Iron Mare: Armored Adventures

by Joker the Hedgehog

Rating: teen
Tags: Anthro, Alternate Universe, Adventure, Crossover
Length: 5360

Rainbow Dash uses her Iron Mare armor to save Dash International from itself.

Meet Rainbow Dash, teenage genius and heir to the throne of Dash International, the company her father built, which uses over half of Rainbow's inventions. But, Rainbow's destiny is about to take a little detour when the plane she and her brother are on crashes, killing Rainbow Blaze and leaving Rainbow without wings and giving her a heart condition. Using a high-tech suit of armor to save Dash International from itself, Rainbow Dash becomes… the Iron Mare!

Inspired by the cartoon series Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

Co-written with:VampDash

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-08-29 20:58:30 UTC

Plane Crash

The following day, Rainbow Dash was getting ready to go with her Dad on his private plane over to the testing grounds in the San Palamino desert. Already she was visualizing her Dad's expression when he saw her wearing the Dash Exosuit, which would allow personal flight and protect miners and archilogogists while they worked deep underground.

Although, there was something bothering her... The suit had "weaponizable" written all over it. What was it her father had said about weapons?

Weapons don't fix problems, they create more, recalled Rainbow. Rainbow shrugged off her worries. Worst thing that could happen was that she'd have to scrap the suit. Then she'd move on to the next project. Such was the life of an inventor.

Well, I suppose I'd better meet Dad at the air field, thought Rainbow. She looked around the room, checking for anything she'd forgotten. Then she left for the air field.

Little did she know that her life was about to change forever...

~

Upon arrival at the air field, Rainbow saw someone she didn't expect. A certain griffoness she'd been friends with since Flight Camp.

"Gilda? What are you doing here?" asked Rainbow.

Gilda jumped as she turned around to face Rainbow. "Holy Faust, Rainbow! You scared me!" she said.

Rainbow put her hands on her hips. "Granted, but that doesn't answer my question. Why are you here?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, well, I did some research on my ring, and it looks like you were right. Turns out there's five of these... makuluan rings. But, I still don't know where they are... save for one, which I'm about to aquire very... soon," said Gilda as she looked out at the Dash International private jet.

Rainbow started to feel a little awkward. "Well, okay... I gotta go get on Dad's plane," said Rainbow.

Gulda wheeled around. "You're going where?!" she cried out.

Rainbow Dash was taken aback by Gilda's exclaimation. "Uh... I'm going on my Dad's plane to the testing sight to see the Earth Movers..." said Rainbow.

“Oh uh… well I-I hope you enjoy it.” Gilda stammered as she gave a nervous chuckle. Rainbow just raised an eyebrow but before she could find out what was making her friend nervous she saw that she was about to be late.

“Oh well. See you around Gilda!” Rainbow said as she ran off. Gilda smiled and waved but once Rainbow was out of sight she pulled out her cell again and punched in a number.

“Yes Mistress?” A voice asked at the other end.

“Abort the mission! My friend is gonna be on that plane!” Gilda shouted at the phone.

“Impossible Misress. The bomb has been planted. We cannot stop it. If you want to say good-bye to your friend now is the chance.” The voice told her. Gilda started to panic. She had just sent her friend into a death trap with no way to escape….. except one.

‘No… no I won’t put it on. I… I can wait.’ She told herself but even that seemed doubtful and besides, It was just one time.

~

"All righty, now, we've got a while before we reach the site where we found the ring," said Blaze. "So, tell me, what's got you all excited?"

"Well, sit tight and I'll show you. This new toy might just be my crowning achievement," said Rainbow as she got up and went to the back room.

No sooner had she gone than did Blaze hear a whoshing sound from behind him.

What in the- thought Blaze, before he saw what was behind him.

He tried to grasp how it made it on board but standing behind him was a Griffon wearing black armor with some yellow coloring in certain areas. The helmet seemed to have to prongs sticking but not like a beast. If anything the prongs almost made the helmet seem like a crown and it had two white spots where the eyes normally went. It’s hands were clawed but Blaze saw on the right one the unmistakable look of a makulaun ring.

