Rainbow's Redemption

by AstonMartinLover

Whiteout

Chapter 9: Whiteout

The path had opened up. The Everfree forest became plains. The ground had become frozen from the chill.

Rainbow Dash couldn't understand it. A month ago, temperatures had been scorching. Now, in the middle of summer, snow had begun to fall.

Scootaloo was starting to shiver from the chill. Rainbow was too, but she took care to hide it.

"Rainbow? Can I take a break?"

Rainbow fake moaned. "Fine. Take a break. I'll scout ahead."

She continued trotting along the path, keeping an eye on the resting Scootaloo. They had come across a bush filled with delicious berries. So for now hunger was not an enemy.

But boredom was. The Everfree forest kept going on and on. Finding these open plains was a relief.

Suddenly a vortex appeared before Rainbow Dash. Princess Celestia touched down before her.

Rainbow Dash prepared to bow, then stopped, remembering her lack of allegiance.

Celestia stepped forward. "Rainbow Dash. Do not be alarmed."

"Don't be alarmed? I know why you're here! You want to drag me back to Ponyville in chains!"

"No I don't..."

"I can't believe you did that to me! I DIDN'T DO IT! Do you not believe that?"

Celestia nodded. "I do now."

Rainbow Dash paused. "You-You do?"

"Yes. And now I want you back Rainbow Dash. I made a grave mistake. I believe Discord has escaped. And he's targeted you."

Rainbow's mouth gaped as she remembered the dream. Celestia noticed the expression on her face. "You have something you wish to tell me?"

Rainbow shook her head. "No. No it's nothing. Why are you here again?"

"I want you back." The princess repeated.

Rainbow laughed. "You want me...back? I never left. You left me. In a prison cell. If I hadn't broken out, I'd be in there for life."

Celestia kneeled down to the pegasus. "I know. I made a mistake. But your element of loyalty must be called into service. In case Discord has indeed returned."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Forget it. I'm done with Equestria. And I'm done with you. Besides I don't have the element."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"

"No. It uh...it's gone. Turned to dust. I guess loyalty just isn't my thing anymore."

Celestia was speechless. "I guess...I guess we've lost then. If we can't unite the elements..."

Rainbow Dash thought about her dream. "Look Princess. I...kinda lied when I said I didn't have anything to tell you."

Celestia smiled understandingly. "And that is?"

Rainbow shook her head. "I'm not gonna be useful for you. Discord is already in my head. He was in my dreams last night."

"Did you relive your memories in the dream?" Celestia inquired.

"Yes. Of my birth. Discord was in the dream."

Celestia nodded. "Yes. He's done this before. He entered Luna's mind thousands of years ago. It wasn't until we defeated him that the memories stopped."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "I'm sorry Princess. But I have to go my own way now."

"I know you feel betrayed..." Celestia began.

"I don't feel betrayed. I feel mistrusted. I didn't know that you thought me capable of this. But since you do, I gotta walk away."

Celestia sighed. "I can respect that. Goodbye my once loyal subject. Good luck on your travels."

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yep. You too."

"And one more thing." Celestia said. "Discord will try to drive you insane. It's what he did to Luna. Some could argue...it worked."

Rainbow Dash thought deeply. "Nightmare Moon..."

"Don't let it happen to you Rainbow Dash. Toughen your mind. You cannot let him win."

With a flash Celestia was gone. Rainbow Dash went back to Scootaloo.

"C'mon. Let's get moving. We have a lot of ground to cover."

Scootaloo got up with only a little winging, and their journey continued. It had begun to snow. And the snow seemed to thicken quickly.

Celestia arrived in the cave. She looked around, immediately ready for combat. The cave was empty. Her guards were gone.

Discord, frozen in rock, was not here. Her worst fears were confirmed. Discord was free. Suddenly a laughter rang through the cave.

"Discord? Show yourself!" Celestia shouted.

"Oh but why princess? When that would work so well to your advantage. I think I'll stick to the shadows for now."

"I know what you're up to Discord. I know how you set up Rainbow Dash. I know all of it."

"Oh do you know?" Discord inquired scornfully. "Well I guess the jig is up. Time to turn myself in. My plan has failed." More laughter.

"Not a bad idea Discord. I don't want to have to hurt you."

"Oh? Does the Princess suddenly care about what happens to poor Discord? You could've mentioned that before freezing me in STONE!"

Celestia rolled her eyes. "Look Discord. This will all be made easier if you surrender now."

"How about you?" Discord shot back. He suddenly appeared from the shadows and fired a green gas at Celestia. It enveloped her.

