Rainbow Maned Guardian

by cccvvvttt


Chapter 5

It was a few more hours until they all woke up. They had all been exhausted, and because of that, they slept for that long. Even Rainbow Dash fell into a deep sleep. It started when she became a little drowsy, but then she found that she couldn't keep herself awake any more. She was next to Drake when she awoke. She yawned, and stretched her wings out, getting some of the stress that was left behind in them.

"Wow...." Rainbow said, rubbing her eye with her foreleg. "That was actually a pretty good sleep. I haven't slept like that in a while." She looked around the cave, and could only see the darkness of it. They went to sleep around twelve or one in the afternoon, so they must have been asleep for a while, considering the fact that it was now dark outside.

"Ugh.... How long were we asleep for?" The voice of Twilight asked groggily. Rainbow turned her head, and saw that not only was Twilight waking up, but Pinkie and Fluttershy began to awake as well. Twilight looked around the cave, confused. "What, is it dark outside?" Rainbow nodded her head, even though nopony could see that she was doing so.

"Yeah, I think its night out." Rainbow replied, and Twilight looked in her direction, lighting up her horn to see better.

"Wow, it's very dark in here, I would at least expect their moon to light up the area a bit." Twilight complained, as she walked out of the cave, and looked up at the sky, only to see that the moon was not there, which left a very confused Twilight. "Why is there no moon.....?" Rainbow followed her outside, and her mouth dropped.

Usually, the moon would always be out in their world, due to the simple fact that Luna always raises it. Then again, this isn't even their world, so they didn't even know if the moon even existed there in the first place.

"How can there be no moon? It doesn't make any sense!" Twilight said. Just then, there was movement inside the cave. The movement of a human child known as Drake.

"What time is it.......?" He asked in a groggy voice.

"It's dark out, but for some reason, the moon isn't out." Twilight said, looking up at the sky once again.

"It sometimes just doesn't come out....." Drake explained, as his voice slowly began to gain more and more energy. "I don't know why, though....." This made Twilight receive more questions in her mind.

"Wait, then who raises the moon here? This doesn't make any sense!" Twilight said, rubbing at her head. Drake also had an answer for that.

"I think that it raises itself here." He said. Twilight decided to not ask anymore questions, and just let out a sigh, which also let out her frustrations with this world so far.

"Okay, so what should we do now?" Rainbow asked, and Pinkie bounced up next to her.

"We should look around for Applejack and Rarity! Duh, not like any of us are tired anymore anyway!" Pinkie said, whilst bouncing up and down off the ground.

"Um.... She does have a bit of a point....." Fluttershy shimmed in, with again her usual nervousness. Twilight nodded with them in agreement.

"Yeah, we can do that, as long as Drake isn't too tired to travel." Twilight said, looking down at the young child himself. He looked up at the four ponies, and let out a smile.

"Yeah, I would like to start looking for them tonight." He said, with a hopeful look on his face, but deep inside him, he was still empty. He thought the other ponies were alright, but Rainbow Dash. Something about her just seemed different to him. She was the one who saved him after all. He seemed to be the most attached to her.

"Alright then, little buddy! Lets get going!" Rainbow Dash said. With nopony having a problem with that at all, they began their trip into the woods, with their only source of light being Twilight's horn.


A few moments later.....

They had been walking through the dark woods for a couple of minutes, not finding any signs that their friends had even been through there before, but they had to be. After all, that's where Rainbow Dash found her friends so far, so the rest of them should be in there.

Drake had started to shiver due to the cold, and the lack of any sort of hoodie or jacket didn't help him the the freezing weather. Rainbow wrapped her wing around him, to try and keep him warmer so he wouldn't freeze to death. Her wing was warm, and soft, making the cold feeling that Drake had flow away, as if it went down a river.

"Th-thank you mo- I mean Rainbow Dash." Drake said, getting used to the warm feeling that he was getting from the wing. Rainbow looked down at him, with a little bit of shock in her eyes.

Wait.... Did he almost call me...... Mom? Rainbow thought to herself. She never really considered herself a mother before, but then again, she never really thought about it either. I've only known the kid for barley a day, does he really consider me that? She saw that he was blushing with embarrassment at what he almost said.

I probably shouldn't bring it up right now, though. I think the kid accidentally embarrassed himself.... Rainbow thought, as they continued their way through the woods, hoping that they would find something soon.

"How long does this trail go on, Twi?" Pinkie asked, as she bounced up to her, with excitement as usual. Twilight gave her a "Are you serious?" look.

"Uh Pinkie.... I never been in this forest before.... So I don't know...." Twilight said, causing Pinkie to stop bouncing for a moment.

"Oh right," Pinkie said, with a giggle. "Silly me." Twilight rolled her eyes a bit, before giggling herself at Pinkie antics. Rainbow however, was still consumed by her own thoughts. She was debating whether she should be the one to take care of Drake, or if one of her friends, or even if somepony else should do it.

I can't take care of him! I have my dream of becoming a wonder bolt! Besides, how will he even be able to walk on clouds? Only Pegasus can do that.... Rainbow thought to herself, as she looked down at the child, who was still curled up in her wing, and she couldn't help but to let out a soft smile.

Then again..... He does seem to like me the most. Can't say I blame him. I am one of the coolest ponies around... Rainbow smirked at herself, before remembering Twilight's words from earlier.

His mind is broken. He wont forget the abuse he went through. If you don't try to fix him in time..... Those words drilled into Rainbows head. Twilight was right. Drake wasn't going to forget about his hardships with his father, and he definitely wasn't going to forget about stabbing his father either. That's when Rainbow Dash realized something. She had grown attached to Drake, as if he was her own son. Whenever he needed somepony to be their for him, Rainbow was that pony. Whenever he needed somepony to comfort him, that pony would still be Rainbow. When he needs a mother..... That pony would be Rainbow.....

