To Be a Mother

Red was just reaching over the hill he had been climbing up when Rainbow Dash stirred. She did softly, first with a slight noise, then, as she opened her eyes, yawned. The afternoon sun was creeping through the leaves of the canopy above, shining through to heat the woods.

"Hey, Red."

"Yeah?", he responded, turning his head to see the cyan mare.

"How long have you been walking? Did you even stop?"

"I've been walking since you last fell asleep. Why?"

"What keeps you going? Is it the fact that I am on your back, you could earn fame that way. Is it because you want to save me, just because you're a very caring stallion. Or do you do this...because...", her voice trailed off.

"Because I like you?", he picked up.

"Not exactly the word I was looking for. More of infatuated, but less mushy mushy. Not love, but the developing feel of it."

"I know what you mean. But, I must say, I'm not sure. If it's the fear, or if it's the love for you."

"So you admit?"

Red blushed at the thought. Love. He may have fully grasped the concept now, but then more questions arose and his walk became slower, more uncoordinated.

"I...I'm not sure...Yet.", he picked up pace once more.

"But you do admit that you...atleast like me do you?"

"Well..."

"Yeah, I knew it was too good to be true...You're probably just another who doesn't like me for me, but as someone famous."

He stopped, turning his head to her.

"Now hold on. I never said that. Nor did I ever really say that I am not in love with you to the point of no second thoughts. Rainbow Dash, I've searched a long time for that perfect somepony. I've lived a life, above my friends, thought of as above, and I've even treated them as below me before! Why...I've even lost them all..."

"Tell me this story, Red. I want to hear it."

Red stayed silent for several seconds, thinking where to start.

"Lets see. It started just about when I first started school. Flight academy. Though, I never went to cloudsdale. And it was never really a flight academy. It was just another of those mixed schools. An aero of subjects for each filly and colt to attend."

He began walking once more.

"So, it was basicaly a third rate school? If all ages attended, it's a fourth rate. Or atleast in my book."

"Yeah. All ages attended. But we were not without the many fights, arguments among other ages and grade levels. Though, back to my story. I was considered to be not as bright as the others. They teased me, picked on me. I never did fight back, not till they passed a line. I got into several fights though. Went home with blood stains, black bruises dotted my body. It was hell."

"So when did it get better?"

"Tryouts for the school gymnastics and athletics team. I was the smallest and youngest of all those who tried out. From there, I was picked on more. My flying was great, yeah, but nothing else. I could barely lift any weight, my stamina wasn't that high, nothing good. They teased me when I wouldn't take a shower even more because, well, I just felt uncomfortable taking a shower with all the others. Wasn't till another young colt had stood up for me. Was the day of the year that was remembered. The teachers came in, they tried to stop it, but not only did I refuse, the other colt did too. We got beat pretty badly, but we came out as very durable colts. We took hard kicks, bucks, stomps, anything painful. Even biting. Me and that colt, we never gave up."

He crossed a thin stream, ballancing the two on the small log.

"So you were basically against the school."

"Yeah. We were good friends. Best of friends actually. Me and him stayed together in many situations. But thats how we earned our respect. He grew to be a big fella, my bodyguard, as they called him. Though, I was not so much. When we were halfway through our educational courses, the full ten years, we were to all find our cutie marks if we hadn't. Buster, that was my friend's name, got a shield imprinted with the word "protect" on it. He did a good job at it too. Took several hits before going down, but the much larger colts still got past him to me. One day, when I had enough, I flew."

"And this is the day you got your cutie mark?"

"Yeah. I flew as fast as I could. I loved flying before, I loved flying then. But not only did I notice that they were Far behind me. I also noticed that the school was gone. I watched clouds fly past me then panicked, stopping. Then, the explosion. The sonic boom. It hurt, my ears bled, but I looked at this opportunity. It was fun. I loved the way that the wind rushed past my body like a comb. Then, I returned to the school, though, being cautious of the sonic speed I had gone, I flew at a moderate speed. Once there, the principal, a black pegasus, was at the door, waiting for me. My parents were there, and so was Buster, as well as a few others. Familiar faces. They stared at me, then I looked around, shattered windows, the door was blast to pieces. I wrecked the front area bad."

