When Dash woke the next morning, the first thing she did was listen. She didn’t know exactly what she was listening for, she just knew she didn’t want to walk out into a scene like the previous nights. Once she had satisfied herself that all was quiet, she stood and stretched, making sure not to wake Daydream who was still sleeping peacefully.
There was a soft knock at the door. Rainbow Dash winced as Daydream raised her head, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She yawned, exposing her tiny pink tongue and small white teeth.
“Come in!” Rainbow called out.
Rainbow Flash entered, smiling at the two fillies. “How are you this morning, darlings?”
Dash and Daydream shared a look. In that look, they promised they would keep last night to themselves. “It was fine!” Rainbow piped up, plastering a forced smile on her face. Daydream nodded enthusiastically, backing her up.
Their mom smiled back at them. “Great! And since I figured you two would be missing your sister, I planned a surprise. Go eat breakfast, and then we’ll be on our way.”
The two pegasi fillies dashed out to their small kitchen. They both gobbled down Hay-Tarts and zipped back to their mother. “We’re ready!” Rainbow Dash grinned, hopping up and down in anticipation.
“Oh, no you’re not”, Rainbow Flash laughed softly. “Look at your mane! You’re a mess. And, Daydream, your tail is a disaster. Go clean yourselves up, then we can go.” She smiled to herself as the two fillies raced off to do her bidding. They both reported back to her, practically shining. Flash raised a hoof to shield her eyes, pretending that they were blinding her. “Oh, my! You two are ready to go anywhere. How about we go see…the Wonderbolts?”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes expanded until they nearly filled her whole head, and her jaw dropped open. “The W-w-wonderbolts?!” She squealed in delight.
Daydream smiled at her mother. “Thanks, mom.”
Soon the small family was sitting in the fifth row, the two fillies bouncing up and down in their seats. Flash smiled at her two children. “Oh, look, they’re about to start!” A horn blasted out and five ponies in blue and yellow suits took their places at the starting line.
Rainbow leaned forwards, straining her neck. “Oh! Look, that’s Skyflier! And Cloudspinner! And, oo, oo, that’s Windy!” She pointed at each one with her hoof as she named them.
A sharp crack and the pegasi were off. Windy instantly took first place, keeping that lead throughout the entire race. When she won, the crowd erupted with noise, cheers ringing out everywhere.
Rainbow Dash leaped up, cheering and whooping and hollering so much that she didn’t notice her mom and Daydream were going to leave until Flash tapped her in the head with her wing. “Come on, slowpoke!” Daydream teased.
The crowd was large and Rainbow Dash wanted to take in everything about the place where she had personally seen the Wonderbolts. Eventually, she slowed, looking around her. She didn’t notice when Daydream and Rainbow Flash pulled ahead in the crowd. She didn’t notice when she became utterly lost. The next time she looked ahead the crowd was as thick as ever, and her mom wasn’t in sight. “Mom!” she screamed frantically. “MOMMY!” The filly desperately tore through the crowd, stumbling and tripping, tears streaming down her face.
None of the pegasi around her paid her any attention. They just walked right on by, ignoring her cries.
“So, Dashie, did you like the race?” Rainbow Flash asked. She waited for a reply. And waited. And waited. “Dashie?” Turning, she realized she couldn’t see her daughter anywhere. “DASHIE! RAINBOW DASH!” she screamed frantically.
Daydream, startled and panicked by their mother’s frenzied voice, began to cry.
Rainbow Flash plucked Daydream off of the clouds by the nape of her neck, tossing her onto her back. “Wrap your hooves around my neck and don’t let go”, she commanded sternly, spreading her wings. With a few beats she was off the ground, soaring above the crowd, scanning it for her little filly.
The missing pegasus was still racing through the crowd, getting under hooves and tripping up more than a few ponies. She turned her head from one side to the other, eyes flicking over every pony in the crowd. Dash smacked into something small and furry and both fillies went flying. When she stood up, she came face to face with a tiny, long-legged yellow pegasus filly with light pink mane and tail.
“Sorry”, the new pegasus whispered, covering one eye with her mane.
Rainbow Dash’s frightened eyes met the green eyes of the new filly. “Help me. I can’t find my mommy.” She started to cry even harder, tears spilling unchecked down her face.
“I’m Fluttershy”, Fluttershy said softly, responding instinctively to a creature in distress. She extended her small wing, draping it as best she could over Dash’s back. “Where was the last place you saw your mommy?” she asked in a soothing voice.
“R-row five”, Rainbow Dash said, wiping her eyes with the back of a hoof.
The two fillies got to their hooves, threading their way through the crowd, back to row five. When they got there, a very frazzled Rainbow Flash and a still crying Daydream met them.
All three embraced, Flash holding Dash as close as she possibly could. “Don’t you dare ever do anything like that again, do you hear me? I was so scared!”
Fluttershy melted wordlessly back into the crowd, not wanting to interrupt.
Rainbow Flash wiped Rainbow Dash’s eyes gently. “Come on. Let’s get back home. It’s been a long day.”
The two fillies fell asleep almost instantly when they got home. Rainbow Flash closed their door quietly.