I still remember the day my first friend died. No, scratch that, I remember each of the days my friends died, in order, no less.
Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, then Twilight. Twilight's death had been the worst. From what I had figured out, without our other friends, the elements did not have the power to do there job. She died right in front of my eyes from a monster who was able to negate her magic.
And you know what worst part is? It's not that they are dead; it's that no one cared to remember them other than as a memorial or a legend, as if what my friends and I did for Equestria was nothing more than a myth in these ponies' minds. It enraged me to no end that even our friends who are still alive, such as Discord, who disappeared after Flutter's death, only ever showed his face at the funerals of the other girls. Its like even the ponies I know who aren't dead might as well be, because they all just left me behind, leaving me to grow old without them with no pony to talk to.
But it's not all bad, at least Scoots is here to keep me company, I am really proud of her, ever sense she had joined the wonder bolts she tries to remind everpony there that she gets to look after me, like I am some sort of pet or something, witch to be honest it quite awesome, at least somepony cares about little old me. If she had not stayed with me I don't know what I would have done with myself. But still, there are times I still feel like just ending it all and its getting harder and harder to keep that feeling locked up as time goes on.
I could hear her voice, muffled as she shouted through a wall.
"Rainbow Dash! Wake up! Breakfast is ready!" I could hear the young pegasus shouting, her tone unmistakable even dampened by the wall. but I decided that my rest was more important, so I just rolled over and remained asleep.
"Dash, wake up!" She shouted again. With a groan, my eyes finally creaked open, closing immediately from the sun's bright light.
"Dash!" This time the sound woke me up compleatly.
"Oh, for Celestia's sake, i'm coming!" I would shout back at her. Scoots doesn't respond so I just get up, she probably is giving me time to freshen up before she checks on me again. With a yawn I get up off the bed landing on my hooves and trot over to the bathroom.
I use it, then I look at my self in the mirror at my decrepit old body, a shadow of its former self. My hair witch was once every color in the rainbow now a grey mess of faded colors, at least the style in witch my hair is in is still pretty cool even if the color has faded, thank Celestia I never got hair loss as I got older. My coat was also faded, but not as much as my hair was, and my cutie mark was still pretty awesome looking as well.
But the thing that made me hate looking at myself the most was my wings, because as I got older my wings started to break down, my doctor had explained it this way, the over use of my wings and several injures from the past have caused my wings to start to break down in my old age, I could still fly thankfully but I could never go as fast as I once could, in fact if I even try to I could lose my wings entirely or end up overworking myself and die.
This is what has happened to the most awesome pony in Equestria, the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Danger Dash, turned into a pathetic old mare who can barely keep up with Scoots when she couldn't fly for most of her childhood. I feel pathetic and useless and I hate feeling that way.
I washed up, took a shower, dried myself, and then headed down the stairs to the kitchen. When I got to the bottom of said stairs I could smell the awesome smell of eggs and toast. You know, surprisingly, Scoots had been a very good cook ever sense she had started taking care of me and I never wondered why she never got her cutie mark for cooking instead of the whole cutie mark crusader thing that she was doing at the time.
"Sup Scoots." I would say as I reached the kitchen, I could see Scootaloo cooking eggs on our stove.
"Sup sis, sleep good?"
"If you mean, by sleep good, wake up every five minutes then fall asleep again as the cycle continues then yeah sure, I had the best sleep of my bucking life." I would say.
"So, I take it you did not." She would say clicking her tongue in the awkward silence that followed.
"Yeah, kept feeling pain in my wings, Bet you hate seeing your childhood hero break down before your eyes huh?" I would say with a grin.
Scoots would sigh and after setting my food on the table she would say, "Dash, you're awesome and you know it. you also know I don't like it when you say things like that."
I groan, "Scoots, I am literally aging before your eyes, you think you're old? You're only 49 years old, witch I must admit probably stinks, not trying to say you have it easy or anything, but imagine just turning 60. 60 years old for crying out loud!"
We would sit in silence for a couple seconds, then I would continue, "And I just have to sit here? Thinking about how nopony remembers who I actually am! And how everypony treats the things me and my friends did like some stinking bedtime story for foals!"
Scoots would sigh for a second time then begin to speak, "You got a letter."
I would take a deep breath calming myself down, and then I would respond, "Oh yeah? From who?"
"Celestia; Apparently she wants you to come to the Friendship Festival this year to do some public speaking. You know, like talking about your friends and how they helped Equestria and all that stuff." Scoots would say with a little hopeful smile.
"Well you can tell Miss Sunbutt that I don't give a flying feather about some festival, because I am not going anyway."
"What?! Why!?"
I would roll my eyes and ask, "What would be the stinking point? To just go and speak about how great my dead friends were? Yeah, no, most ponies in Equestria have no idea who we even are. Why would I try to make them understand something that they never will? Also, because Celestia doesn't actually care, if she did, she would try to actually honor the deaths of my friends, who I repeat saved her kingdom, instead of just having some cruddy festival every once and a while."
