//------------------------------//
// The Good Old Days 
// Story: The Life of a Broken Pegasus 
// by TimeLord_Whooves 
//------------------------------//

	The cyan pegasus slowly walked into her living room, sighing as she dropped her saddlebags into the corner as she slumped into her favorite chair.  It had been a long day at work, though it had been a long time since she had been the captain of the Wonderbolts, she had returned to Ponyville to resume her position as head of the weather team.  
“I’m getting too old for this.” she said aloud to herself as she stretched out her wings to hear a chorus of cracking.  Indeed her years had been starting to show as her mane had begun to dull and wrinkles had started to appear on the mare’s face.
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes as she settled into the comfortable armchair.  After a moment, she looked up at the bookcase that was set into the wall just behind the chair, grabbed her favorite Daring Do novel, and opened it.  A small tink came from the floor behind her as something metal had bounced off of it.
Looking down Rainbow noticed a metal bookmark with a tassel on one end, a small jewel decorating its thin, faded, rainbow colored threads.  She looked at it for a moment then, eyes widening, picked up the thin strip of metal from the floor and turned it over in her hoof.  On it read, ‘May you never forget your place in my heart.’
Rainbow Dash read these words a few times before remembering where the bookmark had come from.  Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she looked over to the pictures that adorned the mantle of her fireplace.  Taking a long moment to reminisce as her eyes moved from picture to picture, her smile slowly growing.  She could feel her heart pounding as the memories rushed through her head, tears of joy escaping her eyes as she recalled these happy memories.
The first picture had been of Scootaloo and Cloudwhisp at his first visit where he actually stayed to have dinner with them.  They had laughed so much at one of Rainbow’s jokes that Cloudwhisp had laughed spaghetti up and out of his nose and he started swinging it around much to the two mares’ disgust.  It had always been something that one of them would bring up and they’d laugh about for a long time since.
The second picture was one that Rainbow Dash had taken without Scootaloo or Cloudwhisp’s knowledge.  The two young ponies where in Scootaloo’s room, kissing.  Rainbow had been listening at the door when she had heard Cloudwhisp confess his feelings for her sister so she quickly ran into her room and grabbed her camera, planning on capturing either that moment or the moment of him getting a hoof to the face.  Although she laughed to herself at the latter, she was happy to see that it had gone well.
It hadn’t been long before they told her about what happened and she decided to spring the picture on them much to her own enjoyment as the two sputtered and babbled at the sight of the picture.  Their faces, which had already been flushed from the prospect of telling her of their relationship, were now beat red.  She had spent the next week apologizing to them as they kept giving her the silent treatment.
Her eyes moved now, to the third picture.  Cloudwhisp had invited Rainbow and Scootaloo, along with his own parents, out to dinner one night.  While they had fun talking and reminiscing, Scootaloo, who had finally reached the bottom of her glass of cider, had let out a loud gasp.  All eyes turned to her as she pulled out a large diamond ring and looked up to find that Cloudwhisp was settled on his haunches right next to her, holding his hoof out for hers.  She gave him her hoof and he took the ring and asked her for her hoof in marriage.
Scootaloo had been in tears at this point, she nodded and quickly wrapped him up in a tight hug.  He gasped for air as she let him go, then took the ring and clipped it onto her ear, smiling and kissing her as he did so.  Rainbow, who Cloudwhisp told of his plan before hoof, snapped the camera out right as Scootaloo locked him into her death hug and captured the shocked look of Cloudwhisp holding the ring with Scootaloo squeezing the life out of him with a giant, tearful smile.  That had been one of her favorite pictures and one of the happiest nights of all of their lives.  The picture next to it had been their wedding which, other than a town wide cake fight, had been a fairly normal affair.
Rainbow had a renewed rush of happy tears as she turned to the next picture.  They were at the hospital.  Scootaloo was lying in the bed, exhausted from the strenuous work she had just gone through.  Cloudwhisp just burst into the room, panting for air.  He had flown all the way from his work in Cloudsdale just to get there in time, but he was already too late.  He rushed up to Scootaloo’s side and grabbed her hoof, she smiled up at him weakly, Rainbow, watching from the other side of the bed.
It hadn’t been a whole minute when a nurse had walked in with a small bundle in her hoof, making her way to the bed to place it in Scootaloo’s lap.  A quiet gurgling sound was coming from the bundle.  Cloudwhisp pulled the blanket away from the face of a small light orange foal with a bright red, almost pink, mane and smiled widely at it.
“Congratulations,” the nurse said, smiling at him, “It’s a boy.”
Cloudwhisp smiled up at Scootaloo who smiled back at him.  “So what do you want to name him?” she asked quietly.
“How about Thunder Clash?” he asked after considering it for a moment.
Scootaloo gave him a reproachful look.  “What?  It sounds awesome doesn’t it?” he asked, giving a little laugh.
“I was thinking more like Cloud Dasher.” she said, looking over at Rainbow Dash and back at Cloudwhisp.  “What do you think?”
“It’s a wonderful name.” Rainbow said with a huge smile, tears streaming down her face.
“It’s perfect.” Cloudwhisp said grinning at Scootaloo then looking down at the foal.  “Hey there Cloud Dasher.”
The little foal cooed as if in agreement to the name and they all laughed.  Cloudwhisp hugged Scootaloo tightly with little Cloud Dasher between them, the foal seemed comforted with its parents holding him like that.  The picture beside it held a similar portrait only with a slightly older Cloud Dasher smiling up from the end of the bed.  It was a dark brown filly, they named her Marigold due to her gleaming golden mane and tail.
The next couple of pictures were of Cloud Dasher and Marigold’s school portraits, shockingly Silver Spoon was the new teacher at Ponyville Elementary, taking over for Miss Cheerilee after she displaced her hip and decided it was time for retirement.  Next to these pictures was one, of the two foals a few Hearths Warming Eves ago.  Marigold had taken to calling Rainbow Dash, Grandma Dash instead of auntie like Cloud Dasher.  She didn’t enjoy it at all but had given up disputing it with the stubborn little filly, Scootaloo claims she got her stubbornness from Cloudwhisp but Rainbow knew better.
The last picture, which actually hung above the mantle, was a very large portrait of all of them, Rainbow Dash stood in the back with Cloudwhisp’s parents, Scootaloo and Cloudwhisp side by side in the middle, and Cloud Dasher and Marigold standing straight and proud out in front, all with great big smiles.
Rainbow Dash was getting tired now, she wasn’t as young as she used to be.  She sighed and said aloud, “Thank you sis, for giving me such a great life.  I’ll always love you, my Scootaloo.”
Her eyes closed as a few final tears drained from her eyes.  Her breathing slowed and her body relaxed in her chair.  The smile which she had been wearing while reminiscing faded to a blank expression and she was gone.
The sounds of light snoring now coming from the very comfortable pegasus in her very comfortable armchair.