Rainbow Originsby Darklex46ChaptersChapter 1chapter 2chapter 3chapter 4chapter 5chapter 6Chapter 1Rainbow origins: Chapter 1 It was the day after Family Appreciation Day in Ponyville. The mane six were meeting at Twilight’s house, discussing their individual stories of the day before. “It was great to visit my parents in Canterlot again.” Twilight said. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen them.” “Mah Family Appreciation Day was just like any other day since we’re always together all the time that is.” Applejack added. “Well, I loved my Family Appreciation Day! I went to visit my parents and sisters on the rock farm, but it was dull, so I threw a party! Not a lot of ponies came because not a lot of ponies around, but a party is still a party even with only four guests!” Pinkie exclaimed happily as she bounced around the room. “Okay Pinkie, I think we get it” Twilight said calmly.”What about you Rarity?” “Oh, I simply adore my parents, but staying with them is a different story. My father is a complete slob and my mother couldn’t make a dish to save her life. But, I still enjoyed it.” Rarity explained.” What about you Fluttershy darling?” “My parents came to visit me. We didn’t really do anything special. Angel wasn’t very happy about them being there though.” The Pegasus said quietly. "Seriously Fluttershy, when is that bunny ever happy?” Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically. “My Family Appreciation Day was totally awesome! My dad and I spent the entire day doing all sorts of tricks and stunts!” “That is pretty awesome Rainbow.” Twilight acknowledged. ”so what did you do with your mother?” “I never knew my mother.” Rainbow replied as she picked a Daring Do book off the bookcase. She turned to see everypony staring at her “what?” “ That’s awful!” Rarity exclaimed dramatically. “I know! Every filly should know their mother!” Pinkie exclaimed as she ran between Rainbow and her friends. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t know I didn’t know my mother. Oh, I know! I’d look for her!” Twilight’s face lit up.” Pinkie Pie, you’re a genius!” “No I’m not, I’m a pony!” “Rainbow why don’t we help you look for her?” “I must agree with Twilight’s idea.”Rarity added. “Thanks, but no thanks guys.” Rainbow replied.”I already know what happened to my mother. My dad told me that she was a free a spirit that couldn’t be tied down. So she’s off traveling the world.” The other ponies looked at each other before looking back at their rainbow-colored friend. “uh, RD did it ever occur to you that yer pa might be lyin’ to ya?” Applejack asked. “Of course not! My dad would never lie to me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.”What would make you think that?” “Think about it Rainbow. Even if your mother was a free spirit, she still should have came back to at least visit her daughter and husband.” Rainbow Dash didn’t like where this conversation was going.” Well what do you know?! I’m sure my mom had her reasons for not coming back, but that never bothered me.” “um… but I remember every Family Appreciation Day when we were foals that you wanted to know where your mother was.” Fluttershy pointed out.”Then you’d tell me that your father said she couldn’t make it.” Rainbow Dash had heard enough. She rocketed out of the library, leaving her friends behind. “I don’t get it.” Twilight said.”Why wouldn’t Rainbow want to find out the truth about her mother?” “Ah reckon she does, but she’s afraid of what she might find.” Applejack commented.”And it was a rather personal problem that we shouldn’t try to interfere with.” “but we’re bestest friends, she knows that share anything with us!” Pinkie Pie said sadly. “That is true.” Rarity replied as she put a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. ”but some things just have to be handled alone.” Rainbow Dash tried to forget about the conversation she had fled from, but try she might, the entire event kept replaying itself inside her head. She knew her friends were right, but Rainbow didn’t want to believe it. That’s when the questions started to fly. “Why would my dad lie to me? What really happened to my mom and who was she? Could my dad have been lying to protect me?” she thought. Rainbow didn’t have the answers, but she did know where to find them. It didn’t take long for Rainbow Dash to get to Cloudsdale. She quickly flew to the outskirts of town where a medium sized cloud housed hovered. She knocked on the door and waited for a second, before a cyan colt with a blond mane and tail answered. “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?” the colt asked.” Didn’t get enough awesome the other day?” “Yesterday was great dad, but it would have been twenty percent cooler if mom was there.“ The colt began to fidget. ”N- Now Rainbow, I’ve told you why she’s not here.” He backed out of the doorway as his daughter entered. “What you told me was a lie.” Rainbow said as she sat on the couch. “Why?” Her dad sighed. “I have my reasons.” ”What reasons?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “I want answers! You’ve made up excuses to keep me in the dark about my mom. Just tell me who she was!” “No, Rainbow.” her dad said sternly. “Why not?!” “Because I can’t!” He yelled causing Dash to jump in fear.”I just can’t … “ Dad?” Rainbow said softly. “Wait there.” Rainbow’s dad left the room. He soon returned with a scroll under his wing and handed it to Dash.” I can only tell you a few things. All those years ago, when I met your mother, we didn’t exactly have a relationship after a series of traumatic events, you were born. Your mother left afterwards and only left that letter.” Rainbow Dash unrolled the scroll and read it out loud. “Dear Sonic Blitz, I have enjoyed the time we spent together and I’m sorry for all the pain I have caused you. I left this letter to ask you for one more favor. I ask you to raise our daughter, Rainbow Dash, while I return to my work. Nobody can know about the thing that we have done, not even Dash. I know she’ll ask about her mother one day. When the day comes, give her this letter and tell her to search for me. I’m sorry that I have to leave when things were getting good. love, yours truly” “So, I have to go find her myself.” Rainbow Dash said to herself.” Looks like I’ll need my friends help after all.” She rolled up the letter and put it underneath her wing. “thanks dad, I just have one more question.” “Oh boy.” Sonic Blitz sighed. “Okay kiddo, fire away.” “What was so traumatic about you and mom?” Sonic Blitz shuddered. ”you’ll find out soon enough. It’s getting late, do you want to stay here for the night?” “Yeah, I guess.” Rainbow Dash yawned. She slowly fluttered up the stairs and to her childhood room. The walls were dark blue and littered with Wonderbolts memorabilia. The tired Pegasus climbed into her bed and fell asleep, but not before a vital question popped into her head. “How the hay am I supposed to find this mare?” chapter 2Rainbow origins: Chapter 2 Rainbow Dash left Cloudsdale early next morning, because she had to tend to the weather in Ponyville. The forecast had called for a partially cloudy day, so Rainbow had to move the clouds the weather factory had sent. Unfortunately for her, she arrived before anypony else was awake. “Aw, man this is going to be boring.” As the morning went on, the same thoughts from the previous night began to fill her head once more. Eventually, she stopped working and sat on a cloud with her thoughts. “I wonder what my mother was like. She was probably awesome and adventurous, just like dad said. But he did lie to me about her. Ugh! Why is this so frustrating!?” “Rainbow Dash! Hey, Rainbow Dash!” The cyan Pegasus looked over the side of her cloud to see her friends calling up to her. She quickly flew down to them. “Hey guys, what’s up?” “Rainbow, we just wanted to apologize for yesterday.” Twilight explained. “We shouldn’t have said all those things about your mother.” “We understand that this subject can be rather personal. Could you forgive us?” Rarity asked. “Ah don’t worry about it.” Rainbow Dash replied nonchalantly. “Actually, I was going to come looking for you anyway. Rarity, could we go to your place and talk?” “Why, sure darling. May I ask what about?” “I’ll explain when we get there.” The six ponies soon arrived at Rarity’s boutique. She decided to close the shop for the rest of the day, since Rainbow Dash had seemed troubled. “So what is it ya wanna talk about?” Applejack asked as Rarity magically set a full teacup in front of them. “Our conversation yesterday got me thinking about my mom. I knew you guys we right about my dad lying to me, so I went to Cloudsdale to get some real answers.” Rainbow Dash explained pushing back the teacup. “What did he say?” Fluttershy asked “He said he couldn’t tell me anything, but he did give me this letter” she took the scroll from under her wing and placed it on the table. Twilight levitated the letter in front of her and read it aloud after she finished, the room was completely silent. “Well Rainbow, this is… interesting.” “It sounds like your mother was pulled away from you and your father.” Fluttershy suggested. “Or maybe she was trying to protect you from something.” “I never thought of thought of that.” Rainbow Dash said as she re-read the letter” It does seem like that.” “So, how do you plan on finding her?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know! I thought an egghead like you would be able to figure that out for me. No offense.” Rainbow replied. “Oh!, oh! I know! Let’s go check the Canterlot Archives!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Well aren’t you full of good ideas.” Rarity said, obviously impressed. “Twilight, Don’t the Canterlot Archives hold the birth records of everypony in Equestria?” “That they do.” Twilight said excitedly. “Girls, it looks like we’re going to Canterlot!” All of them cheered and squealed except for Rainbow Dash, who thought to herself. “I’m starting to wonder if this is a good idea” she thought The train ride to Canterlot seemed to take forever to Rainbow Dash. Even on a good day, she was not known for her patience. Now that she has something on her mind the wait was unbearable. It took all she had not to jump off the train and fly to Canterlot herself. “Is this how Twilight feels when she wants to know something?” Rainbow Dash wondered. “No wonder she spends so much time in that library. I’m glad I’m not always like that.” Pinkie Pie saw Rainbow Dash staring out the window and bounced over to her. “You seem tense. You need to loosen up a bit!” “I can’t loosen up pinkie. I’m too… what’s the word?” “Anxious.” Twilight said from across the train car. “Yeah, that.” “It’s like a surprise, and who doesn’t like surprises?!” Pinkie replied. “The feeling you get when you know something coming, but you don’t know what it is. Then you find out and know that the wait was totally worth it!” Rainbow Dash shook her head and smiled softly. “I guess you’re right Pinkie.” The next day, the train began to slow down and the intercom sprang to life. “Now arriving in Canterlot. Watch your step when exiting the car and have a nice day.” “Rainbow, wait up!” Twilight called out as she and her friends galloped after her. “She is really excited to get there isn’t she?” Fluttershy said to Applejack. “Well, the ride did take a day so I can understand” The five ponies eventually caught up to their rainbow-colored friend. Twilight told her that she was heading the wrong way and pointed to a large, blue and white tower near the castle in the center of the city. Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. “I knew that.” They soon arrived at the Archives building and were met by a white Pegasus in golden armor. “Halt! None may enter the archives while-“ The guard noticed who he was talking to. “Oh Twilight, it’s you. So sorry for the inconvenience you may enter.” “What’s going on?” Twilight asked. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are away on royal affairs, but before they left, they decreed that none shall enter any property on the castle grounds.” The guard explained. “With the exception of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” “Lucky us.” Fluttershy whispered to Rainbow Dash. “Whatever can we go in now?” Rainbow dash asked impatiently “Calm down, R.D. Just think in a few minutes ya gonna know who yer ma is.” Applejack replied happily. Twilight nodded as they trotted inside. “AJ’s right besides, good things come to those who wait.” This earned an agitated groan from Rainbow Dash. They walked through the building until they came to a small, wooden door. “Um Twilight, are we lost?” Fluttershy asked. “Of course not. We’re already here.” “Hold on ya’ll tellin’ me that all the records fer everypony is behind that ol’ thing?” Applejack asked in disbelief. “Yep!” Twilight pushed open the door, revealing rows upon rows of full bookshelves that went on as far as the eye could see. The other ponies stared in awe. “How the-“ “Princess Celestia enchanted this room to grow and not take up space.” Twilight explained. “That way she could port the records of everypony in Equestria in one place.” “It’s gonna take us forever to find anything in here!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “I want to find my mom, but I don’t want to grow old and die first!” “I agree with Dash.” Added Rarity. “I am much too young and dazzling to rot in this place.” Twilight laughed. “You guys act as if this place isn’t organized. All we have to do is go in the section that contains Rainbow Dash’s date of birth. It shouldn’t be too far from here.” She galloped away into the sea of bookcases, leaving the others behind “Couldn’t she have just teleported us there?” Fluttershy asked as they began to follow her. “Who knows? You couldn’t ask that before we started this awful running?” Rarity asked. “Oh stop being such a spoil-sporty-sport Rarity. It feels great to get physical!” Pinkie said happily, bouncing from the tops of the bookshelves. “Plus it gives you a chance to show off your speed and gives you a chance to prove how slow Applejack really is.” Rainbow Dash said in a challenging tone. “Me, slow? Ah’ll show ya’ll how slow I am!” Applejack quickly took off ahead of Rainbow Dash, causing her to smile and give chase. The two ponies raced through the archive, one constantly pulling ahead of the other. They kept a good distance behind Twilight so they knew where to go, but when she comes to an abrupt stop and nearly run her over. “Be careful you two. Do you know old and important these documents are!” Twilight stressed. “Where are the others?” “They were behind us.” