Rainbow Dash took another step closer to the edge of the cliff; a few loose rocks crumbled away and fell to the bottom, as if demonstrating what she would soon be doing. Tears filled her magenta eyes as another memory came back to her, the one that had push-started her downward spiral into depression.
“My Precious Sunny Skies… I’m so sorry…”
6 months ago, Ponyville Maternity Ward
“Push! Miss Dash, you have to push harder!” Nurse Redheart was coaching Rainbow Dash through the birth process while her yellow pegasus friend, Fluttershy flitted about, handing various medical supplies to the nurse, and occasionally holding Dash’s hoof to give her the much needed support any mare needed during something like this.
The pregnant pegasus growled in frustration, pain, and irritation that she was being told what to do, even if it was Nurse Redheart’s job. “Well I’m giving her all I’ve got nurse! I’m a stunt pony, not a piston!” Rainbow Dash gripped Fluttershy’s hoof, which was beginning to turn red from the pressure on it. Fluttershy either had gone numb in that hoof by now, or was ignoring it for the sake of her friend.
“Rainbow Dash, I know it’s hard, but you have to give maybe 20% more effort. If you want I mean.. I can’t really.. Tell you what to do…” The timid, temporary nurse started to trail off, but quickly regained her resolve, she had to make sure Rainbow Dash stayed strong, and so she had to as well. “You can do it Rainbow Dash! I just know you can if you try just a teensy bit harder!”
With her face screwed up in pained concentration, the cyan mare drew in a deep breath, and pushed as hard as she could, almost screaming herself hoarse at the strain the Herculean effort put on her body, and suddenly, it was over.
The pain was still there, oh yes, that pain was going to stay for a while, but it was worth it. All the pain, the fatigue, the tears, and misguided swear words were worth getting to see her little filly. To see the bundle of joy she and her husband(under the threat of no pie for a month) had named Sunny Skies. She had to see her foal immediately, she couldn’t wait a second longer.
“Give her to me! Let me hold my daughter, please? Pleeeeeeeeeeease?” Dash practically begged Nurse Redheart, who still had her back to her. The nurse pony seemed to shaking, which Dash attributed to the awesome beauty Sunny Skies must have inherited from her equally, if not more so, awesome mother.
“Hey Nurse Redheart, I know Sunny’s beautiful, but she is my foal after all ya know.” Dash grinned, her forelegs outstretched to receive Sunny Skies. Fluttershy smiled softly at her excited antics, Dash was acting like a little filly getting a gift on Hearth Warming Day.
A sob was the only response she received from the medical mare. Still shaking, Nurse Redheart slowly turned to the pair, a small bundle of royal blue fur and feathers cradled in her forelegs.
“She… She’s……” the shaking, sobbing nurse couldn’t continue, so Fluttershy gently took the foal from her, the smile instantly shattering into pieces as she realized why the nurse had been crying.
“Fluttershy, what’s wrong, why the hay is she crying? Why won’t you let me have my baby? Fluttershy, please tell me what’s going on!” Rainbow Dash was becoming more and more impatient with every passing second. She couldn’t understand why the nurse was crying. She couldn’t understand why she didn’t have her daughter in her hooves, cooing to her and nuzzling her like any mother would do to their child.
“Oh Rainbow… It… It isn’t your fault… I promise you did everything right.. But your daughter… Sunny Skies…” Fluttershy was tearing up now, and she placed the cyan pegasus’ daughter into her trembling grasp.
“What isn’t my fault? Why are you two act-” Suddenly Dash understood, and it cut through her heart like a blade of ice. “No…” She whispered quietly, as if saying it as softly as she could would erase to chilling reality she was faced with.
Her daughter, her little filly, the bundle of joy that she had carried with her for so many months, her precious Sunny Skies, was dead.
The room was silent for several agonizingly slow seconds, and then it was as if a dam had burst and Rainbow Dash broke down.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOT MY BABY! NO! NO! NO! IT ISN’T TRUE! IT CAN’T BE! It c-can’t be Tr-tr-true….” Rainbow Dash wailed, tears flooded her eyes, and she hugged the now cold little body in her forelegs closer to her chest. “N-no.. Please… Please tell me this isn’t true… Fl-Fluttershy… Please…” She looked at the pegasus at her side with such a broken look in her eyes, Fluttershy couldn’t believe it was her.
