Rainbow Dash wandered around her house not sure what she was trying to do. She walked into her bedroom and glanced at the black dress Rarity had made for her to wear today. She walked over to the dress and picked it up with a hoof, feeling the light fabric as it slid over her hoof and back onto the bed. She looked up at the nightstand next to her bed to see a picture frame face down on the stand. She slowly walked over and picked it up and looked at it sadly.
Rainbow Dash was giving happy orange filly a hug with one leg around her neck. She felt a familiar feeling crawling up into her throat as her vision started to become blurry, “Scootaloo,” she started to shake as her emotions began to take over again. She sat down on the edge of her bed and pulled the picture against her chest and started crying, “Scootaloo, why did you…”
“Rainbow Dash?” A voice called from the hallway.
A stallion that looked similar to Rainbow Dash peeked his head into her room. When he saw that she was crying, he hurried over to her and wrapped his hooves around her, “it’s ok baby,” he whispered to her softly as she howled loudly, burying her face into his chest.
Rainbow Dash hiccuped several times as she choked back the tears before she attempted to speak, “Daddy, I… I don’t know if I can…” she wrapped her front legs around her father as her voice got stuck in her throat.
Her father stroked her mane softly, speaking to her in a soft voice, “Dashie, I understand how you feel, but how would you feel if you didn’t go?” He extended his front legs to hold her out in front of him. He placed a hoof under her chin and lifted her face up so he could look into her tear filled eyes, “how would you feel for the rest of your life if you never got to say goodbye?”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide for a moment then closed again letting more tears fall onto picture that now lay on her lap, “but why does it have to be so hard?”
Her father pulled her back into a hug, not only to comfort his daughter but also to try and hide the tears that now started to cloud his vision as well, “I don’t know baby,” he waited for a few moments while she calmed down, “do you want me to wait for you to get ready?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head as she wiped the tears from her eyes, “no, Fluttershy will be stopping by soon to go with me,”
Her father kissed her on the head, “ok, I’m going to finish up getting ready and head down to the funeral to be with your uncle,” he kissed her again before exiting through the door, leaving her to get ready.
Rainbow Dash glanced at the dress again then looked back to the picture on her lap. She took it and set it on her nightstand. She looked at it for a few moments before returning her attention to the dress and started to fight her way into it.
Spectrum was adjusting his jacket in front of a mirror when a knock on the door took his attention away. He walked over and opened it to find Fluttershy, wearing a black dress of her own, “oh Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash is upstairs getting ready.”
Fluttershy shifted uneasily, “oh… um… how… how are you holding up?”
Spectrum pulled Fluttershy into a hug, “this isn’t going to be easy on anypony, but right now Rainbow needs more support than I do.” he let her go but pulled her back into a tight hug when he saw she was beginning to tear up.
Fluttershy was unable to hold her tears back. Unknowingly mimicking Rainbow Dash, she buried her face into Spectrum’s mane. He knew deep down inside that she would not be the only one. After a few minutes, she pulled herself away and wiped the tears from her eyes. Spectrum placed a hoof against her cheek and smiled softly. She gave him a weak smile in return and nodded at him. He walked by her, extended his powerful wings and took off into the air.
Fluttershy watched him disappear into the gray sky before turning to walk into the house. She climbed the stairs to Rainbow Dash’s room and knocked on the door. She didn’t wait for an answer before opening the door.
“Rainbow Dash?” She called as she poked her head into the room. Fluttershy’s mouth fell open as she caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash standing in front of a mirror wearing her new dress, “Rainbow Dash you look beautiful,” she breathed in awe, as she walked into the room.
Rainbow Dash looked over at Fluttershy sadly and then back to the mirror, “maybe, but…” Rainbow Dash found that feeling start to build back up inside of her throat again.
Sensing a problem Fluttershy walked over to her and helped her finish up with some odds and ends of her outfit. After a little bit of makeup, Fluttershy took a step back to allow Rainbow Dash to look at herself. Rainbow Dash looked up at the mirror, taken back at the mare looking back at her. Fluttershy walked up next to her, “are you ready?”
Rainbow Dash nodded slightly, “as ready as I will ever be...”
They left Rainbow Dash’s house and took off into the air. Rainbow Dash started to descend early causing Fluttershy to become confused, “Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?”
