The Assistant

The next few days were absolute hell. No one quit, but Albert got even harder each day. He strained them to there limits and beat them when they found them. After her initial performance Albert was especially hard on her. She was able to eventually get back to that level of speed, but she got a few beatings first. The whole time she was wondering what Red was doing. She figured that he was working on the EML, but she hadn't even seen him leave the basement. She even noticed that Albert was doing his job of clearing the skies. She hoped he was ok.

It had been two weeks since training had begun. She visited nurse Redheart nightly and was left aching every day. She worried about Red and this got her distracted which usually resulted in a beating or two. Then, one night as she was leaving, somepony stopped her.

"Psst,"A voice said from behind.

She turned around, but didn't see anypony."Hello?"

"Over here,"The voice said in a barely audible whisper. She moved toward the shadows next to Red's porch. What she saw scared her.

"What happened to you?"She almost screamed. Red was covered in cuts and bruises, he limped badly and it didn't look like he fly.

"This?"He said,"This is nothing. He's actually mellowed with age.Now keep your voice down, I have something for you to do."

"What is it?"She asked quietly.

He pulled a letter out of a crack in the wall and gave it to her."Give that to Fluttershy. I miss her and I want her to know that I do and that I love her."

"Ok."She said. Normally she would have said no, that she knew, that he was taking a huge risk, etc. etc. But he was hurt bad and she could tell this was something he had to have happen.

"Oh thank you,"He said, giving her a quick hug, before jumping back in pain,"Ow, shit that hurts. Um, if you don't mind can you check over here after each training session? I'll leave letters in this crack."

"No problem."She replied. She flew towards Fluttershy's house while Red limped back into his home. Dash couldn't believe it. He had seemed to be at the edge of death, and yet he still risked everything to communicate with Fluttershy. He must really love her. She felt very good about hooking them up. They were both so shy she doubted they would have gotten within ten feet of each other if it weren't for her.

She reached Fluttershy's house slower than she might have if she wasn't so sore. She saw Fluttershy had left her window open, so she just flew in through there to save the pains of walking an the uneven ground.

"Fluttershy!"She screamed throughout the house.

"Huh?"Fluttershy said from the kitchen, confused,"Wh-who's there?"

Dash started down the stairs, each one causing her to grunt with pain,"It's me, Dash!"

"Oh,"She said, going back to preparing a salad for Angle,"Come on down, I'm in the kitchen."

Dash entered the kitchen with a groan. Her legs hurt bad, and she thought she had a fracture somewhere but she wasn't sure. Her hatred for Albert grew with each step.

"You know it's rude to fly in through someponies window instead of using the door."Fluttershy said quietly. Dash saw that her eyes were bloodshot.

"Fluttershy,"Dash began,"Have you been, crying?"

"Yes,"Fluttershy admitted,"I just miss Albert so much. I hate his father. I wish he had never come to ponyville."She began to sob again.

"Oh don't cry,"Dash said, going to comfort her friend."I have a special letter for you."

"From who?"Fluttershy asked hopelessly.

"Red Mist!"Dash said excitedly, pulling the letter out of her saddle back.

Fluttershy jumped over and pulled the letter out of Dash's mouth. She laid it on the table and began reading. Dash sat down on the couch, allowing Fluttershy to read the letter at her own pace. Almost an hour later Fluttershy stood up and and ran over to hug Dash tightly.

"Ow!"Dash screamed, pushing her friend away,"Damn shy, careful! I just came back from training!"

"Oh I'm sorry,"Fluttershy said joyously,"It's just, oh I'm so happy, thank you for bringing this to me, your the best friend ever!"She hugged her again.

"OW!"Dash screamed, pushing her away once more,"It's no big deal, just stop hugging me."

"It is a big deal!"Fluttershy insisted, barely restraining the urge to clasp onto Dash once more,"You have no idea what this means to me. I miss Albert so much, and now we have a way to communicate!"

"Yeah,"Dash said, realizing she was likely to get alot more hugs before this was over,"Well, I have to get going. Thunderlane'll throw a fit if I'm to late coming home. He might think I've died or something."

Dash flew out and to the hospital. Nurse Redheart gave her the usual elixir and told her how brave and strong she was for pushing through and staying in training this long. She flew back to her kick-ass cloud mansion and found Thunderlane drinking some wine and tapping her hoof impatiently at the kitchen table.

"Where were you?"He asked as she stepped in.

"Oh, nowhere."She replied playfully,"I was just making the best couple in Equestria, other than us of course, even happier."

Thunderlane looked like he had seen a ghost."What did you do?"He asked slowly.

"I delivered a letter to Fluttershy from Red,"Dash said, expecting to hear praise on her kindness.

"What?"Thunderlane said slowly.

"Jeez, how much have you drank Thunder?"She asked,"I said, I-"

"Don't say it again."He said suddenly,"Do you have any idea how mad Albert will get if he finds out?"

"Um,"Dash began. She hadn't thought about that,"Well, he won't find out, so it doesn't matter."

"What if he does?"Thunderlane screamed,"He'll kill you, orders or no."

"Don't worry,"She replied, pouring herself a glass of wine and taking a sip,"I did a good thing, and Albert's not going to find out. Now, how about we get drunk and screw?"

