Rainbow Dash flew through the sky. She loved the feeling of flying – it was her special talent, after all, flying with speed and precision – it gave her a sense of joy and dignity as a Pegasus. The wind in her mane, the moisture beading on her wingtips, the way the clouds exploded when she rocketed into them; nothing could make her happier.
Right? She thought.
Blitzing through the sky, she found herself soaring over Sweet Apple Acres, the home of her good friend Applejack and a few of the other local Apple family members. The Apple family was enormous, spanning dozens of generations and having groups in every city in Equestria, and often in between as well. Ponyville typically only played host to four Apples – Applebloom, a young filly, Big Macintosh, a huge red stallion with a quiet demeanor, the aforementioned Applejack, and Granny Smith, the grandmother of the three younger Apples. It was unclear if she had always been called Granny Smith or if she had donned that moniker at a later point in life, and the location of Applejack’s parents was either unknown or none of them wanted to talk about it.
Today, however, there were a lot more than four ponies present. Dozens of ponies in every shade of yellow, red, green, and orange, stallions and mares, fully grown ponies and newborn foals, and every single one of them an Earth Pony. No two ways about it, the Ponyville Apples were hosting the family reunion this year. Or perhaps this month – the Apples tended to have lots of family reunions as the spread-out and entrepreneurial nature of the family often meant that not every member could attend every reunion, so the family held get-togethers as often as they could to ensure nopony was ever missing out.
Rainbow Dash, against her better judgment, decided now would be a good time to try to say hi to Applejack. Landing in a small clearing near the fence surrounding Sweet Apple Acres, RD decided to trot the rest of the way in so as to avoid the hassle of needing to find somewhere to land in the sea of Apples. Moving through the crowd, she located her friend.
“Oh, hey Applejack! How’s it going?” Dash asked, her voice chipper.
“Well, I didn’t expect to see you here! Y’all stick out like a sore thumb, with the bright colors and wings and all. I’m doing mighty fine, though. Thanks for asking. It’s always good to see family again,” Applejack said, a broad, genuine smile adorning her face, not noticing the slight falter in Dash’s own countenance, “and if you don’t mind me asking, How’s your day going?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Flying, doing weather duty as fast as possible, napping. Same old, same old,” Rainbow Dash replied, her smile growing more forced by the second, “But yeah. I was, uh, I just happened to be in the area and figured I’d say hello. Gotta go, see ya!” The blue Pegasus rocketed aloft, disappearing into the wild blue yonder.
“Well that was odd… was it something I said?” Applejack thought aloud, a hoof ponderously reaching her chin, “Hmm… nah. Just my imagination. Dash is always buzzing from one task to the next without much of a rest,” she finished her contemplation and turned to her crowd of relatives. “Ok! Who wants some CIDER?”
***
She knows a ‘Rainbow Dash’? It couldn’t be… there’s no way…
“Mmm, yes, and who is this, ‘Rainbow Dash’?” a unicorn mare prodded.
“Well… you see… she’s… the Wonderbolts’ Trainer!” Rarity replied, hastily.
Ah, no, can’t be. Can it…?
“I say, you must be a very important pony if you’re staying at the castle AND you know the Wonderbolts’ trainer,” stated the tall, white-coated, blue-maned, bemonocled unicorn standing next to her. “I would be honored for you to attend my garden party later this week. Would you be so kind as to grace us with your presence?”
“Oh my stars! Yes, I would love to go!”
***
Rainbow Dash was lying in her bed, trying to sort out why Applejack’s family reunion was getting her so worked up.
Is family really that important? I mean, sure, it’s nice to know you’ve got a home to return to, full of ponies who love you and you love back. But I’ve never had family… it’s never gotten to me until now… why is this getting to me now? I’m Rainbow Dash! I don’t let anything get me down! So why… why am I crying…
***
“Fleur, honey… we need to talk.”
“What is it, Fancy?” Fancy Pants’ wife walked into the room, levitating a glass of wine and a small pastry, idly chewing on the sweet treat.
“You remember… twenty three years ago…” he began, before trailing off.
“I thought we agreed never to speak of that again.”
“You don’t understand. I think I may have found somepony who knows where she is.”
From behind the chair where Fancy Pants was seated, staring into the fireplace, there was a sound of shattering glass and a soft thud.
Fancy Pants was on his hooves in a heart beat, ready to defend his love from whatever assaulted her and caused her to drop her glass, only to find her sitting on the floor by herself, eyes wide.
“You mean… after all these years… we’ve found her again?”
“Yes, I think we may have. While I’m not certain, I can’t think of many ponies who would bear a name like ‘Rainbow Dash’ and not be a pony of extreme interest between you and I. Although I cannot say if she’ll want to come back…”
“Just to see her… just to let her know how sorry we are… Do you ever wonder… what it would have been like… if we’d kept her?” Fleur’s voice died, breaking into sobs. Fancy rushed to her side and took a seat by her, wrapping his forehooves around his wife.
“It’s ok. Every single day I think, I imagine, if I hadn’t been so doubtful… I’ll find out where she lives, and we can go talk to her. It’s ok… shhh…”
***
The next morning came far too early for Rainbow Dash, despite it being the afternoon. Somepony was knocking on her door. Rainbow rolled out of bed and trotted to the door without bothering to so much as glance in a mirror. Opening the door, she found her friend Twilight Sparkle smiling at her.
“Hi Rainbow Dash! I just got a letter from Rarity and… you look awful. Were you crying? What’s the matter?” Twilight asked, and then, after a slight pause, “… it was AJ’s family reunion, wasn’t it.”
