Prologue: Scootaloo's Letter
I Won't See You Tonight Prologue Scootaloo's Letter
By: Deathpony45
Edited by: Tencentpartycannon
The doorbell rang through a familiar orange pegasus filly's house early one morning.
With a frown of slight annoyance and heavy fatigue, Scootaloo dragged herself out of bed to check the door. A grin soon rose on her face, though, as she saw the grey Pegasus with a blonde mane and bubble cutie mark standing before her. "Oh hi, Derpy!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "what's up?"
"Just making my mail rounds." Derpy responded in her usual happy yet slightly ditzy tone. She noticed a butterfly and just stared at it with her typical wall eyes stare. For some reason there was a fresh bump on Derpy's head but Scootaloo dodnt know why. Suddenly Derpy's face lit up as she remembered why she was there. "Oh, you got a letter from Rainbow Dash today, Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash? Scootaloo thought. What would she want to tell me?
"Lemme see... where is it?" The orange filly responded excitedley Derpy dropped the letter she was holding in her mouth, a letter addressed to Scootaloo. "Here you go, Scootaloo! have a nice day." Derpy smiled and flew off in a slightly lopsided and wobbly fashion, leaving Scootaloo grinning. As she watched the Pegasus fly off.
Scootaloo walked back into her house, examining the letter. It was addressed in Rainbow Dash's familiar handwriting, but Scootaloo had no idea what it could be about.
"Scootaloo, honey? what do you have there?" Scootaloo's mom asked her.
"It's a letter from Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo said excitedly.
"Oh! Well I wonder what she wants." Scootaloo's mom replied, far too busy with her work to converse with Scootaloo for any extended period of time. Scootaloo simply shrugged. "I don't know." she said as she trotted happily into her room.
She glanced around her room, admiring its new look and texture; it had recently been painted a light cyan blue color, it was anypony's guess as to why Scootaloo had chosen this specific shade to paint her room, and (of course) was adorned with posters of the Wonderbolts and pictures of her with Rainbow Dash. She sat down on her double bed and looked at the rolled up parchment, admiring it. She ripped off the scroll's ribbon and unfurled the scroll.
While at first Scootaloo's face showed pure joy at the prospect of her beloved Rainbow Dash sending her a letter. Maybe Rainbow wanted to spend the whole day with her, maybe he wanted to teach her to fly. Maybe she, maybe she...the little filly's smile slowly turned into a frown as she read. No it was none of those things this letter contained something she never thought she would hear not from Rainbow Dash. The element of loyalty, best young flier, she had so many accomplishments how could she end up like this. She felt tears build up behind her eyes, she usually didn't cry it wasn't something Dash would do, or so Scootaloo has thought but this letter changed everything. Why why hadn't Rainbows friends noticed she continually asked herself. Surely they weren't that mad at Dash. Scootaloo continued to read the letter feeling so close to tears until she read a word one single word that shattered her. She didn't holding it back anymore she let her tears flow. Scootaloo set the letter down as she continued to sob. Maybe Dash was pranking her? No not even Dash went that far on pranks.
Suddenly Scootaloo heard the one sound that only five minutes ago would have had her in ecstasy but now completely and utterly destroyed her being. It was the sound of a Sonic Rainboom.
She ran from her house with blinding speed wishing desperately she could fly and get there faster maybe even fast enough to help save Dash. Her mother called after her,
"Scootaloo, darling where are you going?" Scootaloo ignored her. Her mother raised her voice,
"Scootaloo get back in here right now!" Her mother demanded. But her words were lost on her daughter as Scootaloo ran towards the source of the boom, to Dragon Mountain.
Author's Note
Okay so as I'm re editing this entire story with Tencentpartycannon just making it better and il be adding on to the alternate timeline soon just wanted to get this prologue out so far none of the original chapters have been edited save this one part from the first one. But I decided to make it a prologue to the actual story ill try and have the rest edited as soon as possible so I can continue the alternate timeline. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 1: Rainbow's Goodbyes
Earlier that Day
Five mares sat on a hill grieving their lost friend; she had left them and they had done nothing to stop her. They all regretted it deeply and wondered how this possibly could have happened.
A sixth mare, this one only a filly, joined them after a couple of minutes of silent sadness. The little Pegasus buried her face into another pegasus's shoulder and finally let herself cry; everypony here would understand. After all this filly was the one their friend had trusted the most.
How could this have happened? Twilight thought to herself.
All of her friends were wondering the same thing. Why would Rainbow go so abruptly? So unjustified and seemingly without consideration for her friends? But then again wasn't it justified, didn't Rainbow have every reason to do what she did no matter how much it hurt all of her other friends? Especially after how they all had treated her. She had lied to them but they should have gotten past it they should have done something.
Fluttershy tried to comfort the little filly, telling her it would be okay and that they would see Rainbow soon. But they all knew that wasn't happening they all knew they weren't going to be seeing Rainbow Dash for a long, long, time.
"Earlier that day"
Rainbow Dash sighed as she approached the tree library that was the home of her friend, no ex-friend Twilight Sparkle. As far as Dash was concerned only one pony cared for her anymore.
She would be leaving soon, leaving for awhile and she was on a journey to tell every one of her friends goodbye before she did, despite the fact that her friends had known of her upcoming trip for quite some time. She smiled despite everything as she she knocked on the familiar wooden door, followed almost immediately a studious purple unicorn opening the door.
"Oh," Twilight said as she saw Rainbow. "Hi Rainbow," Twilight forced a smile. "Have you come to say goodbye?"
"Yeah," Rainbow responded hesitantly, trying her best to maintain eye contact no matter how awkward the situation got but she could not so she let her gaze drift down to her hooves.
"Well, you take care of yourself and don't get in to any trouble while you're in Manehattan, okay?" For a moment Rainbow wore a serious expression and Twilight just stared at her, confused.
Please say you want me to stay, Rainbow thought to herself. Please give me a sign that I still matter to you. But when she saw Twilight with that same apathetic, forced smile, she flashed her usual cocky smile,
"Don't worry about it Twilight!" Rainbow said. "I'll be fine."
If only.
She still had some hope that her other friends wouldn't want her to leave. Surely one of them still cared about her even after she'd lied to them.
Twilight shut her door, finally letting her false smile fall to a tired frown and wishing she had spoken up. she knew that Rainbow had always wanted to join the Wonderbolts, but she didn't want her to go away for so long. She didn't have the right. But didn't she this was her dream after all.
But there was some justification. She didn't speak up or object because she knew this is what Rainbow wanted; she knew that all of her other four friends would do the same, no matter how difficult it was for them. And although she'd never admit it to anypony recently, Rainbow had been lying to them and Twilight wasn't sure she could trust her. She briefly wondered if Rainbow had told her other friends. She realized that she probably had so she would most likely be met with similar responses. After all it didn't make sense for Rainbow to only tell Twilight.
Regardless, she didn't want her to leave. All Twilight could find the energy or emotional capacity to do was to lay on the wooden floor of the library, allowing hindsight to send her into a guilt trip. This would be a long
The next stop on her list of goodbyes was Rarity, who was currently in her boutique working on her next creation. She had been holed up there for several days now and came out only to buy fabric.
"Well this one shouldn't be to hard at least." Rainbow Dash replied uneasily as she knocked on the door, but was greeted with a face she wasn't quite expecting.
"Oh hey Rainbow!" said Sweetie Belle with a youthful smile; it was Saturday, and Rainbow remembered how fun it was to be out of school. "What's up?"
