Rainbow Dash was sleeping when her little brother walked into the room. Walking over to his sleeping sister, clutching a small, brown teddy bear. He tapped the sleeping teenager while repeating “Dashie”
After what seemed like a minute Rainbow finally woke up, annoyed she snapped “What!”
Her brother flinched, his ears flattening against his head. “There’s something in my closet.” He told her while looking nervous.
“Just go to sleep, it’s your imagination.” She grumbled, wanting to get back to her nap. Why was she the one to get dumped with foalsitting him? she thought to herself irritably.
The colt insisted, pulling on Rainbow’s arm “Please can you come check my closet?”
Rainbow finally losing her patience shouted “No! Go to bed!” Before falling back onto the couch to go back to her nap, smiling once she heard her brother finally go back to his room. Unbeknownst to her, she would later live to regret this moment.
“AAAAAAAGH” the sound of her brother screaming instantly made Dash snap awake. Quickly jumping of the couch she flew to his bedroom. Opening the door, her face paled as she saw that his brother was gone and both the window and the closet was wide open…
***
The flashing blue lights illuminated her face as she sat there in shock. Her parents, distraught giving the detective a description and a photo of her brother.
“His name is Spectrum Thunder, he’s got black fur, rainbow mane and tail and magenta eyes. He hasn’t even gotten his cutie mark yet. You have to find him, he’s only ten.” Windy Whistles sobbed into her husbands purple fur.
The detective assured her “We have released an amber alert and every cop in the country is looking for him, we’ll find him but until then, do you know who could’ve taken your son?” He asked.
Windy merely shook her hear. The detective then turned to Rainbow Dash and asked “Can you tell me what happened?”
She remained silent as the dreaded realisation struck her. This was all her fault. “I - I didn’t see much I was a - asleep. The only thing I know is that Specks came in and told me that there was something hiding in his closet but I didn’t believe him. I just sent him back to bed” she cried, not wanting to look at her parents.
“You lazy, worthless excuse of a pegasus.” Bow said, getting up and staring at her dangerously. “You could’ve stopped this, your brother needed you and you abandoned him, now because of you he is missing.”
Rainbow whispered “I’m so sorry.”
Windy Whistles got up of the couch and walked over to her and slapped her across the face, feeling guilty Rainbow Dash didn’t try to stop her. “I hate you, it should’ve been you who got taken not my precious colt.”
“Woah, everypony lets calm down!” The detective exclaimed, trying to diffuse the situation.
Windy then told her heart broken daughter “I want you gone. I never want to see you again.”
Rainbow nodded, tears flowing freely down her face as she stumbled out of the house, she could barely walk or fly, she just wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
***
Fluttershy opened the door, leaving only a crack to peer through when her face went wide with worry as she saw her old foalhood friend standing at her door, sobbing.
Fluttershy immediately opened the door, and let the pegasus inside where she gave her a hug. Fluttershy, not wanting to overwhelm her grief stricken friend decided to let her cry, until she was ready to tell her what happened.
“Its all my fault,” Rainbow sobbed into Fluttershy’s shoulder.
Fluttershy cooed “There, there, let it all out.” Rubbing her back. Once Rainbows sobs had lowered to a mere sniffling Fluttershy asked “What happened?”
“Its Spectrum, he’s been foalnapped, and I just let it happen” Dash told her, Fluttershy’s face widened with astonishment as she asked “How did it happen?”
Rainbow Dash started to recount the events that lead her to Fluttershy’s door. Once she finished explaining, Fluttershy told her “This wasn’t your fault, no pony would expect anypony to be hiding in the closet. I’m sure your parents will forgive you once they’ve calmed down.”
Rainbow burst out “They practically disowned me, they kicked me out, what am I going to do, Fluttershy?”
“Well you can always stay with me until you find a new house” Fluttershy suggested timidly.
“Thanks, I’ll make it up to you.” Rainbow said, hugging her friend again.
***
Days turned into months and months turned into years, yet there was still no sign of Spectrum Thunder. Rainbow was beginning to lose hope, her heart stopping every time she read in the newspapers that a body had been found, fearing it was her brother.
Rainbow Dash now resided in Ponyville permanently, the same town that Flutteshy lived on. She was completely estranged from her family, however she never stopped searching for her brother.
She had gained some new friends, however she refused to tell them about Spectrum, out of fear of what they would think of her.
She had begun to move on from her brother, she had even took a local school filly, named Scootaloo, under her wing, however this made her feel that she was replacing, Spectrum.
Rainbow kept her distance from Scootaloo, causing a rift between the two. Whenever one of her friends asked her to foalsit one their sisters, she out right refused, not wanting to make the same mistake.
Rainbow Dash had secretly begun to see a therapist at the request of Fluttershy. The first couple of sessions, she had been very secretive. As the days passed she began to let her past spill over.
“I see him, always out of the corner of my eye, but whenever I look he’s gone.” Rainbow told her therapist, Happy Thoughts. She was lying on back atop the red couch.
Happy Thoughts told her “You need to let go of this guilt. Why don’t you talk to your friends.”
Rainbow immediately shut that idea down “NO! They can’t know”
“Your friends won’t think of anything different about you.”
Rainbow however was adamantly set against the idea. Happy then suggested “Why don’t you reach out to your family?”
Rainbow snapped “NO! They hate me, why should I visit somepony that hates me.” She then got up and stormed out, his office, slamming the door behind her. Happy merely sighed.
Rainbow Dash was huffing in anger. She was so angry that she accidentally knocked a mysterious, cloaked pony over shouting “Get out of the way!”
The mysterious pony then started to follow, angering Dash even more. Hearing, the sound of hoofsteps behind she swung around, staring into the darkness of the hood, where she could make out magenta eyes, that seemed eerily familiar. The eyes catching her of guard, not knowing what to say, she instead took to the skies, all the while the mysterious pony watching her…