The soft echo of the bottle being slammed onto the counter rang through Rainbow Dash's house as she finished off the last of the drink. She stood up to go get another, drunkenly stumbling over to the fridge. As the time was midnight, she had small troubles seeing, but after ten years of living in the house she knew it like the back of her hoof.
"Fuck, really? I'm all outta beer."
Rainbow Dash slammed the fridge door shut and stumbled over to the living room. As she flopped down onto the couch, she sighed heavily and stared at the television on the wall.
"Where the hell's the remote?"
Rainbow Dash searched around briefly before finding the small black remote. She flipped on the TV, but was met with nothing but static.
"Rceiver must be out again."
Slurring her words, Rainbow Dash mumbled to herself as she walked towards the front door.
"Never shoulda gone with that stupid company, I never get any good reception."
Rainbow Dash angrily kicked open the door, letting in small amount of rain. She closed the door behind her as she walked outside and started towards the shed.
"Wish I could still fly, fucking inconvenience."
The rain beat down as rainbow dash trudged over to the shed, soaking Rainbow Dash's mane and coat. As she opened up the door to the shed, she spotted the ladder and walked over to it. She placed her right wing, the one that was still fully functional, on the ladder and pulled slightly. The ladder didn't budge.
"C'mon you stupid thing."
After a few more pulls, Rainbow Dash broke the ladder loose and it fell to the ground. Along with it was a small metal box the Rainbow Dash couldn't place.
"Huh? What's this?"
Rainbow Dash sat down against the wall and pulled the box towards herself. After a quick examination, she noticed the letters S and R carved into the bottom.
"S R, S R, what is S R?"
Rainbow Dash opened the box and turned it upside down just above the cold wooden floor of her shed. Papers fell in a semi-neat stack in front of her, and she put the box to her side. There letters, pictures, there was even a small pendant. The first thing Rainbow Dash picked up was the pendant. Almost mystified by the small copper half-cross, Rainbow Dash held it up and stared at the object. As she spun it around, she noticed something. On the back was a small R carved into the cross.
"R, Rainbow Dash? Is that what the R is? So, what's the S?"
A strange feeling came over Rainbow Dash as she held the pendant in her hooves. After staring at it for another few seconds, she slipped the chain around her next and let the cold pendant rest against her body.
"What else is in here?"
Raimbow Dash picked up the first thing on the pile, what seemed to be a photograph. She couldn't quite make out what was in it, as half of it was smudged. As she looked at the blurry image, she could see that she was on one half of the photo, as her cutie mark and a bit of her mane were visible.
"That's, that's me. Who else is in this picture? And who took it?"
Looking closer once more, Rainbow Dash could see a small orange hoof poking out of the blur.
"Orange? Was, was AJ in this with me?"
As she put the picture at her side, she looked at the remaining papers. Deciding to continue the order, she picked up a letter that was laying on top of the pile. Rainbow Dash read the letter in her head.
Dear Rainbow Dash.
Hi Dash! I finally got to send you a letter, I'm sorry it took so long. I'm at the school now, and it's massive! They gave us a tour, and everything here is so cool! Orion is here too, so I'm not that nervous, we're even roommates! Well, I should go, I'll write to you next time I can, bye Dash!
All Rainbow Dash could make out after that were the letters Sinc. She looked out the door to the shed for a moment and thought.
"Sinc, what is Sinc? And Orion, Orion Orion Orion, where have I heard that before? Mmm, maybe if I knew what their full name was."
Rainbow Dash tossed the letter onto the photograph and picked up the next letter. Smudges and water spots were all over, blocking some words.
Dear Rainbow Dash
Hey ----- Dash! Day two at the school --- super cool again! We got -- take a look at the wind generator, and we watched a teacher --- -- it! He almost got blown ----, it was pretty funny! ----ays, I gotta go.
Sincerely, ---aloo
Rainbow Dash looked with slight confusion at the letter.
"Sinc was sincerely, and now there's aloo. What the hell? So inconvenient with these smudges."
