The Assistant

RainbowDash stood in line in front of the pillar shaped building as she had on the first day of training. This day had been particularly easy; as the group training came to an end Albert had started to focus on actual combat rather than just exercising. Now they all stood in a line and were waiting for their squads. They were supposed to spend the last two hours socializing with their new squad mates as they would be spending the next few months with them in specialized training. She was eager to start for multiple reasons. One, no more Albert. She hated the bastard. He was truly a "mother fucking asshole" in the words of Red Mist. Two, she would actually be aloud to talk now and would be able to get to know who she would be spending up to a month in the most dangerous place in the world with. That was the third reason. Getting squads meant that they were at least half way through training.

Albert came out of the building with the squad leaders; Thunderlane, Big Macintosh, and Chief. They stood behind Albert as he spoke.

"Alright maggots!"He began hatefully,"Unfortunately I don't have any more time to shape you into real soldiers, so now it is time to announce your squads. Squad leader one is Thunderlane, two is Big Macintosh, and three is Chief. When you hear your name report to your squad. I'll start with the unicorns."He pulled a scroll out of a saddle bag,"Lyra, squad one! Vinyl Scratch, squad two! Colgate, squad three! Move out!"

The unicorns moved up the ramp behind there leaders."Next, the Earth ponies!"Albert screamed,"Doctor Whooves, squad one! Bon Bon, squad two! Octavia, squad three!"

The Earth ponies moved slightly slower than the unicorns had, especially Bon Bon. They had hoped to get put into squads with there unicorn friends. Now they wouldn't be able to speak for at least another two months."Pegasus!"Albert screamed once more,"Squad one, Cloudchaser! Squad two, Derpy Hooves! Squad three, RainbowDash! Get up here!"

They flew up sadly. None of them were happy with the squads. They were the opposite of what they wanted. They were separated from there friends, and in Derpy and Doctor Whooves case there family. This meant 2-3 months of nopony but complete strangers who they probably wouldn't get along with. Granted Dash knew she wouldn't be with Thunderlane, but she had hoped to get Big Mac and not the one pony in the group that had threatened her life.

"Alright,"Albert started,"We all know you hate these groups, but there supposed to take you out of your comfort zone. If you can't survive with random strangers then you can't survive by yourself or with anypony you know."

They just shrugged it off. Mentally of course. If they moved they were likely to get beat. They just stood there in line hating the asshole standing in front of them and wishing they were three months in the future.

"Well,"Albert sighed,"I've done all i can. Good luck." He walked off to the elevator.

"Alright everypony,"Chief said,"As you know, your not allowed to interact with each other. This is because of security reasons, and that's as much as I'll say. So while were 'mingling' well be separated" He stomped his hoof and three small walls cut the room into thirds. Numbers appeared showing them where to go. "Alright, lets move, c'mon."

They sluggishly moved towards there specified areas. They chattered mindlessly for the next two hours. They all admitted that they didn't want each other as squad mates, and they decided that they would just put up with each other until it was over. Dash decided that she really didn't like her squad. Colgate was to cautious, Octavia to uptight. She was relived when it was over, and learned that her new training times were 4:00 PM to 12:00 AM. This meant the longest break in training she had ever had. As they were all leaving she stepped aside to the basement. Fluttershy had asked her to get Red when Albert had left. She walked down and held her knee up to the panel as she had so many times before. What she saw scared her more than when she had seen him trying to kill himself.

Red Mist laid on the EML almost unconscious. He was covered in deep cuts and harsh bruises. His wings were bent in ways that she had never seen before, and she dated Thunderlane, who just so happened to like it kinky. He was spitting up blood, and it appeared as if Albert had come in for a goodbye beating.

"Father!"He screamed, jumping off the EML,"I-I was just, um...you see, I um, started coughing, and I..."He stumbled onto the ground. She rushed over and held him off the ground. "Dash?" He asked.

"Yeah,"She replied, trying to figure out which wound was worst,"It's gonna be ok, don't worry."

"Thank you,"He whispered right before he passed out.

"Red?"She said, growing worried,"Red?Red?!?RED?!?!?"

Just then the one thing that could have made this moment worse walked in. Fluttershy.

"Hello Al-"She was cut short by what she saw.

"Fluttershy,"Dash began, barely able to stop the blood oozing out of Red's wounds,"I need your help to carry him to Nurse Redheart." Fluttershy was frozen."Come on! His wounds are serious! I need your help!"

Finally she moved over and together they lifted him to the upstairs. There Chief levitated him to the couch while Dash ran off to the hospital to get Nurse Redheart. Fluttershy stayed with Red. She wouldn't leave his side, and they all knew it. The whole situation was kept very hush-hush; most ponies in ponyville didn't even know Red's real name, and the fact that he had been abused like this would raise alot of questions. After an hour or two, Red was stabilized and Dash flew home. As she suspected, Thunderlane was pacing back and forth in the living room.

