not enthusiastic, but I’m sure he’ll still do his job.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Mozzarella said calmly. “I know his kind. He’s the type of pony who hates his job but doesn’t care enough to find another one. He will do everything he can to avoid any actual work while still collecting his pay. And if he can get some petty revenge by annoying ponies he has to deal with, he’ll do it every time.”

Twilight was about to answer when she spotted Scroll Call coming back. The white mare left them alone while the stallion sit back down at his place;

“I couldn’t find my supervisor,” he said flatly. “Maybe you should try again later.”

The princess simply gaped at him for a moment. “Wh– What do you mean, you couldn’t find him? How big is the town hall? And who’s your supervisor, anyway?”

“The mayor’s assistant. And he wasn’t in his office.”

“Did you check the mayor’s office?”

“I can’t bother the mayor every time I have a small question. That’s why she has an assistant in the first place.”

“But… She… You… He… Argh!”

“My apologies. If there isn’t anything else I can help you with, I have some business to take care of…”

Twilight glared at him so hard her eyeballs came close to popping out of their sockets and hit him in the face. Keeping his usual, inexpressive expression, the stallion grabbed his cup and took another sip of coffee, louder than ever before and withstood her stare.

“Fine,” Twilight said through gritted teeth. “I’ll come back later, then.”

She left the desk and quickly found the white mare, still giggling at her misfortune.

“Did things go as I predicted?”

Twilight let out a long sigh and nodded.

“Dealing with the administration takes years of practice and an incredible amount of patience,” Mozzarella said. “I’ve been taking care of the paperwork for my family’s business for a long time now… And I can proudly say that I haven’t gone insane yet, which probably means that I’ve gotten quite good at this.” She chuckled a little, although Twilight didn’t feel like sharing her mirth.

“Maybe I can help you, princess… And I think you could do me a little favor in return. What do you say? Could we scratch each other’s back?”

Twilight hummed in thought before asking: “what do you have in mind?”

“First, what exactly are you trying to get done here?”

“I have a simple request for the ministry of justice. I was hoping to have it transferred from here rather than head directly to their offices in Canterlot…”

“Is that all?” Mozzarella said with a smile. “I can take care of that, no problem.” As Twilight only stared at her with a puzzled expression, the mare explained herself. “I made some useful contacts over the years. I know a pony who knows a pony who works at the ministry. I can have your request delivered to the right office by tomorrow evening.”

“Just like that?” Twilight asked, blinking a few times. “What about the procedure?”

“Don’t worry, your highness. I’m not suggesting anything illegal here. It’s actually much more efficient to follow the procedure. You just need to know how to speed it up a little.”

“I don’t know… That doesn’t sound exactly… proper.”

Mozzarella shrugged. “As you wish. You can always try your luck with Scroll Call again, although I can guarantee that you’ll spend much more time and effort for the exact same result…”

Twilight frowned… Working with the unhelpful stallion would indeed be frustrating and so time-consuming that she would have to reorganize her schedule. The alternative was to head directly for Canterlot, which was not part of her schedule either… Not to mention that she could still find herself with another bureaucrat as stubborn as this one at the ministry.

“I suppose I could take you on your offer,” Twilight eventually said. “What kind of favor did you need from me, though?”

The white mare smiled. “Oh, it’s almost nothing, I promise! Do you see that pony over there?”

Twilight followed the hoof pointing at a meek-looking pegasus mare working behind a desk that was almost buried under forms and files.

“I’ve been trying to set up a new branch for my family’s business here in Ponyville,” Mozzarella explained. “I have almost all of the formalities cleared out, but I need an authorization signed by this filly and… Well, let’s just say she has some trouble managing her time. That’s not really my problem, all I care about is that she takes care of my own case. Before she gets done with her backlog…”

Seeing the impressive pile of paper on the desk, Twilight could only nod in approval.

“My authorization would only take a few minutes to process, but she insists on taking care of all those older files before mine…”

“I understand,” Twilight said. “I could give her some pointers on how to organize herself and maintain a proper schedule…”

“That would be great,” the white mare said with a chuckle, “but I was hoping for a simpler and faster solution… I’ve observed that mare and she’s easily impressed by anyone with some authority. Every time the mayor asks something, she drops whatever she’s doing… Even some of her coworkers boss her around. And there isn’t much authority higher than your own, your highness…”

“Wait… Are you asking me to take advantage of my position?”

Mozzarella hummed. “You could see it like that, I suppose… I did say I wanted to exchange a favor, after all, but I don’t think I’m asking for much. Simply ask that mare to take care of my papers quickly. I’ll even leave you alone if she refuses.”

Twilight frowned a little, but eventually straightened herself and gave the mare a nod. “Very well. I’ll just ask, but I won’t try to use my title to get any preferential treatment.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” Mozzarella said gently. “Just being yourself should be enough here.”

Twilight nodded and walked towards the desk. The mare sitting behind it had a mint green coat and a long, pale pink mane. The most striking thing about her, though, was how frail she looked. Without being overly lean, she had a very light frame, even for a pegasus, so much that Twilight had to wonder if the small mare could fly against a strong breeze.

The fragile appearance was not improved by the shy look on her face, eyes stuck on her work as if she was afraid to look up and her pink locks doing a good job at concealing her face. She looked very much like an even more timid version of Fluttershy, if that was somehow possible…

“Good morning, miss…” Twilight gave a quick look at the engraved plaque on the desk. “Rosemary.”

The small mare lifted her eyes and immediately gasped. “Good morning, your highness.” She tried to bow so fast that she ended up driving her forehead into her desk with a loud “thud”.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?”

The mare staid still, her head stuck to the wood. A few seconds later, a high pitched voice answered. “I’m fine, your highness. Thank you for asking.”

Twilight extended a hoof, but paused before it reached the mare, afraid that even a gentle touch might hurt the little mare. She put the hood back on the ground and cleared her throat. “Please rise,” she said, her voice going up almost as a question at the end.

The mare lifted her head and rubbed the sore spot on her forehead while a few tears appeared at the corners of her pale blue eyes. “H– How can I help you, your highness?”

“Oh, right… I needed…” Twilight cleared her throat again and pointed at the mare calmly standing a few steps behind her. “Miss Mozzarella here has told me that she needed you to process some sort of authorization?”

“Oh… Uh… Maybe.” Rosemary gulped. “Let me check, your highness. This won’t take a minute.”

With both hooves and wings, the meek pony quickly shuffled through the pile of papers burying her desk. Fifty-two seconds later, she pulled out a form and gave it a quick look.

“Yes… Yes… That’s good… Everything seems to be in order,” she said with a little smile. “I only need a signature from the mayor. Please wait here, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With another quick and more modest bow, Rosemary rushed to the stairs leading up.

“See?” Mozzarella said as she walked next to Twilight. “Being an alicorn is enough to impress most ponies.”

“I know,” Twilight said. “And it doesn’t feel right to take advantage of this. I should be an example for everypony, not some sort of tyrant.”

“I’d say you are still very, very far from tyranny, your highness. That pony is simply eager to please you.”

“Maybe,” Twilight answered quietly. There were still many things she had to learn about being a princess. Hopefully, she would not make too many mistakes along the way.

Roughly one minute later, the timid pegasus came back with the form in her mouth, stamped and sign in all the right places. “‘ere you ‘o,” she said, giving it to Twilight. The princess gave it back to Mozzarella, who accepted it with a grateful smile.

“Oh, just one thing,” Twilight said to Rosemary. “Was the mayor’s assistant with the mayor?”

“Uhm… Yes, he was… Did you need something from him?”

“No… Not anymore.”

The princess gave the timid office worker her thanks and walked away, followed by the business mare. Once they were near the town hall’s exit, she turned to Mozzarella and levitated the envelope containing her own paperwork to the white mare.

“Don’t worry, your highness.” She grabbed it and put it on her back with her own form. ‘I’ll bring you the response myself. This shouldn’t take more that few days…” Mozzarella leaned forward a little. “If it’s not indiscreet, may I ask what you need from the ministry of justice?”

“I’m trying to help a little filly,” Twilight simply answered.

The white mare gave her a curious look, but only shrugged.

“If I can ask a question of my own,” the princess said in turn, “what kind of business will you open in Ponyville?”

“Can’t you tell from my name?” Mozzarella laughed a little. “Cheese, of course. My family makes the best cheese in Equestria.”

“Really? I’ll make sure to try it, then.”

“That would be an honor, your highness.”

That being said, Mozzarella bowed and took her leave, leaving Twilight alone at the entrance of the town hall.

“Well, things didn’t go as expected,” she told herself, “but I guess they turned out fine in the end. I may even be able to keep my schedule as is.”

With a smile on her lips, Twilight Sparkle trotted out of the town hall, wondering what kind of stallion Scootaloo’s father would turn out to be.

“I don’t know that much about the prison system,” she thought. “Hmmm… I wonder what he would be doing right now...”

Red Currant grunted as he and another pegasus carried a large bale of cotton inside the workshop, flying towards a machine that was standing in a corner and patiently waiting to be fed the fibers it would then turn into thread. Once they were close enough, the two ponies let go, bobbing up in the air while their load touched the ground with a relatively quiet “pomf”. The two even made more noise when their hooves touched the ground a couple of seconds later.

Red stretched his wings a few times to try and keep them from getting sore after the strenuous flight. Meanwhile, his coworker, opened up the bundle of cotton and lazily began to shove it contents into the spinning machine’s loading slot. He was a young stallion going by the name of Rising Vision that always made Red thirsty for wine with his deep purple coat and dark red mane.

“I won’t miss that when I’m out,” the younger stallion said with a grunt.

“What? Flying heavy loads around?” Red joined him and grabbed a big bundle of cotton to get the machine stuffed with the fluff.

“That too,” Rising answered with a shrug, “but I meant this.” He vaguely motioned at the workshop. “Spinning, weaving, sewing… I swear they got us doing the most girly jobs just to demean us.”

“Could be worse,” Red said with a shrug. “At least we’re ony making is saddlebags. They could have us sewing fancy dresses, with lace and everything.”

“Don’t say that out loud, you’ll give them ideas! Seriously, though, what do the girls do in mares prisons? Breaking rocks and chopping trees?”

“Heh. I think my wife would pick breaking rocks over sewing any day.”

“Wow,” he said flatly. “She sounds lovely.”

“Well, why’d you think I’m here and not at home with her?” Rising gave Red a curious look for a moment, trying to figure out how much truth was in his words. He kept a straight face, but only for a few seconds before a snicker escaped him, making the other pegasus roll his eyes.

As the machine finally refused to accept any more of the cotton, they put every hook and string in place with practiced ease. Red Currant took off and hovered to the treadmill on the side, then took a few steps to start the mechanism. Rising, having verified that everything was working as it was supposed to, gave him the go ahead, making Red accelerate into a comfortable trot. In turn, the machine whirred and clicked as it neatly spun the mass of fluffy cotton into thread.

While the bobbins steadily became fatter, the wine-colored pegasus came to sit down next to Red. “So, when did you find the time to get married? Haven’t you been here for… well, forever?”

“Yeah... Been working and working,” the trotting stallion said quietly, making sure to keep his breathing steady. “And I still got so terribly long to go… It’s been ‘bout five years. I got married a couple years before that.”

“Huh… How’s that been working out?”

“Honestly? Better than I expected. I thought she’d have ditched me by then… Maybe it’s because of the kid.”

“You got a foal, too?”

“Sure. A lil’ flyer girl.”

“That’s cool.” Rising spent a few seconds to check that the machine was running smoothly before turning back to Red. “Fillies are way less trouble than colts. You don’t have to worry about them breaking their neck doing stupid stunts all the time.”

Red stared at him with an amused smirk.

“What?”

He only laughed as an answer.

“A– Are you sure this is a good idea?”

A white unicorn filly peeked over the edge of a wooden platform that her and her friends had just installed, at the top of one of the tall peaks near Ponyville. She quickly backtracked, whiter than before and wondering how that kind of height could even exist. Why would anypony need that much vertical space?

“You know,” she squeaked, “maybe we should forget about this. In fact, I think we’ve tried that already.”

“No.” Scootaloo walked up near Sweetie Belle, making the plank wobble uncomfortably and the poor unicorn’s stomach knot itself several times over. “We tried skydiving, zip-lining and hang-gliding.”

“And trampoline… ing,” Apple Bloom added from behind.

“Right,” the little pegasus said with a nod. “Anyways, this is bungee jumping. Totally different thing!”

“It doesn’t sound that different…” Sweetie Belle tentatively peeked over the edge again, only to find out with much disappointment that the ground was not closer than the previous time.

“Listen, Sweetie Belle, do you want your cutie mark or not?” Scootaloo stared straight into the little unicorn’s green eyes, making her nod meekly. “Then leave it up to us. Apple Bloom and I just got our cutie marks, who better than us to help you get yours?”

Both fillies exposed their flanks to support their point. The winged wheel on Scootaloo’s rump and the blueprint of an apple on Apple Bloom’s shone proudly as they caught the sun at just the right angle.

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth, trying to come up with a way to get out of plummeting to her doom but only mumbling weakly. Meanwhile, Apple Bloom gave a tug on the elastic ropes tied to the harnesses the two other crusaders were wrapped in.

“Don’t worry,” the young farm pony said. “I’ve checked all mah calculations twice. The rope won’t break, it’s just the right length and it’s tied up tighter than mah aunt Jonagold’s corset!”

“See?” Scootaloo beamed. “It’s completely safe!”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Sweetie said quietly. “But why do our crusading always involve some form of falling?”

“Because it’s awesome!” the orange pegasus said, buzzing her wings and bouncing up and down. She zipped behind Sweetie and lodged the flat of her head against the unicorn’s rump, then pushed with hooves and wings, bringing her friend to the edge of the ramp. Sweetie Belle struggled, but the orange filly quickly put an end to their romp, grabbing the unicorn in her hooves and jumping away while shouting “bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

For the next few seconds, the air was filled with hysterical laughter from one filly and hysterical screaming from another as they saw the ground rushing at them with the clear intent of preparing a pair of pony pancakes.

Just as she could imagine herself being reshaped into a flat, white and purple disc, Sweetie Belle felt the rope tugging at her back, slowing her down relatively gently and bringing her to a halt only a short distance from the ground.

She sighed in relief, but the elastic rope was quick to remind her that in the specific context of bungee-jumping, what goes down must come up...

More screaming echoed against the peak, half-excited and half-terrified, during the next bounces. Once she realized that she was no longer moving, Sweetie Belle finally stopped screaming and opened her eyes to find Scootaloo and herself dangling in the air, their hooves a good way above the ground.

The white filly panted for breath a moment, before turning a furious glare towards the other filly swinging near her.

“Scootaloo! Are you crazy? I’ve never been so scared in my life!”

“I know!” the young pegasus shouted with a grin almost big enough to dislocate her jaw. “That was awesome!”

“What? No it wasn’t, you… you… kiwi!”

“Huh? Why a fruit–”

“It’s a bird,” Sweetie shouted at her. “A flightless bird!”

“H– Hey! You take that back!”

“Make me, you kiwi!”

With a cry of “stop calling me that,” Scootaloo tried to ram into Sweetie Belle, but missed and ended up tangling the both of them in the cords they were still attached to. Squirming and dangling like a strange worm at the end of its line, the two fillies only made their situation worse by trying to wrestle and bite each other. Soon, they looked more like a ball of yarn than anything else.

At the other end of the tangled ropes, Apple Bloom admired her work with an air of satisfaction.

“Ha! Ah knew that’d work. Strong ropes, tight knots, there’s not that much to bungee jumpin’ after all.” She nodded and gave herself a metaphorical pat on the back while her face cracked into a wide grin. There was even an actual cracking sound.

“Wait, what?”

The yellow filly’s eyes widened when she spotted the fracture in the plank, snaking across the wood. All she had time to do was say “oops” before it snapped, the ropes’ anchor going down like the tip of a whip.

The two fillies below, no longer supported, screamed once more before landing roughly on the grass. Thankfully, the piece of wood landed away from them, cracking into little more than splinters under the impact.

“Are y’all okay?”

Sweetie Belle quickly looked herself over. “I’m alright… Scootaloo broke my fall.”

“Ow…”

Chapter 4 - Just Another Day (2/2)

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What is the right size for a bird’s cage? A large one lets it fly around, but what is the point of flight, if it’s to be kept locked up far away from the sky? Is it nothing but torture? Revenge from earth-bound ponies, jealous of a freedom that they can never experience? A small, constricting cage might be a mercy, since there would be no illusion, no false hope of freedom.

