Chapters A mountain of damp, cardboard boxes lay about in the darkened attic. Suddenly the room was lit up as a door opened, allowing access for two familiar pegasi. A rainbow maned, cerulean pegasus stepped into the musty attic and glanced around at the boxes. Another pegasus, pale yellow with a pink mane, shakily popped her head up soon after.
"D-do I have to come into the dark attic?" She squeaked. "I'm sure Rarity or Twilight would be much better a-at organizing..."
The cerulean pegasus turned sharply. "You know they can't. I live in the clouds , Fluttershy. They can't help me."
"Oh, well, Twilight can use that cloud-walking spell...Rainbow Dash you know I'm glad to help b-but its so...." Fluttershy swallowed. "Dark."
Rainbow Dash put on an annoyed face and pulled Fluttershy into the attic fully. "I need to clean out my attic. To much stuff, not enough space."
"You could add clouds to the side and hollow them out..."
"Nah, too much work. And do you know how many clouds I would need for that?" Rainbow said sternly.
And with that they got to work. Within the next two hours they had set up two large bins; one for keeps and the other for trash. Soon there was only a few boxes left, and so Fluttershy made her way to one in the rear of the attic. She began to shift through it, asking Rainbow what to do with items such as an old snowglobe (keeps), a children's drawing (trash), and an old Ursa Minor plush toy (keeps). Finally she reached down and grabbed a book, which was odds since Rainbow hadn't owned a book until last year. The rainbow maned pegasus stepped over.
"I remember this..." Rainbow said fondly as she grabbed the book. She flipped the book open and revealed a photo album. Filled with pictures of Rainbow's family. The first picture was of what appeared to be filly Rainbow Dash with another colt and filly and a . "My brother and sister. I was the youngest of the family."
"You had a bother and a sister?" Fluttershy said, amazed. "What were their names?"
"Well my brother's name was Ink Twist, he liked to dance." Rainbow Dash explained as she pointed to the colt. He was a darker shade of cerulean, with the same windblown hair Dash has, but shorter. He had the same, sparkling eyes his two sisters had. She then pointed to the other filly. "This is my sister, Spectrum Melody. She liked to sing. A lot. " Rainbow's sister had a long, flowy rainbow-mane and the same cerulean body as Rainbow Dash. She looked timid, like Fluttershy had as a foal.
"Why haven't we ever met them? I would love to hear your sister sing or allow Ink Twist to dance for Angel bunny. He loves a good dancer." Fluttershy asked happily. Rainbow looked like she had been slapped. Memories flooded towards her all at once, the day she met her first Timberwolf. The day of the picnic.
"I...I can't....Run..." She said in a twirl of madness. She was back to being a young filly. She was outside the Everfree forest, where Fluttershy's cottage would be, staring at the darkness. Suddenly glowing green eyes appeared in the forest's darkened area. A low growl had begun ringing throughout the area. Soon it was accompanied by screams. Rainbow was afraid, she tried to run but her legs seemed to be frozen in place. A giant Timberwolf began running towards her, shaking the ground. A voice was calling her name, trying to grab her attention...
Suddenly she was staring at a mortified Fluttershy. Rainbow was shaking with fear, causing her friend to panic. "R-rainbow, what's wrong? Let me get you a glass of water." Fluttershy trotted out of the attic, leaving Rainbow Dash by herself.
Why did I suddenly remembered that awful day? Rainbow thought to herself. Fluttershy then returned with a glass filed with water.
"Here, Rainbow, drink up." Fluttershy placed the glass to her friend's lips and tilted it back a little, causing Rainbow Dash to sip. Fluttershy then began to grab the remaining boxes and finished cleaning while her friend lay on the ground shaking. After she had put the last of the old boxes in the trash, Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash and said, "I'm so sorry, Rainbow. It wasn't my place to ask...Let's go get you into bed." All the cerulean pegasus could do was nod, her body seemed to still be paralyzed with fear. Maybe she wasn't all that brave....
Nightmares tormented Rainbow Dash to the point of falling out of bed and waking with cold sweats. At around 2:40 AM, Rainbow decided that she would grab a glass of water and her favorite Daring Do book to help ease her mind. Her hoof turned pages as she kept reading on, until the tempo slowed and she slipped into sleep. At first, her dreams were filled with herself as Daring Do fighting off a gang of Ponrillian bandits, until the image slurred and she was back in front of the forest. Again she had become her young self again, but this time instead of meeting the wolf head on, the day seemed to be relapsing in her mindset.
She was flying. she noticed. Racing her brother Ink Twist, in fact. And beating him. She stopped short of knocking over their mother, a beautiful pegasus who resembled Spectrum Melody, long rainbow hair and the cerulean coat they all shared. Only, there was a kind look in her eye, not timid. Rainbow zoomed past her and stopped before hitting a rock. She somersaulted onto the ground, Ink was't all that swell and landed roughly.
