//------------------------------// // Red - Blood, Danger and Longing // Story: Searching For Rainbow Dash // by Windy Scamper //------------------------------// Thursday, November 16th. Through the preperations for winter and all, Ponyville, and really, all of Equestria were starting to get into the holiday spirit, especially after Nightmare Night. Everypony seemed happy, and the atmosphere was perfect. I couldn't help to trot around, eyes closed, head held high and smiling. Everything was perfect. Everything was perfect up until Thursday, November 16th. Everypony knows that nothing gold can stay, but then again, things just seem to fade into silver; almost perfect. Rarely does the world just crash as everything falls apart before our eyes. But that's what happened on this particular Thursday. I was in school, the 6th grade to be exact, and everypony was excited for the holidays, and just done with school in general. Many foals were missing from school for either an early vacation or from being sick. Those of us who had to suffer through school these last couple of weeks tried to make the most of it. I walked into school, scarf around my neck and boots on to keep me warm. I smiled as I walked up to my friends, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. "Hey guys! What's up!" I called excitedly as I trotted up to them. Neither one of them turned around. They just stayed huddled up, and I vaguely heard one of them sniff. "Hey," I said quietly. "What's happening? Guys? Guys?" I asked, not just getting impatient, but also worried. It was then that first Sweetie Belle, and then Apple Bloom, turned around. "Scootaloo, haven't you heard the news?" I was about to say no, when the first bell rang. Oh no, now we're late. This better not be Sweetie Belle breaking up with her latest coltfriend. If that's why I'm tardy, I swear... But then I noticed that nopony had gone inside. Many were just huddled up in an even larger circle, and some were walking home. Now I was really starting to worry. "Guys...." I stuttered. "Why isn't anypony going inside?" Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged a glance, and then looked back at me. "There was an accident up at the Wonderbolt Academy. With all the snow and all, a bus of foals from a local school that was visiting there crashed right into it. Many were killed, along with most of the Wonderbolts and recruits, and..." I cut Apple Bloom off. "What...what about Rainbow Dash? She's okay, right? She's tough, she could take it...she took it! She had to! Heck, she probably saved a few foals while in the process, and..." "Scootaloo..." "And she's going to come right back here, to Ponyville, and we can get your sisters together to comfort her, and..." "Scootaloo, I..." "And then I can help her get through it, and she'll only have a few injuries, and she'll be flying again in no time!" "SCOOTALOO, LISTEN!" Apple Bloom interjected. Everypony from the circle turned around and looked at Apple Bloom for breaking the cold silence, but for once, her cheeks didn't fluster red, and she didn't get embarassed. She just stared at me, waiting for me to acknowledge her. "She's alive Applebloom. She's alive I can feel it." I cut myself off there, not wanting Apple Bloom to yell again. "No, she's not Scootaloo. Listen, we've all lost someone, and Dash did save a few foals, but in the end, the debris she had to dig through plus the initial damage was just too much. They didn't find her complete body, but..." "Then there's a chance she's alive! She could still be out there!" "They found a large patch of blood-stained cyan fur. And think Scootaloo, use reason for once." Sweetie Bell cut in for Apple Bloom. "If Dash was alive, why would she hide? Why would she just destroy others, especially ones who've already lost so much from this..." I looked down. I couldn't believe it. The one week the new recruits had to help at Academy, the one week they had to be there. The one week Dash had to go train with Spitfire.... "I assume we're allowed to leave school," I mumbled, looking down. I began to walk away before I even got a response from my friends. Neither one of them responded, they just nodded. As I walked away from the school, the only sound I could hear were hoofsteps crunching in the snow. Not just mine, but those of the larger huddle, turning to watch me leave. I could just barely hear a pair of hoofsteps crunch behind me, but whoever it was, they said nothing. And while I would normally tell them to beat it, I was not in the mood for it today. It was minutes later, after we had left the school far behind, that my follower finally said something. "Scootaloo, I just want you to know...if you need anything...I...I'm...I..." I recognized the stuttering voice as one of my fellow classmates. His name was Rumble, and his older brother, like Rainbow Dash, had been competing for a spot on the Wonderbolts this year. "Rumble, I don't want to talk about this to anypony, especially not a pony I barely know. What could you possibly know about what I need right now?" I stopped in my tracks, and Rumble walked up next to me. I didn't turn to look at him, and could jsut barely see his light grey fur. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe there are others like you in this situation?" He asked calmly. "A lot of ponies died. Many ponies lost younger siblings or children. And some lost older siblings, like you...and well...I...." I could hear him choking up on his words, and it was then that I realized what all the commotion at school at been about. The large huddle, the silence, and now this. It wasn't just for the accident; it was for Rumble. Which means Thunderlane is gone. How many others were lost, who else is in our position? "Rainbow Dash was all I had. My parents are gone, and now her. I don't have anypony else." Rumble paused a moment, before finally breathing out, "Same here." I guess I had never realized that I had never seen Rumble's parents in all the years I had known him. But I guess Thunderlane was all that he had. Maybe my situation wasn't the worse one out there, but still, I wasn't going to act as his comforter when I had problems of my own. It was silent for a few minutes, until Rumble finally looked over at me, and I looked over at him. Our gazes met for a few seconds, and a feeling of sympathy and remembrance was around. Then, Rumble slowly pulled away and looked down, and broke the silence. "I asked if they could let you off school as well for the next few days. You don't have to go in until you're ready." I nodded slowly, still looking off into the distance. I won't be back for a few months, then. If I'm ever ready to go back, anyways. I crunched through the snow back home, to a small little cottage. My mother and I used to live in it, until she died of illness when I was seven. After I had found Rainbow Dash, we would often spend most nights together here. She didn't complete take care of me, but I was in no condition to live on my own. The only thing I could think of to do was to search for my father....whoever he was, anyways. Where I would even start, I don't know, but until then, I'd just have to settle for this. I opened the door to the cottage, and trudged up the staircase to my little bedroom. It wasn't much but a bed, a desk, and some stuff on the blue walls. I poked my head out of the window in the side of the room, and looked up into the midday sky. "Mother...Rainbow Dash...why did you leave me? You both fought through everything, what was so hard about the one fight you lost?" I got a bit mad, and then calmed down. "What am I supposed to do? I need something to keep me going in life, just something...I need somepony to take care of me, and help me." I flopped back up onto my bed, and stared at my ceiling. I had no motivation to do anything, and though it was no later than three in the afternoon, I drifted off to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I woke up, unsure of what day or time it was, and for a moment, I had a glimmer of happiness, as I forgot all of the day's events. But I quickly crashed back down to reality as I walked back down the stairs and into the small kitchen of the cottage. I saw that there were many things on the doorstep, meaning the mailmare had stopped by. Many of them were sympathy cards and care packages from various friends, but nothing I really wanted to read. But I flipped through the pile anyways, not having much else to do with my life. When I reached the bottom of the pile, however, I found something interesting. It was an ordinary envelope, which was what made it so intriguing. It wasn't addressed to me, nor did it have a return address. It was simply a blank envelope, but there was definitely something in it. I took a deep breath, and carefully ran my hoof under the thin paper, slowly breaking the thin seal. I closed my eyes as I tipped the envelope over unto the table, not knowing what the expect besides something bad. I opened my eyes and found a simple note sitting on the table. I walked up to the table, and look at the note, and not seeing anything wrong with it, I turned it over into my hoof, and read it slowly and carefully. Scootaloo~ I'm sorry for leaving you but, it's complicated, okay squirt? I just want you to know that I'm still out here in this world, and that I'm okay. Just carry on without me, and keep the awesome going. I know you'll be great and shock the world one day. I didn't even look at the bottom line to see who it was from. I held the note to my chest, knowing fully well where this note had come from. I smiled, and looked up. "You're out there somewhere. And I don't know where to start, but I will find you. We will see each other again, Rainbow Dash. Of that, I am sure."