“Rainbow Dash… I’m so sorry…” Fluttershy couldn’t finish her sentence, the pain in Dash’s eyes was cutting into her heart as well.
Waiting Room, Earlier
A small group of ponies was patiently waiting for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to return with the soon to be born foal. They were chatting idly to pass the time, gossiping about the whole ordeal and any surrounding details. The owner of the Carousel Boutique, Rarity, did most of this.
“Isn’t simply delightful? In just a few scant moments, our dear friend Rainbow Dash is going to be a proud mother! You know who she picked to be the godmother of her child, right?”
“No, Ah don’t believe she happened to mention that little detail to anypony, but Ah guess you weaseled it out, didntcha?” An orange farm pony asked, giving her mare friend a squinty-eyed look. The lavender unicorn to her side nodded.
“I wasn’t aware she told anypony, how did you know Rarity?” Twilight Sparkle looked at the white fashionista pony tiredly, as if the fact she knew a previously unknown fact were somehow annoying.
“OH! Maybe Rarity is a ninja pony! Then she could totally sneak around and gather clues and secrety secrets about secret stuff!” A bubbly pink earth pony exclaimed, bouncing in her chair before being silenced by a ring of purple aura that had bound and gagged her.
“Please Pinkie? Just this once can you calm down a little? It’s a hospital for crying out loud.” Twilight sighed in exasperation. “You were telling us about who Rainbow Dash asked to be Sunny Skies’ godmother?”
“Indeed! She asked” Rarity leaned in close to the others as if giving away top-secret information stolen from the Canterlot Archives. “Spitfire!” The other ponies gasped in shock. Well Twilight and Applejack did, Pinkie Pie just hummed and bulged her eyes in shock.
“Spitfire? Captain of the famous Wonderbolts Spitfire”
“Like, the Spitfire, the honest-to-goodness Spitfire? Well Ah’ll be a dragon’s mother!”
“Mpahlkalkdfjhs?”
Rarity smirked, reactions like these were what gossip was really all about. Shock and awe, seeing who could dish out the best dirt. “Precisely! Moreover, the juiciest part is, she accepted! She’ll be coming here soon to see her goddaughter. Speaking of ponies that should be here, where in Equestria are Soarin and Topsoil?”
Twilight shook her head smiling. “Honestly Applejack, I can’t believe Granny Smith was okay with you dating Rarity AND Topsoil.” Applejack blushed and turned away, muttering incoherently.
“Well, we all had a very long talk with Granny Smith about the matter darling, and after a few hours, I convinced that this beneficial for everypony. Topsoil can help out on the farm, I can bring in extra bits from the dress shop to help with the farm’s bills, and Applejack gets all the love and care she needs, one pony just isn’t enough some times Twilight.” Rarity winked at Twilight with a self-satisfied grin on her face.
“A-anyways, those two stallions are out havin’ a quick bite before they get here. Ah told them not to be late, or else Ah’d buck them halfway to Manehattan. Looks like somepony’s gettin’ free flight lessons.” Applejack growled with a hint of red tinting her face.
“I sure hope you don’t mean me Applejack, I’m pretty sure I’m innocent. Maybe, it’s still early, plenty of time to buck something up, am I right?” Called a confident and laid-back voice. The group of friends turned to see the owner of the voice, a warm, almost fiery orange pegasus.
“Spitfire, you made it!” Twilight waved at the captain of the Wonderbolts, inviting her over to a chair on the other side of her.
“Well I couldn’t leave Dash hanging, not since she asked me to be her filly’s godmother and all, ya know?” Spitfire took the offered seat and looked at the gathered group. “Where’s Soarin and Applejack’s stallion, Soiltop?”
“His name’s Topsoil sugarcube, and I ain’t too sure, we were waitin’ for’em to show up for awhile now.” Applejack said, looking out the window behind her seat. “Here they come now, insult a dog and he’ll come runnin’ every time!”
And true to her country saying, a blue pegasus and dark brown earth pony were gunning it for the hospital. A few seconds later, the pair slid through the doors and slammed into the check-in counter with a loud thudding noise.
“Ouch! I think I twisted my wing, are wings supposed to bend that way?”