"Oooh, Rainbow Dash! How do you do that?!" He said in a huff.
"Pure skill, Ink. Either you've got it or you don't. I got it and you don't." Rainbow smiled boldly and trotted over to their mother. Spectrum was helping to set up the picnic, humming a little tune as she did. Soon Ink joined in helping her, dancing along to her song. This caused their mom and sister to laugh until the picnic was ready and picturesque.
"Come on, Rainbow Dash, let's eat." Her mom said tenderly. Rainbow nodded and joined the family. Spectrum sat close to the mother, with Ink and Rainbow on the opposite side, They began to eat together, laughing and playing and teasing. The sun began to lower for the night, causing the sun to mix with beautiful golds and pinks. Spectrum insisted they return home before dark, but Rainbow had gotten her way as she and Ink set out for a new racing match. They weaved in and out of the trees, Rainbow was flawless while Ink....not so much. Only once had Rainbow crashed into a tree, but it wasn't a tree. She rubbed her wing, to care for it, while she hadn't noticed the tree began to move and glow a sickly green color. A low growl began to resonate when Ink caught up.
"Rainbow, Mom wants us back. She and Spec are ready to leav....OH MY CELESTIA WHAT IS THAT?!" He screamed like a filly as he came face to face with the Timberwolf. Rainbow shared this scream as they both sped as fast as they could out of the forest, but the Timberwolf was hot on their tales. Ink continued to slow down as he hit trees all over, he called Rainbow for help but all she could think about was finding their mother.
"Rainbow Dash, what's wrong?" Their mother said nervously as she and Rainbow collided.
"Race...Tree....Really a wolf....INK IS STILL IN THERE!" the pegasus filly gasped between breaths.
"Dashy, calm down...What happened? Where's Ink?" Their mom asked.
"No time, come on!" and Rainbow dashed back into th forest with her mother following. She flew as fast as she could back to where she and Ink was last together....She was begging that her brother was alright. Please, Celestia, please oh please... She chanted silently....
Rainbow Dash flung herself forward. She had narrowly escaped the wolf, she remembered. Why hadn't her family?
Night after night she would toss and turn until promptly landing on the floor. She didn't know why she was experiencing this now, but it was happening. Finally, the rainbow maned pegasus had enough of hurting her back on the cold, hard floor. Rainbow Dash flew back to the attic and grabbed the album.
She sat down and flipped to the middle of the book and revealed a picture of the whole family before the attack. It had her mother, father, brother, sister and herself. They looked perfect, like the Cakes family. She traced her dad's picture with her hoof. He was a handsome stallion, with a short rainbow mane and a pale indigo coat. His light brown eyes were heavy looking, but with a spark of laughter she knew so well. Rainbow thought back to the day he had taken her to the Equestria Games announcement, she was a little filly who hadn't even earned her cutie mark yet. She had been so disappointed when Cloudsdale hadn't become the host, but soon after her father took her to get ice cream to make up for it. Rainbow Dash smiled at this thought. It was both a good and bad day wrapped into one cloud. She flew back into reality and flipped the page. This image featured Ink Twist after his first dance competition,the colt had just won the second place trophy and his cutie mark, a pair of dance shoes laying upon a cloud. Their mother was in the shot also, helping him hold the trophy and beaming brightly. She then turned the page one more time and found a picture of Spectrum Melody and herself trying to write music. Their father had caught them off guard when the picture was snapped so there was an embarrassed Rainbow Dash and a mortified Spectrum Melody. Rainbow could see the notes on the paper and instantly remembered the tune. She began to hum it, then sing. No one was there to hear her, so she hadn't cared.
"So high in the clouds, we both do soar
Our love is so fluffy and strong as can be here
the sun kisses us
and wraps us in light
we've found our peace in this land, we've found our peace in this land
But the moon will come and replace the sun
The night will set in and diminish our fu-uh-un
The sun is gone, and the sky is dark
at least we have love to remember the day by."
She almost choked near the end. It was the song Spectrum had been humming the day of her death, during the picnic. Again the memories flashed back in her mind and forced her to remember. Rainbow Dash was rushing to find her brother and found him cornered by the timberwolf. It was slowly closing in on Ink. Rainbow threw a rock to get its attention. It slowly turned its head to face her, but the fear took hold of her body when the acid green eyes laid upon her. Ink took this moment to dance away from it and join his sister.
Their mother jumped in front of them, with the kindness in her eyes gone. "Go, children. Now. Fly home to the clouds."
Rainbow was shaking with fear. Her mother would die, she knew. She knew that then and she knows it ow. But she was always told to follow orders from her parents. She dashed, just like her name, out of the forest and into the clouds. She saw her brother and sister following, but were to far away for her to call out. She reached Cloudsdale and zoomed in and out of the ponies trying to find her father...She was trying so hard but felt like it was in vain. She saw a dark mare looking from a corner as if trying to stay discreet and hide. Rainbow Dash ignored this and continued on.
