Rainbow finally decided she would write her closure list, the list that would allow her to overcome the guilt from her past. Guilt she had been harboring for years until they finally hit her all at once the moment she found out her father died. There were many, but she wasn’t looking to write a book. She wanted her list to contain things that had a deep meaning behind them. That would have truly brought happiness to her father to be able to see her try them, even if it was only once in her life.
“But what are they?” Rainbow thought to herself, her eyes glued to the ceiling of Fluttershy’s cottage. It was a question she asked herself more than once, even while she walked back from Applejack’s farm. Which ones would have truly brought joy to her father’s life, which would have shown him how much she loved him? And give her the comfort in knowing that she tried, for him.
She thought hard, going through her past trying to figure out what she did that could have been done differently. But it was harder than she thought; she put a lot of effort into pushing moments like that out of her mind. They only seem to come back to her when she’s dreaming, but she didn’t want to have to go through that every night. She needed something, anything that could trigger a memory for her.
“Any progress, Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy as she walked into the room. Rainbow put her quill down with a sigh and turned to look at Fluttershy.
“Nothing, I just can’t think of anything.” she said as she rubbed her temple. It was frustrating; to not be able to do something she had set her mind to. Fluttershy wished she could help, but everything that goes on Rainbow’s closure list needs to come from her and no pony else.
“You’ve been trying for over an hour, how about you take a break and try to clear your mind?” Fluttershy suggested. Sometimes a good idea can’t be forced; a pony just needs to wait until it hits them. Rainbow looked back at the blank piece of parchment; she tried to think but still couldn’t come up with anything.
“Alright, a break sounds good.” she said with a small sigh as she hoped off the sofa. At that moment a bell could be heard and a smile spread across Fluttershy’s face.
“Just in time too.” she said as she turned and walked back into the kitchen. Rainbow arched a brow and followed Fluttershy into the kitchen wondering what it was she had been making. The moment she stepped in she saw Fluttershy open the oven and pull something out of it. It was a cake, a chocolate cake from the looks of it.
“You still like chocolate, right?” asked Fluttershy as she placed the cake tray on the table.
“You kidding, it’s my favorite.” Rainbow said as she stared at the cake. Chocolate cake was always her favorite, just like somepony else she knew. Once she remembered her brow quickly furrowed and she stared at the floor.
“Are you okay, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked as she took a step closer to Rainbow.
“Chocolate cake was dad’s favorite too.” Rainbow said with her eyes still locked on the floor. Immediately Fluttershy regretted making the cake, she thought that making Rainbow’s favorite cake would make her happy.
“I-I’m sorry, Rainbow, I just-“ Fluttershy stopped when Rainbow put her hoof on her shoulder.
“Thank you.” Rainbow said with a smile on her face. She knew Fluttershy’s intention, and Rainbow didn’t want the hard work Fluttershy put in making the cake to go to waste. So after Fluttershy had finished adding vanilla icing on top, the two of them sat at the table with a slice on their plates.
“So is this why you asked me to get some apples, so I wouldn’t walk in on you making this?” asked Rainbow. Fluttershy looked away from Rainbow for a moment before looking back with a sheepish smile.
“Clever.” said Rainbow with a smirk before she took a bite out of her cake. Just as she thought, the cake was delicious. Not too sweet and just the right amount of chocolate flavor that melted in your mouth with each bite. She remembered this taste very well; it was exactly how her father’s cakes used to taste.
“Do you like it?” asked Fluttershy, but there was no response. “Rainbow?” Fluttershy looked up to see Rainbow was looking back at her. Actually that wasn’t true, while Rainbow seeming to be looking in Fluttershy’s direction she didn’t seem to be staring directly at Fluttershy. It was almost as if she was staring a million miles away. Fluttershy had read about something like this before, it was common among war veterans who at random times would flash back to moments in their past. So if something like that was happening right now, what was it that Rainbow was flashing back to?
Rainbow Dash was flying home after a couple of hours of practicing stunts around town. It was a freedom she was finally given now that she was in her mid-teens. Now she could fly around town as much as she wanted so long as she returned before curfew. It was early in the afternoon now and Rainbow was feeling a little hungry so she decided to go home to get something to eat. Once she landed in front of her home she noticed her mom watering the plants.
“Hey mom!” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof.
“Back already? Thought for sure I’d have to go looking for you.” her mother joked.
“Got hungry, just gonna get something to eat before I go back to practicing my stunts.” Rainbow said as she walked through their front door. Once inside Rainbow slowly made her way to the kitchen wondering what she’d eat. At this time she was thinking maybe a sandwich, it’s both simple and fast to make. And it was the only thing that Rainbow actually knew how to prepare as she wasn’t very kitchen savvy. But she didn’t care, she had better things to do than learn how to cook something. She had to spend all her free time getting better and faster at flying so that she could join the Wonderbolts someday.