"Because in the end, if you make the death of a pony celebrated as some kind of friendship celebration, then what is the celebration really about? My dead friends or making new friends?" I would scoff. "Cuz, I think all this stuff is flying horse feathers, don't you Scoots?"
"No? What are you talking about? Its about how you and your friends helped spread friendship across Equestria! How is that not honoring them?" Scoots would pause then start again after some thought.
"You know, I think you are just sad and don't want to talk about them, but you can't just not talk about them, because then who is actually is refusing to honor them and what they did in the end? You need to remember why they had you as a friend in the first place, you were the element of loyalty, refusing to ever leave anypony behind no matter what, and you refused to try and keep there memory alive. How is that loyalty?"
"damn it, Scoots!" I would snap, my eyes filled with irritation. "They left me! They left me here to grow old and die slowly as everypony forget's why I was even here in the first place! And that's not all!" I would say getting up from my chair.
"Even the friends that I had left would all leave me here to grieve by myself when they couldn't keep themselves together, like Discord. like, where in Taurturas will he be during this festival, huh?! Nowhere is where he will be!" I would say tears now falling from my eyes. In the old days, I would have wanted to end myself then if somepony had seen me cry but me and Scoots are to close for me to care at the moment.
"What's the point in loyalty if theirs no pony to be loyal to?! I have lost my purpose, Scootaloo!" I would pause and think for a second about what I wanted my next words to be."
"Here, let me give you an example you can understand: imagine losing your cutie mark and losing what you were good at way after you had worked so hard in order to get it. That's exactly how I feel right now, Scoots, do you understand?"
"Rainbow, I knew you were upset and all that, but this is how you were truly feeling? I am sorry I didn't try to comfort you more." Scootaloo would say tears were forming in her eyes, which made me feel really bad for yelling.
"No Scoots, its not your fault I feel this way, I am being selfish, and I know that I am, but I can't control the way I feel. I would pause, then continue as I had a thought.
"Sigh, I am going to go out for a bit of fresh air; I need to be alone." I would say trotting over to the door.
"Um, Okay, are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I don't want you to get hurt or anything."
I would roll my eyes and say, "Bye Sis, I love you." as I slammed the door.
As I trotted out onto the rest of the cloud that our cloud home was on, I went over to the edge, looking over it at the town down below, as I would say to myself, "I think it's time for Rainbow Danger Dash to remind everypony why I am called the fastest pony in Equestrian history." I would slowly lean over the edge more and more until, finally, I dropped over the edge.
In this moment, I tried to block everything out, trying to get back into the mindset of my past self, smirking as I plummeted to the ground as if I were saying, "Come on, death, just try it." Then, just at the right moment, I opened my wings, successfully stopping my fall, I still wobbled a little as I flew, guess i'm kind of rusty at flying like this after all this time, but still, it felt great, kind of like I was young again all the way back when I had done my first sonic rainboom. Just then, as I had that thought, it gave me an idea: what better way to show that I am still the fastest than doing a sonic rainboom again?
It was a perfect plan, but I needed to gain speed. Looking down at the town, I could remember a route that I would use to practice doing just that. So, I will fly that old route and at the end, after all the ponies in Ponyville, see me zoom through town I will surprise them even more when I do my first sonic rainboom in 40 years.
I smirked as I began to try and aim my flight down in order to pick up speed, flapping my wings in time with my heartbeat, trying to push myself further and further. I was aimed near the edge of the Everfree Forest, and as I got close to the ground, I went up, suddenly shooting myself forward towards Ponyville. I felt so energized by the rush of it that I screamed at the top of my lungs in celebration, "Whoo hoo, this is so awsome!"
As I was flying, I saw Fluttershy's old house. It was strange from where I was now; it was almost like I could imagine her there petting angel in her lap, while looking at me up in the sky, quietly cheering me on in her own way. I flew faster, remembering my wonder bolts practice as I tried to move my limbs closer together in order to get more aerodynamic.
Next I flew above Sweet Apple Acres, Again I could imagine Applejack lecturing Apple Bloom in the field for something they did. A tear formed but I immediately wiped it away. I needed to focus, I needed to gain more speed!
I pushed harder as I passed over a small pond, as I did a bunch of the water flung all over the place from under me from the speed at witch I was going. Soon I made it into Ponyville, I could see most of the ponies were looking at me with shock and aw, just like they did when I was in my twenty's and I loved the feeling, no I craved it.
I soon saw the boutique and I could remember all the times I would have been forced into trying on outfits or whatever it was Rarity made me do at that time, as I passed it I soon made it to the Sugercube Corner, witch was now owned by the cake twins. And as I passed that too as I kept going faster and faster I could have sworn I could see a pink pony following behind me, chasing me, of course it was not real, I had hated when Pinkie had ever tried to chase me but now, I wish for nothing more but to have her chasing me again, I scowled at the memories entering my mind, but the emotion just pushed me to go faster.
