//------------------------------// // The Photo Album // Story: Waxen Rainbow // by BlueDusk //------------------------------// A mountain of damp, cardboard boxes lay about in the darkened attic. Suddenly the room was lit up as a door opened, allowing access for two familiar pegasi. A rainbow maned, cerulean pegasus stepped into the musty attic and glanced around at the boxes. Another pegasus, pale yellow with a pink mane, shakily popped her head up soon after. "D-do I have to come into the dark attic?" She squeaked. "I'm sure Rarity or Twilight would be much better a-at organizing..." The cerulean pegasus turned sharply. "You know they can't. I live in the clouds, Fluttershy. They can't help me." "Oh, well, Twilight can use that cloud-walking spell...Rainbow Dash you know I'm glad to help b-but its so...." Fluttershy swallowed. "Dark." Rainbow Dash put on an annoyed face and pulled Fluttershy into the attic fully. "I need to clean out my attic. To much stuff, not enough space." "You could add clouds to the side and hollow them out..." "Nah, too much work. And do you know how many clouds I would need for that?" Rainbow said sternly. And with that they got to work. Within the next two hours they had set up two large bins; one for keeps and the other for trash. Soon there was only a few boxes left, and so Fluttershy made her way to one in the rear of the attic. She began to shift through it, asking Rainbow what to do with items such as an old snowglobe (keeps), a children's drawing (trash), and an old Ursa Minor plush toy (keeps). Finally she reached down and grabbed a book, which was odds since Rainbow hadn't owned a book until last year. The rainbow maned pegasus stepped over. "I remember this..." Rainbow said fondly as she grabbed the book. She flipped the book open and revealed a photo album. Filled with pictures of Rainbow's family. The first picture was of what appeared to be filly Rainbow Dash with another colt and filly and a . "My brother and sister. I was the youngest of the family." "You had a bother and a sister?" Fluttershy said, amazed. "What were their names?" "Well my brother's name was Ink Twist, he liked to dance." Rainbow Dash explained as she pointed to the colt. He was a darker shade of cerulean, with the same windblown hair Dash has, but shorter. He had the same, sparkling eyes his two sisters had. She then pointed to the other filly. "This is my sister, Spectrum Melody. She liked to sing. A lot." Rainbow's sister had a long, flowy rainbow-mane and the same cerulean body as Rainbow Dash. She looked timid, like Fluttershy had as a foal. "Why haven't we ever met them? I would love to hear your sister sing or allow Ink Twist to dance for Angel bunny. He loves a good dancer." Fluttershy asked happily. Rainbow looked like she had been slapped. Memories flooded towards her all at once, the day she met her first Timberwolf. The day of the picnic. "I...I can't....Run..." She said in a twirl of madness. She was back to being a young filly. She was outside the Everfree forest, where Fluttershy's cottage would be, staring at the darkness. Suddenly glowing green eyes appeared in the forest's darkened area. A low growl had begun ringing throughout the area. Soon it was accompanied by screams. Rainbow was afraid, she tried to run but her legs seemed to be frozen in place. A giant Timberwolf began running towards her, shaking the ground. A voice was calling her name, trying to grab her attention... Suddenly she was staring at a mortified Fluttershy. Rainbow was shaking with fear, causing her friend to panic. "R-rainbow, what's wrong? Let me get you a glass of water." Fluttershy trotted out of the attic, leaving Rainbow Dash by herself. Why did I suddenly remembered that awful day? Rainbow thought to herself. Fluttershy then returned with a glass filed with water. "Here, Rainbow, drink up." Fluttershy placed the glass to her friend's lips and tilted it back a little, causing Rainbow Dash to sip. Fluttershy then began to grab the remaining boxes and finished cleaning while her friend lay on the ground shaking. After she had put the last of the old boxes in the trash, Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash and said, "I'm so sorry, Rainbow. It wasn't my place to ask...Let's go get you into bed." All the cerulean pegasus could do was nod, her body seemed to still be paralyzed with fear. Maybe she wasn't all that brave.... Nightmares tormented Rainbow Dash to the point of falling out of bed and waking with cold sweats. At around 2:40 AM, Rainbow decided that she would grab a glass of water and her favorite Daring Do book to help ease her mind. Her hoof turned pages as she kept reading on, until the tempo slowed and she slipped into sleep. At first, her dreams were filled with herself as Daring Do fighting off a gang of Ponrillian bandits, until the image slurred and she was back in front of the forest. Again she had become her young self again, but this time instead of meeting the wolf head on, the day seemed to be relapsing in her mindset. She was flying. she noticed. Racing her brother Ink Twist, in fact. And beating him. She stopped short of knocking over their mother, a beautiful pegasus who resembled Spectrum Melody, long rainbow hair and the cerulean coat they all shared. Only, there was a kind look in her eye, not timid. Rainbow zoomed past her and stopped before hitting a rock. She somersaulted onto the ground, Ink was't all that swell and landed roughly. "Oooh, Rainbow Dash! How do you do that?!" He said in a huff. "Pure skill, Ink. Either you've got it or you don't. I got it and you don't." Rainbow smiled boldly and trotted over to their mother. Spectrum was helping to set up the picnic, humming a little tune as she did. Soon Ink joined in helping her, dancing along to her song. This caused their mom and sister to laugh until the picnic was ready and picturesque. "Come on, Rainbow Dash, let's eat." Her mom said tenderly. Rainbow nodded and joined the family. Spectrum sat close to the mother, with Ink and Rainbow on the opposite side, They began to eat together, laughing and playing and teasing. The sun began to lower for the night, causing the sun to mix with beautiful golds and pinks. Spectrum insisted they return home before dark, but Rainbow had gotten her way as she and Ink set out for a new racing match. They weaved in and out of the trees, Rainbow was flawless while Ink....not so much. Only once had Rainbow crashed into a tree, but it wasn't a tree. She rubbed her wing, to care for it, while she hadn't noticed the tree began to move and glow a sickly green color. A low growl began to resonate when Ink caught up. "Rainbow, Mom wants us back. She and Spec are ready to leav....OH MY CELESTIA WHAT IS THAT?!" He screamed like a filly as he came face to face with the Timberwolf. Rainbow shared this scream as they both sped as fast as they could out of the forest, but the Timberwolf was hot on their tales. Ink continued to slow down as he hit trees all over, he called Rainbow for help but all she could think about was finding their mother. "Rainbow Dash, what's wrong?" Their mother said nervously as she and Rainbow collided. "Race...Tree....Really a wolf....INK IS STILL IN THERE!" the pegasus filly gasped between breaths. "Dashy, calm down...What happened? Where's Ink?" Their mom asked. "No time, come on!" and Rainbow dashed back into th forest with her mother following. She flew as fast as she could back to where she and Ink was last together....She was begging that her brother was alright. Please, Celestia, please oh please... She chanted silently.... Rainbow Dash flung herself forward. She had narrowly escaped the wolf, she remembered. Why hadn't her family?