“What if I put too much of something, or not enough?” Rainbow could hear Fluttershy, it sounded like she was worried about something. It wasn’t new for Fluttershy to worry if she did well enough in something. Rainbow’s been trying to help Fluttershy with her confidence but it was a lot harder than she expected.
“You did just fine, I’m sure it will be delicious.” Now Rainbow could hear her father’s voice.
“Are they in the kitchen?” Rainbow thought to herself. That’s when she caught a whiff of something in the air. “Is that…chocolate?” she asked herself again, she slowed her pace a little more so they couldn’t hear her. Soon enough she reached the corner that lead to the kitchen, she peeked her head around it to see her father and Fluttershy sitting on the floor while staring at the oven.
She couldn’t see what was in the oven, but given the smell she could guess that it was a chocolate cake. And since her dad was making one with Fluttershy it could only mean one thing for Rainbow. “Oh no, he’s gonna try to get me to bake again!” Rainbow thought to herself not too keen to the idea. Rainbow liked cakes but she hated baking, she wasn’t good at it and it never really interested her.
The last time Rainbow’s dad tried to get her to bake with him she put up a little bit of a fit to convince him not to make her. She didn’t want to have to go through that again, it was probably better that she got away before he noticed she was home. Carefully Rainbow turned around and tiphooved her way to the door.
“Daddy, how come you didn’t ask Rainbow to bake with us?” Rainbow stopped dead in her tracks. She didn’t want to bake, but still she found herself wanting to know the answer. There was a small silence before Rainbow heard her father let out a sigh.
“I wanted to, but last time I tried she made it clear that she didn’t want me to teach her.” her father started. There was another pause, one that lasted over a minute, Rainbow still hadn’t moved from the spot where she stood. She felt like there was more, something else that her father wanted to say.
“Fluttershy, be honest with me. Does Rainbow still enjoy spending time with me?” Rainbow felt like her chest was going to explode. Why would her father think that? She loved spending time with him.
“Of course she does.” Rainbow could hear Fluttershy assuring their father. “It’s just; there are things she doesn’t like to do.” Fluttershy added. Rainbow waited for a response from her father, she wasn’t sure what else to do. The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity, but it was eventually broken by a chuckle from her father.
“You know what, you’re right. Both of you have different likes and dislikes, I can’t force either of you to do something you don’t like.” her father said, the traces of sadness from his voice seemingly gone. Rainbow let out a sigh and mentally thanked Fluttershy for backing her up, even if she didn’t know Rainbow was a few feet away. Just then Rainbow heard the kitchen time go off, the cake must be done now.
“How does it look, did it come out okay?” asked Fluttershy as their father pulled the cake out of the oven.
“It’s perfect, because we made it together.” he said as he placed the cake on the counter top. “And I’m glad we got the chance to do this together.” he added before giving Fluttershy a warm hug not knowing that a few feet away Rainbow was being crushed by guilt. Rainbow quickly made her way out the door without alerting anypony else that she had been inside. Rainbow quickly took to the air not giving her mother any time to say anything.
She then spent the next couple of hours flying as fast as she could around town trying to push that moment out of her head. It actually took her days, but eventually she succeeded in doing just that. If only she had known how it would affect her in the future.
“Rainbow?” she hadn’t noticed when she had moved, but suddenly Rainbow Dash saw that Fluttershy was standing next to her. Fluttershy was gently shaking her, it had been almost ten minutes since Rainbow went into a trance and she was beginning to worry. Rainbow blinked a few times and turned her attention to Fluttershy.
“Huh, what’s wrong?” asked Rainbow.
“You spaced out…then you started to tear up.” said Fluttershy. Rainbow placed her hoof on her cheek to find that Fluttershy was right. Rainbow’s cheek was moist from her tears, he hadn’t even noticed.
“I was remembering something.” Rainbow said with her eyes locked on to the cake Fluttershy had made.
“What did you remember?” asked Fluttershy, she could only imagine one of Rainbow’s previous guilt’s had resurfaced.
“The day dad taught you how to bake.” Fluttershy remembered that day, she thought about it every time she baked. But there was something that was off about what Rainbow had said, as far as she knew Rainbow wasn’t home when that happened.
“Wait, but you were out doing stunts that day; you didn’t come home until dinner.” Fluttershy said from what she remembered that day.
“No, I came home before that, a couple of minutes before the cake was finished. I…was in the hallway listening. I heard everything you two said.” the room fell into silence after that; Fluttershy didn’t know what to say. She thought for sure that the conversation she and their father had that day was private.
“I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.”
“No, you don’t need to feel sorry.” said Rainbow. “It’s my fault for being such a brat when I turned down his offer. There’s nothing I can do to change what happened that day, but I can do something about it now.” Rainbow got up from her chair and made her way back into the living room. Once there she walked up to the table where she had placed the parchment and picked up the quill. She didn’t have to think about it anymore, she knew what was going to be first on her list and had no hesitation in writing it.