“Where is she?”The Griffon asked him.

“Rainbow? I don’t know and even if I did I wouldn’t-”

“I don’t have time for games. In a few seconds a bomb will go off and I don’t think you and your daughter want to be here for the explosion. Now tell me again. WHERE. IS. RAINBOW. DASH?”The Griffon demanded from Blaze.

"What do you mean, a bomb? Who'd put a bomb- Blueblood... of course," muttered Blaze.

"Uh, yeah, sure, let's go with that, but I'm serious, I need to find Rainbow Dash-" said the Griffon, but was cut off by Rainbow's scream.

"Dad! One of the engines just blew up!" yelled Rainbow.

“No… I don’t have much time, Blaze.” growled the Griffon.

Unfortunately, the worst possible thing happened. Some of the embers from the destroyed engine found its way into the other one, causing it to start to catch fire, before it too exploded.

And then things went from bad to worse. The whole plane started to rumble despite them not hitting turbulence. Blaze assumed that Rainbow would be safe where she was but instead she heard a cry of pain.

“AAAARRRGGHHHH!” Rainbow shouted in pain.

“RAINBOW WHAT’S WRONG?!” Blaze shouted as he tried to get up only to lurch forward, thanks to the shaky plane, and fall back.

“MY…. MY WINGS ARE BROKEN! AND IT FEELS LIKE MY HEART IS ON...OH, SHIT! I'M HURT PRETTY BAD!" yelled Rainbow.

"CAN THAT TOY OF YOURS SAVE YOU?!" yelled Blaze.

"YEAH, BUT, WITH AS BAD AS I'M HURT I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG I CAN LAST!" yelled Rainbow.

"THEN TAKE IT AND GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" yelled Blaze.

"BUT, DAD-" said Rainbow.

"NO BUTS! JUST DO IT!" yelled Blaze, before he turned to find the Griffon... gone.

Please, Faust... make sure Rainbow is okay... even if I'm not around for her anymore, prayed Blaze, before the plane hit the ground...

~

Meanwhile, down on the ground, the Griffon, or to be more accurate, the Mandarin, was kicking the ground and discharging energy blasts.

How could I be such a fool! I should've known Rainbow would be on that plane! thought Mandarin.

Looking up at the sky, The Mandarin thought she saw something... some kind of metal pony with rocket boots.

Could that be...? No, it can't be... she's gone. I've killed my best friend... and to make matters worse, Blaze didn't have the ring! Now what do I do? thought the Mandarin.

Still, I guess it can't hurt to check it out.

The Mandarun then took to the skies in pursuit of the metal pony. It was pretty fast, but thanks to the ring, she could fly much faster than she could without it.

Mandarin pulled up to the metal pony. It seemed to be some sort of red and golden robot.

Whoever built this must be the smartest pony in the world, thought Mandarin who then smirked under her helm. I think Rainbow’s gonna be just fine but I'd better disappear before somepony rightfully decides to pin the plane crash on me.

With that the Mandarin took off, leaving the metal pony behind...

Six Months Later

Rainbow Dash groaned as she opened her eyes. It had been six months since that plane crash. The plane crash that had resulted in the amputation of her elegeant, beautiful wings, the severe damaging of her heart... and the death of her father.

A pulsing blue light was blinking around the room. Rainbow looked down at the navy colored sports bra she was wearing. Surgically attached above her breasts was a pulsing blue orb of some kind. It was a special designed pacemaker to help keep her heart beating called the ARC Reactor. Granted she had to recharge it every so often, but it was either that or die. There was something else the ARC Reactor powered, but it was something Rainbow was keeping close to the chest.

Rainbow sat up in her bed. Six months ago, this wasn't her room, but rather a guest bed room in the Sparkle home. The worst part of it was now that her father wasn't around, she had to go to real school. Luckily, it was the Tomorrow Academy, the very same school that Gilda and Twilight went to.

"Rainbow! Breakfast is ready!" called Twilight's mother, Twilight Velvet.

"Okay! I'll be right down!" called Rainbow.

And with that, Rainbow Dash got up, got dressed, and headed downstairs.