Her tiny blue wings quit flapping and she could barely land properly. Her surroundings began to shift and the clouds fell away. Somehow she was with the timberwolf once again, facing those horrible, acid green eyes. It had crouched down, about ready to pounce. She was going to die the same as her mother. She wanted to sob. She shouldn't have left. She should have stayed. ...But she hadn't. She fled. She stood straight and readied for the attack. Rainbow Dash stared it in the eye, and was surprised at the sight. The wolf's eyes had changed to those of a familiar princess's. As it lunged forward, so did the pegasus.
She had fallen asleep looking through the album. Rainbow looked at the page she had last turned to...It was another from their family photo day. The rainbow family were all laying down, their parents on the left and right, then Ink next to their mother and Spectrum Melody next to their father. Rainbow wedged herself between the adults and smiled.
Rainbow Dash put her borrowed copy of Daring Do and her photo album in her bag and flew down to Ponyville. She spotted ponies of different colors and different talents conversing in a more up-beat fashion than usual. Rainbow Dash wondered what the occasion was, but she shrugged it off for the time being. She landed in front of a very familiar tree house-library and knocked on the door.
A flustered gasp came from behind it, and Rainbow knew Twilight had something planned. The purple unicorn threw the door open and looked terrified until she recognized the pony at the door. "Oh, Rainbow Dash. Its only you."
"Yeah, its just me Twi. I'm here to return the book you lent me." The pegasus looked over Twilight and the library's interior. Both of them looked to be a wreck. "Uh...what's up? Something about to happen?"
Twilight's eyes locked onto Rainbow's. "What's happening is both princesses are visiting this evening. Everything needs to be perfect, and the six of us haven't been rehearsing what we'd say and....and where have you been?! " Twilight began to be even more flustered. "I've been so busy getting everything prepared for the princesses that I must not have noticed you were gone. Didn't Fluttershy tell you?"
"I've been busy at home. I couldn't come down to Ponyville for a few days, and you know how Fluttershy hates to visit me because of the height," Rainbow Dash told half of the truth. She wasn't being busy, she was being demented. "But anyway, here's the book back." She handed over the book and Twilight put it on the shelf with the rest of the series.
"Rainbow, Princess Celestia wants us to explain why our friendship is so strong and how our past has affected our elements of today," Twilight explained. "Can you manage a short speech before she and her sister arrives?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. She knew exactly how her element had been affected, but she didn't think she could explain it. "I'm on it. When do they get here?"
Music began to play and Rainbow had gotten her answer. In the distance she could make out the golden chariot against the now orange-purple shy. She and Twilight made their way to the town's square to greet the princesses. Celestia was tall and lanky, with an imperial white coat and a waving pastel mane. She seemed to be a living embodiment of the day. Her sister, Luna, reflected the night perfectly. She was a midnight blue alicorn, with a starry mane that flowed similar to her sister's. They both were emitting a regal presence, as any princess would.
"My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, are you and your friends prepared for this story on your elements?" Celestia asked once all the ponies had stood from their bows.
"Yes, Princess. We are." She shot a shaky glance to Rainbow Dash. "I would like to start off." So Twilight dove into a long winded speech about how her element had been affected by her need for learning. Next Rarity explained always recieving for being such a pretty filly and wanted to give back to her admires. Fluttershy about being bullied. Applejack didn't like the dishonesty that her schoolmates had used. Pinkie Pie about having a booor-ing childhood. Finally it was Rainbow's turn. She took a deep breath and began to speak.
"When I was a filly, I...I ran from something my family didn't run from. I abandoned th...." He voice cracked. She couldn't share this story. It was too scary to retell..."I'm sorry. I can't do this." She put out her wings and soared into the night. Tears welled in her eyes. She found a cloud away from the crowd and landed on it. Rainbow Dash pulled out the album. As she flipped through the pages, the happiness held within each photograph seemed to increase. She closed the book and placed her head down. She just wanted to lay there and rot, but that hadn't happened. She drifted off into something she hadn't had in a long time; a dreamless sleep.
Author's Note
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tZ1vBdqx6k this is the tune for the song
Some hours later, Rainbow Dash awoke on the same cloud. She felt refreshed, glad even that she didn't experience another night terror. Rainbow Dash then remembered she made a fool of herself in front of everypony, especially the princesses. She cursed herself and kicked the photo album out of frustration. It tumbled off of the cloud and began to plummet towards the ground. The cerulean pegasus put her talent to work and soared after it, desperate to catch it at all costs. She and the album stopped short of the ground as she wrapped her hoofs around it.
She let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Mom. I should have stayed there. Fought with you. Its all my fault..."