They both touched down on the edge of Ponyville and began walking towards the cemetery, “I just don’t feel like flying right now.”
Fluttershy saw that this was hurting Rainbow Dash more than she thought, “Dash?”
They continued to walk in silence until Rainbow Dash looked up to see that they arrived at the funeral, faster than she would have liked. She glanced around noticing that everypony in Ponyville was there. A loud cry caused Rainbow Dash to look her right and notice Applejack and her siblings just got back from saying their goodbyes. Applebloom was being carried by Big Macintosh, crying loudly into his mane, “I… I DON’T WANT HER TO GO.”
Applejack grabbed her sister from her Big Mac’s back and pulled her into a tight hug, “I know Sugarcube, nopony wants her to go but…”
“THEN WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO… TO…” Applebloom’s cries were drowned out as she buried her face into Applejacks chest. Applejack was unable to answer as she was now crying as well. Big Mac wrapped the two of them in a large hug.
Rainbow Dash looked away and closed her eyes as she started to feel tears building up. She opened them to see Sweetie Belle standing in front of Rarity. Sweetie Belle started to shake when Rarity bent down and pulled her into a hug, “but Rarity I will ruin your… your…” she was interrupted by a strong nuzzle as Rarity pulled her into her mane.
Trails of mascara streamed down Rarity’s face as she tried to comfort her sister, “I don’t care about that, Sweetie Belle.”
Rainbow Dash felt alone as she lifted her head up. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of the casket, “what about me?” She started to sink down to the ground as a mixture of sadness and loneliness hit her all at once, “I… I… can’t do it,” she buried her head into her hooves, “I can’t.”
Her sobbing was interrupted as powerful hooves lifted her up and cradled her like a filly. She looked up into her fathers sad face, “it’s ok Dashie,” using his powerful wings he lifted himself and Rainbow off the ground and hovered her over to the coffin.
Rainbow Dash looked down at the beautiful orange filly that was lying inside the coffin surrounded by yellow flowers, wearing a sweet smile. Rainbow could have sworn that she was asleep; she looked so innocent. Rainbow Dash was set down and Spectrum placed a comforting wing over his daughter.
Rainbow Dash smiled weakly at Scootaloo, “hey kiddo,” she said as her voice cracked, “I’m…” She couldn’t think of the right words as tears fell onto the bouquet that Scootaloo held in her hooves.
Everypony was now watching Rainbow Dash. Applebloom had fresh tears rolling down her cheeks as she silently watched Rainbow slowly break down. Sweetie Belle looked back but couldn’t hold her gaze instead turning back her sister to bury her face back into Rarity’s mane. Fluttershy moved up behind Rainbow and sat down as she placed a hoof up to her face as tears started to fall to the ground.
Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie walked over to Fluttershy and wrapped her in a hug allowing her to cry on Twilights shoulder. Rainbow Dash pulled herself together enough to continue on, “I’m sorry that I never got to spend more time with you.”
Rainbow Dash felt another wing wrap around her making her look up into her uncles face. He gave her the best smile he could muster, “it’s alright Dashie, just let it out.”
Rainbow Dash leaned against her uncle’s side, “SCOOTALOO, I’M SORRY FOR TAKING THE TIME I HAD WITH YOU FOR GRANTED,” she sniffed as everyone started to feel the emotion coming from Rainbow Dash, reducing several to tears, “I… I DON’T WANT TO SAY GOODBYE,” she sniffed a little and her voice dropped. She leaned over and planted a kiss on Scootaloo’s head, “but I will because I owe you that for putting up with me and my ego.”
Fluttershy lifted a hoof, “Rainbow Dash!’
Rainbow Dash continued, “know that I will become everything that you said I could be, not for me but for you,” she raised her head to look up at the sky as she started to break down again, “DO YOU HEAR ME SCOOTALOO?!” she dropped back down onto the coffin dropping her head close to the ground as she couldn’t look at her anymore, “goodbye Scootaloo, you have giving me the strength to fight on, but for now allow me to be selfish one more time and have this time to prepare a life without my number one fan, no my best friend and sister.”
Rainbow couldn’t say anymore as her uncle and her father both wrapped her in a tight hug. her uncle took a shaky breath, “she would have tried to apologise to you for making you so sad.”