Rainbow Dash put the letter on the read stack and picked a picture up from the top of the other pile. She looked at the puzzling photograph with question. It was simply a picture of a purple mane with a pin that depicted wings coming out of a lightning bolt.
"Wait, isn't that...the wonderbolts symbol? Who's wearing it? It isn't on me, who else has a purple mane?"
Rainbow Dash, still utterly confused at this point, decided to flip the picture around to see if anything was on the back. In what seemed to be blue pen, we're the words
Thanks for the good luck pin Dash!
~Scoot
"Wait a minute, Scoot. Scoo- Scootaloo! Scootaloo. Wait..."
Rainbow Dash trailed off as She tried to assemble a picture if the familiar name, but nothing came to her.
"Who the hell..."
As Rainbow Dash sat in questions, thunder clapped and lightning struck moment later. She shook her head and picked up what looked to be the last letter in the pile. Besides that, there was only one more picture.
"Wait, wh-what?"
Rainbow Dash looked at the picture closely. It was a picture of what looked to be a report card. All along the side were D minuses, Fs, and low Cs. Rainbow Dash scanned the paper for a name, but could only see an S.
"What the hay? Where's the name? This isn't mine is It?"
Rainbow Dash gasped when she flipped the photo over and read the back aloud.
"Dear Rainbow Dash. I'm so, so, so sorry. I just couldn't take it. I've dropped out. I hope you can look past it.
Love always, Scootaloo."
Rainbow Dash set the paper down as a tear came to her eye.
"Scoo, Scootaloo failed. She, she just failed."
As Rainbow Dash stood up, she threw the papers back into the box and picked it up with her right wing. She inconsistently mumbled to herself as she walked back into the rain.
"Can't believe this, I trusted her and helped her get into that school, and she fucked it up."
Memories started pouring back into Dashs mind. She remembered the times Scootaloo and her went out after dark and walked around prank calling and knocking on doors. She remembered the times when she was in the hospital from a broken wing, and Scootaloo would visit her every day. As Rainbow Dash got to her door, she stopped and thought for a moment.
"No. I, I gave so much for her, and she just threw it away. I'm not just gonna let her quit."
Rainbow Dash quickened her pace as she ran into the house and grabbed something. She stuffed it into her saddlebag and ran out the door with the saddlebags in her mouth. She threw the saddlebag on as she walk back outside, the rain still pouring.
"I don't care who I have to go through. I will get to Scootaloo, and I'll tell her how badly she fucked up."
Rainbow Dash ran back into the shed and grabbed the metal box, stuffing the pictures and letters back inside. She quickly put the box in her saddlebag and proceeded towards the stump she used for chopping firewood.
"Do, do I really... I ... I do have to."
She used her good wing to pull the axe out of the stump. Thunder cracked as Rainbow Dash turned and started walking slowly towards the end of her long walkway. Small stones and twigs occasionally would hit the head of the axe that was being dragged along at her side, making odd metallic tinging sounds every few seconds. At the moment Rainbow Dash reached the end of the walkway, she began having second thoughts. She placed a good on the large metal gate that barred entrance onto her property and looked back at her house.
"It... it's need a to be done. She, she lied to me. We were practically sisters, and she..."
Rainbow Dash trailed off as she looked back towards her target. A frown lashed across her face, and all second thoughts were immediately wiped from her mind. All that filled her head now we're thoughts of revenge.
"She betrayed me!"
Angrily, Rainbow Dash threw the gate and started speedwalking towards the illuminated town in the distance.
"I hope all that practice helped make you a good flyer Scootaloo, cause that's the only thing that will keep me from getting to you."
Scootaloo landed softly on the ground outside of Twilights castle. She looked at the light seeping out of crack under the door. She sighed as she approached the door and knocked. A few seconds after, the door was engulfed in a reddish magic and swung slowly open.
"Sc-Scootaloo? What are you doing here?"
"Hey, Twilight, I just had something I needed to talk to you about."
