Never Slow Down

by JunkerRabbit

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sad, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Other, Tragedy
Length: 5574

Rainbow tries and ultimately fails to run from her past.

"You can run, you can't hide."

Ponies everywhere know this old saying. To some, it is a cheesy line used in movies when the writers are feeling lazy. To others, it's a moral to live by and heed.

To Rainbow Dash, it's a lie.

She's done too many things wrong, and can never bear to face the consequences of her actions. She must always keep running. She must always stay away from her past.

And she must never slow down.

(Art by the talented Cryptid-Creations)
(Made for Kirbs2002's Fanfic Contest on the My Little Friends subreddit)

Published 2012-08-20 01:14:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-20 01:14:01 UTC

Never Ever Ever Slow Down

NEVER SLOW DOWN

“Are you okay, Rainbow?”

Rainbow Dash was snapped out of her own thoughts of her fillyhood and back into the real world. She looked at the pony from whom the concerned voice had come from. It was her friend Twilight, a gifted unicorn mentored by Princess Celestia, and the librarian of the town her most recent home had been established.

Rainbow’s eyes then darted around the table to her friends Pinkie Pie and Rarity, who were both slurping different fruit smoothies they had purchased at the café they were having lunch at. Next, the blue pegasus looked town at the table in front of her, where a sole daisy sandwich with only a few measly bites in it, accompanied by some crumbs and loose daisy petals.

Pushing the daisy sandwich away from her slightly, she managed to say, “Yeah, sorry, I’m fine. Just a bit under the weather.”

“Silly Dashie!” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle from across the table, “We’re all under the weather! All the weather’s way up there!” She pointed with a hoof to the sky, which was dotted with fluffly white clouds of all sizes.

“Pinkie, it’s a figure of speech,” Rarity elxplained.

“Oh.”

“It means the Rainbow Dash here needs some cheering up from her good friends,” Rarity continued, looking at Rainbow with caring and sympathetic purple eyes, “What seems to be the problem, darling?”

“Oh, nothing in general, just you know . . .” She paused to think of the right word, “. . . Stuff. You should probably just be talking about before.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and said, “We were talking about the new steam engine. Quite frankly, the conversation was running itself into the ground.”

“Oh, that’s plenty interesting,” Rainbow quickly said, “I’d love to talk about that!”

“Really.”

“Mmhmm.”

“So you’re interested in the steam engine on the Friendship Express?”

“Yup.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes in skepticism. “Well, then, tell me,” She said, “What components make up said engine?”

“Uh . . . Erm . . . You know . . .” Rainbow Dash said nervously, “Wibbly wobbly . . . Trainy wainy . . . Stuff.”

“Oh, come on, Rainbow!” Rarity said, “What’s eating you?”

“Nothing’s eating her, Rares! At least, nothing I can see!” Pinkie said with a confused look.

“Figure of speech.”

“Oh. How many does that make?”

“Twenty-seven this week. Maybe if you got a book with a bunch of metaphors . . .”

“That’s not important right now, Rarity!” Twilight interrupted, “Something is making Rainbow Dash not Rainbow Dash, and we need to find out what! Now come one, Dash! Tell us! We’re your friends!”

Rainbow Dash remembered the last time her old friends said that. “Listen,” She started, “I was just thinking about my earlier years, and some of the bad times I had.”

“You mean like when you and Fluttershy were bullied during flight camp?” Pinkie asked.

“No, after that,” Rainbow corrected.

Rarity blinked twice. “Darling,” She said, “You’ve hardly told us anything else about your fillyhood. What else was there?”

“N-nothing,” Rainbow Dash stammered. A lie, obviously. “I gotta go,” She said quickly, bolting off into the clouds above.

“What’s up with her?” Twilight thought aloud.

Pinkie looked at Twilight and said, “I think Fluttershy’s falcon was doing some flying earlier, but aside from the clouds, not a lot.”

Rarity sighed, “Figure of speech.”

“Oh.”

“I do believe that’s a new record, Pinkie.” Rarity pulled a notepad covered in tallies from her saddlebag. Using her magic, she picked up a quill and put down three new tallies and the words ”New Record”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The damp clouds pierced Rainbow Dash’s squinted eyes and stung them as she bolted through them with incredible speed. She didn’t dare look back.

