"Sunshine
Fading from your stare
Sometimes
It's better not to care."
Rainbow Dash looked up at the ceiling of her room at the Cloudsdale Orphanage. She was one of the older foals there so she usually got preferential treatment on the room situation for some reason, not that she was complaining.
She sighed a little and rolled over to look at the photo of her and her parents, when she was just a young filly they had died in a storm that had swept over Equestria from the Everfree Forest. The Weather teams had tried their best to get it under control, but it had been too late for her parents.
She still remembered the scared look on their faces when they got her into the shelter, they had left to try and help other ponies and never come back. When she had been able to finally leave her whole world had come falling down.
That was almost 7 years ago now, she was 12 years old now and nopony really seemed interested in adopting her. She didn't understand why, there were plenty of Pegasus couples that came through the orphanage and even on occasion Unicorn or Earth Pony couples that they visited for adoption days, but none of them seemed interested in her.
Most of them thought she was too brash, too unpredictable. She didn't exactly help her case, but honestly she was more afraid of letting ponies get too close if she didn't trust them.
She sighed and headed out of the room past some of the younger foals, they didn't really pay her any attention as she went past. Right now she just wanted to get out of the orphanage for the day, another couple had come by the day before and hadn't even paid attention to her.
"Don't worry Rainbow, you'll find your family someday," the orphanage's matron Sunny Smiles had reassured her, but it hadn't happened yet.
She just sighed and shook her head, none of the ponies here even really liked her that much for some reason. She just wanted to go see her friend Fluttershy right now, that usually got her mind off of things.
"Rainbow, can I talk to you in my office for a moment?" the kind voice of the Matron asked just as Rainbow Dash was about to reach the front door.
"Umm, okay," Rainbow said as her ears perked up, she was a little surprised, maybe it was about her getting adopted? Who knew at this point, maybe somepony had changed their minds. "Is everything okay Matron?"
"Yes, Rainbow you're getting to be pretty old and I'd like you to participate in a new program the orphanage system is implementing," Sunny Smiles said with a smile on her face. "We're calling it the big sister program, when there's older fillies and colts like you are, we'd like them to help new foals that have recently lost their families."
"Wait, why me?" Rainbow asked, she was a bit surprised by the suggestion, she wasn't exactly big sister material.
"I know things aren't easy for you and that you're still hoping that maybe somepony will adopt you, but I think this'll be good for you to at least try," Sunny Smiles said, she tried to sound reassuring but it wasn't easy. "But more than that its because I can see something in you, you're a good filly who's got a lot to give. You just need the chance, will you at least try?"
Rainbow paused and thought for a long moment. Honestly she had never thought of herself as being a big sister to anypony, why had Sunny Smiles picked her of all ponies? Honestly, she wasn't sure what to think about this, but maybe, just maybe it would be interesting.
"Okay, I'm in!" Rainbow said with more enthusiasm than she really felt. "At least, I'll try to do my best with it."
"Okay Rainbow, now go play with your little friend, I'll let you know when something is arranged."
"Okay!" The filly said as she headed out, after a few minutes Sunny Smiles looked up to see a figure looking at her.
"Did she agree?" The figure said in a kind and elegant voice
"Yes, but I don't understand why you asked for this filly in particular," Sunny said as she looked at the mare who was in front of her. "Aren't there any families in Canterlot that can take care of her?"
"I have my reasons, I promise everything will be okay," the mare said reassuringly. "Rainbow Dash is the right pony for the job, I know it seems strange, but trust me on this one."
Sunny Smiles hesitated for a moment, she didn't understand everything that was going on but she figured if this pony said this, then maybe she was right.
"Okay, I'll get it all arranged," Sunny Smiles said, she just hoped she was doing the right thing.
"Thank you Matron, I promise you that this will all be okay in the end," the figure said before vanishing in a burst of light.
00000
"She, really wants you to help take care of another foal?" Fluttershy asked Rainbow curiously, they were at her house and Rainbow had just finished telling her what Sunny Smiles had asked of her.
"Yeah, crazy right?" Rainbow said with a shrug. "Honestly, I don't know what to think about all of this."