"Alright, come in."
Twilight closed the door after Scootaloo walked inside. Scootaloo shook the rain off a little bit and Twilight levitated her a towel.
"Thanks."
"No problem. What did you want to talk about?"
"First of all, is anypony else here?"
"Well, spike just went to bed, and Starlight went back to her village for the weekend, so it's technically just us."
"Alright, cool."
Twilight motioned for Scootaloo to sit down in one of the chairs in the map room. She took a seat in th chair next to Twilights, and Twilight sat in hers.
"Well?"
"Well, I wanted to talk about..."
Scootaloo looked at the floor for a moment, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'd, I'd like to talk about Rainbow Dash."
Twilights expression soured at the mention of the ponys name. She leaned back a bit and blew out a puff of air.
"Wow, I haven't heard anypony talk about her in, ten years is it?"
"Almost eleven. Do you know why she left?"
"As far as anypony knows, she received some news that she just couldn't deal with. She told everyone she was going somewhere to de-stress and no one ever saw her again."
Scootaloo cringed slightly. It really was her fault. She looked down at the floor and let a few tears fall.
"I think I should go."
"So soon?"
Scootaloo looked up, the tears not noticable due to the rain that had soaked her mane and coat. She stood up and started towards the door.
"Yes. I have someone I have to get back-"
A loud series of knocks interuppted Scootaloos sentence. Twilight Sparkle stood up and walked to the door. Hesitant, she opened the door slowly with her magic. Twilight gasped at the figure that stood on her doorstep in the pouring rain.
"Ra-Rainbow Dash?"
"Where is she?"
"What?"
"Scootaloo. I know she's here."
Twilight looked to both sides, giving Scootaloo a look as she looked to her right. Scootaloo ran and hid in the map room.
"She's, not here."
"Twilight. You always were a shitty liar."
"What?"
Without another word, Rainbow Dash lifted her right wing and drove the axe deep into Twilights leg. Twilight cried out in pain as she fell to the floor. Rainbow Dash ran into the map room and stood, looking around for the other pegasus.
"Where are you!?"
Rainbow Dash looked around and saw a small bit of purple tail poking out from under the map table. Rainbow Dash smiled grimly for a second before walking over to the table. She grabbed Scootaloos tail with her wing and threw Scootaloo across the room. Scootaloo hit the wall with a loud thud, and she looked up to see Rainbow Dash through blurry vision.
"R-R-Rainbow Dash?"
"Well well. It's been a while."
"It, it rea-"
Rainbow Dash walked up and backhoofed Scootaloo midsentence. Feeling the blood fill her mouth, Scootaloo spit on the floor to her side.
"So, tell me Scootaloo. How long..."
"It's, it's, been almost elev-"
"I'm not talking about that. I mean, how long were you going to keep it from me?"
"Wh..what?"
"You... You dropped out... and after EVERYTHING that I did for you. You just, threw it all away!"
"Dash, I-I-I didn't mean to-"
"Shut up!"
Rainbow Dash used her wing to draw the shiny metal object from her saddlebag. Scootaloos pupils dilated as rainbow Dash slowly pointed the object at her.
"Tell me, why, why the fuck did you drop out!?"
"I, I don't know, it was just so stressful, I couldn't take it! I tried so hard, I wanted to make you proud of me."
Scootaloo was now sobbing, sitting on the floor surrounded by her own blood. Rainbow Dash looked down at the bloody, crying mess on the floor that used to mean something to her. Tears started in her eyes, but she kept the gun aimed between Scootaloos eyes.
"You, you lied to me. You dropped out. You, threw everything away!"
"Dash..."
As the now grown-up filly looked up at Rainbow Dash, beaten bloody and teary eyed, Rainbow Dash started having second thoughts again.
"You...you lied...you..."
Rainbow Dash lowered the gun, tears starting to stream gently down her face. She stood up and slowly backed away from Scootaloo.
"I..."
"Dash..."