"Thats...epic!", Rainbow Dash squirmed, trying to motion her sudden emotion. The quick change of balance toppled Red over and he misstepped, sliding his hoof off the side of the log they were on. He was taking it slowly to keep them balanced, but the log wasn't short either. They were nearly over and he slipped. Rainbow Dash winced at the impact when he hit the log, and as he got up, he looked back at the cyan mare.

"You ok?", Red asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Could you please set me down when you get us over this stream?"

"No problem. It's just three more steps."

Rainbow Dash let out her held breath as he continued. He was right. Three steps later, he was at the very end of the log. Rainbow Dash felt the grass as he set her down against a stump, then she pushed herself against it to sit up. She let out a long sigh of relief, then finally relaxed.

"You feel a lot better, don't you?"

"Yeah. It feels a lot better than laying on your back. You've got some nice, broad shoulders, but your walking is a little jumpy."

"I guess I just do that."

Red laid down next to rainbow Dash, putting their eyes parallel to one another. But his gaze was set upon the sun in the sky. The stream, as they crossed it, didn't look at all brighter than the rest of the area, then again, the trees let off to the point where it wasn't an immediate change in the light.

It was beautiful, nonetheless. The birds chirped, the stream flowed silently, and the wind in the trees created and ambiatic display of both beauty and sound.

"I never really had a chance to actually look at the natural beauty of anything. It's nice.", Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

"Yeah. I've heard stories of you. I've seen you working with the Wonderbolts. Ya bunch a show offs!", Red chuckled.

"Ok, thunder wing! I get it. But, I've never really had much to look up to."

"What do you mean?"

"Earlier in my life, I was abandoned. I was a little older than your average little child. I could talk, I could tell what was happening. But, that makes it worse."

"Why? Wouldn't that have helped if you were abandoned? You could've found your parents!"

"I know, but thats not why. You see. Well, to put it behind truth, I was never really abandoned. A massive storm was headed to where we were living. This was before cloudsdale. I was never really born there, or raised there. But, the story goes on. The storm had just kicked up, came without warning. We had to leave everything, heirlooms that were over a hundred years old, nick-knacks collected over the years, etcetera."

"So you not only lost your family, you lost everything."

"Yeah. As it continued, we were flying as fast as we could. Sheet lightning was raking the skies like no tomorrow, lightning strikes everywhere. It was hectic. I cried, then, silence. We had made it into the eye of the hurricane. It was peaceful. But then we had to pass through the west wall, the worse of them all. Couldn't fly up through the eye because lightning was streaking through it. It was the worst storm ever recorded by the scientists that lived there."

"How do you know?"

"They said so with their dying words."

"Thats...horrible."

"Yeah, mom held me close, I myself barely able to fly with even dampened wings, held tight to her. We flew into the wall, then blackness. once past that, we were over an ocean. Rain came down even harder. Then, she dropped me. I called for her, but she never answered, she fell slower than I, and didn't flap her wings or move. I saw her mane, it was scorched. I figured, lightning struck, but I was unharmed. It was a miracle, or half of one anyway. She looked down at me, I could see her lifeless eyes, then darkness. The water I landed in knocked me out from the impact. All I could recall afterwards was waking up in a hospital. In Ponyville."

"Why were you not scarred by this?"

"Because, even though I lost my mom, I had more care from those who found me than...well, not completely as much, but almost as much as my own mother. It was the only thing which kept me from giving up. Every breath was a struggle."

"So, broken ribs?"

"A few, had a collapsed lung, but they fixed it. Luckily, I still have both. And they are just as strong as ever."

She took a deep breath, exhaling audibly to show her point.

"Well, seems like you still went through a lot."

"Yeah, then harder times came. After I healed, I was all alone. With a little luck, and many lies, I managed to get the house I have now, as a filly. For free too. I lived there alone, several years of loneliness...", she trailed off, half lidded eyes gazing at the stream.

