Some people wish that time would stand still. That everything would just stop, and never continue. Rainbow Dash has figured out a way to do just that. How? It's simple.
Eighth period math class. It was the last class of the day, but take it from her, that clock never moves. Especially on Fridays. It was if the world wanted to make sure she really earned her two days off. She stares more at the numbers on the analog than she does at her own paper. Her grades are a perfect mirror of this.
"Another F again, Miss Dash?" The professor said, holding the paper with the tips of his two fingers, as if it was toxic. Red ink was scribbled all over the impossibly difficult questions, as was most of her tests these days. Dash never looked up at the old, scraggly man, but there was nothing she could do to block out his voice.
"I guess." She said, staring blankly at the circled 43% at the top of the page.
"You'll never make it out of high school if you can't pass math class. You know you have to shape up, Dashie."
Dash internally cringed at the endearing name. As if he was her friend. The last person she would ever want to be friends with would be the man who dedicated his entire life to the world's biggest inconvenience.
"I'll try harder next time." She mumbled.
"That's the thing. You keep saying that, and the grades simply aren't there. You know, I've had people who were doing even worse than you are, but they managed to pull through just fine." The professor said condescendingly.
"Oh, really? And how did they do that?" She asked sarcastically.
"I was able to recommend them to one of our in-school tutors. They hold hour long one on one sessions with students after school. I think you'll really benefit from them. You know what? I'll call your parents right now, you can start today!"
Rainbow Dash's pupils shrunk, and she felt a panic attack coming on.
The day is so close to being over! Why did you have to bring this up right now?! She screamed inside of her head.
The bell rung, and she watched as all of her classmates left the room, and she started mentally begging that by some supernatural force, she could join them.
But nope, she had to sit through another full hour of math.
One.
Full.
Hour.
"The tutor should be in here shortly." The teacher said, leaving the room.
And sadly, this was true. An overly cheery female teacher entered the room, and stared at the only soul left in the classroom.
"You know, I'm not even supposed to be here." She said.
"Oh, don't worry. You'll learn to like it. We'll practice some word problems, help you nail some calculus, just you and me. It'll be a good time!" The tutor said.
That was quite possibly the biggest lie Rainbow Dash ever had the misfortune of having grace her ears. How much more of this could she take? The answer? She had passed that limit long before it had even started.
The torture went on, and on. Numbers assaulted her eyes, and nonsense her ears, and she couldn't take it any more. She was starting to sink her nails into the desk, almost breaking them.
"Alright, I'm going to get a bit of coffee from the break room. When I come back, I expect you to have finished at least three more problems, sound good?" She said.
Dash nodded, and buried her head in her arms. She was only about fifteen minutes in. But suddenly, she had an eureka effect. She looked at the window on the walls. They lead outside. To freedom. Sweet, sweet freedom!
She got up from her desk and stealthily tiptoed her way over to the window. She cracked it open just a bit, and then opened it all the way. She put one leg through the hole, and then the next. She easily slid her head and body out through the frame, and then looked back at the classroom.
To Dash's horror, the teacher walked in, rambling on about forgetting something. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the girl, and Rainbow's face looked like a deer about to be run over by a car. The two of them were frozen in their place.
"Dash... What are you doing?" She asked, nervously.
She didn't even have to think about her reply. She simply bolted away from the window. Running as fast as she could, she left campus, and ran all the way back home.
Rainbow casually made her way over to her house door, and knocked on it. Dash's father opened the door, and looked at her.
"So... How was study class?" He said.
"It was okay, I guess." She replied, nervously.
Thankfully, her dad wasn't the wiser. The dumb bitch hadn't said a word. She let out a sigh of relief, and ran up to her room.
Rainbow Dash was an only child, and her room contrasted the rest of the house. It was as if it was completely separate from it. White walls and hardwood floors were the norm everywhere else, but Dash's room was carpeted, had sky blue walls covered in posters of all her favorite bands, and a twin bed that still had an imprint of her body on it. But without question, the most spectacular part of Dash's room was her sound system. She had worked up 10,000 dollars, and she had the choice of either buying a junker car, or the sound system. For Dash, it was no contest. full surround sound and a subwoofer that nearly shook the whole house at full volume. Best part of it was the fact that she could plug her red electric guitar into the system and use the whole thing as an amplifier. As much as she wanted to pick it up and strum the world away, she could only play on the sound system when her parents were away. So as a substitute, she put her earbuds in and plugged it into her MP3 and cranked it up to full volume. She pushed on the volume up button in vain, trying to make the music louder, but to no avail. Even still, it was loud enough to block out her fathers screaming until he nearly kicked the door down.
