The fog gave way, and Rainbow Dash stepped forwards.
“Rainbow Dash!” gasped Scootaloo, bounding forward. ”I was looking everywhere for you, where were you?”
Rainbow Dash did not immediately reply, simply staring at the dark overgrowth around her, as if recalling memories of a forgotten land. “I was on a journey. A, long, long journey.” She said at last, feeling further than the mountains she had left in the distance. She turned towards Scootaloo, her eyes shadowed by a resplendent rainbow mane. “I can’t go back, either, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s been too long, I’ve travelled too far.”
“What?” Scootaloo exclaimed, eyes widening. Small beads of sweat broke out on her forehead. “Why? There’s a path back. I know the way out. We could go back right now!”
“No, Scootaloo.” Rainbow Dash said simply. “We cannot. You especially, should know that.”
“What?” Scootaloo began to panic. ”But you can’t leave now, not after I went all this way to find you.”
“Which you shouldn’t have done in the first place.” Rainbow Dash replied vehemently. “Just go back, Scootaloo, you’ve wasted your time.”
“No, it dosen’t have to be this way!” Scootaloo cried, her eyes shining with pain. She ran forwards and clutched onto Rainbow Dash’s front leg like she would never let go. “They’ll let us come back, I know they will; they’ll welcome us back! We just need to try, Rainbow Dash! We just need to—“
“Enough, Scootaloo.” Said Rainbow Dash flatly, cutting the orange foal off. “It’s already dangerous enough speaking with you here as it is, imagine what would happen if they caught us—“
“Then let them catch us!” Yelled Scootaloo hysterically, grabbing onto the blue hoof so tightly she felt her blood vessels were going to explode. “Just come back home, Rainbow. We’ll work it through together, never mind what they say. We’ll make it through, you’ll see.”
“Enough, Scootaloo.” Rainbow Dash shook her front leg, trying to pry free from Scootaloo’s iron grip. “Let go.”
“Never!” Screamed Scootaloo. “Promise to come home first!”
“Scootaloo!”
“Promise!”
“Scootaloo!”
“Just promise!”
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound, and both ponies froze in their struggle. Hissing softly, Rainbow Dash motioned for Scootaloo to lay low, and she obeyed without protest. Silently, the two waited, flesh pressed onto the ground, seconds ticking by like hours, until they saw the shadowed silhouette of a pony pass behind the bushes.
“Quiet.” Murmured Rainbow Dash, and even under the circumstances, Scootaloo could see that her expression was calm, wearing only a slight frown and a pair of alert irises that darted back and forth to track the intruder’s movements.
Scootaloo didn’t know how Rainbow Dash could act so unperturbed; her heart was speeding mercilessly inside her chest. Stifling a whimper, she pressed her body further into the ground and watched the intruder fearfully. Through the fog, the pony seemed like some unnatural deity; two dim round orbs of light where eyes should have been, attached to a hazy shadow of a body that hardly seemed to exist. Perhaps Scootaloo should have been glad that the intruder’s features were so vague; it probably meant that the fog was thick enough to conceal them as well, but she couldn’t help but feel even more frightened. It was like one of the monsters the campfire stories she had told in Ponyville; back when she could still talk to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, and she couldn’t shake off the feeling that it had already spotted them, and was simply toying with the precious time they had left. Already, she could feel it grinning evilly, licking its lips, shuffling its feet as it got ready to pounce…
After days it seemed, or perhaps only minutes, the figure vanished into the fog, as quickly as it had appeared.
Rainbow Dash gave a soft sigh of relief, and stood up, confidently shaking the dust away from her cyanic mane. As she did, however, she noticed the shivering pile of feathers beside her. Turning, she was met with the sight of a clearly shaken Scootaloo, almost comedically struggling to pry her numb hooves off the ground. Unsteadily, the orange foal tried standing on her feet, only to lose her bearings and stumble onto Rainbow Dash’s front leg. Blushing, she hopped back up.
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Now do you see why I can’t go back? It’s dangerous there, you’re better off going back alone; at least they won’t hurt you without me around.”
“I…I… Scootaloo’s voice broke, and she suddenly sounded like a foal that had lost its mother. “I…guess…”
Rainbow Dash stretched her legs. “Good then, I’ll be taking off.”
The colour drained from Scootaloo’s face. “No, wait!”
Rainbow Dash glared at her in annoyance. “What now?”
“Um…It’s just that…I…um…well…”Scootaloo stuttered, trying to find a reason for her sudden outburst. Then, she sighed. “I was just wondering…wondering what it must be like… to continue flying In an neverending sky, knowing that you could plunge down anytime, yet never really understanding exactly what you’re reaching for; it’s got to be really scary. ” Scootaloo bit her lip, staring at Rainbow Dash with unbridled sincerity. “But you never seem scared, you’re always so brave, charging into the danger without even giving a second thought. That kind of bravery...it's really awesome, and I'm sure it's awesome to lots of other ponies as well. I-I wish…I wish that I could be as brave as you.”
There was silence for a while, and Scootaloo swore she saw Rainbow Dash’s expression soften, if even only by the slightest bit. Peacefully, Rainbow Dash gazed eastwards, and a faraway look fell over her, as if she was looking past the fog and overseeing some great horizon where the sun would rise again.
“I was never brave,” She spoke finally. “Just selfish...I was selfish for going into there, thinking that I could somehow live a lie forever. I was selfish for thinking that I was doing them a favour by not letting them know the truth. I was selfish that I didn’t leave them immediately when they did. ” A pair of goliath blue wings shot out of Rainbow Dash’s torso, so suddenly that Scootaloo had jumped. “And I was selfish for thinking that when it all gave way, I would be the only one hurt by it.”
Rainbow Dash stepped forwards, wings stretched in a ready position, and that was Scootaloo knew that she was staring at the horizon, that this fog and dark forest were nothing more than a short interjection in her long life, like a pebble that rippled across a vast ocean, but would find no bottom. “Don’t be like me, kid. Give ponies what they want Make them happy. It’s the only way to survive.”
With that, the rainbow-maned pegasus took to the sky, and soon the only sounds left were the soft flapping of wings and the painful swirling of haze.
Scootaloo stood alone in the dark forest, staring at the spot her once-idol had flown off from. She might have stood there for decades, eons even, it didn’t matter anymore. Even now, with everything gone, it still seemed like a dream, an apparition from a distant youth.
She turned around.
The fog gave way again, but Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found.