Red Currant sighed as he angled his wings and turned left, following the corner of the yard’s wall…

A large cage was still better, he decided. There was still a modicum of freedom in his flight. Even if it was a poor illusion, he still had a bit of choice in his life: trot on the ground of fly through the air… And it wasn’t like he could go anywhere by walking, either.

“Hello! Hey!”

Red slowed down a bit, swiveling his head around to find the source of the voice that had pulled him out of his thoughts. A tan pegasus with a mane showing various shades of browns flew near him, looking almost out of place in the air with his earthy colors. He approached Red with a smiled that looked a little strained.

“Hey, flyer. How’s it hanging?”

“I’m… Fine, thank you.”

Red picked up his speed on his usual course, flying over to the next corner for what could have easily been the millionth time. The newcomer followed closely and silently.

“You want something?” Red asked after a little while, wondering why the other pony was sticking close to him.

“Well… Yeah, I guess I do.”

“So spit it out already. I don’t read minds.”

“I’ve been led to understand that you were… well, an important pony here.”

“Important?” He chuckled and gave the other pony an amused look. “Nah. The warden’s an important pony here. Me? I just been here a long time. I’m practically a part of the furniture.”

“What I meant was… I don’t want to get into trouble and you look like the kind of pony that can offer... protection.”

“Protection?” This time, Red gave the brown stallion a surprised look. “Oh, I get it. You’re brand new, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s my second day here.”

The newcomer’s eyes trailed down on Red Currant’s forelegs, making him smirk. “You like the ink?” He flexed his muscles, making the twin windigoes bulge. “I’m Red Currant, but I guess you already knew that. You got a name?”

“Sketch Book.”

“Welcome to Canterlot Central, Sketch.” Red let his eyes wander over the newcomer and in particular, examined his cutie mark, depicting an open book with some sort of pencil drawing on one page. “Lemme guess,” he said with a little smile. “You here for… forgery?”

A few mumbles were his only answer, making Red shrug. “Whatever. Don’t get your tail in a tangle about this. You want protection? That’s the guards’ job, not mine.”

“Well, I get that, but they can’t watch us all the time...”

“Don’t need to, flyer. Nopony’s really dangerous here.” Red looked around the yard and pointed at a burly earth pony working in the yard’s vegetable garden below them. “See this grounder?”

Between his fiery orange mane and the dense muscles bulging under his gray coat, the only missing thing was a lead pipe in his hooves to get the perfect picture of a common thug. “Looks tough, huh?”

“Huh, yeah…”

“Looks like the kind of mean motherfucker who’s doing time for beating someone up, right?” Red chuckled. “That’s Coal Blaze. He’s a miner who broke some sorta regulations to cut costs and line his own pockets. Never hurt anypony, as far as I know... He’s kinda nice once you get to know him.”

“Seriously?” Sketch Book gave Red a puzzled look, making the long-timer chuckle a bit.

“Yeah. The thing is, this prison is for the ‘little’ criminals. You think the canterlot snobs would keep killers and rapists in the middle of their city?” Red snorted. “No, they wouldn’t. It’s Canterlot! Everything here has to be perfect, right? So you got this perfect prison where everything runs nice and smooth and nopony ever escapes, you see?”

The brown pegasus nodded, letting Red continue with his own brand of a welcome speech.

“You don’t have to worry about your butt, flyer. Nopony’s gonna stick anything where it don’t belong… unless you ask for it, but that’s your own business. What my business is, is getting you whatever you want, as long as you can pay for it. There’s a lot of stuff we’re not allowed to have here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have it, you follow?”

“I guess… What kind of stuff are we talking about?”

“Whatever you want, flyer... Whatever you want, I can probably get, as long as you can meet my price.”

Sketch Book hummed in thought for a moment. “I’ll keep that in mind if I think of something… I don’t suppose you can get the front door key, can you?”

Red smirked. “Maybe I could… I wonder if you could afford it, though.” He chuckled a few times. “It’d be much cheaper to just wait until your sentence is up. I bet you’re only here for a few months, you lucky bastard…” He sighed. “You know, that’s why nopony’s ever escaped this prison. Why bother when you just have to wait a month or two?”

The two flew in silence for a moment, until the brown pegasus finally asked Red: “what about you?”

“Me?” He shrugged. “I’ll be here a while… I think about breaking out sometimes. Maybe I could make it, but what I haven’t figured is how to stay out… Back in the day, I seen some ponies who’d broken out of prison and I learned this: living on the run’s not much better than being here.”

“I see…”

“Yeah… Just…” Red sighed. “Just gotta take it and not think too hard about all this crap. Never think too much or you go crazy in here.” He gave Sketch Book a sad look. “Seen it happen, some guys just can’t help it… Thinking all the time, about freedom, about prison, about how messed up their lives are… When they get short sentences, they’re fine but those who’re in for a while…” He turned his eyes straight forward and took a deep breath. “Some night they decide to make themselves a rope with their bedsheets and the guards find them hanging in their cell the next morning...”

The soft swishing of the two pegasi’s wings was the only thing to disturb the chilly silence for a moment.

“So, yeah…,” Red said quietly. “If I got one piece of advice to give, that’s it: stay focused on what you’re doing and don’t think too much. Like when you’re flying here: don’t look up.”

“Up? Why not?”

“‘cause if you look up, you see the sky. And if you start thinking about the sky, you remember how much flying ‘round this fucking cage is pointless.” As he spoke, Red felt a familiar weariness gripping his muscles and slowing his wings down. “Ah damn it! Now I’m thinking about it.”

A voice he knew all too well started whispering at the back of his mind. A dull, droning voice, asking him painfully simple questions. “Why do you bother?” it said. “There’s nothing to do. Do nothing...” Red tried to ignore it, tried to focus on nothing but flying. Breathe in, flap twice, breathe out, flap twice… He tried to drown the voice out by listening to the other prisoner’s chatter.

“They got nothing to say,” the voice told with its hollow tone. “Why would you care about them?” Red couldn’t think of an answer to that… Flying. Flying was the only thing he could think of. Should think of. He picked up the pace. Breathe in, flap thrice, breathe out, flap thrice…

“Forget it. you’re not going anywhere.” Red had to admit that was true...

He shook his head and accelerated again, leaving Sketch Book behind him.

“That’s the spirit!” the voice taunted him with a flat cheer. “When you’re going nowhere, go nowhere fast.”

Red grit his teeth, but felt his wings become harder and harder to move. He wanted to go faster, but only slowed down.

“This isn’t life. You know it.”

His wings almost ground to a halt, only keeping him hovering in place. Even that was too much to ask and the struggling pegasus inevitably fluttered closer to the ground.

“Life’s outside. Inside, there’s nothing.”

Maybe that stupid voice would have been easier to ignore if it hadn’t been his own...

Red turned his head up and looked at the sky above him. The infinite expanse of blue, seen through the bars of his very finite cage. He barely noticed when his hooves touched the ground... With his eyes locked upwards, he sighed and muttered the only thing that sounded appropriate.

“Shit.”

Applejack was sitting on the grass, on top of one of the many small, rounded hills standing between Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres. The young mare was sitting with her rump firmly planted on the ground and her face pointing directly at the sun, mirroring the bright light with her bright smile. Adding her golden mane and the many freckles along her muzzle, it looked like she was actually absorbing the sun’s rays, soaking in the energy it so generously gave...

The young mare kept her eyes closed to admire the wonderful view sprawled around her, not needing to look to feel the beauty of this late spring day. While she basked in the warmth of the sunny afternoon, her fur tickled from the grass gently swaying in a comfortable breeze. Her ears twitched and turned at the happy sounds of foals running in the distance, barely covering the soft whoosh of the wind. Her nose picked up the scent of many wild flowers that, unlike their fragrant cousins grown by hoof, were subtle, earthy and eminently natural. When the soft caress of the breeze blew in the right direction, she could even smell the familiar scent of the last few blossoms remaining in her family’s orchards. Applejack breathed in, filling her lungs with that delightful air and almost wishing she did not have to exhale it. When she finally did after holding it for as long as possible, it came out almost as a disappointed sigh.

“Alright, Applejack,” she chided herself. “Can’t spend the day impersonating a sunflower. Lotsa work to be done.”

Facing away from the sun, she stood up and sweeped her tail to brush off the few blades of grass that had stuck to her rear end. Making sure the saddlebags on her back were secured, she trotted with a springy gait towards Ponyville. Her mind wandered back to her farm while she walked, organizing a list of the chores that still needed doing. The thought of working on her family’s beloved apple trees brought warmth to her heart, now that the fruits were about to start growing proper. Winter and spring were the quiet season at Sweet Apple Acres. Maintaining the farm’s buildings, cutting down the trees sadly too old or weak to be of use… It felt mostly like waiting, until summer, when the apple trees finally started bearing new fruits.

She still cared about princess Celestia, but the reason Applejack always expected the Summer Sun Celebration with excitement was because it marked the beginning of her favorite season: summer. Summer meant apple bucking season, then zap apples season, then cider season. Hours upon hours of work for months on end… The young mare could barely restrain her glee at the prospect of so much back-breaking work to come, humming a little whimsical tune as she walked.

Before she realized it, Applejack found herself standing in front of Sugarcube Corner, its delicious architecture coaxing a rumble out of her stomach and reminding her that lunch was already long gone. Shaking her head, the farm-pony climbed the crusts and opened the biscuit to come in. Her entrance into the madness of sweetness was announced by a bell’s tingle and almost immediately followed by a pink blur of motion that eventually settled into Ponyville’s very own Pinkie Pie.

“Oh hey, it’s Applejack,” the pony in perpetual motion said with her usual, chipper voice. “Hi Applejack!”

“Hi there, Pinkie. How are ya doin’ today?”

“Wonderrific!” Pinkie bounced in place, making her cotton candy mane bob and jump on her head. “I’m planning Scootaloo’s cuteceañara and I think it’s gonna be a hoot! Or a blast? A bloost!”

Applejack took a moment to look at the growing amount of party props in the bakery: banners, streamers, confetti and balloons, organized in neat stacks, ready to be spread around before the party started on the following day.

“Eeyup! Lookin’ good, Pinkie. You really are some kinda wizard when it comes to party planning.”

The pink pony smiled and dashed to an oven that just dinged, pulling a tray of cookies out. “Thanks, AJ. But I can’t take all the credit, Fluttershy’s been a great help.”

Applejack’s eyes widened as she swept her gaze across the room, spotting the yellow pegasus standing in a corner and trying to make some sort of balloon animal.

“Hello, Fluttershy! Ah didn’t see you there.”

“Good afternoon, Applejack.”

Before the meek pony had time to say anything else, Pinkie had wrapped her arms around her in a lovely but bone-crushing hug. “She was there all along!” the party pony said with a chuckle. “She came into Sugarcube Corner and just volunteered to help!”

“Actually,” Fluttershy said with a voice made even airier than usual in the vise-tight grip of pink hooves, almost ethereal, “I came here for–”

“You are such a wonderful friend, Fluttershy... It makes me want to plan a ‘Fluttershy is the greatest friend ever’ party!”

“Oh… It’s… my pleasure, Pinkie.”

“Well, ain’t this nice?” Applejack said with a smile. “And Ah brought what you asked for, Pinkie.”

Instantly, the pony constrictor unraveled itself from its prey -who looked quite pleased to finally be allowed to breathe- and bounced towards the apple farmer. Applejack dug into her saddlebags, pulling out three glass jars filled with jelly that seemed to be layered with every color of the rainbow.

“This is the last zap-apple jam we got ‘til next harvest. Make sure ya put those to good use!”

“Oh, I will,” Pinkie said while scooping the glass jars in her arms and walking on her hind legs towards her worktable. “Scootaloo will have as many Rainbow-themed pastries as she can eat.”

Applejack chuckled. “Good thing you asked for that jam yesterday. That weird jelly-lovin’ pony came by this mornin’. Asked for all mah stock!”

“A weird jelly-lovin’ pony?” Pinkie repeated. “Who’s that?”

“You know… That stallion who really, really loves jelly?”

“No, I don’t know! And I know everypony in Ponyville!” Her eyes grew wide and she fell on her knees, looking up at the sky (or maybe a spot on the ceiling) and asking “How can that be?”

Applejack simply shrugged. “I guess he lives outside of Ponyville. I don’t see him that often in town, actually. What about you Fluttershy?”

“Oh… I’ve seen him a few times, but I don’t really know anything about him… Except for that... jelly thing.” Fluttershy shivered a little and most certainly not because of the cold.

“Yeah.” Applejack shared her shudders as a few disconcerting images flashed in her memory.

“Wait, what are you girls talking about?” Pinkie’s head swiveled on her neck, oscillating between her two friends’ mildly disturbed faces. “Come on! What is it?”

Applejack cleared her throat. “Let’s say that this stallion likes jelly a little too much and leave it at that…”

“What? I don’t get it.” The pink pony tapped a hoof on her chin in thought. “How can somepony love jelly too much? Do you know what she means, Fluttershy?”

“Oh– Oh my…” The shy pegasus blushed so hard that her coat turned orange. Whatever words came out of her mouth next were too mumbled and quiet to be understood, even through the oversized ear trumpet that Pinkie had just pulled out of her mane in an effort to hear them.

“Did you get that, Applejack?” Pinkie turned towards her blonde friend, almost whacking her in the head with the big hearing device.

“Forget about this, Pinkie. Ah shouldn’t even have mentioned that guy in the first place.”

“Forget this? How can I forget that there is a pony nearby whom I have never thrown a party for?” She grabbed Applejack by the shoulders and leaned against her, muzzle to muzzle, boring her blue eyes in the poor farmer’s own green ones. “Not. One. Party. Not one birthday bash! Not one soirée, reception, banquet, blowout or shindig!” Pinkie suddenly released her friend, letting her slump down to the ground. Pinkie herself straightened up on her hind legs, hooves resting on her hips and eyes twinkling. Somehow, wind made her mane billow behind her.

“This situation will not stand, my friends. I shall find this pony and throw him a celebration that will forever save him from the dreadful shadow of unpartiness. On my honor as Ponyville’s premier party planner, I, Pinkie Pie, promise to protect that pony’s potential party from possible problems such as poor preparations, party-poopers or pesky pirates and their pet parrots.”

“Pirates?” Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged a confused glance.

“You never know!” Pinkie said, still holding her heroic pose.

“In Ponyville?”

The pink mare slumped her shoulders just a little. “Well, okay… That last one was for the alliteration. Mostly.”

Fluttershy chuckled quietly. “Purely poetic, perhaps?”

Pinkie giggle-snorted in her usual, bubbly voice and lowered herself back on all fours. Reaching a hoof in the tangled mess of her mane, she pulled out a small notepad and a pencil.

“So… What else can you tell me about this mysterious pony?”

“You ain’t gonna drop this, are ya?”

“Nope!”

Appejack sighed and rolled her eyes. “Ah don’t even know that much. That stallion’s only come to Sweet Apple Acres a couple o’ times. Seems like the only thing he wanna buy is jam… Guess you could ask around the store-owners in Ponyville.”

“Jam,” Pinkie mumbled through the pencil she was using to take down her notes. “A sweet-toothed-pony, then… Anything else you can tell me?”

Applejack looked away and cleared her throat. “Nah… That’s it. Nothin’ else.”

Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes and leaned forward, progressively invading the farm-pony’s personal space. “I know you’re hiding something from me, Applejack.”

The blond mare felt a bead of sweat rolling on her temple. “D– Did your Pinkie sense tell you that?”

“No… My common sense did.” She kept leaning forward, forcing Applejack to take a step back. “Spill it, Applejack!”

“Listen, Ah ain’t comfortable talkin’ about this guy… Nopony should like jelly the way he does.”

“Do you mean that he eats so much that all of his teeth are gonna fall from the sugar?”

“No, that’s not–”

“Or are you worried about his blood sugar level? Eating only sweet food can be dangerous for one’s health…”

Applejack stared at the pink pony, raising an eyebrow as she tried to remember the last time she had seen her eat anything that could be classified as a vegetable.

“My doctor used to shout at me all the time about this, but I found out that you can eat a lot of sugar as long as you exercise even more.” Pinkie nodded to herself. “This is why I maintain a strict regimen with at least twenty backflips, fifty cartwheels and two dozen jumps every day. Plus, as many twirls, swirls, curls and furls as possible.”

“Uh… Ah guess that’s why you’re always bouncing all the time.”

“Oh no, bounces are for fun.” She jumped in place a few times, giggling as she went.

Applejack couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at her friend’s antics. “Well, Ah’m glad you’re taking your health seriously and all, but Ah still have some chores to do on the farm…” She adjusted her hat and the now empty saddlebags on her back. “Ah guess Ah’ll see y’all later.”