"Well, umm... Rainbow..." Fluttershy started to say before trailing off a moment.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Well, I mean honestly I could kind of see it," Fluttershy admitted quietly. "You're a good pony, you've always been there for me when I've needed you. Sometimes, you kind of are like my sister if that makes any sense."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean you've always been there to help me since flight camp," Fluttershy said softly and gave her friend a light smile. "There might be another filly or colt out there who needs a pony like you, you'll do fine."
Rainbow smiled a little and hugged Fluttershy, somehow the shy pony always knew just what to say when she needed it. Maybe she was right, but on the other hoof maybe she'd mess things up badly.
Rainbow had no idea how to be a big sister, sure she had been there for Fluttershy when she needed her, but to be able to help another filly or colt like her? Honestly, she was a little nervous about that.
Then again, maybe she had nothing to be worried about, even if she wasn't going to have an easy time doing it, maybe it was the right thing to do. She knew what it was like to not have your parents, and she wouldn't with that on anypony else. She had been in the orphanage longer than any of the other ponies that lived there, so she could help out at least.
"Thank you Fluttershy, that means a lot," Rainbow said as she hugged the yellow filly gently.
"You're welcome Rainbow Dash, just do you're best and you'll be fine," Fluttershy said and Rainbow nodded.
"I will, I promise."
Fluttershy smiled a little, she meant every word she had said to Rainbow. She was glad that it had helped the younger filly out.
"Come on, lets go tease your brother," Rainbow said with a laugh as she dashed off with Fluttershy close behind.
00000
The next few days passed normally at the Cloudsdale Orphanage. Rainbow spent some time helping get her room ready for the new filly, making space for her new bed and stuff, Sunny Smiles told her that she'd be there the next Monday.
Rainbow honestly was still a little nervous, some of the younger foals had gotten wind of what was going on and had been pestering her with questions. Now Monday came around and it was about that time.
She was waiting with Sunny Smiles in the foyer to the orphanage, there were ponies upstairs getting everything moved in before the filly arrived. Rainbow tried not to look nervous about what was going on.
Was she going to be able to do a good job? She didn't even know the filly yet and she was afraid of what was going to happen.
"Are you ready for this Rainbow?" Sunny Smiles asked as she looked down at the prismatic maned filly.
"As ready as I'll ever be," she answered with a sigh. "What if she doesn't like me?"
"Rainbow, don't worry about it, you're a great filly, why wouldn't she like you?" Sunny Smiles said as she ruffled Rainbow's mane gently. "Don't worry Rainbow, you're going to be a great big sister."
"I hope so," Rainbow said with a sigh as the door to the orphanage opened, she was a little surprised to see a mare enter pushing a stroller.
"Umm, what's going on?"
"Here come meet your little sister," Sunny Smiles said as the mare left, Rainbow trotted over to the stroller and looked inside.
Wrapped up gently in a bundle was a Pegasus foal, she had orange fur with a tuft of purple for her mane. She was fast asleep at the moment, Rainbow just looked at the little pony confused.
"I thought she'd be older..." She said softy.
"Her parents died recently in Canterlot, we were asked to take care of her," Sunny said sadly. "I know this is a big responsibility, but you don't have to do it alone I promise."
Rainbow looked at the sleeping filly for a long moment, she was so small she honestly had no idea what to think. Still, this was a pony who needed her help, she just was a little younger than she had thought.
She nodded and Sunny smiled as she ruffled the filly's mane again. "That's the Rainbow I know!"
"Can I hold her?" Rainbow asked and Sunny gently placed the filly in Rainbow's forehooves. She looked at her for the longest moment before her eyes opened up, revealing a pair of light purple eyes that looked up at Rainbow curiously. "What's her name?"
"Scootaloo."
Scootaloo, it was a strange name, even by pony standards, as she looked at the small pony though it somehow felt right, she didn't really know why.
"Hey there Scootaloo, my name is Rainbow Dash, I'm your new big sister," Rainbow said with a smile as the filly cooed gently and sucked at Rainbow's hoof. "I'm going to do my best to be there when you need me, I promise, I'll be the best big sister ever. I know you'll be the best little sister ever."
Sunny Smiles watched the two and smiled gently, she had her doubts but the way she saw Rainbow and Scootaloo together made her feel that something about it was right.
She headed up to the room in order to give the two new sisters some space, they'd follow when they were ready.
"And I can see your smile is withered
One more autumn leaf is drifting on the wind."
