Equestria. A land of magic, of hope & on this night, a land of miracles.
An earsplitting scream rang out through the regal halls of Canterlot Castle. Anypony within hearing range cringed at the sound; even the most stoic of guards couldn't keep from wincing. As the screams died away, a new sound, a much fainter one, could be heard, the cries of a newborn foal.
A tired, disheveled Princess Celestia leaned back on the cozy pillows of her bed in the castle's medical ward, a small smile adorning her regal features. That smile grew as bright as the sun she tended daily as Redhoof, her personal physician, gently levitated a baby filly to her side.
"She's beautiful," he said in a low voice so he didn't wake the now sleeping filly,"Have you decided on a name for her, your majesty?"
The Princess of the Sun cast a loving gaze upon her daughter. The newborn was an alicorn with a coat of cyan, her wings and horn the same shade. Her mane and tail were stunning, sporting all the colors of the rainbow. She snuggled up against her mother, opening her eyes to reveal magnificent magenta irises before closing them in sleep once more. The nurses in attendence gave a chorus of 'd'awws' at the adorable scene. Celestia continued to watch her daughter lovingly as she wracked her brain for suitable name.
She is a bright light and a shining star, she deserves a name that reflects all she is and will be, thought Celestia, After all, it wouldn't do to name her something like Pipsqueak when she'll be as big as me someday. No, she must have a name that captures her essence.
Celestia nuzzled her little filly, who let out an adorable squeaky yawn and pulled closer to her mother. The nurses 'd'awwed' once more at the sight.
"If only you could speak, then maybe you could tell me your name, my dearest rainbow." Celestia froze for a moment as a name came to her. "Rainbow...Dash...my dearest Rainbow Dash," whispered the solar princess.
"What was that, your highness?" asked Nurse Redheart, leaning closer.
"Rainbow Dash," Celestia announced at normal volume," Princess Rainbow 'Aurora' Dash of Equestria ... my daughter."
"A lovely name, m'lady," remarked Redhoof,"And a fitting one at that." He chuckled as he looked towards Rainbow's name giving mane.
The nurses chorused their agreement.
"Simply beautiful," said Nurse Redheart.
"Yes, quite fitting," added Nurse Gold Cross.
"Absolutely perfect," Sky Lily finally added.
"She is isn't she?" mused Celestia, "Thank you all. This little one is destined for great things, I can feel it."
"I'm sure she will, Princess," responded Dr. Redhoof with a smile. He had heard those words many times from first-time mothers, but coming from the princess he knew it was true." You should get some rest, your majesty. It's been a long day."
Celestia yawned,"Yes, I think I will." The white alicorn began to cover herself and Rainbow Dash with the blanket.
Dr.Redhoof stopped at the door before he left,"Good night, Princess. I'll be back to check on you two in the morning."
"Doctor,"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for help,"
"My pleasure. Now I'll give you some privacy." without another word the unicorn stepped out of the room and closed the door.
The solar monarch lay down her head, nuzzling and snuggling her little Rainbow Dash.
"Great things, I can feel it," she whispered again, following her filly into the realm of dreams.
Out the window, the moon observed the pair, sending gentle moonbeams over them. That night the gaze of the fabled Mare in the Moon was seemingly warmer then it had been in centuries.
Not long now sister, not long now.
5 years later. Canterlot.
It was a quiet summer day at Canterlot Castle. The Weather Pegasi had worked harder than usual to make this a glorious day. The weather was perfect, a gentle cooling breeze blowing through the warm summer air, driving the hoof-full of clouds that had been placed as shade in lazy circles. Only the occasional bird call from the Royal Gardens & the hushed tones of chatting ponies broke the still quiet of the day. Until...
"Princess! Hold still!" commanded the voice of an adult mare.
"Nuh-uh. There's no way you're putting that thing on me. I'm getting out of here." came the voice of a young filly.
"Princess, get back here!" A tone of frustration & desperation in the mare's voice, said that this was not an uncommon occurrence.
CRASH!
BANG!
"Guards! After her!" shrilled the voice of the mare.
Silver Shield, Captain of the Royal Guard was drilling a squad of his elite Pegasi when a cyan & rainbow blur shot past. The captain sighed and rolled his eyes. His honorary niece was on the run ... again.
"Alright stallions," he barked, "Let's go retrieve, her majesty."
"Sir, yes sir!" they responded in unison.
With that the squad of Pegasi launched into the air as one and gave chase to the speedy princess. Following the young alicorn was easy enough, when she flew this fast, she left a rainbow contrail that made keeping track of her a breeze. Catching her, however, was a different matter entirely.
