Rainbow Samurai

Framed!

Rainbow Dash was totally speechless. She’d had no idea as to why Thunderlane of all ponies would come to her house, and with who seemed to be one of his parents, no less. Worse, why would they choose now of all times? The colt and who Rainbow could guess was his father, given the similarities in their looks with the exception of the stallion’s hair color and eye color, looked absolutely appalled by what they saw. They saw the blood, the completely destroyed living room, and even Daring Do’s body leaned up against a wall, smothered in blood.

“Oh, my God…” the stallion mumbled in utter disbelief as he surveyed the bloody mess. He then looked back down at the little blue filly standing in front of him. He saw that she was also covered in blood. He also saw the sword she was holding. It was, of course, covered in blood.

“You… you killed your mom…?” asked Thunderlane as he tried to process the brutal scene in his mind.

“N-no!!” Rainbow hastily answered as she realized how suspicious she looked. “I would never do that! This… I didn’t do this!!”

“B-but… you’re covered in blood… and so is that sword you were holding… and your mom’s—!”

“That’s quite enough, Thunderlane,” the colt’s father calmly interrupted. “We’re going to get the authorities. They’ll know what to do with your friend. Let’s go.”

“No! Please don’t get them!” Rainbow pleaded. “I swear I didn’t do this! There were these guys and they came in while we were at school and they killed my mom and then they gave me this sword that was stuck inside of one of the guys!” she began to cry again as she tried to explain herself.

“Young lady, I get that you don’t understand the seriousness of what you did…” Thunderlane’s father began. “But you have to understand that we can’t go back home without visiting the police station. It’s also not very nice to lie about what you did. In fact, if you come with us so you can confess, they might let you off easy… well, as easy as I can imagine, given that what you did would be punishable by banishment from Equestria or even to the moon for an adult pony…”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!!” the filly shouted. “Thunderlane, you have to believe me!” she pleaded again, tears pouring from her eyes. “I didn’t kill my mommy! I didn’t!” The black colt stared at her, unsure of what to think, or whether to believe her. Indeed, the two foals had gotten to know each other and become friends at school earlier. But just a short time before that, he and his friends got into a fight with Rainbow and Gilda. But then, she WAS protecting Fluttershy from harm. She couldn’t have been a bad pony. She meant well at that time… but how could she or ANYPONY mean well in killing somepony, especially their own mother?

“Thunderlane, don’t listen to her. She’s obviously become delusional. Let’s go now.”

“…But dad…” Thunderlane uncertainly began to say.

“Come ON, son! I understand you don't want to see your new friend hurt, but we have to. If we don’t, somepony else will, and we’ll run the possibility of being looked upon as ponies who helped her to do it. We’d get in as much trouble as she's going to be in.”

“Thunderlane! Thunderlane’s dad!” Rainbow called as they were taking flight. Surprisingly, they stopped and turned to see the distraught blue filly. “I… I didn’t do it! I swear! You HAVE to believe me! Please!” Thunderlane stared back at her with worry. His father furrowed his brow at Rainbow, seemingly sick of hearing what he perceived to be her fabrication.

“If you didn’t do it, then why are you covered in her blood?” he asked.

“Because I was hugging her before she died! I didn’t stab her!”

“Who said you stabbed her?” He’d trapped her with that question.

“I… well… nopony. But that’s what happened! The bad ponies came in and stabbed her!”

“Enough! We’ve wasted enough time listening to your lies. Come on, Thunderlane,” the black colt’s father instructed as he began to fly away. Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash exchanged stares for a moment; Thunderlane gave her one of worry and uncertainty as Rainbow Dash gave him one of begging and sadness. After a minute that felt like an eternity to the two foals, Thunderlane broke the stare and flew off after his father.

Rainbow was in it now. She’d already been blamed for her mother’s death and who worse to come up with such a misconstruction than one of the four ponies she’d made friends with just earlier? He’d probably go to school tomorrow and tell everyone what he thought she did. Even worse, the colt’s father was going to tell the police. It would be all over the newspapers. Everypony in Cloudsdale would see her as a murderer and she would probably go to prison or worse! She could only think of one thing to do; run. She had to get out of there. Not just out of the home, but out of Cloudsdale completely. Maybe even Equestria. She’d be in a LOT of trouble if she stayed. Nopony would accept her. Not Thunderlane, not Fluttershy… probably not even Gilda. She would be seen as a killer in their eyes. She was completely alone now. As far as she saw it, she had no friends, no family, no one. Her mom was dead and all the friends she had now would be afraid of her or hate her by tomorrow, along with everypony else who’d read the next day’s paper and lump her on the same boat as… as that bastard who ACTUALLY stabbed Daring to death. Rainbow Dash thought of his face for an instant, and became outright furious.