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Yeah like three miles back.” Half an hour later, Rarity and Fluttershy finally arrived. Both were extremely exhausted. “This is ridiculous!” Rarity exclaimed. “Please tell me we’re here , Twilight.” “Yes, Rarity, we’re here. Somewhere on this bookshelf is Rainbow Dash’s birth records.” She replied. “Hey where’s Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I’m up here!” they all looked up to see Pinkie jumping up and down on the bookcase. “Pinkie, get down from there before you break something!” sadly Twilight’s warning came too late. The bookshelf shook and creaked before collapsing on itself, sending documents flying and scattering themselves on the ground. “oopsie.” Pinkie said apologetically, who was now standing next to Twilight. “I’m not even going to ask how she got right there.” Twilight thought. “Its okay, Pinkie this just means a lot more work for us.” That caused everypony to groan. The equines tackled the mess of documents head on. However, as the hours passed, they couldn’t find Rainbow’s record. Soon after, all but Twilight had fallen asleep in the pile of papers. “Come on, it has to be here somewhere.” She said as she read the names as she picked up each document. “Nova Star, no. Aqua Shine, no. Rainbow Dash, no Summer Bloom, no. Wait!” she quickly levitated Rainbow’s record and ran over to the others. “Girls, wake up! I found it!” They woke up and ran over to Twilight except for Rainbow Dash, who remained asleep on the shelf. “Five more minutes” the Pegasus mumbled in her sleep. “Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed forcefully “What! I’m up! I’m up!” Rainbow exclaimed in a panic. “What happened?” “We found your record!” Twilight said. “Awesome! What’s it say?” “It gives your information, your father, Sonic Blitz and it says that your mother is… “Well? Who is she?” “I don’t know” Twilight replied. “What do you mean you don’t know? Gimmie that!” Rainbow swooped down, snatched the document out of the air and looked at it. She saw everything Twilight had mentioned, except for her mother’s information, which was strangely blacked out. Rainbow’s expression contorted into one of despair. “We went through all that for nothing.” “Not necessarily.” Rarity levitated the document down to herself. “It appears that they did not cover your mother’s hoof print, which is rather large for a mare, I must add. Could we not get this examined?” “We could, but if there’s no information here then I doubt there would be any there.” Twilight Explained. Rainbow moaned. “I’ll never find my mother.” “Yes, you will.” Twilight said comfortingly. “And I have a plan that just might help.” chapter 3Rainbow origins: chapter 3 "Well, don't hold out on me Twilight! I need to know!" Rainbow exclaimed as she violently shook Twilight. "As soon as you stop shaking me, sure!" "Sorry, continue" Twilight cleared her throat as she began her explination. "As of recently, I have been practicing magic that pertains to the mind and it's memories. I think I know a spell that just might help this situation." Rainbow frowned. "Um, I hate to burst your bubble Twi, but I don't remember anything about her. If I did, we wouldn't be in this mess." "I never said I was going to use it on you. I was planning on your father. He may not want to tell you about your mother, but that doesn't mean we can't take a look for ourselves." "Twi, ah don' think ya should be pokin' round in other pony's thoughts." Applejack stated. "It's their buisness, not yers." "Relax, AJ, I wasn't planning on doing anything without her father's consent." The purple unicorn replied. "Alright, Let's head over to Cloudsdale!" Rainbow quickly took off but stopped before she really got anywhere. She was then pulled back to the ground by a purple aura. "You know, I hate it when you do that." The pegasus said to Twilight. "She wouldn't have to if you didn't fly off every five seconds dear." Rarity replied. "Besides, I have to prepare for an endevour such as this and so does Rarity. "You're absolutely right. Wait, What!" Rarity exclaimed. "What do I have to do with this?" "The spell requires two unicorns for it to work. One to cast the actual memory spell and one to cast a sleep spell so the pony's other thoughts don't interfere with the one's we're searching for." "But, i've never tried a spell like that before." "That's why you're going to be practicing so we'll be ready to do this next week." "Next week!" Rainbow yelled. "I can't wait a week for answeres. I'll probably die of boredom, or anxiety, or something!" "Oh, stop worryn', sugercube. Ya'll just gotta find somethin' that'll keep ya busy. Applejack said, nudging Rainbow in her side. "And if you don't, you can always hang out with your good friend, Pinkie!" The party pony cheered. "In the mean time, we should fix and re-organize all these records." Twilight said as she levitaded the bookshelves into place. "That's going to take a while isn't it?" Fluttershy asked. "No it won't." Pinkie said. "Cue time skip!" The week was passing by pretty quickly much to Rainbow Dash's surprise. she spent Saturday on the train back to Ponyville, her Sunday she spent with Applejack, helping the farm pony sell her goods at the market. Tuesday, she and Pinkie went around town pranking anypony they could. Both Wednsday and Thursday she was kept busy managing a major thunderstorm that needed to pushed over Ponyville. The entire ordeal left the pegasus drained of energy on Friady. She was out and about with Fluttershy during that afternoon, who was keeping her company so she didn't think about her mother. As the yellow and pink pegasus rambled on about her animals, Rainbow let out a loud yawn, catching her attention. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I boring you?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "Huh? Oh, no. I'm just tired." Rainbow explained. "That storm the other day really took a lot out of me. I should be heading home so I can hit the hay. Gotta big day ahead of me tomorrow." Okay, see you tomorrow." Rainbow watched her friend trot of sight before heading back to her own home in the sky. A short walk later, she arrived on the outskirts of town at her home. Quickly flying up, Rainbow Dash made her way inside and collapsed on the couch. *** A much younger Rainbow Dash awakened to see that she was in her foalhood room. She yawned and scratched her now scruffy mane, before hopping out of bed and making her way down the hall. As she walked down the hall, Rainbow began to hear two voices. One was obviously her father's, but she couldn't tell who the other voice belonged to. Rainbow looked down the stairs and saw her father sitting on the couch with a completly whiter mare. She couldn't see the mare's face, but her mane and tail flowed elegantly in the still air. The pegasus tried to listen in on their conversation, but could barely make out what they were saying. However, a phrase from Sonic Blitz did catch her attention. "You're my wife, and no matter what you do I'll always love you." Rainbow's jaw hit the floor, but quickly retracted and contorted into a smile. as she realized that the pony next to her father was her mother. the pegasus filly quickly bounced down the stairs, barely able to contain her exitement. "Mommy! Mommy!" The foal squeaked as she ran to the mare. then she felt a sharp burning pain shoot through one of her cheeks as her head jolted to the left. "Don't ever address me as that again!" The mare said, pulling back a hoof from Rainbow's face. "Huh?" Rainbow looked back at the mare. She now noticed that the mare didn't have any facial features. Rainbow also noticed that everything started to fade away and she was now her current age. "Don't you get it? I left for a reason." The mare's voice rang, venom dripping from every word." I didn't want you then and I definetly don't want you now! You disgust me and were nothing more than an unwanted mistake I didn't want!" "B-but, I'm not a mistike." Rainbow felt the tears welling up in her eyes." I missed you so much. I just wanted to find you." The mare walked by Rainbow Dash and muttered. "Well that's too bad, cause I never felt that way about you." The mare disappeared, leaving Rainbow alone. She could no longer hold back her tears. Rainbow curled up into a ball and let them flow. The sound of sobs echoed throughout the cold, black, nothingness. *** Rainbow awakend in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. She looked around the room to gather her bearings, before putting her face in her hooves. "It was only a bad dream." Rainbow Dash sighed. "But why did it seem so real?" The next day, everypony meet at the library to discuss their plan of action. "So when are we leaving, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "That's something I wanted to tell you about." Twilight replied. "Only me, Rarity, and Rainbow are going to Cloudsdale." "Then why'd ya'll call us up here. Ya'll should have told us 'fore we came up here." "True, but we still have other things to ask of you." Rarity said. "Pinkie could you be a deer and go get your hot air balloon for us ?" "Well, I don't know how to be a deer, but I can get that balloon." pinkie said bouncing out of the door. "Later!" "Applejack and Fluttershy, in that case that this doesn't work, could you think of some more ideas we could try?" "sure." "No problem sugarcube." Applejack agreed." If ya need us, Ya'll know where tah find us." With that they left to go to their respective homes. Twilight and Rarity trotted over to the window that Rainbow was staring out of. "You must be exited, Rainbow, we're finally going to find your mother!" Twilight said happily, Completly overlooking the obvious nervous expression Rainbow Dash displayed. "Yeah, about that...." the pegasus paused." I think we should call off the search." "Why? you were so ready to find her last week." Rainbow looked back out thw window. "I have my reasons." Rarity put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "Darling, you can tell us. We won't think of you any differently." The pegasus looked between her two unicorn friends and sighed. "Last night, I had a dream that got me thinking. What if we do find my mom, but it turns out that she doesn't want me. That the whole reason she left in the first place was to get away from what she helped to create?" "Rainbow Dash, that idea is absolutely ridiculous!" Twilight exclaimed. Why wouldn't your mother or anypony for that matter not want you? You're the the element of loyalty and the best young flyer in all of equestria! Those are achievements that very few ponies can achieve." "I know Twi, but I'm just... scared." "Ha! Rainbow Dash scared? that'll be the day." Spike laughed as he entered the room. "Spike, this is serious!" Twilight frowned. "I know and I'm being serious! she's done way worse than a simple family search. she's managed to fight a dragon, pull of a sonic rainboom, become Ponyvill's heroine, and helped defeat both DIscord and Nightmare Moon!" Spike encouraged. "She has no reason to be scared now!" "Spike is right. What happened to the brash, overconfident, not-afraid-of-anything Rainbow Dash we all know and love?" "She's still here." Rainbow snapped back. "And you guys are right. I need to face this head on like I do everything else!" "That's right. It's good to see you've had a change of heart, Rainbow." Twilight walked to the door." Now we should get going if we're going to make it to Cloudsdale by the end of the day." chapter 4Rainbow Origins: chapter 4 "Pinkie, is the balloon ready yet?" Twilight asked as she and the others walked into Sugarcube Corner. "You bet, girls. It's waiting out back for you." Pinkie placed a tray of cupcakes on the counter and walked over to them. "Good luck, and make sure to stick to the script." Twilight sighed in annoyance. "Pinkie, I told you our lives are not books that beings in other worlds read for their enjoyment. Besides, who would even want to read about our daily lives anyway?" "Simple. Bronies!" Pinkie said before dashing off. "I swear that filly is a few stitches short of a dress." Rarity said. "No point in worrying about it though. Come on." The three mares loaded themselves into the balloon and set off for Cloudsdale. A couple of hours passed and the equines found themselves coming up to the city of pegasi. After quickly casting the spell for ponies to walk on clouds, the three set out for Rainbow's father's house. Soon they arrived and Rainbow knocked on the door. The door slowly opened to reveal a semi-annoyed Sonic Blitz. "Look Rainbow, I love you and all, but if you haven't noticed I do have a life outside of you." "Oh please dad, we both know that other than your job at the weather factory, you don't get out that much." Rainbow replied. "That doesn't mean I'm not gonna start." He chuckled. "So who are these two lovely mares?" "These are my friends: Twilight Sparkle and Rarity." "It's nice to meet you, Mr.- " "Blitz, Sonic Blitz." He shook Twilight's hoof. "Rainbow, if you're here for what I think you're here for, I can't tell you anything." "You don't have to tell us anything. it's more like ... um." Rainbow Dash hesitated. "Twilight, you explain." " I told your daughter that i could preform a spell on you that would allow her to look into your memories. Of course, you'll be asleep during this process and it'll be like you're re-living the event but-" "No." Sonic Blitz said forcefully. "But-" "No buts Rainbow. It took me years to repress that memory and there is no way I'm going to re-live it!" "Not even for your own daughter?" Rarity asked. "No! look, i'm sorry, but I'm not going to help you. You're gonna have to take your search somewhere else!" With that, he slammed the door in their faces. Rainbow Dash scowled and walked away with her head down. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other, before catching up to their spectrum colored friend. "I don't get it. How could anypony be that stubborn and selfish?" Rainbow asked. "Well you had to get it from somewhere, didn't you?" Rarity joked. "Shut up, Rarity, you're one to talk!" Rainow yelled. She then noticed a muffin drop down in front of her. "What the-" "Incoming!" A voice called, before a pony crashed down on top of the muffin. "Derpy, what are you doing?" Rainbow asked. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!" "Ugh." "Hey, you haven't got a package that doesn't belong to you do you?" "Um... no." "Aw, I'm so going to get fired if I don't find that package." Derpy sighed. "I'm surprised you haven't already been fired." Twilight said dully. "Hi, Twilight!" the derp-eyed pony said happily. "Derpy, don't you have more mail to deliver?" Twilight asked. "Oh yeah!" Derpy exclaimed as she began to fly away. "Bye!" "I don't feel like doing anything else today, girls." Rainbow said quietly. "I'll catch you guys later." With that she flew off towards her house. The two unicorns slowly walked back to the balloon and returned to Ponyville. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. "So how'd it go? Did Dashie find her mother? Where is she anyway?" Pinkie asked. The event still fresh in their minds, Twilight and Rarity told them about everything that happened in Cloudsdale. "That's awful." Fluttershy whispered sincerly. "I know." Twilight replied. "So, did you all think of any other ideas to find rainbow's mother?" "Ah got nuthin'" Applejack stated. "Sorrry, sugarcube." Pinkie lowered her head and sighed. "Nope." "Um, I have an idea." Fluttershy said. This caused Twilight's face to light up. "Really? what is it?" she asked. "I-I can't tell you." Fluttershy responded. "Just be at my cottage around noon tomorrow. Oh, and tell Rainbow to bring something she has from her mother." "Okay." Rarity yawned. "It's getting late and I have to go put Sweetie Belle to bed. Good bye, girls." The others said their good-byes and went their own ways. Rarity soon arrived at the Carousel Boutique and was greeted by the sound of laughter and crashing. Worried, she pushed open the door to see her shop in shambles. Fabrics were strewn across across the floor, mannequins cracked in half, the furniture overturned and broken, and other materials laid about in the most random places. In the middle of all the cluter, sat Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo, laughing up a storm. Sweetie Belle noticed Rarity walk in to the shop. "Hi, sis!" "Sweetie Belle, What happened to my boutique!" "We're havin' another sleepover tah earn out cutie marks!" Applebloom exclaimed. "We were tryin' our hooves at dress makin' , but that didn't work out so well." "I told you we should have tried skydiving." Scootaloo said. Rarity looked around the boutique and lowered her head. "I don't have time for this. Just clean up the best you can and go to sleep." She began to head to her room. Sweetie Belle and the other crusaders followed. "What's wrong, Rarity?" "I've had the most exausting day." Rarity said as she began to go over all the events that transpired the days before. After explaining everything, the unicorn told the crusaders to go to bed. As the fillies laid in their room, they talked about the events Rarity had told them about. "I think it's cool what your sisters are doing for Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo whispered. "I wish we could do something for her." "Scoots, thats a great idea!" Applebloom beamed. "We could help by bein' like that pony we were readin' bout in school." "You mean Sherlock Hooves?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Eeyup!" She mimiced. "An' we might even get our cutie marks!" "Yeah, we could be CUTIE MARK CRUSADER INVESTIGATORS!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "This is great and all, but can we talk about this in the morning? I want to go to sleep." the unicorn filly moaned as she turned in her bed. Scootaloo frowned. "But I want to get started now!" "Ah do to, but there's no way we're gonna find anythin' at this hour. It's probably best that we do get some shut eye." Applebloom responded as she climbed into bed with Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo sighed seeing that she lost, and followed them. In the next room, Rarity woke up, and up in her bed. Opal, who was at the end of the bed, meowed as if asking "what's wrong?" "Everything's fine, Opal, darling. Mama just had a bad feeling about something that's all." Twilight stood under. Rainbow's cloud house calling for her pegasus friend. It was almost noon and the lavender unicorn was losing her patience. "RAINBOW DASH!" "Coming." A voice called down. It didn't sound like Rainbow Dash. Twilight was shocked to see her pegasus friend fall off her cloud house and crash into the ground. She quickly ran over and helped her up. "Rainbow, are you-" Twilight gasped. "Oh Celestia, Rainbow you look awful! What happened to you?" Rainbow blew her unkempt frizzy mane from her face revealing bloodshot eyes with bags beneath them. her coat was matted and stuck out in places. "Nothing happened. I just didn't get any sleep last night." Rainbow groaned, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Being the inquisitive pony she was Twilight couldn't help but ask "why?" "I guess this whole search has put an emotional and physical strain on me recently." Rainbow sighed. "Plus, there have been the dreams." "Dreams?" "Yeah. Twilight, before I go any further, what are you doing here?" "Huh, oh! Fluttershy thinks she knows how to find your mother. She asked that you bring something that your mother once owned." Twilight explained. "Do you even have anything like that?" The pegasus thought for a second. "Actually, I do." She flew back into her house and returned with something under her wing that thhe unicorn couldn't make out. "So where are the others?" "They're at the library." Twilight said as she began to trot to their destination. "So what are these dreams about?" "I don't know. The first one was more like a nightmare. I was a filly back in Cloudsdale and I was with my father and the white silhouette of another mare. She was kinda big with alot of mane. When I tried to talk to her, she slapped me and said she didn't want me." Rainbow explained. "The first one I had last night had nothing to do with anything. I was flying over a forest and next to me was a silhouette of me, I think. Anyway, as we were flying, the silhouette fell out of the sky and crashed into the trees. I got to where she landed, I was attacked by something. That one alone kept me up half the night when i was trying to figure it out." "Well, if you want, I have some books on dreams that you are more than welcome to borrow sometime." Rainbow stopped abuptly and stared at Twilight. "Twi we've been friends for a while and I think you know me pretty well. With that said, why the hay are you asking me that?!" "A mare can try can't she?" the unicorn sighed. "is that all?" "No, there was one mare, but it didn't seem like a dream. it was more like a memory. I was a baby and my dad was trying to calm me down. I could tell nothing was working, because he left the room, agitated. then he came back and started talking to me, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. I only made out two things: "mommy." and "Canterlot." Twilight thought for a second before she replied. "So it sounds like your mother once lived in Canterlot." "I already figured that out. I even thought about going there to search, but it's been years since then. What sre the chances that she's still there?" "That's true. Plus, theres no way of telling if she was just visiting or not. I guess that's just something we'll have to think about later." At this time, the mares arrived at the library. After meeting up with their friends and an onslaught of questions, tips and comments from Rarity, they set off for Fluttershy's cottage. When they got there, the yellow pegasus was nowhere to be found. They heard a loud howl came from behind the house. Upon coming around the building, the mares let loose a barrage of screams as they saw the massive timber wolf roared at them. Pinkie stopped yelling and asked. "Why are we screaming?" "Because that's a timber wolf, one of the most ferocious and deadly creatures in all of Equestria!" Twilight exclaimed. "They're also the best trackers in all of Equestria." Fluttershy said calmly. "Hello girls." "Fluttershy, how in tarnation did ya find a timber wolf?" "Oh, I found him when I was on a stroll in the everfree forest taking an animal back home when i ran into him." "Of course, you did." Rainbow muttered under her breath. "So, Dashie, did you bring something?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah i got it." She took a paper out from under her wing and handed it to the other pegasus. "What do you plan on doing with that?" "Isn't it obvious? She's going to use the scent from the paper to track down your mother." Pinkie explained. "At least I think so." "That's right, Pinkie." Fluttershy allowed the timber wolf to smell the paper. "Although, it might take a few hours of days to find anything. So, are you willing to come?" "Ah'd like tah, but Ah got some trees back on the farm that need mah attention." "I have a report due to Celestia tomorrow." "I have a big order to fill for a fashion show in three days." "And I don't feel comfortable around that thing." "I'll go!" Pinkie said happily "Okay, we'll be back when we find something." With that, they followed the timber wolf into the forest. "I hope they find something soon." Rainbow sighed. "I want this entire situation to be over and done with." "Well, there's nothing we can do now, except wait." Twilight said as she put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Come on, what do say we figure out what your dreams mean." chapter 5Rainbow Origins Ch. 5 Three days had passed since Rainbow and Twilight had scoured the library for books holding answers to the pegasi’s dreams. Unfortunately, they could not find anything. From then Rainbow spent her days managing the weather, resting, and waiting for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to return. Having nothing to do today, she decided to catch up on some much needed sleep on a drifting cloud. However, she was abruptly awakened by the sound of her friends calling her name. Rainbow Dash peeked over the side of her cloud to see Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack below. Each had a worried expression on their face. “Hey guys, what’s wrong?” She asked as she glided down to them. “Oh, Rainbow, it’s awful!” Rarity cried. “Sweetie Belle and Applebloom have gone missing!” Rainbow looked at Twilight and Applejack. “Is she just overreacting or is this as serious as it sounds?” “It’s serious alright. We ain’t seen flank or tail of ‘em since yesterday.” Applejack explained. “At first Ah thought that they were doin’ their crusadin’ somewhere, then night fell an’ Ah still hadn’t seen ‘em. At that point Ah figured that they were sleepin’ over Rarity’s again. Ah went over there this mornin’ tah get Applebloom, but Rare said she thought they were mah place.” “We already searched all over Ponyville, but we can’t find them!” Twilight added. Rainbow frowned. “Not trying to sound inconsiderate or anything, but if that’s the case, why are you here?” Rarity sighed. “Because Scootaloo is gone too.” Rainbow’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Not my number one fan! We gotta find them. I need my hero worship!” “Really, Rainbow?” Rarity asked. “And you dare have the audacity to call me shallow?” “I mean her parents must be really worried about her. Let’s go her!” She began to fly off, but stopped. “Um, where are we going again?” . . . “When I get my hoofs on Sweetie Belle she is in so much trouble!” Rarity exclaimed angrily as she stepped into another mud puddle. “An’ so is Applebloom!” Applejack agreed. The mares trekked through the Everfree Forest since it was the only place they had to search. Even though it was the middle of the day they were having trouble navigating their way through the forest because it was so dark. “How are we supposed to find them when we can’t see five feet in front of our own faces?” Rainbow asked. “Allow me to take care of that.” Twilight’s horn began to shine radiantly, lighting up the area and revealing a sheer cliff directly in front of them. “Whew, that was close.” “No kiddin’.” Just then multiple shrill screams erupted from deeper within the forest, silencing every other random noise. “That sounded like Sweetie Belle!” Rarity exclaimed. “And Scootaloo and Applebloom! Come on!” Rainbow led them as they all vaulted over the cliff to the other side. They ran through the forest before eventually coming to an old, abandoned castle. “Ain’t this the place where we defeated Nightmare Moon?” Applejack asked as they ran inside. “That it is, AJ.” Twilight confirmed as they entered the throne room where they saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders sitting with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. “What are you guys doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she walked up to Fluttershy. “The timber wolf brought us here.” The yellow Pegasus replied. “What are you doing here?” “We came looking for our sisters and Scootaloo.” Rarity glared at the fillies. “Who will be punished when we take them home.” “But we were only trying to help!