Thunderlane thought for a minute, lightly sipping his wine. Eventually he grinned,"Fine."

The next two month's went by without a cinch. Dash continued to relay messages between Red and Fluttershy, Thunderlane becoming less worried as time went on. She began to get excited about group training coming to an end, until she found Thunderlane packing up his things.

"Wh-what are you doing?"She asked worriedly.

"I got the squads today."He explained,"I can't tell you who's in your squad, but I'm not your leader. I have to leave, or else we could both get expelled from the NLR."

"Oh,"She said sadly,"Ok, well, I wish you could stay."

"I do to,"He replied."But hey, I don't have to leave until squad training begins, so how about we make the most of it?"

She knew exactly what he meant, so she raced up to her bedroom.

One day, only two weeks from the end of group training, she was about to leave Red's house when she was stopped.

"HEY!"A voice screamed from behind her. It was Albert,"Your the one who's been moving the letter's! Who is she?!?!"

Dash did the only thing she could think to do; get the fuck out. She zoomed through town, dodging everything in her path. Albert, on the other hand, flew through everything on his path. She flew low in an attempt to cause him to crash and lose control. This was not the case. He did crash through everything she dodged he kept perfect pace with her. They flew though out town, causing a huge rucuss as they went. Eventually Dash had an idea. As they came to sugar cube corner she began to speed up. At the last possible second she turned sharply and left Albert to crash into the corner.

This backfired majorly. Albert did indeed slam into the corner, but he matched her turn and only took out a part of the wall instead of crashing into the building as she had planned. They leveled out at about cloud level. She flew towards the everfree forest, a new idea pouncing into her head. They entered the forest and flew into the thickest part of the forest she could navigate. She zipped past many thorns and trees, Albert flying through the former. They reached a straight path and Dash heard Albert gaining on her. She beat her wings as hard as she could, eventually gaining her desired speed.

She made a sonic rainboom. She doubled in speed, almost running into a rock. She made a ninety degree turn to avoid it at the last possible second. Yes, She thought, I must have lost him. He probably ran into that rock. I guess this is kinda bad 'cause now we have to wait another year till we can join, but at least-

Her thoughts were cut off as Albert slammed into her left flank. She would've fallen had it not been for Albert holding onto her fiercely. They flew up and up, much higher than before. When they were high enough to see all of ponyville Albert bent her forelegs backwards to touch her wings. He twisted all of them together in the most painful manner possible, which wasn't very hard considering her tired state.

"WHO IS SHE?!?!"Albert screamed,"WHO?!?!"

Dash thought wildly. She wasn't about to give up Fluttershy, but she couldn't think of anypony else. She knew whoever she said would be killed, and she didn't want to kill anypony. Then she did the bravest thing anypony had ever done ever in the history of every universe that ever existed.

"Me,"She said, closing her eyes. She filled her mind with Thunderlane, wanting him to be the last thing she thought about before she died.

"What?"Albert asked, loosening his grip.

"I'm his girlfriend,"She said.

"Oh,"Albert said. He released her, which she thought was an attempt to kill her, but as she started to fly back up she realized that this couldn't be it as Albert was neither stupid or trying to kill her as she flew up.

"Wait,"She began confused,"Your not going to kill me?"

"No,"Albert said flatly,"I mean, if you were someone like that Flutter-whats her face, then I would. But your a strong solider, a good enough girl for Albert."

"Uh, thanks,"She said awkwardly.

"But listen,"He began again,"He's here on a mission. You can't date him until he's finished with his job."

"Ok,"Dash said,"So, um, can I go home now?"

"Yes,"Albert replied flatly,"Just remember what I said."

"Yes sir,"Dash replied. She flew down to Fluttershy's house. She would need to hear this. She flew down and  knocked on her friends door.

"Oh, Hi Dash!"Fluttershy said joyously,"How are you? Have you been to Nurse Redheart yet?"

"Fluttershy,"Dash began,"We need to talk."

"Ok,"The yellow pegasus began,"Is something wrong? Where's Albert's letter?"

"About that,"Dash began sadly,"Red's father found out."

Fluttershy looked like she had just been given the death sentence. After a while Dash started talking again,"Don't worry. I told him that I was Red's girlfriend."

"You what?"Fluttershy said.

"I told him I was dating Red,"Dash repeated.

"You, um,"Fluttershy began in a quite yet jealous voice,"Don't actually want to do you?"

"What?"Dash said defensively,"No I have Thunderlane, Red's all your's."

"Ok,"She said with a sigh.

"Don't worry,"She began,"Just two more weeks until Red's dad is gone."

"Ok,"She said sadly.

"Alright, well, I got to get to the hospital,"She said,"I'll see ya later, k?"

"Ok,"Fluttershy said quietly. She began to cry as Dash left. Dash felt bad, but her wings must have been broken to some degree and she could hardly move. After the hospital she went home and explained the whole situation to Thunderlane. He took it about as well as she thought he would.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!?"He screamed as she finished explaining.

"I was thinking about my friends."She said,"Besides, it's only two more weeks till he's gone, everything will be fine."

"Alright,"He sighed, pouring a glass of whiskey,"Just be careful, ok?"

"When am I not careful?"She said playfully.