Rainbow Samurai

Lost & Found…

Roaring Wind had spent the majority of the afternoon looking for his son, whom he hadn’t seen since he went to school. He searched the neighborhood high and low for Thunderlane, unable to get so much as a clue as to where he went. At one point, he’d even visited the respective homes of Flight Path and Trailblazer, who relayed to him that he went searching for Rainbow Dash, much to the stallion’s dismay.

In a similar instance, Fluttershy’s father had been doing very much the same thing, although he hadn’t but the smallest  clue as to if the filly even had friends or not. Instead, he flew to Cloudsdale’s flight school in order to gain some insight on Fluttershy’s whereabouts. From some of the teachers, he’d learned that Fluttershy had indeed shown up for school and had not been picked up early, which ruled out the possibility that the filly’s mother had taken her. However, he also learned that another stallion by the name of Roaring Wind had lost his foal as well. Not taking any chances,

Fluttershy’s father quickly maneuvered his way around Cloudsdale until he was able to find the stallion he was looking for.

“Excuse me! Sir?” called the father of the yellow filly as he spotted Roaring Wind flying away from the doorstep of someone’s home with an expression of evident dejection on his face.

“May I help you?” he asked, sounding less than enthusiastic.

“Er, yes. My name is Sunny Breeze. I’m not sure if you know me, but I’m Fluttershy’s father.” Instantly, Roaring Wind was filled with contempt.

“Oh.” He flatly stated, now slightly agitated.

“Oh? You don’t seem too pleased… I understand that you’ve lost your son, but if I could ju—?”

“No. Get out of my sight.”

“But please, I—!”

“Leave.”

“I will, just as soon as you tell m—!”

“Dammit, what part of ‘leave’ do you NOT understand!?”

“What the hell’s YOUR problem??” Sunny Breeze asked, taking offense.

“You’re my problem! How dare you make that poor, innocent little filly suffer like that? Her AND her mother.” Sunny Breeze was taken aback by Roaring Wind’s statement. He didn’t remember telling anypony about the affair… and Nimbus left town almost immediately after that night…

“What happened between my family and I is none of your business,” was all he could muster. “…but I don’t remember telling anypony, so you must’ve seen Fluttershy around at some point, right?”

“No. I haven’t seen her since the day she stayed with me after she ran away from you.”

“*sigh* Fantastic…”

“Why? Is she missing, too?” Roaring Wind asked, replacing his contempt with wonder.

“Yes… All she left me was some note telling me she went out to help somepony named Thunderlane look for some other pony named Rainbow Dash. She hasn’t been home at all since.”

“Strange… my son told me that he went out to play with Fluttershy… Although, his friends just told me that he was looking for Rainbow Dash, too… They must’ve gone somewhere together…” the two stallions floated and pondered where their foals could have disappeared to until Roaring Wind came up with a conclusion. “Daring Do’s house! They must be there!”

“Daring Do…? Why does that sound familiar…?”

“She was the Pegasus known for traveling around the world and digging up lost artifacts and whatnot. She had a daughter named Rainbow Dash. But for some strange, twisted reason, Rainbow Dash killed her and ran off to Celestia-knows-where. Some say she got lost and died, but I’m not so sure myself…”

“Are you serious?? Fluttershy went with your son to go look for a murderer??”

“Unfortunately, it seems that way. In any case though, that would probably be the first place they’d go.”

“Right. Let’s go.” With that, the two Pegasus stallions made their way to the abandoned household and quickly noticed that a window had been left open.

“See that, Breeze?” Roaring Wind asked, pointing towards the open window. “That window’s open…”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Don’t you see? Nopony’s stepped hoof inside of this house since they cleaned it up and placed a memorial inside last month. Every door and window was shut… until now.”

“But… the door’s open too,” Sunny Breeze countered as he turned the knob on the front door and pushed it open. They stepped in to see nothing out of place in their immediate surroundings.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy, honey! Are you here?” called Sunny Breeze. No answer.