She looked down in horror as her hoof turned to stone. The rock began spreading up her legs.

"Oh Celestia. You are soon to learn it is not the most...fun way to spend an eternity."

"You can't win Discord. Order will prevail!" As she spoke these valiant words, the rock enveloped her head. She stood, petrified in the stone.

Discord laughed heartily and began dancing around the statue.

"I trapped Celestia! I trapped Celestia!" He sang. "Alright minions! Equestria is now defenseless! It's time to take over!"

The rock army began the march towards Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash continued charging through the now thick snow. It was turning into a blizzard. Scootaloo was struggling behind her.

"Rainbow? Could we stop for a second?"

"No. If we stop we'll freeze." Rainbow snapped back.

Scootaloo groaned and stomped her foot into the ground. Rainbow snapped.

"Why did you come on this trip?" She demanded.

"Why are you being such a tool?" Scootaloo shot back. Rainbow was slightly stunned. It was the first time Scootaloo had really fired back at her for anything.

"Well...I wasn't planning on taking a whining baby with me!" She shouted back.

"I am not a whining baby! You're just a jerk! I'm done with this!" She turned and stormed back towards the forest.

"What do you think you're doing? You'll freeze out there!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "GET BACK HERE SQUIRT!"

She stormed off after the filly. "I said get back here!"

"YOU'RE NOT MY MOM!" Scootaloo shouted back. "Not even close. I can't believe you were my hero."

Rainbow Dash halted as these words hit her. Scootaloo turned and continued trudging through the snow.

"Fine! Freeze to death! See if I care!" Rainbow shouted. She blew her mane out of her face and trotted away.

Rainbow winced as the wind hit her bandages. Her wing was still in quite a large amount of pain. The chill made it worse. But this did not pain her as much as her thoughts for Scootaloo.

"What do I care? I didn't want her to come on this trip anyway. She was in over her head from the beginning." Rainbow growled to herself. "She's been nothing but a pain in my flank since day one. But...she is just a filly. And...I'm her hero? Well I mean I know I'm pretty awesome but...why wouldn't she just tell me something like that?"

She stopped walking. She shook her head. "No. No. This is my journey. I gotta make this one solo."

She continued walking for about ten minutes. With every step, the guilt grew.

As she prepared to advance she turned and ran back towards the forest.

"For the love of pete...HEY SQUIRT!" She shouted. "SCOOTALOO! I'M SORRY ALRIGHT? COME ON OUT! IT'S NOT SAFE OUT THERE!"

She saw the little hoofprints in the ground. She followed them off of the path.

Her heart began beating madly. She felt fear rise in her heart. She tried to ignore it, but she was terrified for the filly

The walk was far too long. Rainbow couldn't move quickly. The snowflakes hit her with the force of a sonic barrier. Her body slowed down, and her thought process did too.

But fear is a powerful emotion. And she continued onwards into the snow, following the rapidly fading hoofprints of the filly. "Oh Celestia, tell me she's okay."

A look ahead confirmed her fear.

She gasped. Scootaloo had collapsed into the snow. She was shaking violently from the cold.

"Scoots!" Rainbow Dash rushed over to her. "Scoots can you hear me?"

Scootaloo did not respond.

"Come on!" Rainbow Dash put her ear against her chest. "Oh come on. Come on."

There was a steady heartbeat. She felt the filly's head. She was burning up. A fever. How could she not have checked for it sooner?

"Oh yeah. I was being a tool." Rainbow grumbled. She laid down next to the shaking filly. "C'mon Squirt. C'mon. Listen to me."

Rainbow shivered in the freezing cold. Visibility was almost nonexistent now. The plains was in a whiteout. Rainbow grabbed the shaking filly and embraced her, so as to share her body heat. She rubbed the filly's back desperately trying to keep her warm.

"C'mon. It's gonna be okay. We can make it through this squirt. Just hang in there."

The filly's eyes slowly opened. "R-Rainbow Dash?" She managed weakly.

Rainbow Dash smiled. She felt the cold exterior that had formed in prison slowly melt away. She felt a warmth deep in her heart as she saw the signs of life appear in the filly's eyes.

"Hey! How you feelin?"

Scootaloo shivered. "I...I feel really cold Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash nodded, sniffling. "Yeah. I know. I'm gonna try and keep you warm okay?"

"Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah squirt?"

Scootaloo shed a tear. "Are you mad at me?"

Rainbow Dash smiled and shook her head. "No. No of course not. You were right. About everything. I was being a tool."

Scootaloo looked up at her. Her eyes were misting up with tears.

"Rainbow? Am I gonna die?"

