//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Dark Pasts, Sunny Futures // Story: Sisters: Chasing a Happier Time // by lightfox lowell //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Dark Pasts, Sunny Futures By Lightfox Lowell “Great! Let’s get moving. Scootaloo shouldn't have to stay there another night,” says Rainbow Dash. “Well... one second, Rainbow Dash. I need to ask: do you really think you can take care of Scootaloo?” Twilight Sparkle asks. Twilight knows that she is in hot water with Rainbow Dash, but she needs to be sure that Dash is doing the right thing before forcing the Orphanage to give up Scootaloo to Rainbow Dash. “I don’t mean to be offensive, but taking care of a filly full time is a lot of work, and, well, you’re a bit—” Rainbow Dash raises her hoof to silence Twilight. “No, I don’t want to hear it, Twilight. You don’t know about most of this, but I’ve been taking care of Scoots when her father had to work nights. There’s nopony who is closer to her than me now, even more so since I know the pain she’s in. It may be hard, it may mean I need to slow down a little bit, but me and Scootaloo will make it work. All you need to do is get my sister back to me nothing else.” Twilight Sparkle is caught off guard by Rainbow Dash’s claims, but the more she starts to think about it the more sense it makes. Rainbow Dash would, at random nights, have to leave early from late night parties thrown by Pinkie for some reason. This had even happened at the coronation. Whenever she was asked about it Dash would always give a canned response: “Eh, I have a family thing.” Twilight does not know just how close Rainbow Dash is to Scootaloo’s family. ‘She says they were ‘like family’ but how much does she mean that?’ Something else also made Twilight pause. ‘‘Know the pain she is in.’ What did Dash mean by that?’ Rainbow Dash is never one to share her personal life, so she can understand why Twilight has a look of shock and confusion on her face. “Heh, if it helps, I’m sorry I pinned you to the ground... I just kind of lost it when I saw the box. I’ve had a hard few days...” Rainbow Dash does not totally forgive Twilight. In her mind it was that egghead’s love for books that killed Pin Puller, but right now she needs her help to get Scootaloo back. She has to pick her battles. Twilight, looking at her friend, could see that she meant her apology, but something Dash said gains her curiosity. “Well, I know one way you can make it up to me.” Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes and sighs. She had a feeling it would not be that easy. “Sure. What is it?” Rainbow asks while she sits down. Rainbow Dash thinks to herself. ‘This is going to take a while.’ “You said that you know the pain she’s in. What do you mean by that, Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes go wide, her wings go limp. She had meant to say that part in her head, but it must have slipped out. “Um, well, yeah... I mean, I was really close to Pin Puller as well, you know?” Rainbow Dash’s reaction to this question had told Twilight there is much more to this than that. “Rainbow Dash, there’s something you’re not telling me.” Seeing no way out, Rainbow Dash lets out a sigh. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Twilight shakes her head. She wants to know what made Dash bond so much to Scootaloo’s family. “Well, Twilight, sit down. This is going to be a long story. We have to go back to when I was about Scootaloo’s age, before I had my cutie mark, and just before I went to flight School.” *** Young Rainbow Dash is at her parent’s home in Cloudsdale. Even at this young age she is trying to be the best flier, and working hard to get her wing strength up. Currently she is home alone. Her only parent, her father, is off working at the Rainbow Factory. Rainbow Dash does not need a sitter at her age; her father could trust the filly at this point to stick to their cloud home and not do anything too reckless, but it’s the promise that he will sign her up for the Cloudsdale Flight School that really kept Dash in line. She does not want to lose her chance at awesome over something stupid. Giving off a satisfied sigh, Rainbow Dash sits on the edge of the clouds, looking off into the distance at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. The CWF is where most pegasi work in Cloudsdale as it was in charge of weather stability for most of Equestria. Normally, Rainbow Dash would look at the CWF and see ponies taking clouds away, but today something is wrong. There are lighting clouds spewing from the factory at an alarming rate. Rainbow Dash is not the best flier yet. Even with her daily training, she can’t stay airborne for more than a few minutes, but that small fact is not even on her mind. Something is wrong at the CWF, and her dad is there. Rainbow Dash launches herself from the cloud, setting a new personal best for speed flying that day. She makes it to the area that the CWF is connected to, and begins to race to the entrance on hoof, only to be stopped by a bunch of factory workers. “Get outta my way! My dad is there!” Rainbow shouted at the worker. “No way kid. If you get any closer, you’ll be fried by lightning!” Rainbow Dash does not have time for this. She uses her wings to kick up cloud at the worker, blinding him for a second. Rainbow then charges past. The worker tries to give chase, but a cloud shoots lighting right in front of him, blasting him back. Nopony is this close to the factory, so nopony is able to stop her from going right into the death trap it has become. Dash charges inside only to see the place full of lighting clouds discharging every which way. She has been to the factory before, and because of this she knows her way around. She can see a few ponies taking cover from the clouds. A few even shouted at her to get down, but her father is nowhere in sight, which causes her to ignore them. Rainbow Dash flies up into the second level of the CWF. This is where rain clouds and lightning clouds are made. She wants to keep going up, but there is a slight issue. Lighting clouds are pouring out of an overloaded machine. This is blocking the hole that goes up to the Rainbow Factory area of the CWF. She starts to look for another way up. That is when Dash notices a few pegasi laying on the ground. It looks like they got zapped trying to get to a switch on the machine. ‘That must be the switch to turn off the machine...’ Rainbow Dash thinks to herself. Looking at the clouds in her way, Rainbow Dash sees one way around the clouds: she has to turn that machine off. Rainbow Dash digs her hoofs into the cloud below her and flares out her wings. She then launches herself at full speed to the machine. Her small sizes proves to be a boon as she manages to get by the lighting that fried the other pegasi. She gets to the machine and slams her hoof into the emergency off switch. The machine sputters, makes a few bell ringing sounds, then goes quiet, and the clouds stop pouring out. Rainbow Dash, forgetting there are still active clouds in the room, jumps up in victory. “Yeah! Too awesome for you, clou—” but in the middle of her little victory celebration, lighting shots out and strikes Rainbow Dash in mid-air. “Ahhhhhg!” is all Rainbow Dash manages to get out. It felt like somepony hit her with a baseball bat, or like she crashed into a tree at full speed. She can see all the ponies still in the room looking at her in horror, and as she slowly falls to the cloud floor, her world goes dark. *beep* *beep* *beep* The young Rainbow Dash starts to hear a super annoying sound, which starts to shake her out of the sleep she was enjoying. “Nooo, five more minutes...” Dash tries to ignore it, but suddenly being able to feel the pain down her right arm makes her shoot awake. “Ahhh!” Rainbow Dash screams. She looks at her arm to notice it’s been wrapped up. She begins trying to remember how that happened... Then it dawns on her: she was hit by lighting. It must have struck at her right arm. “Oh, yeah...” Dash, starts to look around the room, which she correctly assumes is in a hospital. She expects to see her dad sleeping nearby or something, since that’s what he did when she landed herself in the hospital in the past. This time is different: he is nowhere to be seen, which makes Rainbow Dash’s ears fold back in worry. ‘Why is he not here? Did he get hurt? I didn’t see him in the factory when I went looking, so maybe he was out to lunch...’ Rainbow Dash hoped she was right when she hears somepony coming up to her door, but sadly it was just a nurse that walks in. “Oh, good, you’re awake, Rainbow Dash. I had a feeling with all the noise. There is a pony that’s been waiting to see you.” She walks out of the room. “You can go in now, dear.” Dash can hear soft talking, but cannot make out what was said. “Are you sure, dear? Normally, a doctor or family member would pass on news like that.” More soft talking... Rainbow Dash is pretty sure she knows who the voice belongs to. “Oh... I see. Well then, I guess that makes sense for you to talk to her.” Rainbow Dash’s idea turns out to be right on the money. Fluttershy, her oldest friend, walks into the room. Fluttershy makes her way next to the bed. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, I was so worried! Is your arm okay?” “Heh! I’m fine, Flutters. You should know it would take more than one lighting bolt to take me down!” Rainbow Dash tries to put her hoof to her chest and look strong, only to cringe when she tries to move her arm. “Ow...” “Oh, Rainbow Dash, you really need to be more careful.” “I’ll be okay, really. But I have to ask, did you see my dad outside?” Fluttershy’s ears fold back and her whole stance changes. She starts to hide behind her hair. “Um... well...you see... Rainbow Dash...” her voice trails off into mutters. “What?” “He... fell, Rainbow Dash... ” “Fell? Fell where?” Fluttershy takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “He must have been flying when the lighting clouds came. It looks like he was hit in the air, Dash... he... fell.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes go wide, and her cerulean coat goes a bit paler. “W—what!? Is he okay!? How far did he fall?” “I—I’m sorry Rainbow...” *** “He fell far from Cloudsdale all the way to the ground. He had been out cold from the lighting... So he didn’t have a chance to slow down.” Rainbow Dash says while glaring at the floor. It almost seems like she is cursing the ground for its existence. “I... I see.” Rainbow Dash gives off a sigh. “After that I was alone. I don’t know what happened to my mother. My dad told me she died due to birth complications, but I have no way to be sure. Sometimes the way my dad acted made me think she left us, and we had no other family around.” “There’s no grave?” “No. When a pegasus dies, we cremate them and scatter their ashes to the wind. That way they can fly forever. I guess you can say they are always flying with us... I don’t expect you to understand.” Twilight had never studied the subject, so that was news to her. “But what if you wanted to visit them and, well, grieve?” Rainbow Dash just rolls her eyes. “Then you fly, Twilight! Like I said, I don’t expect you to understand. Anyways, right after I got out of the hospital they wanted to put me in an orphanage, but instead I managed to get into flight school and stayed there until I got out and got a job at the CWF.” “I see... so when you went calling Scootaloo family—” “Yes, I meant it. I haven't had a family for a long time so... it was nice.” Rainbow Dash starts looking out the window with a smile on her face. “Having ponies waiting for me, seeing Scootaloo’s face light up when I would show up... or even having Pin Puller care if I was going to crash and knock my brains out. I know it sounds stupid, but I was lonely.” “But, Rainbow Dash, why not tell me or any of the others?” “I didn’t want you guys to worry about me, and only Fluttershy really knew about any of this. She had been the one I spent days like Hearth's Warming Eve with, and that was all I thought I needed, but after that camping trip, all that changed. Scootaloo wanted me... Me! Of all ponies to be her mentor, and ‘be like a big sister’! After I basically flat-out ignored her, and even tried to avoid her a few times, she still wanted me... I guess I could never say no to that, so me and her got really close after that night. Found out that same night that she spent some nights alone when her father had to work, so we had a sleepover at my house and I met her father the next day. It’s all history after that. We became like a small family.” Twilight smiles and stands up. “Let’s go get your sister, Rainbow Dash.” *** Back at Feather Loft's Orphanage, Scootaloo stares out at the horizon waiting to see a streak of rainbow come her way. ‘I wonder if she will find a way to get me out of here... I miss dad... being away from Ponyville and Dash just makes this suck more.’ Her thoughts only serve to depress her more, but thankfully somepony shakes her out of this state. “Hey! Are you even listening to me!?” Sunnyrain yells in Scootaloo’s ear. “AHH! Yes! No! OW!” Scootaloo’s hoof shoots up to rub her ear. “Heh! Well now you are.” Sunnyrain says in her normal super happy tone. “I asked you for your name! I just noticed you never told me.” “Oh, it’s Scootaloo.” “Well, Scootaloo, what do you want to do while you wait for Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo thinks for a second. “How are you so happy, Sunnyrain?” “What do you mean?” Sunnyrain starts to give Scootaloo a puzzled look. “You told me that whole story about you and your parents. How are you so happy!?” Sunnyrain giggles a bit. “Well it’s not that hard to see! Just look around you. We are in Cloudsdale! Also known as bestest city ever! I mean, it’s flying! How cool is that? If they did not send me here I would be at Canterlot.” She makes a small gag sound. “And I would not have my cutie mark! So I thank them for sending me away.” Scootaloo just stares at Sunnyrain for a moment. “You’re a bit crazy. You know that, right?” “Says the filly that got Rainbow Dash to be her sister. Most of the foals here think you’re crazy.” “Hmmm... When you put it like that... I guess everything that happened was a bit crazy, but that’s Ponyville for you: always crazy.” Scootaloo goes back to watching the sky, but this time instead of seeing nothing in the air, she can spot two ponies flying this way. Once she noticed who they were, one may say Scootaloo was a little happier then Sunnyrain... if only by a bit. In a few moments they land nearby. Scootaloo does not say anything to Twilight as she nearly pounces Rainbow Dash into a hug. “Rainbow Dash! You came back!” Scootaloo almost yells. “Heh! Geez, Scoots, I told you I would be back.” Rainbow Dash says in her normal cool tone, but that does not stop her from hugging the filly back. Twilight watches them, showing a smile, but the feeling of something climbing on her back and messing with her right wing tears her away from the touching sight. “Buh?” Twilight turns around to see Sunnyrain has somehow managed to get on her back. She is looking over Twilight’s right wing with interest. “Ohhh! You’re that new princess, right? Are all the alicorns’ wings so much.... poofier than normal wings? Or is it just yours?” “H—hey! Let go of that and get off.” When it was clear that the filly was not listening, Twilight picks Sunnyrain up with her magic, hovering the little filly in front of her. “Where did you get your manners from!?” “Ohhh, heh!” waving her hooves in the air like she is swimming. “Hey, this is fun!” Twilight, with a bemused look on her face, watches Sunnyrain. “You’re... a bit strange.” “Says the purple pony princess!” Sunnyrain replies with a happy chirp. Scootaloo, now on Dash's back, says “So, why did you bring Twilight?” “She’s here to help me get you out of here and back to Ponyville with me. Speaking of which... Twilight! Stop messing with the filly there and let’s get this over with.” “But she was--! Oh fine.” Twilight lets Sunnyrain down gently and starts to walk inside with Rainbow Dash. Sunnyrain trots up next to Rainbow Dash’s side and talks to Scootaloo. “You see? I told you she was coming back for you.” “What? Scoots, were you doubting me?” Rainbow Dash asks. “Well... there was this filly and she... I am sorry Rainbow Dash, I was just scared and alone here!” Scootaloo starts to hug Dash’s neck. “Hey now, it’s okay. Listen: we are a team, Scootaloo. I was not going to leave you here.” They walk into the Orphanage to see Cloud Dream sitting at the front. “Oh hello, Rainbow Dash, here to visit Scootaloo?” Cloud Dream asks. “Nope! I am here to pick up my sister and take her back to Ponyville where she belongs.” Rainbow Dash says with a sure grin. Cloud Dream blinks for a second and then frowns. “Rainbow Dash, we have already spoken abo—” “Yeah yeah, I know what you said before, but this time I came with backup.” Rainbow Dash waves a hoof at Twilight. “Introducing, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight walks up to the desk. “Hello there.” Cloud Dream had not gone to the coronation, but it was hard to not know who Twilight Sparkle is. It is also true the news about her becoming a princess has spread quite far and wide at this point. “H—hello...” Twilight begins to make paper work come out of her saddlebags. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash would have loved to go and help Twilight, but she and Scootaloo were getting mobbed by a group of starstruck foals. “Wow! So Rainbow Dash really is your sister?” asks one. “Is she going to take you back with her?” asks another. “But Morning Dew said she had to be lying.” says one more. Rainbow Dash jumps up and hovers above the foals. “Wow! Okay everypony, calm down. To answer, yes Scootaloo is a little sister to me, yes I am taking her home.... and who is Morning Dew?” Scootaloo looks around the room to see that Morning Dew and Sunnyrain are missing. She then whispers some stuff explaining Morning Dew to Dash. “Ah... well, that doesn’t matter, she’ll be here and we will be leaving.” She lands close to Twilight. Twilight smiles, seeing Scootaloo and Dash land next to her. Cloud Dream, on the other hoof, was sweating bullets. “So as I was saying, Cloud Dream, based on the law for adopting foals, as long as a princess signs a letter of recommendation, the age restrictions can and will be lifted. That is as long as the foal wants to be with said pony.” Twilight looks over to Scootaloo. “And I think we both know that is not an issue.” “Yes, that is true, but I have to say it is highly unconventional. Can you be sure that Rainbow Dash is suited to take ca—” “Yes, I am sure she can.” Twilight signs the letter and puts it on Cloud Dream’s desk. “You need to get the rest of the paperwork for Rainbow Dash right now.” Cloud Dream lets out a sigh and stars to open a few file cabinets to fetch Scootaloo’s paperwork. Twilight turns to Rainbow Dash. “Okay, everything should be good now, Rainbow Dash.” “Thanks, Twilight... sorry again for the whole tackling thing.” “Why would you tackle Twilight, Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo asks. Rainbow Dash freezes for a second. “I—Uh, Scootaloo, I will tell you later, okay?” “Sure, Dash!” Rainbow Dash starts to sign the small pile of paperwork Cloud Dream starts to pass to her. While Rainbow Dash fills out the paperwork, Scootaloo notices Morning Dew looking somberly at her from around a corner. ‘What the heck is her deal? She first treats me worse than Diamond does, now she looks all gloomy seeing me leaving?’ Once again on Twilight’s back, Sunnyrain speaks up out of nowhere. “Aw, don’t mind her. She is just a bit upset you showed her up.” “GAH!” Say both Twilight and Scootaloo. Once again trapped in Twilight’s magic field, she puts Sunnyrain at eye level with herself. “What is wrong with you!?” Everypony that knows Sunnyrain goes quiet. Cloud Dream pauses for a second while working with Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo is wide-eyed, knowing what is coming next. “Heh! Oh, I like that one, It depends on who you ask silly pony!” Sunnyrain has a huge grin on her face. “W—what?” “Oh yeah, if you ask Cloud Dream right there I am a great pony!” She waves happily at Cloud Dream. “But if you ask my parents, everything is wrong with me. But it all stems from me being born a pegasus and not a unicorn.” Sunnyrain gives a sagely nod. Twilight’s hoof goes up to her mouth as she gasps. Her magic grip on Sunnyrain almost drops her, but Twilight manages to hold it and can only stare blankly at the happy filly’s face as she grins at her. ‘Is... Is she joking? She has to be, right? She’s too happy for that...’ Twilight looks at Cloud Dream, who has a depressed look on her face. ‘Oh Celestia... she’s not joking...’ When Rainbow Dash hears that, her mind flatlines, her body freezes, and her wings want to flare out in blind anger, but she holds it back for the filly on her back. She somehow manages to let Twilight handle it for now and keeps writing. “Why... How are you so happy about all this?” “Geez, everypony is asking me that today. It’s because I am in Cloudsdale! It’s the bestest city ever, and being here got my cutie mark!” Logic and reason have now failed Twilight Sparkle. In her mind, this filly is as, if not more, perplexing than Pinkie Pie. Any normal pony would have just stopped trying to find any sense in this logicless, happy filly, but Twilight is a mare of science! She must press on. “I am almost scared to ask. What is your talent?” “Just like seeing the sun when it’s cloudy, I can see into the hearts of ponies! Like with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, I can tell they love each other like sisters. That’s how I knew Rainbow was never going to leave Scootaloo here for long.” Cloud Dream speaks up. “You also have the wonderful ability to see the ‘sunny side’ in everything.” Cloud Dream gives another sigh, then looks into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. “I can tell you and Scootaloo are close. I just hope you are doing the right thing here Rainbow Dash. Raising a filly is not easy work, and can be very trying.” Rainbow Dash shoots back with her normal confident grin. “Me and Scootaloo will make it work. Am I right Scootaloo?” Scootaloo, still on Rainbow Dash’s back, nods. “You kidding, it will be easy!” Cloud Dream smiles at both of them. “Well then, I think we are done here. Rainbow Dash, you are now officially recognized as Scootaloo’s guardian, or sister if you prefer.” She gives a small chuckle as she files all the paperwork and gets ready to send a copy to the Cloudsdale records. Twilight has, at this point, let Sunnyrain down from her magic hold. Sunnyrain stands next to Dash, looking up at Scootaloo. “It sounds like you are going to be leaving! That’s great! I hope you two have sunnier days.” Sunnyrain then holds out her hoof for a hoof-bump. A hoof-bump which Scootaloo gladly gives her. “Yeah, I will see you again sometime!” “Oh, I know you will, just not here.” Sunnyrain says with a happy chirp. Scootaloo blinks twice at that statement. “Wha...?” “Heh! Never mind for now! See you later, Scootaloo.” Then Sunnyrain runs off to where Scootaloo last saw Morning Dew. ‘That pony...’ Scootaloo thinks to herself. Rainbow looks at Scootaloo, then at Twilight. “Hey Twilight, care to help me and Scootaloo get her stuff back to my house?” “It would be my pleasure,, Rainbow Dash.” *** It’s funny how fast ‘help’ turns into ‘Can’t you just teleport it all there?’ but Twilight does just that in the end. Rainbow Dash sees Twilight off while Scootaloo is in her room unpacking. “Thanks again, Twilight...” “It was nothing, Rainbow Dash, but if I can ask, what are you going to tell her about tackling me?” “If it comes up, the truth. I hope it will just be forgotten about, in truth." She pauses for a moment. "I don’t blame you, Twilight. It could have been any crate but it just happened to be yours. If I have to, I am sure I can get Scoots to see that.” Twilight nods. “Well, I should get going. The Princess will want a letter about how all this went... I think I should inform her about Sunnyrain as well.” Twilight takes off back to her library. Dash walks back into her house, closing the door behind her. She looks over toward Scootaloo’s room and sighs. Yes, Rainbow Dash was very happy to have Scootaloo back, but she can tell Scootaloo is doing the same thing she did when her father died. She is holding all that depression in and keeping herself looking strong and tough on the outside. Rainbow Dash was never good at sappy stuff, but she has a feeling about what to do here. She makes her way up to Scootaloo’s room to see the filly unpacking everything into different parts of her room. Scootaloo, unpacking, feels a kind of hollow happiness. Yes, she was with Dash now, but the reason for that is because her dad is gone. She lets out a deep sigh and pulls the next thing out of the box. It is a picture of her, Pin Puller, and Rainbow Dash. They are all in front of a Hearth's Warming Eve tree. She pauses to look at it, then sets it down next to one of her and Rainbow Dash. She sighs and goes to get something else out of the box. For Rainbow Dash, seeing Scootaloo’s state only confirms her fears about the filly. She knows first hoof that bottling up that pain will not end well. She walks up and taps Scootaloo on the back. “Hm?” Scootaloo turns to see Rainbow Dash. “Oh hey Rain—!” Before Scootaloo could finish, Rainbow Dash pulled the filly into a hug. At first, Scootaloo’s mind was racing, but then Rainbow Dash spoke. “It’s not a bad thing to be sad, Scootaloo... It does not mean you’re not cool or strong.” Scootaloo’s mind brakes for a moment. ‘I...she...but...’ But slowly she wraps her arms around her sister. She closes her eyes to try and stop the tears from flowing out, but to no avail. “He...I...” Rainbow Dash just holds steady for Scootaloo. Scootaloo, with tears flowing down her face, tightens her hold on Rainbow Dash. “I was there! He pushed me out of the way of that crate! Then it just hit him! By the time I got to him, he had blood coming from his mouth and...and... it’s all my fault! If I was not there, he would have gotten out of the way...” Rainbow Dash shakes her head. “No, Scootaloo, none of that... you can’t know for sure.” “...He said the same thing... He was alive for a bit. He... also told me to be good for you...” Rainbow’s hold on Scootaloo does not break, but her mind was now elsewhere. ‘He... he wanted me to look after her... He was dying, and he wanted her to go to me...’ With tears starting to form in Rainbow Dash’s eyes, she speaks up. “Yeah... that sounds like him... It’s going to be okay Scoots. You’re with me now.” The two sisters did not leave each others’ side for the rest of the night.