“Thunderlane! If you’re here, show yourself! You and Fluttershy come out now!” still no reply. The two opted to search separate parts of the house for any clues to their children’s whereabouts. Sunny Breeze checked the bathroom and Rainbow’s room to find nothing out of the ordinary. Roaring Wind, however, was greeted with a huge mess in Daring Do’s room. “Breeze, c’mere quick!”

“You find someth—! What the…?”

“It looks like somepony was in here. This room’s a mess… What’d you find?”

“Nothing. Everything else seems completely undisturbed.”

“How odd… if those two WERE here, why would they only search one room; and not even the room that belonged to Rainbow Dash herself?” They went silent in thought for a moment. Eventually, Sunny Breeze came up with an answer.

“What if… somepony ELSE was in here, looking to rob this place?”

“Possible, but not likely. Nopony in Cloudsdale would be so bold and disrespectful that they would bring themselves to desecrate the home of a deceased pony. Plus, a thief would likely ransack the entire place for anything of value that wasn’t nailed down. Besides, even our kids would know some sense of restraint…”

“Maybe somepony heard a noise and came in, alerting the thief into running away before they could make their way through the rest of the house. But then… there’s the fact that the living room was untouched… I dunno… But as for our kids, I’m sure they would show restraint… Fluttershy in particular, if she knew about the murder, would likely have been too afraid to even come anywhere close to this house, much less inside of it. But then that means they couldn’t have been the ones to have trashed this room like this…”

“Fluttershy did know about it. Good point, though…” Roaring Wind stated before having a frightening epiphany. “Oh god… no… Please, Celestia no!”

“What’s the matter?”

“What if… What if those two came here and ran into a thief who kidnapped them?”

“Whaaaat? No way,” the father of the yellow filly dismissed, although feeling a new sense of anxiety himself. “Listen, why don’t we just form a search team so we can comb different areas of the city until we find them? I don’t think they were…” he trailed off as he watched Thunderlane’s father pick up a small black feather.

“This feather… this belongs to my son.” Sunny Breeze’s heart sank.

“Really?? A-are you sure?? Maybe it’s ju—!”

“No, I know my son’s feathers. He WAS here… but I don’t see any yellow feathers anywhere…”

“Well… just because Flutter-Butter didn’t shed any feathers, it doesn’t mean that she wasn’t here with him… right?”

“I… I suppose… but now I’m more worried than ever. They’re just foals. I wouldn’t expect them to stay out this late, much less come here of all places to look for Rainbow Dash of all ponies or wander off very far from this area of Cloudsdale… Let’s head to the police station to report them missing. Hopefully, they can start up a search team on the spot?”

“Sounds good to me…”The stallions made haste in leaving the house mostly unsullied by their hooves as they made their way to the Cloudsdale Police Department. Once there, they filled the officers in on how their children had gone missing and that the only leads they had were in the form of a black feather and two notes explaining that the foals had teamed up together to find Rainbow Dash. Fortunately, the feather and the notes were evidence enough to allow them to warrant a search. However, the search warrant only applied to the vicinity of the late Daring Do’s house, as that was the only place found with suitable evidence of even one of the Pegasus foals’ presence there.

Not wanting to waste a second waiting for the police to begin their search or blindly searching other areas of the city, the stallions requested that there be a “Missing” poster made for them. Unluckily, they would only be able to do so if Fluttershy and Thunderlane had remained missing for more than forty-eight hours. The stallions opted to accept whatever help the police station’s officers could lend and take it upon themselves to separate and inform as many citizens of Cloudsdale as they could of the missing foals.

Two weeks later…

Sunny Breeze and Roaring Wind had, with the aid of a few altruistic citizens of Cloudsdale as well as a team of officers, scanned the city high and low for any traces of the colt and/or the filly, dismally coming up with no further leads in the fortnight that had passed since the search began. Some had theorized that they had possibly gone to one of the towns below, such as Ponyville or one of its neighboring settlements. Initially, that possibility was incredulously negated as being outright silly. Despite this, time had changed the minds of those who at first thought it impossible for two kids to run off into a completely unfamiliar city.