“You…! You ruined my life…! I hate you…!! I WILL find you…! And I will KILL you…!” Rainbow muttered to herself as she went back into the house. She was quick to sheathe the sword again and find her saddlebags, empty them of her school supplies and refill them with necessities and food items. She had to figure out how to get everything she needed out of the house; the food, the sword, and the body. She didn’t have much time to think, so she initiated the first idea that popped into her mind; she took off the saddlebag, set the sword on her back, and placed the saddlebag back on so that the sword was held firm by the saddlebag’s straps. The sword was positioned so that it wouldn’t impair her flight too much, all the while not hindering her neck positioning too badly. It was still an uncomfortable fit, but she’d manage.

The real challenge was picking up her mom. She wasn’t going to leave her here for the cops to find her for any reason. They’d probably do unimaginable things to her before they set her up for a funeral of some sort. Rainbow didn’t want anypony hurting her mom any more than she already was. Even if she wasn’t alive to feel the pain, it would still hurt Rainbow to think of the things they’d do to Daring’s body. Rainbow was going to give her a proper burial. She had to. Where, she didn’t know, but she figured her mom deserved a peaceful resting place. As the filly finished her thoughts, she cast away her previous fears and moved to sling Daring’s foreleg over her neck. She then fluttered her wings hard in order to take flight. She slowly, but surely achieved lift-off. The combined weight was almost more than the filly could bear, but she ignored the strain, as she had an urgent mission to accomplish. She slowly flew her way out of the open door and into the open late afternoon Cloudsdale skies to an uncertain destination…

Thunderlane and his father were flying quickly towards the police station. However, the little black colt was uncertain of what to think. He saw everything back at the scene; the blood, the sword, the body, and the filly covered in blood from the body. Yet, he felt inclined to give Rainbow a chance. The look of hopeless terror in her eyes when they stared at one another… the tears… Rainbow had even said she was “hugging her mother” before she died… why would someone who was intent on killing another pony hug their victim before they died? Maybe she stabbed her mom by accident? But then, that sword was too big. He’d seen her struggling to keep it steady as she swung the door open. The more he thought into the circumstances of his friend’s crime, the more torn his mind was.

“Um… d-dad…?” the colt finally spoke up.

“Yes, son?”

“Wh… why would somepony do that…?”

“You mean kill another pony?”

“Yes…”

“…Well, my boy, I don’t exactly have an answer to that. I can’t even make sense of it myself as to why someone would be so cruel as to take the life of another pony. I also never expected a friend of yours, who you just met hours ago, to be one to do such a thing…That’s why you have to be careful of who you trust. You never know.” Something clicked in the stallion’s head. “Thunderlane… did she say anything to you when you met her?”

“N-no… Only that she wanted to be friends with me before her griffin friend, Gilda, hit me,” the colt lied. He hadn’t told his father that he, Flight Path, and Trailblazer were picking on another pony— Fluttershy, specifically, which led to a series of events that prompted Gilda to hit him. His father was a stallion of strong conviction; believing firmly in a strict moral code in that one must always be honest, respectful of elders, and that under NO circumstances was a colt or stallion in his household allowed to lay his hooves on a filly or mare. He was also a firm believer in chastisement. If he’d have told his father what REALLY happened, he would’ve gotten the spanking of a lifetime. Thunderlane figured he’d get away with just a little white lie regarding his meeting with the sky blue filly, thus saving his own flank.

“Well, alright, then. If that griffin— Gilda, was it?”

“Yeah.”

“If she’s as close to little Miss Rainbow-mane as I assume she is, then she must know something. After we go to the police station, we’re paying a visit to that griffin…” That statement struck instant fear in Thunderlane. He’d almost folded up his wings, he was so terrified. Flying suddenly became difficult, as if he were carrying a sack of bricks as he pumped his wings. He’d tried to keep it smooth, but his father noticed his sudden change in disposition. “What’s the matter, Thunderlane?”

