No Harm

Rainbow Dash didn't meet his gaze, and instead took an odd interest in the sugarcubes on her pancakes.

They ate in relative silence, with nothing but the gentle shuffling of plates and eating utensils.

"I had a dream that you did something horrible," Rainbow Dash blurted out. Her eyes began to burn and she felt them brim with tears. Quickly, she hid her face from her father and shook her head angrily. She could not bear to let him see her cry.

"Huh, what?" Rainbow Blaze spluttered, his eyes widening with utter confusion. "W-what did I do? Dash? Dash?" he asked more forcefully when the filly did not respond. Rainbow Dash flinched and

"No, no, Dash I'm sorry," Rainbow Blaze cooed in a more gentler tone. "Just tell me what's wrong. I won't be angry, I promise." And still the filly didn't reply, still holding back the small hiccupping sobs that were now racking her tiny body. "

Without warning, Rainbow Dash turned on him.

"You touched me, okay!" she snapped, and to Rainbow Blaze's despair, her voice was strangled with

"You touched me...and I told you to stop. But you didn't--you actually hit me and told me to stop crying. I--I was scared. You'd call me these...horrible names. I can't--" she sucked in a long, shuddery breath "--I can't tell you what."

Rainbow Blaze stared at her with a mixture of shook and revulsion. How could his daughter have heard such a thing? Was it--

It clicked in his head. Of course, she had heard...

"This is about the filly and her father a few days ago," Rainbow Blaze whispered, "isn't it?"

Rainbow Dash sniffled and gave a small nod. For what seemed to be hours (although it was really a minute), of silent staring, neither of them stopped looking at each other. Rainbow Dash could feel her heart beating rapidly as each second ticked by, but Rainbow Blaze's face was contemplative and nothing else.

What could Dad be thinking? Rainbow Dash wondered fearfully. Would he hit her like he had in the dream? Right on her right cheek, as he had done in her sleep? Would he make the dream come true?

"Dash..." Rainbow Blaze's voice trailed off and morphed into a heavy sigh instead. Wordlessly, the stallion unfurled his wings and stretched--they were large, beautiful wings that seemed to cover the entire sky. One wing encased itself around Rainbow Dash, but the filly did not shy away like she had done earlier. Instead she tensed up, anxiously waiting for her father's next move.