Fluttershy walked up behind Rainbow to see what was going to be first on Rainbow’s closure list. When Rainbow was done writing she placed the quill down and stepped out of the way to let Fluttershy read it. ‘Chocolate cake’ was written on the parchment, something that would seem like a simple task to somepony else. But to Rainbow, it had more meaning than anything she’s done up until now.
“It was his favorite, and he wanted both of us to be able to make it. Maybe it was because he wanted us to know how to bake like him, or maybe it was so we would always have something about him we could remember. Either way, I’m going to learn how to make one in his memory, can you teach me?” Fluttershy could see Rainbow’s determination to do this; there was no way she could refuse.
“Of course.”
Rainbow and Fluttershy were preparing to make another cake, one that Rainbow would make with Fluttershy’s supervision. Rainbow had no previous baking experience so she wasn’t expecting the cake to be perfect the first time. But she was going to keep trying until can make a cake that tastes just like how her father made it. “Uh oh.” Rainbow heard Fluttershy say from the refrigerator, Rainbow walked up to her to see what was wrong.
“Sorry Rainbow, but I used the last of the milk and butter making that last cake.” Fluttershy said with an apologetic look on her face. Rainbow rubbed the back of her head; they couldn’t bake a cake without those ingredients. She didn’t want to, but it was looking like she would have to wait until they got more to give baking a try.
“Guess we’ll have to go buy more first.” said Fluttershy as she closed the fridge door.
“Wait, you mean now?” asked Rainbow.
“Of course, I’m not going to make you wait after you made your decision. We’ll go into town and buy some more ingredients, and you can start baking when we get back.” Rainbow gave Fluttershy a look of gratitude and followed her to the living room.
“Just a little longer and I’ll give it my all.” Rainbow thought to herself as she and Fluttershy made their way to the front door. With a sound click Fluttershy unlocked the door and turned the knob opening it. The next thing she knew it something big and pink dashed its way through the opened door making its way towards Rainbow.
“Dashie!” Rainbow heard before something rammed into her knocking her into the ground. It took Rainbow some time to try to process what had just happened. And she was far to dazed to see what was around her. But slowly she began to piece together everything up until the moment she hit the ground.
“Pink blur, mare voice calling me Dashie, the smell of cupcakes and…am I being hugged?”
“Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow said as she opened her eyes, and sure enough she was met with an ear to ear smile from the very pony.
“I’m so happy that you’re okay, I’m sorry that I left town like I did. But I just started to worry about my family so much because I haven’t heard from them in a while and-“ Pinkie stopped when Rainbow placed her hoof under Pinkie’s chin.
“Easy, I already know what happened. Applejack told me about what you were going through a few days ago. I’m not going to be mad at you just because you wanted to visit your family to make sure they’re okay.” Pinkie stared at Rainbow with her brow furrowed.
“Are you sure?” asked Pinkie wanting to make sure Rainbow wasn’t angry with her.
“Positive.” said Rainbow which put the smile back on Pinkie Pie’s face. A couple of seconds passed before Rainbow cleared her throat. “Can I get up now, Pinkie?” asked Rainbow reminding Pinkie that she was holding Rainbow down on the floor in a hug. Pinkie apologized and helped Rainbow get up off the floor.
“Anyway it’s good to see you’re back and I’d like to catch up but Fluttershy and I need to get some ingredients in town.” Pinkie Pie tilted her head for a moment.
“Are you making something?”
“Well, it might seem a little silly, but I want to learn how to bake a cake.” Rainbow paused for a moment as she rubbed her foreleg with her hoof. “It’s something we think will help me get through this.” the room fell into a silence for a moment; Pinkie Pie seemed to be deep in thought.
“But maybe later we can-“
“Let me teach you.” Pinkie said with a serious look on her face. It was a rare sight from the party pony. Rainbow wasn’t sure what to say, Fluttershy had already agreed to teach her how to make one. Not just that, but the look on Pinkie Pies face made it impossible for her to refuse the offer.
“Please, even if you say it’s okay that I left town that doesn’t change that I’m here now. I don’t know why or how learning how to bake a cake will help you and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But if it will help you be happy again then I want to do whatever I can to help.” sometimes ponies would forget what Pinkie’s true talent was. Most believed it was in throwing parties, but in reality that was just her method of achieving her real talent. The talent to bring back the happiness to a pony that has lost it.
Fluttershy could see it in Pinkie Pies eyes, the desire to be there for her friend. She could only imagine that the rest of their friends were the same way. All sitting in wait for the moment to arrive when they can help Rainbow. And Fluttershy didn’t want to be the pony who would rob any them of that chance.
“I think it’s a perfect idea.” said Fluttershy as she walked up to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow looked over to Fluttershy to see if she really was okay with this. All it took was a reassuring nod of Fluttershy’s head to assure Rainbow. She then smiled and turned her had back to Pinkie who was waiting in anticipation.
“Alright Pinkie, I’m counting on you.”