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes tightly, “if she would do me the honor I would grab her and never let her go again.”
Everypony slowly left leaving Rainbow Dash, Spectrum, Fluttershy and Redline. They all waited while an earth pony closed the coffin and two others slowly lowered it down to her final resting place.
Redline turned around and slowly started to walk away. Spectrum looked up at him, “hey Red,” he trotted over to his brother, “will you be ok?”
Redline looked at him, his expression telling Spectrum what he was going to say, “I don’t know Spectrum. It’s one thing to lose the love of your life once but…” he dropped his gaze, “but for it to happen twice is harder than you can imagine.”
Spectrum pulled his brother into a hug, “do want me to bring you home?”
Redline looked up at Rainbow Dash as she was crying again into Fluttershy’s mane and shook his head, “no, I will manage somehow Spectrum, but Dashie needs you. She was far too young to know about the loss of her mother. This will affect her for a long time and she will need the support.”
Spectrum looked back at his daughter, “you're probably right,” he looked back at his brother, “just take it easy for now. I will come by and see you later tonight.”
Redline nodded and with one last hug he turned and walked out of the cemetery. Spectrum walked over to Rainbow Dash who looked up at him weakly, “let’s go home,” he helped Rainbow Dash up and started to lead her out of the cemetery. He looked back at Fluttershy, “you coming Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy lowered her head and ran up next to him. He wrapped a wing around her pulling her closer to him. He lead the away from the cemetery giving a quick second glance back at Scootaloo’s grave, “goodbye sweetheart.”
Rainbow Dash looked up at him sadly, “you say something dad?”
Spectrum looked down at her, “just getting one last goodbye in,” he pulled both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash into a tight hug, “you two ok to fly?” They both nodded, “alright then you to go ahead of me. I’ll be right behind you,” they both nodded again and took off ahead of him. He gave a weak smile and took off after them.
Fluttershy landed softly on the cloudy steps that lead up to Rainbow Dash’s front door. She walked up them, coming to a stop in front of a pair of solid white doors. Lifting her hoof slowly, she tapped lightly on the door. She waited a few moments smiling sweetly.
Cocking her head to the side, she asked herself, “should I try again?” as she raised her hoof to knock again.
She swung her hoof to knock on the door again just as it opened, causing her to fall forwards slightly. A strong pair of hooves caught her stopping her from landing face first on the cloudy floor. She looked up to see Spectrum looking down at her in confusion, “Fluttershy? When did you get here?” he asked.
Spectrum helped her up as she looked down at her hooves, “I told Rainbow Dash I would go with her to…” she fidgeted a bit; she wasn’t expecting to have to explain herself to her best friend’s father.
Spectrum placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder to make her feel more comfortable, “Fluttershy, it has been two years. I know Rainbow Dash was hit really hard by Scootaloo’s passing, but she…”
A loud crash interrupted his train of thought. Fluttershy and Spectrum glanced up, “what… What was that?” Fluttershy asked taking a small step back.
“It came from Rainbow’s room,” he turned back into the house, “come on Fluttershy, we might as well see what she did.”
Fluttershy nodded and started to follow him. As they approached the stairs to her room, a soft mumbling made her stop and listen. Spectrum looked back, but before he could say anything Fluttershy lifted a hoof up to her lips making him raise an eyebrow, “listen,” Fluttershy said in a whisper that was barely audible.
Spectrum closed his eyes to try and hear what she is talking about. After a few seconds he heard what he thought sounded like sobbing, “is… is she crying?” he asked to thin air, opening his eyes to see Fluttershy had darted past him; up the stairs towards the bedroom.
Fluttershy quickly reached the door leading to Rainbow Dash’s room. She pushed on it slowly letting it creak open. As the gap widened, she poked her head inside, “Rainbow Dash?” she called out quietly. She is answered by long drawn out breath followed by some sniffing. Fluttershy pushed the door open the rest of the way and walked into Rainbow Dash’s bedroom.
She looked around the room as she stepped in, spotting fragments of silvered glass scattered all over Rainbow Dash’s night stand, a telltale trail of red ran from it and over the bed. Fluttershy cringed at the sight of it as Spectrum entered the room behind her, picking up the mangled remains of what appeared to be a photoframe.