She kept flying, with only one location in her mind: Home. Or, at least, what she was calling home at that moment in time. Where she had to live could change at any time, and while she could have sworn she could forever be safe in Ponyville, something had transpired that day that made her very, VERY unsure that she would remain safe for much longer.

Rainbow had just been minding her own business, helping Applejack with watering the Apple Family’s expansive orchard of apples, when she saw a dark gray shape in the distance, growing larger by the second until it was right in front of Rainbow Dash herself.

“Thunderlane?” Rainbow Dash said with a frown, “I thought you were on duty! What are you doing here? Those clouds won’t corral themselves, you know.”

Thunderlane glanced around with a nervous look (as per usual Thunderlane) and responded to Rainbow, not able to keep eye contact, “Um . . . Yeah, about that. Something came up. Something real big. Could I see you for a second? Alone?”

“I hate to break it to ya, but I’m busy here already. You, know, with my job? Like you should be?”

“Listen, Dash . . .” Thunderlane stammered, “It’s about those clouds. I really need you for a second.”

Rainbow Dash groaned and flew over to Applejack, who was busy feeding the pigs at the barn. “Hey, Applejack?” The blue pegasus called to her friend from a little ways away, causing Applejack to turn, “Thunderlane needs to talk to me about something. You okay with me leaving for a little bit?”

Applejack gave a smile. “Course, sugarcube!” She called back, “You’ve been workin’ plenty hard!”

After thanking her friend, Rainbow flew back towards Thunderlane, who then directed her to the outskirts of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash looked around.

“There aren’t any clouds here, Thunderlane,” She said, turning to the pegasus stallion, “What did you bring me all the way over here for?”

All of a sudden Thunderlane changed his posture, morphing from the timid and cautious pony that he usually was to a mischievous, bold stallion with an unnerving grin. “Now, now, Miss Dash, I didn’t really bring you here on any weather duty,” He chuckled, suddenly speaking in a Trottinghamian accent, “How should I know the first thing about weather and clouds?”

Rainbow Dash recoiled from surprise at Thunderlane’s odd question. “What are you . . . Thunderlane, you’re one of the top pegasi on the Ponyville weather team. I’d say that you know a feather-ton about weather and clouds.”

“Oh? Am I really still fooling you?” Thunderlane smirked, “Allow me to clear a little something up for you.”

All of a sudden, the pony before Rainbow crouched down and then sprung up into the air, encasing itself in a billowing sphere of bright, neon-green fire. As the flames dispersed into the name nowhere they had come from, a different creature was occupying the space inside of it. Instead of Thunderling, it was a changeling. It sported an eye patch over one eye, while the free eye looked at the startled Rainbow Dash with much glee.

“Changeling!” Rainbow gasped. She flew straight at the shapeshifter and pinned him down on the ground. “Why are you here!? Where’s the real Thunderlane!? How long have you been impersonating him!? I want answers, you overgrown bug!” she shouted.

The changeling was not fazed in the slightest why the attack and interrogation. It simply chortled as it explained, “Don’t worry your little pony head, Miss Dash. Your dear Thunderlane is safe and sound at our facility. We only just switched me with him, and we plan on wiping his memory and dumping him back here once we obtain what we want.”

'We?' Rainbow thought, confused. She shook the feeling off and retorted, “Oh, yeah? And what exactly do you need?”

The changeling arched an eyebrow. “I thought it was perfectly clear at this point. We need . . .” it paused mid sentence to teleport out from under Dash. It leaned in close and whispered in the pegasus’s ear:

“You.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash flew and flew and flew as fast as she could across the sunny skies of Ponyville. She reached her cloud house and wiped the sweat off her brow. She opened the door and flew inside, where she could be alone for as long as she wanted.

Of course, when Rainbow Dash wished to be alone, she was hoping for a place with no other ponies. The cloud house not only had that, but it had been stripped of every single little piece of furniture. She gawked and gaped at the barren room around her. She called for Tank, but got no response. She flew into her kitchen. It was the same as the first room. Whatever had happened there had even taken out her stove, oven and sink! She flew into her living room. Nothing. She flew into her bathroom. Nothing. She flew into her bedroom. The only thing there was a small yellow note with writing on it. Rainbow Dash didn't recognize the handwriting. She picked it up and read it.