"Uhh..." Rainbow Dash stammered, regaining her cocky demeanor that she had abandoned after the meeting with Twilight. "I just wanted to see Rarity, Sweetie. Where is she?"
"She's just upstairs in her bedroom, been crying all morning for some reason." Sweetie Belle said, lowering her voice to a whisper for the last half of the sentence. Rainbow's face lit up with hope. What could she be crying about? Rainbow wondered. Sweetie Belle let her in and cantered upstairs hearing the quiet sounds of Rarity's sobs. Rainbow walked into her room and say her friend in her favorite robe with a box of tissues next to her her eyes were bloodshot from crying.
"Hey? Rarity?" Dash said, approaching her bed slowly. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Rarity jumped at the sound of her friend's voice, and stammered for an excuse."Uh... uh..." she looked around, and the first thing she saw was the TV set by the innumerable amounts of prototype clothing on her floor. "I-I've just been watching my favorite soap opera, Rainbow." Rarity said, heaving a silent sigh of relief. "You know how it is."
Dash's heart sank with disappointment. Of course, Rarity about anything Rainbow Dash did. But she managed to keep her attitude from faltering."Not really, Rarity. You know I don't watch those egghead shows." Rainbow said with a smile. Rarity tried to choke out a laugh, but her throat hurt too much from crying to do it convincingly.
"Yes, you prefer those rugged sports programs." Rarity said, putting a weak smile on her face. "Well..." Rarity desperately wanted to tell Rainbow to stay, but that would be selfish and she was, after all, the Element of Generosity, "take care of yourself, okay?"
"Got it, Rarity. Catch you on the flip side." Rainbow laughed to herself thinking about her accidental joke.
"What's so funny, Rainbow?" Rarity asked.
"Huh? oh, nothin'." Rainbow replied. "Just a really bad pun," She couldn't believe her friends wouldn't say anything about her leaving except a simple goodbye and wishing her luck.
"Go make us proud, Dash." Rarity finally said after an awkward silence. Rainbow couldn't stand that last display, so she simply nodded and walked off. She nearly broke down, but she wouldn't allow herself to cry. No not
Rarity closed her door and sighed.
I hope she comes back soon... no, I KNOW she will; she's not the type to let being a Wonderbolt go to her head. "We'll be seeing her by the next holiday I know it." Rarity said aloud, although it was clear that she was trying to convince herself of that more than she was anypony else. Ever since she had heard of Rainbows secret meetings with...
No, Rarity wouldn't defile her thoughts with that wretched name. She had found it difficult to trust Rainbow; she seemed to have too many secrets and never would tell her friends what was really on her mind. But Rainbow was still her friend; perhaps they could have tried harder to work past it. But they hadn't, why hadn't they? Rarity collapsed on the floor, and felt as if she was going to cry even more, but it seemed for once she was completely unable to, only her wretched throat and puffy eyes were left to remind her of the regret she felt and things left undone.
Only four more goodbyes, then I can finally leave. Rainbow thought. Just four more.
But she knew the rest of them would be the hardest; Rainbow had saved the four with whom she had the most extended friendship for last. She arrived at another tree house, this one on the outskirts of Ponyville right by the ever-ominous Everfree Forest.
Rainbow knew this would be the most emotional of all, except perhaps the one he had saved for last. She knocked on Fluttershy's door and, to her surprise, the yellow pegasus appeared at the door very well collected and with only slightly bloodshot eyes.
"H...hey, R...Rainbow," Fluttershy stammered. Rainbow saw how hard she was trying to keep it together; Rainbow herself was having a tough time as well, though she wouldn't allow herself a single tear until she was finished. So she simply nodded at the yellow pegasus, letting her know it was going to be okay. Rainbow needed to know that her friends really cared and so far, none of them had they had just told her to leave. Fluttershy burst into tears and hugged Rainbow tightly. Rainbow patted Fluttershy on the back.
"Shh... shh... it's okay, Fluttershy." Rainbow said as if consoling a hungry filly. "Don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"D...do you pr...pr..." Fluttershy sobbed, her tears not allowing her to finish her thought.
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, as soon as possible." Rainbow replied as confidently and reassuringly as she could. She hated herself even more for this. She hated what she was doing to Fluttershy but didn't she deserve it. After all this was just a final act of revenge on Rainbow's part. Fluttershy's ignoring her had hurt the most, her fillyhood friend just...abandoning her.
But still so far, only Fluttershy had really shown she cared even a little bit; Rarity just made up half-assed excuses and Twilight was ultimately apathetic about Dash as usual. Even if she was talking to her now, it was too late; she just wanted to know who really loved her and who didn't. She silently kicked herself for doing what she was doing to her friends; she was only causing more pain and sorrow to herself and every one of her closest friends. But it was simply necessary; she had to do it for even the small bit of closure it would provide.
"Rainbow..." Fluttershy said almost inaudibly,
"What?"
"Thank you,"
"Huh?" Dash said, surprised.
"Thank you. if not for you, I... No, none of us would be the same. You have really impacted our lives in so many ways, and I just wanted to thank you on behalf of the group."
"The group?" Rainbow asked
"Yes. We sort of organized a little farewell for you, so just..." Fluttershy was about to break down again, and she barely uttered the words "thank you" again before she dug her face into her friend's shoulder, heaving sob after sob. Rainbow was surprised that they had actually organized a goodbye party the night before; they had actually thought of how to say goodbye to her. But was it really out of sadness or were they just ready to let her go? The way things had been between herself and the other five, either one was just as likely as the other. That was it. That what this was they were just trying to get rid of her. She hated them for it even more. A sudden sadness bubbles in Dash's chest at this realization.
"Fluttershy..." Dash said, trying to get a word out before she left, but just as she was ready to express her gratitude towards Fluttershy's kind words, a familiar feeling welled up in her throat, and she excused herself with a simply goodbye.
Rainbow was really leaving. Although it was probably her fault. Rainbow had admitted to her that, with guilt, she had been visiting... her when she said she had been "taking naps." Fluttershy had been devastated to hear that, it really hurt to hear that Rainbow ha been lying to her. But that was Rainbow Dash; she was loyal to the end. Angel hopped up to Fluttershy and tried to console the pony, seeing how truly distraught his only friend was.
"It's okay, Angel." Fluttershy said, looking at Angel. "Rainbow is going to be a Wonderbolt now. She will be happy.
"Plus, she Pinkie Pie swore she'd come back as soon as she could." Fluttershy smiled despite her own ignorance of the gravity of the situation. Would she really come back even after Fluttershy had shunned her for so long? Maybe she could have stopped her, but Rainbow was gone now. It was simply too late. Too late to try and bring her
Rainbow sighed as she walked up to Sweet Apple Acres. The smell of fresh apple cider filled the air and Rainbow was quickly intoxicated by the sweet aroma. But she was only here to talk to AJ, who was currently performing the mundane task of applebucking.
She seemed angry for reasons that Rainbow was sure she could guess; all of her friends probably hated her for leaving, for lying and would undoubtedly hate her even more after she left. Especially since she had told them all her secret.
"Lousy, no good, just up and leaving us for her..." Applejack noticed Rainbow approaching and fell silent, her face turning a dark shade of red. "Oh hey, Rainbow. When did you get here?" The cow pony stammered.