Extensive efforts were made to try and locate the missing children, but as more and more time passed, hope in finding them had dwindled significantly. Search teams were called off, reports— despite one pony reporting a sighting of a yellow, pink-maned filly— came up inconclusive, and chivalrous citizens had given up, telling the two stallions heading the search that they were “sorry for their losses,” as if to imply that Fluttershy and Thunderlane were dead. After a total of two months of inconclusive searches, the two finally gave up, heartbroken and distraught over their children who were presumed dead.

“Excellent work, my student!” congratulated Princess Celestia as Twilight had just finished casting a high-level transformation spell on her brother that turned him into a statue. The filly was quick to change him back to his original state as the three ponies stood in the center of the Canterlot Archives library.

“Nice job, Twiley!” congratulated Shining Armor, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling of being turned to solid stone. He was a larger-than-average Unicorn with a marble white coat, slightly unkempt long, dark blue hair with light blue stripes in it. He wore traditional royal guard attire that protected his vital areas, but he was not wearing his helmet. “Your magic’s showing a LOT of progress.”

“Indeed,” Celestia concurred. “In a much smaller timeframe than I’d anticipated, you’ve mastered spells that most Unicorns would struggle with well into their adult years, and you’re hardly an adolescent.” Twilight’s smile brightened with joy at the words of her family and mentor.

“Thank you!” she excitedly said. “I just want to be as proportionately equipped for this journey as I possibly can be. I’m aware that there are a plethora of perils headed our way when Rainbow Dash and I take off on this voyage, but with my magic and the fighting skills she’s acquiring from Mr. Aegis, we will prevail!”

“That’s the spirit!” Shining Armor lauded, hugging his younger sister. “But… speaking of fighting skills… Hoof-to-Hoof combat is actually just as important as Magic ability in self-defense.”

“It is??” Twilight asked in shock. “I thought I only needed to use magic to defend myself!”

“Yes, but magic won’t save you from everything. Just like how in Rainbow’s case, flying won’t save her from everything. You have to be prepared for times where your magic might be rendered useless. I mean, there’s already been a couple of times where somepony, whether Earth pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn, was able to evade all of my magic attacks, forcing me to rely on my own four hooves to defend myself and take them down. That’s why when Her Highness is done training you on the use of magic, you can spend time learning physical defense and strategy with me.”

“If I may interject,” Princess Celestia respectfully inputted. “…I believe I have nothing else to teach you at the moment, my most faithful student.” Twilight was alarmed beyond belief. Even Shining Armor was caught off-guard.

“Nothing else to teach me, Princess??” the Unicorn filly asked. “But… you’re Princess Celestia! You’re the most powerful Alicorn in the entire world!”

“Indeed I am… However, I am also just one pony. You are able to learn more about magic from other ponies, you know. Even my sister, Princess Luna… That is, of course, if you can keep yourself awake long enough to consult her after she’s raised the moon.”

“Yes, but—!”

“This does not mean we’re finished with your lessons entirely, Twilight. It’s just that you’ve passed all of your exams with flying colors, you’re on your way to becoming possibly the youngest and most prestigious graduate of my School for Gifted Unicorns, and you’ve proven over the couple of months that you’re able to handle spells far beyond the comprehension of other Unicorns your age. However, the recent discovery of Rainbow Dash’s Element of Harmony is a sign that this world is nearing the brink of destruction unless the Elements and their destined bearers are found and united. For now, I must halt your personal training so that you may gain insight from other ponies as you journey across the far reaches of lands this planet in search of the other Elements.”

“I… I understand, Princess,” Twilight obediently concurred.

“Good. Now I must attend to my duties. Shining Armor, make sure she learns everything she needs to.”

“You have my word, Princess,” the large white Unicorn stallion promised, prompting the royal mare to smile at them both and stroke Twilight’s mane.

“I just know you’ll succeed…”

“I will do whatever it takes! You can count on me!” Twilight affirmed. With that, the Princess trotted out of the library.