Rainbow Dash loved flying, the feel of wind rushing past her, gave her a feeling like no other. Hearing muffled noises behind her, she looked over her shoulder and grinned at what she saw. There was her 'Uncle' Silver Shield and a whole squad of guards pleadingly motioning for her to land. Unfortunately for them she wasn't about to stop before she started.
"Ha!...Can't catch me, you slowpokes!" she taunted before putting on a burst of speed that made her a blurry rainbow.
"Wait! Princess, come back!" yelled Silver as he and his squad were led on a chase around the castle and its grounds, fruitlessly trying to catch the little alicorn.
---~~~---
She had always been a hoof-full, running off during lessons & generally causing mayhem, but ever since she'd started flight school, the 5 year old was becoming more difficult to manage. Everyday she was harder and harder to catch, easily evading her nannies and the guards. Silver sighed as his 'niece' looped-the-loop around his head, giggling all the while. Rainbow Dash obviously had a natural talent when it came to flying. She was easily faster than ponies 3-4 times her age and was agile enough to out-maneuver even the Pegasi of the guard.
It took more effort than Silver was willing to admit to catch her. Chases usually lasted three hours or more, it all depended on Dash's mood. At least it was good exercise for the guards in these peaceful times, and it certainly wasn't the worst part of living with the brash, adventurous alicorn. No, the worst possible thing about the princess, were her endless sprees of...pranks.
While her mother enjoyed enjoyed the occasional prank for fun in tense but unserious times, Rainbow Dash took it to a whole new level. Nopony was safe from a prank-happy Rainbow Dash. The whole castle, from the lowliest of maids to Celestia herself had fallen victim to at least one, if not more, of her practical jokes.
Among the guards, her practical jokes were a legend & an initiation rite. Any new recruit who could weather her pranks without making a scene, could handle anything. Veteran guards traded stories in the mess hall of the practical jokes they'd been subjected to. But of all the guards, Silver Shield himself was her favored target. He shuddered as his memory recalled the worst prank she'd played on him. She had tricked him into letting her dye his black streaked-with-silver mane, pink of all colors! The most infuriating part was the fact that it had lasted nearly two months and even the spell on his armor that altered his appearance didn't make it go away.* Silver cared deeply for the little princess, as almost everypony at the castle did, but still...this was no way for a Princess to act.
"Urgh, is this what we've been reduced to?" complained Lieutenant Red Star, breaking the Captain out of his thoughts,"Glorified foal-sitters for her royal speediness?"
The pegasus stallion was ambitious and a tad prideful. He had joined at age sixteen and advanced through the ranks faster than anypony thus far. To be outdone by a filly merely a quarter of his age cut his pride deeply.
His twin brother Sergeant Bright Star, with his usual optimism, tried to get his brother to think positively.
"Ya gotta admit Red, this sure beats sitting around on watch all day,"
"I suppose...but still, I wish that just once she'd slow down. I mean, how is she so fast? It's just not normal." Red wasn't gonna let go of his wounded pride that easily.
"Well, she is an alicorn, so there is that," offered Bright somewhat weakly.
Silver could tell that Red's attitude of despair was rubbing off onto Bright. He decided to refocus their attention on what mattered, catching the elusive Rainbow Dash.
"Come on you two, we've almost got her!" he encouraged.
"Yes, sir!" they responded in unison, closing in on their quarry. Who was in fact letting them catch up to her simply because she'd grown tired of this chase.
---~~~---
Celestia sighed and took another bite of cloud cake as she waited for the guards to catch her daughter. Or allow the guards to catch as the case more accurately was. She told nopony, but she was proud, and a little amused, that even the most skilled of her Pegasi guards could be outflown by her filly, even if she was an alicorn. A small 'crash' from just outside her room made Celestia snicker. Rainbow Dash reminded her of herself and her sister at the same age.
Luna...I miss you dear sister. Why did turn out the way they did? Celestia frowned as painful memories from ages long past were dredged up.
The sound of a filly's giggles brought her out of her pained thoughts. Looking up, Celestia did her level best to keep from snickering audibly. Before was Rainbow Dash, a little short of breath but as energetic as ever; by comparison, the four guards flanking her, Silver Shield, the Star brothers, & Thunder Hoof were breathing in ragged breaths and poor Thunder Hoof looked ready to collapse. The rest of the squad was in similar shape, some guards more winded than others. It was too much and the solar princess let out a light chuckle to keep from full out laughing at the expense of her faithful guards. For centuries after, this image and the those following it stayed in her mind, and anytime Dash or Luna mentioned it in private, she burst out in fits of disabling, tear-inducing laughter.
"Seeing as how my daughter is here, I conclude that your...ahhh...endeavors were a success?" she asked with a smirk that said,'You know you only caught her because she let you, right?'
"Momma!" squealed Rainbow Dash, noticing the white alicorn as she escaped her escorts, flew to Celestia, hugging her mother's foreleg.