"Early enough to hear what you just said." Dash said, sighing at Applejack's obvious display of contempt towards her. "Look Applejack, I know you probably hate me for leaving and for... that. but surely you understand." Rainbow knew how honest Applejack would be; it was against her nature to lie. So Rainbow braced herself for whatever verbal abuse she would take.
"I don't hate you, sugarcube." Applejack said, much to Dash's surprise and confusion. Was she serious Applejack whose entire existence depended upon honesty was forgiving her for a blatant lie? This wasn't right. "In fact, I'm right proud of what your doing. Being a Wonderbolt and all, I'm just... Well it's gonna be hard to cope without you whenever any of us need you."
Rainbow couldn't believe it. even after all the lies Dash had fabricated, Applejack still trusted her. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough; It was too little, too late. Rainbow had made up her mind, and she knew she was just saying goodbye, her own little cruelty and last revenge towards her friends. The orange pony grinned at her and a pang of guilt shot through Rainbow's body, almost bringing the cyan pony to tears. Did she really believe that. Yes she did. She had to or else she could never go through with this.
"Ah suppose you're gonna say good bye to Pinkie last, am I right?" Applejack inquired. Rainbow simply nodded in response. It wasn't a surprise to anypony that Rainbow was saying goodbye to Pinkie Pie last. For obvious reasons.
"You two always were the best of friends. Well, ever since that whole thing with Gilda, you know."
"Yeah..." Dash responded halfheartedly. She almost broke down and cried thinking of the Gilda incident and how I just made this all the more difficult. "I'm really going to miss you all. Don't worry, I won't forget you. I could never forget any of you. You all just mean so much to me." There she went again lying through her teeth. She hated them for ignoring her for so long. She hated them less than she had originally but that truly was the raw emotion she felt.
"Whoa, Dash, you're startin' to sound a bit like Rarity!" Applejack responded.
She and AJ shared one last laugh together. It felt oddly relieving, her last laugh with one of her closest friends. Even if it was a little forced.
"Good bye, sugarcube," those last words nearly crushed Rainbow's resolve, but her mind was made up. There was no going back. "Good bye, Applejack."
Applejack sat down and watched as her friend flew away. Despite everything Rainbow had done, despite all the lies and pain, Applejack still trusted her and she always would. Applejack smiled; Rainbow had grown so much since they had all become friends. Applejack couldn't wait until the next Wonderbolts show; all of them would attend and see their friend Rainbow Dash flying and point. Applejack could see the wild grin on her face as the rainbow trail streaked behind her. Flying with the Wonderbolts had always been Rainbow's dream and now she was going to love it. Applejack just hoped that her friend wouldn't forget them, her humble, non-famous friends, after she made it big. Applejack smiled again at the image of Rainbow streaking across the sky with a huge smile plastered across her
Just two more, Rainbow thought. I'm almost done.
Rainbow didn't know if she had the emotional stamina at this point to keep her composure as she bade farewell to Pinkie Pie after the day's prior events, but she was determined to do this, if only for the minute bit of closure it would bring to herself and her friends. She sighed and raised her hoof to knock on the door. However, it didn't surprise Rainbow Dash that it opened before she could knock. Immediately, Pinkie's smile lifted Dash's mood, although the warm feeling of happiness Dash felt was gone as quick as it came. She was here for one reason and one reason alone.
"Hey Dashie!" Pinkie said in her usual excited, overzealous manner, but it was only a matter of moments before her hyperactive mask fell off, revealing a truly depressed pink party pony. "Oh, do you really have to go? It would be great if you stayed, but I know where you're coming from, Dash. I know how it feels to want to escape from a place where you feel held back. I was going to throw you a super huge party, but then you said you didn't want a party and I was confused, like 'what, why doesn't Dashie want a party?' but then I thought 'Oh well, if Dashie doesn't want one then I guess it must be super serious..." Pinkie's constant stream of audible thought faded into the background of Dash's thoughts; she could barely understand a word Pinkie had said. It truly broke Rainbow's heart to see Pinkie like this, knowing that soon she would be only a shadow of what she was now.
"Pinkie-" Rainbow began, but was silenced by a heartbreaking hug from her friend, who's sniffles and shakes only indicated further how Pinkie was truly feeling.
"Pinkie, please... I don't want to cry now, can we please make this quick?" Rainbow's heart shattered; how could she do this to her friend? Of all of them this was the worst she hated saying goodbye to Pinkie she was the closest of all her friends. But her betrayal had hurt the most. Mainly, because it made the most sense. For a moment she felt truly unable to go through with her plan, but only for a moment. She had already lied to them about one thing and she couldn't do it again. No, she had already said goodbye to all of her friends except Pinkie, and she wasn't going to let herself lose it now.
"Pinkie, I know how you feel-"
NO, Dash, you DON'T!" Pinkie yelled, startling Dash into silence. Pinkie saw what she had done to her friend, and her tone immediately softened to a more hurt and remorseful plea. "Dashie, you're my best friend. I can't bear it if you leave, please!"
"No Pinkie, I have to do this for me. I know it sounds selfish, and admittedly it is, but I have to."
"Well then, Dashie, I guess this is where we say goodbye." Pinkie sniffled. Rainbow hugged her again, patting her back as if she was comforting a distressed child. Pinkie was truly the only friend she still actually cared about. Dash had hurt her the worst doing what she did and she hated that Pinkie's own ignorance of her made so much sense, this was really what made Dash make her decision.
"Pinkie, I need you to stay strong, okay? no matter what happens, stay strong. don't cry when I'm away; I'll be back soon, I promise. As soon as I can."
"Do you...Pinkie Pie promise?" Pinkie sniffed through tears. Rainbow smiled; despite all the hatred and contempt she'd put up with the past couple of weeks, she genuinely smiled,
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Rainbow Dash recited. Pinkie, although not drastically, perked up a bit, and a weak smile appeared on on her face.
"Okay, Dashie." Pinkie said. "I'll see you soon"
"Good bye, Pinkie Pie. You truly were my best friend." And with that final Rainbow left.
Pinkie slumped to the floor in her room and just laid motionless, tears streaming down her face. Her best friend was gone; sure she'd be back as soon as she could, but Pinkie couldn't wait that long. She didn't even care that Rainbow had lied to her anymore; she could easily get over that. Sadness enveloped the pink pony, regret tore her thoughts from coherence, and the only thing she wanted to do was lay on the ground and sleep. Perhaps not even wake up.
Pinkie's ears perked up when she heard a knock on her door. Maybe Dashie had changed her mind, and was coming back! She opened the door enthusiastically only to come face to face with five familiar expressions. Each of her friends had obviously been crying.
"Hey Pinkie." Twilight said "How you doing?"
"I've been better." Pinkie said, trying her hardest to maintain her composure. Twilight gave a smile, like everything was okay that nothing was wrong; it must have seemed to Twilight that everything was perfect. All of Pinkie's emotion finally broke down the walls of her heart: the hatred, the confusion, and the sadness.
"HOW CAN YOU SMILE AT A TIME LIKE THIS, TWILIGHT?! RAINBOW DASH JUST LEFT US FOR THE WONDERBOLTS AND YOU'RE SMILING! How... how can you..."
Twilight put her arm around the pink party pony. "She'll be back, Pinkie. She'll be back as soon as she can." although Twilight promised she would maintain her composure, she soon found tears streaming down her cheeks, closely followed by the remaining three; the feeling in the room brought the sadness out of everypony in it. "She promised she would."
