//------------------------------// // A Truth Long Forgotten // Story: Sisterly Bonds // by Secret_Shadows //------------------------------// Sisterly Bonds Part II ‘A Truth Long Forgotten’ Written By: Secret_Shadows Edited By: avorin Consulting Advisor: Enlistedpony ‘The present and the past coexist, but the past shouldn't be in flashback.’ -Alain Resnais         Scootaloo awoke in a strange place; She was in a cloud. It wasn’t that she had never been in a cloud house before, she had spent several afternoons with Rainbow in her cloudhouse; but she had never woken up in one, and a strange one at that. She got out of the strange bed she was in and walked around the room. There were no windows, given that this was a cloud house windows were made when needed, and closed with a thick layer of cloud. There was one door leading out of the room. Scootaloo was getting scared now, not only was she in a strange place, but there was no way to tell what was on the other side of the door. Scootaloo had been in this particular cloud house before, but never into this part of it. The room was so unfamiliar that Scootaloo was literally shaking in fear. The doorknob turned as Scootaloo turned and ran under the bed to hide. The door opened revealing a shadowed figure, it was still very dark.         The figure walked over to the bed and lifted up the covers not seeing Scootaloo where she had left her the night before. It was a dark and stormy night. Rain was pouring down onto the windows of the orphanage. ‘I am getting out of this horrible place tonight!’ Scootaloo thought to herself. There was a thud, the doorknob started turning. Scootaloo quickly dived for cover under the bed in her room. A large stallion earth pony entered. “Scootaloo, where are you?” He asked, no answer. That is when he noticed that her stuff was missing and so was a saddlebag. “Call security, we have a missing foal!” The stallion yelled as he ran out of the room in a frantic search for Scootaloo. “Scootaloo?” A voice said. This voice was familiar, though muffled by the wall of bedding between the voice and Scootaloo. “R, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo said, she peeked her head out from under the bed. “What are you doing under there Scoots?” Rainbow said, slightly amused at the fact that Scootaloo looked so cute hiding under the bed, but Rainbow would never admit being affected by cute things. “I, I didn’t know where I was, and I still don’t.” Scootaloo said, the look on her face was a bit scared. “Uh, my house, remember? Last night I brought you here because I didn’t know where you lived.” Rainbow said. “Oh...” Scootaloo said, her ears fell, she knew Rainbow knew what her situation was, even if Rainbow refused to believe it. “Well, its saturday and I don’t have to work and you don’t have school, so, what do you want to do?” Rainbow asked. She looked a bit concerned for Scootaloo, it was troubling seeing a small filly in such a distraught mood. “Well, uh, I don’t know.” Scootaloo said, she was still unsure about the whole idea of not knowing where she was, even if she trusted Rainbow. Scootaloo ran through the hallways, 3 stallions chasing her. The young foal was trying desperately to get away. “She’s climbing out a window!” One of the stallions yelled. “Stop her!” Another yelled. ‘I have to get away from this terrible place’ Scootaloo thought to herself. Living in an orphanage was terrible for Scootaloo, not that it was lonely or anything; but Scootaloo was treated very badly by the staff and she just wanted it to stop. “She’s going to fall!” a stallion yelled. They were on the second floor. Scootaloo was hanging to the outside of the window, she let go, and was falling. “Well I could always teach you some more flying stuff” Rainbow said. “Yeah, that sounds like fun!” Scootaloo said, her ears fell and she looked down. “I, I’m not going to get hurt again am I?” She asked “No, I’ll catch you this time, why don’t we get breakfast first.” Rainbow said, she gestured for Scootaloo to follow her as she walked out of the room. Scootaloo happily followed Rainbow into the kitchen. “NO!” one of the stallions yelled as he reached a hoof out the window. He saw the sheer look of terror in the little foal’s face. ‘nononononono!’ Scootaloo’s mind was replaying over and over. None of the stallions were able to catch her, she kept falling. Scootaloo let out a shriek. ‘I was trying to climb down! I am gonna die!’ Scootaloo thought to herself. Scootaloo hit the ground wings first, there was a loud audible snapping sound. “Owe!” Scootaloo winced at the pain. She had broken both of her wings and was unable to move for a few moments. “She fell! Somepony get her!” A stallion said. ‘No! Not again!’ Scootaloo thought as she got up and started to limp away, her left foreleg broken. “How about a dandelion sandwich?” Rainbow asked. “Sounds good to me!” Scootaloo said. Rainbow started to prepare the meal. “Can you get the dandelions Scoots?” Rainbow asked as she got some bread out of a small cabinet. “Uh, sure, where, where are they?” Scootaloo asked as she started looking through cabinets. “In the window flower pot” Rainbow said pointing above the cabinet. “Oh, uh, yeah” Scootaloo said slightly blushing that she forgot dandelions grew. Scootaloo picked four of the best dandelions in the pot and returned them to Rainbow putting them on a small dish next to her. “Do you think you can handle toasting the bread?” Rainbow asked as she pulled a small bit out cloud out of her wall and floated it over to Scootaloo. “Uh, I can try, I have never actually controlled weather before though” Scootaloo said, she looked down and her ears went flat, most pegasi her age have at least caused a small house fire by now playing with clouds. “Ok, well, just feel the cloud, and kick it to cause lightning to toast the bread.” Rainbow said, she punched the cloud with her forehooves to demonstrate slightly over toasting a small piece of bread. “O-ok Here I go” Scootaloo said, she reared up to buck the cloud. “Not That Hard!” Rainbow Shouted. Her rear legs struck the cloud causing a very large bolt of lightning to strike the bread, disintegrating the bread and catching the table on fire. Scootaloo was thrown back by the blast and Rainbow quickly bucked the cloud to make it start to rain on top of the fire. Rainbow let out a sigh of relief when the fire was out, leaving a large scorch mark on her counter, or what was left of it. “I, I think I’ll toast the bread from now on” Rainbow said. Scootaloo’s ears fell and she started to look a bit sad and embarrassed. “I-I’m sorry Rainbow, I-” “It’s ok Squirt, no one is good on their first try, unless you’re me that is” Rainbow said ignoring the fact that she nearly burned down her entire house on her first try when she was young. “You, you’re not mad?” Scootaloo said, her ears perked up a bit. “Na, it happens, but, I think you should stick to trying to learn other things” Rainbow said, she chuckled a bit as she toasted some new bread. “Now, do you think you can handle putting the dandelions on the toast?” Rainbow asked, a bit concerned for the rest of her house. “Sure” Scootaloo said a bit embarrassed at Rainbow’s dis trust in her abilities. She picked up some dandelion with her mouth and started to put it down on a piece of toast. “No no! thats to far to the left” Scootaloo adjusted. “No, now you're too far to the right, the dandelion will come out of the bread if you put it that far over” Again Scootaloo adjusted. Scootaloo adjusted again. “Ahh, perfect, now just inch closer, yes, closer, almost there, almost” Scootaloo was just about to drop the dandelion on the bread... “Perfect!” Rainbow shouted causing Scootaloo to fall over and drop the dandelion on the floor. “Well, it was almost perfect” Rainbow said with a small sigh. She picked up a second dandelion and put it on the toast herself. “I think I failed” Scootaloo said with a frown. “Na, making a sandwich is something that takes precision and speed, and above all, awesomeness” Rainbow said with a smile on her face admiring how awesome she must look. “So, I’m slow, imprecise, and not awesome?” Scootaloo asked looking a bit upset. Rainbow thought for a moment about what she said and how bad it probably was for Scootaloo’s self esteem. “That’s not what I said, you’re just......not as awesome as me” Rainbow said, again regretting her choice of words. “Oh” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “Well uh, how about you get the water? there are two glasses over there, just punch the top of the cloud” Rainbow said as she floated yet another cloud over to Scootaloo. “Are you sure? I’m not that awesome though” Scootaloo said still a bit upset. “Yeah I am totally sure, go for it Scoots!” Rainbow said giving Scootaloo the bit of confidence that she needed. Scootaloo punched the cloud causing a small rain to fill up the glasses to just the right amount. “I did it!” Scootaloo shouted in bliss. “See, I told you that you could be as awesome as me” Rainbow said with a small smile. “Thanks Rainbow, you’re the best” Scootaloo said as she trotted over to Rainbow and gave her a small hug. “Yeah, sure Scoots” Rainbow said blushing a bit. “Rainbow, you’re going to have to learn how to make your own dandelion sandwich, when your little sister comes you will need to become more responsible.” Skylight said as she started to prepare the meal. “I can be more res, res, resp-” Rainbow struggled with the word. Her eyes got a look of determination, and a twinge of anger that her mouth could not form the word. “Responsible” Skylight said as she finished preparing the sandwich. “Yeah that!” Rainbow said with enthusiasm. “I can be that!” She smiled after she said it, she could be responsible, or she could try anyway. “We’ll see” Skylight said as she set a plate with a dandelion sandwich down in front of Rainbow. “That was really good Rainbow! where did you learn to make sandwiches like that?” Scootaloo asked. “Oh, I learned a long time ago, from someone very close to me.” Rainbow said, a look of deep thought was forced across her face. She was remembering a terrible event.... - “Quick, get a medical team here on the double!” “She’s counciouse!” “She’s in a very unstable condition!” “Where are her parents!” “Dead!” - “Mommy.” Rainbow whispered to herself in a tone barely audible to Scootaloo. “What did you said Rainbow?” Scootaloo asked. “Oh, what? Nothing, I just...” Rainbow trailed off... “Are, are you ok Rainbow?” Scootaloo asked. “Yeah, I’m fine, why don’t we go start flying now, hm?” Rainbow said. “Sounds fun!” Scootaloo said in response. The