"Rainbow Dash!" He yelled, ripping her earbuds out and shutting off the music.
"Hey, what gives?" She whined.
"You ran away from school?! You actually left your tutoring session and ran all the way here?! Stay in your room, and don't even think about coming out of that window either!" The father wrapped the earbuds around the MP3 player and put it in his pocket.
"This is so unfair! I don't even need tutoring! It's not like it'll help!" She complained
"Do not raise your voice at me Miss Dash!" He commanded.
"Or what? What are you gonna do?" She retorted in defiance.
The father took a pair of scissors and opened them, forcing them against the strings of her guitar, without even saying a word.
"No! Please! Dad, anything but that! Okay... I'll stop. Just... Don't touch my guitar. Please!"
The father pulled the scissors away, and then turned to face her. "And don't worry about running to school again. I'm driving you tomorrow." He said.
"It's Saturday tomorrow." She corrected.
"I'm well aware of that. You have a six hour Saturday detention to serve." He said, leaving the room and closing the door.
Dash started to breathe heavily, and then screamed into her pillow, nearly shredding her vocal cords in the process. It went like that all night, not even bothering to come down to eat dinner as she slowly dazed off into an angry slumber.
"You don't have to do this, dad." Rainbow pouted.
"Damn straight I do." He mumbled in response. "You think I want to drive you to school at seven in the morning on a Saturday for your shortcomings? Because I don't. I really, really don't."
The car ride was silent from that point on.
Entering the building, she couldn't bring herself to pick her head up from looking at the floor. Her dad only walked her to the suspension room, but stayed in the doorway.
She nearly vomited as she saw who the teacher was. Her sadistic tutor came back for another round. Wonderful.
"May I speak to you for a moment?" The teacher asked Dash's father.
The two of them left the room through the door. There were no other exits that didn't involve weapons-grade explosives, so as far as Dash was concerned, she was boxed in.
She looked around at her cellmates. A girl with fuchsia hair in the back row, and a black haired girl on the other end, still in the back.
"So... What are you in for?" Fuchsia girl asked.
"Escape attempt. Well, success. I guess." Dash responded.
"Ha. Seriously, though. What did you do?"
"I'm being serious. I had to stay after class for a one hour math tutor session. Left through the window."
"You're kidding." Black hair girl said.
"Nope." Dash replied, finally taking a seat in the middle of the two in the back row.
"What's your name?" Fuchsia girl asked.
"Rainbow Dash. And yours?"
Black hair girl answered this time. "I'm Krystal Waters. She's Flaky Fires."
"Flaky?" Dash joked.
"Can it, Lucky Charms."
The trio sat in silence for a small bit, the teacher had yet to return. "You know what I've been dying to do, lately?" Dash opened. When the two of them didn't answer, she answered anyways. "I haven't been able to play my guitar in over a week because my parents are home so often. It sucks."
Krystal's eyes opened up a small bit. "You play guitar? Huh. I play guitar too. Well, it's sort of a guitar, it's a bass."
"Oh, you two string nerds." Flaky said.
"String nerds? Is that even a thing? What do you play then?" Dash asked.
"She plays drums. And she's more than willing to tell you about it." Krystal answered.
Flaky nodded, and the three sat in a silence for a small while until Dash piped up.
"Hey... I have an idea. Flaky, if you play drums, and Krystal plays bass, and I play guitar... Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Maybe..." Krystal said. "Go on, spit it out."
The next sentence Rainbow said was one that more right than anything she had ever said before.
"Let's start a band."
The Battle That Started The War
Nothing more was said after the words left Dash's mouth. Flaky looked more surprised than anything, completely still and wide-eyed. Krystal, on the other hand, was trying hard not to laugh.
"A what?" She asked.
"A band. We have everything we need. Guitarist, bassist, and a drummer. It's perfect!" Dash exclaimed.
Flaky broke free from her trance to deliver her remark. "And let me guess, you also have a killer soul voice."
This pushed Krystal off of the edge, and she couldn't help but laugh out loud. Actually, she laughed a bit too loud. The teacher opened the door and stared at the three, who immediately became stoic. She then slowly closed the door, and the trio started whispering.
"For your information, yes, I actually can sing. Come on, guys, this is a good idea." Dash retorted
Krystal's lips curled into a smirk, and then took a deep breath before saying "Fine. Meet me at my house as soon as we get out of here. My parents won't be around, and my house is in a woodsy area. Bring all of your instruments and amplifiers, and we'll play in the garage. Sound good?"