"I can't do it," Rainbow said to herself. She stood on the balcony of her cloud house, watching Sugarcube Corner as her other friends went in to comfort Pinkie. She had one final goodbye, but she was too much of a coward to say it face to face; a letter would have to do.
"
Dear Scootaloo,
Hey, Scootaloo. No doubt you've heard that I've been accepted into the Wonderbolts and , sadly, been asked to keep it a secret for now. I sincerely hope you have kept the secret, because it couldn't be further from the truth."
Rainbow allowed herself a few minutes to cry; surprisingly, all of the tears she had shed that day didn't completely deplete her.
"I'm not a Wonderbolt, and if you get this letter I never will be."
Rainbow sighed. She had come to grips with and accepted that which surprised her.
(centering and Italics) "I'm writing this letter because I'm too much of a weakling and a coward to say this to your face. But I need you to know why this is happening. I have been very depressed recently. My friends have stopped taking my advice, stopped trusting me and have begun to ignore me instead of be the friends I thought they were. I feel I am drifting further and further away from them, something that you'd be the first to know. And I can't cope with it anymore. I was trying to to earn my friends' trust back, but I'm unable to and although I delude myself with the notion that I don't know why, I do. I decided on this two weeks ago and have made up my mind; by to time you read this it will be over. You may think that this is a stupid reason to do... what I'm going to do, but in the middle of my sorrow, both of my parents died in a horrible accident. Unbeknownst to my friends, I was very close to them and when they left my life I realized I had no one left to confide in. No one except for one pony. One brave filly who needed to know why I won't be there anymore. Scootaloo, I had one chance. I had one more reason to live and that reason was. and I want you to know that I'm not leaving because you weren't enough. Quite the opposite, actually; you were everything I could have hoped for. but I didn't realize that I was already too far gone. I just can't take it any more. So I'm confiding in you and and you only that I am leaving...forever. I have come to grips with everything I knew; I probably never would have become a Wonderbolt anyway. I just want you to know that your her-"(end italics and centering)
Rainbow Dash stopped. It didn't feel right to call herself a hero. Especially not to someone like Scootaloo who had been more help to Dash than Dash had been to her. She scratched the word out and continued writing.
I just want you to know that your big sister loves you with every fiber of her being. This letter is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. My only solace in all of this is the fact that my pain will be over soon. Scootaloo, you are the only one to whom I will tell this. Afterwards, if you still don't hate me, show my friends show them why you love me still. Not as a way of me being cruel, but as a reminder to never let something they love go. Although I understand that this is exactly what I am doing; the hypocrisy sickens me too, Scootaloo. I want you to know that, while I won't be there in person, I will always be next to you and the proudest moment I have lived, in life or death if fate smiles upon me, is seeing you get your cutie mark. Just know i'll be right next to you, smiling and hoping you have forgiven me for this cowardly act. I promise you I will be there and that is one promise I plan to keep.
It was after my friend died because of me when this started. that is where i thought of this where my depression began, and though I wont go into details, that is why my friends stopped trusting me. That is why I was socially ostracized. More importantly, that's why I'm writing this letter. Although I still love each of them, you will always be the filly for whom I cared the most, and I will always love you.
Love,
your big sister Rainbow Dash."
She smiled at the sight of the mountain before her. it was Dragon Mountain, appropriately named for the dragon that she and her friends had encountered there early in their friendship. Full closure. A place where she had felt the most friendship, she and her friends' first big adventure where they all came together.
This would be where she ended all of her sorrows and friendships. She could still go back, but her friends would trust her even less than before and see her as a coward. As she walked to the edge of the cliff a familiar song played through her head, and she soon found herself singing the words to herself in a quiet whisper.
"Cried alone, I've gone away. No more nights, no more pain. I've gone alone, took all my strength. I've made the change. I won't see you tonight." As she sang the chorus she jumped and began to streak towards the earth. "Sorrow sank deep inside my blood. All the ones around me I cared for and most of all I loved. But I can't see myself that way. Please don't forget me or cry while I'm away!" She felt a familiar sensation as a cone of air formed in front of her. This act of cowardice would become an act of beauty; that had been her plan and this is how her friends would find her; the victim of a self-inflicted Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow was positive Twilight would notice the downward angle of the Rainboom and assume Dash had crashed and they would rush to help her but she would be dead by then. While they mourned, Scootaloo would come with Rainbow's letter and they would finally know. She hoped they didn't think she had done this out of spite towards them; it had been an act of cowardice and spite against herself, because she knew she could have saved Gilda . Rainbow had instead watched as her friend lay there, bleeding and bruised, with the last words of accusation that Rainbow could never forget: "This is all your fault Dash! all your fault!"
She sang her final words that always had made her cry. The last prominent lyrics; the phonetic zenith of the vocals.
"No more breath inside, essence left my heart tonight. No more breath inside essence left my heart tonight." Her voice swelled to a crescendo and began to echo.
And with those final words Rainbow Dash broke through the sound barrier, the colorful rainbow being the backdrop as she saw the craggy gray rocks rushing towards her. As she finished the final word her body, crashed into the ground. She felt a sharp agonizing pain as her body tried desperately to ease the pain and blood seeped out from her body. She lay there for a few minutes, her life fading from her body. Her final words were a haunting echo that kept repeating over and over. She saw a pony with features unrecognizable from Dash's perspective, but the color stood out; hot pink.
"I'm sorry, Pinkie..." And with that, Rainbow closed her eyes and her body slumped lifeless on the craggy floor never to fly again, never to enjoy what she had the potential to experience or become.
No more breath inside, essence left my heart tonight.
Author's Note
Finally part 1 has been fully edited. I am much more proud of this and believe it is a vast improvement over the original but I guess that's for you readers to decide. Thanks for reading and thanks for sticking with me for so long.
Chapter 2: Coping With Death
I WON'T SEE YOU TONIGHT PART 2: Coping With Death
Twilight heard the boom and recognized the rainbow but something was wrong.
"Why was it angled downwards?" Twilight wondered. "Oh Celestia no no NO!!" Twilight screamed. Her friends stared with looks of pure terror on their faces. They weren't far from the mountain so they rushed to the looming slab of rock. This can't be happening Twilight thought.
"What of she's de..." Pinkie began her hair flattened even more almost completely and her color dulled.
"No Pinkie I'm sure she's fine we mustn't think the worst. But we have to hurry quick everypony to Dragon Mountain." They five remaining mane six ran towards the mountain, they were already very close they sprinted to the sight of the crash. they arrived in a matter of minutes. fast enough to hear the echo of Rainbows final words. "No more breath inside, essence left my heart tonight. No more breath inside, essence left my heart tonight." The five ponies listened to the haunting echo. A song they had heard Rainbow listening to so many times. and saw a plateau that dropped over to the ground about 10 feet up. Pinkie arrived first and glanced over the plateau they were on to the craggy rocks. She whirled around and threw up right next to Rarity. Rarity gasped,
"Darling I just got a hooficure please don't..." Pinkie cut Rarity off by screaming.
"I DON'T GOVE A DAMN ABOUT YOUR HOOFICURE RARITY."
"Pinkie calm down," Rarity replied softly I'm sure Rainbow Dash is fine she's had worse crashes you know." Pinkie glared at Rarity with pure rage, at the unicorns lack if understanding.