"Dearest Miss Dash,

I regret to inform you that we have taken all of the possessions you hold dear, your turtle included, and locked them up tightly in our facility. Feel free to come get them back at any time you wish, and pray we don't move on to taking actual ponies.

-MC ♥"

Rainbow crumbled up the note and threw it on the ground in fury. A soft growl emitted from her throat, and her eyebrows bore a painfully deep scowl.

Those dolts had officially crossed the line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flying from Ponyville to Cloudsdale didn't take very long by flight, and it was especially short if you had extra motivation for flying faster.

Reaching Cloudsdale in a matter of minutes, Rainbow Dash looked around. Cloudsdale was the same as it always was. Young pegasus foals flew through the cloud rings that littered the air while they laughed at their grounded piers, who sniffled and cried in anger at their inability to join them. Buff stallions in hardy uniforms carried heavy construction equipment, repairing, demolishing and building the snow-white buildings throughout the city. Fiery mares shot down younger stallions that attempted to hit on them, bringing physical pain that wasn’t nearly enough to teach the young love hunters a lesson.

But Rainbow Dash didn’t have time admire her hometown. She needed to get to a certain building. She found it quickly, sadly knowing the path to it by heart. It strongly stood out from the other buildings, with its odd, cubic architecture that would’ve been more at home somewhere like Manehattan. Preparing herself, Rainbow Dash charged at the front doors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The double doors of the ivory building flew open with abrupt force, revealing a blue pegasus with her forehooves out to either side, and a bitter scowl of a million wildfires across her face. She breathed heavily from the fast flying, but it didn’t stop her from shouting, “WHERE’S SHROOMS!? HUH!?” She looked around at the several startled pegasi in the reception area of the building, frozen from the surprise visitor’s sudden entrance. Rainbow pressed her face right up against a smaller member of the crowd, barring her teeth. “You! You know!” She flew up and eyed the crowd panoramically. “ONE OF YOU HAS TO KNOW!”

“My, my, that was fast. I didn’t think you’d spring to action so quickly, Miss Dash,” A familiar voice chimed. Rainbow Dash swiveled her head hastily and narrowed her rage-filled eyes when she saw the owner of the voice.

“You . . .” She growled at the changeling she had encountered just a few days ago, “I don’t think I ever caught your name. I’m gonna need to know it for when I’m labeling your dead body on my mantle.”

The changeling only chuckled at the threat that the blue pegasus had made, opposite of the faces the rest of the crowd were making. “Come now, Miss Dash.” He beat his insect wings and started flying slow circles around the furious intruder. “You and I both know that’s a beyond empty threat. You’re too much of a coward to do anything remotely that nasty to anypony.”

“You aren’t a pony,” Rainbow said through gritted teeth.

“This is true. But anypony is a figure of speech. You know what I meant, and the bluff remains just that. Anyways,” Doing a flaunty loop-de-loop and sticking his chest out, he announced with a bold grin, “I am General Artifice. You can call me Arts, though. Pleasure to meet you.” He rested his chest and casually held out his hoof, dotted with small cavities like all changelings’ hooves, in good manner. Rainbow Dash forcefully smacked the hoof away. She wasn’t here to make friends.

“Where is Shrooms?” Dash repeated.

“Oh, he’s thataways.” Arts pointed down one of the several hallways.

Rainbow Dash gave the nonchalant changeling one last scowl before quickly flying off in the direction he had pointed in.

Rainbow Dash was in quite the door-slamming mood. She ripped the office door right off its hinges and threw it in the direction of the army-green pony on the other side. The pegasus stallion simply turned around to face the intruder, and gave a chillingly calm and pleasant smile at her arrival.

“Good afternoon, Colonel. How have you been faring?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

”But have you seen it from THIIIIS angle!?” Rainbow Dash asked her friend.

“Yes, Dash,” Gilda said with an eye roll, “We’ve all seen it. From every possible angle. I swear, you ponies get way too worked up about those Sweetie Marks.”

“Cutie Marks,” Rainbow corrected.

“Whatever.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t really care that her friend was mocking pony culture yet again. After all, she was from a totally different country, studying abroad in Equestria. The griffon had already made countless mockeries of pony behavior before. Dash was back to admiring the cutie mark she had earned a week ago. The cloud emitting red, blue and yellow striped lightning was cooler than the pegasus filly could have ever dreamed.