“Awww. But I wasn’t done interrogating you! And I wanted Fluttershy to play the bad cop.”

The aforementioned pegasus let out a startled “meep” at the suggestion.

“Well, sorry to disappoint, Pinkie, but that’s just how it is.... It’s not like I really have anything to tell anyways.” Before she could be wrapped up in more of her pink friend’s nonsense, Applejack headed for the door and gave the two other ponies a quick farewell, then exited the bakery.

Pinkie Pie leaned back against the shop’s counter and donned an old fedora. “As I watched that mare walk out of the bakery,” she said in a low and husky voice, “I knew she wasn’t telling me everything. It didn’t take a seventh sense to see that the cowpony act was just that: an act; Applejack had a poker face bad enough to make her lose at checkers… But as obvious as it was that she knew something, I couldn’t pressure her. Not with the two friends following her every steps: Kicks McGee and Bucky McGillicutty. With these two around, I had to step carefully if I didn’t want to swallow my teeth. Especially since I wouldn’t have anything to chew them with and swallowing without chewing is terrible for digestion.”

Fluttershy blinked a few times, wondering for a second if she should start narrating her own actions too… She shook her head and spoke timidly instead. “I don’t think Applejack would–”

“This left me at a dead end. The only witness I had wouldn’t talk and when it came to clues, I was dry. As dry as my family’s rock farm after a scorching summer…”

“Umm… You could just ask around town.”

“I gave Fluttershy a little smirk,” Pinkie said, giving Fluttershy a little smirk. “This was why I kept her near me. Everypony thought she was nothing but a brainless beauty, but I knew there was a sharp mind hidden hiding behind that face that was hiding behind that mane. Plus, she did have a pretty face, and that never hurts...”

Fluttershy, indeed hiding behind her long pink locks, blushed a little. “Thanks, I guess?”

“Now was as good a times as any to roam the streets of Ponyville. I had a stallion to find. And when I’d find him? Well, I had a party cannon that was just begging to be pointed at something. I made my way into the dusk-lit streets of Ponyville…”

“Uh… Does that mean we’re done here?”

Pinkie’s head snapped up, her hat falling on her back. “Oh, right.” She gave Fluttershy a grin. “Thanks again, Fluttershy, I’ll take care of the rest tomorrow. Do you wanna come investigate with me?”

Fluttershy rubbed one of her front hooves against the other. “Actually, there was something I needed… I mean, if you have the time, between preparing your party and… finding somepony else to throw a party for.”

“I’ve always got time for my friends, Fluttershy.”

The yellow pegasus smiled a little at this. “Actually, Angel Bunny’s birthday is coming up and I was wondering if you had any carrot cakes in stock.”

“Nope! No carrot cakes. Well, except for mister Carrot Cake…”

“Oh? Oh… I see, well–”

“Looks like I’ll have to make one.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “What? Oh no, I wouldn’t want to give you more work.”

Pinkie Pie simply burst into laughter, making her friend fall into a confused silence. “Don’t be silly, silly!” She grabbed Fluttershy in another hug. “You saved me so much time today, I can bake you at least two point eight cakes before there’s any extra work between us.”

“R– Really?”

“Really!”

Fluttershy finally relaxed and hugged her sweet friend back.

Red Currant was slouching on a chair in what the prisoners called the “lounge”, for lack of a better term. The room was painfully ordinary-looking, with a neutral beige coat of paint on the walls and furnished with a couch, some chairs and bookshelves with some reading material for those inmates who liked to read in their “free” time... All of the furniture was in good repair, but not new; not cheap but not luxurious… If it wasn’t the result of chance and officially controlled budgets, that kind of unremarkability was a real accomplishment in itself.

And yet, despite how boring it looked, this room was one of the most important in the whole facility. Every day being the exact same as the day before and the day after, entertainment was literally vital to the inmates and the few hours they were given to do whatever they wanted were incredibly precious. Some were playing cards, reading or chatting amongst themselves. Red was lazily watching the two ponies playing pool on a table which had seen so much use that the green cloth on its surface was now paper-thin.

One of the players stood out in the prison’s pony population, mostly due to the fact that he was not a pony at all. The clear gray donkey had a rather massive build, although it was hard to say how much of it was fat or muscle through his thick coat of fur, and his mane had apparently not been touched by a hairdresser in a long while, simply tied in a ponytail to keep it away from his eyes. Said eyes were framed by a pair of square glasses and the rest of his face was mostly buried under a thick, reddish-brown beard.

The large jack had his own way of holding his pool cue: his hooves were propped next to each other on the edge of the table, the tip of the cue lodged in the notch between them, while the other end was resting on his shoulder. This left the donkey to move the shaft back and forth with the underside of his chin... “Awkward” was only beginning to describe his posture.

The fact that he could somehow send the ball where he intended to was so incomprehensible that everypony had silently agreed to never question it.

His opponent was a typical Canterlot unicorn, trying to look fancy even without his high-class clothes. The prison’s rules imposed that every inmate remain naked, which had to be one of the worst possible punishments for the generally fashion-conscious Canterlotians. It usually brought a smile to Red’s lips to see the nobles and privileged ponies being brought down and, for once, treated the same way as the bastard foal grown street-gang thug that he was.

That day, however, the red pegasus did not feel like smiling. He did not feel like anything at all, only keeping his rump on his chair and watching the jack line his next shot. He didn’t even turn his head as another stallion came and sat next to him.

“Aww… Somepony looks down.” The pony’s voice was deep and smooth, with a half-serious, half-cheery tone. “What’s troubling you, buddy?”

“We’re not buddies, Tucker.”

“Ho ho! This is even worse than I thought… Come on, Red, I’m just being friendly.”

Red Currant finally turned his eyes towards Plume Tucker, one of the few long-time residents of Canterlot Central. His rich chocolate-colored coat shone with its usual lustre and his sandy blonde mane was swept back, with the ideal waviness, as always. His eyes were almost unbelievably blue and had a cunning glint that was only matched by the brightness of his perfectly white smile.

“I know the kind of ‘friend’ you’re looking for,” Red said while glancing at the stallion’s cutie mark. The few musical notes on his flank would have simply indicated some kind of talent for music, if the notes’ bodies hadn’t been pink and shaped like hearts. “I’m not interested.”

“Oh, really?” Plume swished his tail. “Everypony needs friends. All kinds of friends.”

Red snorted and took his eyes back to the pool game. “Jail time is just a challenge for you, huh? You trying to see how many ponies will ride your crop?”

The blond unicorn huffed before answering. “Now that’s just not fair. I’m not playing any game here, I’m just trying to make the best out of an unpleasant situation… There’s very little to enjoy in this place. Actually, I can’t think of anything besides pleasant company.”

“Yeah, yeah... You’re a fucking romantic.”

“That might be pushing it… Everypony has needs, I’ll be the first to admit it, but that’s not all there is to it,” he said with a sigh. “We all get lonely in here. It’s nice to have somepony you can share a moment with. To love and be loved…”

“Oh, come on!” Red gave the stallion an annoyed glare. “Listen, hornhead, I don’t care what you do in your free time. I’m not interested, okay? So go bother somepony else.”

Plume Tucker pouted a little and gave Red a pleading look. “But nopony else has a rump as nice as yours.”

The pegasus groaned and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s what my wife always tells me.”

This made one of the unicorn’s eyebrows raise. “Funny, I didn’t take you for a family stallion… Not that it really matters, does it? You might as well be single here.”

“No, I’m not.”

“When was the last time you had any ‘quality time’, Red?”

“That’s no business of yours,” he answered with a glare.

“Must have been a while, then… Only when she visits, right? And then you get things wrapped up in thirty seconds, I’ll bet.” Plume shook his head with a disapproving “tsk-tsk”. “You might as well not do anything…”

“You never shut up, do you?”

The blond unicorn scooted a little closer to Red. “You can’t tell me you’re satisfied with that much. One pathetic screw, once or twice a month…” Plume wrapped an arm around the pegasus’s shoulder. “How about doing things right, for once? Give me a couple hours and I’ll show you what I can do.” He moved his muzzle closer, whispering into Red’s ear. “I saw you checking my cutie mark. Wouldn’t you like a demonstration of my talents? Give me a chance, and I’ll make you sing.“

“You’re as cocky as it gets...”

Plume snickered and slowly slid his hoof down Red’s side. “In more ways than one.”

The pegasus groaned once more and pushed the touchy-feely stallion away. “I’ve got some talents, too, you know. Now get lost or I’ll get physical in my own way.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll leave you alone…”

Plume Tucker stood up, but only walked a couple of steps before turning around and giving Red a cold look. “You should really enjoy what you can while you can, you know… Do you think your wife spends every night alone?” Without waiting for an answer, he trotted away, leaving Red Currant on his own to grind his bright teeth and mull his dark thoughts.

Following the universe’s brilliant demonstration on how a terrible day could always get worse, Red remained still, but only because he couldn’t decide how to best deal with it. The one thing that felt natural to him was to fly away, take to the sky and never look back. How tempting it was to just pack up and leave, forget about everything, pretend none of this ever happened…

No crimes, no prison, no family. No ties at all, nothing. Nothing but a fresh start…

This was only a fantasy, of course, the heavy bars above the prison blocking any hope of leaving by the air. A more practical solution to Red’s current problem was to pound his head against a wall until the thoughts were scrambled enough, along with his brain cells. The other option was to wait until he could be alone in his cell and achieve the same effect with the bottle of alcohol he still had. The only question left was whether or not he could wait until then…

“Hey, Red!”

Since moping in peace was apparently another unavailable option, Red Currant.gave a look at the new stallion now approaching him. A blue unicorn with an even bluer mane and purple eyes came and took a seat where Plume had been only a few minutes earlier.

Red eyed him up quickly, unable to remember seeing him before. Too annoyed to deal with pleasantries, the pegasus opted for bluntness.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

“I’m Ash,” the unicorn answered calmly. “Like the tree. We never really met, but I know who you are… As for what I want, I’ve got some business to discuss with you.”

Red remained silent for a second and quickly decided to hear what the blue stallion had to say, glad to have any kind of distraction from his own mind’s wanderings. “What do you need?”

“Soap.”

He stared at Ash, blinking dumbly for a few seconds. “You realize they give that to us,” he finally said. “You know… To wash ourselves?”

The unicorn chuckled. “Obviously. The soap is just the beginning, what I need you to do with it is a bit more tricky…”

Red raised an eyebrow. “Well? I don’t like guessing games…”

“In due time, friend. Let me tell this story from the start…” Ash smirked and cleared his throat before speaking in a theatrical voice. “Once upon a time, there was an honest accountant living in a city full of rich ponies. Ponies so rich that they needed all of their time to spend their wealth, leaving no time to actually count it. Logically, the rich ponies hired the accountant to do that for them.

“He did his job dutifully for many years, but every time he asked for a raise, the rich ponies said they didn’t have enough money for him… Of course, he knew that it was a lie, since he had seen the numbers with his own eyes. He knew that they spent more on their pets than on their employees...”

Ash narrowed his eyes. “So, one day, the accountant decided that this wasn’t fair and that he should fix the problem. He began to correct the numbers in a way that pleased him more. It was easy, since the rich ponies never checked their accounts, as long as they had enough money to do whatever they wanted. It lasted for a good while and the accountant managed to put a lot of money aside for himself…”

He sighed dramatically before continuing. “Unfortunately, a tax inspector showed up one day and stuck his muzzle where it didn’t belong. Eventually, he figured everything out and the accountant was punished. He had to give the money back before he was dragged into this very prison.

“And now… The accountant wants to get out.”

“Out?” Red’s eyes widened and he gave a quick look around before asking quietly: “are you talking about escaping?”

“I certainly am! The story is not finished yet, you see…” Ash leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Now this part has to remain a secret… The inspector was skilled and did his job very well, but the accountant was even better than that. Some of the money was never found.”

The unicorn grinned and dropped the theatrics, speaking more quickly and decidedly. “It’s all a matter of numbers… There’s a bank account that only I know the number of, with another number that tells how much money is on it... And it’s a very big number. My problem comes from the next number, which is how many years I have to stay in here. It’s a big one, too…”

Red gave him an appraising look, trying to figure if the unicorn was trying to scam him in some way, or if he had a deeper reason for telling that story. “I’m not much of a number pony… What exactly are you planning?”

“It’s pretty simple, once you know all of the details. The thing is, sooner or later, somepony is going to find that bank account and where the money comes from. Then, that money will only buy me an extended stay here. You can understand why I’m in a bit of a rush to leave?”

“I guess I can… And how’s soap gonna help with that?”

Ash chuckled again. “I’ve been told that you can acquire anything in this prison. What I need is a key… The one that opens the kitchens’ deliveries area.”

“The kitchens?”

“Well, the front door is always watched, so that wouldn’t work… Anyways, you don’t have to worry about the details, that’s my problem. I only need the key... But if you steal it, the guards will notice and change the locks immediately.”

Red nodded, waiting for the rest of the unicorn’s plan with an amused smile.

“This is where the soap comes in: I need you to get an impression of the key, then put it back where you found it. Later, I’ll also need some tools so I can make myself a copy.”

The pegasus thought in silence for a short while. “Sounds like you have a pretty big plan there.”

“I’ve had a lot of time to think recently…”

“Don’t we all?” Red answered with a weary sigh. “Anyways, I guess I can get this for you. This will take some time and it’ll cost you, but I think I can do it.”

“I’m not worried about the cost, only the time.”

Red stared at the crooked accountant for a moment. “You’re really serious about this, huh? You might just make things worse if you can actually escape… What happens if they catch you with all that dough?”

“I’m not planning on getting caught.”

“No one does, hornhead…”

“Of course, but finding a pony in a country as big as Equestria takes a bit of time and I won’t be staying long enough for that: as soon as I’m out, I’m planning on grabbing the cash and getting the hay away from here.” A confident grin spread on his lips. “Don’t worry about me. Just get that key and soon enough, I’ll be enjoying the sun in Saddlebagdad. I’ll send you a card when I’m there. What the heck, some bits, too! I’ll have enough to spare, after all...”

Red actually chuckled at that. “Well, that’s nice of you. I wouldn’t bet a single cent on your plan, but if you’re paying for a key in a piece of soap, then that’s what you’ll get.”

Ash smiled warmly. “Good enough!”

The two ponies were about to discuss further details when a horn echoed through the prison to announce the end of the day. Time for all the prisoners to be put to bed…

As he followed the crowd and headed back to his cell, Red let his mind wander as usual. Dreams of tall and exotic Arabian mares came and went… Things were never as simple as Ash had made them sound, but it was still better to have a dream, as stupid as it was.

All that was left for Red was to find himself a nice one…

Over the horizon, west of Ponyville, the sun finally disappeared and went on its nightly trip. In the small, rural town, many ponies were already sleeping or very close to it, hurrying to get the respite of a short night before another day of work in the fields. Others, those who did not work the earth, stayed awake for a while, but with most of the town’s population asleep, they found themselves with little to do.

Stargazers walked to their favorite hill to lie down in the grass and look at the sky…

Young lovers snuck out of their homes to lie down in the grass and look at each other…

A lonely mare trotted into the small garden behind her house to look at the small tree growing there…

The tree was small only because of its young age, reaching around the mare’s shoulders in height. She examined the foliage in the bleak light of the rising Moon, checking it for any kind of defect or disease and smiled a little when she couldn’t find any. Each leaf was a very deep green and shined when the light reflected on them. Its leaves were what the mare liked most about this tree: thick, tough and with spines sharp enough to pierce a pony’s skin, they were evergreen leaves, never falling and enduring the coldest winters as well as the most scalding summers.

The mare smiled with a mixture of admiration and pride. The tree was already tough on its own, but it grew even stronger thanks to her help, after all. She took a deep breath, leaned a hoof against the slender trunk and closed her eyes.

“Mom?”

Matchstick’s eyes popped open as she recognized Scootaloo’s voice. Immediately, her daughter entered her field of vision, coming to a stop a few steps away.

“What are you doing?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Checking if my tree needs anything…” She closed her eyes again and concentrated for a moment. Although she could no longer see her, she could imagine Scootaloo growing impatient and looking more bored with every second. Still, the filly stayed silent even as a whole minute passed, until finally Matchstick opened her eyes and took her hoof away. “Needs more water.”

“How can you tell?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head as she stared at the tree. “It looks fine…”

Matchstick chuckled as she went to fetch a watering can. “Of course, but just because it looks fine doesn’t mean it is.”

When the mare came back with the can, she found the orange filly pressing one hoof against the trunk, her face scrunched up in concentration and her tongue sticking out of her mouth a little.

Matchstick giggled at the sight. “So, you feel anything, Scoots?”