~

"Hey, Rainbow!" said Twilight Sparkle as Rainbow made her way to the breakfast table, now garbbed in her signature outfit, only now there weren't any wing holes, since Rainbow no longer had wings, of course.

"Hey, Twilight.” Rainbow said with a small smile as she sat down. Twilight raised an eyebrow before she saw the date on the calendar.

“Oh um….. how did you sleep Rainbow?” Twilight asked nervously.

“Me? I slept the same as always. Awesomely.” Rainbow said with a smirk as bowl of cereal was placed in front of her.

"Okay, you two, once you've finished up breakfast you can head over to Dash International. Then off to school," said Velvet.

"You got it," said Rainbow Dash as she cast a sad look at her cereal.

Velvet placed a comforting hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "Don't worry, Rainbow. It'll be just fine," she told Rainbow.

“Thanks Mrs. Velvet.” Rainbow said as she began eating her cereal.

~

Deep in a cave buried inside a mountain rested the lair of a legendary and infamous group of thieves, assassins, and saboteurs. The group consisted of mostly pegasi or griffons and were named The Tong but they themselves pale in comparrison to their master. A criminal named  The Mandarin based on the title of ancient Griffonese lords that once ruled the land.

"My lord, you wished to see us?" said a Tong member.

"Yes. We have at long last located the second Makulaun ring. It seems that a fool named Obidiah Blueblood has it. We must... relieve him of it," said The Mandarin.

The foot soldier paused for a moment. "But, my lord... I thought you knew this already. After you tried to rescue Blaze and his daughter-" said the soldier.

"What? I did no such thing... unless-"

“You didn’t father. I did.” A voice said from the shadows. The two turned to face the location of the voice and saw a tawny griffoness walk out from it.

“..... leave us.” The Mandarin ordered his soldier who nodded and returned to his post. “You dare take the ring from me without conesnt?”

“I didn’t DARE anything Shen Long. I just DID. You were taking your sweet time with your little empire you didn’t even notice your single ring missing so I… took it out for a test drive and found another ring.” said Gilda who was looking rather smug before The Mandarin stood up and walked over to her.

“I see.. and where is this… second ring then?” The Mandarin asked in a polite manner but Gilda could tell that there was venom in his voice.

“I-I couldn’t… find it there was too little time-”

“You’re so weak.” The Mandarin said before slapping Gilda into a wall. "Face it, girl, you will always be weak, and you will never know what true power is! Now, if you'll excuse me, I must attend to Mr. Blueblood."

With that, The Mandarin walked off, leaving his step-daughter, who had a black eye, behind.

I'll never know what true power is, eh? Well, we'll just see about that... once I have all five rings on my claw... well, I'll be the one to show you what true power is, thought Gilda. But first, I must get to school.

~

“Remind me again why I thought this was a good idea?” Rainbow said as they stood in front of a rather tall imposing building.

“Because you said, and I quote, ‘that big headed son of a nag isn’t going to control my father's company’. Or something along those lines.” Twilight said casually.

"Right..." said Rainbow Dash as she walked into the building to find the place had a totally different  atmosphere than she remembered.

Back when Blaze was in charge, the Dash International building had a more hopeful and optimistic impression. Now, with Obadiah "Prince" Blueblood in charge, it felt like a third world dictatorship.

Your reign isn't going to last forever, Blueblood, thought Rainbow.

As if on cue, a security guard stepped in front of Rainbow. "Rainbow Dash, right?" he said.

"Yeah," said Rainbow, thinking she was about to get the boot.

The guard smiled, much to Rainbow's dismay. "Yeah, Blueblood thought you might stop by one of these days. He said to bring you to him if that was the case," he said.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" said Rainbow.

With that, she and the guard made their way to the CEO's office.

~

A few moments passed and they soon arrived at two familiar huge doors.

"Hey, Fluttershy," said Rainbow.

Fluttershy whimpered and muttered, "Mr. Blueblood will see you now."

Rainbow entered Blueblood's office, where Blueblood was in the middle of a vid-phone conference.

"Tell them to begin the repurposing. You have my authorization as CEO," said Blueblood as Rainbow sat down in the chair across from him.