"Where have you been?"He asked,"You know this is the last time i can see you for at least two months? And your just pissing it away..."

"Hey!"She said defensively,"Sorry if Red was dying!"

"What?"He said taken aback.

"Red was seriously fucked up,"She explained, sitting on the couch. She looked at the clock. 11:00 PM. She had one hour left before he would have to leave. "Damn, is it already that late? Shit, I'm sorry Thunder, I didn't know it was this late."

"It's fine."He said with a sigh,"Lets make this last hour count, ok?"

"Ok,"She said. He walked over and sat with her. They kissed. It wasn't like there normal kisses, which were aggressive and fun, this one was passionate. After a while, Thunderlane got on top of her. They had the most wonderful and passionate sex they had ever had. They both liked to have hardcore sex normally, but this was special. They had to make it count. At 11:45, they climaxed. The most wonderful feeling climax either of them had ever experienced. It was wonderful, and it felt amazing. After a few minutes of cuddling and kissing they got up and, sadly, started to pack up. He stood at the door for a moment, and finally after one last deep, passionate kiss, he left.

She stood at the door for a while, staring after him. She would miss him. She loved him. She almost wished she had never joined the NLR. Then she remembered how much good she would be doing. Plus she would probably stay in ponyville; it was of utmost importance considering the EML and the fact that it now had the largest NLR population outside the crystal empire. She went up stairs and laid down. After a few tears she finally got to sleep.

She woke up the next morning and realized she had time to actually do something before she went to training. It was only nine, she had a few hours to kill. She decided to go check on Red and Fluttershy. She wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the house but she figured she could check by Fluttershy's cottage or get a letter in there somehow.

She made some coffee and ate a bagel. Afterwards she flew to the ground and walked to Fluttershy's house. Despite the fact that she would be without Thunderlane for a couple months, she felt great. This was her first real break since she had started training. She was in a fairly good mood. She passed many ponies on the way to Fluttershy's and found that today was a good day for everypony. Before she reached the cottage she saw a Fluttershy and Red flying there. It was strange to see Red flying slowly, and just as strange to see Fluttershy flying instead of walking. Then she remembered that just yesterday she had seen Red with out any other color than that, so she was even more surprised to see him in such good condition. Nurse Redheart was good, but this was some sort of miracle. She guessed he probably qualified for some sort of top secret healing methods, but she wasn't sure. She followed them on the ground, sensing that they were probably trying to be inconspicuous.

They flew straight to Fluttershy's cottage. They walked in and closed the door behind them. After a few seconds Fluttershy closed the shades in her bedroom. Even though she knew it was wrong of her to do so, Dash flew up and tried to see through the translucent shades. She saw two shadows. After a few minutes of what appeared to be awkward chatter, the two came together. A few minutes later the moved to the bed.

She moved away and flew back towards town. This was absolutely none of her business, and despite her sluttier side trying to get her to continue watching she wouldn't intrude on Fluttershy's and Red's privacy like that. As she was flying back home she heard the unmistakable pop of somepony teleporting on the ground directly below her. Looking down, she saw an angry looking Twilight. Knowing this couldn't be good she flew down to stop her.

"Out of my way Dash,"Twilight said angrily.

"Why?"Dash said just as angrily, knowing perfectly well why she wanted in.

"Do you know what Fluttershy is doing up there?"Twilight asked.

"Yeah,"Dash replied,"And it's up to her who she wants to fuck."

"She doesn't know who he really is though!"Twilight said,"He's taking advantage of her!"

"Wow,"Dash replied,"You don't know anything do you?"

"What do you mean?"Twilight asked, confused.

"Red told her about the NLR months ago,"Dash explained.

"What?!?!"Twilight exclaimed,"And she's still dating him?"

"Yeah,"Dash smirked,"Cause the NLR isn't a bunch of psychotic terrorists like you think they are for some reason."

"He obviously lied to her,"Twilight said,"Just as he and Thunderlane lied to you."

Dash grinded her hooves into the ground. She was never able to take insults, whether they were directed at her or her friends,"Listen,"She began sternly,"Leave Fluttershy and Red alone. Just because you disagree with Red's political party..."

"Political party?"Twilight said with a small laugh,"Ha. A political party wouldn't try to assassinate Celestia!"

"Pft,"Dash said. She had been told about this by Red,"That was Celestia trying to win over more supporters for herself."

"Why would Celestia try to assassinate her self?"

"I just told you,"

"That makes no sense,"Twilight said,"Celestia is the most powerful pony in all of Equestria! She doesn't need an army, and besides that she already has one!"

"Whatever,"Dash replied. There was just no arguing with Twilight over this matter,"Just leave them alone."

"No,"Twilight retaliated,"I'm putting my hoof down. She can't go through with this. It's to far, she's putting herself in more danger than she knows!"

"Listen Twilight,"Dash began to talk as if Twilight was a child she was explaining this to,"Fluttershy's a big girl now. She doesn't need you to look after her every move."

