Three seconds.
I feel the wind rip through my mane and coat. I close my eyes, taking it all in, the feeling, the sounds, the rush. I love it all, the excitement of it all overwhelms me. I can hardly contain it.
"Are you ready?" She said, looking at me, a cross between impatience and anxiousness on her face.
"You know it!" I reply, flapping my wings. Ready. Ready to start my training with the greatest flier who ever lived.
I've been waiting for this moment my entire life, spending time with someone whom I call my 'big sister', someone to take me under her wing and teach me everything she knows. This was that moment; the time had finally come. And I was ready.
Ten seconds.
I take time away from my moment of bliss and look up towards the sky. The rich blues and pure whites never seemed so close; and yet, so far. Almost as if I reached out to touch them, I would swipe the surface just before they became out of reach. I see a blurred flash of cerulean and rainbow dart off the platform far above me, and then sharply turn. It is coming for me, chasing me. The object becoming larger and more clear with each passing moment. I think it's Rainbow Dash.
"Don't worry about it squirt." She said to me, ruffling my mane as she did so. "These things take time, I'm sure I didn't get it on my first try." She reassured me of this, yet I knew it wasn't true. I knew that she had probably been able to fly perfectly the first time. After all, flying is her special talent. I wonder what mine is...
Eighteen seconds.
Yeah, it's definitely Rainbow Dash, I can see her clearly now. A look of determination is present in every part of her being. Her eyes are focused, determined, and...wet. I can see a stream of tears slide down her cheek for a moment before being whisked away. They almost seem to be falling towards the sky. I lay there, on my bed of air, wondering why she is crying. Are they tears of joy? Have I finally made her proud?
After a few more attempts, Rainbow Dash had told me we were going to see the doctor, that it was time for my physical. She told me it was necessary for us to continue my lessons. I believed her.
The doctor talked to her after he was finished. He told her words I didn't understand, but words she must have known. I know she knew because when the words left his mouth, I could see her taken aback by them. Taken aback as if the words he spoke had surprised her, pushed her back even. I had seen tears well up in her eyes, glistening in the fluorescent light as they looked to me. Why are you crying Rainbow Dash? We're tough. I thought tough ponies weren't supposed to cry...
Twenty-three seconds.
She is close to me now, she can almost reach me. Her arms are outstretched. She is trying to catch me so she can wrap me in her warm embrace and tell me how proud she is of me. I open my arms and wait for her embrace, smiling as I do. She starts to move faster, catching up to me. Almost there. I'm waiting Rainbow Dash, I'm waiting.
After we leave the doctor's office, she tells me about those words I didn't know. I felt that each word was a punch to my gut. Handicapped. Never fly. I felt sick to my stomach. She wrapped her wing around me and pulled me close. She assured me that things would be OK. That we would make it through this. That my special talent was still out there. We both cried.
Twenty-eight seconds.
You're so close Rainbow, so close. With each passing moment she gets closer and closer to me. Within more she is right in front of me, just barely out of reach. It is then when I notice that the look on her face wasn't pride, or happiness, it was anything but. The look in her eyes was of pure terror. The tears that dampen her coat weren't tears of joy, but tears of sadness. Why are you crying Rainbow Dash? I proved them wrong, I proved them all wrong! I'm flying Rainbow Dash! I'm flying.
I had spent the last three months trying to prove them wrong, to show them I can fly. I just have to put my mind to it. After all, I've been told that all my life, "If you put your mind to it, anything is possible.". I know I can fly, I believe I can. I just have to make them believe, I have to show them.
Thirty Seconds.
Memories From Beyond The Stars
Rainbow sat on her bed, alone. The only thing that kept her any company was the old shoebox that sat in front of her.
The house was silent, the only thing that she could hear was the faint ticking of a clock from another room, and her own thoughts.
She stared at the shoebox intensely, almost in a trance. As she stared she thought about all the times her and her father had together, both the good times, and the bad. She sat there, trying desperately to fully relive the past fifteen years in her mind.
A tear rolled down her face, but she didn't wipe it away, she continued to be lost in that box, and her memories.
She rested her head down on her hooves as she continued to stare at it. So many memories, all in such a small container. As she carefully watched the box. Her heart had secretly hoped her father would jump out of it and embrace her in a tight warm hug and never let go. But her mind quickly swatted that idea away, not wanting her to get her hopes up on unrealistic dreams.
She laid her head in her hooves and silently cried to herself. The deep breaths she took were the only sounds in the empty rooms and halls of her home. This continued for quite a while, her mourning the loss of her father, and dampening the fur on her hooves as she did so.
It was not so much that she was away from her father, but rather, she feared he did not even remember her. She feared, that because of this, her father didn't love her anymore. How could he love someone he had no memory of? How could he love somepony he didn't recognize? If anything this thought made her cry even harder. Her sobs were now audible throughout her entire house, thankfully she was alone, nopony else could hear her.
She lifted her head up and looked back at the shoe box, as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. She slowly reached a hoof towards it. As she passed over the lid she hesitated for a moment, then continued. She wrapped her hoof around the box and pulled it closer to her.
The box now sits right in front of her. She used a hoof to flip the lid open. Suddenly a surge of emotions overwhelmed her as she beheld the contents of that special box. Happiness, sorrow, nostalgia, and most of all...homesickness.
The tears flowed freely from her eyes, and yet, she didn't even notice. She was focused on something more important, substantially more important.
She flipped through the memorabilia the old container held. Like the Indy500 ticket and her old Spongebob night light. The one item that grasped her full attention though, was not one of these. It was towards the bottom of the pile. She shuffled around the items with a hoof until she could see all of it. A picture of her with her father, well, her human father. Although he wasn't her biological father, she treats him as if he was. To her, he was her real father.
The reason for this being, was because the memory spell Twilight used on Rainbow wasn't strong enough. It only was able to retrieve two and a half years of her equestrian memories. Twilight, unfortunately, was unable to retrieve any more.
Though, no one noticed until her equine parents tried talking to her. All they received from Rainbow was a cocked head and the words "Do I know you?" piercing their hearts.
Her mother had burst into tears as her father had tried to comfort her while holding back his own, and Rainbow, at first, couldn't understand why.
Princess Celestia got word of this and told Rainbow that she will have use a different spell to give her back the rest of her memories.
There was one problem though, a memory spell of this size had not been successfully done before, and would require a pony of Celestia's power AT LEAST to perform it. Celestia reassured Rainbow that she will use the utmost precaution when performing the spell, but that there is still a chance that she will lose her current memories when she receives her old ones.
Rainbow protested it of course, but Celestia said it had to be done, and Rainbow remembered enough to know not to argue with the Princess.
And that brings her to where she is now, lying on her bed, soaking in all of the memories she can. This could very well be the last time she will be able to look at these items and remember. This could be the last time, she will be able to look at these items and feel true joy.
Tomorrow is the day, the day she will remember...and forget. Although she doesn't want to believe it, she has a strong feeling she will.
She closes the box, places it on the floor by her bed, and gets under her covers. She turns to her window, and looks out into the night sky. Out beyond the moon and the stars. The place where her memories were made, where a good portion of her life had taken place.
"Good night Daddy, I love you." she says softly.
She then closes her eyes to fall asleep.
To dream...
To remember...
For one final time...