“But sir-” the voice started before Blueblood ended the call.

"Ah, Rainbow. Good to see you. I'm truly sorry that we didn't have time to talk more after your father's funeral. It hit everypony so hard," said Blueblood.

"Hate to break it to you, but this is my office you're sitting in. My father told me that when he was gone, I'd be running this company, not you. This isn't what he wanted," said Rainbow.

Blueblood smiled. "You're so right. This isn't what he wanted for you at all. He wanted you living with the Sparkles and going to school like a regular young mare. Trust me, you take the reins now, you'll be bored to tears in a month," he said.

"Well then, in that case I want everything my father and I worked on back," said Rainbow.

"Sorry, Rainbow, but I can't do that even if I wanted to. It's company property," said Blueblood.

A buzz came from the intercom. "Mr. Blueblood, your sister is here," came Fluttershy's voice.

"Which one?" asked Blueblood.

"The high-school one, Rarity," said Fluttershy.

Blueblood took a sharp intake of breath, his hand moving instinctively towards his wallet.

On that hand, Rainbow saw something: her father's ring.

"I'm glad we had this talk, Rainbow, I'll see you again when you're 18," said Blueblood.

"Come on, Rainbow, let's go," said the guard, who escorted Rainbow out of the building.

The Iron Mare

"Look at it this way, Rainbow. In two years you get to fire him anyways," said Twilight.

"Yeah, I guess you're right... so, do we really have to do this... this school thingy?" said Rainbow Dash as she and Twilight entered the Tomorrow Academy.

"Duh, of course we do! Besides, my mom is a lawyer, remember? If she found out we skipped, she'd cream us. Kuh-reem us," said Twilight.

Before Rainbow could argue, she bumped into a handsome white pegasus with a dark blue mane and tail.

"Oops, sorry," said the stallion as he continued on his way.

Rainbow watched the stallion as he left."On second thought, maybe I should give school a shot," she said.

~

As it turned out, school was a lot more fun than Rainbow thought it would be. By the time she reached last hour, she had solved the "hardest" math problem in the world, explained her "Dash Chart," and pointed out that the physics textbooks were out of date.

"So, what now?" asked Rainbow, eager to show off her smartness some more.

"Well, I have Equestrian Literature, and you have a free track. Why don't you go check out the roof? Some of us used to have lunch up there. I'll pick you up after class," said Twilight.

"Yeah. Okay," said Rainbow, who was feeling kind of bummed out.

~

Up on the roof, Rainbow Dash looked out solemly at the Dash International tower. She closed her eyes and started to cry a little. She really missed her Dad, and now that son of a nag Blueblood was going to turn the company that should rightfully be hers into a weapons factory.

"You used to work there, didn't you?" said a female voice from behind Rainbow.

Rainbow gasped and turned around. Sitting on top of a rack behind her was a pink teenage earth pony mare with a bushy pink mane and tail wearing a light blue jacket, a white shirt with a pink heart on it, a pink skirt with the image of three balloons on it, and light blue boots with pink bows on the top.

"Uh... how did you know that?" asked Rainbow.

The mare took a deep breath before she continued talking, "Your name is Rainbow Dash, well, Rainbow Jennifer Dash, and you're like, super-duper smart, and you lost your dad in a plane crash about six months ago, your Dad was Rainbow William Blaze, he was the CEO of Dash International and he taught you almost everything you know ever since your Mom..." the mare seemed to note that she was getting into sensitive turf. "Sorry," she said.

"And you know all of this... how?" asked Rainbow.

"My Dad is part of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division task force that's investigating Obidiah Blueblood after your dad's 'accident,' He had the most to gain from it," said the mare.

Rainbow's jaw dropped. If this mare wasn't just making this stuff up, and if S.H.I.E.L.D. was investigating Blueblood about her father's death... could it be...?

"Oh, my name's Pinkie Pie, by the way," said Pinkie, before she slid off the rack and made her way through the door leading back to the school.

~

Right after school that day, Rainbow told Twilight everything Pinkie had told her. The two made their way to a compound directly across from the Sparkles' that Twilight's parents had been maintaining for Rainbow's dad.

