Rainbow Dash saw her marefriend giggle as she came up next to her out of the loop she had just performed. “What?” she asked with a smirk, leveling off right next to her.
“Was that really necessary?” she asked slyly.
“Of course! I gotta show Scoots I’m coming for her,” Rainbow Dash said with confidence.
Fluttershy seemed to think on this for a second. “Well, I can understand that. Plus, it was pretty awesome.”
“Yeah, I know!” Rainbow Dash said with a grin. “Hey look, I see the city.”
Fluttershy looked up, and sure enough, they were now high enough to see just over the tips of the mountains. The rising sun in the distance outlined the tips of another chain of mountains, their shadows cast over the valley that the city resided in below.
The city itself was massive. The city was comprised of large groupings of buildings, neatly organized into an almost grid-like pattern, with the largest buildings near the middle and the smallest on the outskirts. There were pegasi everywhere in the city, flying about from building to building, resembling a swarm of angry bees better than a city of pegasi.
“Oh… my,” Fluttershy whispered to no one in particular.
“Yeah, you can say that again,” agreed Rainbow Dash. At that time, they both realized they had stopped mid-flight. Rainbow Dash shook her head.
“Come on,” she said as the initial shock wore off. “Let’s go find Scoots.”
“But, where are we going?” Fluttershy asked as they crossed over the tips of the mountains.
“Didn’t Twilight say something about a hospital?” Rainbow Dash asked, desperately trying to remember the mini-lecture their friend had given them just that morning.
“Oh yeah! She did. I think it was near the center or something.”
“You mean like that?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing a hoof towards a large tower with a red cross on it not far off from the city center.
“Yep, that looks right. Let’s go check it out.” As she said this, they began to descend towards the city center, bobbing and weaving between the hundreds of ponies flying all around them.
Eventually, they landed on a broad street not far from the hospital. The street was not quite as busy as the air. They stayed near the center of the road, being able to avoid most of the ponies making their way in and out of the buildings. Rainbow Dash began to walk faster and faster the closer they got to the hospital.
“Dashie, slow down! I can’t keep up!” Fluttershy exclaimed through pants as she was nearly sprinting just trying to keep up with her marefriend.
Rainbow Dash slowed down, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof while giving a sheepish smile. “Hehe, sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Fluttershy reassured. “I know you’re excited to see her, but…” she trailed off.
“But, what?” Rainbow Dash asked, placing a wing over her back. “What’s wrong Flutters?”
“It’s just… what if she’s not there?” she asked quietly, shrinking back from Rainbow Dash’s wing.
Rainbow Dash’s wing slowly retracted back to her side and her steps came to a halt. Fluttershy mirrored her, coming to a stop right beside her.
“W-what if she’s... not there,” Rainbow Dash repeated under her breath.
Fluttershy stood there, nervously shifting her weight between her hooves, worried her friend was going to have a breakdown again. Moisture began to gather in Rainbow Dash’s eyes. Just as she expected the breakdown to happen, Rainbow Dash shook her head and brought a hoof up to wipe her eyes. With little more than a sniffle, she brought a smile back to her face and looked over at Fluttershy. “She’ll be there. I know she will.”
Fluttershy smiled, “I’m happy to see that you’re confident about this. Now come on, let’s go get your daughter.” They turned and made their way to the hospital, which was now right next to them on the street.
“Rainbow Dash?” a stallion sitting near the door asked. Both of them stopped in their tracks.
“Uhh, me?” she asked, looking around. The stallion nodded before approaching. “How do you know my name?”
The stallion walked towards her, allowing them to see the slight moisture gathering in the corners of his eyes. “Rainbow Dash, I know you may not remember me,” the stallion said, eliciting confused looks from both of the others. “But, we need to talk.”
“Um… should I remember you?” Rainbow Dash asked cautiously.
The stallion sighed. “No, I suppose not. It... has been so long.”
“Umm, I’m sorry, but you’ve lost me.”
“I know, but… I-I know why you’re here.”
Fluttershy’s stomach fell. “B-but… how could you…”
“Look, pony,” Rainbow Dash said sternly “I don’t know who you are, but we’re on a mission here, and I would appreciate it if you would get out of our way so we can get back to it.”
The mystery stallion seemed to wince at the venom in Rainbow Dash’s voice but regained his composure quickly.
“You’re not going to find your daughter in there,” he said bluntly, nearly knocking Rainbow Dash off her hooves. “I know where your daughter is.”
Rainbow Dash’s face contorted in rage. “You listen here, whoever you are.” Rainbow Dash spat vehemently, menacingly stepping towards the pony. “I don’t know what you did to my daughter, but if you don’t tell me where she is, right NOW, I am going to rip that stupid look off your face, and then buck you into NEXT WEEK!!”