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “Hold on.” Applejack said. “Help wit’ what exactly?” “Help you try find Rainbow Dash’s mom.” Scootaloo replied. “Rarity told us all about it.” The unicorn lowered her head and chuckled nervously. “Oh…” “Cheer up, Rarity, there’s no reason to be sad or mad.” Pinkie somehow managed to pull everybody together for a death hug. “We’re all here together, plus we found something!” “Really?” Twilight asked. “What is it?” Applebloom squirmed out of Pinkie’s hug and made her over to the throne. On it sat a medium-sized package. “We found this! The first address says it’s from Canterlot, but we don’t know the other one.” Twilight levitated the package over to her. “That’s weird. It says that this package is from the castle and its going somewhere in Cloudsdale.” What’s so weird about that?” Fluttershy asked. “The Princesses never send or receive mail that’s not from family or another nation. And the last time I checked neither was in Cloudsdale.” She explained. “Fluttershy, Rainbow do either of you recognize this?” They both looked and came to the same conclusion. However, before either said anything, Rainbow tore into the package, revealing a note and a brand new never-before-seen Daring Do book. She read the note and quickly flew off, leaving everything and everypony behind. “What was that about?” Scootaloo asked. “Well the address on the package was the same as Dashie’s father’s. I guess something in the letter must have set her off.” Fluttershy assumed. Rarity levitated the letter note and read it aloud. Dear Sonic, I know it’s been a while since my last letter, but lately I’ve been really busy. I know it’s not a special occasion or anything, but I want to give this to our daughter anyway. I’ve heard that she’s been looking for me recently. I wish you could tell her something about me, but we both know what will happen if you do. I look forward to seeing you again someday. Which, I hope will be soon… Love, Your beloved wife The group was silent for a second before Applebloom spoke up. “So what are we gonna do now?” “We are going to take you three trouble makers home. Then the five of us are going to head over to catch up Rainbow Dash.” Rarity explained. Hints of anger and annoyance lingered in the white unicorn’s voice. “Aw ponyfeathers.” The crusaders whined in unison. “We’re not going to follow Rainbow.” Twilight stated plainly. “Why not?” Pinkie asked. “Because she’s going to the wrong place.” “An’ ya’ll don’t think we should tell ‘er that?” Applejack asked. “We’d never catch up to her, plus she’ll know where she needs to go when she gets to her father’s house.” Twilight explained. “Now let’s take these fillies home. We have somewhere to be.” . . . “Ah don’ get it, Twi. Why are we headin’ tah Canterlot instead a’ Cloudsdale?” Applejack asked. She and the others gathered around Twilight as the train they were on climbed up the side of the mountain. “The date on that package indicated that it was supposed to be delivered five days ago. Obviously, if you had a package that wasn’t delivered on time you would go to the post office and ask about it, right?” “Yeah.” The mares replied quizzically. “Say Rainbow’s father did this, but when he asked about it, the post office says that they never received the package. What would he do next?” “Go home and wait for further information?” Rarity asked. “That’s what a normal pony would do, but since this is Rainbow’s father we’re talking about. He would do something that would get him instant results.” “He’d go to the city that it was sent from.” Fluttershy realized. “How did you figure that out?” “I guessed.” Twilight proclaimed proudly. “Wow, Twilight, that’s so out of character!” Pinkie said shocked. “Nobody is perfect, Pinkie.” Twilight sighed. “Anyway, if my timing is correct, we should meet both of them when we get there.” Suddenly a rainbow streaked across the sky towards Canterlot as the train pulled into the station. “C’mon girls, we gotta catch up tah RD ‘fore she goes an’ does somethin’ stupid!” Applejack exclaimed as they galloped off the train. When they arrived at the post office they found the front doors completely blown off the hinges and ponies were either running out or gathering around to see what was going on. The five made their way through the crowd and went inside. There they saw Rainbow Dash pinning her father to the floor. “How could you not tell me?!” Rainbow growled angrily. “Not tell you what?” Sonic asked. He was still trying to process what was happening. “That you’ve been in contact with mom all these years! All this time you led me to believe that she had left because of me or that she was dead!” “Rainbow, I never wanted you that way.” He said softly. “It’s just…” “JUST WHAT, DAD?! THAT YOU’RE A SELFISH PRICK OR THAT YOU JUST ENJOY SEEING YOUR OWN DAUGHTER LIKE THIS?” Tears began to stream down Rainbow’s cheeks as she backed away from her father. “I… I just want to know who she is.” Sonic Blitz got up and made his way over to his daughter, but she just turned away every time he got close. “Rainbow, it kills me to see you like this, but no matter what I just can’t tell you anything about her.” At this time, Rainbow Dash’s friends gathered around her. All except Fluttershy, who marched up to Sonic Blitz and began to give him the stare. “Mr. Blitz, I’ve known you since Rainbow and I were foals and I know that you are capable of some pretty selfish acts, but this is just unbelievable! How could you just sit here and not tell your own daughter who her mother is? Can’t you see she’s on the verge of an emotional breakdown because of you?” Sonic Blitz cowered under the glare Fluttershy was giving him. “I do see that and its not making it any easier to keep this promise!” Rainbow sniffed. “What promise?” Fluttershy stopped eyeing Sonic so he could explain. “The reason I can’t tell you anything is because of who your mother really is and what she does. If I told you who she was and if anypony were to find out, it would cause nothing but trouble for the three of us.” “So the whole reason why you couldn’t tell me who she was was because you were trying to protect us?” Rainbow asked. “Yes,” Sonic sighed. “Look, I can’t tell anything about her but I do know someone who can. Come with me.” They left the post office and made their way to the castle. Upon arrival, the girls were surprised at how casual Sonic was being treated by the guards and servants. The mane six followed Sonic Blitz to the throne room where the two regal princesses sat, as if they were waiting for them. Princess Celestia acknowledged their presence and smiled gently. “Sonic Blitz, what a pleasant surprise. It’s been a while since your last visit. What brings you here today?” “You know why I’m here.” Sonic replied. The princess glanced at the Elements of Harmony. “So I see.” “Princess Celestia, you know what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Yes, my dear, Rainbow. I have been watching over you for years making sure that you were in good health.” “Um… What are you trying to say?” Princess Celestia sighed. “Rainbow Dash, I am your mother.” chapter 6Rainbow Origins Ch6 All the mare’s jaws dropped at what Princess Celestia just said. Was she serious? Was she really Rainbow Dash’s mother? Sonic soon made the answer known as he walked up to the regal pony. “Princess, I know what you’re trying to do, but I have to ask you that there be no more lies. I want my daughter to know the truth about her family.” Sonic said. “It’s been years since I’ve seen my wife and even longer since Rainbow laid eyes on her. She shouldn’t have to go through her life with a sense of longing.” The Princess stared at Sonic for second before her sister spoke up. “I do have to agree with this colt, dear sister. We’ve been tearing families apart for far too long. Let us stop these actions from prevailing any further.” “You both understand the risks and the consequences of what you’re asking, correct?” They both nodded. “Then let’s get on with this.” “Pinkie Pie is confused. What’s going on?” The party pony asked. “So am I.” Rainbow added, her tone began to turn from that of cluelessness to that of anger and skepticism. “Are you my mother or not?” “No, Rainbow, I am not your mother. However, before we go any further, I think it’s necessary that we explain what we have been doing all these years that have kept your family apart.” The princess explained. “For centuries, my sister and I have been scouring the world for mystical artifacts that have exponential magical power. Power, that in the wrong hoofs could pose a serious threat to Equestria. Now in order to secure these artifacts, we selected the most promising ponies to go after them.” “Can you hurry up and get to the point?” Rainbow asked. She then received a rather painful hoof to the ribs from Applejack. “The point is that your mother is one of these special force ponies and rather famous one at that. I do believe that you have heard of her.” Princess Celestia looked to an adjacent door. “You can come in now.” For a moment there was silence, then slowly the door began to creak open. An audible gasp echoed throughout the throne room, along with a rapid string of ‘Oh my gosh’ from Rainbow Dash. In the threshold stood one of her many idols, Daring Do live and in the flesh. “No way!” The multi-colored Pegasus exclaimed. “You’re Daring Do, the most awesome adventurer pony that has ever lived!” “But that’s impossible!” Twilight gasped. “She’s just a fictional character in a book.” Rainbow Dash was taken aback by the unicorn’s comment. “Come on, Twilight, an egghead like you should have noticed that on the first page of each book it says that the events in this book are based off of real world things.” “That’s right.” Daring Do said. “I never would’ve thought my own daughter would like the books about my adventures. But then again, you are my daughter.” She laughed as she made her way over to Sonic. “It’s been a while, dear. I see you’ve gotten old.” “Yeah well, you try raising and looking after a hyperactive filly for twenty one years.” Sonic laughed. “The stress gets to you.” Daring looked at her daughter and smiled. “My little Rainbow, well, I guess you’re not so little anymore are you. How the time flies. I bet you have a lot of questions, don’t you?” All Rainbow could do was nod. “Well?” “Ah think she’s still shocked about havin’ a hot shot adventurer fer her mama. Ain’t that right RD?” Applejack asked. “Uh, I do have questions, but they’re mostly about the things leading up to this moment.” Rainbow said. “Like those dreams that I had, they didn’t really seem like dreams at all. I just want to know why I had them.” “I can explain that.” Luna chimed. “We decided that it was time you put an end to this secret agency and taking away ponies from their personal lives. So I sent dreams and awakened old memories in the foals of our agents. That way, they will start questioning their family ties. Much like you did.” “Dear sister, are saying that I’ll have to go through more situations like this?” Celestia asked, to which her sister nodded happily. “Oh dear me.” “Another question, how did you and dad meet since somepony won’t tell me?” Rainbow said as she glared at Sonic. Daring looked at her husband who nodded and back at their daughter. “Well, it was awhile back, when I first started working for Celestia. I was investigating a string of pegasi disappearances over the Everfree Forest when I found your father. He had been captured along with another pony and was going to be killed in order to keep the secret organization working there under wraps. I managed to save him but, sadly, the pony he was with had been mangled beyond recognition. From there, he helped me bring the organization to light and that was the end of that. Afterwards we started seeing each other. One thing led to another and now, here you are.” “That’s a rather… odd way to meet your special somepony, don’t you think.” Rarity asked. “Yeah, but it worked out fine in the end.” Daring replied. “So, anything else you want to know?” “That sounds a lot like your first book; Daring Do and the Everfree Cult.” Rainbow said. “So everything in that book actually happened?” “More or less, some things had to be changed and moved around though.” Daring replied. “Oh! Oh! I wanna know why Dashie’s mane and tail are rainbow colored!” Pinkie exclaimed. Twilight sighed. “Pinkie, what in the name of Celestia does that have to do with anything?” “Since Dashie isn’t Celestia’s foal, it doesn’t make since that she has a rainbow themed mane. Neither of her parents have any trace of a rainbow on them, so where did it come from?” The party pony explained. “Sonic, you’re turn to answer a question.” Daring said. Sonic sighed. “When Rainbow was a foal I took her to work with me at the weather factory and, needless to say, I wasn’t really watching her and she fell into a vat of rainbows. I managed to get the color out of her fur, but her mane and tail were permanently dyed.” “And she had such beautiful black and blond hair too.” Daring said sadly. “You’re not going to let me forget that are you? I’ve told you a million times it was an accident!” “How do you not look after your own foal?! She’s your own flesh and blood!” Daring argued. “And what if she drowned? I am not about to have another foal because of your cluelessness!” "Wow. Ah didn't think somepony could drown in rainbows." Applejack whispered to Fluttershy. “The wonders of family drama.” Luna laughed. “Aren’t you glad we don’t have to worry that sort of thing?” “Don’t think that you’re off the hook for what you did today.” Princess Celestia replied coldly. “We’re going to have a talk about it later.” “So much for that idea. Guess its time for plan B.” With that Luna teleported out of the throne room. Pinkie began to grin ear to ear and bouncing around the room. “This is so great! Rainbow finally met up with her mother and everything is right in the world! You all know what that means!” . . . Everypony in the castle was partying the day away out in the royal garden when Pinkie brought her friends and company outside. “What’s all this about?” Daring asked. “This is a party for you and Dashie, silly filly! Hope you like it!” Pinkie exclaimed before running off into a crowd of ponies. “Um…” The adventure pony was about to ask a question but was cut by Twilight. “Don’t ask about anything, just go with it.” Daring Do nodded and walked over to Rainbow Dash. “Ya know, Celestia told me about how you are the best young flier in Equestria and how you pulled off the sonic rainboom. Of course I’m not surprised; you are my daughter after all. However, I still haven’t seen you do it, think you can do one right now?” Rainbow smiled. “Of course I can!” She quickly took off and soared high into the air. Once high enough she entered a nosedive, picking up speed and waiting for the cone to form. Soon enough it did and with one last mighty flap of her wings, Rainbow broke through, resulting in the radiant sonic rainboom that made its way across the sky. Rainbow flew back up into the sky and screamed out at the top of her lungs. “THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!” Daring smiled as she eyed the spectacle that spread out above her. "That's my girl." END