“I uh…! N-nothing, sir. Just um… a little shaken up… about what we saw back there… I uh… I can’t believe Rainbow Dash would do something like that…” the colt lied once again. He’d unknowingly thrown his friend under the carriage on that one. He was so sure he’d give her a chance to explain herself once everything was said and done, but he’d killed any chance he had of possibly defending her from the judgment of his father.

“I’m sorry… A colt as young as you shouldn’t have had to see that… C’mere…” the father Pegasus said as he slowed down to hug his son. He gently wrapped his forelegs around the colt, pulling him into a loving embrace, and kissed him on the forehead. “I love you, son. I don’t ever want to see you doing anything like that. You hear me?”

“Y-yes, dad. I-I… love you, too…” Thunderlane timidly replied as the two neared the Cloudsdale Flight School…

Fluttershy was absolutely ecstatic. Within one week of starting at a public flight school, she’d already made five friends. Sure, she got beat up, and two of those friends had to fight her three others, but it all worked out in the end. Rather than go straight home, she spent some time alone after school flying around the race course. She was determined to make herself a better flyer so she would be able to make friends in a more conventional way, as well as make herself stronger so as to be able to defend herself so nopony would mess with her. She worked really hard, using her memories of the recent events that transpired as fuel for her determination.

“Whew…! I think… hah… I’m getting better already…” the filly said to herself as she wiped sweat off of her forehead before taking a rest. “I can’t wait to start practicing with Rainbow Dash and Gilda so I can become even better…” She looked around to see that there was no one around her and that the sun was setting. “Oh, my…! I spent more time out here than I thought… I should get home…” With that, the Pegasus filly gathered her things from a nearby cloud bench and proceeded to make her way home. On her way, she saw two black Pegasi, one of which she’d recognized as Thunderlane, flying towards her. They were flying fairly quickly, like they were in a hurry.

“Hi, Thunderlane!” she called. Her greeting went unheard as they passed by her, not because they were ignoring her or because they were going too quickly, but because her voice was much too soft for them to hear. She was used to such incidents, so this was no particularly big deal to her. She figured they had to go home before sundown, just like she had to. She resumed her journey back home. The filly couldn’t wait to tell her daddy that she’d finally made friends. She took her time getting home, humming a sweet little tune to herself as she smiled brightly, looking forward to the look on her father’s face when she broke the good news to him. He would be so proud of her.

As she reached the doorstep to her humble abode, she could hear shouting and crashing coming from the other side of the door.

“*GASP* Mommy must be home!” Fluttershy excitedly stated. She was eager to see her mother for the first time in what felt like eons. She spent so much time at work, and Fluttershy missed her so much. Mommy and Daddy were celebrating really early, so maybe they’d let her have fun too because it wasn’t bedtime this time. Not wasting another second, Fluttershy quickly grabbed the knob and pushed the door open.

“Mommy, Daddy! I’m—!” She cut herself short as her jaw dropped in shock at what she saw. A yellow stallion with medium-length spiky brown hair, a coat of a slightly brighter yellow than Fluttershy’s, a Cutie Mark of three blue jays, and eyes of a shade of ocean blue, was in the middle of a physical altercation with another stallion. This stallion was a bright leaf green with blond hair that was long and straight, almost like Fluttershy’s. He’d also shared a similar turquoise eye color with the filly. There was also a mare standing, watching in apparent horror at what she was looking at. She had a yellow coat that was a darker shade than the filly’s, curly light pink hair, and eyes that were emerald green.

“Fluttershy!?” said the mare in shock as she ran over to hug the filly.

“Mommy! Wh-what’s going on??” Fluttershy asked in panic. “Why is Daddy fighting that strange stallion?”

“Because your mom’s a slut, honey!” the light yellow Pegasus angrily shouted as he shoved the other stallion off of him. The two had come to a temporary ceasefire to trot forward to the filly, who was now confused and afraid.

“How dare you call me that? In front of our daughter, no less!” shouted the mare as she cradled her daughter.

“Oh, NOW she’s OUR daughter!?” he snapped back. “I’m actually shocked you would say that, considering you apparently don’t even know if she actually belongs to me or this jackass!” The filly gasped, already welling up with tears.

“Stop! You’re upsetting her!”