Scootaloo held her pose for a few more seconds before she sat down and shrugged. “Feels like wood,” she declared.

The mare laughed a little. “Well, being an earth pony helps with this.” She walked up to her daughter and ruffled her mane with a hoof. “Even then, it takes years to connect with a tree. This one was here when we moved in and I’m just starting to get familiar with it.”

“Has it even grown since then? It still looks so tiny.”

“It’s a holly,” Matchstick said with a shrug. “It’ll take decades before it’s a real tree.”

“Are we ever gonna get any fruits?”

“Well, this one’s a male, so… no. Even if it did, they would be poisonous anyway.”

The filly gave the tiny tree a nonplussed look. “Will it make some nice flowers at least?”

Matchstick chuckled once and bent one of the branches, showing Scootaloo a cluster of tiny, pale flowers.

“That’s it?” The little pony gave her mother a flat look. “Why are you bothering with that tree again?”

“Well... Huh…” Matchstick sat on her rump and silently stared at Scootaloo for a minute. Finally, she sighed and began speaking. “Earth ponies come from the Earth… Not physically, I mean their spirits… or souls, or something like that… And when a pony dies, that spirit goes back to the Earth. It doesn’t belong to anypony, it’s just… borrowed for a while, you understand?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Well, I’m not sure either, but anyways, an earth pony has to keep his link to the Earth. If he loses it, then his spirit can’t go back when his body dies… They say that lost spirits can only wander the Earth, until they forget what they used to be and turn into mindless monsters, like timberwolves or dust devils…”

“Really?”

“I don’t know it it’s true. Those are old beliefs. Very old… From before the princesses and Equestria.” Matchstick shrugged. “Most earth ponies don’t follow them anymore, but you don’t see monsters running around everywhere, either… I don’t know what to think, that kind of stuff is for smarter ponies than me to figure out… But my mom and dad have always been very strict about that.

“There’s a lot of stuff they taught me that I don’t agree with, but this…” She waved a hoof to show the sapling. ”They made me take care of a tree for as long as I can remember. I guess it would feel wrong to stop now… I kinda like it, too.”

Scootaloo hummed in thought. “How come you never told me about this before?”

“First, you’re not an earth pony,” Matchstick said, giving the filly’s wings a gentle poke. “I don’t know what pegasi are supposed to do. And second, I didn’t want to tell you what to think… I guess you’re old enough to decide for yourself now. Plus, your dad thinks this is just a load of craaa– bapples.”

The filly giggled and gave her mother a sly look. “Nice recovery, mom.”

Matchstick narrowed her eyes. “Shouldn’t you be in bed at this hour?”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened and she instinctively jumped into a defensive posture. “It’s still early!”

“No it’s not.” The mare turned her eyes skywards, watching the Moon standing high above them. “I have to go to work and you have to go to bed.” Her gaze became gentler as it drifted back to Scootaloo. “Your cuteceañara’s tomorrow, isn’t it? You should get some rest tonight if you want to party hard.”

“Right.” Scootaloo smiled a little. “It’s gonna be… great.” The strained smile couldn’t have fooled a blind pony, let alone the little pegasus’s mother.

“What’s wrong, Scoots?”

“Nothing… It’s just…” She sighed. “You’ll miss the party because you have to work again…”

“You’d like me to be there?”

Scootaloo simply nodded and Matchstick smirked. “Well, I wanted to make it a surprise, but what the hay… I managed to have the day off tomorrow.”

“A day off?”

“A whole day and night,” the mare said with a smile. “I’ll be there for the entire party this time.”

“Really?” The filly smiled wider than ever and seemed so excited that she was almost vibrating.

“Really.”

“Yes! Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes!” A split second later, Matchstick had a little ball of orange fur hanging from her neck and jabbering at a hundred words per second, a large portion of these being a variation of “awesome”, “cool” or “radical”.

“Can I breathe now?” Matchstick asked with what little air was left in her lungs. When Scootaloo finally let go and she had a few seconds to catch her breath, the mare gently put a hoof around her daughter’s shoulders and nuzzled her. “I’m glad you’re happy, Scoots.”

“This is great, mom!”

“Heh. You get a birthday every year, but you get your cutie mark only once. It should be something memorable, you know?”

The filly hummed in approval, nuzzling her mother even harder.

“Alright, flyer, I really have to go now… Wash your hooves, brush your teeth, go to bed… You know the drill.”

Scootaloo nodded, still with a goofy grin plastered on her face.

“Good girl! I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay?”

“Okay! Good night, mom!”

“Good night.”

After a final wave of her hoof, Matchstick trotted out of the tiny garden and into the streets, heading for the hospital. The night was cool and calm, the silence of the sleeping Ponyville only disturbed by the sound of her hooves clopping against the ground.

As she tried to figure out how her little foal had managed to grow up that fast, Matchstick gave a look over her shoulder, watching the gray flank that was still blank not so long ago. The picture in her fur looked as good as it had ever did, the golden brass hooves almost shining in the moonlight.

The mare’s eyes took on a sad look as she sighed and trotted away into the cool night.

Author's Notes:

I think Matchstick needs some cool music as she fades into the night...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh45b2wUn0k

Well, that chapter's finally done. I've spent the last few days tweaking and rewriting it, so I had to force myself and publish it already. Otherwise, I could spend a month changing little stuff here and there... Hopefully I didn't let any mistakes slip, but let me know if I did.

Now, the story changes a little in its narration, no longer following Rainbow exclusively. Consider this a new arc, or something... One with new characters and maybe even *gasp* a plot ! Speaking of new characters, thanks to the readers who let me use their OCs. You saved me a lot of time coming up with names and all. I hope you're okay with what I did with them. No refunds, though. :P Also, if you're wondering who that donkey is, I guess his name would be Bud Grazer!

As usual, I'll be happy to read what you have to say about the story, so go ahead and comment. Aside from that, here's another important question : does the "tubs of jelly" pony has a good fan nickname?

In any case, thanks for reading.

Chapter 5 - Celebrate Cute Times (1/2)

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"Are you done, Sweetie Belle?"

Scootaloo was sitting in the nice, pristine white bathtub that Rarity had gotten installed inside her bathroom. Although, she couldn’t exactly see it at the time, her eyes closed while her unicorn friend finished rinsing her mane.

"Finished!" Sweetie answered in a chirp.

Scootaloo let out a relieved sigh and shook her head to get most of the water out. When she finally opened her eyes, it was just in time to see Sweetie Belle coming back with a new bottle in her mouth.

"Hey! What's that for?" the pegasus asked suspiciously.

"Your mane.”

"But you just finished with my mane!" Scootaloo said. "You had me come here just so you could use your sister’s fancy shampoo. ‘Special mix for purple hair’ or something."

"This isn't shampoo," Sweetie answered, showing the bottle. "This is conditioner."

Apple Bloom, sitting a safe distance away from the tub, tilted her head to the side. "What do you even need this for?"

"Conditioning, of course! It nourishes the hair, gives it volume, flexibility and luster,” Sweetie said, with the certainty of an expert who had years of experience and totally did not just read the label. “You know,” she continued, “you're lucky you have the same mane color as Rarity and we can use all her products, Scootaloo."

"Yeah... So lucky," the wet filly answered.

Maybe Sweetie Belle took that as genuine enthusiasm... Maybe she decided to punish Scootaloo for her sarcasm... Either way, the improvised stylist squeezed the bottle and applied a generous helping of conditioner to Scootaloo's mane, then pressed down on her head with both hooves to begin scrubbing. The pegasus yelped and buzzed her wings, sending water all around Rarity's luxurious bathroom.

Cautiously, Apple Bloom scooted a bit further.

"Ow! Take it easy Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo cried while her skull was being handled by a pair of tiny but powerful hooves. "I think I should be wearing my helmet for this!"

"Don't be such a baby. You said you wanted to look good for your cuteceañara." Sweetie forced Scootaloo's head further down to reach the base of her mane.

"I just wanted to get my hair straight..."

"Well, it'll be better than that!"

A few minutes of hearty scrubbing and loud complaining later, Sweetie smiled and said: "done! It wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I'm surprised I still have my mane," Scootaloo said, getting her head under the shower's flow to try and soothe her poor scalp.

"Oh come on!" Sweetie said, rolling her eyes. "I've seen you crash from the top of a tree into bramble bushes and laugh it off."

"And I'd rather do that again..."

Sweetie Belle shook her head and took a few seconds to compose herself. She turned away from Scootaloo and towards her other friend. "Apple Bloom?"

The earth pony filly jumped a little when Sweetie turned her eyes on her. Apple Bloom was standing close to the door, looking ready to bolt out at any second. She gulped and smiled weakly.

"Yes, Sweetie Belle?" she asked slowly.

"Can you get me the tail-care products?" Sweetie pointed at a bunch of bottles on a shelf.

“Oh…” Apple Bloom sighed, her shoulders slumping down in relief. "Of course."

"Wait, what?" Scootaloo suddenly stiffened under the water. "Oh no... No, no, no, no, no. We are done with this. You said so, Sweetie Belle!"

"We're done with your mane." Sweetie answered. "But we haven't even started with your tail yet."

"And we won't!" Scootaloo said while stomping a hoof down, which, considering she was standing in a few centimeters of water, only made a little splashing noise. "I've already spent too much time in here. I can feel myself overgirlifying!"

"That's not even a word," Sweetie responded. "Now, turn around and let's get to work."

"Do you even listen to me? I said no!"

Sweetie Belle stood in front of her dripping friend, staring straight into her eyes. "Scootaloo. You asked me to help you style your hair. Now, you're not getting out of here until it's done! Is that clear?"

"Y-You can't force me!" Scootaloo said, cowering a bit under the suddenly very imposing Sweetie Belle.

The unicorn filly glared at her for a moment. "Fine," she finally said, turning away. "I suppose you can go, since you're so scared."

"Scared?" Scootaloo straightened herself up. "I'm not scared!"

"You know," Sweetie Belle continued, as if she hadn't heard her, "I bet Rainbow Dash wouldn't be afraid of a little hair styling."

"Of course not! But she still wouldn't do it. She's way too awesome for that."

"We saw her at the spa," Sweetie said. "We even wrote an article about it, remember?"

"Gabby Gums?" Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "You know everything we wrote was phony..."

"But she was at the spa," Sweetie continued. "What do you think she was doing there?"

Apple Bloom walked next to the tub and dropped a bunch of plastic bottles near Sweetie. "She kinda has a point," she told Scootaloo. "Featherweight didn't make those pictures up."

"B-But... Rainbow Dash..."

"Maybe she got her treatment done real fast?" Apple Bloom suggested.

Sweetie nodded. "Yeah. She must have rushed in and had a hooficure done in ten minutes. No... Five!"

Scootaloo looked between her two friends. "You really think so?"

"Absolutely," Sweetie said with a nod.

"I suppose it's possible," Apple Bloom added with a shrug.

Scootaloo frowned a bit, deep in thought, until she looked at Sweetie with a determined gaze. "Okay then. If she can do it, so can I."

"Perfect!" Sweetie chirped, bouncing in place.

Rarity trotted down the streets of Ponyville, humming a little tune and enjoying the gentle warmth of the sun. As she approached her home, her muzzle curled into a dainty smile. No matter how many times she saw it, she couldn’t help but feel a rush of pride welling up in her chest. The boutique was her first major accomplishment, after all.

For years, she had worked as an apprentice seamstress under Tenue de Soirée, an aristocrat both old and old-fashioned. Rarity being a “commoner”, the pompous mare seemed to believe that it allowed her to treat her apprentice only slightly better than a slave… Still, those years taught Rarity more about haute couture than she even knew existed before.

Also, French...

When she had free time, Rarity spent it digging around in the dirt to find as many gems as possible, hoarding more of the precious stones than a greedy dragon. She knew that many ponies thought that her aversion to dirt was ridiculous, but they obviously had no idea of how many creepy insects and disgusting worms crawled under their hooves... Rarity couldn’t help but shudder as she recalled these times.

But it was all worth it in the end, as the fruit of her tireless labor stood now in front of her: the Carousel Boutique, her very own atelier de couture, paid with all the bits she had managed to scrape over the years. Being a self-made-mare wasn’t the only reason Rarity loved her boutique so much, though. What made it so unique was its design and the fact that she had a hoof into its draft. Of course, an architect had made it a reality, but the building was her vision. The circular floor-plan, the ponyquin sculptures on the balcony, every straight line, every curve came from her own imagination, a brilliant testimony to her creative genius. Simply put, it was perfect...

Rarity would never say that out loud, of course, since she understood the value of modesty. That was something Rainbow Dash could have learned, she thought… including in her own choice of residence. The pegasus’s cloud house was admittedly unique and impressive, but its owner should really learn when to stop. Clearly, Rainbow did not think that “less is more”, considering how many extensions she had added to it, turning it into more of a manor than a townhouse.

One rainbow waterfall is a nice touch. Five is tacky...

Rarity sighed, then forced herself to set these thoughts aside. Rainbow Dash’s architectural choices weren’t really any of her business and she had more important things to take care of. She entered the Boutique and levitated her saddlebags on a table. She was about to take her groceries to the kitchen when a strange, nagging feeling stopped her. Looking around, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, yet something felt out of place.

Rarity looked her latest work. The dresses were where she had left them. So were her materials. Every bolt of cloth, every spool of thread, even her pins and needles were where they were supposed to, which meant that Sweetie Belle had not messed with anything.

“In this room, anyway,” Rarity whispered to herself...

A shrill squeak made one of her ears twitch. Listening closely, she heard the sound of running water coming from upstairs.

“How many baths does this filly need? She already spent an hour in the tub this morning…”

With a huff, Rarity stepped up the stairs and headed towards her bathroom. “Sweetie Belle!” she called out. “You’d better not use all the hot water again!”

“Rarity?” her sister answered from inside. “We’re not using all the water!”

“I hope so… Wait… ‘we’?”

That pronoun could not mean anything good. Unless Sweetie Belle had suddenly taken to using the royal we, it could only mean that there were not one, but three fillies inside Rarity’s bathroom. Three fillies that, adorable as they were, seemed to leave a trail of chaos and mayhem wherever they went. Either that or pine needles and tree sap... and Rarity wanted neither of these inside her precious bathroom.

Hastening her step, she focused her magic on the door and threw it open. Eyes wide, she took in the damage. “What have you done to my bathroom?" she cried, "it's... it's..." She watched the shelves, still hanging from the walls with their bottles properly lined up. Every tile on the ground was intact. Even her towels were clean…"It’s... not what I was expecting...” Rarity finished lamely.

Sweetie Belle stared at her big sister with a disgruntled expression.

Scootaloo simply dripped in the tub.

A groan from behind the door caught Rarity’s attention. Pulling it, she revealed the last of the crusaders, rubbing a hoof over the part of her flanks that had just been smacked unceremoniously by the magic-powered door.

“I’m really sorry about that,” Rarity said, helping Apple Bloom up. She cleared her throat before asking: “what are you three up to?

"I'm trying to get Scootaloo's hair into a presentable shape," Sweetie answered. "But there are so many tangles! I'm not sure I can do anything at all."

"Is that so? Let me see," Rarity said, getting closer to the wet pegasus. She grabbed her tail with her magic and tugged on a few knots. "Good heavens, Scootaloo! When was the last time you brushed your tail?"

"I dunno," the little pegasus answered with a shrug.

"How can anyone let themselves go like that?" Rarity said while working on a particularly big knot. "A filly your age should be taking better care of... Wait… What's this?" she asked, pulling out what appeared to be a cheap Wonderbolt figurine, covered in (unsurprisingly) tree sap, pine needles, loose hair and a few feathers.

"Ooh! I’d been looking for that one," Scootaloo said with a grin before grabbing the toy and stowing it under her wing...

Rarity closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, doing her best to pretend that this had not just happened. A few seconds of picturing herself in a soothing sauna at the spa were necessary...

"I can see this is an emergency," Rarity said once she had composed herself. "This will be a serious challenge, Sweetie Belle. Oh! I just hope we have enough conditioner to fix this disaster."

"I don't even know what we're going to use for her coat," Sweetie said. "We only have whitening products here." She hummed and tapped her chin a few times. "Hey, Apple Bloom! Your sister's orange, too. What does she use on her fur?"

"Soap," Apple Bloom answered with a flat look.

Sweetie grunted. "Ugh. How am I supposed to work with this?" she asked, throwing her hooves to the sky.

"Don't worry, Sweetie Belle." Rarity put a comforting hoof on her little sister’s shoulder. "We'll have to improvise, but I promise you that by the time she's out of this room, Scootaloo will be nothing short of fabulous..."