“Where is she?” He asked as he bent down to begin picking up the fragments of what used to be Rainbow Dash’s dresser mirror. “Seven years bad luck...” he mumbled as he carefully collected the razor sharp shards.
Fluttershy walked around to the side of the bed and noticed Rainbow Dash curled up in the corner between the nightstand and the wall, “Rainbow Dash?” she asked with a slight concern in her voice. Rainbow Dash looked up, her eyes red and still leaking tears. Fluttershy walked slowly over to her, stopping short at the sight of blood coming from one of her wings.
Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder at it and smiled weakly, “I… I accidently cut my wing,” she sniffed and tried to wipe her eyes with the blanket that she was still wrapped in, “it isn’t that bad really,” not entirely sure she would convince Fluttershy.
Fluttershy ran out of the room to retrieve a first aid kit. She came back with it and walked over to Rainbow Dash not saying a word. She carefully took Rainbow’s wing and started to clean the wound making her flinch every now and then, “Rainbow, what happened?” Fluttershy asked as she pulled a small shard of glass from her wing causing fresh blood to drip onto the blanket.
Rainbow Dash looked away from her, “I… I was stretching and... I misjudged how close to the nightstand and…” She glanced at Fluttershy who was frowning at her. Rainbow looked down at her hooves quickly realizing she was still holding onto the picture of her and Scootaloo.
Spectrum pokes his head around the corner of the bed, “she did that with a stretch? Why haven’t you tried for a guard position?” Fluttershy turned her head to him and gave him a look that made him swallow hard, “I mean... I have to go see my brother. Dashie I will see you later,” he didn’t wait for an answer before hurrying out of the room.
Fluttershy turned back to Rainbow Dash who was now looking sadly at the picture. Fluttershy finished wrapping Rainbow’s wing before she spoke, “do you want to talk about it?”
Rainbow shook her head, “what’s there to talk about? She’s gone and I have to live with that,” She wiped her eyes, “I’m sorry Fluttershy. It’s just that everypony said it would be easier as time went on and… it hasn’t,” fresh tears started to build up in her eyes as she pulled the picture into a hug.
Fluttershy wrapped a wing around her, gently learning Rainbow Dash against her body who started crying into her shoulder, “didn’t you say that you would become everything she said you were?” Rainbow Dash stopped weeping abruptly as she listened, “everypony understands what losing her has done to you, but grieving for a pony who is far braver than anypony I have meet is only hurting her memory.”
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes tightly letting the tears in them fall onto Fluttershy’s shoulder. Fluttershy’s words hurt, not because she was trying to be mean, but because they were true. Rainbow Dash pushed herself up and viciously wiping her eyes dry, “you right Fluttershy,” she stood up walked around Fluttershy and stopped in front of her door smiling back at her, “give me a few minutes to collect myself.”
Fluttershy stood up smiling, “I’ll make some breakfast then,” she followed Rainbow Dash out of her room and down to the kitchen.
She was putting some finishing touches on an elaborate breakfast when Rainbow Dash walked in. Fluttershy smiled up at her, “feeling better?”
Rainbow Dash sat down at the table, “a lot better.”
Fluttershy gave her a soft smile bringing a plate of hot food over to her, “Pinkie Pie wanted me to tell you that she is going to be throwing a party for some new ponies that moved into Ponyville yesterday.”
Rainbow Dash dug into the food, “sounds cool, but…”
Fluttershy smiled, “we can go see her first like you wanted.”
Rainbow gave her a weak look, “thanks Fluttershy.”
They ate in silence, Rainbow Dash wolfed down her meal hurriedly, sitting at the table impatiently as Fluttershy finished her own breakfast.
Fluttershy nodded and started to clean up their leftovers. When she finished she meet Rainbow Dash next to the front door, “ready to go Dash?”
Rainbow Dash nodded and opened the door, she waited for Fluttershy to follow her out before she closed and locked the door. They took off into the air and flew towards the Ponyville cemetery. Fluttershy wanted to tell Rainbow Dash about the family but knew that there was something she needed to see herself. They landed just outside of the cemetery gates where Rainbow Dash looked into through the grates sadly.
Fluttershy placed a wing on Rainbow Dash, “are you ok?”
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, steeling herself for the task to come, “ok I’m ready.”