Chapter 1Rainbow origins: Chapter 1 It was the day after Family Appreciation Day in Ponyville. The mane six were meeting at Twilight’s house, discussing their individual stories of the day before. “It was great to visit my parents in Canterlot again.” Twilight said. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen them.” “Mah Family Appreciation Day was just like any other day since we’re always together all the time that is.” Applejack added. “Well, I loved my Family Appreciation Day! I went to visit my parents and sisters on the rock farm, but it was dull, so I threw a party! Not a lot of ponies came because not a lot of ponies around, but a party is still a party even with only four guests!” Pinkie exclaimed happily as she bounced around the room. “Okay Pinkie, I think we get it” Twilight said calmly.”What about you Rarity?” “Oh, I simply adore my parents, but staying with them is a different story. My father is a complete slob and my mother couldn’t make a dish to save her life. But, I still enjoyed it.” Rarity explained.” What about you Fluttershy darling?” “My parents came to visit me. We didn’t really do anything special. Angel wasn’t very happy about them being there though.” The Pegasus said quietly. "Seriously Fluttershy, when is that bunny ever happy?” Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically. “My Family Appreciation Day was totally awesome! My dad and I spent the entire day doing all sorts of tricks and stunts!” “That is pretty awesome Rainbow.” Twilight acknowledged. ”so what did you do with your mother?” “I never knew my mother.” Rainbow replied as she picked a Daring Do book off the bookcase. She turned to see everypony staring at her “what?” “ That’s awful!” Rarity exclaimed dramatically. “I know! Every filly should know their mother!” Pinkie exclaimed as she ran between Rainbow and her friends. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t know I didn’t know my mother. Oh, I know! I’d look for her!” Twilight’s face lit up.” Pinkie Pie, you’re a genius!” “No I’m not, I’m a pony!” “Rainbow why don’t we help you look for her?” “I must agree with Twilight’s idea.”Rarity added. “Thanks, but no thanks guys.” Rainbow replied.”I already know what happened to my mother. My dad told me that she was a free a spirit that couldn’t be tied down. So she’s off traveling the world.” The other ponies looked at each other before looking back at their rainbow-colored friend. “uh, RD did it ever occur to you that yer pa might be lyin’ to ya?” Applejack asked. “Of course not! My dad would never lie to me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.”What would make you think that?” “Think about it Rainbow. Even if your mother was a free spirit, she still should have came back to at least visit her daughter and husband.” Rainbow Dash didn’t like where this conversation was going.” Well what do you know?! I’m sure my mom had her reasons for not coming back, but that never bothered me.” “um… but I remember every Family Appreciation Day when we were foals that you wanted to know where your mother was.” Fluttershy pointed out.”Then you’d tell me that your father said she couldn’t make it.” Rainbow Dash had heard enough. She rocketed out of the library, leaving her friends behind. “I don’t get it.” Twilight said.”Why wouldn’t Rainbow want to find out the truth about her mother?” “Ah reckon she does, but she’s afraid of what she might find.” Applejack commented.”And it was a rather personal problem that we shouldn’t try to interfere with.” “but we’re bestest friends, she knows that share anything with us!” Pinkie Pie said sadly. “That is true.” Rarity replied as she put a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder. ”but some things just have to be handled alone.” Rainbow Dash tried to forget about the conversation she had fled from, but try she might, the entire event kept replaying itself inside her head. She knew her friends were right, but Rainbow didn’t want to believe it. That’s when the questions started to fly. “Why would my dad lie to me? What really happened to my mom and who was she? Could my dad have been lying to protect me?” she thought. Rainbow didn’t have the answers, but she did know where to find them. It didn’t take long for Rainbow Dash to get to Cloudsdale. She quickly flew to the outskirts of town where a medium sized cloud housed hovered. She knocked on the door and waited for a second, before a cyan colt with a blond mane and tail answered. “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here?” the colt asked.” Didn’t get enough awesome the other day?” “Yesterday was great dad, but it would have been twenty percent cooler if mom was there.“ The colt began to fidget. ”N- Now Rainbow, I’ve told you why she’s not here.” He backed out of the doorway as his daughter entered. “What you told me was a lie.” Rainbow said as she sat on the couch. “Why?” Her dad sighed. “I have my reasons.” ”What reasons?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “I want answers! You’ve made up excuses to keep me in the dark about my mom. Just tell me who she was!” “No, Rainbow.” her dad said sternly. “Why not?!” “Because I can’t!” He yelled causing Dash to jump in fear.”I just can’t … “ Dad?” Rainbow said softly. “Wait there.” Rainbow’s dad left the room. He soon returned with a scroll under his wing and handed it to Dash.” I can only tell you a few things. All those years ago, when I met your mother, we didn’t exactly have a relationship after a series of traumatic events, you were born. Your mother left afterwards and only left that letter.” Rainbow Dash unrolled the scroll and read it out loud. “Dear Sonic Blitz, I have enjoyed the time we spent together and I’m sorry for all the pain I have caused you. I left this letter to ask you for one more favor. I ask you to raise our daughter, Rainbow Dash, while I return to my work. Nobody can know about the thing that we have done, not even Dash. I know she’ll ask about her mother one day. When the day comes, give her this letter and tell her to search for me. I’m sorry that I have to leave when things were getting good. love, yours truly” “So, I have to go find her myself.” Rainbow Dash said to herself.” Looks like I’ll need my friends help after all.” She rolled up the letter and put it underneath her wing. “thanks dad, I just have one more question.” “Oh boy.” Sonic Blitz sighed. “Okay kiddo, fire away.” “What was so traumatic about you and mom?” Sonic Blitz shuddered. ”you’ll find out soon enough. It’s getting late, do you want to stay here for the night?” “Yeah, I guess.” Rainbow Dash yawned. She slowly fluttered up the stairs and to her childhood room. The walls were dark blue and littered with Wonderbolts memorabilia. The tired Pegasus climbed into her bed and fell asleep, but not before a vital question popped into her head. “How the hay am I supposed to find this mare?”
chapter 2Rainbow origins: Chapter 2 Rainbow Dash left Cloudsdale early next morning, because she had to tend to the weather in Ponyville. The forecast had called for a partially cloudy day, so Rainbow had to move the clouds the weather factory had sent. Unfortunately for her, she arrived before anypony else was awake. “Aw, man this is going to be boring.” As the morning went on, the same thoughts from the previous night began to fill her head once more. Eventually, she stopped working and sat on a cloud with her thoughts. “I wonder what my mother was like. She was probably awesome and adventurous, just like dad said. But he did lie to me about her. Ugh! Why is this so frustrating!?” “Rainbow Dash! Hey, Rainbow Dash!” The cyan Pegasus looked over the side of her cloud to see her friends calling up to her. She quickly flew down to them. “Hey guys, what’s up?” “Rainbow, we just wanted to apologize for yesterday.” Twilight explained. “We shouldn’t have said all those things about your mother.” “We understand that this subject can be rather personal. Could you forgive us?” Rarity asked. “Ah don’t worry about it.” Rainbow Dash replied nonchalantly. “Actually, I was going to come looking for you anyway. Rarity, could we go to your place and talk?” “Why, sure darling. May I ask what about?” “I’ll explain when we get there.” The six ponies soon arrived at Rarity’s boutique. She decided to close the shop for the rest of the day, since Rainbow Dash had seemed troubled. “So what is it ya wanna talk about?” Applejack asked as Rarity magically set a full teacup in front of them. “Our conversation yesterday got me thinking about my mom. I knew you guys we right about my dad lying to me, so I went to Cloudsdale to get some real answers.” Rainbow Dash explained pushing back the teacup. “What did he say?” Fluttershy asked “He said he couldn’t tell me anything, but he did give me this letter” she took the scroll from under her wing and placed it on the table. Twilight levitated the letter in front of her and read it aloud after she finished, the room was completely silent. “Well Rainbow, this is… interesting.” “It sounds like your mother was pulled away from you and your father.” Fluttershy suggested. “Or maybe she was trying to protect you from something.” “I never thought of thought of that.” Rainbow Dash said as she re-read the letter” It does seem like that.” “So, how do you plan on finding her?” Twilight asked. “I don’t know! I thought an egghead like you would be able to figure that out for me. No offense.” Rainbow replied. “Oh!, oh! I know! Let’s go check the Canterlot Archives!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Well aren’t you full of good ideas.” Rarity said, obviously impressed. “Twilight, Don’t the Canterlot Archives hold the birth records of everypony in Equestria?” “That they do.” Twilight said excitedly. “Girls, it looks like we’re going to Canterlot!” All of them cheered and squealed except for Rainbow Dash, who thought to herself. “I’m starting to wonder if this is a good idea” she thought The train ride to Canterlot seemed to take forever to Rainbow Dash. Even on a good day, she was not known for her patience. Now that she has something on her mind the wait was unbearable. It took all she had not to jump off the train and fly to Canterlot herself. “Is this how Twilight feels when she wants to know something?” Rainbow Dash wondered. “No wonder she spends so much time in that library. I’m glad I’m not always like that.” Pinkie Pie saw Rainbow Dash staring out the window and bounced over to her. “You seem tense. You need to loosen up a bit!” “I can’t loosen up pinkie. I’m too… what’s the word?” “Anxious.” Twilight said from across the train car. “Yeah, that.” “It’s like a surprise, and who doesn’t like surprises?!” Pinkie replied. “The feeling you get when you know something coming, but you don’t know what it is. Then you find out and know that the wait was totally worth it!” Rainbow Dash shook her head and smiled softly. “I guess you’re right Pinkie.” The next day, the train began to slow down and the intercom sprang to life. “Now arriving in Canterlot. Watch your step when exiting the car and have a nice day.” “Rainbow, wait up!” Twilight called out as she and her friends galloped after her. “She is really excited to get there isn’t she?” Fluttershy said to Applejack. “Well, the ride did take a day so I can understand” The five ponies eventually caught up to their rainbow-colored friend. Twilight told her that she was heading the wrong way and pointed to a large, blue and white tower near the castle in the center of the city. Rainbow Dash laughed nervously. “I knew that.” They soon arrived at the Archives building and were met by a white Pegasus in golden armor. “Halt! None may enter the archives while-“ The guard noticed who he was talking to. “Oh Twilight, it’s you. So sorry for the inconvenience you may enter.” “What’s going on?” Twilight asked. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are away on royal affairs, but before they left, they decreed that none shall enter any property on the castle grounds.” The guard explained. “With the exception of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.” “Lucky us.” Fluttershy whispered to Rainbow Dash. “Whatever can we go in now?” Rainbow dash asked impatiently “Calm down, R.D. Just think in a few minutes ya gonna know who yer ma is.” Applejack replied happily. Twilight nodded as they trotted inside. “AJ’s right besides, good things come to those who wait.” This earned an agitated groan from Rainbow Dash. They walked through the building until they came to a small, wooden door. “Um Twilight, are we lost?” Fluttershy asked. “Of course not. We’re already here.” “Hold on ya’ll tellin’ me that all the records fer everypony is behind that ol’ thing?” Applejack asked in disbelief. “Yep!” Twilight pushed open the door, revealing rows upon rows of full bookshelves that went on as far as the eye could see. The other ponies stared in awe. “How the-“ “Princess Celestia enchanted this room to grow and not take up space.” Twilight explained. “That way she could port the records of everypony in Equestria in one place.” “It’s gonna take us forever to find anything in here!