I'll adopt him.. Rainbow thought to herself, once again looking down at Drake, still snuggled in her wing. I don't care if I have to give up my cloud mansion, or if I have to give up the wonder bolts for a while....... She put on a smile on her face once again. I'll take care of him......

Rainbow looked in front of her friends, and realized that they for some reason, had stopped walking. Then she saw why. They were at the end of the forest, and they could see that there was an empty street, with one single news paper on the ground. Twilight picked it up, and her face went pale at what it said.

"Oh... This isn't good...." Twilight said, as she looked at the paper with a look of nervousness.

"What does it say?" Rainbow asked, as she went over to the news article that Twilight was reading, and her heart dropped at what she had read.

CHILD MISSING, POSSIBLY KIDNAPPED BY TALKING PONIES

A day ago, a man by the name of Jefferson Nickles, was found dead in his house. His five year old son, Drake Nickles is now missing. Witnesses in the area claim that talking colorful ponies have taken him. They saw the young child, claiming the ponies were a threat, and making the crowd run away, due to the fact that they were taking pictures of a butter yellow one. Sources believe that these ponies somehow brainwashed Drake into killing his father, the murder weapon being found just outside oak side forest. If found, please contact the police immediately, and if you see the talking ponies, call this number.

Rainbow read the article again and again, only thinking one thing.

How stupid are these humans? She asked herself. Drake went up to the news paper, that Rainbow read out loud, and he had a look of sorrow on his face.

"I'm....I'm so sorry....." Drake said, Rainbow then decided to go and comfort him.

"No, little buddy. This isn't your fault." Rainbow Dash said, walking up to him, with another soft smile."You didn't do anything wrong, those other humans are just stupid." Twilight would have scolded Rainbow for using language like that in front of a child, even if he was from a different species, but Rainbow never showed her soft side, she was too cool for that.

This was an exception. She once again wrapped a wing around him with comfort, and with no trouble at all.

"Don't blame yourself for this, this isn't your fault." Rainbow said. Even though she wasn't the best when it came to talks like these, she still managed to put some comfort into Drake with her words. Twilight and the rest of them would have dawwed, but they felt that Rainbow would be embarrassed, so they held it in for her.

"Th-thank you, Rainbow Dash....." Drake said, with a smile on his face. Everypony could tell that even though his mind is still shattered, one of those pieces came back together, restoring some of sanity that he lost a long time ago. Rainbow was about to say something else, but then a voice from one of her friends spoke out. Except this voice didn't come from the group of friends that Rainbow had found.

"R-Rainbow Dash? Is that you, darling?" The voice belonging to Rarity called out. Rainbow turned, and saw her friend, who was a complete and utter mess. Her white fur was covered with dirt and filth, her mane was wet, as if she had been splashed with a bucket of water.

"Rarity? What the hay happened to you?!" Rainbow asked, walking over to her with Drake by her side.

"A lot of things Rainbow, a LOT. OF. THINGS!" Rarity said. Twilight was about to ask what type of things she meant, but she didn't need to be asked. "They all admired me at first, Taking photos and what not, but then the next thing you know, they're calling me a monster, saying I'm dangerous!"

"They splashed water all over my beautiful mane, then when I was trying to get away, I fell into some mud. Of all the worst things that could possibly happen, this is the WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!!!!" Rarity took in a breath of air. She would have fallen back on her red sofa that she usually carried around, but she left it back in Equestria.

"Actually Rarity, I don't think that's the worst thing that could happen." Rainbow Dash said, looking down at Drake, who was hiding behind her foreleg, not having the best first impression on Rarity. Speaking of her, she followed Rainbow Dash's look, and saw that there was a young human child hiding behind her. She was about to freak out, but then she realized that Rainbow was aware of his presents, and it didn't seem like the child was bringing any harm to them, so she just gave him a nervous smile.

"Um.... Hello there....?" Rarity said, the awkwardness was clear with her expressions and her voice.

"Hello...." Was the only response that Drake managed to get out. Rainbow chuckled, as Twilight came up to her purple-maned friend.

"Rarity, this is Drake...." Twilight said, pointing her hoof at the said child. "He has been through a whole lot." Rarity gave her a confused look.

"My, what do you mean dear?" Rarity asked, and she looked down at the child, who now had a pained expression on his face. Rarity had the feeling that she knew what Twilight meant by that. It could be one out of two things. He didn't have a family or something like that, or worse is that he has been abused. It something almost unheard of in Equestria, and it rarely ever happened, but every once in a while, something like this comes up. The last time it happened was thirty years ago in Equestria.

"Twilight, what are you getting at, dear?" Rarity asked, and Twilight sighed.

"Well, first we should try to get you to some shelter, then Rainbow can tell you, since Drake trusts her the most." Twilight said. Rarity could only let out a light nod, as she followed them into the forest. They were going to head back to that cave that they had stayed in. Meanwhile, Drake went into his own thoughts. He remembered earlier when he almost called Rainbow his mom.

That was a close one. I don't even think Rainbow would even want to be my mom.... Of maybe He looked up at the rainbow maned Pegasus, who looked at him back, and smiled. Then again, she was the one who saved me, and offered me to live in the world she lives in, so maybe... Maybe she would want to be my mommy. He looked up at her again, and saw that she was paying attention to where she was going.

Maybe I should ask her later, though.... Drake decided that this was the best choice to make, as his group continued to make their way back to the cave, and to explain to Rarity what Drake went through. After that, all they needed to do was to find Applejack, then. Then they could go back to Equestria, and leave this world, full with its humans, who were now most likely looking for them.