“Woah! Woah! Woah!” the stallion said, backing up quickly, pressing himself against the wall behind him. “It’s not like that! I promise. Your daughter is safe. I swear!”
Rainbow Dash was just about to lash out once again when she was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. “Let’s hear him out Dash. Now, what is it you have to say?” she asked, turning her attention back to the stallion in front of her.
“Thank you. Well, I met your daughter, Scootaloo. She is not here. She was, but no longer is.”
“And why is that?” Rainbow Dash asked accusingly.
“It’s kind of a long story,” the stallion said, looking around them. “One I can’t exactly tell you here. You should come with me. I’ll take you back to my house, where I’ll explain.”
“Look, mister. I hate to be frank with you, but we don’t know you. Unless you can prove to me that you know where she is, we’re not going anywhere with you.”
The stallion sighed once again, “I know you may not believe me, but I met your daughter. She’s missing you, and she wants to see you again.” Rainbow Dash was now on the verge of tears. “I know you probably don’t believe me, but you have to trust me on this.”
“If you want me to trust you, you’ve got to start explaining.”
“I will, just… not here. It’s not safe,” the stallion said, casting his glance around once again.
“Fine,” Rainbow Dash relented. “Let’s go. You better not be wasting my time.”
***
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy now sat next to each other on a small couch in a modest living room. It was closer to the outside of the city, being one of the smaller residences. Across from them, on another couch, sat two other ponies. One being the stallion from earlier, whom they had now learned was called Blazing Fire.
Sitting next to him on the couch was a pony that both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were still gawking at. Ever since she walked in a moment ago, not a single word had left their mouths as they simply stared in awe of the striking resemblance. “Rainbow Dash, this is your m—my wife! Honeydew! Hehe,” he said nervously.
Rainbow Dash didn’t catch it though, and neither did the still entranced Fluttershy.
Blazing Fire and Honeydew stayed silent. Fluttershy looked back and forth between Rainbow Dash and Honeydew as if trying to make sure she wasn’t seeing double. Rainbow Dash’s gaze, however, was locked on the mare sitting in front of her, as she wondered if she was looking into a mirror.
Eventually, Fluttershy was able to think coherently enough to break the silence. “Umm, well… This is awkward.”
“Yeah…” said Rainbow Dash. “Awkward is one way to put it.”
“I know,” Blazing Fire said. “I’m aware of the similarities, and there will be time to explain that later, but at the moment, we have much more important things to discuss.”
“Agreed,” said Honeydew, with a very calm and soothing voice, complimenting her name perfectly. “Now, we’re not sure who exactly found her,” began Honeydew. “But we have a few ideas. We can go into specifics like that later. What’s important is that she was apparently saved from a large fall, and was taken to the hospital with some injuries.”
“What kind of injuries?” Rainbow Dash asked frantically, leaning forward out of her seat.
“Calm down, no need to worry. She’s okay. The worst she had was a broken hoof and a possible minor concussion. Apart from that though, she’s doing just fine.”
Rainbow Dash sat back into the couch, heaving a sigh of relief. A moment later though, she sat back up, the curiosity fresh in her eyes once more. “Wait, but didn’t you say she wasn’t at the hospital? Now you’re saying she is?” Rainbow Dash asked with Fluttershy mirroring her confusion.
“No, not exactly. She was at the hospital. She isn’t anymore,” Blazing Fire said.
“Then where is she. Is she safe? She better be safe,” Rainbow said.
“Of course she’s safe. She’s with our daughter, Tidal Wave. She’s about a year older than you,” Honeydew said calmly.
“What? How do you know? I never told you how old I was,” Rainbow Dash said, confused, and starting to get a little annoyed by the cryptic and confusing conversations they kept having with these ponies.
Honeydew seemed to falter at this before her husband jumped in. “Just a guess. Going off of looks.” Honeydew still remained silent, her ears drooped and her shoulders slumped.
“Oh, okay,” Rainbow Dash said, not completely buying his explanation.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Honeydew said, standing up. “I’m gonna go… uh, do something.” She briskly trotted out of the room before anyone could stop her.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash shared a look. “Um, is… is she okay?” Fluttershy asked.
“Y-yeah,” Blazing Fire said, his voice cracking. “She’s just, uh… got a lot of work around the house to do. It’s been a crazy couple of days.”
“Oh, okay,” Fluttershy said, still slightly skeptical.
“Well, let’s get back on topic. Where is Scootaloo?” Rainbow Dash asked quite bluntly.
“She’s safe. Tidal Wave took her to see some friends of mine. They’ll keep her safe.”
“Well, okay then. You could just take us to her, and we’ll be on our way.”
“No, doing that now will only put her in more danger.”
Rainbow Dash exploded. “What do you mean ‘in danger?’ Yeah, she got kidnapped, but she’s out of danger now… right?”
“Well, not exactly. It’s kind of a long story…”