Celestia smiled and nuzzled her filly, prompting Rainbow Dash to giggle and roll onto her back, wings spread, looking at her mother with an expression of utter happiness and bliss on her face.** The hearts if even the most frustrated guards melted at the overwhelming adorableness. A few who thought nopony could see them even shed a tear or two.
As the cyan alicorn settled into the forelegs of her mother, Captain Silver finally responded to his Princess's question.
"Yes, your majesty, we managed to *ahem* catch her little highness after she led me and my squad a good chase. In fact, Princess, I don't know how long it will be before we cannot catch her at all." his tone made the real meaning of his answer clear.
'It's going to get even tougher now that I'm going to start teaching her magic. I can only imagine what will come that...' thought Celestia, fighting to hold down her chuckles.
"I avoided Uncle Silver for 5 hours, Momma!" a particularly proud Rainbow Dash piped up.
The image that came to mind, coupled with the images of the past few minutes nearly caused the Princess to burst out laughing, which managed to suppress to a mere snort.
"Well that's very impressive dear, but will you please tell me what you were running from this time?"
The proud expression on Rainbow's face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of irritation mixed with apologetic-ness. Despite all her hijinks, Dash was a good filly. She wouldn't go beyond the boundaries set for her unless somepony had really antagonized her or she was super bored.
"Nanny Soft Wings tried to put me in...in a...a dress!" the filly declared with a disgusted expression.
Surprisingly, Celestia didn't find that funny. She knew how much her daughter dispised dresses. She herself, could only get Dash in one on special occasions, and even then it took lots of coaxing & wheedling.
The esteemed Princess of the Sun turned to look at the reaction of the guards and once more nearly burst out laughing. With the exception of Silver Shield and the Star brothers, every last one of the guards had facehooved at the fact they'd just spent the last five hours chasing the young princess because of something as silly as a dress.
As Celestia mentally beat down the urge to laugh, she thought to herself,
'I don't blame them... Perhaps, since Dashie and I are going out tomorrow, I should give them the day off. They certainly deserve some rest after flying so long and hard.'
"Silver Shield," she said.
"Yes, your highness?" he asked, a hint of curiousity in his voice.
"Tomorrow, you and this squad may take the day off to rest," she spoke, with a gentle smile on her face.
"Really?" asked Thunder Hoof excitedly.
"Indeed, you have earned it," she responded,"Thank you all for bringing my little Rainbow Dash to me. Now, all of you go get some rest. Dismissed."
"Yes, ma'am," they chorused, bowing as they left.
Once they had all gone, the solar princess began to chuckle before finally breaking out into fits of laughter.
"What's so funny Momma?...Momma?" asked a confused Rainbow Dash. How was talking to the guards so funny? She'd almost fallen asleep while her mother talked.
Celestia finally answered her daughter as she wiped a tear from her eye,
"I'll explain it to you when you're a little older," she said, knowing Dash wouldn't understand this form of humor yet,"So what else did you do today?"
Rainbow perked up, beginning to tell her mother all about her day, specifically about how cool her new tutor, a mare by the name of Twilight Velvet, made her studies. Today's lessons were mathematics & science, two subjects the young filly often found boring, but it seemed that this Twilight Velvet, had a way of keeping them interesting.
"...and she says has a filly my age!" finished Rainbow Dash excitedly.
"I see," said her mother, processing all that the little alicorn had told her,"Well, it sounds like you had a very interesting day. Now, it's almost time for dinner to be served, so why don't you go wash up. And if you see Nanny Soft Wings, apologize to her."
"Yes, Momma," Rainbow replied, scampering off to do just that.
'I think I shall get to know this Twilight Velvet...and her family'
---~~~---
THAT NIGHT
Celestia gently tucked in an already snoring-in-the-most-adorable-way-possible, Rainbow Dash. It amazed Celestia how easily her little filly could fall asleep anytime, anywhere, but she chalked it, and her voracious appetite, to being Rainbow's body's way of compensating for all the energy she spent flying at high speed. She turned to leave the darkened bedroom, when the light of the moon, shining through the window caught her eye.
'No, not the moon, my sister...I'm looking at the sister I lost so long ago.' thought the eternal monarch of Equestria.
The Mare in the Moon seemed to stare back at her sister accusingly.
'You did nothing to save me Celesta... You just locked me away like a common criminal... Celestiaaa...'
Shuddering, the white alicorn closed the door to her daughter's bedroom and strode down the hall towards her own room. A maid passed, bowing as she did. Princess Celestia nodded in acknowledgement before she turned and enter her room. After removing her royal adornments, she climbed into her bed and looked out the window, gazing at the moon.
'Soon, sister,soon,' both mare on the earth and in sky whispered.
'Soon'