She had a sweet smile on her face, apparently happy with everything around her. Red, having witnessed her slam into and splinter a meter thick tree, not have a single broken bone from it, had performed CPR on her to keep her from dying, and even carried her partially disabled body for a few miles.

"Why are you not scared now? Why are you not moaning in pain? And above all, how are you so happy?"

Rainbow Dash let out a small sigh, "Isn't it obvious?"

"No, I don't know!"

Rainbow Dash turned her head to him, planting a small kiss on his nose.

"Because I may have found that which I have wanted for years now."

Red blushed a bright red, staring blankly at Rainbow Dash, completely speechless.

"Though, if you don't want to...I understand."

"N-no! I mean yes! I mean, wait. I...I'm not sure if I am completely sure yet..."

Rainbow Dash hung her head slowly, "Oh...Ok..."

"But..."

Her ears perked up.

"My heart and mind finally agree on one thing. Rainbow Dash. I don't know if we share the same exact feelings for one another, but I promise, that once this is over, I'd be happy to call you my marefriend."

Rainbow Dash smiled, "You'd really...Thank you. You wouldn't believe how much that means to this one mare."

"But something still bothers me. Do you even feel pain?"

"Yes. My back feels like it's been cut a million times with razor blades, then beaten on with drum sticks like I was a snare drum for a marching parade, of course it hurts! I slammed into a tree going over the speed of sound! Way faster than the speed of sound! I was well over seven hundred sixty eight miles an hour! If I were to measure it, I'd say, about nine hundred? Probably gaining on one thousand."

"You know your speed well! Whats the speed of light?", Red quizzed.

"Two hundred one thousand, three hundred twenty four point two six six miles an hour! Hah!", she smirked.

"Forgot the three."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I didn't."

"And you are right! I was just checking to see if you had given a random number, or were telling the truth. Though, saying the number exactly, even a few decimals after, thats, thats shocking."

"Really? I wasn't aiming for it."

"Well, we should be well past this spot by now, probably in Fillydelfia. Now, hop on."

"Ok."

Rainbow Dash, with the aid of Red once more, clambered onto his back, assuming the same position with her legs dangling on his sides. She snuggled into his back, placing her head, again, in the same position to watch as everything passed by his left side.

"At this rate, I don't know how long we'll take to get there, or how far we are along towards Fillydelfia. You should get some rest too, might help if you are going to be in the hospital. Ya know, sleep is the best way to relax."

"Mmmhmm.", Rainbow Dash responded.

Though, she was well on her way there, having started dozing off shortly after she had gotten comfortable on his back once more. The darkness of welcomed sleep kicked in and she was asleep. She was dreaming again, but this time, no nightmare. There was no death, no one except she was there. It was pitch black, no light, and infinite space. She just floated freely. But. It soothed her. Then a field of flowers blossomed around her, soft grass lacing under them, over the invisible and nonexistent ground. She was happy.

The next thing she remembered after that was nothing. Nothing but the bright light, and rhythmic beep of the heart monitor by her bed. Her bed...

"Bed...Covers...Hospital gown...I'm in a hospital...", she said blankly declaring the obvious.

"I have hospital!", she exclaimed loudly, throwing her arms up and letting them fall to her sides. The blanket was thick and heavy, but the bed itself was very soft.

A nurse rushed in, spotting Rainbow Dash as she slowly sat up. The light, whitish pink mare rushed over and tried to push Rainbo Dash down into a lying position once more.

"Please, lie back down, you'll hurt yourself!"

"Whoa, miss commander nurse! If you did not see it before, I clearly sat up and pushed myself against the back board, positioning myself quite fine thank you. Now, if you'd excuse me, I need a damage report, the day's date, and I need to know if any of my fans have gotten in.", she tapped her hoof on the other, to point out the three subjects.

"Uhm, ok then. Damage report! Yes. You have no severe injuries, just a lot of bruising. Today is the second day you've been here, got here at noon yesterday with the help of your friends and a blood stained stallion. What alarmed us the most is the blood on him, and you. Did he...he beat you?"