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “I want to find my mom, but I don’t want to grow old and die first!” “I agree with Dash.” Added Rarity. “I am much too young and dazzling to rot in this place.” Twilight laughed. “You guys act as if this place isn’t organized. All we have to do is go in the section that contains Rainbow Dash’s date of birth. It shouldn’t be too far from here.” She galloped away into the sea of bookcases, leaving the others behind “Couldn’t she have just teleported us there?” Fluttershy asked as they began to follow her. “Who knows? You couldn’t ask that before we started this awful running?” Rarity asked. “Oh stop being such a spoil-sporty-sport Rarity. It feels great to get physical!” Pinkie said happily, bouncing from the tops of the bookshelves. “Plus it gives you a chance to show off your speed and gives you a chance to prove how slow Applejack really is.” Rainbow Dash said in a challenging tone. “Me, slow? Ah’ll show ya’ll how slow I am!” Applejack quickly took off ahead of Rainbow Dash, causing her to smile and give chase. The two ponies raced through the archive, one constantly pulling ahead of the other. They kept a good distance behind Twilight so they knew where to go, but when she comes to an abrupt stop and nearly run her over. “Be careful you two. Do you know old and important these documents are!” Twilight stressed. “Where are the others?” “They were behind us.” Rainbow Dash scoffed. “Yeah like three miles back.” Half an hour later, Rarity and Fluttershy finally arrived. Both were extremely exhausted. “This is ridiculous!” Rarity exclaimed. “Please tell me we’re here , Twilight.” “Yes, Rarity, we’re here. Somewhere on this bookshelf is Rainbow Dash’s birth records.” She replied. “Hey where’s Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I’m up here!” they all looked up to see Pinkie jumping up and down on the bookcase. “Pinkie, get down from there before you break something!” sadly Twilight’s warning came too late. The bookshelf shook and creaked before collapsing on itself, sending documents flying and scattering themselves on the ground. “oopsie.” Pinkie said apologetically, who was now standing next to Twilight. “I’m not even going to ask how she got right there.” Twilight thought. “Its okay, Pinkie this just means a lot more work for us.” That caused everypony to groan. The equines tackled the mess of documents head on. However, as the hours passed, they couldn’t find Rainbow’s record. Soon after, all but Twilight had fallen asleep in the pile of papers. “Come on, it has to be here somewhere.” She said as she read the names as she picked up each document. “Nova Star, no. Aqua Shine, no. Rainbow Dash, no Summer Bloom, no. Wait!” she quickly levitated Rainbow’s record and ran over to the others. “Girls, wake up! I found it!” They woke up and ran over to Twilight except for Rainbow Dash, who remained asleep on the shelf. “Five more minutes” the Pegasus mumbled in her sleep. “Rainbow!” Twilight exclaimed forcefully “What! I’m up! I’m up!” Rainbow exclaimed in a panic. “What happened?” “We found your record!” Twilight said. “Awesome! What’s it say?” “It gives your information, your father, Sonic Blitz and it says that your mother is… “Well? Who is she?” “I don’t know” Twilight replied. “What do you mean you don’t know? Gimmie that!” Rainbow swooped down, snatched the document out of the air and looked at it. She saw everything Twilight had mentioned, except for her mother’s information, which was strangely blacked out. Rainbow’s expression contorted into one of despair. “We went through all that for nothing.” “Not necessarily.” Rarity levitated the document down to herself. “It appears that they did not cover your mother’s hoof print, which is rather large for a mare, I must add. Could we not get this examined?” “We could, but if there’s no information here then I doubt there would be any there.” Twilight Explained. Rainbow moaned. “I’ll never find my mother.” “Yes, you will.” Twilight said comfortingly. “And I have a plan that just might help.”
chapter 3Rainbow origins: chapter 3 "Well, don't hold out on me Twilight! I need to know!" Rainbow exclaimed as she violently shook Twilight. "As soon as you stop shaking me, sure!" "Sorry, continue" Twilight cleared her throat as she began her explination. "As of recently, I have been practicing magic that pertains to the mind and it's memories. I think I know a spell that just might help this situation." Rainbow frowned. "Um, I hate to burst your bubble Twi, but I don't remember anything about her. If I did, we wouldn't be in this mess." "I never said I was going to use it on you. I was planning on your father. He may not want to tell you about your mother, but that doesn't mean we can't take a look for ourselves." "Twi, ah don' think ya should be pokin' round in other pony's thoughts." Applejack stated. "It's their buisness, not yers." "Relax, AJ, I wasn't planning on doing anything without her father's consent." The purple unicorn replied. "Alright, Let's head over to Cloudsdale!" Rainbow quickly took off but stopped before she really got anywhere. She was then pulled back to the ground by a purple aura. "You know, I hate it when you do that." The pegasus said to Twilight. "She wouldn't have to if you didn't fly off every five seconds dear." Rarity replied. "Besides, I have to prepare for an endevour such as this and so does Rarity. "You're absolutely right. Wait, What!" Rarity exclaimed. "What do I have to do with this?" "The spell requires two unicorns for it to work. One to cast the actual memory spell and one to cast a sleep spell so the pony's other thoughts don't interfere with the one's we're searching for." "But, i've never tried a spell like that before." "That's why you're going to be practicing so we'll be ready to do this next week." "Next week!" Rainbow yelled. "I can't wait a week for answeres. I'll probably die of boredom, or anxiety, or something!" "Oh, stop worryn', sugercube. Ya'll just gotta find somethin' that'll keep ya busy. Applejack said, nudging Rainbow in her side. "And if you don't, you can always hang out with your good friend, Pinkie!" The party pony cheered. "In the mean time, we should fix and re-organize all these records." Twilight said as she levitaded the bookshelves into place. "That's going to take a while isn't it?" Fluttershy asked. "No it won't." Pinkie said. "Cue time skip!" The week was passing by pretty quickly much to Rainbow Dash's surprise. she spent Saturday on the train back to Ponyville, her Sunday she spent with Applejack, helping the farm pony sell her goods at the market. Tuesday, she and Pinkie went around town pranking anypony they could. Both Wednsday and Thursday she was kept busy managing a major thunderstorm that needed to pushed over Ponyville. The entire ordeal left the pegasus drained of energy on Friady. She was out and about with Fluttershy during that afternoon, who was keeping her company so she didn't think about her mother. As the yellow and pink pegasus rambled on about her animals, Rainbow let out a loud yawn, catching her attention. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I boring you?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "Huh? Oh, no. I'm just tired." Rainbow explained. "That storm the other day really took a lot out of me. I should be heading home so I can hit the hay. Gotta big day ahead of me tomorrow." Okay, see you tomorrow." Rainbow watched her friend trot of sight before heading back to her own home in the sky. A short walk later, she arrived on the outskirts of town at her home. Quickly flying up, Rainbow Dash made her way inside and collapsed on the couch. *** A much younger Rainbow Dash awakened to see that she was in her foalhood room. She yawned and scratched her now scruffy mane, before hopping out of bed and making her way down the hall. As she walked down the hall, Rainbow began to hear two voices. One was obviously her father's, but she couldn't tell who the other voice belonged to. Rainbow looked down the stairs and saw her father sitting on the couch with a completly whiter mare. She couldn't see the mare's face, but her mane and tail flowed elegantly in the still air. The pegasus tried to listen in on their conversation, but could barely make out what they were saying. However, a phrase from Sonic Blitz did catch her attention. "You're my wife, and no matter what you do I'll always love you." Rainbow's jaw hit the floor, but quickly retracted and contorted into a smile. as she realized that the pony next to her father was her mother. the pegasus filly quickly bounced down the stairs, barely able to contain her exitement. "Mommy! Mommy!" The foal squeaked as she ran to the mare. then she felt a sharp burning pain shoot through one of her cheeks as her head jolted to the left. "Don't ever address me as that again!" The mare said, pulling back a hoof from Rainbow's face. "Huh?" Rainbow looked back at the mare. She now noticed that the mare didn't have any facial features. Rainbow also noticed that everything started to fade away and she was now her current age. "Don't you get it? I left for a reason." The mare's voice rang, venom dripping from every word." I didn't want you then and I definetly don't want you now! You disgust me and were nothing more than an unwanted mistake I didn't want!" "B-but, I'm not a mistike." Rainbow felt the tears welling up in her eyes." I missed you so much. I just wanted to find you." The mare walked by Rainbow Dash and muttered. "Well that's too bad, cause I never felt that way about you." The mare disappeared, leaving Rainbow alone. She could no longer hold back her tears. Rainbow curled up into a ball and let them flow. The sound of sobs echoed throughout the cold, black, nothingness. *** Rainbow awakend in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. She looked around the room to gather her bearings, before putting her face in her hooves. "It was only a bad dream." Rainbow Dash sighed. "But why did it seem so real?" The next day, everypony meet at the library to discuss their plan of action. "So when are we leaving, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "That's something I wanted to tell you about." Twilight replied. "Only me, Rarity, and Rainbow are going to Cloudsdale." "Then why'd ya'll call us up here. Ya'll should have told us 'fore we came up here." "True, but we still have other things to ask of you." Rarity said. "Pinkie could you be a deer and go get your hot air balloon for us ?" "Well, I don't know how to be a deer, but I can get that balloon." pinkie said bouncing out of the door. "Later!" "Applejack and Fluttershy, in that case that this doesn't work, could you think of some more ideas we could try?" "sure." "No problem sugarcube." Applejack agreed." If ya need us, Ya'll know where tah find us." With that they left to go to their respective homes. Twilight and Rarity trotted over to the window that Rainbow was staring out of. "You must be exited, Rainbow, we're finally going to find your mother!" Twilight said happily, Completly overlooking the obvious nervous expression Rainbow Dash displayed. "Yeah, about that...." the pegasus paused." I think we should call off the search." "Why? you were so ready to find her last week." Rainbow looked back out thw window. "I have my reasons." Rarity put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "Darling, you can tell us. We won't think of you any differently." The pegasus looked between her two unicorn friends and sighed. "Last night, I had a dream that got me thinking. What if we do find my mom, but it turns out that she doesn't want me. That the whole reason she left in the first place was to get away from what she helped to create?" "Rainbow Dash, that idea is absolutely ridiculous!" Twilight exclaimed. Why wouldn't your mother or anypony for that matter not want you? You're the the element of loyalty and the best young flyer in all of equestria! Those are achievements that very few ponies can achieve." "I know Twi, but I'm just... scared." "Ha! Rainbow Dash scared? that'll be the day." Spike laughed as he entered the room. "Spike, this is serious!" Twilight frowned. "I know and I'm being serious! she's done way worse than a simple family search. she's managed to fight a dragon, pull of a sonic rainboom, become Ponyvill's heroine, and helped defeat both DIscord and Nightmare Moon!" Spike encouraged. "She has no reason to be scared now!" "Spike is right. What happened to the brash, overconfident, not-afraid-of-anything Rainbow Dash we all know and love?" "She's still here." Rainbow snapped back. "And you guys are right. I need to face this head on like I do everything else!" "That's right. It's good to see you've had a change of heart, Rainbow." Twilight walked to the door." Now we should get going if we're going to make it to Cloudsdale by the end of the day."
chapter 4Rainbow Origins: chapter 4 "Pinkie, is the balloon ready yet?" Twilight asked as she and the others walked into Sugarcube Corner. "You bet, girls. It's waiting out back for you." Pinkie placed a tray of cupcakes on the counter and walked over to them. "Good luck, and make sure to stick to the script." Twilight sighed in annoyance. "Pinkie, I told you our lives are not books that beings in other worlds read for their enjoyment. Besides, who would even want to read about our daily lives anyway?" "Simple. Bronies!" Pinkie said before dashing off. "I swear that filly is a few stitches short of a dress." Rarity said. "No point in worrying about it though. Come on." The three mares loaded themselves into the balloon and set off for Cloudsdale. A couple of hours passed and the equines found themselves coming up to the city of pegasi. After quickly casting the spell for ponies to walk on clouds, the three set out for Rainbow's father's house. Soon they arrived and Rainbow knocked on the door. The door slowly opened to reveal a semi-annoyed Sonic Blitz. "Look Rainbow, I love you and all, but if you haven't noticed I do have a life outside of you." "Oh please dad, we both know that other than your job at the weather factory, you don't get out that much." Rainbow replied. "That doesn't mean I'm not gonna start." He chuckled. "So who are these two lovely mares?" "These are my friends: Twilight Sparkle and Rarity." "It's nice to meet you, Mr.- " "Blitz, Sonic Blitz." He shook Twilight's hoof. "Rainbow, if you're here for what I think you're here for, I can't tell you anything." "You don't have to tell us anything. it's more like ... um." Rainbow Dash hesitated. "Twilight, you explain." " I told your daughter that i could preform a spell on you that would allow her to look into your memories. Of course, you'll be asleep during this process and it'll be like you're re-living the event but-" "No." Sonic Blitz said forcefully. "But-" "No buts Rainbow. It took me years to repress that memory and there is no way I'm going to re-live it!" "Not even for your own daughter?" Rarity asked. "No! look, i'm sorry, but I'm not going to help you. You're gonna have to take your search somewhere else!" With that, he slammed the door in their faces. Rainbow Dash scowled and walked away with her head down. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other, before catching up to their spectrum colored friend. "I don't get it. How could anypony be that stubborn and selfish?" Rainbow asked. "Well you had to get it from somewhere, didn't you?" Rarity joked. "Shut up, Rarity, you're one to talk!" Rainow yelled. She then noticed a muffin drop down in front of her. "What the-" "Incoming!" A voice called, before a pony crashed down on top of the muffin. "Derpy, what are you doing?" Rainbow asked. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!" "Ugh." "Hey, you haven't got a package that doesn't belong to you do you?" "Um... no." "Aw, I'm so going to get fired if I don't find that package." Derpy sighed. "I'm surprised you haven't already been fired." Twilight said dully. "Hi, Twilight!" the derp-eyed pony said happily. "Derpy, don't you have more mail to deliver?" Twilight asked. "Oh yeah!" Derpy exclaimed as she began to fly away. "Bye!" "I don't feel like doing anything else today, girls." Rainbow said quietly. "I'll catch you guys later." With that she flew off towards her house. The two unicorns slowly walked back to the balloon and returned to Ponyville. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy. "So how'd it go? Did Dashie find her mother? Where is she anyway?" Pinkie asked. The event still fresh in their minds, Twilight and Rarity told them about everything that happened in Cloudsdale. "That's awful." Fluttershy whispered sincerly. "I know." Twilight replied. "So, did you all think of any other ideas to find rainbow's mother?" "Ah got nuthin'" Applejack stated. "Sorrry, sugarcube." Pinkie lowered her head and sighed. "Nope." "Um, I have an idea." Fluttershy said. This caused Twilight's face to light up. "Really? what is it?" she asked. "I-I can't tell you." Fluttershy responded. "Just be at my cottage around noon tomorrow. Oh, and tell Rainbow to bring something she has from her mother." "Okay." Rarity yawned. "It's getting late and I have to go put Sweetie Belle to bed. Good bye, girls." The others said their good-byes and went their own ways. Rarity soon arrived at the Carousel Boutique and was greeted by the sound of laughter and crashing. Worried, she pushed open the door to see her shop in shambles. Fabrics were strewn across across the floor, mannequins cracked in half, the furniture overturned and broken, and other materials laid about in the most random places. In the middle of all the cluter, sat Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo, laughing up a storm. Sweetie Belle noticed Rarity walk in to the shop. "Hi, sis!" "Sweetie Belle, What happened to my boutique!" "We're havin' another sleepover tah earn out cutie marks!" Applebloom exclaimed. "We were tryin' our hooves at dress makin' , but that didn't work out so well." "I told you we should have tried skydiving." Scootaloo said. Rarity looked around the boutique and lowered her head. "I don't have time for this. Just clean up the best you can and go to sleep." She began to head to her room. Sweetie Belle and the other crusaders followed. "What's wrong, Rarity?" "I've had the most exausting day." Rarity said as she began to go over all the events that transpired the days before. After explaining everything, the unicorn told the crusaders to go to bed. As the fillies laid in their room, they talked about the events Rarity had told them about. "I think it's cool what your sisters are doing for Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo whispered. "I wish we could do something for her." "Scoots, thats a great idea!" Applebloom beamed. "We could help by bein' like that pony we were readin' bout in school." "You mean Sherlock Hooves?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Eeyup!" She mimiced. "An' we might even get our cutie marks!" "Yeah, we could be CUTIE MARK CRUSADER INVESTIGATORS!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "This is great and all, but can we talk about this in the morning? I want to go to sleep." the unicorn filly moaned as she turned in her bed. Scootaloo frowned. "But I want to get started now!" "Ah do to, but there's no way we're gonna find anythin' at this hour. It's probably best that we do get some shut eye." Applebloom responded as she climbed into bed with Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo sighed seeing that she lost, and followed them. In the next room, Rarity woke up, and up in her bed. Opal, who was at the end of the bed, meowed as if asking "what's wrong?" "Everything's fine, Opal, darling. Mama just had a bad feeling about something that's all." Twilight stood under. Rainbow's cloud house calling for her pegasus friend. It was almost noon and the lavender unicorn was losing her patience. "RAINBOW DASH!" "Coming." A voice called down. It didn't sound like Rainbow Dash. Twilight was shocked to see her pegasus friend fall off her cloud house and crash into the ground. She quickly ran over and helped her up. "Rainbow, are you-" Twilight gasped. "Oh Celestia, Rainbow you look awful! What happened to you?" Rainbow blew her unkempt frizzy mane from her face revealing bloodshot eyes with bags beneath them. her coat was matted and stuck out in places. "Nothing happened. I just didn't get any sleep last night." Rainbow groaned, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Being the inquisitive pony she was Twilight couldn't help but ask "why?" "I guess this whole search has put an emotional and physical strain on me recently." Rainbow sighed. "Plus, there have been the dreams." "Dreams?" "Yeah. Twilight, before I go any further, what are you doing here?" "Huh, oh! Fluttershy thinks she knows how to find your mother. She asked that you bring something that your mother once owned." Twilight explained. "Do you even have anything like that?" The pegasus thought for a second. "Actually, I do." She flew back into her house and returned with something under her wing that thhe unicorn couldn't make out. "So where are the others?" "They're at the library." Twilight said as she began to trot to their destination. "So what are these dreams about?" "I don't know. The first one was more like a nightmare. I was a filly back in Cloudsdale and I was with my father and the white silhouette of another mare. She was kinda big with alot of mane. When I tried to talk to her, she slapped me and said she didn't want me." Rainbow explained. "The first one I had last night had nothing to do with anything. I was flying over a forest and next to me was a silhouette of me, I think. Anyway, as we were flying, the silhouette fell out of the sky and crashed into the trees. I got to where she landed, I was attacked by something. That one alone kept me up half the night when i was trying to figure it out." "Well, if you want, I have some books on dreams that you are more than welcome to borrow sometime." Rainbow stopped abuptly and stared at Twilight. "Twi we've been friends for a while and I think you know me pretty well. With that said, why the hay are you asking me that?!" "A mare can try can't she?" the unicorn sighed. "is that all?" "No, there was one mare, but it didn't seem like a dream. it was more like a memory. I was a baby and my dad was trying to calm me down. I could tell nothing was working, because he left the room, agitated. then he came back and started talking to me, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. I only made out two things: "mommy." and "Canterlot." Twilight thought for a second before she replied. "So it sounds like your mother once lived in Canterlot." "I already figured that out. I even thought about going there to search, but it's been years since then. What sre the chances that she's still there?" "That's true. Plus, theres no way of telling if she was just visiting or not. I guess that's just something we'll have to think about later." At this time, the mares arrived at the library. After meeting up with their friends and an onslaught of questions, tips and comments from Rarity, they set off for Fluttershy's cottage. When they got there, the yellow pegasus was nowhere to be found. They heard a loud howl came from behind the house. Upon coming around the building, the mares let loose a barrage of screams as they saw the massive timber wolf roared at them. Pinkie stopped yelling and asked. "Why are we screaming?" "Because that's a timber wolf, one of the most ferocious and deadly creatures in all of Equestria!" Twilight exclaimed. "They're also the best trackers in all of Equestria." Fluttershy said calmly. "Hello girls." "Fluttershy, how in tarnation did ya find a timber wolf?" "Oh, I found him when I was on a stroll in the everfree forest taking an animal back home when i ran into him." "Of course, you did." Rainbow muttered under her breath. "So, Dashie, did you bring something?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah i got it." She took a paper out from under her wing and handed it to the other pegasus. "What do you plan on doing with that?" "Isn't it obvious? She's going to use the scent from the paper to track down your mother." Pinkie explained. "At least I think so." "That's right, Pinkie." Fluttershy allowed the timber wolf to smell the paper. "Although, it might take a few hours of days to find anything. So, are you willing to come?" "Ah'd like tah, but Ah got some trees back on the farm that need mah attention." "I have a report due to Celestia tomorrow." "I have a big order to fill for a fashion show in three days." "And I don't feel comfortable around that thing." "I'll go!" Pinkie said happily "Okay, we'll be back when we find something." With that, they followed the timber wolf into the forest. "I hope they find something soon." Rainbow sighed. "I want this entire situation to be over and done with." "Well, there's nothing we can do now, except wait." Twilight said as she put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Come on, what do say we figure out what your dreams mean."
chapter 5Rainbow Origins Ch. 5 Three days had passed since Rainbow and Twilight had scoured the library for books holding answers to the pegasi’s dreams. Unfortunately, they could not find anything. From then Rainbow spent her days managing the weather, resting, and waiting for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to return. Having nothing to do today, she decided to catch up on some much needed sleep on a drifting cloud. However, she was abruptly awakened by the sound of her friends calling her name. Rainbow Dash peeked over the side of her cloud to see Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack below. Each had a worried expression on their face. “Hey guys, what’s wrong?” She asked as she glided down to them. “Oh, Rainbow, it’s awful!” Rarity cried. “Sweetie Belle and Applebloom have gone missing!” Rainbow looked at Twilight and Applejack. “Is she just overreacting or is this as serious as it sounds?” “It’s serious alright. We ain’t seen flank or tail of ‘em since yesterday.” Applejack explained. “At first Ah thought that they were doin’ their crusadin’ somewhere, then night fell an’ Ah still hadn’t seen ‘em. At that point Ah figured that they were sleepin’ over Rarity’s again. Ah went over there this mornin’ tah get Applebloom, but Rare said she thought they were mah place.” “We already searched all over Ponyville, but we can’t find them!” Twilight added. Rainbow frowned. “Not trying to sound inconsiderate or anything, but if that’s the case, why are you here?” Rarity sighed. “Because Scootaloo is gone too.” Rainbow’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Not my number one fan! We gotta find them. I need my hero worship!” “Really, Rainbow?” Rarity asked. “And you dare have the audacity to call me shallow?” “I mean her parents must be really worried about her. Let’s go her!” She began to fly off, but stopped. “Um, where are we going again?” . . . “When I get my hoofs on Sweetie Belle she is in so much trouble!” Rarity exclaimed angrily as she stepped into another mud puddle. “An’ so is Applebloom!” Applejack agreed. The mares trekked through the Everfree Forest since it was the only place they had to search. Even though it was the middle of the day they were having trouble navigating their way through the forest because it was so dark. “How are we supposed to find them when we can’t see five feet in front of our own faces?” Rainbow asked. “Allow me to take care of that.” Twilight’s horn began to shine radiantly, lighting up the area and revealing a sheer cliff directly in front of them. “Whew, that was close.” “No kiddin’.” Just then multiple shrill screams erupted from deeper within the forest, silencing every other random noise. “That sounded like Sweetie Belle!” Rarity exclaimed. “And Scootaloo and Applebloom! Come on!” Rainbow led them as they all vaulted over the cliff to the other side. They ran through the forest before eventually coming to an old, abandoned castle. “Ain’t this the place where we defeated Nightmare Moon?” Applejack asked as they ran inside. “That it is, AJ.” Twilight confirmed as they entered the throne room where they saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders sitting with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. “What are you guys doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she walked up to Fluttershy. “The timber wolf brought us here.” The yellow Pegasus replied. “What are you doing here?” “We came looking for our sisters and Scootaloo.” Rarity glared at the fillies. “Who will be punished when we take them home.” “But we were only trying to help!