“Get off me! Ah don’t need no third pony on my back, I get enough of that at home!”
After disentangling themselves from each other, Soarin and Topsoil made their way across the lobby over to the group of mares whose expressions ranged from bemused to amused to down right smoldering. Topsoil made an attempt to hide by pulling his hat down far over his eyes, leaving Soarin to take the full force of whatever was coming their way.
“You know, being fashionably late is only acceptable at parties, not when your wife is giving birth..”
“You two need to be more organized, I have a few books back at the library that could help you.”
“Ah’m gonna buck you two so hard, even the princesses are gonna say ‘DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!’ you hear me?”
“Mthys! Blpfhg, mfhf rmmgh rfetyjk? Bmmphr! Bmmmmmphrrrrr!”
“I can’t believe you Soarin, you’re a Wonderbolt, you should’ve been here like forever ago! And you Topsoil, what’s your excuse?”
Soarin flattened his ears and looked sheepish. “I’m here, that counts, right? Now can I go see my baby and my wife?” Spitfire, Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight all face hoofed. Pinkie just sort of wobbled around in her chair.
“GO!” They all shouted, earning them admonishments from the nurse at the counter.
Soarin took off down the hall, after checking which room she was in first. Wouldn’t want to get lost on the way, would he?
A few minutes later, the golden orange leader of the Wonderbolts stood up and sighed. “I better go check on him, he probably got lost on the way, and even if he didn’t, he’s not the most tact of ponies, ya know? He’ll probably say something stupid and get kicked to the couch for a month or something.” She trotted down the hallway Soarin had taken.
The Same Moment, Rainbow Dash’s Room
“No… She’s not… She can’t be… She’s just… Just sleeping, y-yeah, Sunny’s just sleeping… Right ‘Shy? Tell me she’s just sleeping ‘Shy, please…” The grief stricken mare looked pleading at her friend, a shadow of desperate hope glimmered in her magenta eyes, almost drowned out by the despair that had taken their usual luster away. Fluttershy lowered her head sadly, she couldn’t speak, nothing she could think of to say would help ease the pain Dash was feeling.
“Hey hey hey! How’s my beautiful wife and filly doing? Sorry I’m late, got lost on the way to hospital, not the room. That’d be stupid, right?” The door to the room had swung open and Soarin had trotted in with a big smile right up to Fluttershy, who was still looking at the ground while Rainbow Dash was still rocking gently in her bed, huddled over a wrapped bundle. “Whoa… Not what I expected, come on girls, lighten up! You don’t have to be jealous of little Skies good looks just cause she got’em from me.” Soarin laughed a little uncomfortably, the heavy atmosphere in the room didn’t feel quite right for something like this.
“I’ll g-go get the d-doctor…” Nurse Redheart hiccupped and shuffled out of the room. Soarin raised an eyebrow and nudged the yellow pegasus beside him, who hadn’t said anything at all since he had arrived.
“Yo Fluttershy, what’s going on, why’s everypony acting like somepony just died?” Soarin asked jokingly, trying to pout a positive mood back in the somber room. The effect was devastating and immediate.
Rainbow Dash froze up for a split second, tightened her grip on the bundle in her forelegs, and let a fresh cry of despair spill from her. “IT ISN’T FAIR! WHY? WHY CELESTIA? WHY DID YOU DO THIS?” Breaking down into hysterical sobs of anguish, Dash curled up protectively around her unmoving daughter, as if to protect her from the world as though it would bring her back if nopony else could get to her. Fluttershy turned slowly to Soarin and glared at him, the cold fury and tears in her eyes making him step back.
“You… You…” Fluttershy closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. “Sunny Skies is… She’s dead Soarin, and you just made it worse… I’m not trying to be mean, but I think you had best leave… Rainbow Dash doesn’t need somepony who just makes jokes… Not right now…”
“H-hey, I didn’t know, I was just- I mean I- Fluttershy, she’s my wife… I think I have more of a right to be here.” Soarin made to move closer when a hoof on his shoulder pulled him back. Soarin whipped around to see Spitfire shaking her head softly, a look of disapproval and understanding all at the same time on her face.