Meanwhile, a little ways away, two stoic gray pegasus stallions in matching suits and sunglasses observed Rainbow Dash from afar.

“Yeah,” one said in a deep, monotone voice, “She’s the one that caused the upset last week. I’m sure of it.”

“Well that’s a disappointment,” the other remarked in an identical voice, “She’s too young for us.”

“Don’t be so sure, brother.” The first one peered through the binoculars he was holding. “Exceptions can be made.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What can I get you, Miss Dash?” The green stallion asked warmly, “You look tired.”

“Save it, Shrooms,” Rainbow snarled, “You and I both know why I’m here. You’re not sucking me back into this hellhole.”

Shrooms put on a theatric look of hurt that was intentionally beyond fake. “Why Miss Dash, I thought you would be more happy to see me!”

“CUT THE BULLCRAP, YOU HEARTLESS MANTICORE!” Rainbow snapped, “I WANT TANK AND THE REST OF MY STUFF BACK!”

“Oh, is that his name?” Shrooms leaned back against the wall of the room. “Tank? You named your pet after a tool of war?” He chuckled slightly. “It’s good to see you haven’t changed a bit, Nukes.”

“Don’t you DARE call me that,” The blue pegasus hissed, “I am not a part of this place anymore. Not after what you did to me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

”So what is this place?” Rainbow Dash asked the two identical gray pegasi that towered at her sides as they walked through the ivory building that the two had insisted Rainbow enter with them after they snagged her out of flight school undetected.

“You are at the Academy for Gifted Athletes,” An army green pegasus said as he approached the three, “AGA for short.” He turned to the two gray ponies. “You two may go now, I can handle it from here.”

Rainbow Dash was relieved when the pegasi in suits gave stiff salutes and retreated into the building. Something about them was unnerving. She looked at the green stallion that had excused them. He smiled warmly at her.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash. My name is Caption Mushroom Cloud,” He said with a smooth voice that couldn’t possibly belong to a creature that meant the slightest harm. It relaxed the small blue filly.

“How do you know my name?” Dash asked, “And why did those two pull me out of flight school?”

Mushroom Cloud’s smile grew wider and more kindly. “We’ve been watching you, Rainbow Dash. We know how you feel about flight school. We know that you feel underappreciated; a diamond in the rough.” He leaned in closer. “We know that what you feel is the truth.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes grew wide. “Really?” she asked with wonder.

“Really. This school is for the top athletes in all of Equestria. And we want you in here.”

Rainbow bounced up and down. “AWESOME! What do I do first?”

“Well, first you’re going to need a codename like the rest of us. And I think I have the perfect one for you.” He reached into his camo saddlebag and pulled out a small badge. “Welcome to the Academy, Rainnuke.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash snapped to attention at the sound of the harsh, blaring whistle tweet.

“ATTENTION!” A buff pegasus stallion shouted at the line of young ponies, “ROLE CALL! PRIVATE ENIGMA!”

“Here!” A charcoal-gray colt shouted back.

“PRIVATE SPEARHEAD!”

“Here!” A bronze filly responded.

“PRIVATE SANDVICH!”

“HERE, CAPTAIN!” An overweight brick-red colt yelled.

“PRIVATE RAINNUKE!”

Rainbow Dash gave an eager jump. “Here!” She shouted.

“ALRIGHT, YOU LITTLE WIMPS! DIVEBOMBING PRACTICE! YOU ARE GOING TO FLY THROUGH THESE CLOUD RINGS, AVOIDING THE TENNIS BALLS LAUNCHED BY THOSE TURRETS, AND CRASH INTO THAT TARGET DOWN BELOW! GO!

One by one, the young pegasi leaped off the edge, flew through the rings, danced around the turrets’ missing fires (with Spearhead going as far as to blow a mocking raspberry at one of them), and plummeting down to collide with the target below. When Rainbow’s turn came, she launched into the air with glee. Being at the AGA had been the greatest thing to ever happen to her! As she tucked her wings in, she dived downwards at the target. What she didn’t expect was the explosion that happened afterwards, causing a spectral shockwave to emit and blow back the other three privates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

”You’ve done very good, Major Decibel,” Mushroom Cloud said from his office chair, softly knocking his forehooves together. His back faced the buff pegasus in his office, who was still in shock from the incident that had occurred that day.

