Dash! I need you to clean out the chimney! It's all black again."

Dash groaned. "Margaret, you know I can't do that right now." She picked up a blue bag and swung it over her shoulder. Then, she began making her way to the front door. "I have to go to my job. Mrs. Crest won't like me being late."

Margaret strutted up to the cyan girl and got up all in her face. "What? Your stupid 'waitress' job?" She snorted, "They can stand you being a couple hours tardy."

Dash glared at her. "I get payed for how long I'm there, Margaret. I need the money to save up for stuff I need."

"Yeah, sure. And what do you need? A new duster?"

"No! I'm saving up for High School in case you were too brainless to figure it out."

Margaret slapped Rainbow across the face, knocking her down onto the hard wood floor. The bag slid across the ground and bumped softly against the door as it came to a stop. "Don't you EVER talk to me like that again RAINBOW DASH! I am your mother and you shall treat me as such."

Dash placed one trembling hand on her stinging cheek but stood up fearlessly to face the tall woman. "You're not my mother," she said courageously, "My mother died a long time ago. You'll never be her, no matter what you do." Then she turned on one heel and walked out the front door, picking up her lopsided bag on her way out.

This was a great accomplishment for Rainbow. She had never stood up to Margaret before. The horrible woman only seemed to want to make her miserable and she decided to just deal with it and wait for something to happen that could save her. Dash smiled to herself as she walked next to the street on her way to her job. Margaret was probably going to kill her when she got home, but so what? She had found a tiny bit of courage in herself and she wanted to grasp it for as long as she could.

The cyan girl kept on walking down the street, bag over her shoulder, until she finally reached her destination. It was a ten foot tall building that seemed to be a target for vandelizm since it was covered head to toe with spray paint and graffiti. However, the name 'Crest's Cafe' was completely shown due to the new paint job. Dash grinned at the familiar site before pushing open the glass doors and walking inside. Quickly, she made her way through the dining area and entered into the back where the workers were. There were three girls their already. They were both doing the dishes.

One was a sixteen-year-old, sly looking white colored girl. Her purple hair reached down to the middle of her back. She was wearing her usual blue eye shadow and shimmering lip gloss. She looked over at Dash quickly before turning back around and letting off a backwards wave. "It's about time you got here," she said.

The second, was a tall, green haired girl. She was wearing a black and white maids outfit and a black cap on top of her head. She sent Dash a huge grin and gave her a quick hug. "Rainbow! You made it!" she giggled happily, "So glad Margaret didn't get in your way. She's such a hussy."

Dash laughed. "It's good to see you here, Spring." She turned to the the white girl. "You two Rarity."

The last girl came up to Dash and slapped a maids' outfit that matched Spring's into her arms. "Put this on Dash," she demanded, "It's our new uniform."

Dash rolled her eyes at being ordered around by a small girl, but did as she was told. The cyan girl quickly walked into the changing room and got into the black and white dress. As she came out, the small girl shoved at least fifteen plates at her at once. "These all go to table five."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yes ma'am, Mrs. Crest."

Crest nodded back quickly before going back to ordering people around.

Dash then balanced all the plates that were filled with food on her arms, hands, and on her head before stepping out of the backroom and entering the dining room. Her eyes immediately locked on table five...and she couldn't believe what she saw.

There, sitting at that table, was Sunset Shimmer and her Goons. Dash groaned. "Great...," she muttered.

Sticking her chin up high to show that she was proud, Dash walked silently over to the table. Some strange black gang started snickering over at table four. "Hey!" one of them called out, "Hottie! Over here!"

Dash sent them a disgusted look, but that just seemed to encourage them more. "Why don't you come home with me tonight, baby?" another one said to her.

Dash kept on walking as she tried to ignore them but they were persistent. The first one got up and grabbed her arm. "Come on Hot stuff, let's get out of this place and go somewhere where we can get dirty."

Rainbow started grinding her teeth angrily. In one swift move, she shook herself from his grasp, lifted her leg, and slammed it hard in between his legs. He went down on his knees, as if begging for mercy, and then fell on the floor. She shrugged before saying a sarcastic "Sorry," and then turning around again to go to table five.

Sunset spun herself around at the sound of Dash's footsteps. The moment she saw the cyan girl walking toward her in a black and white maids dress and with plates all on her arms and on her head, a smirk made it's way across her face.

"Well, well, well," Sunset sneered, "It's little Mrs. Rainbow and it appears she's playing dress-up." The yellow colored girl smiled wickedly at her group before turning back to Dash. "Hey Dashie! That outfit makes you look like a cow."

Dash looked down at her dress. She could feel her cheeks getting hot with embarrassment. The poor girl hung her head to look down at the red and white boots on her feet, as if too ashamed to show her face. Hastily, she placed the dishes on the table.

"Enjoy your meal," she whispered, her voice shaking as she attempted to remember the line she was supposed to say to each customer, "If you need anything else, you're more than welcome to ask me for it."

As she turned to leave, Sunset called out to her. "Hey waitress! Where's my Dr. Pepper? I ordered a Dr. Pepper and I want it NOW!"

Dash sighed. "I'm on it ma'am." How she wanted to punch that girl right in the face.

Sunset laughed. "Oh yeah. Don't forget to get my friends here some Fruit Punch and Root Beer while you're at it."