“I don’t understand, Nimbus!” the green stallion started. “Why? How could you? You led me on all these years to drop this bombshell on me now!?”

“Oh, you know I would never do that!” the mare known as Nimbus retorted, on the verge of tears. “I… the times we’ve had were special! I-I just couldn’t stand to hide this from you anymore! So that’s… that’s why I brought you here…”

“What about me!?” said the bright yellow stallion. “We’ve been married for HOW long now? Since before Fluttershy was born, and yet you hid this from me all these years? I can’t BELIEVE how selfish you’re being right now!”

“You wanna talk about ‘selfish?’ How about all those days you spent ignoring me or shoving off my problems like they were nothing! You never gave me the time of day! It was always you, you, you! Our first few years of marriage were great! In fact, they were some of the best years I’ve ever had! But then you started to change at some point… You stopped giving me kisses goodbye when I went to work, we stopped cuddling together on the couch listening to our favorite songs like we used to, and… and we even stopped making love after Fluttershy was born! You were pushing yourself further and further away from me, and the harder I tried to make you happy, the worse I seemed to make it! So that’s why I stopped trying with you!”

“I gave up my CAREER for you! I could’ve become the head director of the Canterlot Wildlife Refuge! CANTERLOT! I could’ve been raking in ALL the bits! But no, I rejected that offer to be with you! I took up a job on the Weather Patrol Squad to keep us afloat while you relaxed and made sure our baby was okay when you got pregnant! I even took double shifts on an almost-daily basis to make up for the loss of income when you were laid off of your job! Then when you found work as a secretary for the Equestrian Pegasus Immigration Office that trumped my salary even WITH all the extra time, I volunteered to cut my time by more than HALF to take care of our daughter! I cherished every single day I had with her! She became my entire world! And now you’re telling me she may not be mine because you slept with this guy on the SAME night that you slept with me!? That all these years, I’ve probably been wasting my time bonding with a foal I should’ve never had any business taking care of?? I’m sorry if I didn’t seem to be in a very good mood most of the time, but YOU were the cause of it!”

“Mommy… Daddy… please st-stop yelling…!” Fluttershy begged, although she wasn’t audible as she curled up into a ball in her mother’s fore legs and began to sob. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her daddy might NOT actually be her daddy? But what about all the tender loving care he’d shown her ever since she was a newborn? Surely, only daddies can do that, and she’d never even seen the green stallion before. He couldn’t have been her real dad… could he?

“Hold on here!” the green stallion began. “Is THAT all I’ve been to you, Nimbus!? Some… PLACEHOLDER for whenever your husband couldn’t fit your needs? We’ve been together for years! That night we made love, I thought you were the only mare in the world for me… Turns out I was dead wrong, seeing as you already promised that position to this guy! I should’ve figured as much when you wouldn’t return the majority of the letters I sent you from Las Pegasus after the fact! I’d only hear from you if you felt miserable, now that I think of it! There was almost never a time where you sent me a letter telling me that you were happy… Hay, you never even told me you were pregnant! I was confused, and thought you may have needed some time alone to collect your thoughts... Now I see that wasn't the reason you were always switching between reclusion and being an open book...” He turned to face the yellow stallion. “But this is YOUR fault, too! For whatever reason, you shunned her in times of need! Sure, you got your problems, but so does she! You’re supposed to work together in a marriage, you idiot! You can’t just ignore your wife when she wants to talk about a problem she’s having or if she wants a little extra attention from you! She’s your wife!”

“This, coming from the guy from Las Pegasus who saw my wife BEHIND MY BACK for who KNOWS how long without even being able to find out that she was a marri—!” The light yellow stallion interrupted himself as he took a look at the filly being cradled by her mother. Both of them were crying their eyes out, but Fluttershy looked hurt beyond repair. The sorrow in her eyes hit the stallion like an arrow to the heart.

“Am… Am I… a problem…?” she choked out between sniffles. “D-did I… make you all mad…?”

“Of course not, honeybun!” the yellow stallion responded in a tender tone of voice. “You know Daddy loves you!”

“But… you said that you were… *sniffle* wasting your time with me… because you might not be my daddy… Th-this is all my fault, isn’t it…?”