two proceeded to the outside of Rainbow’s home, Rainbow remembering an event, clouded by pain in her memory. “Come on Dashie, you can do it!” Refraction said, he was hovering just 2 feet above the cloud the quaint little cloudsdale house rested on. “I, I can’t do it, I’ll never be able to fly.” Rainbow said, her ears flattened and her head lowered. “Yes you will, these things take time, don’t get discouraged because you fall on your first few attempts, when you really need to fly you will be able to, you’ll find your special flying style in time.” He said as he pulled his daughter close into a loving embrace. “You really think so?” She said looking up at him. “I know so” He said looking back down at her. It was nearing the late afternoon, the sun was hanging low casting a gorgeous orange light onto the side of Rainbow’s cloud house. There was a slight cool summer breeze making it perfect for learning how to fly. Rainbow lept into the air and hovered not 5 feet above her cloud home. “Come on Scoots, you can do it, try to fly up to me.” Rainbow said, she was confident that the cloud they were over would provide better protection than the ground would. “Ok, here I come.” Scootaloo said. She flapped her wings as fast as she could. She managed to get a little bit of altitude before crashing back down to the cloud. Rainbow gently landed next to Scootaloo who was half implanted in the cloud. “Ok, I see what the problem is.” Rainbow said as she pulled Scootaloo out of the cloud by her tail. “I am no good at it!” Scootaloo said, she was getting discouraged. “Hey now, don’t get discouraged, you just haven’t found your technique yet, every pegasus has a flying style, you just haven’t found yours yet.” Rainbow said. “Well, can you show me yours?” Scootaloo said, she wanted to be as good as Rainbow Dash, so copying her flying style had to do that. “Sure, watch my wings, try to do what I am doing.” Rainbow looked back at her wings when she said it. Rainbow started flapping her wings up and down, up and down, up and down. “Just breath, flap your wings to the beat of your breath, In and up, out and down, deep breaths.” She said as her wings went up and down as she breathed. Scootaloo mimicked her as best she could, her small wings however were giving her trouble. “Thats good, but your wings are too tense, try to loosen up.” Rainbow said. Scootaloo let her wings fall to her side, she stretched them. There was a quiet but audible yelp from Scootaloo when she stretched her wings out, but Rainbow thought nothing of it. Then she tried the exercise again. “Thats better, now go faster, to the beat of your heart.” Rainbow said as she started flapping her wings faster. Her mane and tail were flowing in the wind generated by her wings. “Now what?” Scootaloo asked, she was getting excited that she was able to do it. “Now, feel the wind in your wings, can you feel your body getting lighter?” Rainbow said “Yes, I, I can feel it” Scootaloo said starting to feel even more excited. “Good, now close your eyes” Rainbow said, sounding sure of her suggestion. “B-but, I won’t-” Scootaloo said unsure about closing her eyes to fly, she was on a cloud high in the sky after all. “Just do it, I’ll catch you if you fall” Rainbow said, she rolled her eyes. Scootaloo obeyed and closed her eyes. “Good, now increase the speed that your wings are moving gradually, up and down, up and down, just go a bit faster, feel your body getting lighter, don’t open your eyes.” Rainbow said. “I, I can’t feel the cloud anymore, is that normal?” Scootaloo asked. She tilted her head as if to show confusion. “Open your eyes, you’ll see why.” Rainbow said, a small smile was tugging at her mouth. Scootaloo’s eyes opened and she saw what was going on, she was no longer looking at the wall of a cloud house, she was looking at the sky, she looked down and realised she was a good 10 feet above where she was standing. “I...I’m flying, Rainbow!” She said in enthusiasm, she was starting to show a bit of exhaustion. “Good, now come back down before you hurt yourself.” Rainbow said, she looked up at Scootaloo, ready to fly up and catch her if she started to fall. Scootaloo started to come back down, but then she fell down to the cloud below. Rainbow inspected Scootaloo’s wings trying not to be noticed. “You’re going to have to preen your wings soon.” Rainbow said trying to act like it was not a big deal. “I’m going to have to what now?” Scootaloo asked, a confused and worried look on her face. “Preen the feathers in your wings, if you don’t it’s harder to fly and you can sprain your wings.” Rainbow said, she looked a bit concerned about the fact that Scootaloo had never preened her wings, or even heard of it, a filly her age should already be doing it. “Sounds Painful” Scootaloo said as she looked down, her ears fell to signal she was worried about the pain. “It’s not if you do it right, I’ll help you with it when the time comes. Come now lets keep practicing.” Rainbow said as she spread her wings and lifted off into the sky again. “Ok” Scootaloo said, she sighed a bit before spreading her own wings and following. ‘All of these years I couldn’t fly, I finally found my wings, and it was in a fire, I should have saved them.’ Rainbow thought to herself as she stood over the tombstone of her parents grave.