The party was swinging. The stallion, dancing with his wife, was slightly booze-drunk and majorly punch-drunk. All seemed right in his world. Suddenly, he heard a slow beeping noise. He was mystified, and paused for a moment to listen.
“Darling? What is it?” his wife asked curiously. “Not sure,” he replied. The beeps slowly grew faster and louder, almost like a heart monitor, he thought. Right when the apparent monitor would have flatlined, a loud bang rocked the building.
Ponies flocked to the railing of the penthouse. “Over there!” Somepony pointed to the festival grounds. What was once a merry celebration... Was now a raging inferno.
“No!”
The letter from the Manehattan Police Department floating out of his hooves onto his bed, the white pegasus bolted out the window, tears streaming down his face. Swansong had just received the worst news in his life. The news nopony wants to get.
His family was gone.
A bomb had gone off at the family reunion. He wasn’t sure how many were dead-the police weren’t sure either-but deep down, he knew the horrible truth.
They all were.
He was all alone.
“Swanny? Helloooooooo?”
Rainbow Dash opened the door to her best friend’s home. It was on the ground, so that Twilight wouldn’t have to cast cloud-walking spells every time someone visited. “Hello? Swansong? It’s me, Dash!” she called. The two had met at the Wonderbolts tryouts, where Swansong had been the only pony to match Dash’s speed. She’d subsequently challenged him to a full-on race. He’d promptly accepted, and proceeded to win. They’d been close ever since.
Swansong didn’t answer. ‘He’s probably sleeping.’, she thought. She quietly walked up the stairs to his bedroom and peeked inside, gently calling, “Swanny?” Seeing the letter on his bed, she walked over and unfolded it. She froze when she saw the Manehatten address. “Manehatten? Must be a letter from his family,” she thought, relaxing. But she was horrified when she read the whole letter.
To whom it may concern,
We regret to inform you that your family has been attacked. An explosive device went off at the reunion your family hosted last weekend. We are unaware of the casualty rate so far, but it is safe to say there were few survivors. Please allow me to offer condolences on behalf of everyone here.
Chief Gunn
Dash’s jaw dropped at the news. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Oh, Celestia,” she sniffed. “How could anypony do something like this?” She looked across the room and saw the open window. “I’ve gotta find him before he does something drastic!” She rushed out the door, but quickly stopped herself. ‘First, I’d better tell the other five,’ she thought. ‘They’ll help me.’ The rest of the Mane 6 were good friends with Swansong, as he had helped investigate some of the friendship problems that had previously happened.
“Dash? What’s up?”
Twilight trotted up, a questioning look on her face. “Huh?” Dash snapped out of her thoughts. “You look... Occupied.” Twilight said curiously. “Is something wrong?”
Dash sighed sadly. “Look, Twi... I need you to gather the others. I... I have some bad news.”
“I... Okay...” Twilight walked away, worried.
Everyone froze, stunned, as Dash finished reading the letter out loud. Fluttershy looked like she was about to burst into tears. Rarity was on her fainting couch, out cold, and Spike was trying to revive her. Applejack had a look of fury on her face, and was shaking with rage. Pinkie Pie’s mane was deflated, and the smile had left her face. Twilight’s jaw hung open, and she had a faraway look in her eyes.
“I... Oh, Celestia.” Twilight was the first to speak. “Poor Swansong. I... I can’t even imagine what he’s going through. This is horrible.”
“W-Where is he?” Fluttershy spoke up quietly. “No idea,” Dash admitted. “That’s why I called you all here. I need your help to find him.”
“Glad to help, sugarcube.” The anger had faded from Applejack’s eyes, replaced by a look of determination. “The poor colt must be sufferin’.”
The others all nodded their agreement.
Dash flew out of her chair. “Then let’s go!”
“Alright everypony, here’s how we’ll do it.” Dash stood in front of the others, pacing back and forth like a drill instructor. “AJ, Pinkie, you conduct a ground search. Start in the south and work northward. Twilight, Rarity, see if you can use any detection spells or something like that. Fluttershy, we’ll search from the air. If you find him, get everyone else there ASAP. Everyone clear on the plan?” The rest nodded. “Alright then, let’s move!” Everyone took off in their separate directions.
The search continued for hours, and a rainstorm started. Just when they were about to give up...
“Hold it. I’ve got something.” Twilight’s horn lit up, and she stood still. Slowly, she rotated in place, until her spell illuminated a hunched-over shape in the alleyway. The shape was soaked with rain, and was shivering from the cold. “Got him. Get everyone else.”
The Mane 6 stood behind the shivering form of Swansong. Nopony knew what to do. Dash had tears in her eyes, and she felt miserable just watching him. “I’ll take care of this, guys,” she told the others. They all nodded and trotted off.
“Hey, Swanny.” Dash approached him slowly , trying her best to be gentle. “It’s me, Dash. You okay?” The only response she got was a sob. “I just wanna help,” she said softly, trying not to cry herself. “You know I hate seeing you like this.” Tears started rolling down her face. “Please. I...” She pleaded, coming around and looking into his eyes. “I know you feel like there’s nobody there. Like you’re all alone. But that’s not true. You’ve still got friends. AJ, Twi, Pinkie, Rarity, Flutters, all of them. They all care about you. And so do I. I care about you more than you’ll ever know. No matter what happens. I’m still here for you. I always will be. I... I love you.” She wrapped her forelegs around him and started crying, resting her head on his shoulder. Swansong stayed still for a moment, then returned the hug, nuzzling Dash softly. The two stayed like that for what felt like hours, and probably was. Finally, Swansong spoke.
“Th-thanks. For... Everything.”
“Don’t mention it.” Dash gave him a little squeeze and released him.”Let’s go home.”
“Alright.” Swansong started to walk away, but stopped. “Oh, and one more thing?”
“Yea-Mmmph!”
Swansong threw his forelegs around Dash and kissed her as passionately as he could. Dash melted into it, moaning happily. Finally, they broke apart, leaving Dash blushing madly.
“I love you too, Dash.”
She squee’d and started flying circles around him, chanting “YesyesyesyesYES! WOOHOO!”
Swansong chuckled. “Come on, let’s go.”
Dash stopped in front of him. “Oh, yea. Right. Sorry.”
She flew down beside Swansong, and he put his wing around her. Dash rested her head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly.
“Love you, Dash.”
“Love you too.”
Meanwhile, on the roof of a nearby building...
“Pinkie, put those binoculars down! Give them some privacy!”
“Awww, but they’re so cute! Please, Twilight?”
“No. Now come on, let’s go, or they’ll see us.”