"Are you sure that Pinkie didn't have a kind of crazy look about her?" asked Twilight.

"Between her crazy manestyle and her hardly shutting up, I'm not entirely sure," Rainbow admitted. "Here we are."

They had reached what was apparently a dead end. Twilight looked around. "You know, I don't think I've been in this wing before," she muttered to herself.

"There we go," said Rainbow as she finished imputting the code.

A hidden door moved aside, revealing a high-tech lab of some sort. Directly across from the door was some kind of launch device.

"This is the lab you've been 'fixing up?'" Twilight said in awe.

Rainbow pressed a few buttons on a nearby display console. From a rotating rack directly above the launch device, a grabber took an all-too-familiar suit of robotic red and yellow armor.

"Uh, Rainbow... maybe you should take what Pinkie said with a grain of salt. I mean, she's a wee bit on the crazy side," said Twilight as the launch device opened to reveal the suit.

"Crazy or not, I have to check it out," said Rainbow.

“Okay let’s just say that she’s right. That means that Blueblood is-”

“Is taking my father’s ideas and making them what they shouldn’t be.” Rainbow said sternly as she put her suit on.

“Okay fine. If you don’t want to listen to me I get it. So…. I’ll help out a little okay?” Twilight sighed. Rainbow smiled as her face was covered by the mask.

~

This... is... awesome! thought Rainbow as she flew high above the city streets. "Whoo-hoo!" she yelled, her voice somewhat distorted by the helmet.

"Rainbow, are you getting my feed?" Twilight's voice came through the helmet's speakers.

"Got ya, Twilight. Read you five-by," said Rainbow.

"Then you do know that you're about to crash into that building, right?" said Twilight.

"Huh?" said Rainbow, looking in front of her. Sure enough, she was headed right for a parking garage.

"Yikes!" said Rainbow as she made a hard right.

"You okay? How's the suit?" asked Twilight.

"It is just fine and dandy! Now, let's see what my old WEF Blueblood is up to," said Rainbow. She flew up to Dash International and tried to find a good spot for her to start downloading files. “Okay now…. AH! Here we are. Okay Twi I’m starting the down-”

“Rainbow are you hooked to the news feed?!”

“No? Why what’s going on?” asked Rainbow who was still downloading some data.

“There’s a train on a collision course for Dash International! Rainbow if that thing hits-”

“Oh dear Faust. That thing could kill everyone inside! Can you alert anyone?!”

“I’m trying but I can’t do anything… Rainbow you have to leave and stop that thing.”

“WHAT?! But Twilight I’m almost-”

“Rainbow what’s more important?! The lives of innocent people right now or your own bucking pride?!” shouted Twilight over the headset. Rainbow considered her options before making her decision.

“I can come back later for the data. Right now that train needs to be stopped.”

With that, Rainbow flew down to the tracks leading up to Dash International.

"All right, accessing Manehattan's Department of Transportation," said Rainbow as various bits of information scrolled across her Heads-Up Display. "Huh, that's weird. Track switches aren't responding. Guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

Rainbow flew down to the track intersection and began to push the rails onto an adjacent track. She managed to reroute the train just as it came overhead.

"Booyah! I just saved Dash International!" cheered Rainbow.

"And redirected the bull towards the china shop in the process," said Twilight.

"What do you mean?" asked Rainbow.

"That track you switched the train to isn't finished! Instead of crashing into Dash Tower, it's gonna crash into the middle of the city!" cried Twilight.

“OH COME ON!” yelled Rainbow as she flew after the train. After a few seconds Rainbow was flying right next to the train and noticed something strange. There was only one pony but he wasn’t dressed the same way that other employees were. In fact, he seemed to be dressed like some kind of ninja, the black jumpsuit, black mask, the whole thing.

Huh. Now why would ninjas want to blow up Dash International? thought Rainbow.

One thing was for sure, there was only one way to stop the train, but it was very, very, risky.

To Tartarus with it, thought Rainbow. She flew directly in front of the train and began pushing on it to try to stop it. While she did prepare for MOST of the pain a fast moving train would bring her she didn’t expect it to be THIS bad.