Rainbow Dash was taken aback by the question. Such a grown up question from such a little filly.

When she had been a filly, death had been a mythical object. It was never discussed in the household. It wasn't until it struck that Rainbow had discovered it's terrible reality.

This filly had seen death in the past, Rainbow figured.

She touched her head to Scootaloo's. "Of course not Squirt. You're gonna be just fine. I won't leave your side. Promise."

Scootaloo smiled weakly. "Pinkie promise?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

They settled down, trying to keep warm as the snow whipped around their heads.

"Hey Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah?"

"If I make it through this, will you teach me how to fly?"

Rainbow Dash thought about the ways she could say no. But no reason to refuse a sick filly's wish.

"Sure squirt. I'll try. It's gonna be hard. Having a broken wing and all."

"That's okay." Scootaloo said. Her eyes closed. She dozed off.

Rainbow Dash felt for a heartbeat. She was alive. Just sleeping now.

She realized she was shaking. Not from the cold. From fear. And not for herself. For the filly.

"Oh Celestia. Please don't turn me all sappy." She groaned. She laughed at herself. But the laugh was empty. This wasn't over yet. She clutched the sleeping filly tighter to her chest.

"Hang in their squirt. Please."

Despite the noisy wind and snow whipping around her head, Rainbow Dash eventually dozed off.

15 years earlier

An alarm clock began ringing. Rainbow Dash slammed her tiny hoof down on the snooze button. She prepared to go back to sleep. Her door slammed open.

"Alright. I heard an alarm. Get your flank outta bed."

The sleepy filly moaned. "C'mon daddy. I didn't get any sleep last night."

Lightning Dash nodded sarcastically. "Uh huh. I don't suppose that had anything to do with all the candy I found missing this morning huh? No of course not. Get up."

Rainbow Dash stumbled out of the bed. "What time is it?"

Lightning Dash poured a bucket of ice water on the filly's head. "Wakey Wakey eggs and bakey. Now get movin let's go."

Rainbow Dash screamed and bolted through the house. Lightning Dash smiled.

"The things you gotta do to wake up youngsters these days."

Rainbow Dash rubbed a towel on her soaking wet mane. Lightning trotted into the kitchen. She was shivering from the ice water.

"Now this is what alarm clocks are for. So we don't have to do something like that."

Rainbow Dash pouted at him. Lightning rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on. How are you gonna get faster than me if I don't push you huh? Don't give me that look."

Rainbow Dash continued pouting. "Hey. Squirt. C'mon. We gotta go train."

"I don't wanna train." Rainbow Dash whined. "I'm tired."

Lightning shrugged. "Have it your way." He reached into the fridge for another bucket of water.

Rainbow Dash smiled nervously. "You know what I feel like doing? Training!"

Lightning patted her on the head. "Good girl. Go out there and get started."

Rainbow Dash ran out the front door onto their cloud yard.

Lightning came out with a timer. He had set up an obstacle course of cones.

"Alright. Clocks running. Let's get some running."

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"How is this gonna help me fly?" The filly asked.

Lightning Dash sighed. "Look sweetheart. You gotta crawl before you can walk. You gotta walk before you can run. And you gotta run before you can fly. Now get running."

Rainbow Dash had run the courses. Done the workouts. Now the ultimate test.

Lightning had suspended his flying goggles from a line hanging a good ten feet in the air.

"Alright squirt. This is it. Take your time, don't wanna hurt yourself."

The pint sized filly took a deep breath. "I got this daddy."

Lightning laughed. "We'll see."

Rainbow stretched out her stubby legs and fledgling wings. She let out a tiny growl and lunged forward.

Her wings began beating frantically. She let out a groan as she ran along the ground. She began to lift off.

Lightning ran after her. "C'mon Dashie! You know you're the best there is! Now prove it!"

Dashie opened her eyes. She looked down and saw that she was a good five feet off the ground. She let out a tiny yelp. Her wings snapped in and she fell to the hit the cloud hard.

Lightning stomped his hoof. "SO CLOSE!"

"How bad is it doc?" Lightning asked.

"Nothing serious. Some scrapes and cuts. No long term damage."

The doctor handed Rainbow Dash a lollipop. She grinned and began panting like a puppy.

Lightning grabbed the lollipop. "Sorry doc. No candy for her. Not till she flies."

Rainbow Dash moaned. The doctor gestured to Lightning.

They talked outside the office.

"Look...Lightning Dash is it? I understand what you're trying to do. You're trying to motivate her. But...I don't wanna lecture you..."

"Spit it out doc." Lightning said.