Rainbow Dash quickly ran out the door and off towards the centre of town. Scootaloo got up and stumbled over to Twilight.
"Princess Twilight!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine, nothing medi-magic and a lot of painkillers can't fix. What happened? I blacked out slightly."
"Rainbow Dash ran out, we gotta go after her!"
"I don't know if I can walk right now. You may have to help me bandage this up and I can fly."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash stumbled through the streets of Ponyville, occasionally tripping and falling.
"Why couldn't I do it? She betrayed me, she, she needs to pay..."
Rainbow Dash stopped for a moment and pressed the top of her head against a nearby building. She exhaled roughly and looked around. Pictures of her old life flashed through her mind as she stood in the pouring rain.
"I, I just can't live like this anymore."
She lifted her head up and looked at the town hall.
Should be tall enough...
Without second thoughts, Rainbow Dash started walking towards town hall. When she reached the building, she looked up and sighed.
"This is it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rainbow Dash!"
"Rainbow Dash!"
"Where is she?"
Scootaloo started running towards the centre of town, Twilight flying low at her side.
"She's been living in solitary for ten years, do you think maybe she'd-"
"Oh...my...Celestia."
At this point, Scootaloo had stopped dead in her tracks. Twilight stopped beside her and looked around for what had made her stop. She gasped when she shifted her gaze to the top of town hall. Standing on the edge of the very top of the building was Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow Dash! Don't do it! I'm sorry!"
"Sorry just don't work anymore Scoot. Nothing does."
Rainbow Dash let go of the building, barely able to stay balanced due to the pouring rain and lack of wanting to remain.
"Dash, don't do this! We can help you, just please get down!"
"Twilight, you always thought you could fix everything. Let me ask you, can you fix..."
Rainbow Dash used her right wing to aim the gun at her own head, pressing it gently against her temple. The eyes of the two mares below shot open, pupils dilating.
"This?"
"Dash, please..."
"Sis..."
Rainbow Dash looked into Scootaloos eyes. She could see the regret, the fear, and the pain. Stiffening up for a second, Rainbow exhaled slowly. She closed her eyes, and slowly pulled the trigger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And on this day, though we have lost a treasured friend. May we at least keepsake the knowledge that Rainbow Dash is not only at peace with her demons, but resting eternally in peace."
The priest stepped down from the podium and over to the casket where he gently levitated a bouquet of flowers onto Rainbow Dashs body. Scootaloo had already been standing beside the casket, and when the preist walked away, it left her with nothing but her own sorrows. Twilight Sparkle walked up and stood beside Scootaloo.
"Scootaloo? You know it's not your fault right?"
"I...I can't help but think that it is. I mean, it's my fault Rainbow Dash went into isolation, it was my letters that brought her back to town, and it was my fault that I couldn't do or say anything to stop her."
"You could've never known this would happen, none of us could."
"Yes, but I knew her. She was basically my sister. She did do everything for me, I did screw it all up."
"Scootaloo..."
"Twilight. I'm taking the blame for this. I've grown up. I can't pretend I didn't do something that was all my fault."
"Scootaloo, you can't be so hard on yourse-"
"Twilight."
Scootaloo snapped her vision to Twilight, tears in her eyes.
"Its ok. I can own up to it. Can I please have a moment with her?"
Twilight awkwardly nodded and walked away to talk to AppleJack and Fluttershy, who were both crying in their seats. They seemed to be taking it especially hard. Scootaloo turned and looked at Rainbow Dash inside the casket.
"Dash. I'm so sorry about everything. I swear, if I ever had a chance to change it, I would trade everything I have to have you back. I just...I never meant to hurt you."
Scootaloo looked down, letting the tears drip down her face and onto the ground. She pulled a small envelope from her dress shirt and looked at it. A few tears fell onto the envelope as she closed her eyes.
"Here. I have one last letter for you. Hopefully you can read this in your afterlife, and maybe you'll forgive me when I get there."
Scootaloo slipped the letter inside the casket, beside Rainbow Dashs head, and walked away.