Rainbow Dash was startled at Twilight’s accuracy, and somewhat disarmed by the fact that the last thing the unicorn had said was a statement, not a question. “I… uh…”
“It’s ok, Dashie. Do you want to talk about it?” Dash shook her head. In reply, Twilight pulled her into a quick hug. “If you ever do… you know where to find me,” Twilight said. Dash looked at her, shocked at the sincerity of the concern in Twilight’s eyes and voice.
“Thanks, Twilight. That… that really means a lot to me.”
“Oh, what are friends for? Anyway, I know something that can cheer you up. You know how Rarity went to Canterlot? Well, unfortunately, Opal is sick and she can’t make it back to Ponyville in time for my birthday party, so Pinkie came up with a way to bring the party to her! While I question the sanity of any pony who builds a ‘party cannon,’ and apparently never leaves home without it, I can’t question its usefulness in situations like this. You feel up to coming with us?” Twilight asked, eyes shining, the naïve joy she held in simple things returning to her again. Rainbow Dash visibly brightened up and nodded.
“Yeah. We leaving soon? Give me a minute to clean up, I’ll be ready by the time you’ve got the other girls.”
“I already got them, silly, it’s three in the afternoon,” Twilight replied with a giggle.
“Oh.”
Rainbow Dash stood there dumbstruck for a moment before rushing inside her house and hastily brushing her mane and teeth, and bolting out the door.
“Come on, what are you slowpokes waiting for? We’ve got a party to bring!”
There’s the Rainbow Dash I know, Twilight thought.
***
Rainbow Dash had thought Rarity had been acting rather suspiciously all night. She’d disappear and reappear, often chewing something, slightly out of breath, and looking a little more worn down each time.
Her suspicions that Rarity was up to something were confirmed when she returned to Twilight’s party with a croquet mallet in her mouth.
Several minutes of apologies, confusion, and awkwardness later, Rainbow Dash and her friends had merged with the more reserved garden party outside, creating a more relaxed but still enjoyable atmosphere. Rainbow Dash was sitting a little ways away from the action, drinking a glass of punch and watching Pinkie dance in a manner that seemed to defy gravity to a rather up-beat and surprisingly quick piece of classical. She didn’t even notice the two ponies approach her.
“Ahem. Are you miss Rainbow Dash?”
RD jumped at the sudden speech, and whirled her head around to see a pair of white unicorns – a stallion with a blue mane and a monocle and a mare with a pink mane.
“Yeah, that’s me. Why?”
“I simply have a question for you. My name is Fancy Pants, and this is my wife, Fleur de Lis. Do you… do you know your parents?” the stallion continued, his voice quiet.
Dash stiffened, her blood running cold. She felt tears begin to well in her eyes. Not now, Celestia, not now…
“Miss…” now the mare spoke, “where did you grow up?”
“I grew up in an orphanage in Cloudsdale. They told me my mom died in foalbirth and my dad disappeared after that,” Dash spat, “I attended flight school and moved to Ponyville after graduating, when I was eighteen. What’s it matter to you, anyways?”
Fancy Pants recoiled a little at the venom in the Pegasus’ voice.
“What if I told you that your parents aren’t dead?” Fancy spoke again, his voice still soft, almost apologetic.
“What, they just abandoned me on the step of the orphanage? And then what, bailed to Canterlot and let me just grow up on my own? Ha, yeah right. What kind of awful parents wou-” Dash cut herself off, looking at Fancy Pants, and realized the implication he was making.
“You…” she said, pointing a hoof at Fleur, “and you…?” indicating Fancy.
Both unicorns nodded. “Unless you’re aware of another cyan Pegasus mare with a rainbow colored mane, you are… Fleur’s and my daughter,” Fancy Pants said.
Rainbow Dash collapsed to her haunches, trying desperately to wrap her mind around the situation.
“But… how… why… Why did you give me up?” Rainbow Dash’s confusion gave way to anger. She believed them – something in their eyes told her they honestly believed they were her parents – but she felt betrayed.
“It was my fault,” Fancy Pants said. “I was doubtful… Fleur and I had been trying for a foal for so long… when she got pregnant, you couldn’t imagine my joy. But when she gave birth… you see, we’re both white unicorns. When I saw you, my immediate thoughts were that Fleur had been unfaithful…” Fancy stopped as a lump rose in his throat, and he motioned for his wife to continue.
“The doctors said the chance of Fancy and my genetics producing a Pegasus of your coloration was less than a millionth of one percent, but… I thought you were beautiful. But at the time… Fancy was having none of it. I pleaded with him, begged him, insisted that I hadn’t turned away – and truly, I have never. I love Fancy Pants more than anything… but he insisted we send you away for adoption before the DNA test results came back. By the time he was satisfied that you were his child… there had been a fire at the orphanage. You had been shipped to Cloudsdale to grow with the other Pegasi, but the records of the transfer were destroyed. We thought you gone from us forever. But then, when your friend Rarity came to Canterlot, she mentioned you… Fancy thought that maybe, just maybe… and now you’re here… I’m so sorry we weren’t there for you…” Fleur began to cry. Fancy turned to comfort her, and found a set of sky-blue hooves wrapped around him and his wife.
“Hey, look – sure what you did was scumbaggy, but hey. I came out just fine, right? I’m happy, I’ve got the best friends in the world, and they love me dearly. Sure, every now and then I’d get kinda down about it, seeing Twilight’s parents visit, or an Apple family reunion, but… it never really got to me, you know? I was always able to get past it. Knowing now, though, knowing the truth? I’ll never have to get past it again. I… you know what? I’ve waited my whole life to say this. I love you, mom and dad.”