I felt the air move into a cone shape in front of me cutting the air like butter, this told me I was getting close, but it really was starting to get tiring trying to keep this speed up and not only was it tiring but it hurt like hell my wings felt like they were on fire, still, I felt alive like really alive.
I then passed the old tree like castle, now used as a memorial ground for Princess Twilight Sparkle, this actually made me cry and this time it would not stop, still neither would I. I cant stop now, I need to prove that I am still important, I will not be forgotten like my friends were, I will not be lost to time like some fairy tale! I am Rainbow Dash!
It was time for the final stretch, I pushed with all my might, trying to go upward into the clouds, I went up and up, faster and faster and right as I could feel the cone of air about to burst and I would have been sent flying with all the colors of the rainbow following me, but that did not happen. Instead, my wing would cramp, completely throwing off my rhythm and slowing me down immensely. I didn't even make it above the clouds, instead, I fell, I fell right to my death.
I don't regret a lot of things in my life, but trying to do a sonic rainboom at age 60, I think, is one of those few that I do regret doing, now especially, sense I am now falling to my death, unable to get the strength from my hurt wing to fly again.
I failed, just like the pathetic old mare that everypony thinks I am, I lived as a fraud, now I bucking die as one too.
You know? I kinda want to die, I mean it can't be worse than this. It just cant. So, I except death i'm sorry Scoots but I think you will do just fine without me.
As I fall to my death ponies look up at me, as I come ever closer to smashing into the ground, but just as I am about to brace for impact, I see an orange and purple blur come out of nowhere and grab me from out of the sky.
As the thing grabs me, we are flung towards a cloud in witch we crash and land onto. When I open my eye's I see Scootaloo, tears flowing endlessly down her cheeks, I see her mouth moving at impossible speeds most likely trying to speak to me, but I can't hear her that well on account of my ears ringing at the moment, possibly from the crash.
I didn't even try to listen to her, as I tried to get out from under her, fighting my way out of her hold, as my ears slowly came back to working normally.
"NO!" Is the first thing I heard when my hearing came back, it startled me, pretty much stopping me in my tracks. Then I got an actual good look at her, at Scoots. Her breathing was hard, tears all over her face, she had been definitely crying for a good while.
"Dash, stop, for once in you're life you are going to stop running, and listen to me!" She would say in between sobs. "Do you understand me?" I nodded, and she let me go and continued to speak. "I have had some time to think about what you said, about how you have no pony to be loyal to anymore, well what you said wasn't true, far from it even, because you have me Dash! You have me!" she would say sitting off to the side looking at me in the face while I try to hide mine from the shame I felt.
Do you know how it felt when I saw you falling from the sky, doing nothing to stop your fall? I saw the look you had on your face, you were just going to let you're self die weren't you?" I would open my mouth to defend myself, to say what she was saying weren't true, but it was, every single thing she said was true. So, I just shut my mouth, I mean she was always a very observant kid, well, when she wanted to be anyway.
She would continue. "You know, when I first saw you it made me not want to give up, you gave me hope that I could be something better, be something more than myself, to be able to finally fly. like, I became a Wonder Bolt because of you Dash! And sitting here knowing that you tried to do what I had wanted to do then, it deeply upsets me Dash." Scoots would turn away from me and look into the distance.
"You have been selfish Dash, but if you really feel the way you say you feel, then unlike you, I am willing to stay and help you do what you want to. What I am saying is that, if you want to do a sonic rain boom then lets do a god damn sonic rain boom, together." She would say this then reach her hoof over to me. My eyes would tear up and instead of taking her hoof I would pull in for a full hug.
"Thank you, sis." I would say, finally sobbing my heart out.
Me and Scoots had done some stretching to get ready for the full body work out that this stunt was going to be, Scoots also preened my wings and got my hurt wing in good condition to be able to fly again, witch was a good thing.
Finally, it was time, me and scoots got into position our top half's bending down getting ready to shoot off into the sky, wings spread, and then, take off!
We shot off into the sky, I could feel our wings and hearts beating as one as we flew next to one another, the familiar air cone forming around us, our combined speed boosting us both forward, and shooting us out and forward above the clouds, breaking the sound barrier. And with a huge BOOM! We rocketed into the sky, as colors shot everywhere all around us, I could see both of our mains streaking in a trail behind us.
And as we both flown together, I couldn't help but think, everything was going to be just fine.
Author's Note
Hi, worked really hard on this, please give it a thumbs up.
Also thanks to all those who helped in the editing and proofreading process of this fic.
will make a prequel if this story gets attention.
Thank you to these beautiful people for editing and or proof reading this story:
