//------------------------------// // Released // Story: Rainbow's Parents: The Truth // by Songbrony //------------------------------// I sat on my bed for a few hours. I didn't move or talk. Heck, I didn't even eat when they brought me dinner. I was still having trouble believing that she had forgotten what she meant to me, and I to her. The Doctor walked in and sat down next to the bed. "She's awake Rainbow. She wants to talk to you." he said. "I thought you said it would just put her in greater danger?" I asked, not looking at him. "Only because you don't know what to avoid. Rainbow, I know this must be hard for you, but you need to understand that if she remembers you as she did before, you both will be in more danger than what we would be able to handle." he said. "How can a memory put her in danger?" I asked. "It's more than just a memory. It's something that she held close to her heart. You see, there's this ancient spell that Princess Celestia knows. It allows the recipient to become hidden and forgotten about by a certain pony or group. It's very powerful magic that requires two different sources. A strong memory from the recipient and an item from the group or pony you are trying to hide the other from." he explained. "Out of all the memories that I could find, out of all of her memories that were strong, none were stronger than her memory of how much she loved you, Rainbow. It pained me to have to take that away, but it's the only way to keep you both safe." "How does it keep me safe? You didn't have to remove any of my memories to keep me safe." I pointed out. "That's because her memory was stronger than what we had thought. We were able to use a section of the memory to protect you. It's very complicated, but if she remembers how she felt about you, then the spell will be broken, and you both will be in terrible danger. I don't think that the Shadows are going to be happy that you were able to escape their leader. They will try everything to find you." I sat there taking everything in. "So, no matter what, I can never hug her or kiss her again?" I said trying to keep my voice calm. He stayed silent, not willing to tell me what I already knew. He got up and headed for the door. "Like I said, she's up and wants to see you. When you feel better and think you can handle yourself in front of her, go visit her." He walked out the door without another word. I looked out the window and watched the rain patter against the window. It reminded me of our first Nightmare Night, when we had just started getting really close. Everything that happened up to this point, all happened because of that one stupid night. "Why did things get so hard for us? Why us?" I asked myself. I decided I should go see her. My heart still hurt knowing that I wasn't going to be able to hug her in the same way as before, but I needed to see just how far I could go. I got off of my gurney and headed out of the room. I had to lug out this machine that was connected to my foreleg. It kept making a beeping sound. I think it was checking my heart rate but I wasn't sure. I walked to her room and found the Doctor playing Oranges to Oranges with her. "That doesn't even make sense! Yet it's brilliant!" I heard him shout. I got really ticked off by that. We would play that as kids, and here she was playing it with him instead of me. "Hey, Fluttershy." I said as I walked in and took a seat next to her bed. "How are you feeling?" "A lot better now. The nurse said I could go home in a few days." she said. "What about you? How's your wing?" "It's fine. Nothing I can't handle." I said even though I felt quite the opposite of fine. "Oh, I'm so happy that you're alright." she said with a sigh of relief. "I'll let you two catch up a little." the Doctor said. He looked at me, as if telling me to be careful. I nodded at him. "So, do you remember anything? Like, before the forest?" I asked. "I'm having some trouble remembering for some reason." "It's probably the concussion." she said. "And the only thing I can remember is the Wonderbolts show. Everything before that is just a blank." she said. "I see." I said. "Anything...about you and me?" I asked, trying to keep my breathing steady. The machine started to beep a little faster. "Um...no. I only remember my mother standing over you and me tackling her." she said quietly. "I'm sorry. Um... Was there something I was supposed to remember?" Everything. You and me cuddling. You and me sitting together laughing. Our memories... I thought to myself. "I was just wondering. I'm sure the memories will come back in time." I said. I heard the monitor start beating really fast. It was definitely a heart monitor. "Um... Are you okay, Dashie?" she said. That was it. I couldn't handle hearing her call me that and her not remember how much she cared about me. "I've got to go." I said quickly. "Rainbow, what's wrong?" she asked worried. "Nothing!" I said trying to hold back my tears. "I just...have to make sure that I get some sleep." I lied and ran out of the room. The machine disconnected from me on my way out and it began giving off a low hum. I ran into the room and sat on the bed putting my face in my hooves. I sat on my bed and let my tears flow down my