"Well...she's seven years old. She's still very young. I think you may be pushing her...just a bit too hard."

"Do you have a child doc?" Lightning asked.

"Well...no but that's not..."

"Then you don't know. You let me raise my daughter my way. Stick to your textbooks egghead."

He turned to go back into the room. "Oh. By the way. Have you ever heard of a pegasus who still can't fly at age seven?"

The doctor thought a moment. "Well...no but I'm sure..."

"Exactly. So I don't have a choice. I gotta push her harder."

Lightning trotted in. "How you feeling baby?" He asked.

Rainbow Dash smiled. "I feel great! Let's try again!"

Lightning Dash shook his head. "Not today. Besides. I've decided to enroll you in flight camp."

Rainbow Dash's face fell. "But...I thought you were gonna teach me."

"Yeah. I thought so too. But I know the trainers at flight camp well. They'll teach you pretty fast." He showed a pained expression. "Maybe even faster than...I can." His ego was not one to say such a thing easily.

Little Rainbow felt crushed. Her father was her hero. Her mentor. He was everything she wanted to be, and more. And now, her hero was passing the teaching duties to someone else. Her ears flattened.

"I'm sorry I can't fly daddy. I really tried this time."

Lightning nodded. "I know sweetheart. Just...try harder."

Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open. The snow had stopped falling. There was white snow on the ground as far as she could looked around, delirious for a few moments. "D-Daddy?"

But he wasn't here. She looked down at Scootaloo. She was still warm, and still breathing. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. She lay with the sleeping filly, shielding her face from the snow for about an hour.

Later, the filly's eyes slowly opened. She smiled. "Hey Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash smiled back. "Hey squirt. Welcome back. You had me worried there."

Scootaloo yawned. "I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have come. I just slow you down."

Rainbow Dash laughed and shook her head. "No no no. Are you kidding? I can't fly anywhere anyway." She gestured to her bandages. "Look. You told me if you made it, that you wanted me to teach you how to fly. Did you mean it?"

Scootaloo beamed, her youthful enthusiasm shining through her weakened state. "Really? You'll teach me?"

Rainbow Dash smiled. "As best I can from the ground. Sure."

Scootaloo hugged Rainbow Dash hard. "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!"

Rainbow Dash was taken aback by the filly's reaction, but after an awkward pause, hugged her back. "No problem squirt."

They lay there together in the snow desperately trying to get warm.

"So uh...Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah? What's up squirt?" Rainbow Dash said through chattering teeth. The filly was still burning up from the fever.

"I had a nightmare last night." She said softly.

Rainbow Dash looked at her, unsure of what to say. She figured to keep the filly talking, at least to keep her from fading away.

"You uh...you want to talk about it?"

Scootaloo looked up at her. "Well...do you care?"

Rainbow Dash winced at these harsh words. "I DO care. I know I was kinda...well...a jerk to you before. But I'm here for you now, okay?"

Scootaloo stared hesitantly at her. "I mean...you'll probably find it really boring..."

"No no come on." Rainbow prodded. "Tell me."

Scootaloo sighed. "My mommy and daddy got really sick. The doctors took me away from them. I never saw them again. I mean...they're probably gone. But...I never went to any funeral. Well..there was one. And my whole family went. But...I didn't."

Rainbow Dash looked down at the filly, and marveled at the pain this youngling must carry around with her every day.

"I just...I don't know why. I just figured if I didn't go, and I didn't see them, lying there, then they wouldn't really be gone. You know?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah. I know."

"And...well...they were in my dreams last night. And...they were so disappointed with me. They said I was a failure. They said I was a bust who would never fly, and that I was wasting their lives."

Rainbow Dash felt a tear come to her eye. This was a story she knew all too well. She hugged the filly a little tighter. She knew she had to pull her out of this mood. "Hey. Chin up squirt. As soon as you get better, you're gonna be flying."

Then she saw a beautiful thing. She saw the same sad, depressed, sickly eyes of her companion, suddenly light up with enthusiasm.

"Really? You really think I can do it?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Hey. With me as your teacher, anything's possible."

Comments

[shardfff]

this shit just real

[tubaguy]

shit continues to just completely abuse the fuck

[Shadow Scryer]

"Once loyal subject"? Erm, Celes does know it's ultimately her and the other fives fault for completely disregarding Dashies pleas and treating her like a traitor without listening to her side of the story right? I'm silently praying her statue's destroyed before she she can be freed.

[MAHLITTLEPONY]

"You can't win Discord. Order will prevail!" As she spoke these valiant words, the rock enveloped her head. She stood, petrified in the stone.

Sad. Just sad. Wow Celestia