Rainbow looked at the sleeping form of Scootaloo in the crib and sighed a little, she honestly had no idea if she'd be able to do this. She already was nervous enough about helping raise a filly, but trying to help raise one from such a young age? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
She didn't really understand why she had been asked to do this. She figured that Sunny Smiles had some sort of reason for it, but she didn't understand what that might be. She sighed a little and looked down at the baby pony again.
"Scootaloo, I honestly don't know if I'll be able to do this," she said softly as she brushed the filly's mane out of her eyes. "But I'll do my best."
"Are you okay Rainbow?" A voice from behind her asked and she turned to see Sunny Smiles behind her.
"Oh, yeah I'm okay, I'm just thinking about all this is all," Rainbow said with a sigh as she looked down at the filly again. "Why did you pick me?"
"I know its hard to understand right now Rainbow, but someday you'll understand that we had our reasons for this," Sunny Smiles said with a sigh as she wrapped her wing around Rainbow gently. "But let me assure you that we picked you because we have faith in your ability to be a good big sister for her. I know it won't be easy, but I have faith in you, you'll do just fine."
"You really think so?" Rainbow asked as she looked up at the matron.
"I know so Rainbow," Sunny smiles said and ruffled the filly's rainbow colored mane. "Its not going to be easy but you'll never have to do it alone."
"I know, I'll do the best I can," Rainbow said with a smile as she looked down at the foal. "So, umm, what happened to her parents?"
"They were killed in an accident in Canterlot recently," Sunny Smiles said sadly as she looked down at the foal. "They were good ponies from what I understand and its too bad she won't ever get to know them..."
"Yeah," Rainbow said sadly, she at least had gotten to know her parents for a few years before they had died in the storm, Scootaloo would never have that, which meant she would have to become the foal's family.
Something she would be willing to do, she just had to hope she'd be good at it.
"I'll be the best big sister ever," she said with a smile as she tried to sound more confident than she really felt.
"I know you will," Sunny said as she hugged Rainbow gently. "You're going to be just fine, I have faith in you.
Rainbow nodded and smiled a little, that had helped her a bit, she just hoped it was going to be enough.
00000
"Rainbow, wake up!" A mare's voice shouted and she opened her eyes to see her mom looking at her scared. "Come on, we need to get you into the shelter!"
"What's wrong mommy?" Rainbow asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"There's a bad storm coming sweetie," her mom said, Rainbow could tell that her mom was afraid right now.
It hit her after a moment that she was dreaming, she was re-living the day her parents had died. It wasn't the first time she had this dream, and no matter what she tried it always ended the same way.
Her mom picked her up and carried her to where her dad was getting everything set up in the shelter. It was big enough for all three of them, not that it mattered.
"It'll be okay Rainbow, you'll be fine," her dad said as the two of them hugged the filly gently. "You'll be okay, I promise."
"But you won't! Rainbow protested. "Please, don't leave me, you'll die if you do!"
"Rainbow, I know you're scared but we don't want to leave other ponies behind," her mom said and nuzzled her gently. "Just remember, we will always love you Dashie."
"Our special little filly," her dad said and ruffled her mane. "We'll always love you, no matter what."
Rainbow sighed and hugged her parents again as she started to cry a little. She hated these dreams, every time it reminded her of what she had lost and she hated that she kept being reminded of it.
"I love you too," Rainbow said softly before they picked
her up again and set her gently in the shelter. "Please, don't go..."
"We have to Rainbow... I'm sorry," her mom said and with that they closed the doors to the shelter and closed them up.
She never saw her parents again after that. She had been told by other ponies that they had gotten as many ponies to the shelters as they could before getting caught up in the storm itself.
Dying as heroes weren't enough for a pony like Rainbow though, she had still lost her parents in a storm that they should've been able to stop.
She just wished that it had been stopped in time.
00000
Rainbow's eyes opened up as she heard the sound of a foal crying, for a moment she couldn't remember where she was or what was going on. She bolted up in bed when she realized it was coming from Scootaloo's crib near where she was sleeping and she rushed over to it and looked down at the crying filly.
"Shhhh, calm down Scootaloo, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked as she looked down at the crying filly, she had no idea what she was supposed to do here.
The door to the room opened and Sunny came in with a bottle as she gently picked Scootaloo up and let her feed off it. Rainbow let out a sigh of relief, at least nothing bad was happening if Scootaloo was just hungry.