They walked into the cemetery, slowly making their way down the dirt trail. Stopping at a beautiful black marble headstone at the end of the path, “hey Scootaloo,” Rainbow Dash greeted doing her best to to maintain her composure.
Fluttershy could tell Rainbow Dash was holding herself together but, only just. As she listened to Rainbow Dash talk to Scootaloo, she could see a couple different things happening. Rainbow Dash was tearing up but with every word she was holding her head higher and that fire is starting to light back up in her eyes.
Rainbow Dash finally fell silent and sat staring at Scootaloo’s headstone silently. Fluttershy placed a hoof on her back. She stood up wiped the tears out of her eyes and turned to Fluttershy with a wide smile, “hey Fluttershy, don’t we have some new ponies to meet?”
Fluttershy smiled back, “there’s the Rainbow Dash I know,” she stood up and wrapped Rainbow Dash in a tight hug. Fluttershy let her go and nodded, “yes, we don’t want to be late.”
Rainbow Dash gave her a cocky smile, “race ya,” taking off into the air without waiting for an answer. Fluttershy followed Rainbow Dash stopping only to give one final glance to Scootaloo’s grave.
She arrived at Sugarcube Corner noticing that everyone else has already there waiting. When Fluttershy touched down she was grabbed by Pinkie Pie, “hey Fluttershy, I see you got Rainbow Dash to come, and she looks happier than ever,”
Fluttershy was confused but still managed to catch every word, “I just hope this time her attitude stays this good,”
Pinkie Pie placed a hoof up to her chin, “well I think Ace will do just fine with helping out Rainbow Dash,” she said with a wide smile before hopping away.
Fluttershy looked at her completely dumbfounded, “who is Ace and what does he have to do with Rainbow Dash?”
Pinkie Pie stopped and looked back smiling, “everything,” she continued to hop away leaving Fluttershy completely lost.
Rainbow Dash walked up to her and placed a hoof around her shoulder, “so where is this family? are they pegasi? oh do they race? oh oh oh maybe they are a branch off of the Wonderbolts.”
Fluttershy smiled a little, “well they are a pegasus family but…”
She was interrupted as a Pinkie called out, “ok everypony, the party guests have arrived.”
Rainbow Dash spun around to see three pegasi walking in her direction. They smiled as other ponies greeted them but Rainbow Dash was currently occupied by a light green foal that raced over to her smiling from ear to ear, “are… are you Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow Dash looked down at him then smiled placing a hoof up to her chest, “so you have heard of me?” she asked adding a little ego into the mix now, “well I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
The foal started to bounce around excitedly, “ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, I am your number one fan… can… can I have your autograph?”
Rainbow Dash placed a hoof down on his head, “anything for my number one… fan,” the last word that left her took some effort to say.
He cocked his head to the side, “are you alright?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head, “yeah I just don’t know who I am making this out to,” as she grabbed a quill from Twilight along with a piece of scroll.
He started to hop up and down again, “oh, my name is Dust Cloud.”
Rainbow Dash started to write down something on the scroll piece as he bounced around excitedly, “so, how would you like to go flying with me sometime?” He stopped jumping around and lowered his head, “what’s wrong?” she asked him holding out the autograph.
Dust Cloud looked up at her sadly and took the paper from her. He sat down and held it in his hooves and looked at it long and hard. After a couple of seconds he looked back up at her smiling sadly, “I can’t fly anymore.”
Rainbow Dash dropped the quill and looked at him dumbfounded, “what?” was all she was able to get out.
Everyone else had turned their attention to Rainbow Dash. Dust Cloud stood up and turned sideways showing her a wing that looked badly mangled, “I was stuck in a bad wind storm that came out of nowhere and blew me into a large window,” he lifted the badly mangled wing showing a large scar that went all the way down his side, “when I hit the window I was told I was lucky that all I lost was my ability to fly.”
Rainbow Dash slammed her hoof onto the ground, her face livid with anger, “I see what’s going on now,” she looked around at everyone, “YOU ALL THINK THAT I MIGHT GET OVER HER IF I HAD ANOTHER PONY TO CARE FOR HUH?!”
Fluttershy walked up behind her and placed a hoof on her back, “Rainbow Dash, we never would do that to you…”
Rainbow Dash jerked her hoof off and spun on her glaring at her, “I thought you were my friend, how could you possibly do something like this to me?”
