Rainbow Dash was sitting in the living room of Thunderlane’s small apartment on Kossuth Lane, relaxing in the red couch, her hind legs stretched out. She fluffed a pillow and set it beside her head, and was about to drift off to sleep, when she was interrupted by a small colt’s voice.
“So...are you like...my mommy now?”
Rainbow looked to the source of the voice, finding a small grey colt there, recognizing him as Rumble.
“Oh, heya, kiddo. What’s up?”
“Well...I just wanted to know. Are you, like, my mom now?”
Rainbow bit her lip, carefully considering her answer. “More like ‘big sister.’”
“Oh. Okay, then.” Rumble carelessly pawed at the ground, while Rainbow craned her head back again. “So...why are you here?”
Rainbow got up again, looking at the small colt, eyebrow raised. Rumble quickly went into a panic. “N-not like that! I meant, like...in my house, as my big sister!”
Rainbow dropped the look and laughed. “I’m here because your brother needs help.”
“Help?”
“Yeah. Raising a kid is tough, you know.”
“It is?”
“Yeah, it is. It’s even harder when you have nopony to help.”
“So…” Rumble mulled the problem over in his head. “...you’re here to help Thunder, and make it easier to help me grow up?
“Exactly,” Rainbow replied, trotting over to the kid and wrapping him up in a bear hug. “And don’t you forget it.”
Rumble giggled. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah!”
Rainbow grinned. “I better make sure!” She started tickling him, getting uproars of gleeful laughter from the colt. This game went on for about half of a minute, until Rumble could take no more of the playful half-torture.
“St-stop! It t-t-t-tickles so much!”
Rainbow released her hold on Rumble, tears of laughter dripping out of both of their eyes.
The front door suddenly opened, and Thunderlane chuckled, softly stepping into the room. “I’m glad to see you two are getting along well.”
Rumble smiled. “Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?”
“Well, it’s been a while since you two saw each other.”
“Thunderlane, Scoots and I have been living here for about a week now,” Rainbow said.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that.” He paused, folding his umbrella back into a compact state. “That’s...not what I wanted to talk about, really.” He looked to his side, and then behind him at the pouring rain. “Hey, buddy, you can come in.” Rainbow and Rumble peeked their heads at the door, and, to their surprise, saw a small, spotted foal walk in.
“H-h-h-hello,” he said.
Rainbow smiled. “Hey. You seem cold. Let me get you a towel.” In the blink of an eye, Rainbow was off, returning seconds later with a white towel. She draped it over his back, and he nuzzled his head into it. The towel visibly drooped from the influx of extra mass. “So, kiddo, what’s your name?”
“I’m P-P-Pipsqueak.”
“Hey, I know you!” Rumble said, running to Pipsqueak’s side. “You go to school with me!”
“Yes, I...I do.”
“Well, um…”
There was a small silence, which Thunderlane broke. “So, Pipsqueak will be staying with us. For a while, probably. Does anyone have a problem with that?”
Steps rang out from the staircase in the back hall. “Problem with what?” a small filly’s voice asked. The small filly came down from the steps, and entered the living room. “Oh, hey, Pipsqueak!”
“H-h-hey, Scootaloo,” the shivering colt replied.
“Hey. So, uh…” Scootaloo’s attention turned to Thunderlane. “What are we having problems about?”
Thunderlane looked down to Pipsqueak, and then to Scootaloo. “Pipsqueak will be...staying with us for a while, in the extra guest room. Is that okay?”
“Yeah! Pip’s cool!”
Pipsqueak smiled. The orange filly’s enthusiasm was contagious.
“Well, then, there you have it, Pip,” Thunderlane said. “I can call you Pip, right?”
Pipsqueak nodded.
“Alright, then. Let’s get you dry.” Thunderlane lifted Pip onto his wing and trotted up the stairs towards the guest room.
Rainbow Dash looked at the clock across the room, hanging on the wall. It read 8:46 p.m.
Better get Scoots ready for bed, she thought to herself. “Hey, Scootaloo!” Rainbow called. “Time to get ready for bed.”
