Iron Mare

Rainbow Dash played with the zipper of her black hoodie as she waited backstage in the DashCo auditorium.

Two days had passed since her battle with Lightning Dust. Two days since she lost one of her best friends.

Honestly, she wasn't sure what to feel. She had never been good at dealing with her emotions. Even when her father died, she wasn't sure how to confront her feelings. Now was no different.

Rainbow pulled down her zipper once again before bringing it back up, covering the Crystal in her chest.

She had called for a press conference earlier that morning. She felt it was only right that she make some sort of statement regarding what had taken place in the last forty eight hours. After all, the entire ordeal had taken place at DashCo's primary factory. It was expected of the company's head to acknowledge what happened.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in", she said, pulling the zipper up one last time.

The door opened with a creak. Scootaloo walked in, followed by Spike the Dragon, a cast on his arm and a bandage wrapped around his head.

"They're just about ready for you, Miss Dash" said Scootaloo.

Spike walked up and passed her a set of flashcards.

"DEFENSE took the liberty of writing out an official statement for you. Just stick to the cards, and you'll be fine."

Rainbow flipped through the cards, searching for any word of Lightning Dust.

"There's nothing about Dusty in here" She said.

"We took care of that. As far as anyone will know, she's on a plane to the Griffon Kingdom. Those private jets have such terrible landing gear."

"But no one will know what really happened to her, if I say that."

"That's the point."

Rainbow opened her mouth to argue, before realizing that it was the very least she could do for her friend to not destroy Lightning Dust's legacy.

"Fair enough."

The crowd clapped and stomped their hooves as Rainbow Dash stepped out on stage. She walked up to the podium and adjusted the microphone a bit before clearing her throat. Everyone in the crowed quieted down until the room was silent.

"So..." Rainbow began. "Here we are, again."

The crowed chuckled.

"I'm sure you've all heard about what happened at the DashCo factory a couple of nights ago. I guess it's only fair that I say something about it. Well, I'm gonna be honest... The truth is..."

Rainbow looked down at the flashcards before her. There was something about an experimental robot malfunctioning and causing the damage to the city. She snorted. No one in their right mind would buy that. Especially those who had actually seen the incident. With that she tossed the cards aside. They fluttered to the ground as she brushed a stray strand of her mane from her face.

"I am the Iron Mare." she said simply.

The crowd of reporters exploded with questions as cameras flashed and notes were written down as fast as they could be written.

"So now what?" asked Spitfire, taking a sip from her cider mug.

"Well... I guess this changes things a little." said Rainbow.

"Yeah, no kidding. You just told the world you're a superhero."

"I could get used to that." she said with a smirk.

Rainbow sipped from her own mug. The pair sat in the middle of the Las Pegasus Casino.

"But that's not why I asked you out today. I want to talk about what Lightning Dust said before she... You know..."

Spitfire nodded knowingly. She, too, had been affected by Lightning Dust's death. Like Rainbow Dash, Lighting Dust had known her all her life. To hear of her death took a toll on her, though she tried her best to hide it.

"Before she died, she was scared. She told me about someone named Ahuizotl. How he was the one behind everything. How he was the one who drove her to insanity."

"Who's Ahuizotl?"

"I don't know.." said Rainbow, putting her mug down. "But I'm going to find out. And I'm going to make him pay for what he did to Dusty."

"Hey. Do that another time. You've had a long few days, Rainbow Dash. Right now, I want to tell you something."

Rainbow turned to look at the fire maned Pegasus.

"What's that?"

Spitfire bit her lip and opened her mouth.

"Rainbow... I think I-"

"Rainbow Dash!" came a tiny voice from behind them.

Both ponies turned to find a group of several fillies and colts had gathered. It wasn't long before she was bombarded with questions.

"Where's your suit?"

"Are you really the Iron Mare?"

"What's it like inside?"

"Can you really shoot lasers from your hooves?"

"Hold on, everybody." said Rainbow, raising her hooves and glancing at Spitfire. A hush fell over the foals.

"What did you wanna tell me, Spitfire?"

Spitfire seemed to have the slightest tint of red covering her face, barely noticeable by even the sharpest eyes.

"Nothing... It's not important."

Rainbow Dash shrugged and turned to look back at the group of youngsters.

"Who wants an autograph?" she cried, eliciting a cheer from the crowd.

"It's over, Master... Lightning Dust has failed."

Rover kneeled before Ahuizotl, who sat in a throne made of stone, surrounded by candles and sculptures of dragons. The shadows cast by the tiny flames danced along the walls of the cave.

"It seems we've underestimated Rainbow Dash. We won't make that same mistake twice." he said.

"Our sources say she's begun a search for you. That she plans to expose us."

"It matters little. Our ultimate weapon will soon be completed. We will soon gather 'volunteers' for testing. And once the Extremis Virus is perfected, we will be... Gods."

A cruel grin spread across Ahuizotl's face as the ten diamonds on his paws continued to glow.