Fluttershy was taken back, tears started to build up in her eyes, “Rainbow… I… I would never…” what she said was quiet.
Rainbow Dash took a threatening step towards her, “I should have known that you had something planned for me considering how you have been acting towards me.” Her voice was rising as she moved closer to Fluttershy, “well I don’t need your help. I don’t need anypony’s help,” She she jumped into the air and took off, away from the party.
Everyone called for her to come back as Applejack walked over to try and calm Fluttershy who was now crying into her mane, “it’ll be ok Sugarcube, Rainbow Dash just needs some time to cool off thats all.”
Fluttershy sniffed when Applejack wrapped he in a hug, “I should have told her about Dust Cloud, she wouldn’t have been upset with me then.”
Applejack stroked Fluttershy’s mane gently, “what’s done is done, all we can do now is hope that Rainbow Dash really has started getting over Scootaloo.”
Dust Cloud looked helplessly up at Applejack and Fluttershy then in the direction Rainbow Dash went. He picked up the autograph and trotted off. Fluttershy caught a glimpse of him disappearing behind a building. Thinking he might not know his way around yet she gave Applejack a soft smile and took off after him.
Dust Cloud looked around hopefully as he looked for Rainbow Dash, stopping every now and then to try and see if he could spot which way she went. He wandered around until he came across a large pond. He looked into the water and sat down sadly, taking the piece of paper in his hoof he couldn’t help but feel like he was the reason Rainbow Dash got upset.
While he was looking down at the autograph he got something caught his attention. Dust Cloud glanced up at a lone cloud sitting about him. He didn’t give it much thought at first but now he could have sworn that the cloud was crying. He looked around and decided to climb a large tree that came up next to the cloud.
As he reached the branch that sat next to the cloud and noticed Rainbow Dash who was lying face down into the cloud sobbing, “um… Rainbow Dash?”
She looked up at him in surprise, trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes quickly, “I… I didn’t mean too…” the branch underneath him snapped..
Rainbow Dash dived through the cloud without thinking and quickly caught Dust Cloud before he came close to the ground, “you should be more careful kid,” she said a little more harshly that she wanted.
Dust Cloud sniffed a little, “I’m sorry for making you upset,” Rainbow Dash set him down on the ground and looked at him curiously. He held out the autograph that she gave him, “you can have it back if it makes you feel better.”
Rainbow Dash looked at the paper then back to him and her expression softened she placed a hoof on his head, “it’s alright kiddo, you can keep it.”
Dust Cloud rubbed his eyes, “but I don’t want you to be upset because of me.”
Rainbow Dash looked down at the water, “it’s not you I’m angry with… it’s me,” Dust Cloud looked at her in confusion so she continued, “I had a very important pony… leave me. I made her so many promises and I was going to show her I was the best of the best. So far the only thing I have been able to show anypony is that I’m weak and not worth anypony’s time. I even blew up at my best friend who was trying to help me,” she kicked a rock into the pond, “some friend I am huh?”
Dust Cloud watched the ripples in the water as they disappeared, “I still want to be your friend,” he said, looking up at her.
Rainbow Dash gave him a soft smile, “thanks kiddo, I’d like that,” she said patting his head, “so you never answered me do you want to go flying with me?”
Dust Cloud looked at her as if she had lost her mind, “um… Rainbow Dash… I can’t fly remember?” he flapped his unusable wing sadly.
She placed her front leg around his neck, “but I can still fly while carrying you.” Before he could say anything she slid a wing underneath him and lifted it making him slide onto the middle of her back, “hold on kid.”
Rainbow Dash bent her legs and kicked off the ground hard, and using her wings she pulled the two of them higher into the sky. Dust Cloud leaned forward and wrapped his hooves around her neck. She looked back at him, his eyes were closed tightly but he wore a big smile. Rainbow Dash grinned as she stopped quickly in midair, dropping down causing him to let go of her neck for a moment. She spun around and caught him with her front hooves and held him out.
Dust Cloud couldn’t stop smiling as he opened his wings and extended his legs. He started to flap his wings as if trying to fly. Rainbow Dash balanced him on one hoof letting him have minimal contact. She lowered her hoof setting him on a slight downward glide. He glanced down at her and noticed that she wasn't holding him. His smile went from ear to ear as he imagined he was flying again.