The little pegasus cowered under the intense stare Rarity gave her.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Rarity declared. “Sweetie Belle... get me the French products!"

Sweetie Belle gasped. "A-Are you sure, Rarity?"

"Certain. I'll need the Crin Soyeux, Robe de Velours and Reflet de Nacre."

Sweetie rushed to a small chest set on a shelf and lifted the lid with almost religious attention. She picked three of the crystal vials inside and cautiously closed the box again, then carefully brought the precious bottles to her sister.

"This will do... For a start, anyway" Rarity declared. “Stand still, Scootaloo...” Her horn lit up brightly. A half a dozen drawers opened around the bathroom. One second later, she had bottles, brushes, clamps, curlers and scissors all levitating in the air above the unkempt filly.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened. "Wait! I've changed my mind!" She shook her hooves in front of her defensively. "I don't want to look good anymore. I'll be messy!"

"Nonsense!" Sweetie said. "We're just about to get really started."

"No!" Scootaloo tried to jump out of the bathtub, only to be caught mid-air in Rarity's magic.

"Don't worry, Scootaloo," she told her. "Soon, you will be as fabulous as one of us."

Rarity wrapped a leg around her little sister and smiled excitedly.

"Help!" Scootaloo flailed her hooves uselessly. "Apple Bloom!"

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Apple Bloom answered from the hallway. "Good luck."

"Apple Bloom? Don’t leave me!" Scootaloo struggled, but held up in the air by Rarity’s magic, her efforts were in vain...

"Ah'll wait for y'all downstairs!" Apple Bloom shouted, already sounding quite distant...

"One of us," Sweetie repeated.

"One of us," Rarity droned, bringing her tools closer...

"Noooooo!"

Matchstick walked through Ponyville slowly, both enjoying the bright morning and wondering if the sun had always been so shiny. Either Princess Celestia did something to it or Matchstick had been working at nights for too long... The question remained unanswered, though, as she reached the pastry center of the town.

She stopped in front of Sugarcube Corner and, instead of going in right away, took a long breath through her delighted nostrils. Strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, orange, almonds and at least a dozen more sweet scents that she couldn't identify had her mouth watering like the Neighgara Falls. She swallowed her saliva before it overflowed her muzzle and opened the door. As usual, the jingle of the bell was followed by the appearance of a pink mare behind the counter.

"Hello, Matchie!"

"Hi, Pinkie," Matchstick answered the hyperactive pony. She looked around the shop quickly. "This party looks promising..." As far as she could see, every corner of the bakery was loaded with cakes, sweets, games and assorted party supplies.

"It does!" Pinkie Pie answered with a bright smile. "And just wait until it's actually begun. I think this one will reach memorable levels of fun. Maybe as high as one gigagiggle!"

Matchstick frowned. "A guy go-what-now?" she asked.

"That's about seven hundred guffaws," Pinkie explained. "You should really start using the reformed units system, it's much simpler in the end."

Matchstick blinked a few times. "Huh... Sure. Whatever you say... Anyways, I have some bits for you." She plunged her muzzle into her plain saddlebags and pulled a small pouch out of them. "Fo' t'e pa'ty," she said, making the coins clink with every word.

Pinkie Pie took the purse in her hooves, now the one blinking in confusion.

"I know it's not enough to cover everything," Matchstick said, "but that's all I could spare for now. If I take some extra shifts, I think I can give you the rest next month."

"But you don't owe me any money," Pinkie said, staring at the pouch of bits with a frown.

"Don't get into that, Pinkie. Somepony has to pay for all these party supplies." She waved at the extravagant display of balloons, streamers and confetti.

"Well, duh! The shopkeepers would be pretty angry if I didn’t pay them."

"I know. That's why I'm paying you back."

"But you don't have to," Pinkie said. "This is Scootaloo's cuteceañara and she's, like, my most favoritest little pegasus filly in the world. And you're my friend, too. I don't-"

"Pinkie." Matchstick raised a hoof to stop the pink mare before she could argue anymore. "Just take the money. I know you got paid for the last cuteceañara you held."

"But rich is Filthy! Huh... I mean Filthy is rich."

"And?" Matchstick asked, glaring at Pinkie.

"Well..."

"Listen, Pinkie. I don't make a lot of dough, but that doesn't mean I'm a charity case, got it?"

"Sure, but-"

"No 'buts'. I'm paying. It's what I want."

"It is?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah.” Matchstick sighed. “How do I explain this? I just..."

"You want to do something special for Scootaloo because she's your only foal and a cuteceañara comes only once in a lifetime and your own parents didn't hold you an awesome party and you don't want your filly to be as disappointed as you were?"

Matchstick stared at Pinkie for a long while, her mouth gaping and her eyes blinking slowly. "Something like that," she finally answered, her voice much more quiet than usual.

"Okay then, why didn't you say so?" Pinkie gave her a big hug. "I'll let you pay for the supplies, but on one condition."

"Yeah?"

"No extra shifts for you," Pinkie said after letting Matchstick go. "If you wanna be a good mom for Scootaloo, you can't spend all your time at work."

"You got a deal," Matchstick answered, chuckling a little.

"Great! Now let's get this party going... Wait!" Pinkie looked around the room for a moment. "Where's the filly of the hour?"

"She didn't come with me," Matchstick answered. "She says it's not cool to go to a party with your mom."

"Aww... But you're a cool mom," Pinkie said. "I'd totally go with you to any party."

"Thanks, Pinks." Matchstick's muzzle curled into one of its rare smiles. "You're a great friend, you know."

"I try my best," Pinkie answered with a nod and the most serious face she had worn in days.

"I'll have to make this up to you sometime."

"Is now a good time?” the pink party planning pony said eagerly. “You could help me set the last few things up."

Matchstick found herself pushed in front of a gas bottle and a pile of multicolored rubber balloons.

"You can never have too many balloons," Pinkie said. "Can you inflate these?"

Matchstick nodded and grabbed one between her teeth, then tried her best to place it on the nozzle and open the valve at the same time. It went more easily than she expected, at least until she realized that she wasn’t really sure of how to knot the opening. She tried with her hooves, with her mouth, with both… It only ended up with the balloon flying behind a cupboard.

"Damn, this is more difficult than I..." Matchstick's eyes widened as she heard her voice, sounding more fit to a tiny fairy creature than a full grown mare. "What the hay? What's happening to me?"

Pinkie Pie, to her credit, managed to maintain her seriousness for five whole seconds.

The laughing fit she descended into afterwards was even more remarkable.

"Pinkie!" Matchstick shouted, her high pitched voiced failing to sound concerned or angry. "What's in that bottle?"

"He- Hee hee... Helium!" Pinkie struggled to get back to her for hooves. "Don't worry, it's not toxic."

"But my voice is all... It's... going back to normal?" Matchstick stared at Pinkie, who laughed at her slowly descending vocal range. "This is so weird..."

"It's awesome," Pinkie said, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "The first time I found that out, I inhaled so much helium I passed out... But it's tons of fun as long as you stop before that."

"Huh... I guess it is." Back to her regular voice, Matchstick chuckled a few times.

"Check this out," Pinkie said. Taking a partially-filled balloon, she inhaled a bit of gas.

Matchstick stared and blinked when Pinkie started to sing with her helium-modified voice.

“Well you can tell by the way I use my walk
I’m a stallion’s mare, no time to talk…”

Singing all along, the pink pony got up on her hind hooves and added some dance moves to the show. Matchstick couldn’t help but giggle.

“Whether you’re a brother or whether you’re a mother
You’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive…”

Matchstick quickly grabbed another balloon, just in time to join Pinkie for the end of the chorus.

"Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Stayin' aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!"

Rainbow Dash angled her trajectory downwards, aiming straight for her target. Even for someone who didn’t know Ponyville, Carousel Boutique was the kind of building you could spot from afar. Taller than most and with a style that didn’t really fit in the small, rural town made of plain stone walls and thatched roofs.

Of course, Rainbow wasn’t one to give Rarity any lesson, with her own house looking like it was plucked out of Cloudsdale and moved to the Ponyville airspace, but the boutique was different. To put it simply, it wasn’t awesome.

Rainbow had to admit that Rarity had one thing going for her: originality. She was pretty sure that there wasn’t another house in Equestria that looked like this one. Not in Canterlot, not in Manehattan, not even in Las Pegasus, which was the world’s leader when it came to weird, and showy buildings.

But that original look was just underused in the end. Why bother with a balcony if it’s barely wide enough to walk on it? She could have made a whole gallery instead, overlooking the town. And that pointy tower thingy was kinda neat, but why stop at one? Why not build a whole lot of them, like in the princesses’ castle?

Rainbow Dash shook her head as she landed in front of the boutique, giving up on understanding what could stop Rarity from going the whole way on her house. “Not a mistake I’d make,” she told herself. “Hmmm… Now that I think about it… Maybe I should get myself a cloud statue garden...”

Wondering if her mother might help her set that up, Rainbow Dash opened the door to the Carousel Boutique.

“Hey Rarity,” she called out, “are you here? I’m looking for–” Rainbow blinked a few times as she watched Apple Bloom rush to put a hat back on the ponyquin where it belonged.

“Hi, Rainbow Dash,” the little filly said with a strained smile. “Fancy meetin’ you here…”

“Riiiiight… Say, do you know where Scootaloo is? I’ve been looking for her all over town,” Rainbow said. “I figured she’d be with you and Sweetie Belle.”

“Oh yeah,” Apple Bloom answered. “She’s upstairs. Rarity and Sweetie Belle are stylin’ her mane.”

“Okay, good...”

Rainbow’s eyes shot wide open. “Wait, what? Hang on, Scootaloo, I’m coming!” Nothing but a rainbow streak remained on the first floor, leading up the stairs and to the bathroom door, which was flung open with the subtlety of a hurricane.

Inside, Rainbow Dash saw bottles, vials and flagons, most of them empty and discarded on the floor... Next to these, curlers and scissors lied, still covered in the purple hairs. And around the bathtub, two white ponies were hunched over their poor, innocent victim.

“I’m too late!” Dash cried, throwing her hooves to the sky. “What have you done, it’s… it’s…”

All the mares in the room turned towards Rainbow Dash, including Scootaloo... Scootaloo, whose face wasn’t hidden under a ridiculous mass of curls, or braided pigtails, or even some artsy hair sculpture… Only a combed, even mane that looked less like a bird’s nest than usual.

“It’s kinda nice, actually...” Rainbow finished lamely.

“Kinda nice?” Rarity scoffed. “You mean it’s a miracle! You should have seen what mess we had to work with in the first place.”

“Hey!” Scootaloo glared at Rarity. “I’m right here, you know.”

“It was even worst when I started!” Sweetie Belle continued. “You have no idea how much tree sap she managed to get into her hair.”

“Again,” Scootaloo groused, “right here…”

“You did well, Sweetie.” Rarity put a gentle hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “We made it together, despite the hardships!” She shuddered a bit. “I didn’t even know split ends could get split ends.”

“Ooookayyyyy,” Rainbow said, trying to appease the sisters. “So, are you done now?”

“Hmph. Well yes, I suppose we are,” Rarity answered. “Since Scootaloo refuses to settle for a decent coiffure.”

Rainbow Dash only responded with an eloquent “huh?”

“I want a mohawk!” Scootaloo chirped. “You know, like Zecora.”

Rarity shook her head and tisked. “I’m sorry Scootaloo, but while Zecora can make that hairdo work, I’m afraid you lack the… exotism to pull it out.”

“It would look pretty cool,” Rainbow said, tapping her chin in thought. “Like princess Celestia’s guards…”

Rarity’s eyes narrowed. “Rainbow Dash. I am not going to style that filly’s mane so she looks like a soldier.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Fine, fine.” She gave Scootaloo a big grin. “You look great just like that, squirt. Now, how about we get to that big party?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle immediately began to cheer, for a whole three seconds before Rarity interrupted them.

“We can leave as soon as I find a cute dress for little Scootaloo here,” she said with an excited smile. “Oh, you’ll be the belle of the ball!”

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo groaned in unison.

“We’re not going to a ball, Rarity.” Rainbow grabbed Scootaloo and pushed her out of the room. “We’re going to a party and if we keep talking like that, it’ll be over when we get there! Let’s go, go, go! Come on, Rarity. You too, Sweetie Belle.”

In the following seconds, Rainbow Dash was walking out of Carousel Boutique, with all three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders trotting behind and a slightly pouting Rarity in the rear.

The small group walked through the streets of Ponyville and before long, Rainbow was flying above her (too) slow friends, making small loops and rolls. On the ground, Scootaloo and her friends were chatting excitedly about cutie marks as usual, especially the one Sweetie Belle still had to earn.

Rainbow Dash smirked, remembering the time when she found her own cutie mark. The race... The adrenaline... The rush of victory and the impossible sonic rainboom made real... She had spent the rest of the day like Scootaloo was right then, planning her future life with her new talent.

All in all, Rainbow had made pretty simple plans, back then: win everything.

With time, she had lowered her expectations a bit, since “everything” turned out to be a whole lot, but the idea was still the same: one day, she would be the best captain of the best team of the best fliers in Equestria. Past, present and future. Maybe Scootaloo could be part of it? With speed as her special talent, she was sure to turn into a great flier some day...

Hearing the Crusaders’ babbling only made Rainbow Dash more aware of how quiet Rarity was. Dash turned upside down and hovered to get her face level with the unicorn’s.

“Something on your mind, Rarity?” she asked. “For someone who’s about to party, you don’t look all that excited.”

Rarity gave her a little smile. “Oh, it’s nothing really. It just… irks me that I didn’t get the chance to dress up Scootaloo properly.”

Rainbow Dash did a flip and landed next to her. “She looks fine.”

“But she doesn’t look perfect,” Rarity complained. “I was just getting started… I can already picture the most darling little dress on her. A deep burgundy silk, with a silver lining. Something with a simple, yet dashing cut…”

“A dress…” Rainbow said. “Why does it always have to be something girly with you?”

Rarity stared at Rainbow with a nonplussed expression. “By now I would have hoped that you would have figured out our gender, Rainbow.”

“I know I’m a girl,” Rainbow answered, rolling her eyes. “It doesn’t mean I have to wear frilly clothes, or paint my hooves, or have tea parties… I’m a dare-devil, not some high-society pony.”

“I don’t think wearing a dress would make you less of stuntsmare. What matters is how you act, not how you look,” Rarity said. “And nopony said you couldn’t look good while you are being a dare-devil.”

“Except if I have to spend three hours a day getting dressed…”

The unicorn shook her head. “With a bit of practice, you can make yourself look good without spending hours. I only take about forty minutes for my mane, my tail and my make-up…”

“Forty minutes? Are you kidding?”

“Well, how long do you take?” Rarity asked, turning her nose up in the air.”

“I dunno…” Rainbow shrugged. “I guess… Five minutes to shower, then a couple more to preen my wings…”

“And what about your mane?”

“What about it?” Rainbow asked back.

“Well, don’t you comb it?”

“Nah. I make my morning flight while it’s still wet.” Rainbow smirked. “Gets it dry and styled just the way I like at the same time.” She chuckled when she saw Rarity’s desperate look. “What? It’s efficient and awesome. That’s just how I do things, Rarity. Forget trying to get me into your fancy dresses.”

“You wore a dress at the Grand Galloping Gala,” Rarity retorted.

“Well, duh! It’s a gala. I would have looked pretty stupid if I was the only pony without a dress… Not that I didn’t end up looking stupid,” she added quietly. “But the point is: what matters to me isn’t how I look. I look awesome anyway… And Scootaloo is the same. As long as she can speed like a bullet, who cares if she looks like a girl? You don’t see the Wonderbolts with dresses either…” Rainbow couldn’t help but think of Soarin in some sort of evening gown for a second. She giggled, but quickly shook her head to dismiss that strange mental image. “And there’s Scootaloo’s mom,” she continued. “All Matchstick does is kick tails. Can you honestly picture her with a pretty dress, doing a slow dance at some fancy ball? I know I can’t.”

“You never know, Rainbow,” Rarity said as they approached Sugarcube Corner. “I have to admit that it doesn’t really fit her persona, but everypony can get a new look; can’t they?”

Rainbow Dash only shrugged in response, her attention shifting to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were standing near the entrance of the sweets shop, exchanging looks ranging from curious to worried. She walked next to them and began to ask “Hey girls, what’s–”

What you doin’ on your back? Ahhhh!

Rainbow immediately froze when she heard the strange, unnaturally high-pitched voice. It was almost unequine…

What you doin’ on your back? Ahhhh!

“What the hay is that?” She frowned and grabbed the door handle... The door swung open as fast as her jaw fell.