"Are you okay Rainbow?" Sunny asked as she looked over at Rainbow who was looking at the filly in the mare's forelegs. "You look a bit shaken up."
"I had that dream again," Rainbow said with a sigh as she looked down at the sleeping Scootaloo.
"Oh, the dream where you show up at school naked?" Sunny asked with a smirk which just got a strange look from Rainbow.
"I don't normally wear clothes, why would that be anything that disturbed me?" She asked and Sunny just chuckled a little at that. "No, I mean the dream about when my parents died..."
"Oh, I see," Sunny said as she looked at the filly sympathetically. This wasn't the first time she had seen a filly or a colt who had seen their parents die and had recurring nightmares about it.
Rainbow sighed and rubbed her foreleg a little, she honestly had no idea what she was going to do about this. Ever since the death of her parents she had been bothered by the memory of her parents' death. It was part of the reason she wasn't so sure about being a big sister to Scootaloo, she had lost her parents and she wasn't sure if she would be able to be a good family to the filly.
"I'm still kind of figuring out what I'm going to do," Rainbow admitted as she looked down at Scootaloo who had finished feeding and cooed softly. "Why did you really choose me for this?"
"Rainbow, you're going to be okay," Sunny said as she gave Rainbow a gentle smile. "I know things aren't going to be easy for you, but you were chosen because we knew that you'd be able to help her as best you could. We picked you because both you and Scootaloo deserved a chance to have a family. I know its hard to understand, but everything is going to be just fine."
Rainbow nodded softly and Sunny gently gave Scootaloo to her. She smiled a little as she held the filly in her hooves and she stared up at her with her light purple eyes.
"I don't know if we're going to be able to do this Scootaloo, but we're going to try and do our best," Rainbow said with a smile as she stroked the filly's mane. "We have a long way to go before we are able to figure our lives out together, but I promise I'll always be there for you."
Sunny smiled a little as Rainbow gave the filly back to her as she fell asleep. It had saddened her that such a wonderful young filly had lost her family, and that she hadn't ever been adopted, but Sunny had seen Rainbow grow a lot since she had arrived at the orphanage.
Maybe the mare who had asked her to put Scootaloo in Rainbow's care was right, maybe this was for the best somehow. Not that she had much of a choice, it wasn't the kind of thing you would say no to if that pony asked you to do it. She took a deep breath and put Scootaloo back in her crib while Rainbow yawned a little.
"Looks like its time for both fillies to get some sleep," she said with a chuckle as Rainbow laid down in her bed and Sunny gently placed the covers over her. "Don't worry Rainbow, you're going to do just fine as her big sister."
Rainbow smiled a little and closed her eyes as she drifted off to sleep.
00000
"Aww, she's so cute," Fluttershy said softly as she looked down at the sleeping Scootaloo, she had come to visit Rainbow at the orphanage a couple of days later and had asked if she could meet the filly. "What's her name?"
"Scootaloo," Rainbow said with a light smile and Fluttershy looked at her strangely. "Yeah, I know its a weird name, but I like it, it feels like it suits her somehow."
"Yeah, I can see that," Fluttershy said with a soft smile as she looked down at the filly. "Do you know what happened to her parents?"
"Not really, all Sunny Smiles told me was that they died in an accident," Rainbow said with a sigh as she looked at Fluttershy. "I'm still kind of getting used to this, I mean I didn't think she'd be so..."
"Young?" Fluttershy asked and Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, I can see why you'd feel that way, but I think its going to be just fine. Scootaloo, you've got a great big sister who's going to be taking good care of you."
Rainbow smiled a little as she looked over at Fluttershy who looked back at her and smiled with a nod. She looked down at Scootaloo again and wondered a bit about what might have happened. She must've had no family left if she had wound up here, though she had to wonder why she had been sent here if her family had died in Canterlot.
Maybe something else was going on here that she didn't quite understand. She briefly considered that maybe Sunny Smiles had done something specific to arrange it, but why would she do that?
"So, what are you going to do now?" Fluttershy asked. "I mean, you've got a lot of work to do if you're going to take care of her. I'll be here to help you of course, if you want me."
Rainbow smiled as she wrapped her foreleg around Fluttershy. She was happy to have a friend like Fluttershy who was willing to help her out given how crazy things were going on.
She smiled a little and looked between Fluttershy and Scootaloo, she just had to hope that everything was going to be okay.