“I honestly didn’t realize that this would happen!” Decibel said, “Do you know what she can do for us!?”

“Nothing, Major.” Mushroom turned to face Decibel. “Nothing yet. She’s still too young. She must be further molded. But you are right. There are many things she will do for us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright, Colonel Rainnuke!” Mushroom Cloud Said to the teenage pegasus mare before him as they cruised the skies above the vast sea in one of the AGA’s many airships, “Do you know what your mission entails?”

“Yes, sir, Captain sir!” Rainbow Dash said pluckily with a salute, “When the city of Hiroshimare is directly below this vessel, I drop down and pull of my signature Tactical Rainnuke!”

“Correct! And do you remember why?”

“Of course, Captain! The entire country of Japony has done unspeakable acts of wrong and has declared war with Equestria! The vermin need to be taught a lesson!”

“Excellent!” the Captain said with a grin whose menace was lost on the young Colonel. “The Japonese deserve this in every way shape and form! Remember that well, Colonel! Good luck, and may Celestia be with you!”

Rainbow gave one final nod before pulling down the pair of goggles and donning her aviator’s cap (which she still found looked rather silly) and looking down at the ocean far below them.

For the past year of her five years she had spent with the Academy, Japony had been sending more and more vague threats of declaring war on Equestria for reasons nopony quite grasped. Captain Mushroom Cloud had jumped at the first sign of aggression and showed a strong hatred for the Japonese. It was reasonable in Rainbow Dash’s eyes. In the time she had spent climbing the Academy’s ranks, she had seen many shining examples of the Captain’s immeasurable patriotism towards Equestria. If Japony, or anywhere else in the world, were to declare war, then it was only expected that Mushroom Cloud would wish to defend against all attackers. It was still unknown to Rainbow Dash, however, why the Academy for Gifted Athletes was in charge of the assault on Hiroshimare and not the royal guard. Nopony really expected a reason further than ‘Princess Celestia sent a letter telling the Academy to’ (which she had), but a small few, Rainbow included, were still curious and unhappy about being in the dark.

Rainbow nevertheless brushed most of the lingering curiosity off when it arose from the depths of her consciousness. Because the Academy shut itself off from the rest of the world for the most part, this was simply one of the many things Dash would have to live in ignorance of in return for being at the Academy. And it was certainly a trade she was willing to make. She still believed the training, attention, respect and glory she received on a daily basis far exceeded anything the outside world had to offer. She had long forgotten about Fluttershy, Gilda and the rest of her friends from flight school.

As Japony’s land mass came into view from above inside the zeppelin, Rainbow Dash’s mind started to psyche itself up.

“Here we go!” Captain Mushroom Cloud shouted from behind her, “On my count!”

The world around Rainbow Dash slowed as the moment of truth neared.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

Rainbow licked her lips in anticipation.

“GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!” Mushroom thundered! Rainbow leaped off of the aircraft and plummeted down to the grounds below. Because the was facing down, she could see her Captain above cackle victoriously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside the darkened office, late at night while all the Academy’s soldiers-in-training slept, two creatures sat opposite each other in plush chairs, their bodies illuminated by a sole lamp that blazed as it sat upon the wooden desk between them.

“The time is almost here, my friend,” The first creature, monochrome griffon with an eye patch murmured darkly.

“Indeed, it has. The wretched insects that oppose us will crumble beneath our hooves, thanks to our new recruit,” The second creature, an army green pegasus stallion replied with glee.

“I still wish it didn’t have to come to this,” The griffon managed sadly.

The pegasus slammed his hoof down on the desk. “Why do you say that, Stratos!? They deserve no remorse! Their broken government refused the execution of the Cult of Screwball members, even after their attacks on Diamond Harbor!”

“Remember that it was only a small few who took the principles of the religion too far. What you wished was for all that follow Screwball’s teachings to die.”

“Why do you defend them, Stratos!?”

“I am only giving you an explanation as to why the government of Japony refused your demands, Mushroom. I still wish you had not swept me up in this ridiculous scheme of yours to declare war on all of Japony.”

“Don’t call it a scheme. That makes it sound harebrained.”