cheeks. I just sat there and cried quietly to myself. I didn't make a sound. I just let the tears fall onto the floor. It hurt too much to talk to her. I didn't even resist the doctors when they hooked the machine back up to me and when they did, the Doctor walked in with Felix. "I know this is hard, Rainbow. But I had to. If I didn't, you two would most likely die." he said. "How can you know that?!" I shouted at him. I didn't care if anypony else heard. I just wanted to yell at him. He sat down next to the bed and sighed as he looked at the ground. "What Fluttershy did today was her way of trying to protect you both. She went to her mother to strike a deal with her, one that she hoped would keep you safe. But I know how you are. When I came to find you, I hoped that we could stick together and find her without putting you in danger. I, however, didn't take into consideration your arrogance and bull headedness. I ended up putting you in more danger by taking you with us, and I'm sorry about that. I had to make sure that Fluttershy wouldn't do that again and put you both in even more danger." "And what made you think she would do it again after what her mother did?" I asked. "Because she loves you. And she let's that love get in her way of seeing the obvious. Love can be blinding. Ponies have a way of missing things when they love somepony. So, I had to take that away in order to save two lives." he explained. I didn't look at him. This was now my reoccurring time with the Doctor. He would explain himself, I would stop talking to him, and the cycle would repeat itself, always ending in the same result. Me hating him with every ounce in my body. I stopped talking to Felix about how I felt. I shut myself off from the world. I didn't want anypony to see my emotions or how I was feeling. I felt that if I just pushed all my thoughts and emotions down, I'd be fine. So that's what I did. A few weeks passed and Fluttershy moved back to her cottage. She would visit me occasionally and we'd chat. They were great times, but I would always end up depressed when she had to leave. And it just got worse as time went on. After a month, I was scheduled to be out of the hospital. Fluttershy had told me about all the animals she found and how she was taking care of them all. She had stopped seeing me as much, and we slowly started to drift apart. I hated it. I tried to forget her and how we were, but it was all making things worse. The day before I was about to leave the hospital, a pink pony with a really poofy mane walked into my room. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie and I love making new friends!" she said right in my face. I pushed her away from me as she started to bounce around the room staring at everything. "Uh, hi? What are you doing?" I asked, majorly confused by what was happening. "I'm new here! And when I'm some place new, I always make new friends everywhere! What's your name?" "Uh, Rainbow Dash." I said. "Where are you from?" "Oh just a lame ol' rock farm. I moved here so I could make ponies laugh and smile all the time!" she exclaimed. "I see. Well, believe me, there are plenty of ponies who could use some cheering up around here." I said, gloomily. "Hey, Frowny McFrownersin. Let's put a smile on that face!" she said as she pulled out a cannon from out of nowhere. "Agh!" I shouted as she fired it. A cake shot out and landed right onto the table. "What the-" "It's my Party Cannon 2000!" she exclaimed. "It has everything you need for a party! It has balloons, streamers, glitter, cake, cupcakes, muffins, music, cupcakes, confetti, cupcakes, did I mention it has cupcakes?" she rambled on. "Uh, yeah." I said. I took a piece of the cake and took a small bite. In all honesty, I hadn't been eating much, and I had lost some weight. "Hey. This cake is pretty good." I said. "Well, duh! It's from a party cannon silly!" she said and ate the rest of the cake in one big bite. "Well, off to make some more ponies happy! I'll see you later Dashie!" she said and she hoped away, carrying her cannon along with her. For some reason, I liked this pony. I don't know why. Maybe it was because she was outgoing or because she was the one pony who had tried to cheer me up. When I heard her call me Dashie, I was happy, not sad like I usually felt nowadays. Of course, this pink pony did just make my day. On the other hoof, I just realized that when I got home the only pony I'd be living with would be Felix. Since I was in the hospital, he was promoted and had to stay at the Exchange a lot more than usual. This meant countless nights of me staying home alone. Now, I have no problem being alone, it's just usually she would be there and I would see her. I hoped that things would get better as time went by. The next day Felix checked me out of the hospital. I had to stay off my wing for another month to make sure it fully healed. Of course, the first thing I did when I was out of sight of the hospital was fly. I missed the fresh air and the feel of the wind blowing through my wings. I landed on top of a cloud and took a deep breath. I hated being cooped up in that hospital. It had been three weeks since I spoke to Fluttershy after the forest incident. I didn't know if she might eventually start feeling the same for me later on, but I doubted it. The Doctor said she could never remember how she felt about me in order to stay safe. Felix landed next to me on the cloud. "You want something to eat? There's a new place that opened up in Ponyville. Sugar Cube Corner. I heard that they have some very good cupcakes." he said. "Sure! All I've had for the last month is hospital food." I said excited. We flew off to the store, despite the doctor's orders to have me limit my flying. We landed in front of the store and walked in. The store's lights were off, but the sign said open. "Well, this is a great way to show that they mean business." I said. I took a few steps in when the lights suddenly flashed on. "Surprise!!