Pinkie Pie was standing in the back of the shop, near a gramophone that was playing as loud as possible. The pink mare was holding a microphone and singing into it with an impossibly high voice.

You should be dancing! Yeah!

Not far from Pinkie, Matchstick was standing on her hind hooves, moving and twisting on the music’s rhythm. Rainbow Dash gave a quick look behind her. She was somewhat relieved when she saw the confused expressions on everypony else. Meanwhile, Matchstick crossed the room, approaching Rainbow and the others, shuffling her hooves in a way that made it look like she was almost sliding on the floor.

Dancing! Yeaaaaaah!

Matchstick ended up only a few paces away from Rainbow. She kicked her hooves back and forth, spinning on herself every couple steps.

“Wooo! Go Matchie!” Pinkie shouted in the microphone. “Shake it!”

Matchstick grinned and threw a foreleg high in the air, then back down in a slashing move while she undulated her body on the music’s rythm. Then, just as the song went into a bridge, she clapped her hooves together and pointed one in the distance, the other resting on her waist. Holding that pose, she thrusted her hips back and forth in rhythm, tail swishing along, up and down her thighs.

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle squeaked her complaint as Rarity immediately covered her eyes.

Matchstick walked back near Pinkie in a few swinging steps, only to have room for a running dive that ended with her doing a full split. She leaned forward on her front legs and used that new support to spin around on the ground, rising up all the while, until she was standing back up.

Rainbow’s mind, on the other hoof, was crashing down just as fast… She barely noticed when the song finally reached its end and Matchstick casually walked to Pinkie Pie, both mares laughing like mad. Dash slowly approached them.

“What the hay just happened?” she spurted out.

Matchstick only shrugged with an amused smile, while Pinkie inhaled a little gas from a balloon. “Hey Dashie!” she said with her chipmunk-like voice. “I’m Squeaky Pie!”

“Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow answered, her head feeling heavy on her neck. “You’re so… Pinkie Pie.”

“Well, I’m glad she is,” Matchstick laughed out. “I haven’t had so much fun in ages!”

“Then my job here is done,” Pinkie “Squeaky” Pie said before saluting and going to welcome the other ponies.

“Well, that was… something,” Rainbow said.

Matchstick gave her a smug grin. “Disco, Rainbow Dash. That was disco.”

“When did you learn to dance like that?”

“Years ago, actually,” the fiery mare answered. “I was about Scoots’ age… I used to sneak into a theatre to watch the musicals and Hay Night Fever was a huge thing back then. I must have seen it a dozen times. I spent hours practicing to dance like Trotvolta,” she said with a chuckle. “I really thought I’d get a dancing cutie mark...”

Almost by reflex, Rainbow Dash’s eyes wandered to Matchstick’s flanks and the pair of brass hooves shining in her dark fur. “How did you get your cutie mark?” she asked automatically.

She instantly regretted her question when she saw the smile on Matchstick’s muzzle vanish.

“That’s… not a good story,” the earth pony said quietly.

For a moment, Rainbow could only stare and move her jaw like a fish in its tank. Matchstick didn’t say anything to break the silence...

“Sorry,” Dash finally managed to say, “I didn’t mean to–”

“Don’t think about it.” Matchstick grinned, a smile that almost didn’t look fake. “We’re here to party,” she continued, “so let’s party!”

“Yeah... Sure,” Rainbow answered.

She watched Matchstick leave and mingle with the guests that were starting to fill Sugarcube Corner. Contrary to the mare’s advice, Dash didn’t really stop thinking about it...

Author's Notes:

In the late 970s, a group of three breezies found themselves separated from their kin and failed to make it to the portal leading to their homeland in time. Not only did they manage to survive in the land of ponies, but they found incredible success when their peculiar, shrill voices turned out to be a hit. The musical Hay Night Fever was such a success that it launched not only the Bree Zees' career, but the whole disco fad. By the time it went out of style, the band had already joined with the next breezie migration.

And that is the silliest bit of world-building I've come up with! I'm sure I'll top that at some point, though.

I'm not too happy with this half-chapter... Let me know what you guys think.
Things should get more interesting in the other half, hopefully. It should be coming up soon.

One last important thing, before I forget: Soarin in a dress.

Chapter 5 - Celebrate Cute Times (2/2)

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Sweetie Belle was quietly enjoying the party, munching on cookies and cupcakes while Scootaloo received the attention of everypony. All in all, a perfectly normal cuteceañara. It was even much more enjoyable than Diamond Tiara’s one, thanks to the noticeably lower quantity of Diamond Tiara...

“Isn’t it a great party?” Sweetie heard some mare say, not far from her.

“Oh yeah,” an unidentified stallion answered. “It’s the best! I just hope nothing comes to ruin it…”

“Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know… Maybe it’s–”

*Slam!*

Everypony in Sugarcube Corner (even Pinkie Pie) suddenly became silent as the front door flew open, the silhouette of a pony appearing in shadows as thunder boomed outside.

When the lightning stopped, everypony (especially Pinkie Pie) gasped in horror, the battered and bruised body of Princess Celestia herself falling to the ground with a thud.

“Celestia!” Twilight Sparkle rushed to her mentor’s side and helped her up. “Are you alright?”

“Thank you Twilight,” Celestia said with a weak voice. “You’re just the pony I was looking for.”

“What happened?” Sweetie asked, rushing through the crowd to see princesses.

“Times are dire, my little ponies,” the princess of the Sun began. “The worst threat that Equestria has ever faced is upon us. Canterlot is already under our enemies’ control…”

Everypony gasped. Again.

Scootaloo jumped up and down. “Ooh! Ooh! Is it aliens?” she asked.

“Is it robots?” Apple Bloom piped in.

“It is much worse than that, fillies” Celestia said somberly. “It is… alien robots!”

Everypony gasped a third time for good measure. A few (who had unfortunately forgotten to breathe out between gasps) fainted there and then.

Princess Celestia straightened herself and stared at her former-student-turned-princess. “Twilight,” she boomed. “once more, we need you to protect Equestria. As usual, only the combined powers of the Elements of Harmony can defeat this evil!”

“Are you sure, Celestia?”

“Absolutely sure, Twilight. The six of you are our last chance!”

“Did you hear that, girls?” Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity all nodded. Twilight smiled. “Perfect. Then, there is only one thing left to do...”

Without warning, Twilight Sparkle turned around and lit her horn. Instantly, Princess Celestia was hit by a bolt of electricity that somehow made her skeleton apparent for a few seconds. Twilight and her five friends cackled evilly.

“Foolish ponies!” Applejack said, her drawl replaced by a metallic-sounding voice. “We stole the Elements of Harmony long before we launched our invasion.”

Rarity-bot stepped forward. “And the only ponies who could use them are prisoners on our space-ship! Mwuhahahahahaaaaa!”

“You can’t win!” Scootaloo yelled. “Rainbow Dash will break out with her awesomeness and kick your alien-robots tails!”

“Impossible,” Rainbot answered. “Our prison is awesome-proofed. Even if it wasn’t, Rainbow Dash cannot defeat me. I was designed to be precisely 21.79% cooler than her.”

“What do you alien-robot-ponies want?” Sweetie asked.

Twibot smirked and raised a hoof to demand everypony’s attention. “Since you have absolutely no chance of beating us, I shall explain our plan. First, we will replace critical ponies with our robotized copies in every city. Then, when your puny pony defences will be undermined, we will conquer all of Equestria and steal all your stallions!” She concluded her exposition by a synthetic copy of Twilight’s laugh. “Any questions?” she asked, “Yes, you, in the back?”

A blue unicorn stallion cleared his throat. “Uhm… Why do you want to steal stallions?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Flutterbot asked back.

“What will you do with them?” somepony asked in the crowd

The six alien robots exchanged confused stares.

“Why are we doing this again?” Raribot asked in a low voice.

“Do we use stallions as food?” Pinkie Bot thought aloud.

“We’re robots,” Applebot answered. “We don’t need to eat.”

“You got this wrong, girls,” Rainbot said smugly. “We need the stallions to make foals.”

Twibot Sparkle sighed. “We can build foals, Rainbot.”

“Then why are we doing this again?” Raribot asked. “I can’t find anything about this in my databanks…”

Flutterbot gave the room a wary glance before huddling again with her alien robot kin. “Uhm… Girls? Everypony is staring at us.”

“Relax,” Twibot said. “I’ll take care of the fleshbags.” She produced a loud imitation of a pony clearing his throat and addressed the crowd.

“Your inferior, chemically-powered brains are too primitive to understand our motivations. Now, please submit to your new overlords in a calm and orderly fashion. Mares and fillies go on this side of the room, stallions and colts over there. Thank you.”

The crowd whispered for a moment, but eventually shrugged and rolled with it, separating into two halves. Nopony resisted.

Nopony… except one brave little filly.

“That’s enough, you worthless piles of junk!” Sweetie walked in front of Twibot and stood proudly. “Give us the Elements back and leave this planet at once.”

The alien lavender robot unicorn chuckled. “Or what, little filly?”

Sweetie narrowed her eyes. “Or I’ll fry your butt,” she said slowly, earning another round of gasps from the crowd.

“Ah! I’d like to see you try!” Twibot taunted.

“As you wish,” Sweetie Belle answered with a smirk. She focused her magic in her horn and, before the grin had time to vanish from the robot’s face, hit it with a blindingly bright green beam of energy. Twibot, now charred and emitting sparks out of its synthetic fur, twitched a few times before it collapsed to the floor in a heap.

The five remaining robots activated their internal fans to gasp. Sweetie gave them a cold glare... All six ponies stood, unmoving, unblinking and undaunted, until a flicker of light appeared from the trashed remains of Twibot. Sweetie prepared herself to zap it once more, but was relieved to see a blurry image form in the air. A small, bluish picture of Twilight appeared.

“Sweetie Belle!” Tiny Twilight said. “Oh thank goodness I managed to contact somepony.”

“Twilight? Is that really you?” the filly asked.

“Yes, I hacked my way into the alien robots’ maneframe. I’ve been trying to gain control of my double, but it only just went through.”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “Oh, that must have been when I blasted it with my magic.”

“You did?” Twilight asked. “That’s perfect!”

“Sure… Uh… Why are you wearing some kinda robe, by the way?”

“It’s really cold on this ship,” Twilight answered. “Now focus, this is important. These alien robots have an almost perfect resistance to magic, so you are probably the only pony who can destroy them. I need you to protect Equestria, Sweetie Belle. Please help us, you’re our only hope!”

“When did you style your mane like that?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Those buns look funny.”

“We don’t have time for that, Sweetie! I don’t know why the other robots waited while we were talking, but they might attack you now.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight.” Sweetie turned to the snarling (but patiently waiting) robots and gave her a terrorizing frown. “Nopony steals our studs,” she said darkly. “...and lives.”

Rainbot Dash was the first to attack, dashing through the air on her razor-sharp wings. She was also the first to catch an energy beam right between the eyes and crash to the ground, stopping a few centimeters away from the unfazed Sweetie Belle.

“Too slow,” the filly whispered to the failing pegasus robot.

“Does… not… compute…” The rainbow robot shut down, its uncomprehending eyes staying wide open as the power drained out of its cells.

Meanwhile, Flutterbot and Applebot gave each other a nod and rushed forward, trying to take Sweetie in a pincer maneuver. They clearly didn’t count on the filly’s acrobatic skills, as she jumped out of the way at the last second, doing a double backflip in the air. The two robots, stunned by her move, failed to stop in time and crashed into each other. While they were stunned, she quickly zapped them both.

Unfortunately, that gave Pinkie Bot all the time she needed to grab Sweetie from behind. The filly screamed in surprise, her lungs slowly getting crushed into the mechanical, vise-like legs.

“Gotcha now, you little monster!” the robot said laughingly. “Whatcha gonna do now, huh?”

“Take a guess,” Sweetie wheezed out as she angled her neck to point her horn under the robot’s chin.

“Wha–”

“Party’s over, Pinkie Bot!” The following blast went right through the alien robot’s skull. Immediately, its legs lost all strength and Sweetie slipped out of its grasp. She took a few seconds to get her breath back, then whirled to face the final robot.

Raribot winced and smiled weakly. “Sweetie Belle, dear… You wouldn’t hurt me, would you?”

“I think I would…”

“I’m your big sister,” the Rarity look-alike said with a nervous chuckle. “We’re family. We’re friends!”

“If you really are my big sister,” Sweetie said smugly, “then prove it…”

“How?”

“What’s the proper way to fix a hemline on a silk, sleeveless robe?” Sweetie grinned as beads of coolant pearled on the robot’s brow.

“Uh… It’s… Errr…” She swallowed the simulated lump in her throat. “Arc welding?”

“Nice try,” was the last thing the robot’s auditory sensors received.

With the last of the alien robots down, Twilight and all of her friends appeared in a flash of light.

“Congratulations, Sweetie Belle!” Princess Celestia said. She was struggling to get back on her hooves, but the smile on her face was brighter than ever. “You’ve just saved all of Equestria.”

“It was nothing,” the filly said, a blush appearing on her cheeks.

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. “On the contrary, my little pony. You did what nopony else could…”

“Exactly,” Celestia continued. “Your actions today were worthy of a princess’s.”

She and Twilight Sparkle exchanged a look, then nodded. They both knelt down. “Congratulations, Princess Sweetie Belle!”

“Princess?” Sweetie repeated, as every pony in the room bowed down to her. “Neat! Do I get wings?”

“Of course, you get wings!” Princess Celestia said merrily. “And a cutie mark for robot-zapping,” she added.

Sweetie Belle whooped in delight. “Oh. Just one last thing,” she said. “Diamond Tiara?”

“Yes, Princess Sweetie?” the detestable filly said, bowing down so low she was almost crawling.

“Eat magic!” the newest princess shouted as a beam of energy crashed into Diamond Tiara.

Everypony gasped at the unexpected assault, then gasped once more when the alien and robotic form of Diamond Tiara twitched and sparked a few times. A wailing, metallic voice came out of its mouth. “JOB04358 $HASP165 DIAMBOT1 ENDED AT DDDE7658 - ABENDED SB37 U0000 CN(INTERNAL)” were its last words.

The non-alien and biological Rarity stared at her little sister with her jaw hanging low. “How did you know she was a robot?” she finally asked.

“I didn’t know,” Sweetie answered before breaking into laughter. The whole room soon followed, as the populace of Ponyville celebrated its freedom...

....

“Sweetie Belle?” a familiar voice called from someplace far, far away. “Sweetie Belle!”

“Huh? Wha– Huh?” the filly looked around her, suddenly yanked back into reality. She saw Twilight Sparkle looking down at her. “Twilight?”

“Are you alright, Sweetie? You were staring off in the distance…”

“Oh… Uh, I was just daydreaming, sorry…”

Twilight chuckled. “It must have been a nice dream. You were giggling.”

“Hum. Yeah…” Sweetie blushed and rubbed the back of her neck while discreetly looking around for an excuse to avoid talking about it. The nearby punch bowl appeared like a beacon in a storm. She leaned forward and was about to grab the scoop in the bowl with her mouth when an idea hit her.

Sweetie Belle concentrated… Her horn sparked a few times. Her tongue sticking out, she focused all of her magic on the scoop. She huffed, she groaned… A faint green haze flickered around the handle. It twitched and shook just a little and then…

Nothing.

Sweetie sighed and slumped. So much for Equestria-saving magic powers…

“You’re making progress,” Twilight said cheerily. “Have you been practicing with your magic?”

“A little,” Sweetie answered, glaring at the scoop. “But it’s no use. I can hardly make that stupid spoon twitch..”

“But you couldn’t even do that much a few months ago,” Twilight continued. She placed a soft wing gently on her back. “If you keep training, you’ll get the hang of it.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course,” Twilight answered with a smile. “There’s no trick to magic. All you have to do is study and practice a lot.” The scoop was enveloped in Twilight’s usual purple haze of magic, along with two cups. “In fact, if you want to learn, I could give you some lessons...” Sweetie watched with both jealousy and awe as Twilight filled the cups while speaking and without even looking at them.

“Really?” Sweetie asked. “I could do magic like you?”

One of the cups floated in front of Sweetie Belle. “Well, it took me several years to master advanced spellcasting, but I’m sure simple spells wouldn’t be any trouble for you… Why don’t you come visit me at the library tomorrow? I’ll be sure to plan some ‘Twilight Time’ for you.”

“Wow! Thanks, Twilight!” Sweetie grabbed the cup in her mouth. “I’ll be there!”