“Why couldn’t we just mourn our losses and move on with our lives?”

“What they did was beyond forgiveness! I cannot let go of what they did, and I am in awe that you can!”

“They did not set out with the intention of making us both orphans, Mushroom.”

“That’s beside the point. In one week’s time, the long awaited strike will be returned, thanks to Miss Dash.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash looked around victoriously from her crash site at the hundreds of Japonese ponies in panic from her strike. Many lay injured around her from the blast. Some of them were even dead. She couldn't understand a thing they were saying, as she didn't know Japonese, but she assumed they were shrieking in terror and defeat, saying things like, "Curse those Equestrians and their superior weaponry!"

"Ha! Serves you sickos right!" She called triumphantly to nopony in particular, "That should make you think twice before messing with the awesome land of Equestria!"

"What is the meaning of this, you brute!?" A voice shouted from behind her. Rainbow turned around to see a Japonese unicorn mare with a golden coat and a long, jet black mane. "Well!?" It demanded.

"How . . . How come you're not speaking in Japonese?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, for Screwball's sake. I am an ambassador! I can speak any language I want! Now answer me! Why have you decided to bring ruin to our peaceful city!?"

"Peaceful? HA! Because declaring war on Equestria for no friggin reason is something all peaceful countries do!"

"WAR!?" The ambassador shouted, "WHAT ROCK HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER!? WE'VE BEEN IN A PEACEFUL STATE WITH EQUESTRIA FOR LONGER THAN I CAN REMEMBER!"

"But . . . Everypony at the Academy said . . ."

"Wait," The ambassador stopped Rainbow Dash mid-sentence, "Academy? PLEASE tell me refer not to the Academy for Gifted Athletes!"

"That's us!" Rainbow said proudly.

The ambassador looked like she was going to be sick. She shouted something in Japonese that calmed the citizens down and left them confused, and then turned to Rainbow. "I believe you should come with me, miss."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WHAT RE YOU SAYING!?" Rainbow Dash shouted in disbelief at the five Japonese officials, among whom were the ambassador Rainbow had met earlier and the mayor of Hiroshimare.

"It is true," the mayor said sadly, "they have been feeding you lies. What did you say your name was again?"

"I'm Colonel Rainnuke."

"I mean your real name. Not the one those monsters gave to you."

"Um . . ." She hadn't used her real name in ages. "R-Rainbow Dash, miss."

"Miss Rainbow Dash, I can assure you that we are not the enemy here. That Academy was made by a pony who bears a powerful grudge against us."

"There is a religion that is quite popular among citizens here," the ambassador piped up, "known as the Teachings of Screwball. Screwball, a creation of Discord's chaos, was an embodiment of Discords full wrath. However, despite the evil inside of her, she managed to travel the world, warning others of Discord's evil ways. In short, the religion goes on the principle of 'do what you can given your situation' and focuses strongly on staying optimistic. However, about twenty years ago, a cult started bending the words of Screwball, and believed that Discord was the only true god and savior. They spread havoc across the whole world. I wouldn't be surprised if they were still around today. Anyways, one of their many acts of chaos was a bombing of a small island town known as Diamond Harbor. A young colt there lost both his parents to the attack, and set out to avenge his late mother and father. When he was old enough, he demanded that we destroy not only the colt, which we had already done, but destroy the religion itself and kill all who practiced it. Well, we opposed. So he went off to found his little academy, and recruited young foals like you, brainwashing them with propaganda that we are truly evil. We aren't. We love Equestria. And last I checked, Equestria loves us back!"

"So . . ." Rainbow Dash sputtered, "Everything I've d-done in t-the p-past five y-years has b-been a lie?" She started to tear up and cry. The hot, salty teardrops streaked her hardened war face and washed away the happiness she had felt from being part of the Academy. "A-and, and . . ." She continued, choking back the tears and sniffling, "I just injured and k-killed innocent p-ponies!?" She couldn't hold it in any longer. She bawled inside the room, in front of these five complete strangers. She didn't care. Everypony she had met in the last five years had suddenly all become strangers to her.

"Aw, Mazushī ko, come here," Ambassador embraced Rainbow Dash with the motherly hug Rainbow had not felt in many years. It had been so long, the blue pegasus forgot just how much she missed it. She remembered now how much she had missed the outside world. She missed Fluttershy. She missed Gilda. She missed Flitter and Cloudchaser. Heck, she even missed Hoops, Dumbbell, and Scores.