"WORSE, WORSE YOU STUPID BITCH LOOK AT HER!" Pinkie yelled. Rarity was taken aback by Pinkie's outburst she and the others glanced over the side and saw why Pinkie was so angry. Below them lie the bruised battered and bleeding Rainbow Dash. Her body was mangled and blood covered most of her normally multicolored mane making it a deep crimson. She lay abnormally still. Her legs were twisted at awkward angles and fragments of bone were sticking out. Rarity almost threw up as well. The friends ran down to the body of their friend. Pinkie put her ear to Rainbows chest to listen for some kind of faint heartbeat to show that her friend was still alive. She was met with silence. Pinkie wailed at the top of her lungs.
"DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT. SHE'S DEAD RAINBOW DASH IS DEAD!" Fluttershy couldn't look at the body for more than a second she puked as well at the sight of their mangled friend. "WHY WHY WHY CELESTIA WHY. WHY IS SHE DEAD." Pinkie exclaimed her mane flattened even more. Twilight stared at the body. "It's my fault," she whispered almost to herself. Pinkie whirled around.
"What?" She asked genuinely confused.
"Look everypony I hate to say it but this wasn't an accident,"
"Are you saying she did this on purpose?" Applejack asked "why would she do that,"
"Because her parents died recently."
"But why wouldn't she tell us that we are her friends." Rarity asked puzzled.
"Because I pushed her away, recently I have been ignoring her and most everything she has to say surely you all have noticed."
"Not really, I mean usually you do your own thing." Applejack replied.
"Yes but I always take your thoughts into consideration but I've been ignoring her ever since I learned that she's been lying to us."
"About sneaking off to see that horrible griffon Gilda?" Fluttershy inquired.
"Yes." Twilight replied confused. "How do you know."
"We'll this is probably a bad time to say it but I've stopped trusting her because of that recently too." Fluttershy said quietly. Pinkie simply sat down soaking everything in.
"We'll sugarcube I've been the same way, so it wasn't just your fault it was mine as well." Applejack said. "She'd been ditching us for months to go hang out with that annoying Griffon friend of hers."
"Well I also have been finding it hard to trust her lately. She told me of her little meetings with that terrible griffon and I just haven't been able to trust her." Rarity responded all five of them had tears in their eyes a they realized it was their fault Rainbow was dead.
"Why are we talking about her like she was a terrible pony she just killed herself because we were too stupid to really care for her and just look past what she had done, which really was just her being loyal to a friend." Pinkie had stopped crying but only it seemed because she had run out of tears to shed.
" We hated her for being who she was what kind of terrible friends are we. Twilight can we please leave now, I don't think I can take much more of this here. We need to take the body back to Ponyville." The five mares began to walk back. Pinkie and Fluttershy picked up the body and held it in between them. They walked for awhile until they were in a lush field. Pinkie said, "Stop," so they did. Pinkie laid down the body lying on her and Fluttershy's backs she cleaned off the blood and straightened the rainbow pony's legs popping the bones back into place.
"This is where we will bury her this is where we will hold her funeral." Pinkie said with solemnity.
"Now?" Rarity inquired. "I hardly think this is the time."
"No next week. Everypony will come and she will recieve a proper burial and funeral." All of a sudden Pinkie saw a figure approaching them at high speeds it was a small filly.
"Oh no this is not good." Pinkie said.
"What's wrong," Fluttershy asked trying to make out the approaching filly.
"It's Scootaloo," Twilight responded blandly the expression on her face hardened. "This will not be good."
The filly hurried to them with a piece of paper clenched in her mouth.
"I came as soon as I got this, the return address was Dragon Mountain which i thought was weird so i read it and when I finished I started running I'm glad I caught you I need to tell you something!" Scootaloo said in a single breath. She caught sight of Rainbow's still slightly mangled body. "SHIT!" She exclaimed "I'm too late no no no I can't be too late she can't be dead." Scootaloo quavered and began to cry. Fluttershy draped her wing around the young filly "Damn it Rainbow Dash why did you have to do it why." Scootaloo cried into Fluttershy's wing.
"Scootaloo how did you know?"
"i told you i recieved this letter."
"Scootaloo this is going to be difficult for you to hear but we think it was..." Twilight began. But Scootaloo interrupted her,
"Suicide I know, you pony's need to read this," Scootaloo showed Twilight and the others the letter and each read it in turn each realizing just how ignorant they had been to their friends suffering. And how they could have helped if they had only cared. Thought the letter didn't explain why she had been with Gilda it explained much of Rainbow's deep depression. Pinkie was the last to read Rainbow's suicide note. She broke down and cried all over again . But then began laughing hysterically. Her mane flattened completely and became a dull pink.
"Oh no not this again," Applejack muttered "Pinkie are you ok."
"Rainbow, my closest friend entrusted her suicide letter to a single filly not even part of her main friend group. Yes it was a filly that he cared about but she trusted her over us. Celestia we truly are terrible friends." Pinkie had stopped laughing and was back to crying with Scootaloo. The two ponies were Rainbows closest friends and most trusted confidants. Yet only Scootaloo had been entrusted with the letter. They truly had pushed her away.
"Scootaloo," Twilight whispered, "I know this is hard but we need to begin funeral prep..." Twilight choked and trailed off. She was planning the funeral for a pony at her prime this just wasn't right. Scootaloo flung herself on top of Rainbow's limp body.
"NO I CAN'T LET YOU TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!" Scootaloo yelled angrily "You don't deserve to take her from me it's your fault she's here in the first place." Scootaloo knew she didn't mean it and so did Twilight but Twilight just took it and nodded.
"She would want a proper burial we have to but don't worry I'll make sure that you don't leave her side." Scootaloo nodded solemnly through her tears. Scootaloo was by Rainbow's side all the way back to Ponyville but by then she couldn't stand the sight of the body and she knew she had to leave.
"I can't do this I need to go." She stated. Twilight nodded and the Mane Five dispersed after dropping off Rainbow's body. They each promised to meet back on the hill the next to day to pay their respects before anypony found out.
The sun rose and the six ponies stood a the top of the hill paying their respects to Rainbow. None of them wanted to imagine the still slightly mangled and lifeless body of one of their closest friends.
Scootaloo trotted dejectedly to the treehouse it had been one day since Rainbow's suicide and she decided it was time to talk to her friends she needed their comfort. She approached the clubhouse and slowly walked up the stairs into the house. Apple Bloom immediately tackled her.
"Hey Scoots, what's up? Where were you yesterday, how come you didn't come by?" Apple Bloom then noticed the tears in Scootaloo's eyes. "Scoots are you ok?"
"No." Scootaloo stated simply but through her tears all that was understood was a small choking noise.
"Would this have anything to do with why Rarity came home so sad last night?" Sweetie Bell asked. "She wouldn't say anything what happened?"
"I dot want to talk about it ok" Scootaloo responded bluntly.
"We are here for you Scoots wha..." Apple Bloom was cut of by Scootaloo's scream of rage.
"RAINBOW DASH KILLED HERSELF YESTERDAY OK ARE YOU HAPPY!" Scootaloo had been trying to keep it together but she finally couldn't take it anymore and burr out into tears. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell were stunned. Rainbow Dash had always been so strong, happy, and full of life how could she take her own life? Scootaloo's fellow crusaders began to cry as well and wrapped her in a big hug the three just sat there for awhile crying and crying. After a couple of minutes when the three had no tears left they began to calm down.
"Why," Sweetie Bell asked "why would Rainbow Dash do that?"