“Come on. Stop moving.” Rainbow grunted as the train kept pushing up against her. She tried using her thrusters but even that wasn’t slowing it down enough. She looked behind her and saw that the rails were about to end. NO! I WILL NOT LET THOSE INNOCENT PONIES DIE! Rainbow thought in her head.

Warning: chest implant power reserves depleted. Switching to reserve, said the suit's AI.

"I...WILL...NOT...GIVE...UP!!!" screamed Rainbow just before the train started to screech to a halt... with the front half of the train held high in her metallic hands. She looked into the cockpit only to find that the ninja from earlier had vanished into thin air.

"What the-? That looks like a... mare! Some kind of... Iron Mare!" said several ponies cried as they pulled out there cell phones and started taping. Rainbow, meanwhile, was busy trying to gently put the train back on the rails completely instead of putting it on the ground. It didn’t take too long but soon after three helicopters surrounded her after the train was put back.

"Excuse us, miss... Iron Mare, do you have a statement for the public?" a reporter asked through a megaphone.

Iron Mare seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, yes. I got boot jets, and you don't," she said, before taking off into the air.

~

A little while later, Rainbow Dash stood at her lab's interface station in her armor, minus the mask with a plug of some sort attached to her chest.

"Charging in progress," said an automated voice as Twilight Sparkle came in.

"Rainbow, you're all over the news! Or, at least Iron Mare is being called a hero," said Twilight.

"Then that's exactly what Iron Mare's gonna do. She'll save Dash International from itself. And maybe, along the way, I'll find out what happened to my dad," said Rainbow.

Rainbow Dash, Technology Genius

In the semi-darkness of a high-tech laboratory, we find a young anthro pegasus mare with a light blue coat, a rainbow-patterned mane and tail wearing a white shirt with a image of a cloud and a rainbow lightning bolt, a dark blue jacket, blue jeans, and black and white sneakers with a welding mask pulled over her face. This was Rainbow Dash, a 16-year old genius with a taste for technology. At the moment, she was finishing up on a red and gold suit of armor.

"And... done! What do you think?" Rainbow asked her best friend, Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight, who was an anthro unicorn with a lavender coat and a dark blue mane tail, both of which had a pink stripe, and was wearing a blue dress shirt with a pink bowtie, a purple skirt with a pink star on it, and purple boots that went up to her knees, walked over and looked at the armor.

"Colorful, but you know your dad's just gonna trump this. You two are like dueling evil geniuses," she said.

Rainbow smirked. "Ah, come on! One look at this armor and Dad will freak out. Why don't you come with me to show it to him?" said Rainbow.

"Nah. Some of us have to go to this thing called school," said Twilight.

"Yeesh, sounds like a nightmare. Well, I'll give you a call tonight and tell you how it went," said Rainbow.

"I'm holding my breath starting right... about... now," said Twilight.

Rainbow laughed. "Go on, get outta here. I've got to get to Dash International and show Dad the armor," said Rainbow.

And with that, the two friends left the lab, one headed for the Tomorrow Academy, the other for Dash International.

~

Home sweet home, thought Rainbow Dash as she entered the lobby of Dash International, the company her father, Rainbow Blaze, had built from virtually nothing. It was a high-tech wonderland... thanks to Rainbow, who had designed half of the place. She walked up to the desk and saw the pony stationed there. “Morning Fluttershy.”

“Oh um… morning Miss Dash.” Fluttershy stammered. She walked a little while before she came to two double decker doors that led to her father’s office. She placed her ear on the door and sure enough two ponies were arguing inside.

“I’M WARNING YOU BLAZE! THOSE EARTH MOVERS WOULD BENEFIT US IN MORE WAYS THEN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE!”

"OH. COME ON BLUEBLOOD! YOU WANT TO TURN THE EARTH MOVERS INTO WEAPONS! THE SOLE PURPOSE OF MY COMPANY IS TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO HELP PONIES! NOT BLOW THEM TO SMITHEREENS!" roared Rainbow Blaze.