“No, kiddo,” the green stallion solemnly answered. “It’s mine, his, and your mother’s… we all should’ve been honest with each other from the get-go… You shouldn’t have been involved in this…”

“What do YOU know!?” she snapped, shocking everyone around her. She broke free of her mother’s embrace and backed away from all three of the other ponies. She gave each of them a stare that embodied pure enmity and ferocious weeping anger that would possibly only be evident in a dragon. The look she gave them pierced into their very beings, freezing the two stallions and the mare in fear. “If you were really my daddy, you would’ve come to visit Mommy and see me! I don't even know who you are!” she turned to the mare. “Mommy, how could you!? You used to tell me all the time that ponies were only supposed to have ONE special somepony! You told me that anypony with more than one was a bad pony! And you have TWO!” she directed her wrathful stare at the pony she wasn’t even sure was her father anymore. “Daddy… if you even ARE my daddy… Why would you treat Mommy like that? It’s not nice to ignore other ponies!” she suddenly realized something. “And… and you lied to me! You told me that you and Mommy were having fun! This… this isn’t fun! This is just… mean!”

Although she didn’t fully understand all the problems the three ponies had with one another, Fluttershy understood enough to come up with the hypothesis that their problems started… with her. The filly began to think about what the grown ponies said… The stallion she’d gotten used to calling her father said that he was “probably wasting his time with her.” He basically said that if Fluttershy didn’t belong to him… he wouldn’t want to be her daddy anymore. Then there was the whole thing about both of them giving things up for her. Her mom gave up a job to take care of her while her dad worked twice as hard to keep things solid. Then she said something about her and Daddy “not making love anymore” after she was born. Did that mean that they ran out of love for each other because they had to give it all to her? Maybe she needed the extra special somepony to make some love with in order to give to her daddy. But then, Mommy stopped talking to the green stallion after she made love with him. Maybe the love he had to give wasn't the right kind of love. Despite everything else, that one plaguing question still stood... which stallion should she be calling "Daddy?"

“Fluttershy…” the mare practically whispered as she cried. “This isn’t like you at all… but you’re right. I… WE’RE sorry. Mommy should have stayed with one special somepony… Daddy shouldn’t have lied to you. And he shouldn’t have been ignoring Mommy. And… and…”

“I should have come by to physically check up on your mom,” the green stallion interjected. “If I did, you wouldn’t have had to see this mess, and we would’ve gotten things sorted out much sooner… and all of us would know who your real father is…” Fluttershy’s stare fell into a look of utter devastation as she moved a fore leg to wipe her eyes. She said absolutely nothing as she turned away from her parents, whether biological or not, bolted through the door and hastily flew away, crying openly as she left the three crestfallen ponies to stare at her as she took off. The yellow stallion was just about to take off to get her, only to be stopped by the green one.

“Let her go… for now,” he instructed. “I’m probably the LAST pony you’d want to hear that from, but… she doesn’t need to see any of us right now. Not until we sort everything out. She deserves a proper explanation…” The yellow stallion uneasily concurred as the three began their discussion on their current situation.

Fluttershy wasn’t sure where she was going, but she knew she probably wasn’t going to go back home… not anytime soon, anyway. She was too upset at her parents for what they did. How could they say or do such horrible things to each other? She was always taught by both her parents to be kind, gentle, and tolerant of everyone and everything. She loved them dearly, and listened to everything they told her to do. They were the biggest reason as to why she was such a sweetheart to everypony, even when they said or did mean things to her. She’d been taught to “forgive and forget” anything bad that happened to her, but seeing her parents tear each other apart like that would be hard to forgive… much less forget. It only made things worse that the things they did to each other were probably because of her.

As the filly pondered, she came across a house that was being blocked off by the police. There was yellow tape all over the front door and police Pegasus ponies floating about, patrolling the area. She also spotted a black colt standing behind a large black stallion who was talking to a police officer. It was Thunderlane again. He must’ve been with his dad. Inquisitively, she flew over to him.

“Hi, Thunderlane…” she less than excitedly greeted him, still distraught over her parents.

“Hey, F-Fluttershy…” he greeted back, seeming to be equally less than enthusiastic.

“What’s going on here? Why are there so many police ponies here?”

“Um… My dad and I are here because… because of Rainbow Dash…”

“Rainbow Dash??” the yellow Pegasus gasped in shock. “She’s not in trouble, is she? Where is she? Is she okay?”

“I… I don’t know where she is… but… my dad and I… we saw her… she killed her mom…”