Rainbow Dash grabbed him out of the air and he instantly wrapped her in a hug, “thank you Rainbow Dash. That was the best.”
Rainbow Dash landed softly on the ground smiling herself, “sure thing kiddo, it was fun to help somepony fly,” Rainbow Dash glanced up to see that everyone from the party was watching her. Dust Cloud’s mother walked up to him with fresh tears still rolling down her face.
Dust Cloud jumped into her open hooves, “mommy did you see me? I was flying again.”
She kissed him on the head, “yes sweetie, I saw you,” she set him down and walked over to Rainbow Dash who looked up into the sky, feeling slightly embarrassed. She pulled Rainbow Dash out of her daydream and into a hug, “thank you Rainbow Dash. I haven't seen him that happy since before the accident.”
Rainbow Dash smiled from beneath the hug, “don’t thank me,” she pointed to Dust Cloud, “it was that little guy who gave me that final push.”
Dust Cloud walked up to Rainbow Dash, “I can’t wait to tell all my friends that I was able to fly again,” he put a hoof up to his chin then looked up at her, “do you think it would be possible for me to bring some friends who can’t fly anymore to you so you can help them?”
Rainbow Dash looked at him in disbelief, “wait... there are more that can’t fly?”
Dust Cloud’s father walked up next to her, “yes... many. Some can’t fly again like Dust Cloud. Some have never gotten the chance to see what it is like to fly,” he pulled Dust Cloud close to him, “and a lot of them might not ever get to.”
Rainbow Dash put a hoof up to her mouth as Fluttershy walked up next to her, “Rainbow Dash? Are you alright?”
Rainbow Dash looked at her and hung her head down, “Fluttershy, I’m sorry for yelling at you. it’s just that… I didn’t mean anything I said. I was just confused and hurt.”
Fluttershy gave her a small hug, “I know Dash. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Dust Cloud before you got to meet him.”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t listening as she is staring at an old rundown building. Fluttershy let her go as she took a couple of steps toward the building. She spun around smiling, “I have a great idea. I want to build a flight school for fillies and foals who can’t fly.”
Fluttershy clapped her hooves together, “Rainbow Dash, that is a great idea! But how are we going to do something like that?”
Before Rainbow Dash could give her an answer Dust Cloud gently tugged on her main, “um... Rainbow Dash?”
She looked at him curiously, “what’s up kiddo?”
“Um… for it to be a school... don’t ponies have to learn things?” he asked fidgeting slightly.
Rainbow Dash shot Fluttershy a pleading look for help. Fluttershy placed a hoof on his back and whispered something into his ear that made his eyes light up. Rainbow Dash’s ears twitched as she pulled away “...you see that is why she called it a school.”
“Awesome!” he said while he bounced over to his mothers side.
Rainbow Dash leaned over to Fluttershy and spoke softly into her ear, “what did you say?”
Fluttershy just smiled, “I told him it’s where ponies can learn what it’s like to fly even if they might not be able to.”
Rainbow Dash nodded before she whispered a quiet thanks into Fluttershy’s ear. Her determination returned as she started pacing, “well first we need a building so ponies have a place show up at and so their parents have a place to stay at while their fillies and or colts are having fun. Next we need… wait… we?
Fluttershy placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder, “I couldn't let you do something like this on your own.”
Rainbow Dash pulled her into a tight hug, “thank you Fluttershy. You have no idea what this means to me.”
Rainbow Dash felt a hoof on her back, she looked back to see Redline smiling at her, “well I think if you are serious about this, we should get started right away.”
Rainbow Dash smiled weakly at him, “you too uncle Red?” he gave her a smile and nodded.
Spectrum sat down next to him, “I think everypony here is behind you in this honey,” everyone nodded and cheered. He bent down to Dust Cloud, “you go tell your friends that you got to fly ok. Then tell them their turn is coming as well.”
Dust Cloud ran over to Rainbow Dash and almost bowled her over as he leapt into her, wrapping his front hooves around her, “you're the best.”
Rainbow Dash giggled, “maybe, but you're better than me.”
Dust Cloud’s mother tried pulled him off of Rainbow Dash, “come on sweetie, Rainbow Dash has lots to do,” he gave Rainbow Dash one last squeeze before he followed behind his mother.