The little filly turned around and hurried to find her two best friends in the middle of the ongoing party. She weaved her way between grown-ups chatting together, dodged foals bouncing and dancing (while only bouncing once or twice herself), narrowly avoided a blindfolded filly before she ended up with an extra tail pinned to her, ducked under a table when the forest of pony legs became too dense to cross and finally spotted a familiar pink bow bobbing in the crowd. Sweetie smiled and zeroed in on the tip of iceberg-Bloom.

“... and then I zoomed in down the hill and went even faster! I broke all my old speed records!” Scootaloo said to Fluttershy, who was smiling gently as she usually did. “And when I stopped, my cutie mark was there!”

“Congratulations, Scootaloo. That was a very nice story,” the kind mare said.

“Do you mean it was an awesome story?” Scootaloo asked, her eyes wide and her wings buzzing.

“Oh. Hum… Yes, it was awesome.” Fluttershy smiled again as she saw the excitement on Scootaloo’s face, then excused herself and went back to find her friends. Sweetie closed the last of the distance between her and her friends.

“Girls, I have great news,” Sweetie said as well as she could around the cup in her mouth. Judging by the look on her friends’ faces, it only came out as a garbled mess. “Hang on…” She leaned her head back and drank the punch in one long swig. “Hmm. Raspberries,” she said after dropping the empty cup in her hoof. “So, as I was saying–”

Sweetie Belle was interrupted by the most irritating voice she could imagine. Naturally, it came along with the most irritating pony she knew.

“Well, well,” Diamond Tiara said, trotting towards the Crusaders with her nose high in the air. “If it isn’t the filly of the hour…”

Scootaloo stared at her through her narrowing eyes. “What do you want, Diamond Tiara?”

“Is she even supposed to be here?” Sweetie whispered to Apple Bloom. “Why would she be invited?”

“Well, she invited us to her cuteceañara…”

Diamond Tiara took an offended look. “Why, I’m here to congratulate you, of course. You finally found your cutie mark!”

“Congratulations!” Silver Spoon added.

“Err… Thank you?” Scootaloo said, raising an eyebrow. “That’s it? You’re not going to make fun of us?”

“Of course not,” Diamond answered. “You’ve got your cutie mark now.”

Silver Spoon nodded. “Having a cutie mark is so much cooler than, like, not having one,” she said.

“Exactly!” Diamond continued. “We used to make fun of you because you were just a bunch of fillies with no special talent. But now that you all have your cutie marks…”

“Well… Except for Sweetie Belle,” Silver pointed out.

“Oh yeah, except Sweetie Belle,” Diamond said with a roll of her eyes. “I guess she really has no talent…”

“Hey!” Scootaloo shouted. “You leave her alone!”

“What? I’m just telling the truth,” Diamond said. “She’s the only one in class without her cutie mark, now.”

“It must be so embarrassing,” Silver Spoon said, her voice taking a distinctively fake tone of pity. “Can you imagine? Beint the only pony without a cutie mark…” She gasped. “Oh my gosh! What if you never find it?”

“Don’t be silly,” Apple Bloom said, poking Silver in the chest with a hoof. “Everypony gets a cutie mark eventually.”

“What if she’s the first one to never get a cutie mark?” Diamond asked. “You can’t know that.”

“Well, neither can you,” Scootaloo said.

“Whatever,” the annoying filly said. “Let’s get out of here, Silver. Let them waste their time with the lame blank flank.”

“Why would they do that?” Silver Spoon asked, as the two bullies turned around and disappeared in the crowd, laughing together between remarks about blank flanks.

Apple Bloom huffed. “What a bunch of jerks,” she said between clenched teeth.

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said. “What crawled up their tails and died? Forget about them, Sweetie Belle…”

“Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom gently prodded her with a hoof. “You okay, there?”

“Y–Yeah, of course,” the unicorn filly answered. She put on her best smile. “I know better than to listen to these two. Even if I really am the only pony in our class without a cutie mark. And even if some foals three years younger than me already have theirs…”

“Don’t worry,” Scootaloo told her, “you’ll find yours. We’ll help you!”

“That’s right,” Apple Bloom added, “we’ll always be the Cutie Mark Crusaders, no matter what!”

“Thanks, guys.” Sweetie’s smile became a little more natural. “I’ll just have to be patient. I guess I’m used to that now…”

“We just need to get your mind off of this,” Apple Bloom said. “Wanna play ‘pin the tail on the pony’?”

“Not really…”

“Let’s dance!” Scootaloo said. “Maybe we can get mom to show us her awesome moves!”

“Awesome?” Apple Bloom asked. “Looked kinda silly to me…”

“Are you kidding? That was so cool!”

“Cool? Are ya sure we saw the same thing?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “I don’t feel like dancing anyway. I’ll just go and get something to eat.”

“If you say so...” Apple Bloom said, sounding uncertain. “We can still find somethin’ else to do.”

“No, that’s fine,” Sweetie answered. “You guys go have fun, I’ll catch up with you later…” She didn’t wait for an answer, heading straight towards one of the many tables loaded with treats. She heard her friends calling up to her, but ignored them for the time being. They did not insist…

A minute later, Sweetie had gathered a pile of food that was almost as big as her. Like an ant bringing back an insect ten times its size to its colony, she carried her stash to a quiet and isolated corner of Sugarcube Corner, under the stair leading to the upper floor. Unlike an ant, though, she was planning to eat it all by herself…

An innocent blueberry cupcake was the first victim, gobbled down mercilessly while Sweetie’s eyes scanned over the party-goers.

*Nom*

There was Thunderlane, the dark-coated pegasus with the wild mane, showing off around the mares. Why wouldn’t he show off? He was a big and strong stallion. With a cool-looking cutie mark of a lightning cloud...

*Nom*

A pinkish mare with a light purple mane was standing near the punch bowl. She looked like she was having fun. Of course, she had her cutie mark: a pair of blue dolphins forming a circle on her flank. A pretty nice mark, which must have come from a pretty nice talent. She must have been an expert swimmer, or maybe a marine biologist. And she was a unicorn, too, no doubt with impressive magical abilities...

*Nom*

Another unicorn, a stallion this time, with a blue coat and a lighter; frizzy mane. He had a cutie mark that was a safety pin… What special talent did he have? Poking things? Sweetie Belle could poke things too, even with her magic-less horn...

*Nom*

A couple of earth ponies danced near the record player. A brown stallion and a pale yellow mare, one of Apple Bloom’s many cousins. He had a guitar for a cutie mark, she had an apple fritter. A talent for music, a talent for pastries. It certainly wasn’t about eating them, though, or Sweetie would have had her cutie mark already...

*Nom*

Come to think of it, Apple Fritter had apple fritters for her cutie mark… Mrs Cup Cake had cupcakes. Mr Carrot Cake had carrot cakes. All around the room, plenty of ponies had a cutie mark that was just an illustration of their name… Why did Sweetie Belle have to be ‘Sweetie Belle’? Why wasn’t she called something simple like ‘Junebug’? She’d already have a bug cutie mark by then...

*Nom*

“If you keep eating like that, you’re gonna get sick…”

“Hwumph?” Sweetie jumped in place and looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice. Sitting on the ground, she saw a mare, her dark coat barely visible in the shadows of the stairs, but her fiery mane and tail almost shining in contrast. “Oh, you’re misses Scootaloo’s mom,” Sweetie said, spewing a few crumbs on her.

“You can call me Matchstick, you know…” The mare nodded at the pile of baked treats next to Sweetie. “Why are you making yourself a hoard? Are you secretly a dragon?”

Sweetie chuckled. “No, I don’t think so… Although that would explain a few things.”

“Really?”

“Well,” the filly said sourly. “Dragons don’t get cutie marks, do they?”

Matchstick shrugged. “I don’t think so. I don’t know much about dragons, though…”

“Maybe I’m not really a pony. Maybe that’s why I’m the only filly my age without a cutie mark.”

“Is that why you’re here, stuffing your face like a pig?” Matchstick asked. “Because you don’t have your mark?”

“Yeah,” Sweetie said, her eyes looking down at her frosting-covered hooves. “Are you going to scold me?”

“Well, that depends… Can I have some of those?”

“Sure, I guess…” Sweetie hoofed a random cupcake to her.

Matchstick thanked her and took a bite. “Cinnamon. Nice.” The poor, defenseless pastry didn’t stand a chance... Only a few seconds later, the voracious predator that had devoured it was licking the last creamy remains off of her hooves while letting out a pleasured hum. “So, is that why you’re not out there having fun? Because you don’t have your mark?”

“Well, yeah… What about you, misses Matchstick?”

“Me? I’m just taking a break. I’m not used to big crowds… Also,” she said while trying futilely to hold back a big yawn, “I’m not used to be up at this time of day. You really shouldn’t sulk on your own, though...” The dark mare sighed and tousled Sweetie’s mane. “I know it’s a drag to be a blank-flank at a cuteceañara… Believe it or not, my little sister got her mark before me.”

“Really?”

“I’m not kidding. She’s a year younger than me. At the time I thought it was just… humiliating, you know?”

“So, what did you do?” Sweetie asked.

“I was a real bit– Er… I was a pest to her. I even made a big scene at her party. It wasn’t pretty...” Matchstick lowered her head and shook it sadly. “If I could go back in time, I’d just slap myself… Anyway, what I’m saying is, you should try to enjoy the party. You wouldn’t want to get a cutie mark for being grumpy.”

Sweetie Belle harrumphed. “At least I would have a cutie mark,” she said. “I don’t even care what it is, I’m just tired of being a blank flank!”

Matchstick grabbed a cookie from the pile and bit on it. Sweetie heard the loud crunch even over the party noises. “You shouldn’t say that,” the mare said, her eyes looking into the distance. “You never know. What if you actually get a crummy mark?”

Sweetie stared at Matchstick, blinking a few times. “Is that even possible?” she wondered.

Matchstick turned her eyes back to Sweetie Belle, making the filly recoil a bit at her intense look.

“Can you keep a secret?” the mare asked.

Sweetie nodded yes.

“Okay, then,” Matchstick continued. “You keep this to yourself. When I got my cutie mark, I… Well, I hated it. Plain and simple…”

“You did? Why?”

“Do you know what these are?”

Sweetie Belle watched the cutie mark that Matchstick was pointing at. “These look like… horseshoes?”

“Close,” the mare said. “They’re called brass hooves. They’re kinda like hoof boots, except they’re made of heavy metal.”

“That doesn’t sound very comfortable…”

“That’s not the point,” Matchstick said. “They’re made to be very hard and very heavy. That way, when you punch somepony, you can hurt them a lot more…”

“W–What?” Sweetie would have paled at that, had her fur not been white already. “That’s terrible!”

Matchstick chuckled bitterly. “Isn’t it? I thought so too… I guess I had always been fighting, but I didn’t want that to be my special talent. I was furious when I saw my mark. It wasn’t supposed to go like that…” She sighed. “As soon as I could, I painted my flanks black. Nopony knew I had gotten my cutie mark for months. Not even my family…”

Matchstick paused. She took her eyes off Sweetie Belle, looking in the distance at nothing in particular. “It took me a while to really get used to this.” She patted her flank again. “For a while, I just thought I was supposed to roll with it. I was a mean girl, back then. Kicked a lot of tails, punched a lot of teeth…” She sighed again.

Sweetie swallowed her saliva with some difficulty. “Y–You don’t do that anymore, r–right?”

A small, brittle smile appeared on Matchstick’s muzzle. “No, not anymore… I’m not the smartest pony around, so it took me a while, but I finally figured something out... My destiny isn’t to be a thug. Not if I don’t want it to be.

“So, I’m supposed to be a fighter?” she said with an eerie grin. “I’ll be a fighter. But I still get to pick my fights. And here’s something I’ve learned: you can’t win every time, but some things are worth fighting for, no matter what. You just find one and you never, ever give up. Always get back up, always try again and find a way to win…”

Matchstick faced Sweetie and stared in her eyes with an intense expression. “You’ll find your destiny, Sweetie Belle. Don’t worry. But always remember this: you’re not your cutie mark. Nopony is. In the end, that...” Matchstick said, pointing a hoof at her flank, “is nothing but fur.”

Rainbow Dash dropped her glass on the table and wiped her muzzle with a foreleg. She had to give that much to Pinkie Pie: she knew how to make some incredibly tasty punch. As long as she didn’t let her pet alligator inside the bowl, at least. Rainbow turned around and was only a bit surprised to see Pinkie Pie’s face taking most of her field of vision. The rest of her was hard to see, since due to her very limited definition of “personal space”, the pink mare was almost touching noses with Rainbow.

“Hey Dashie! Having fun?”

Rainbow smiled and took a half step backwards before answering. “Of course, Pinkie! Your parties are the best!” Many of the guests had already left, since it was starting to get late in the afternoon, but the ones still there made it up with enthusiasm.

“Thanks!” Pinkie answered with one of her impossibly wide smiles. “I do try my best.”

“Heh heh. Well, I think Scootaloo won’t forget her cuteceañara anytime soon… I have to admit, even mine may not have been quite as cool. It was pretty close, though.”

“Ooh! I wish I could have been there,” Pinkie said. “I wish I could have planned it! How great would have that been?”

“Totally awesome, I bet! Hey, maybe you could have held Fluttershy’s party, too. She got her cutie mark at the same time. That party was kinda… slow.”

“Oh, that’s right, she got her cutie mark when you did your sonic rainboom… And so did Rarity, Twilight, Applejack and me…” Pinkie Pie seemed to think intensely for a moment, until she made a gasp that lasted for at least three seconds. “I’ve just had the greatest idea!” she shouted. “What if we had an anniversary for our cutie marks? We could have a big party for the six of us. A cuteceañiversary!”

Rainbow laughed eagerly. “I don’t know about the name, but that does sound like a cool idea.”

“I got to tell the others! Now!”

By the time Rainbow had finished blinking, Pinkie was already gone. How that mare could move faster than her was a mystery, but one that Dash knew was best left unexplored…

Shaking her head at her friend’s antics, she looked around Sugarcube Corner, trying to decide on what to do. She had her fill of food and drink at the moment and didn’t feel like playing a game. The dance floor seemed like the best choice… but a little orange filly stopped Rainbow before she even had the chance to take one step.

“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo jumped in the air, buzzing her tiny wings like an overexcited bee.

“Easy, squirt. I’m here! What do you want?”

“It’s my cuteceañara! You’ve got to do me one favor, right?”

“I don’t know if that’s how it works,” Rainbow answered with a chuckle, “but I guess I can do that. What do you need?”

“Can you take me with you while you do a sonic rainboom? That would be the coolest thing! Ever!”

“Whoah, whoah! Slow down, squirt,” Rainbow said, holding up a hoof defensively. “A sonic rainboom?”

“Yes!” Scootaloo said, bouncing up and down. “Please?”

“I’ve never tried a sonic rainboom while carrying somepony. I’m not sure I could make it… And a failed rainboom, for somepony who can’t fly… well, that wouldn’t end well.” Dash felt a pang of guilt when she saw the excitement vanish out of Scootaloo instantly. She put a hoof on the filly’s shoulder. “Come on, don’t make that face. I can still take you for a flight if you want. I know tons of other stunts!” She lowered herself. “Hop on!”

Scootaloo grinned and leaped onto Rainbow’s back. The world-class athlete that she was managed to keep a straight face despite the very hard and sharp hooves scraping all over her while Scootaloo made herself comfortable... For such a little filly, she was surprisingly heavy, making Rainbow wonder how many cakes she had managed to stuff inside her tiny stomach… or if Pinkie had been experimenting with some kind of lead-based recipe.

“Ready?” Dash asked. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Scootaloo nod and, with a powerful flap of her wings, raised above the ground-bound crowd. Before anyone had time to complain about her flying indoors, she aimed for an opened window and bolted out of Sugarcube Corner.

Rainbow Dash started simple, with a vertical climb until they were above the few clouds littering the sky. “Hang on!” she shouted over the sound of the rushing wind. When she felt Scootaloo’s hooves tightening their grip on her, she tilted back and back and back... until she had done two full loops, ending up flying at high speed less than a meter off the ground in a narrow street. She angled up just in time to fly over a passing pony and raised high above the town.

Rainbow looked around for a moment, then grinned and pumped her wings. She darted straight towards a bank of clouds, accelerating for all she was worth. The two pegasi went on a direct collision course with a large nimbus, gaining more speed with each second. Rainbow felt Scootaloo holding onto her even tighter.

She sped up.

“Rainbow!” Scootaloo yelled when they were only a couple seconds away from crashing into the cloud. Her ride only accelerated.