“Soarin, take Fluttershy back to your house, make sure everything’s ready for Rainbow Dash to come home, make sure she won’t have to put too much more stress on herself, I’ll stay here and make sure things don’t get to far out of control…”
Fluttershy walked out of the room, and Soarin trailed after her after giving one more apologetic look at his crying wife. “You’ll be okay Dash; I’ll be waiting for you.”
A stallion in a white coat trotted into the room and approached Rainbow Dash’s bed. “Miss Dash, I need to take your daughter’s corpse out of the room, we will provide a funeral, free of charge, so there is no need to worry.” He reached for the unborn foal and was instead given a mouthful of teeth from a growling cyan pegasus.
“You… You won’t take her away from me, she isn’t dead! Never say she’s dead! She c-can’t be! She isn’t!” Rainbow screamed at the doctor, tears running down her already matted fur. Spitfire came around to her other side and rubbed a hoof gently on her shoulder.
“Hey Dash, it’s me, Spitfire. You need to let go of the doctor first of all, and then you have to let him take Sunny. I swear on my honor as a Wonderbolt, they won’t do anything to her, I’d break all of their necks if they did, okay?” Spitfire didn’t push the issue and just continued her gently rubs until Rainbow Dash’s shoulder went slack and she gingerly held out the bundled up body of her daughter to the doctor who nodded gratefully at Spitfire and left the room with Sunny Skies.
“Mind if I stay with you for a bit Dash? We can talk or just lay here and you can think about whatever it you need to, sound okay?” Spitfire climbed in beside Dash after getting a slight nod from her. Spitfire wrapped her wing around the shaking pegasus. “You’re gonna be okay Dash, I know you will. You are the strongest, bravest pony I know. If anypony can make it through something like this, it’s you. I know you miss her already even though you never really got to know here, but you have to stay steady for your friends, for Soarin, for me…” Spitfire pulled Rainbow Dash closer and rubbed her shoulder soothingly.
“If you ever need me for anything, just say it, I’ll be there in a flash, alright? I’m part of your family now, even if I’m not anypony’s godmother, and I don’t let family down ever.”
Silence filled the room and Spitfire waited patiently to see if the morose mare she was comforting had anything she needed to say or ask. Rainbow Dash shuddered against her slightly and turned her head to look at her, her already rose-colored eyes reddened by crying.
“Wh… What did I do..? What did I do wrong..? Am I… Am I being punished for something..? Is that why… Is that why my Sunny Skies is dead..?” Dash croaked feebly, more tears welling in her eyes. Spitfire shook her head quickly and hugged Rainbow Dash to her chest.
“No, it wasn’t you. Don’t ever think you’re being punished with this, you’re a good pony and you haven’t done anything wrong at all, I swear. Some things just happen without a real reason, and we can’t stop them. I bet you that Sunny Skies is in pony heaven right now, flying through the clouds, and trotting on sunshine, living in skies just as sunny as you named her for.”
Rainbow Dash sniffed and wiped at her eyes then looked at Spitfire like a filly needing direction. “R-really? You… You think she’s happy there..? W-without m-me?” Spitfire smiled softly and stroked Dash’s mane in a comforting way.
“She’ll be happier if you keep going Dash, she’ll be watching her mom, looking for advice, even if you can’t tell her directly, you need to show her how amazing her mother is by being the fastest flier in Equestria, by showing her what to do from down here. She still needs you to teach her and love her Dash, don’t let her down.”
Present Day, Cliff Edge
Rainbow Dash sighed and wiped a tear from her eye.
“But I did… I let my baby down… All I could show her was how to cry like a broken pony… I showed her how to let sorrow take you and drag you down from the clouds…” She scuffed her hoof dejectedly against the ground sending a few pebbles tumbling down. “But I’ll make it up to her… I’ll go see my little Skies and tell her how sorry I am… I tell her how sorry I was for being a disappointing mother… For showing her how to reject friends who try to help… For driving her dad into the wings of another…”
Rainbow Dash swallowed bitterly, that was another hurtful memory. When Soarin came home that night with that strange mare, reeking of cider. When he told her he didn’t want to, no, couldn’t be with her anymore. The push she really needed to make the climb up to this cliff, the push she really needed to stand her and look at her mistakes, her pitiful life. To take another step closer to the edge and jump.
The betrayal of the one pony she loved more than any other.