Spectrum helped her up, “well, let’s get you home. We have a lot of planning to do,” she nodded as Spectrum turned to address everyone else, “ok everypony, whatever you can contribute to helping us out let, Fluttershy know and we will start making dream into reality.”
Everyone cheered again and walked up to Fluttershy who took a couple of nervous steps back but after glancing at Rainbow Dash, she held her ground and with the help of Twilight, started to get ideas from everyone.
The construction on the school took a month and before Rainbow Dash could believe how well things were going. She was stood in front of the school, her smile stretching from ear to ear. She turned around slowly looking at everyone who was involved with the construction, “thank you everypony, for all of your help and support.”
Before anyone could say anything Dust Cloud ran up to Rainbow Dash smiling, “everyone came Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow Dash looked up, “already?”
Sure enough all kinds of fillies and colts were walking towards the school looking around excitedly. Rainbow Dash let out a long sigh, “wow, I wasn’t expecting this many.” She looked at her father, “how are we supposed to get all of them into the sky?”
“By picking them up and flying, or did you forget that part?” Rainbow Dash looked up and her jaw fell open as the WonderBolts all came to a stop, landing in front of her. Soarin looked up at the school clearly impressed, “wow Rainbow Dash, you are full of surprises aren’t you?”
Rainbow Dash gave him slight smile as her face turned red a little, “wouldn't you like to know?”
Soarin looked back at her and gave her a confident smirk, “maybe I do,” he turned back around before he could see Rainbow Dash flush a bright red.
Rainbow Dash looked down at a filly who was tapping her on the leg. The filly had only one wing as the other one looked like it was just amputated a few days ago. She looked up at Rainbow Dash hopefully, “Dust Cloud said you could give me a chance to fly, is that true?”
Rainbow Dash bent down and scooped her up, “you bet kiddo,” she placed the filly on her back, “just wait and see.” Rainbow Dash looked up and noticed that every pegasus that could fly was placing a filly on their back. Even Fluttershy cradled a weak looking filly who seemed to have trouble holding her head up let alone opening her wings.
“She is incredibly weak Rainbow Dash. Her parents told me that her one and only wish it to feel what it is like to fly just once,” Fluttershy said with a soft smile as the filly smiled back up at her.
Rainbow Dash looked back at the filly on her back who nodded and slid off her back. Rainbow Dash then took the filly from Fluttershy and smiled down at her, “ready?” The filly nodded slightly. Rainbow Dash took off slowly into the air as the other ponies followed her lead.
When Rainbow Dash reached a good gliding altitude she flipped around, “do you wanna give it a try?”
The filly is looking around excitedly before meeting Rainbow Dash’s eyes and giving her a big grin, “yes… please” she said weakly.
Rainbow Dash carefully held her out letting the air flow around her. She extended her wings the best she could, her face told Rainbow Dash all she needed to know. The fillies eyes were wide and alert and her smile spread across her face. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel happy for the filly.
Rainbow Dash’s eye snap open as a small flash caught her attention. She looked at the filly and noticed that the filly had just received her cutie mark. The filly glanced down at her flank and started to move around excitedly. Rainbow Dash brought the filly to her chest as she continued to smile into her chest, “thank you, for everything.”
Rainbow Dash hugged her tightly, “you're welcome,” she looked up and noticed a cloud that is in the shape of someone very familiar, “thank you.”
The filly looked up at her in confusion, “I didn’t do anything.”
Rainbow Dash looked at her and gave her a soft smile, “more than you know,” and with a quick turn around, headed back to bring her back to her family.
The filly glanced up at Rainbow Dash as she is handed off to her parents, “can I come again?”
Rainbow Dash patted her on the head softly, “I would love for you to come again.”
The filly looked hopefully up at her parents who gave her a weak smile, “you can come as often as you want honey,” the filly hugged her parents. She turned and held her hooves out to Rainbow Dash who walked up to her and let the filly give her a small hug. Rainbow Dash didn’t know how many more times she would get to see the filly, but she is going to make sure the she is as happy as she could possibly be.
Rainbow Dash waved her goodbye, “I’ll see you tomorrow kiddo.”
The filly smiled back, “bright and early.”