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “Hold on.” Applejack said. “Help wit’ what exactly?” “Help you try find Rainbow Dash’s mom.” Scootaloo replied. “Rarity told us all about it.” The unicorn lowered her head and chuckled nervously. “Oh…” “Cheer up, Rarity, there’s no reason to be sad or mad.” Pinkie somehow managed to pull everybody together for a death hug. “We’re all here together, plus we found something!” “Really?” Twilight asked. “What is it?” Applebloom squirmed out of Pinkie’s hug and made her over to the throne. On it sat a medium-sized package. “We found this! The first address says it’s from Canterlot, but we don’t know the other one.” Twilight levitated the package over to her. “That’s weird. It says that this package is from the castle and its going somewhere in Cloudsdale.” What’s so weird about that?” Fluttershy asked. “The Princesses never send or receive mail that’s not from family or another nation. And the last time I checked neither was in Cloudsdale.” She explained. “Fluttershy, Rainbow do either of you recognize this?” They both looked and came to the same conclusion. However, before either said anything, Rainbow tore into the package, revealing a note and a brand new never-before-seen Daring Do book. She read the note and quickly flew off, leaving everything and everypony behind. “What was that about?” Scootaloo asked. “Well the address on the package was the same as Dashie’s father’s. I guess something in the letter must have set her off.” Fluttershy assumed. Rarity levitated the letter note and read it aloud. Dear Sonic, I know it’s been a while since my last letter, but lately I’ve been really busy. I know it’s not a special occasion or anything, but I want to give this to our daughter anyway. I’ve heard that she’s been looking for me recently. I wish you could tell her something about me, but we both know what will happen if you do. I look forward to seeing you again someday. Which, I hope will be soon… Love, Your beloved wife The group was silent for a second before Applebloom spoke up. “So what are we gonna do now?” “We are going to take you three trouble makers home. Then the five of us are going to head over to catch up Rainbow Dash.” Rarity explained. Hints of anger and annoyance lingered in the white unicorn’s voice. “Aw ponyfeathers.” The crusaders whined in unison. “We’re not going to follow Rainbow.” Twilight stated plainly. “Why not?” Pinkie asked. “Because she’s going to the wrong place.” “An’ ya’ll don’t think we should tell ‘er that?” Applejack asked. “We’d never catch up to her, plus she’ll know where she needs to go when she gets to her father’s house.” Twilight explained. “Now let’s take these fillies home. We have somewhere to be.” . . . “Ah don’ get it, Twi. Why are we headin’ tah Canterlot instead a’ Cloudsdale?” Applejack asked. She and the others gathered around Twilight as the train they were on climbed up the side of the mountain. “The date on that package indicated that it was supposed to be delivered five days ago. Obviously, if you had a package that wasn’t delivered on time you would go to the post office and ask about it, right?” “Yeah.” The mares replied quizzically. “Say Rainbow’s father did this, but when he asked about it, the post office says that they never received the package. What would he do next?” “Go home and wait for further information?” Rarity asked. “That’s what a normal pony would do, but since this is Rainbow’s father we’re talking about. He would do something that would get him instant results.” “He’d go to the city that it was sent from.” Fluttershy realized. “How did you figure that out?” “I guessed.” Twilight proclaimed proudly. “Wow, Twilight, that’s so out of character!” Pinkie said shocked. “Nobody is perfect, Pinkie.” Twilight sighed. “Anyway, if my timing is correct, we should meet both of them when we get there.” Suddenly a rainbow streaked across the sky towards Canterlot as the train pulled into the station. “C’mon girls, we gotta catch up tah RD ‘fore she goes an’ does somethin’ stupid!” Applejack exclaimed as they galloped off the train. When they arrived at the post office they found the front doors completely blown off the hinges and ponies were either running out or gathering around to see what was going on. The five made their way through the crowd and went inside. There they saw Rainbow Dash pinning her father to the floor. “How could you not tell me?!” Rainbow growled angrily. “Not tell you what?” Sonic asked. He was still trying to process what was happening. “That you’ve been in contact with mom all these years! All this time you led me to believe that she had left because of me or that she was dead!” “Rainbow, I never wanted you that way.” He said softly. “It’s just…” “JUST WHAT, DAD?! THAT YOU’RE A SELFISH PRICK OR THAT YOU JUST ENJOY SEEING YOUR OWN DAUGHTER LIKE THIS?” Tears began to stream down Rainbow’s cheeks as she backed away from her father. “I… I just want to know who she is.” Sonic Blitz got up and made his way over to his daughter, but she just turned away every time he got close. “Rainbow, it kills me to see you like this, but no matter what I just can’t tell you anything about her.” At this time, Rainbow Dash’s friends gathered around her. All except Fluttershy, who marched up to Sonic Blitz and began to give him the stare. “Mr. Blitz, I’ve known you since Rainbow and I were foals and I know that you are capable of some pretty selfish acts, but this is just unbelievable! How could you just sit here and not tell your own daughter who her mother is? Can’t you see she’s on the verge of an emotional breakdown because of you?” Sonic Blitz cowered under the glare Fluttershy was giving him. “I do see that and its not making it any easier to keep this promise!” Rainbow sniffed. “What promise?” Fluttershy stopped eyeing Sonic so he could explain. “The reason I can’t tell you anything is because of who your mother really is and what she does. If I told you who she was and if anypony were to find out, it would cause nothing but trouble for the three of us.” “So the whole reason why you couldn’t tell me who she was was because you were trying to protect us?” Rainbow asked. “Yes,” Sonic sighed. “Look, I can’t tell anything about her but I do know someone who can. Come with me.” They left the post office and made their way to the castle. Upon arrival, the girls were surprised at how casual Sonic was being treated by the guards and servants. The mane six followed Sonic Blitz to the throne room where the two regal princesses sat, as if they were waiting for them. Princess Celestia acknowledged their presence and smiled gently. “Sonic Blitz, what a pleasant surprise. It’s been a while since your last visit. What brings you here today?” “You know why I’m here.” Sonic replied. The princess glanced at the Elements of Harmony. “So I see.” “Princess Celestia, you know what’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Yes, my dear, Rainbow. I have been watching over you for years making sure that you were in good health.” “Um… What are you trying to say?” Princess Celestia sighed. “Rainbow Dash, I am your mother.”
chapter 6Rainbow Origins Ch6 All the mare’s jaws dropped at what Princess Celestia just said. Was she serious? Was she really Rainbow Dash’s mother? Sonic soon made the answer known as he walked up to the regal pony. “Princess, I know what you’re trying to do, but I have to ask you that there be no more lies. I want my daughter to know the truth about her family.” Sonic said. “It’s been years since I’ve seen my wife and even longer since Rainbow laid eyes on her. She shouldn’t have to go through her life with a sense of longing.” The Princess stared at Sonic for second before her sister spoke up. “I do have to agree with this colt, dear sister. We’ve been tearing families apart for far too long. Let us stop these actions from prevailing any further.” “You both understand the risks and the consequences of what you’re asking, correct?” They both nodded. “Then let’s get on with this.” “Pinkie Pie is confused. What’s going on?” The party pony asked. “So am I.” Rainbow added, her tone began to turn from that of cluelessness to that of anger and skepticism. “Are you my mother or not?” “No, Rainbow, I am not your mother. However, before we go any further, I think it’s necessary that we explain what we have been doing all these years that have kept your family apart.” The princess explained. “For centuries, my sister and I have been scouring the world for mystical artifacts that have exponential magical power. Power, that in the wrong hoofs could pose a serious threat to Equestria. Now in order to secure these artifacts, we selected the most promising ponies to go after them.” “Can you hurry up and get to the point?” Rainbow asked. She then received a rather painful hoof to the ribs from Applejack. “The point is that your mother is one of these special force ponies and rather famous one at that. I do believe that you have heard of her.” Princess Celestia looked to an adjacent door. “You can come in now.” For a moment there was silence, then slowly the door began to creak open. An audible gasp echoed throughout the throne room, along with a rapid string of ‘Oh my gosh’ from Rainbow Dash. In the threshold stood one of her many idols, Daring Do live and in the flesh. “No way!” The multi-colored Pegasus exclaimed. “You’re Daring Do, the most awesome adventurer pony that has ever lived!” “But that’s impossible!” Twilight gasped. “She’s just a fictional character in a book.” Rainbow Dash was taken aback by the unicorn’s comment. “Come on, Twilight, an egghead like you should have noticed that on the first page of each book it says that the events in this book are based off of real world things.” “That’s right.” Daring Do said. “I never would’ve thought my own daughter would like the books about my adventures. But then again, you are my daughter.” She laughed as she made her way over to Sonic. “It’s been a while, dear. I see you’ve gotten old.” “Yeah well, you try raising and looking after a hyperactive filly for twenty one years.” Sonic laughed. “The stress gets to you.” Daring looked at her daughter and smiled. “My little Rainbow, well, I guess you’re not so little anymore are you. How the time flies. I bet you have a lot of questions, don’t you?” All Rainbow could do was nod. “Well?” “Ah think she’s still shocked about havin’ a hot shot adventurer fer her mama. Ain’t that right RD?” Applejack asked. “Uh, I do have questions, but they’re mostly about the things leading up to this moment.” Rainbow said. “Like those dreams that I had, they didn’t really seem like dreams at all. I just want to know why I had them.” “I can explain that.” Luna chimed. “We decided that it was time you put an end to this secret agency and taking away ponies from their personal lives. So I sent dreams and awakened old memories in the foals of our agents. That way, they will start questioning their family ties. Much like you did.” “Dear sister, are saying that I’ll have to go through more situations like this?” Celestia asked, to which her sister nodded happily. “Oh dear me.” “Another question, how did you and dad meet since somepony won’t tell me?” Rainbow said as she glared at Sonic. Daring looked at her husband who nodded and back at their daughter. “Well, it was awhile back, when I first started working for Celestia. I was investigating a string of pegasi disappearances over the Everfree Forest when I found your father. He had been captured along with another pony and was going to be killed in order to keep the secret organization working there under wraps. I managed to save him but, sadly, the pony he was with had been mangled beyond recognition. From there, he helped me bring the organization to light and that was the end of that. Afterwards we started seeing each other. One thing led to another and now, here you are.” “That’s a rather… odd way to meet your special somepony, don’t you think.” Rarity asked. “Yeah, but it worked out fine in the end.” Daring replied. “So, anything else you want to know?” “That sounds a lot like your first book; Daring Do and the Everfree Cult.” Rainbow said. “So everything in that book actually happened?” “More or less, some things had to be changed and moved around though.” Daring replied. “Oh! Oh! I wanna know why Dashie’s mane and tail are rainbow colored!” Pinkie exclaimed. Twilight sighed. “Pinkie, what in the name of Celestia does that have to do with anything?” “Since Dashie isn’t Celestia’s foal, it doesn’t make since that she has a rainbow themed mane. Neither of her parents have any trace of a rainbow on them, so where did it come from?” The party pony explained. “Sonic, you’re turn to answer a question.” Daring said. Sonic sighed. “When Rainbow was a foal I took her to work with me at the weather factory and, needless to say, I wasn’t really watching her and she fell into a vat of rainbows. I managed to get the color out of her fur, but her mane and tail were permanently dyed.” “And she had such beautiful black and blond hair too.” Daring said sadly. “You’re not going to let me forget that are you? I’ve told you a million times it was an accident!” “How do you not look after your own foal?! She’s your own flesh and blood!” Daring argued. “And what if she drowned? I am not about to have another foal because of your cluelessness!” "Wow. Ah didn't think somepony could drown in rainbows." Applejack whispered to Fluttershy. “The wonders of family drama.” Luna laughed. “Aren’t you glad we don’t have to worry that sort of thing?” “Don’t think that you’re off the hook for what you did today.” Princess Celestia replied coldly. “We’re going to have a talk about it later.” “So much for that idea. Guess its time for plan B.” With that Luna teleported out of the throne room. Pinkie began to grin ear to ear and bouncing around the room. “This is so great! Rainbow finally met up with her mother and everything is right in the world! You all know what that means!” . . . Everypony in the castle was partying the day away out in the royal garden when Pinkie brought her friends and company outside. “What’s all this about?” Daring asked. “This is a party for you and Dashie, silly filly! Hope you like it!” Pinkie exclaimed before running off into a crowd of ponies. “Um…” The adventure pony was about to ask a question but was cut by Twilight. “Don’t ask about anything, just go with it.” Daring Do nodded and walked over to Rainbow Dash. “Ya know, Celestia told me about how you are the best young flier in Equestria and how you pulled off the sonic rainboom. Of course I’m not surprised; you are my daughter after all. However, I still haven’t seen you do it, think you can do one right now?” Rainbow smiled. “Of course I can!” She quickly took off and soared high into the air. Once high enough she entered a nosedive, picking up speed and waiting for the cone to form. Soon enough it did and with one last mighty flap of her wings, Rainbow broke through, resulting in the radiant sonic rainboom that made its way across the sky. Rainbow flew back up into the sky and screamed out at the top of her lungs. “THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!” Daring smiled as she eyed the spectacle that spread out above her. "That's my girl." END
