"Sure Sunset, and my hair is naturally rainbow colored."

****************************************************

The sun shone down with a blazing heat on a ridiculously warm day in Cloudsdale. As per it's name, the sky was cloudy as always in the gloomy town. The sounds of children and teens rung throughout the small Cloudsdale campgrounds, and filled the air with a melodious yet tiresome noise.

Children played with balls and splashed in the nearby river with joy. It seemed like a perfect day, despite the heat.

One kid in particular, a ten year old named Rainbow Dash, crouched low to the ground in a readying position. Her friend Fluttershy stood to her right a small ways, meek and quiet as ever. To her left were two boys that Dash was about to leave in the dust.

One of the boys, Hoops, sneered at Dash. "Get ready to lose, Rainbow Crash." The other boy laughed and sneered at her and Fluttershy, who squeaked and hid behind a tree nearby. Dash couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"On your marks!" The call from their counselor brought their attention back to the race they were about to compete in. A friendly competition, they had assured him, but they all knew it was much more than that. Rainbow glanced at Fluttershy out of the corner of her eye and saw big blue eyes watching her in awe.

"Get set!"

She turned back to the front and braced herself. Her breathing grew steady and calm, and she closed her eyes. In, out. In, out. In, out. In.

"Go!"

****************************************************

"Come on Flutters," Dash nudged her friend in the side, "We've been through worse, right? We can get through this together."

The two thirteen year olds sat on Fluttershy's bed with tissues and magazines between them. Fluttershy's face was red and splotchy, and her eyes were puffed up from crying. She refused to look at Dash and kept her face buried in her pillow. Rainbow sighed in frustration when she didn't get a reply, and ran a hand through her canary-yellow hair.

Her mind drifted back to that day at camp, as it often did. She ran that memory through her head at lease once a week, and it was easily the most important one to her. That was the day Fluttershy and her had really become friends, after years of living next-door to each other. Their friendship meant a lot to Dash, not that she would admit it out loud.

"It's just some bullies. And you know we have a bit of a record with them." She tried to joke, but Fluttershy only shook her head sadly. Dash huffed and then groaned and flopped down dramatically next to her friend.

"Come on, 'Shy, you're not about to let some bullies knock you down, are ya?"

A nod, and Dash grabbed a pillow to scream into. The two were so unlike each other that Dash often didn't know what to do when it came to the shy girl. Being brash didn't work, being funny didn't work, Dash was out of ideas!

"Look..." Maybe... She shuddered to think about it, but sometimes Fluttershy responded to honesty, and sappy stuff. It made Dash want to gag, but if it would help her friend feel better she was willing to try.

"Look, 'Shy. I..." She had no idea what to say, so she hoped just speaking and not thinking would work (it would be a first.) "I'm sorry they got to you. I should have been there, I know that, I shouldn't have left you on your own."

There was silence, and Dash sighed again. "Shy... You know what they say doesn't mean anything. They didn't... it's not true. So it's not a big deal."

There was silence for a moment, and Fluttershy lifted her head slightly. "How... How do you deal with it?"

"Aw, they're just names, it's not a big deal!" Dash grinned, happy to see her friend's face again. "Besides, if gay is the worst they can call me, I must be pretty awesome."

Fluttershy studied her face and looked down at the pillow again. "But you're used to it. I'm... Not."

Dash grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck. "I guess it's kinda my fault they targeted you this time, huh? I mean they question my sexuality all the time, and you're my friend so... I guess it leaked through, huh?" She tried to joke, and keep it light, but Fluttershy wouldn't bite.

"I'm sorry." Fluttershy whispered, and Dash glared.

"What are you sorry about? None of this is your fault."

Dash gave her a curious look when she blushed and looked away again. "Shy, this isn't your fault. They're just calling names, it doesn't mean anything. No one's gonna think you're gay just because of Hoops and Dumb-Bell."

Fluttershy was quiet for a long moment, and she looked up at Dash with large, sad eyes. She whimpered slightly and said, "But-but what if I am?"

Dash realized she really needed to work on that 'think before you speak thing' as she watched Fluttershy's face go from hurt, to ashamed, to terrified, before it disappeared into the pillow again.

She swallowed hard and laid a hand on her friend's back. Words flew through her mind at a million miles an hour, but she waited patiently for the right thing to say.

"It's okay." Dash said gently, "I don't care. And the kids at school won't, either. I'll beat the crap outta anyone that gives you trouble, alright?"

Fluttershy sniffled again, but Dash took it as a good sign.

"In fact," She smiled, "I have just the idea to get the attention back on me."

****************************************************

Rainbow Dash walked proudly through the halls of her middle school. The stares of her peers only heightened her pride as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. It had taken a while to do on her own, but her hair matched her name, and she couldn't help but grin.

When asked why she did it, she would shrug and say "Why not?" Which seemed like a standard Rainbow Dash answer. Sure, there were rumors and speculations, but no one knew for sure what the reason behind the hair change was.

When Fluttershy was asked why, being the best friend, she merely blushed and stuttered something no one could quite hear. When she thought no one was looking, though, she would smile softly in the direction of her best friend.

It was perplexing, and no one knew the truth, not even their other friends. But Rainbow realized triumphantly that no one bothered Fluttershy any more, and that was all that mattered to her.

Author's Notes:

I?? Don't remember writing this? But apparently I did. I cleaned it up a bit and straightened (ha!) some things out so... This is more like a prequel, but if I published it on it's own I don't think people would notice it much!

So, here's this little fic based off of that one line in Glowstick ;)