"Have you seen Fluttershy?"Twilight began once more,"The only defense she has is 'The Stare', and that won't protect her against lasers and railguns!"

"Red isn't going to let anything bad happen to her. He loves her Twi, and he's to nice to let her be hurt. All of us are."

"If he really loved her he wouldn't be putting her in the kind of danger he's putting her in. If either of them really loved either of you then they wouldn't have ever asked you out."

RainbowDash snapped. She charged Twilight. Last time she had done some damage, but not much. Now she was equipped with deadly hoof-to-hoof combat training and could probably kill Twilight. Part of her intended to do just that. She hit her at near supersonic speeds, ramming her into a rock over two hundred feet behind them. She intended to hit her in a certain part in the face where she knew she could dislocate her jaw, but Twilight blocked it with her own hoof. This took Dash aback for a split second; all the time that Twilight needed.She threw Dash off her with her back legs. Dash landed on all fours and braced herself. She had sparred with Albert and had  given him a good fight, though he would never admit it, more than once. She could take Twilight.

The Charged at each other, both flying a foot off the ground so that they could move faster. They raised there hooves and picked a target. Dash aimed for Twilight's best weapon;her horn. Twilight prepared to snap Dash wing joints into pieces. They collided. Dash made her mark, but just slightly as Twilight's other hoof came to protect the sensitive appendage. Twilight was completely blocked as one of Dash's hind legs came up to block her. Dash spun and in a second Twilight's arm was twisted behind her in as painful a manner that dash could think of. Twilight, who was simply showing Dash her moves right now, Did a somersault and slammed Dash into the ground. She placed a hoof on Dash's throat and applied pressure. Dash punched her in the sensitive spot on Twilight's ribs causing her to reel back in pain. Dash got up and grabbed her tightly. She flew up as high as she could go. She bent Twilight's wings in a similar manner as Albert did to her, only harder. When she heard both wings snap she released Twilight to fall to the ground. Remembering that Twilight could teleport she rammed into her and steered her to the hardest spot that she could see. Twilight released a burst of magical energy and Dash was forced off her. They both landed on all fours safely, Twilight using a bone hardening spell to brace her self. Dash smirked. They both knew that if Twilight hadn't used her magic she would be dead now. She could still beat her.

Just then Fluttershy's cottage door opened. Both of them turned to face it. Red Mist stoop in the doorway, talking to Fluttershy. Twilight teleported to god knows where. Dash flew off into the clouds and hid. After a few minutes of chatter Red and Fluttershy kissed and Red left, almost prancing, down towards his own home. Dash looked around in a vain attempt to find Twilight. After that failed she went to the hospital. She wasn't that bad, but she was definitely sore and exhausted. Twilight had been more of a challenge than she had expected. Her sparing with the unicorns had taught her that anypony with magic and the right know-how could kill you easily. Her smirk had been more to piss Twilight off and cause her to go back to physical fighting than to show that she was winning.

She reached the hospital and gave Nurse Redheart small nod. She understood and showed her into her office.

"What did you do this time?"Redheart asked as she pulled out a small elixir,"I thought General Jordenson was gone."

"He is,"Dash explained, accepting the medicine and drinking it in one gulp,"But Twilight's still here."

"What?"Redheart looked concerned,"You two fought again?"

"Yeah, and this time she gave me a fight,"Dash replied. She felt better as the elixir took effect.

"I'm surprised your not dead!"Redheart exclaimed,"Twilight has more combat training and experience than alot of the NLR!"

"I should have guessed,"Dash said, mostly to her self. Twilight was an alicorn, the most powerful race in all of Equestria. Of course she would be trained, and considering her closeness to Celestia she probably had more power than Cadence.

Dash looked up at the clock. It read 3:45. Her and Twilight's fight had lasted much longer than she had thought.

"Shit!"Dash exclaimed,"Is that clock right? I need to go, thanks Nurse!"She flew out of the office window and towards her house. She had to tell Thunderlane what had happened. Half way there she remembered that he had left and was probably asleep right now. Add that to the fact that she wasn't allowed to talk to him and she decided to just go to training.

Back in the library Twilight looked up spells to fix her wings. There weren't many, and none of them were designed for alicorn's. Eventually she just choose one and cast it. It seemed to work; she could at least move her wings again. She prepared to right a letter to Celestia. She couldn't trust spike; alot of her recent urgent letter's had only been replied with "Everything's fine, keep up the good work," or "There's nothing to worry about." She guessed that somewhere her letter's were being intercepted, and she couldn't let that happen here. Red Mist and Fluttershy having sex wasn't a big deal, at least not to princess Celestia, but Dash being combat trained was. The NLR only recruited in groups with a minimum of three. That meant there were at least two more recruits that even she hadn't known about. This was bad. She had to get to the bottom of this.

"Dear Princess Celestia..."