The idea sounded perfect to Dash. Not only would they have a place to practice, but they would be able to play whenever they wanted! In fact, it sounded a bit too good to be true.
"What's the catch?" She asked.
Krystal's grin faded, and she began to explain. "I live on my own."
Rainbow was confused. "Already? That's awesome! How exactly is this a bad thing?"
"Well... What do you think a sixteen year old is able to afford in terms of housing?" She said.
"Little to none..." Dash mumbled. "How much space is it?"
"It's a garage attached to a kitchen, bed, and shower." She replied.
"Oh. So, what, like... four rooms in total?" Dash asked.
"It's actually all one room." Krystal looked down at the floor.
Flaky piped up a bit. "If everything fits, then I'll totally do it. Heck, I'll even bring some sheet music."
And it was settled. The teacher came in after a couple of minutes with a cup of coffee in her hands, and sat down at the front of the suspension room. The three watched the clock slowly tick by, and it was like math class all over again. In other words, Hell.
When the suspension was over, Rainbow Dash walked out of the room and immediately started talking to the girls again.
"I'll be there as fast as I can." said Rainbow. "Give me your phone numbers and text me the address."
The three all exchanged numbers, and Krystal texted the two of them. Saving the address, Rainbow Dash walked out into the parking lot, where her father was waiting.
"How was it?" He asked in a slightly mocking tone.
"Torture." She replied, aggravated.
"Good. Now Dashie, look. Considering how it was only an after-school study period and not an actual class, not to mention this isn't going to show up on your permanent record, I'm not going to ground you."
Her eyes lit up, and she hugged her dad, speaking almost directly into his ear. "Good... Cause I'm gonna need to borrow your truck when we get home."
The father gently pushed his daughter off of his chest, and looked at her. "What?"
"I need your truck. I'm going somewhere." She said.
"Why not just take the station wagon? It uses less gas."
"I need to bring my sound system and guitar with me. It'll be a one-time thing, I promise!"
The father sighed, too burned out to argue. He simply nodded, and let Dash hug him again before getting in the car. On the way home, her smile only widened. A dream was becoming a reality. Slowly, but surely. She knew it would happen.
As soon as she got home, she disconnected her sound system and stuffed it in the back of the truck as fast as she could. Had she not been more athletic than most, she probably would've needed help. Either way, when the deed was done, she picked up her guitar, and smiled. Finally, it would be getting some action. She put it inside her guitar case and zipped it up. Slinging it over her shoulder, she got inside the truck and drove off.
When Dash finally arrived at the place her GPS told her to go, and she was greeted with a small dirt road coming off of the poorer section of town. The dirt road didn't end suddenly, rather it slowly became less prominent, and covered in the yet to be decayed early winter leaves. When she got out of the car, she heard a stereo coming from the right of the road. Looking in that direction, she saw a small concrete building with a rusted metal garage door, side door, and a small "fence" made of corrugated sheet metal. The metal was so tarnished that it looked like they were giant BBQ Flavored Ruffles. Wavy black hair sat just above the metal, and the antenna of a stereo was next to her. Krystal stood up, and waved. She turned off the stereo, walking over to one of the corners and seemingly fell through the roof.
Dash drove up to the concrete building and stopped a couple feet away from the garage. A couple of clanking noises came from the side door before opening up. Krystal was standing in the door frame. The open door showed the two barrel-bolt locks that held the door in place. Dash peeked inside, and saw that the kitchen was just a table with canned food and a mini-fridge stuffed into a corner. The wire for the mini-fridge lead over to the other corner, which had a small open metal hatch and a ladder installed. The cord traveled up the hatch, and a quiet 'whirring' sound could be heard.
"What's that noise?" Dash asked.
"Gas generator. I got it off of Craigslist, same as the mini-fridge." Krystal replied.
"Aren't those supposed to be loud?"
"Portable generators are. This one's a standby. It can't be moved, but it doesn't disturb anyone, and I can easily sleep through it."
Speaking of sleep, Rainbow took note of her bed, which was just a mattress with a single pillow and three separate blankets thrown on top of it. The other corner was completely empty. It was just a large drain near the concrete.
"I thought you said you had a shower." Dash stated, wanting an explanation.
Krystal simply pointed towards the ceiling, where a shower head was visible.
"Talk about roughing it." Dash said, feeling sympathy for the girl.
"You get used to it. Anyways, come on. Let's haul that sound system on in here."
