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A Dream of Flight989 words
Clouds of Reminiscence1,634 words
I Was Always There...1,358 words
Alt. ending: She Would be Proud.2,071 words

I Was Always There...

I was Always there...

Dash sobbed as she woke up in a shock. She shook her head to gain some focus. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she slowly began to see the various shapes of her bedroom.

She released a groan as she fought her way out of the bed; the pain in her back was unbearable, making the slightest action tough. She slowly walked over to her bedroom window, her hooves echoing on the wooden floor as they hit in their uneven pace. Nothing else could be heard in her house.

Her tired eyes glanced out of her bedroom window. The moon lit up Ponyville in a beautiful shade of blue. Some small crickets flew around, making faint chirps every now and then.

Dash sighed and turned around into her room. She looked into the mirror, inspecting her light blue coat; it shone bright in the dim light from the moon. Her eyes wandered over the mirror until she stared right into them. They started to fade in color; a patch of dark blue fur had grown under them a long time ago. Ever since she took Scootaloo out for a flight, she had had the same dream, every night. She hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep since then.

Her eyes wandered over to her right wing; after the accident, it had been bent out of shape. Dash flinched as she tried flapping it; no movement, just pain. A tear hit the floor as she walked over towards her bed.

Dash grabbed a wool pouch that hung on the bed stand and put it over her wing. Twilight had made it especially for her so she could fold her wing close to her body. Without it, her wing would stay in the crooked shape it had. She winced as she tightened the pouch; it hurt, but only for a moment.

Dash grabbed her ragged coat as she left her bedroom and went into the living room. The moon lit up her house, its light falling through the windows and making small squares of bright colored wood. The rest of her house was darkened; she saw only contours of her furniture. It was nothing much, just a couch and a few chairs. Applejack and the rest of her friends built this for her in Ponyville when Dash wasn’t able to fly up to her house in Cloudsdale. It was small, but it had everything she needed.

Over her fireplace hung a picture of her and Scootaloo. It had been taken some time ago, in the spring, when Dash finally agreed to join Scootaloo for the Sisterhooves Social. Scootaloo had become overjoyed, even if they didn’t win; she was determined to get a picture of that day. In the picture they both smiled, while Scootaloo held the second place ribbon proudly in front of the camera.

A faint thud could be heard as Dash closed the door to her house. The small house stood on the outskirts of Ponyville, forcing Dash to walk a little bit to get where she wanted. After a short walk down the hill from her house, she had to take a small break; her back was aching. From where she sat, she could see the faint lighting that was on in Ponyville at this hour. Dash sighed and flinched as she stood up again. Her back needed an adjustment from Fluttershy again. Right now, every step she took hurt.

Even though she wasn't feeling well, she liked to walk at night; it left her alone with her thoughts while she listened to everything the night had to offer. The trees from Everfree forest creaked and cringed as the nocturnal beasts slithered through them. A little group of fireflies danced around the road. As Dash walked through the flies, they started to glow more intensely. The dim light from the small group of fireflies crept under her hood and reflected in her eyes. She followed the playful dance of the fireflies with an enraptured stare.

Dash shook her head. She needed to be somewhere, somewhere important.

After a short while, she reached Ponyville, and a thin layer of fog had embraced the thin stone roads. As Dash walked on downwards, she felt like she was walking on clouds again, only for her illusion to be punctured with every hollow sound of her hooves.

As Dash walked by Ponyville’s school a small gust of wind hit her face, dragging her hood back a little. Dash smiled; she missed the feeling of wind blowing through her mane more and more as the days went by. She stood still for some time, watching the empty schoolyard, reminiscing on how many times she had lain on a cloud, watching Scootaloo play with her friends or doing different things to earn her cutiemark. Or the times Scootaloo had been sitting up on the small hill in the schoolyard, looking up at the sky. Dash bit her lower lip as she thought of how many times she had the chances to tell her, but was too afraid…

Rainbow Dash sighed as she started to walk towards a small valley behind the Apple Family’s orchards. The entrance to the valley lay thick with vegetation, almost hidden. The insides of the valley were stripped of almost all vegetation, just a few flowers and small trees left standing. The ground tilted downwards to form a crater; in the center of it stood a single tombstone, covered with dead flowers from earlier visits.

She sat still in front of the stone for a short while, looking around the valley. The damage from her crash was still very much there. Some plants started to come back, but mostly it was bare. Dash placed a bright red rose in front of the tombstone; it shone up strong next to the dead flowers that lay there from before.

“Well... I’m back. I couldn't sleep tonight either. Yeah, the same dream as everytime I come to visit. You must think I’m crazy to come here almost every single night, even if I barely can walk sometimes.”

A gust of wind made its way through the small entrance to the valley. The flowers that lay in front of the tombstone got caught in the wind; they whirled up and landed in different spots in the valley.

Dash tried to grab the flowers before they flew away. She let out a small scream as she forgot her back pain. It jolted in her like a knife running down her spine. She bit her teeth together as a tear pressed forth and trickled down her chin.

“Yeah, my back hurts a lot, and would you believe it if I said I can’t fly anymore?” Dash let out a small chuckle as she heard the irony in what she just said. “I don’t regret it, though, even if the only thing I managed to do was to crash into the ground right after you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't give it my all trying to save you.”

Dash sat still in the wind, feeling it flutter her cloak back and forth. She gasped for air, struggling to continue her thoughts. “Listen...” Tears streamed freely down her chin. “I need you to know... I didn't mean to... I didn’t want it to end this way...”

Dash sat in the valley for the rest of the moonless night. As the sun rose up to hit the entrance of the valley, it cast a gleaming beam of light onto the tombstone. She leaned forward a little so she could kiss the engraved part of the stone. She whispered silently to herself.

”I was always there for you... Just a little afraid, that’s all it was.”

As the light hit it, the details of the engraving became easier to see. A braid of small roses circled around some delicate letters.

*~*~*~*

Here lies Scootaloo Dash.

“Even though I didn't show it, you gave me pride and joy. May you now rest in peace.”

Love

Your mother

Rainbow Dash.

*~*~*~*

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