One second and a half later, Rainbow Dash kicked her left hooves out and angled her left wing at the same time, gritting her teeth in pain when the air suddenly pulled on her side. Her right wing clipped a tiny tuft off of the cloud, but she managed to avoid it nonetheless. Her new trajectory headed straight for another cloud, though…

Within the next minute, Rainbow banked, rolled, dove and climbed at a rate that was hard enough to follow for an observer on the ground and close to impossible to imitate for any other pegasus. When the last part of her improvised obstacle course was cleared, she angled herself up, aiming straight at the sun, then went back down into a spiralling dive.

Rainbow allowed herself a few seconds of fun with her Super Speed Strut before finally landing, right in front of the door to Sugarcube Corner.

She puffed her chest automatically before asking: “So, what did you think, squirt?” No answer came for a few seconds, prompting Dash to look over her shoulder.

Scootaloo’s eyes seemed to be stuck wide, just like the big, demented-looking grin on her muzzle.

“Heh. The word you’re looking for,” Rainbow said, smirking smugly, “is ‘awesome’.”

“Again!” Scootaloo shouted, making Rainbow wince at the loudness.

“Sorry, kiddo,” she answered with a chuckle, “but that’s it for now. There’s still a party going on.”

“Aww…”

“I think there are some presents for you,” Rainbow said in a totally casual “it’s-no-big-deal” tone. The effect, as expected, was immediate and Scootaloo, in a rather impressive display of speed of her own, disappeared inside the pastry shop.

Rainbow Dash followed her at a more reasonable (but obviously still pretty fast) pace. Inside, Scootaloo was easy to spot in the middle of the remaining guests, considering she was bouncing and buzzing in the air like a drunk bug.

“Of course you get presents, silly!” Rainbow Dash could hear Pinkie’s voice even over the music and other general loudness. “Here you go!” Out of nowhere, the pink party planner pulled out a large, paper-wrapped box, complete with little bow on top. Scootaloo instantly pounced on it. She held the gift with a completely mesmerized look for a second or two.

Then, she began gnawing and tearing through the neat wrapping like a starving timberwolf. Rainbow hardly had time to get closer before the paper had been completely destroyed.

Inside, a pair of brand new, dark brown saddlebags were waiting. Scootaloo pulled them out of the cardboard box slowly, letting out a little “ooh” of admiration while she watched the shiny, flawless leather, running a hoof on its smooth surface a few times. The clasps on each side were decorated, as was tradition, with replicas of the filly’s cutie mark. The tiny, metal and enamel winged wheels shined as bright as the ones on her flanks.

“Check inside the bags,” Pinkie whispered to Scootaloo after a long, silent minute of staring.

The filly quickly responded, undoing the buckles and opening the flaps, then pulling out…

“A book,” Scootaloo said flatly. “Thank you, Twilight.”

“How did you know?” Twilight Sparkle said, looking genuinely surprised.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, once again unable to decide which was more surprising: the level of her eggheadedness or the fact that she seemed completely oblivious to it.

Twilight cleared her throat. “This is the most complete treatise I could find on wheeled transportation. It’s by Grace Track,” she added with a smug look. Seeing how everypony shrugged or stared blankly at the mention of that name, she groaned and muttered a disappointed “never mind.”

“It’s about driving and stuff,” Rainbow told Scootaloo. “I’m sure it’s worth a look.”

“Thanks again, Twilight,” the filly said, giving the princess a warm smile that was enough to stop her mumbling about how everypony should know who the greatest carriage designer of the last century was.

Scootaloo reached deeper into the bags and found a small satchel. She quickly opened it and saw an assortment of wrenches, screwdrivers and other various tools.

“Apple Bloom said you’d need tools for your fancy new scooter,” Applejack told her, tousling her little sister’s mane. “Ah think you should be set with those.”

“Thanks!” Scootaloo chirped before digging for more. The first bag being empty, she opened the second one and pulled out a large, hard and round object… “Huh… What’s this?” she asked.

“It’s a helmet,” Rainbow said. “You need something stronger than your old one to go with your new bike.”

“Cool! Wait…” Scootaloo’s face scrunched up for a moment. “Does that mean I can ride my roadster again?”

“You’d look kinda weird wearing the helmet alone,” her mother said with a chuckle. “So I guess that’s a yes.”

“Thank you!” Scootaloo jumped and clamped on Matchstick’s neck, hugging her tight.

“You’re… welcome…” she managed to wheeze out. “Thank… the others… too!”

As fast as she was, Rainbow Dash was helpless to avoid the crushing hug she received. It would have been bad enough without Pinkie Pie pouncing on the pair to add her own freakish strength... Knowing full well that there was no way to get out of it, Dash simply tried her best to remain conscious.

After the unwrapping and with most guests gone, the party went on in a more quiet and cozy fashion (much to the satisfaction of a certain shy pegasus), a gathering of family and close friends instead of a big celebration. It wasn’t until Princess Celestia was about to lower the sun that everypony finally agreed that it was time to leave.

When Rainbow Dash headed out, she found Matchstick waiting near the door, waiting for Scootaloo who was still inside and thanking everypony one last time.

“Great party, huh?” Rainbow said, trotting near the dark-coated mare.

“Wha–?” Matchstick twitched and looked around her frantically, her eyes finally settling on Rainbow Dash. “Oh. Sorry, I think I fell asleep… You were saying something?”

“Just saying that this party was great.”

“It sure was,” Matchstick answered with a smile. “Pinkie Pie really is the best when it comes to this.”

“Oh yeah!” Rainbow grinned and looked up the sky dreamily. “I can’t wait for my birthday. I just know it’s going to be extra awesome! What about you? Do you have anything to celebrate soon?"

Rainbow waited a while for an answer. When none came, she took her eyes off of the night's first stars and back to Matchstick. The mare was standing stock still, staring down one of the many streets that surrounded Sugarcube Corner.

"Hey! Matchstick? Are you with me?"

"What?" She looked back at Rainbow, her face looking paler than usual and her eyes wide. "Uh… Sorry. What were you saying?"

"You okay?" Rainbow asked. "You look like you've just seen a ghost..."

"I... Never mind," Matchstick answered, shaking her head. "I thought I saw somepony, but I was mistaken."

"Somepony?" Without waiting for an answer, Dash took off and flew over the area Matchstick had been staring at. Less than ten seconds later, she landed back next to the her. "There's a stallion I've never seen before. Unicorn, dark coat... He has a big patch of white fur down his forehead. Is that the guy?"

Matchstick stared at Rainbow for a long moment before she finally answered, slowly. "No. That's not who I thought it was. It's getting dark, I didn’t see clearly..."

"Really?” Dash asked, raising an eyebrow. “Who did you think it was, then?"

"Nopony important."

Rainbow stared at her. "You looked awfully spooked for 'nopony important'."

"Drop it, Dash," Matchstick said, her tone turning darker.

"Hey! I'm just trying to help y–"

"I don't need help," she answered sharply.

“Help for what?” a familiar little pegasus’s voice asked from behind the two mares. Dash and Matchstick turned around to see Scootaloo, standing on Sugarcube Corner’s doorstep, her head tilted to one side.

“Nothing, Scoots,” her mother answered. “Are you ready to go home?”

“Do we really have to? It’s not that late…”

Matchstick looked at the sky, where the moon was rising fast, thanks to Princess Luna. She then simply stared at her daughter, not saying a word.

“Fine,” Scootaloo mumbled. She turned to Rainbow. “Goodnight, Rainbow Dash,” she said in a much chipper tone. “Thanks for coming!”

“Are you kidding?” Dash laughed. “I wouldn’t have missed that for the world.” She patted the little pegasus on the back. “Now you’ve got an awesome cutie mark, you got an awesome cuteceañara… You have to make sure you keep up with the awesomeness, okay?”

Scootaloo beamed. “Maybe I’ll catch up with you!”

“Heh. Don’t get carried away, squirt.” Rainbow smirked. “But with that kind of goal, you’re sure to go far.”

“Come on, big shot,” Matchstick said while wrapping a foreleg around Scootaloo’s shoulders. “It’s time to get some rest.”

“Aww… I’m not even tired yet.”

Matchstick yawned so wide that even the hoof she held in front of her mouth failed to cover it. “Well, I’m tired for the both of us,” she told her. “Goodnight, Dash,” the mare said, giving Rainbow a nod.

“Goodnight,” Rainbow answered. “If you need anything–”

“See ya,” Matchstick cut her off and walked away, waving a hoof.

Rainbow Dash could only stand there, frowning, watching her and Scootaloo walk away in the night… Matchstick appeared to be in good spirits, listening patiently to her daughter chattering about the party, her talent and a thousand other things a minute. Before long, the two had disappeared in the darkness, leaving a silent Rainbow Dash behind, trying hard to figure out what was going on with the dark mare.

A few questions ran in circles in Dash’s mind, failing to find an answer… Was Matchstick hiding something from her past? Everything Rainbow had learned until now was rather vague and most of it had come from her husband rather than her. Was she uncomfortable with it? Or was there something darker buried in there?

“You’re uncharacteristically quiet, Rainbow… Is something wrong?”

Dash’s head whipped about, bringing her face to face with Twilight Sparkle. The princess was watching her, a touch of concern in her expression.

“Nothing much,” Dash answered with a shrug. “I was just thinking…”

“Just thinking? That’s unusual for you,” Twilight said teasingly.

“Hardy har, Twilight.”

“I’m just kidding,” she answered in a giggle. “But more seriously, is there anything you’d like to share?”

Rainbow Dash hummed in thought for a second and gave her lavender friend a look. Twilight simply sat on the ground and smiled, her wings shivering a little, apparently still not under her complete control. “Maybe,” Rainbow finally answered. “You’re the expert on friendship, right?”

“I wouldn’t really say I’m an expert, but–”

“So, if a friend is keeping some secret, do you think I should try to find out what it is?”

“Hmm… What I’ve learned,” Twilight said with her typical lectury tone, “is that real friends don’t need to keep secrets from each other. But I wouldn’t say you should pry. Ask your friend to be open with you, instead.”

“I don’t know… That might not work.”

“Well,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “Do you really think it’s important? Is it worth risking your friendship over it?”

Rainbow shrugged. “It feels like something’s bothering Matchstick, but she won’t talk about it… She won’t even think about letting me help her.”

“That reminds me of Applejack,” Twilight said. “That applebuck season when she tried to harvest every tree in Sweet Apple Acres by herself…”

Rainbow Dash cringed as she remembered the painful crash on Twilight’s balcony that had ensued. “How did you get her to come around?” she asked, rubbing her jaw where it had hit the wood on that day.

“I didn’t do anything,” Twilight answered. “Eventually, she realized that she just couldn’t do it on her own. You can offer your help, but you can’t force anypony to accept it.”

“So, you’re telling me to wait and do nothing?” Rainbow Dash asked, rolling her eyes. “I think I’ll figure out something else,” she said. “Good night, Twilight.”

“Good night,” Twilight Sparkle said with sigh. “Please don’t do anything you’ll regret,” she added.

With a half hearted “sure,” Rainbow took to the air and headed for her home, a good night’s sleep sounding like a good idea at the moment. Even then, she kept her eyes opened, just in case she might spot a mysterious stallion wandering the streets…

"... and she said Twilight Sparkle will give her lessons on magic," Scootaloo said excitedly. "Isn't that awesome? Do you think she could do what Twilight does? Do you think she could teleport? Teleportation must be so cool!"

Walking next to her, Matchstick chuckled a few times. "I don't know much about magic," she answered. "I haven't seen many unicorns teleporting, though... Maybe it's really difficult."

"Well, Sweetie is pretty smart. I'm sure she could do it..."

Matchstick simply hummed in answer, unable to talk due to a massive yawn.

Scootaloo wondered why she wasn’t more excited about the idea of teleportation, since being able to just pop out anywhere at anytime had to be one the most awesomest things ever…

“Hey, mom?” the little pegasus asked. “What did Rainbow Dash want to help you with?”

Matchstick paused for a second. “Nothing,” she answered. “It’s not important, Scoots…”

“Why do you look so upset?” Scootaloo frowned a bit. “Rainbow Dash can take care of anything. Why wouldn’t you want her help?””

The mare sighed. “I can take care of my own problems,” she said in a low voice.

“But you don’t have to,” Scootaloo retorted. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

Matchstick took a moment before answering. “Friends can’t always help you,” she said quietly. “Even if they want to, sometimes, they just can’t. There are some things you have to do by yourself, Scoots…”

“A– Are you sure?” Scootaloo scrunched up her muzzle in thought. No matter what, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle had always found a way to help. From simple homework to getting their cutie marks, they did almost everything together…

“Hey. Don’t worry your little head about this,” her mother said. “Everything’s fine.” Matchstick smiled and tousled Scootaloo’s hair, then paused before quickly combing it back in place. “You look good with your mane trimmed like that.”

“Thanks,” the filly answered automatically, although her mind wasn’t really paying much attention to the compliment, more focused on her mother’s previous words.

Scootaloo and Matchstick walked silently through the town. A few stragglers were hurrying back home, but Ponyville was already mostly asleep. A quiet little town, already hidden by the darkness of the night. Above it, the magic city hanging on the massive peak was plainly visible. Canterlot seemed so close that Scootaloo could just reach up and touch it...

And yet…

Scootaloo sighed...

When the two ponies reached their modest home, Matchstick unlocked the door and came in. Scootaloo followed inside the unlit room and was about to head up the stairs when her mother interrupted.

“Hang on for a moment,” Matchstick said, fumbling around the darkened living room. “There’s something you should see, if I can just… Ah, there we go.”

She turned around, a firefly lantern held in her mouth and walked near Scootaloo. The filly simply stared at her, wondering what to expect. Matchstick gestured for her to follow through the back door. Scootaloo entered the garden, bare as usual except for meager grass and a lone holly tree.

“Over here,” Matchstick said around the lantern’s handle.

Scootaloo followed her pointing hoof and saw a metallic glint in the shadows. Both ponies walked closer, the lantern’s light dancing on chromed wheels and handles and…

“My roadster!” Scootaloo shouted. “It’s back!”

“Of course it is,” her mother said gently. “Look closer…”

Scootaloo leaned forward. The wheels looked the same as she remembered. So did the handlebars and the frame… No, there was something different there. Her eyes widened when she spotted a familiar image painted on a wide part of the bike’s metal frame. A picture of a wheel adorned by wings…

“My cutie mark? But how…”

“My gift for you,” Matchstick said. “I couldn’t bring it to your cuteceañara… Now that scooter is really yours.”

The filly looked up at her mom, her eyes shimmering (and totally not watering up). “Thanks mom! This is… This is the greatest present I’ve had today.”

“Aww… I’m glad you like it, my little baby.” Matchstick leaned down to nuzzle her daughter.

“I’m not a baby anymore,” Scootaloo protested (but still nuzzling her mom back). “I’ve got my cutie mark. I’m a grown up now.”

Matchstick laughed a little. “Of course, of course. You’re a big filly…”

“So, can I ride it now?” Scootaloo asked with the biggest smiles and puppy eyes she could make.

Sadly, her mother had years of practice at resisting her adorableness… “Not in the middle of the night, Scoots. You’ll have to wait for tomorrow.” Matchstick yawned again, so wide her jaw seemed like it was about to fall for a moment. “Let’s get some rest now.”

Scootaloo yawned in return. “Alright,” she eventually said. “Then, as soon as the sun goes up...”

Matchstick nodded and wrapped a foreleg around her daughter. Without warning, she hoisted Scootaloo up and placed her on her back. She carried her inside and climbed the stairs, heading for the filly’s bedroom, then all the way to her bed, where Scootaloo jumped into the inviting sheets.

“Mom!” she whined when Matchstick started to bring the covers up. “You don’t have to tuck me in… I told you I’m not a baby.”

“You’ll always be my little foal,” the mare said, earning an exasperated groan from Scootaloo. “Maybe I should sing you a lullaby?”

“Moooom!”

Matchstick giggled. “Okay, okay, no singing.” She still allowed herself to kiss her daugher on the forehead. “Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up, Scoots. Being an adult isn’t all that great, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Just–” she paused to yawn once more. “Just thinking out loud…” Matchstick simply watched her daughter for a while, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Mom?” Scootaloo asked quietly. “Are you… sad?”

“Oh, I’m fine, thanks for asking.” Her mother gave her a smile and brought her head right next to hers, nuzzling her ear a little. “As long as I have you… I’m fine,” she whispered.

Scootaloo yawned too and dug herself a little in her bed. “Thanks, mom...”

Matchstick didn’t answer. She didn’t move either. Angling her head to the side a little, Scootaloo saw her mother’s head resting on the bed, with her eyes closed and breathing slowly. The filly gave her a little kiss on the cheek.

“I love you too, mom,” she whispered before closing her eyes. “Good night.”