"I don't really know I only got a vague letter, apparently her friends had stopped trusting her. I don't know why." Scootaloo sniffed "and I really don't want to know." How could she possibly carry on after that. Rainbow Dash had been everything to her her role model her hero...her sister, and now she was gone.
"I gotta go," Scootaloo said again on the brink of tears and ran out the door. She had to see Rainbow Dash again before anyone else she had to see the most important pony on her life alone one last time.
She arrived at the morgue, she didn't even know Ponyville had a morgue, to find it quite empty except for one body, cyan blue body still tinted crimson, her limbs still in awkward positions, her once rainbow mane had now taken on a hue of crimson, the blood had stained her and hadn't been washed away. the once bright and powerful face was now fragile and lifeless. Scootaloo approached the body and flung herself on top of it. She pressed her ears to Rainbow's chest hoping beyond hope that it had all been a dream and that her hero was still alive. She was met with a deafening silence. She tried to cry but no tears would come so she just lay there sobbing emptily. It was then that she realized that she did want to know she wanted to know exactly what had happened to Rainbow. So she decided to talk to Rainbow's closest friends. But she wanted somepony else there too a very important somepony.
The five mares had been expecting this. Scootaloo had asked to meet with them. News of Rainbow Dash's death had spread like wildfire. All of Ponyville seemed to be in shock and confusion everyone who saw Twilight an her friends gave each their deepest apologies. Cloudsdale was in complete disarray without their weather manager although recently they had just decided to let it rain all over Equestria. All ponies were saddened to hear the news. Derpy Hooves had been one on the first Pegasai to learn of Rainbow's fate and no one had seen her since they had heard only sobs echoing throughout he home. Scootaloo had told them to meet her at the Crusaders' clubhouse. When they entered they were not surprised to see Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom trying to comfort the depressed filly, but were greatly shocked to see the other attendee to the meeting.
"Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked confused.
"Hello my student, I am glad you and you're friends are here now so that we may...discuss the current events."
Oh no Twilight thought to herself she's going to banish me and then put me in a dungeon in the place where she banishes me, this time I'm sure of it. Scootaloo looked up and gave Twilight a look of pure hatred. So the little filly truly did blame them for Rainbow's death but rightfully so considering it was their fault.
"Hello Twilight," Scootaloo spat at the unicorn.
"Now Scootaloo you can't blame these five for what Rainbow Dash did." Celestia said in a soothing tone. A tone that was completely lost on the angry filly,
"Why not its their fault she did it."
"Not entirely and I'm sure they feel almost as bad about it as you do."
"As bad," Scootaloo spat, "I think they should be feeling a lot worse about this than me, IT'S THEIR GODDAMN FAULT!" Scootaloo exclaimed at the top of her lungs. She was breathing heavily rage seething forth almost visibly. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle tried to calm her down as Celestia talked to the Mane Five.
"Well needless to say I am deeply saddened at the loss of Rainbow Dash," Celestia began. "But I am very disappointed in you five."
"What?!" They exclaimed.
"Princess why do you mean why are you so disappointed in us?" Twilight asked genuinely confused.
"You allowed one of your closest friends to drift away and feel unimportant enough to feel like it would just be better if she were dead. I cannot believe that you five would allow that to happen especially to Rainbow Dash, you all know she has not had an easy life. Her parents abandoned her she grew up in a rare but uncaring foster home. Then when her parents came back they grew quite close only to be ripped out of her life a few years later. This mixed in with the hatred you all showed her, well I think it's quite obvious why I'm disappointed in you all." Twilight and the others were shocked.
"What we had no idea she had No idea she had such a terrible home life."
Celestia's mouth fell open.
"You mean you never even asked her what her parents were like never once wanted to know! I am truly disappointed in you five." Pinkamena (Pinkie Pie has fully transitioned at this point) broke down right there and began to cry. She wailed and wailed at this accusation. What was wrong with the princess she usually wasn't like this she was always kind and caring. The death of an Element of Harmony must have shaken her. When Twilight really looked at the princess she realized that her usually flowing celestial mane was lying limply at her side and was very unkempt she had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and seemed over all very tired. She must be drained physically and emotionally. Pinkamena was still crying.
"It's ok Pinkie," Twilight soothed. "She's just tired she doesn't mean what she's saying." Celestia realized that she had lost it a little bit.
"Yes Pinkie I'm sorry I didn't mean that it's just this has been an emotional time for me." Pinkamena stopped crying and sat back up her eyes still watering and bloodshot, she said nothing. We need to know why Rainbow Dash was meeting with Gilda. Scootaloo was still silently fuming and suddenly she burst,
"I don't want to know why," she yelled and ran out of the clubhouse. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom raced after her.
"She'll be fine...I hope," Twilight sighed, "Princess do you know why she was visiting with Gilda?"
"Actually that is why I came today, I do know why an felt you should too, I feel it best you find out from me and not from any other pony who might twist it around with the uhm dislike of that particular griffon. That certainly would not be good for Rainbow Dash's memory. Now to the point, as I'm sure you all know Gilda was a bit rash even for a Griffon." The friends nodded. "Well two months ago the griffon became very angry over a rumor she had heard. Can anypony guess who that rumor was about?"
"Rainbow Dash?" Rarity guessed.
"Yes and can any of you guess what the rumor was about?"
To everyone's surprise Fluttershy spoke up,
"Is it about the Sonic Rainboom?"
Celestia nodded.
"She just heard about that two months ago?" Pinkie asked? "It happened way before then why didn't take so long?"
"The griffons usually aren't very aware of the happenings in Equestria , one of them happened to be at Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding and saw the Sonic Rainboom there he must have gone back and talked about it which would be how Gilda heard about it."
"That doesn't explain why she was visiting her for weeks. Or why she was so depressed when she stopped going." Twilight butted in.
"Please allow me to finish,"
"Right sorry Princess."
"Anyways Gilda was angered to hear of Rainbow's success and her rivalry with her drove her to try to do better. Gilda attempted to reach speeds higher than the Sonic Rainboom and on one of her attempts she crashed into the ground very similar to how Rainbow...died and was gravely injured she was brought to the nearest hospital and put on life support almost immediately. When Rainbow Dash heard of this she rushed immediately to the hospital to see Gilda but the griffons at the desk would not let her. so she kept coming back every other day for a month and a half to check on Gilda. After awhile they started letting Gilda have visitors Dash was one of the first but Gilda blamed Rainbow Dash for her accident her dying words to Rainbow were 'This is all your fault Dash all your fault'. Unfortunately Rainbow believed her and felt terrible about losing a friend which is why she told you five what she had been doing, so as not to lose any more friends." The five friends let that sink in what they had thought had been Rainbow apologizing for a betrayal had been her trying to keep them as friends and they only drove her away, so far as to kill herself to feel better the thought was quite depressing. The friends wrapped each other in a big hug and cried and cried and cried they had cried so much lately they were most likely on the verge of dehydration but they didn't care so they just cried some more for their lost friend.