“Hey Twiley. Why don’t we head out to the courtyard to start your self-defense training? Better now than never. Afterwards, we can spend a little time catching up,” suggested the stallion as the two Unicorns trotted out of the library and into a long, decorative corridor.

“That would be great! We hardly see each other anymore… Plus, I admit I’m… worried about this adventure… I’ve never even been outside of Canterlot yet. I don’t know what to expect out there…”

“Honestly, I wish I could go with you… but my job as a royal guard binds me strictly to the precinct of this castle. You’ll be fine, though. I just know it. As Celestia said once, you’ve been proving yourself to be very powerful over the last year or so you’ve been living here… possibly the most powerful she’s seen in all her years. By the time you learn how to defend yourself without the use of magic; you’ll be unbeatable in battle! Other than that, I’ve caught glimpses of how your friend Rainbow’s been doing on her training with Aegis. She’s showing a lot of progress despite them starting their training just a couple months ago while her leg was still bothering her. I guarantee you two will make an excellent team.”

“I hope so…” Eventually, the siblings had reached their destination and did not hesitate to begin Twilight’s physical training. Here, the knowledgeable Unicorn showed a significant weakness in that she’d never been in or anywhere close to a physical confrontation in her life. Within a few minutes, she was already curled up on the ground whimpering, on the verge of tears after her older brother lightly hit her on the head during a sparring session.

“Aw, come on, Twiley! That was nothing but a tap!”

“Taps don’t hurt. You hurt me…” she whined.

“Oh boy, this is gonna take a while…” the stallion thought. He took a deep breath. “Listen. If you can’t learn to defend yourself without magic, then you won’t be able to go on that adventure with Rainbow Dash. And if you can’t go on the adventure with Rainbow Dash…”

“…th-then that means I— *sniff* will let you and Princess Celestia down…”

“Exactly. And don’t forget about Rainbow. Then there’s what she said about the world being on the brink of disaster unless those other Elements are found… but I digress. My point is do you want to let me down?”

“No…”

“Do you want to abandon Rainbow Dash?”

“No…”

“Do you want to let Princess Celestia down?” he asked, taking on the approach and vocal tones of a militant motivational speaker.

“No…”

“I can’t hear you.”

“No.” Twilight repeated with less sniffling and more assertion.

“Do you want to watch helplessly as the world is plunged into darkness?”

“No!” Twilight repeated again, this time gaining a small sense of enthusiasm.

“Alright then! Now tell me what you want to do!”

“I want to…! Um… I want to…”

“…Make me proud, right?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Yes!”

“Make Princess Celestia proud?”

“Yes!”

“Help Rainbow Dash and make sure she can rely on you?”

“Yes!!”

“Save the world from destruction?”

“Hell yes!! *gasp* oop!” the filly clasped her mouth shut quickly after her accidental slip of profanity. The damage had been done however, as the Unicorn stallion stared at her in shock. He was quick to shake it off and clear his throat before continuing his motivational speech.

“…well then you’re not going to get to do any of those things unless you learn how to defend yourself in battle! The strong don’t cry or whine or cower in the face of adversity! They challenge it! They fearlessly stand up to it! And they conquer it! Are you strong!?”

“Yes!”

“We’re gonna work long! And we’re gonna work hard! And we’re gonna work together until you become the toughest fighter and the strongest Unicorn you can possibly be! Do you understand that!?” the stallion asked, failing to hold back a smile.

“Yes sir!” Twilight answered, her newfound enthusiasm bolstered as she saluted her elder sibling with a bright, determined smile on her face.

“Then let’s get to work, soldier!”

“Yes sir!” the filly answered, getting into a battle stance. Shining Armor did the same, preparing to resume their sparring session.

“Quick question.”

“Yes, big brother?”

“Where did you learn that word?”

“I… may have overheard you saying it a few times during your military training…” Twilight sheepishly admitted.

“Oh… I guess I have myself to blame then…” He chuckled. “Enough joking around now. Let’s begin!” with that, the two Unicorns commenced their training session once again...