Dash nodded, still looking at the floor. As quickly as she could, Dash bolted to the backroom and slammed the door shut. Rarity and Springs gave her strange looks.

"Are you ok, honey?" Springs asked.

"You seem upset," Rarity agreed.

Dash wiped her tear filled eyes. "I'm ok...," she whispered. Then she ran to the storage room to get the drinks, feeling too upset to talk.

Springs shook her head sadly. "That poor girl...," she sighed.

Dash grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper off the food storage shelf. A tear ran down her cheek as she also grabbed a big mug of root beer and a bowl of fruit punch. She removed it with the palm of her free hand in a flash. She wasn't about to cry in front of Sunset and her friends. Lifting up her head and plastering a noble smile on her face, Dash stepped out of the storage room, past Springs and Rarity, and into the dining area on her way to table five. She was feeling pretty good with herself as she placed the Dr. Pepper can in front of Sunset and then began to travel around the table to place down a Root Beer mug in front of each goon. However, as Dash walked back around to place the Fruit Punch bowl in the middle of the table, she felt something like a foot get in front of her legs, making her lose her balance and fall onto the ground, Fruit Punch spraying everywhere. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, as she attempted to get up, Rainbow noticed that her panties were showing. And that wasn't even the worst part! People had already started crowding around her, while the perverts of the cafe were snapping photos of her underwear. Dash hurriedly pulled herself to her feet, face completely red from embarrassment. Sunset was laughing her head off.

"You're such a fricking retard!" she howled, clearly enjoying herself.

Tears welled up in Rainbow's eyes. She had never felt so humiliated in her life. Of course, she knew that it had been Sunset that had tripped her. But, during the eight hours that she was a waitress, Dash wasn't aloud to touch her unless it was self defense. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Dash hurried to the backroom again. This time, she didn't even stop to talk to Springs or Rarity. She just stripped herself of the maids outfit to reveal her cyan shirt, slapped the uniform onto the counter, and then ran out of the restaurant.

The cyan colored girl dashed down the street. She wasn't going to stop until she was home. It was obvious that Margaret wasn't going to be happy about her being there, but at that moment, she didn't care. Dash's shoes pounded against the sidewalk as she made her way through the park. A tear rolled off her cheek and splashed on the cemented path.

Finally, Dash came to a halt in front of her home. The building was totally broken down. The windows were dark and musty, the door was falling off its hinges, and the roof wasn't near to secure. Dash closed her eyes, trying to imagine the house the way it used to be. The way it was when her mother was alive. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the place had totally changed. Now, it was a high-reaching house with five sparkling clean windows and a golden door. She smiled softly as she placed a trembling hand on the doorknob and made her way inside. When she had opened the door, the sight took her breath away. It was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. The livingroom had a chandelier made of pure diamond hanging from the ceiling with a leather couch underneath it. It was exactly the way it used to be.

Sitting on the couch, was a beautiful, white woman wearing a long, cyan dress. She turned around to face Rainbow Dash, the long rainbow hair on her head swaying with her body. A soft, loving smile made it's way across her face. "Dash...darling. Come sit by your mother."

A tear ran down Dash's face. "Mom...," she gasped. The cyan girl started walking towards the woman. Once she had made it to the couch, Dash stood in front of it, feeling too afraid to move. "Mom...," she managed to say again. Mom held out her arms.

Finally, Rainbow cracked. The poor girl broke down crying and then flung herself into the woman's arms. Mom stroked Dash's rainbow hair, just like she used to when Dash was a little girl. "I love you Rainbow Dash. You're my darling angel and please don't ever forget that," Mom The cyan girl stayed like that for a couple minutes with her eyes shut tight, embracing her long dead mother. When she opened her eyes again, Mom was no longer there. Instead, Dash was hugging a white pillow. The livingroom also wasn't all fancy anymore. It had gone back to its usual shabby state. This was the way it had been since Margaret had become her step-mother.

Dash wiped away a stray tear. It had all been her imagination.

"Rainbow," an angry voice rang out from behind her. Dash whirled her head around to see Margaret standing in the doorway with two grocery bags in each arm.

"So, it seems you decided to come back," Margaret grimanced. Dash nodded her head. "Yes. I did," she replied. Margaret raised one eyebrow. The golden woman dropped the brown bags on the ground. Then she walked up to Dash. There was a strange look in her eye. Was it anger? Regret? No...It seemed to be more like...pity. She was upset? That was a first.

"Dash, I need to tell you something," Margaret said.

"What?"

"Well, I've noticed that you've been doing a really good job at doing what I need you to do. I've also noticed that you want to go to High School. So, I signed you up. Of course, I used your money and not mine," Margaret laughed in a mean way, "My money is far too important to use on such stupid things."

Dash gasped with suprise. "Wait...did you just say I'm going to High School?"

Margaret nodded her head. "Yeah, that's right. I'm gonna make your step-sisters quit their jobs so they can help me out at home," she flipped her hair back, "But be prepared to work your butt off once you get back each day."

Dash was so happy she began to dance around the room. "Yay! Yay! YAY!" she screamed, "When do I start?"

Margaret rolled her eyes. "Tomorrow morning."

"That's so wonderful!" Dash giggled excitedly, "Thank you so much!" She started to head for her room.

"Oh, and Rainbow."

Dash turned around to see Margaret holding up a piece of paper that was so long it curled up as it touched the floor.

"You've got a lot of chores to do."