“Do I have to?” the filly groaned.
“Yes, yes you do.”
Scootaloo sighed. “Fine.” She trotted up the stairs towards the shower.
Rainbow leaned back on the couch, hoping to get some rest. She couldn’t really complain about the day, however.
The addition of Pipsqueak into the household was definitely unexpected, but Dash had a soft spot for kids, and couldn’t live with herself if she turned him away. Besides, after Nightmare Night, Pipsqueak and Scootaloo had become friends, and Rainbow Dash had been called upon more than once to get Scootaloo from school. At these pick-ups, Dash would always see Scootaloo talking with Rumble and Pip, along with the other Crusaders, making sure to keep their distances from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
Dash smiled. She was glad Scootaloo was making friends. Scootaloo used to have trouble making friends. She had found Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, but that was about it. Unless you counted being enemies with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
Rainbow Dash had always been interested in their relationship. It seemed that Silver Spoon was more of a weak-willed accomplice than an instigator. No, the instigator was Diamond Tiara.
No matter how many times Diamond Tiara had been scolded, berated, and punished, she would not let up on the Crusaders. She had recently even begun picking on Rumble and Pipsqueak, all because they had made new friends.
Rainbow Dash put these thoughts aside for the moment. She needed to rest, after all. Tomorrow, she was expecting a visitor.
Daring Do.
Not generally one to take no for an answer, Daring Do was the kind of pony who would protect those weaker than her. She was like a dark knight, doing bad things for good reasons. These bad things usually included roughing up anyone who hurt those weaker than themselves, or planting evidence to suggest criminal activity on those who would hurt the lesser. Daring was a vigilante, Cloudsdale her city, the weak her protectorate.
But Daring definitely had a soft spot for those foals.
Thunderlane, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Cloud Kicker. Those four...she had saved them. Sure, she had always saved ponies who were getting picked on, but...for the purple guy to actually try to hurt them? Daring sighed.
She had come to a conclusion. There were four types of ponies in the world: those who do good things for good reasons, those who do good things for bad reasons, those who do bad things for good reasons, and those who do bad things for bad reasons.
Daring herself was part of the third type, but she admired those who were part of the first. They were pure. Daring was impure. She did bad things. Sure, the ponies who she did them to were bad, but they were still bad things.
Daring despised the ponies in the second and fourth types. They were immoral, evil, and should not be given the chance at happiness.
At least, not until they changed.
Daring was also a firm believer in rehabilitation. With enough care, somepony could make a change for the better. It’s why she never killed.
Daring stretched her hind legs. Now, those foals she had protected were all grown up. She had cried when she was at their graduation, and saw Thunderlane off to military school, and saw Fluttershy and Cloud Kicker and Rainbow Dash move away. Then, she was alone.
No one to talk to. No one to hang out with.
No one but herself.
After Rainbow Dash had moved away, Daring had moved into a dormitory at the Cloudsdale School for the Historical Arts, which was a fancy name for archaeology school. Daring obtained a doctorate, and not long after, went on her first adventure to the tomb of an ancient Prench king.
After the expedition was over, she was so enamored by the experience that she decided to write a book under the penname ‘A.K. Yearling,’ which had a lot of history behind it. ‘A.K.’ came from what adults had always called Daring and her friends in school, those ‘aimless kids.’ The ‘Yearling’ came from Daring’s fascination with time.
Time had always interested Daring. She just had so many questions about it. When did it start? When did ponies become fully aware of its existence? Does it actually exist, or did ponies just make it up?
Daring smiled. An ear-to-ear grin spread across her face as she neared the door of an old friend.
The old friend who she had protected.
The old friend whose purple tormentor had never bothered him again.
The old friend, Thunderlane.
She had also heard rumours that Rainbow Dash had moved in with Thunderlane. Whether or not they were true didn’t matter to Daring. She actually hoped they were, because then she could see another friend.
Not wasting another moment, Daring brought her hoof up to the oak door and knocked, hitting the door three times.
Rainbow Dash was awoken by three knocks at her oak door.