The next half hour was spent hauling in Dash's overly complicated sound system. The surround sound speakers came with their own hooks, and ended up being a bit easier to install on the ceiling. The other amplifiers and subwoofer were able to fit nicely around the main area of the garage, and there ended up being plenty of space left over. Dash brought her guitar case in, and unzipped it. She pulled the sleek, blue and white six-string out and held it in her hands.
"Nice..." Krystal said, admiring the instrument.
"Where's your guitar?" Dash asked.
"Oh, it's on the roof. I was just doing a bit of practice." She said, climbing the ladder and retrieving the case. It was made out of a polished wood, and was clip-locked. Krystal opened it up to reveal an orange-velvet interior, and a beautifully crafted four-stringed bass guitar encased in it.
"1960's Vintage Espana Bass Guitar. This thing is the best. It was the one thing that I chose to take with me when I moved out. And damn, it was worth it."
Rainbow took the time to admire the instrument before hearing a car honk it's horn. Krystal opened the garage door and saw a large SUV outside. Inside was the Fuchsia haired Flaky, who got out of the car and stared at the house.
"Jeez. You actually... Live here?" She asked.
Krystal nodded, and Flaky opened up the trunk of the SUV, hauling the drum equipment out. Rainbow ended up helping her, as the pearlescent red drumset had to have weighed at least a couple hundred pounds. When it was finally inside of the garage, and all the instruments were hooked up to the sound system, the setup looked quite...
"...Awesome." Rainbow dash said to herself.
"Tell me about it. I think you just increased the value of my house by 3,000 percent." Krystal said.
They all laughed lightly at the joke, and then assumed the regular positions. Dash front and center, Krystal on the right back, and Flaky on the left.
"You said you brought sheet music?" Dash asked Flaky.
The girl froze in place. She had forgot. "You see..." She started to explain. Dash groaned in frustration.
"I did bring something, though! It'll be our first gig. I mean, it's not much... but it's a start!" Flaky said, trying to redeem herself. She pulled out a crumpled up flyer out of her back pocket, and then opened it up."
What Dash and Krystal saw on that flier nearly made them cringe.
"The annual Canterlot High Battle of the Bands? Seriously? Do you honestly think that we of all people would be a welcome sight to the judges there?" Dash asserted.
"Or that they'll even let us play in the first place?" Krystal remarked.
"Girls, girls! Just... Calm down. Look, we can at least audition, there's no harm in that. It'll give us a bit of street credit and recognition from people who go there. I mean, seriously! what else do people go to music shows for other than good music, am I right?"
"Well, you have a point. But there are certainly other places we can perform our first gig, right?" Krystal asked.
"We have to face the facts. We're not even a band yet. We're not going to land big-time gigs in Las Pegasus or Stallion Square Garden... Heck, we don't even have a name!"
The three of them stood there in silence for a couple moments. "A name..." Krystal echoed. "Ooh! I have one."
The two others turned to the girl anxiously.
"How about we call ourselves... Fall Out Girls?"
"Nah. Too uniform." Dash retorted. "I'm thinking something along the lines of... I dunno, Panic at the Reggae."
"Too wordy. Abraham Field?" Flaky suggested.
"No, no... No! All of these are horrible. Stop spitballing, guys. Let's think. Where do you see our band heading?" Dash asked.
"In the future?" Krystal began. "I guess.. Loud shows, lots of smoke, cheering crowds. Our name in big, neon lights."
"Alright, sure, sure. Think of some other things. What describes us right now?" Dash kept going.
Flaky answered this one. "Rebels. Fighters. Ghetto. Rejects. Outcasts. Troublemakers... I'm not sure, really."
Dash's eyes lit up. "Say that last one again."
"What? Troublemakers?" Krystal answered for Flaky.
"Yeah! Okay, look. Err, listen. What's the opposite of a troublemaker?" Dash asked.
"Not us, that's for damn sure." Flaky joked.
Krystal thought about this for a moment. "Well.. the opposite of maker would be the breaker. And the opposite of trouble would be things like good, harmony, joy, pleasure, peace-"
"Peacebreakers!" Dash yelled, cutting Krystal off.
The three of them both slowly grinned at the name. It was perfect. Descriptive, catchy, and original.
"So... we're all in agreement?" Dash asked the two.
"We'll be the Peacebreakers." Krystal said.
"Yeah. Peacebreakers. I like that. We will call ourselves the Peacebreakers." Flaky announced.
"And we are going to play the shit out of the Canterlot High Battle of the Bands."