Scootaloo ran blindly from the house she jumped on her scooter and fluttered off leaving Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle chasing after her but slowly getting further away. Tear stung her eyes and she knew what she had to do she had to be with Rainbow Dash she didn't care if she had been told to live on she couldn't take all the emotions she had pent up inside of her she had only released some in her outbursts but she knew what she had to do. She rode to a place outside of Ponyville a grassy area over looking a steep drop down a hill. This should be enough Scootaloo thought to herself. She grinned for the first time since Dash's death she felt happy and content. She plummeted down the hill her tiny wings, wings that would never fly buzzed letting her pick up speed at the bottoms of the hill was a small ditch this would be where Scootaloo would spend her final moments of life in that ditch broken and bleeding just like her big sister allowing her friends to find her later and realize all that could have been stopped. Scootaloo shot down the hill at high speeds and crashed into the ditch.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found her lying there five minutes later. The two Cutie Mark Crusaders stared at their friend in horror only imagining that this is what Twilight and her friends had seen only on a much larger scale Scootaloo was only slightly bleeding and only had two broken legs.
"We can still save her," Apple Bloom said "we gotta get her to a hospital quickly." The two carried their friend as swiftly and delicately as possible to a nearby hospital they weren't far outside of Ponyville so the walk wasn't that far. They approached the desk,
"Please help us out friend crashed in a ditch and we don't know if she's dead or not. Please please help us." The nurse looked at Scootaloo's limp body and hurriedly called a doctor who took the body to a room and put Scootaloo in a hospital bed they had her in life support her was beating but faintly.
"Several broken bones a fractured rib and massive internal bleeding, we need to operate quickly if we are going or save her," the doctor said. He hurriedly shoved Sweetie Belle and AppleBloom out of the ER.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh on my gosh," Sweetie Belle said pacing back and forth, "Scoots can't die not after everything we have been through with Rainbow Dash's death eventually everypony will end up killing themselves. This is not good."
"We gotta go tell Twilight and the others, Maybe they could help." Apple Bloom suggested.
"Good idea," Sweetie Belle responded, "lets go get them." They hurried back to the clubhouse.
The group had again stopped crying, finally Applejack asked the question they had all been wondering ever since the death of their friend,
"Is there a way to bring her back?"
"I'm sorry Applejack," the Princess responded "but I do not think so. Death is a very important part of our existence if it is tampered with for even one pony the everypony will want loved ones brought back, and even so there is not a way even of..." Celestia trailed off as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle crashed into the clubhouse panting.
"What's wrong," Twilight asked, "and where Scootaloo?"
"She's in the hospital...we got her there as fast as we could...need your help." Sweetie Belle panted.
"Why is Scootaloo in the hospital?" Rarity asked, concerned with the pain in her sister voice.
"She crashed into a ditch outside of Ponyville we caught up to her and got her to the hospital as fast as we could. We're not sure if she will make it." Apple Bloom said only slightly calmer than Sweetie Belle. The five friends and the princess rushed outside and ran with the two Cutie Mark Crusaders to the hospital.
The nurse at the counter saw the friends and blandly asked,
"Who you coming to see today?"
"Scootaloo,"
"I'm sorry she's in critical condition and not accepting any..." Princess Celestia stepped forward and smiled,
"I'm sure you can make a exception,"
The nurse fumbled around at the sight of the princess.
"Of course of course please go on she should be in a good enough condition to see you."
"Thank you," the princess said smiling, "go on My Little Pony's I will wait for you here." The seven ponies rushed to Scootaloo's room Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle first to see their best friend. Scootaloo was lying down her eyes were closed and had an oxygen mask hooked up to her and the heart monitor was beeping but faintly. The two crusaders broke down crying to see their friends so limp and broken and lifeless. The Mane Five stood there shocked. Again Applejack voiced everyone else's thoughts.
"Do you think it was a suicide attempt?" All the other ponies just stared at her. "What I'm just saying what everpony else is thinking." They just remained silent saying at the limp body of the young filly. All hope seemed completely lost then all of a sudden the heart monitor began to pick up. The friends glanced up with large smiles on their faces as Scootaloo began to stir. She groaned slightly and looked around her vision slightly blurry.
"Am am I dead?" She asked. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom jumped up an cheered in happiness. Scootaloo was alive somehow Scootaloo was alive.
"Scootaloo we were so worried what happened?"
"I couldn't take it anymore so I ran into a ditch." She stated almost without emotion. "But I guess I didn't die so here I am."
"What happened" Apple Bloom asked, "you almost died."
"I don really know I just remember crashing and thinking to myself that I was ready to go an see Dash again. But I realized that that's not what she would have wanted so I tried as hard as I could to stay alive I fought and fought clinging to the hope that maybe just maybe I would make it through and it would appear that I did. I'm so sorry everypony I just couldn't take what you were all saying about Dash so I exploded and made terrible mistake please forgive me for wronging you." The remaining Elements of Harmony recognized this scene a depressed pony on the brink of losing he friends and who was known to make rash decisions this was the exact situation Rainbow Das had been in and they knew that Scootaloo was almost a carbon copy of Rainbow.
"It's ok Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said knowing what the others were thinking, "we forgive you. But please never ever do anything like that again. Scootaloo smiled.
"I Pinkie Pie promise."
Epilogue: 6 months later
It had been six months since the death of Rainbow Dash and all the ponies had emotionally recovered. Even Pinkie Pie was back to her old party loving self. Each of her parties though always had a splash of rainbow in remembrance of her lost friend. Applejack and the rest of the Elements had recovered and continued on with their regular lives as well. Scootaloo though was the happiest of all. Earlier that morning he had been riding her scooter to the clubhouse when she wet over a hill. She almost lost control of her scooter and crashed but her skillful maneuvering of her favorite vehicle saved her life. All of a sudden she saw a flash of light behind her and the largest grin spread across her face. On her flank sat a picture of a scooter. Her cutie mark she had finally gotten it she had finally discovered her special talent in life she had finally figured out her purpose in life. As she celebrated to herself she looked to her side and swore she saw the faint outline of a cyan colored Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane sitting there smiling at he just like she had promised she would.
Author's Note
Again reading this again I realize how much I don't like how it came out. I rushed a lot and didnt really portray all the emotion I meant to. Like with part one I'm going to send it through the edits with Tencentpartycannon he's a fantastic editor and really helping me out with this (just look at the new prologue and the alternate time stream intro) I don't how long it'll take to get this edited but it will take awhile so until then XD enjoy I guess
Final Hopes and Desperation (Alternate Timeline)
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Final Hopes and Desperation (Alternate Timeline)
Final Hopes and Desperation
"Thanks Derpy, get this letter to Scootaloo but you can take your time it's not overly important that you get it to her quickly." The grey mail mare nodded.
"Sure thing, Dash!" Derpy said as she flew off. "Wait, Derpy!" Dash yelled after the overzealous male mare, "Look ou-"
Too late; Derpy had run into the same cloud she ran into every morning But the valiant grey pegasus quickly brushed it off and continued her route as determined as ever. Dash couldn't help but chuckle, a small but appreciated bout of comedy in the tragedy that had become her life. The laugh was over as quickly as it started, though, and Dash say down, wondering of she should carry out what she intended. "I'm... so sorry." Dash said to no one in particular, but her eyes were on a singular mail mare delivering an important letter to a particular house in the sky.
•••••••••••••
Scootaloo was in her room enjoying the sunny noontime when she heard a THUMP directly under her room. She smiled and went down to greet only pony in Cloudsdale who ignored her doorbell on every occasion.
"Hey, Derpy." Scootaloo said with a smile as she looked at the mail mare sprawled before their door running a new bump in her head. Her mouth contained a plain white square, "Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay!" Derpy said at a mile a minute, shortly after laying the letter in front of Scootaloo. "I was just coming over as fast I could from Rainbow Dash's house because you only live a few doors down from each other and she had a letter for you that she said was super important and I had to get it here like really fast." The mare pauses for a moment to catch her breath.