"We'll just see about that... you're wasting good money trying to analyze that moku-whatever ring of yours," said Blueblood, before storming out of the office in fury, nearly knocking Rainbow Dash on her butt.

"It's Makulaun, you iron monger," grumbled Blaze as Rainbow walked in. "Oh, hello Rainbow,"  Blaze said, smiling at his daughter.

“Hi dad. I heard Blueblood in here so I figured to just wait aside and be a little nosy. you know usual stuff.” Rainbow said nonchalantly before her dad said anything.

“Cute Rainbow. You know one day that snooping is going to get you in trouble you know that right?” Blaze asked his daughter who just rolled her eyes.

“Oh please dad. When have I NOT been careful?”Rainbow challenged to which Blaze responded quickly.

“Well there was that one time with the tesla coil and the potato-”

“Eh…. besides then?” Rainbow asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Then there was that… what did you call it? An… Awesome Android?” Her father asked reminding Rainbow of her failure with a few scraps of metal and a concrete block.

“Okay yeah so I am a LITTLE careless at times but other than those I’ve been really careful!” Rainbow whined to her dad who just sighed.

“I know you can be careful Rainbow but-” before Blaze could continue his phone rang. “Excuse me Rainbow. One moment,” He told her before picking up the phone. “Hello?”

“Yes um… Mr. Blaze sir there’s a Griffon down here-” Fluttershy started before Blaze interrupted her

“Tell him I’m busy.”

“Oh um… s-she’s not here to talk to you. She said her name was…. Gilda?”

“GILDA? SHE’S HERE! OH MAN THIS IS AWESOME!” Rainbow shouted as she overheard the conversation.

Blaze smiled. "I'll send her right out," he said before hanging up the phone. "Well, Rainbow, better not keep your friend waiting," said Blaze, only to find that Rainbow was halfway out the door.

Rainbow stopped and turned around. "Oh, Dad, before I forget, there's something I wanted to show you," she said.

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, why don't you come with me out to the testing grounds tomorrow and you can tell me all about it," he said.

"I'll be there, Dad," said Rainbow, before she left to go hang out with Gilda, her fillyhood best friend.

~

"So, how's the world's most awesome egghead been doing?" said Gilda, who was wearing a black leather jacket, a black shirt with a yellow Griffon symbol on it, black jeans, black boots, and a necklace that had a ring that looked oddly familiar to Rainbow.

"Aw, you know, same old, same old, working on some awesome new tech, trying to out-genius my dad," said Rainbow nonchalantly.

“Somethings never change huh?” Gilda asked as she fist bumped her friend. The two had been friends ever since Rainbow first entered a flying camp. Ironically she wasn’t the one being made fun of instead that torment went to Gilda. It seemed that every pegasus wanted to poke fun at the… little chicken.

“Come on chicken! Make some clucking noises! BOCK BOCK! BOCK BOCK BO BOOOOOOCK!” Was one of the more common taunts they said to her but it wasn’t long before Rainbow intervened and made sure everyone knew Gilda was not to be messed with as long as she was around.

"Say, Gilda, I've been meaning to ask. Where did you get that ring? Because I could swear my dad has one like it," said Rainbow.

Gilda smirked as she held up the ring, which had a purple gem with an ancient-looking symbol on it. "This old thing? It's an... old family heirloom. Handed down from mother to daughter and father to son. If I know my ancient Griffonese right, it says 'power' on the gem," explained Gilda.

"Huh. I could've sworn it looked just like a ring my dad found at a site where they were building a new factory... but, now that I think about it, Dad's ring was green, not purple," said Rainbow.

For a split second, Rainbow could've sworn she saw something like triumph in Gilda's eyes. "Is that so? Huh... as far as I know my ring is one of a kind... listen, I gotta get back to school, so, I'll see you around," said Gilda, before she took off in flight.

"Huh. What was that about?" muttered Rainbow, before she shrugged and headed for home.

~

Meanwhile, in the skies, Gilda could not have been in a better mood. She was on the brink of obtaining the second Maukluan ring. Only problem was that she needed to... relieve Mr. Blaze of the ring...

Luckily, I know somepony who can help with that little detail, thought Gilda as she pulled out her phone...