Links in a Chain

by Touch the Sky

Broken Rainbows

Rainbow Dash skimmed over Sweet Apple Acres, her eyes welling up at the thought of all she had lost. She was the last of the Elements of Harmony, all of the others had died, one after the other. She thought of the five gravestones in the Ponyville cemetery, markers of where her five friends lay.

Big Macintosh glanced up from his work as the brightly-coloured pegasus flew over, then averted his eyes. The sight of Applejack's friend was too painful for him to bear.

Rainbow continued, her wings flapping in a deadbeat. She felt so miserable that she couldn't even contemplate performing any stunts. Wheeling around, she decided to return to Cloudsdale and sleep. Things, she mused, were always a little brighter after sleep.

However, as she flew over Ponyville, she heard a cry from below.
"Rainbow Dash! Hey, Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow looked down and spotted Scootaloo running along below her. Rainbow sighed, but swooped down to land beside the orange filly.

"I'm really sorry about Applejack and the others." said Scootaloo. "It must be awful losing your friends like that."
Rainbow almost poured her heart out to the young pegasus, but managed to maintain a brave face.

"Speaking of which, where are your friends, squirt?"
"Oh." said Scootaloo dejectedly. "Sweetie Belle's really cut up about Rarity- she's been crying over every scrap of fabric with Rarity's perfume on it, and she hasn't left the boutique since the funeral. Applebloom... well, the wound's still so fresh. I wouldn't be surprised if she's sobbing her heart out over a tree with Applejack's hoofprints on it." (Which, incidentally, is exactly what Applebloom was doing at that precise moment.)

"Ah, it's okay, squirt. Rarity and Applejack were their family, ya know? They should be upset." Rainbow pulled her face into a smile, and remembering Fluttershy's letter, said, "Hey, wouldn't suppose you fancy a few flying lessons with me, huh?"
Scootaloo jumped a few feet in the air. "Would I!"
Though her heart was still heavy, Rainbow had to smile at Scootaloo's raw enthusiasm.

*****************************************************************************
"Here we are." Rainbow Dash landed neatly in a wide open field on the outskirts of Ponyville.
Scootaloo jumped off Rainbow's back. "But there's nothing here."
"Precisely. When you're learning to fly, you have to fly close to the ground, so you don't fall too far if something goes wrong. Now, I'm going to give you some momentum, and then we'll see if you can glide."

Rainbow carefully helped Scootaloo stretch her wings in preparation, and then showed Scootaloo the correct wing position for gliding.

Rainbow took off, circled around and then scooped up the filly with her front hooves. She flew a few feet above ground, then flew in a straight line, letting go of Scootaloo as she went. The filly extended her small wings and as the forward momentum carried her on, she yelled, "I'm flying, I'm flying!"
After a few seconds however, the momentum started to peter out, and Scootaloo buzzed her wings in an attempt to regain it, but to no avail- she fell with a thud to the ground. Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, she struggled to her feet just as Rainbow Dash scooped her up again for another try.

After a few days Scootaloo mastered gliding and Rainbow began to train Scootaloo as she had trained the pegasi on Tornado Day in order to strengthen their wings. Rainbow teared up at the rush of Fluttershy memories the training brought, but kept the flow hidden from her young trainee.
When Scootaloo's wings were strong enough, Rainbow showed Scootaloo how to move her wings for flight. Scootaloo's hummingbird-like buzzing was nowhere near sufficient enough to hold her body weight, and could not be kept up for long.
Instead, Rainbow displayed the ellipse motions the wing tips needed to make, which, though they seemed alien at first, would soon come naturally.

Training Scootaloo took Rainbow's mind away from her friends for a few weeks, but when the filly could finally fly independently, Rainbow no longer needed to coach her and fell back into her misery. So it was that the day Scootaloo gained her long-sought cutie mark, she also lost her idol and mentor.

It was a stormy day when Scootaloo flew up to join Rainbow Dash on a rain cloud high above the ground.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cried. "I bet I can beat you in a race to the other side of Ponyville!"

Deep in Rainbow Dash's crushed spirit, a spark of competition flared into life. "You're on, squirt."
Rainbow and Scootaloo stood on the cloud, wings raised, waiting. A flash of lightning in the distance, and the race began.
Rainbow quickly took the lead, but then was surprised as Scootaloo's lighter frame shot past her on an updraft.
"See you at the finish line!" yelled Scootaloo, and then Rainbow saw the danger.

Rainbow zoomed forward and shoved Scootaloo aside. Scootaloo's cry of indignation was lost in the consequent crackle of lightening, and Rainbow blacked out.

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes. She was falling, but though she tried to stretch out her wings one would not respond, and she fell through the rain, her mane and tail leaving her trademark faint rainbow. She saw a flash of orange, heard Scootaloo call her name, saw the desperate face of the orange filly as she tried to catch up to her falling hero, there was a boom- then a moment of horrible pain, and then - nothing.

Rainbow Dash eventually woke, and saw five faces she had thought not to see again. Her friends and fellow Elements were smiling at her.
"Guys!" Rainbow gasped. "You're alive? But..."
Twilight was shaking her head ruefully. "No, Rainbow. I'm sorry, we are indeed dead."
"Then..." Rainbow swallowed. "I'm dead too?"
Rarity nodded. "But it had to happen, darling. After Fluttershy died, the Elements broke. A new six had to take them up, and for that to happen, the Elements had to break their bonds with us."
"But... that isn't fair!" burst out Rainbow. "We had other things to live for! Applejack, Rarity, your families, especially your little sisters, they're lost without you! And I taught Scootaloo how to fly... then I fell, struck by lightning when I pushed her out of the way."
Applejack looked sad. "I know the Apples'll miss me, but ah had another calling. Applebloom... well, she'll recover. We're hardy, we Apples."
Rarity agreed. "Sweetie Belle will miss me, but she'll learn to move on."
"Dashie, we know about Scootaloo, we were watching!" chimed Pinkie.
"Speaking of Scootaloo, she got her cutie mark trying to save you." said Twilight.
"Really? What is it?" said Rainbow, suddenly feeling proud of her trainee.
"A lightning bolt."

Author's Note:

Last one. The next chapter is the epilogue.

Comments

[Crystal Moon]

Noooo. All of them are gone now!?

[Nightingale28]