"A letter from Dash?" Scootaloo inquired, heavily confused. Ever since what happened between Dash and Gilda, Dash had become extremely reclusive, rarely leaving the house except for on occasion, to perform her weather duties, much less socialize with the town. "Weird. I was just about to go and see her." Scootaloo muttered to herself.
Well, Scootaloo," Derpy said, taking flight once again. "I have to go; more people need their mail, and it's my duty to get it to them."
Scootaloo looked up from the letter to say goodbye to the blissfully determined pegasus. "Alright, have a good day, Derpy- dont hit that clou-!"
Too late once again; Derpy and that cloud would feud until either she died or the cloud disappeared; whichever one happened first was Scootaloo's guess. She chuckled to herself as she walked back inside
"Huh." Scootaloo said, inspecting the letter. It was very messily written, the parchment scroll more crumpled up than rolled, and the address on the letter was written sloppily, as if Dash was hurrying to write it.
"Why was Dash in such a hurry?" Scootaloo mused to herself.
The urge to unroll the letter and read its contents finally got the best of Scootaloo as she tore the ribbon binding the paperoff of it and read.
•••••••••••••
Rainbow Dash stood at the edge of her cloud home in the same spot she had been standing for half an hour. She was desperately trying to work up the nerve to go and do what she had to. But she felt she couldn't. It wouldn't be her, she wouldn't be being loyal. But after her friends all ignored her because she lied to them about seeing Gilda in the hospital. But then again that was her fault. Which is why she had to do this. But she couldn't. These thoughts had been troubling her since she sent off Scootaloo's letter and she couldn't come to a definite conclusion or a proper course of action. It was obvious to Dash, though, what would win out in the end
"Scootaloo... she would hate me for this." Dash said to herself, the sound of her own voice calming her conscience. "She wouldn't even look at me after what I did to her and everyone else...
"Besides, this isn't for anyone else but me." Dash said, putting on a confident demeanor. "... just me." She flew towards Dragon Mountain, looking down at the bustling, happy and unaware Ponyville, in the hope that there would be someone to stop her, someone to restore her happiness and truly nullify the beliefs she had of herself. To tell her she meant something to tell her she mattered.
But no. Just the sounds of ponies going about their everyday business.
•••••••••••••
Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something, but all that was heard was a single, hurt squeak. The paper was soaked with her tears; the ink was blurred by the liquid. Sobs racked her body, and her shivers were far from unnoticeable, despite the warm humidity in the home.
She finally swallowed, moistening her wretched, dry throat, yet all she could say was "This is what she thinks."
Through her blurry vision she looked around her room which was adorned with pictures of her and Rainbow Dash. The camping trip, Dash telling Scootaloo of her acceptance into the Wonderbolt Academy, Dash giving the small young pegasus filly, how it felt to soar through the sky with Dash right there with her. Even more pictures the Wonderbolts pocture woth a small cutout of Dash standing proudly in the line of ponies, a picture of Dash in her Wonderbolts suit that Scootaloo was forced to take, and Scootaloo's favorite, a picture of the two lying down together. It was nothing special at face value; sure, it was cute, with Scootaloo cuddles up next to her big sister fast asleep, a small but loving smile across Rainbow Dash's face as she looked down at the sleeping orange filly. But the context was what made the picture so special to the orange filly. The day of the Wonderbolts show in Ponyville was upon Dash, and it wasn't every day someone who loved them so got a ticket before they sold out.
"Dash?" Scootaloo could remember asking when she showed up at her house before the Wonderbolts' performance. "What are you doing here?"
"I just.... thought we would spend the day together." Dash said, reaching down and hugging the small filly. It is Saturday after all."
"But... what happened to the Wonderbolts?" Scootaloo inquired. "Didn't you want to see them?"
"I uh lost it . But hey now I can spend the day with my favorite little filly." Rainbow's words were so full of warmth and love Scootaloo jumped at the opportunity.
So the entire day was spent doing what the two pegasai wanted. Flying, enjoying time with their friends. Dash even tagged along with the Crusaders on one of their harebrained attempts to get their cutie marks. Which ended in failure...and with the four covered in tree sap.
And so there they were, on the hill that night, the full moon above far bright enough to illuminate the silhouette of the two happy, tired pegasi.
"I love you, Dash." Scootaloo said, reaching over and her older sister. Dash wanted to say something, but it's hard to talk when suppressing tears. "I....I love you too squirt." The cyan mare managed to choke out. Scootaloo smiled up at her and nuzzles against Dash's neck.
"HEY, DASH!" they heard a distance away. They looked over beyond the hill to see brown pegasus pony running toward the two. Scootaloo recognized him as someone that Dash worked frequently with, but she couldn't remember anything about him.
"Oh, hey Nimble!" Dash yelled. "What's up?"
"Not much, Dash." The pony who Scootaloo now knew as Nimble replied. "I just wanted to say thank for giving me your ticket to the Wonderbolts at the last minu-"
"What are you talking about, Nimble?" Dash said, her face getting red as she realized what he was saying. "I didn't give you my ticket at all."
"Can you not remember?" Nimble continued, despite Dash's motion to stop talking. "You gave me your ticket yesterday before we left saying that you didn't need i-"
"Uh, Nimble?" Dash said, keeping one eye on Scootaloo to see if she was completely given away. "I didn't... give... you... a... ticket."
"Uh... okay..." Nimble replied, confused. "Well, I signed up to work a night shift on weather patrol, so I have to head to Cloudsdale. I'll catch you later, okay?"
And with that, Nimble was gone. Scootaloo's grin broadened even more when she realized what Dash ha done for her. Dash tried to play it off,
"I have no idea what he was talking about," Dash said to Scootaloo unconvincingly. Scootaloo just nodded,
"Of course the great Rainbow Dash would never give away a ticket to see the Wonderbolts," Scootaloo responded with a mildly sarcastic tone. Dash just grinned at the little filly and pulled her in close. Scootaloo snuggled close to Rainbow Dash and promptly fell asleep tired from the days activities. Dash smiled at the adorable sleeping filly and wrapped her wing around her. There was a faint clicking sound and Dash thought she saw a red mane with a little bow on top peek out over the closest hill. Dash didnt care though in fact she was glad to have this moment stored away. Although she would never say it this was one of the greatest moments of the cyan weather ponies life.
"...no." Scootaloo said, wiping the tears that had stop falling as a result of the happy memory. She loved Dash and she knew Dash loved her too. She would not let Dash do this; she had to stop her and show her somepony still cared. Slowly but surely, Scootaloo got an idea. she burst out of her front door, ignoring the calls of her mom from the house, and headed to Ponyville. She had to hurry but she knew this would work she knew that she could save Rainbow's life!
Author's Note
Well I never thought if be adding anything on to this fic XD. The idea can from a comment from one of my readers to do a sort of alternate story where the Mane 5 and Scootaloo discover Rainbow's plan and try and stop her. I didn't really knownf I should do it or not so I thought about it a lot and well obviously decided to do it.
A huge thanks goes out to Tencentpartycannon for staying up with me all night meticulously editing this and making it the best we could. This isn't the only part to this extra little series and I'm not sure if Dash will live this time around but hey lets just see where it goes. I do plan on editing the original fic as well but that'll have to wait until then enjoy.