"As a matter of fact, he did."

The nurse gasped.

"At a race, blondy. We were racing from Ponyville to Fillydelfia. I lost control, went into turbulence, slammed into and shattered a tree, then he went after me. Why, if it weren't for him, I'd not be here, or alive for that matter."

"Oh...so, he didn't brutally beat you till you coughed up blood and had a seizure?"

"What? Where'd you get the seizure from?"

"Uhm, well, it's not quite easy to explain."

"Well, start."

"Uhm, when you arrived, you began screaming, convulsing, and even your eyes fluttered, pupils dilated and darting everywhere."

"Wow, must've been a pretty hard crash then. Well, after all, I was going about nine hundred miles an hour, having just broken the sound barrier, I could'a swore I was nearing a full thousand. Nose, eyes, ears, mouth bleeding from it."

"Missy! You shouldn't push yourself so far!"

"What? Thats not as far as I can go. I can go way further. Probably about twelve hundred if I tried."

"Good lord, I want to know why you are still alive! Anyway, I'll, uh, talk to the police stallion outside."

"I better not find any bruises on Red, you hear me! If any of you touched him, I'll shatter every single window in this hospital and blast the doors out!"

"Uhm...please don't!", the nurse cowered.

"I'm just messin with ya! But seriously, I better not find a single scratch made by any of you on him.", Rainbow Dash's face turned serious.

The nurse smiled, nodding her head, then ran out the door. As Rainbow Dash finally relaxed, her friends all burst through the door, exclaiming her name.

"Oh, dear, are you alright!", Rarity began.

"Rainbow Dash! I swear, you are one stubborn mare. Wah, ah wish ah had your endurance and courage.", Applejack spoke up.

"You worried us sick, Rainbow Dash!", Twilight scolded.

"Uhm, are you ok, Rainbow Dash?", Fluttershy began.

"Whoa! Hold on girls!", Rainbow Dash stopped them.

"First of all! Fluttershy, what are you doing here...You should be home resting, or whatever. I mean, you just gave birth to four children not too long ago!"

"Well, once I got the news, I helped them look in cloudsdale. Granted, I shouldn't be on my feet, but I couldn't lose the one pegasus I think of as one of my best friends!"

"Fluttershy, did you even tell Big Mac?"

"No."

"He's not gonna be happy."

"And ah gotta deal with it when ah get home! ah'm his sister after all!", Applejack stated.

"Ok, has anyone seen that blood stained pegasus? He should be here by now!", Rainbow Dash spoke aloud, very loudly in fact.

They all looked at one another and Pinkie Pie raised a hoof.

"Ooh! There he is!", she pointed.

Rainbow Dash turned her head towards the door as the Stallion entered and she smiled.

"Red!", Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah. To be honest, I almost collapsed!", Red started.

"What?"

"Yeah. When you fell asleep, and I noticed it, I continued on. Walked for three more hours and still found nothing! Then I continued on. Two hours later, This friendly animal caring pegasus, Fluttershy, found me."

"Wow, thank you Fluttershy!"

"Not only that, but once she led me out of the forest, we got to Fillydelfia in no time. Brought you to the hospital and got attacked by that guard out front! That unicorn knows some magic."

"Well then. Glad to see you're ok as well, and cleaned up."

Red made his way over to Rainbow Dash and she lift her forelegs around him in a hug.

"Guys! If you don't know him, he's Red. And above that, he and I are going to start dating. As soon as I get out of this hospital."

"Really? You. You finally found a date?", Rarity asked.

"Yeah. But, I'm not sure how long it will last. I both owe him my life, and I have feelings for him. Not only was he friendly, but he helped me get here. He even shared his own stories with me."

"I guess that settles it girls! Party time!!!", Pinkie burst out with confetti, scaring the surrounding patients who were asleep.

The nurse need only stare at the pink pony for a few seconds before she got the message, and left.

"Let's just hope it doesn't fall apart.", Rainbow Dash said truthfully.

Yo, go to the next chaptah!