"Now, Rainbow Dash, you did your best." A familiar voice rang from behind her and Rainbow turned sharply. There stood the princess of the night, her mane still flowing with the stars dancing inside.
"Luna...?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosOhmygoshhOhmygosh...."
"I, are am here to help you feel comfort as your little orange filly friend had. What seems to be ailing you?"
"L-luna! Why are you here?"
"We will explain to you what I had to little Scootaloo, as princess of the night it is my duty to protect my subjects' dreams. I have manipulated your mind so you dreamless sleep would allow myself into your dreamscape. Again, what has been ailing you?" The midnight blue princess explained.
Rainbow pawed the ground. "Lately I remembered my family's death...How I had let them down, and all. I should have been twenty percent cooler and followed my siblings back down to our Mom."
"Do you know why you had that dreamless slumber? In your last nightmare you faced your fear head on, trying to make amends with yourself. Not everypony can do that without my intervention. This would be wonderful to weave in your speech for when you are ready to retell it to my sister and myself." Luna looked kind, the stars in her mane sparkling. It gave Rainbow Dash hope to do better.
Rainbow looked up. "Thank you, princess. I've got this now. You and the rest wait on me, I'll be there soon."
Rainbow Dash woke up for real and began flying full speed back to Ponyville. She landed in town square where everypony had been gathered before she had left. They had clearly went back inside, so she called out. It took a while, but finally everypony and the princesses had gathered once more.
"Hey, everypony! I'm going to give my speech now, and this time I'm totally going to stay for it." She smiled at Princess Luna before she began. "How has my loyalty been affected? Well, its been tested a lot. Especially because of something that had happened when I was younger...My family had been killed by a timberwolf. My mother had saved me from it, since I had thrown a rock to get its attention away from my brother. Not smart on my move, really. Anyway, she told me and my brother had flew up to Cloudsdale, but I guess he changed his mind and went back to help her. I didn't. I kept pushing on to find Dad. But by the time I found him, it was too late. Most of my family had been killed by the wolf, and from that day I promised to stay by my friends' sides. That's one of the main reasons I stood up for Fluttershy when those colts were bullying her. I remembered that she wasn't the best flier, unlike me, so when the timberwo- i mean boys attacked I decided to take her place and not re live the misery that I would have felt if I didn't do that. I guess you can say I made a major mistake by not staying with my family, but in a way its good too. I was dumped at flight camp by my dad and earned my cutie mark, as well as helping my friends earn their marks. I've done so many things I wouldn't have been able to do, simply because of that loss. It made me more loyal to the good ponies around me." She took a deep breath and looked at the ponies. They looked uncomfortable being around a pony with a sad speech like that. Princess Luna was the first to start clapping, and then her sister, the other elements and it spread like a plague. Everypony in town was capping for her.
She felt good knowing she faced this head on.
"So high in the clouds, we both do soar
Our love is so fluffy and strong as can be here
the sun kisses us
and wraps us in light
we've found our peace in this land, we've found our peace in this land
But the moon will come and replace the sun
The night will set in and diminish our fu-uh-un
The sun is gone, and the sky is dark
at least we have love to remember the day by."
Rainbow Dash taught this song to her friends and so they would sing it when feeling down or they needed to hear something to make them feel less worried. For the next few days Rainbow Dash spent her time flipping through the album, looking at every single photograph held within its covers. When she finally reached the back cover, she split her energy drink on it. Quickly, and frantically, Rainbow Dash flew down to her bathroom to find a towel. When she found one, she took it back to the attic and started pushing down hard on the corner, where the drink had been spilled. After doing all she could, Rainbow set the towel aside and looked at the damage done. The inside paper of the cover was peeling away, s Rainbow Dash sighed. That wasn't cool of her...or so she thought. Peeking from inside the cover she found a series of papers. It all ranged from the sheet music she and Spectrum had written to a letter placed neatly at the bottom.
To my Spectrum, Ink, and Rainbow,
Why would you lift up the cover page? Well, children, I'm glad you have at least. I don't know why
Rainbow Dash smiled and looked at a picture of her family. "You already have, Mom." She faced her fears head on, and found peace with her deepest troubles. Now she found a wonderful final scrap of her mother to hang onto. The rainbow-maned pegasus took the letter down to Ponyville to get a frame. Something awesome like that didn't deserve to be in a book. It was going next to her bed so she'd see it everyday. Now that would make the day twenty-percent cooler in ten seconds flat.
Author's Note
Gosh this chapter was so sappy and badddddd ;A; Oh well, I wrote half of this at around 2-3 AM, so I wasn't at my peak of writing. Thank you all for reading, commenting, favoriting, and watching me! It made my day logging on to FIMFiction and having my notifications blown up :P Glob I hope I can keep up with writing. I'll be re-writing another story of mine, so please read and tell me what ya think.