She missed her home.

"How could you ever forgive me?" Rainbow Dash wailed into the ambassador's golden coat.

"Dear child," The mayor whispered soothingly to the Equestrian pony, "you have done nothing wrong. A puppet cannot be blamed for the actions its master commands it to do. You must embrace Screwball's teachings, child, for she did nothing wrong herself. She rebelled against her tyrannous father and went to become the savior to many ponies across the world!"

"But Captain Mushroom Cloud said that he would be back for me," Rainbow argued, "If he finds out that I know about his plans, then who knows what he'll do to me?"

"Then you must run," the ambassador said, "follow Screwball's example and run from the Discord that haunts you. There is nothing else you can do, so you must run. You must never slow down, Rainbow Dash. Your future depends on it. The entire country of Japony is here to help you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I've been running from you for so long, Shrooms. You destroyed my life. You fed me lies and turned me into your own personal little monster!" Rainbow spat at her former commander.

"And yet here you are," Shrooms chortled, "After all that running, you're still here. And so are your wrongdoings. You still struck the city of Hiroshimare with a Tactical Rainnuke for me. You can't hide from your past Rainbow Dash. You can only accept it."

"Wrong. In all of my travels, I learned, Shrooms. I asked everywhere I went what the ponies knew of Screwball."

Mushroom Cloud froze at the name. Rainbow Dash smiled in satisfaction, and continued.

"I heard stories of one pony's deeds that bettered the planet. Despite her origins of evil, she overcame her oppressors, and she made the most of the situation. She alerted Celestia and Luna themselves to Discord's tyranny, and sealed him away in stone for a thousand years. And you know what? After all of these stories . . ."

All of a sudden, a furious, booming voice thundered from outside the building, "MUSHROOM CLOUD AND EVERYPONY INSIDE THIS RESIDENCE! THIS IS YOUR PRINCESS! COME OUTSIDE SLOWLY AND SURRENDER YOURSELVES TO THE ROYAL CANTERLOT GUARD, OR SUFFER AN UNIMAGINABLE FATE!"

"I thought it was a dang good plan," Rainbow finished with a smirk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight had just gotten home from a rather strange lunch with Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. She was still confused as to what happened that could have set Rainbow Dash off like that, but she tried to forget about it as she magicked up the book she was reading.

However, she didn't get past the sentence she had picked up on before being interrupted a blue pegasus crashing into the library.

"WHAT THE -!? RAINBOW DASH! WHAT'S GOING ON!" Twilight shouted.

"Listen, Twilight, there's no time right now! I need Spike to send this to the princess." She hastily shoved a piece of parchment in the unicorn's face. "I'll explain everything later! I PROMISE!" She rocketed through the whole she had crashed through and into the skies above. Baffled at what just happened, Twilight unfolded the parchment and read it.

It's an address . . . She thought, And all it says bellow that is "I am Screwball, Mushroom Cloud is Discord. Take two." That's kinda cryptic . . . I hope the princess gets it. "SPIKE!" She called, "I got something to send to the princess!"

"Coming!" The baby dragon called back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rainbow Dash! Thank goodness!" Celestia breathed a sigh of relief as Rainbow Dash followed the felons out of the Academy building.

"Hey, princess. I'm glad you understood my letter. I didn't have much time to write before flying over here."

"You certainly did the right thing. Your quick thinking just helped reveal some of the most wanted criminals in Equestria."

"I just wanted to do what Screwball would've done. I owe her one after trying to kill her religion."

"Well, Luna and I are very good friends with Lady Screwball. Next time I see her, I'll be sure to mention you." Celestia gave a warm and motherly smile. "Now," the Sun Princess said with a wink, "I think that your friends deserve a little explanation."

Rainbow Dash cringed as, if almost on cue, a familiar hot air balloon broke through the clouds. Inside, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack waved with big friendly smiles. Rainbow Dash looked back at Celestia nervously.

"I know what you've been through, Rainbow Dash, and they deserve to know, too. It's all alright. You are the Element of Loyalty, and you've proven that through your actions today. Now go talk to them.

It's time to stop running."