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she jumped right in front of me. There were cheering sounds behind her and party blowers and noise makers going off. "Uh, what's all this about?" I asked. "It's a welcome back from the hospital party silly goose!" she said and give me a noogie. "We have punch, cake, cupcakes, cinnamon buns, toaster strudel, muffins, cupcakes, chocolate milk, OH, did I show you the chocolate fountain?" she asked in excitement. "Um...no?" I said confused. "Well follow me then!" I followed her to the chocolate fountain. It was huge! And of course, she shoved her head underneath and started to eat. I swear she had been under that fountain for about 30 seconds. "Uh, Pinkie? Are you okay?" I asked. She pulled her head out and smiled. "Of course! Why wouldn't I? I mean, there's a giant fountain of chocolaty goodness sitting next to me. Why wouldn't I be okay?" I just stared at her. She cocked her head to the side. "You okay, Dashie? Do you like the party?" she asked. "Oh, yeah. Totally. I mean, I've never really been to a party, despite the fact I was the most popular at my school." I said. "Really? Well isn't that splenderific!" she exclaimed. "Oh! I invited all of your friends here too! Let's go meet them!" She dragged me over to behind the counter. "Here she is! Safe as a filly in a park." she said. "Well, howdy there Rainbow. How's yer wing?" Applejack said. "Good. I can fly on it now." I replied. "Well that's just dandy." she said in her southern accent. I looked to her right and saw a white marshmallow looking pony with a purple mane. "Hey, who's that? I've never seen her before." I asked. "That's Rarity. She's an up and coming dress designer. Have you seen some of her outfits? They're super duper cute!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Cute? No thanks. I don't like cute." I said. "Yeah, me neither. Too froo froo an' frilly for ma' taste." Applejack said. "Hey, Dash? Have ya' seen Fluttershy 'round here? Ah thought she'd be here with ya' since ya' just got out from that hospital." "No, I haven't seen her. I literally just got released." I said, trying to stay as vague as I could without sounding like I was hiding something. I don't think I did well. Applejack raised an eyebrow at me. "Really? Well maybe ya' can go grab her an' bring her to this here party." "Well, I think she's busy taking care of her animals." I said. "Ah see. Well, it's a shame she couldn't be here." she said. "Oh! I just remembered! Somepony called the Doctor gave me this letter. I couldn't open it, but he wanted me to give it to you, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie said as she gave me a letter. "Well, I gotta go find my alligator. He loves to swim in the punch!" She darted off into the crowd and disappeared. "Is she okay?" I asked Applejack as I looked over the letter. "I ain't got a clue. I think she's a few short." she said. "So, what's the good Doctor got to say to ya'?" "Um...actually, I'd like to open this on my own. If that's okay." I said. "Sure, sugarcube. Ah'll be over by Rarity. Ah don' think she knows about the alligator in the punch." she said. She walked past me and I turned the letter over. I opened it with ease, despite Pinkie saying she couldn't. There was some strange writing on it that I didn't understand. It suddenly started changing. "Remember, Rainbow. Fluttershy must not know how you feel. Your mother and I are out to search for them and hopefully find them before it happens. Stay safe." Well, that's great. Not only is Fluttershy gone, but now my mother is back on some deadly mission. With the Doctor, who she used to love. I folded the letter and put it in the trash. I found Felix and walked over to him. "I'm feeling a little fatigued. I'm going to head home and get some sleep." I told him. "Alright. When you wake up tomorrow I won't be here, so you'll be on your own then." he said. "Okay. See ya'." I said and flew home from Sugar Cube Corner. I flew through my window and landed on my bed. I made the mistake of looking at what used to be Fluttershy's room. It still had the wall paper of the White Tail woods on it. Her desk was covered with her old magazines and a few pictures. I laid on my bed and faced my wall. The Wonderbolts. I imagined joining them and being able to fly with them. It would be exhilarating. I closed my eyes and tried to fill my mind with thoughts of the Wonderbolts. But no matter how hard I tried, Fluttershy kept creeping back.