//------------------------------// // chapter 3 // Story: It Was Just An Accident // by Matt11 //------------------------------// Dash sat in the ruins of the shattered trophy, tears still coming down her eyes. “Mom...” Her eyes clenched shut but the tears kept flowing down regardless. She put her hoof in the ashes, thinking of the memories the two had shared. Her mom had died a while ago, but she had never forgotten her. Scootaloo’s face popped up in her mind, driving away her sadness and filling her with rage. She swung her hoof at a piece of the trophy, sending it flying across the room. “That damn Scootaloo! She’s such an idiot! I TOLD her not to come in here no matter what.” She got up and smashed her hoof into the wall, but it just barely stilled her emotions enough she didn’t go on a rampage. Thoughts of revenge began filling her mind, and a cruel smile crossed her lips. She knew Scootaloo would return eventually, and when she did she would get a harsh comeuppance. She left her room and headed to the guest room she had set up for when Scootaloo slept over. In it was a bed, a dresser, assorted Wonderbolts posters, and other personal items. She let out a dark laugh as she flipped the bed upside down. She knocked over the dresser, causing the things on top of it to go spilling over. She was going to destroy this room just like Scootaloo had destroyed her heart today. When the filly tried to come crawling back her heart would burn with pain just like she was feeling. Scootaloo would see the room and know for sure she was disowned as a sister, "and then she would leave" and never came back. It gave her immense satisfaction to think of the hurt Scootaloo would feel. The stupid kid didn’t understand a thing. “Oh, sorry. Oh, it was an accident. HA!” She smashed a stuff animal with a hoof at that. “Sorry isn’t going to cut it this time, Scootaloo!” On the floor by the overturned bed she saw a notebook and she let out a girly giggle. Scootaloo’s diary. She picked up the book, hoping to find some deep dark secret to spill to everyone. Maybe Scootaloo still wet the bed sometimes, or had a crush on an older stallion. She flipped through the book, looking for something juicy. She rolled her eyes as she skimmed through pages of fangirling about her. “Ugh! This is so dull! You’re supposed to write secrets in a diary. Geez! Can’t you do ANYTHING right?” She stopped on a set of pages that were doused with tear stains. The words were choppy and broken. She smirked. This was exactly what she was looking for. This had to have been a distressing time for her. She couldn’t wait to see what Scootaloo’s big secret was. “Today is the worst day of my life! I went to the doctor today. I asked why I was having so much trouble flying. I mean, I could glide but that’s about it. He took some x-rays of my wings. When he came back he told me that my wing structure was out of whack. The muscles aren’t growing in correctly. There’s a strong possibility that I’m never going to be able to fly! I’m so ashamed! I can’t tell Rainbow Dash. She would abandon me as a sister in a heartbeat if she knew how wretched I am. “I really hope that this problem isn’t permanent. I really want to learn to fly and be just like her. This is like a cruel joke. I finally get Rainbow Dash as a sister, and now she’s gonna give me up because of how pathetic I am. I just wonder how long I can keep it a secret? She’s gonna find out sooner or later. I hate my life!” It was like a punch in the gut. All her previous rage vanished, leaving her feeling bad for her little protégé. She looked around at the room and the realization of what she was doing hit her, leaving her feeling guilty. She lifted the bed back up and set it upright, sitting down on it. She sighed. “What am I doing?” She looked up at the ceiling. “Mom…” Her rage tried to return. Scootaloo had disobeyed her, and broken something invaluable to her. She had every right to be mad! Unbidden, a memory suddenly came to her. CRASH! Filly Rainbow Dash looked down at the broken mess on the floor. “Dashie, I don’t want you going in our room without permission, okay?” Her mom’s words rang through her mind. She was huffing and puffing. She had climbed up the bookcase to get a better look at something on a high shelf. It was a trophy her mom had won when she was younger. She tried pulling herself up higher to reach out for it when it happened. Her weight and her wriggling caused gravity to start pulling the bookcase towards her. “Uh-oh!” Quickly jumping off she flapped a few times to get out of the way of the landing site before, with a big bang, the bookshelf toppled over. She took a few deep breaths. “It’s okay! Mom and dad are outside. They probably didn’t hear it.” Using all her strength she lifted the bookcase back into its proper spot. Thankfully there hadn’t been TOO many books in it. She quickly began shoving books back into the shelves. That’s when she noticed it. Her mother’s prized trophy had been smashed when the bookcase had fallen. Tears began coming down her eyes. Her mom was going to be so mad. Gulping, she began working faster to make the bookshelf look full again. Once all the books were back on the shelves she picked up the two pieces of the trophy. She had to get some glue. She was just about to run out of the room when she smashed into something and fell backwards. When she opened her eyes her heart sank as she saw her mom standing there with a frown. “H-hi, mom. I… I was just… um…” Though she tried she couldn’t think of a single excuse for why she was in there. Her mom had looked at her angrily, then her eyes had gone up to what had flown out of her hooves when she had fallen and her eyes widened. “My trophy!” She looked down at Rainbow Dash. “What did you do!” Tears began forming in the mare’s eyes. “This was a very important thing to me and you ruined it! I’ve told you before I don’t want you coming into my room. You deliberately disobeyed me and I’m very upset with you!” She walked into the room and picked up the two pieces before glaring at her daughter. “Go on! Get out of here!” She gestured forcefully with her hoof. “Go to your room and stay there until I tell you to come out. You understand me?” “Y-yes, mom.” She got up and, with her head down, began leaving the room. When she reached the doorway she stopped and turned around. “I’m sorry, mom. I love you.” “I don’t want to hear it! Go on, you disobedient brat!” She recoiled a bit and then left without a word, heading to her room. She laid down on her bed and began crying. She had upset her mother really badly. Why did she have to be so STUPID? She cried and cried and cried. Every time she started settling down she would see that heartbroken expression on her mother’s face and her sobbing would begin anew. After an untold amount of time she heard a knock on the door. She looked up to see her mother at the door. She flinched and turned her body so she was facing away from her. She heard the hooves approaching her, and then the feeling of shifting weight on the bed as her mother sat down. Her mom grabbed her and set her on her lap, hugging Rainbow to her. “Oh, little Dashie. I’m sorry I yelled at you.” “HUH?” That wasn’t the reaction Rainbow had expected at all. “What are you talking about? I broke the rules. I broke your trophy. You SHOULD be mad at me.” “Shhh,” she said quietly as she began rubbing her daughters back. “It’s just a trophy. I’m a little sad its ruined, but you are much more important than a trophy. You apologized because you realized you had done something bad, and my response was to yell at you and insult you. That isn’t acceptable. I love you so much, my little Dashie. I want you to understand that. No matter that sometimes you cause trouble. All kids do. It’s how they learn to be more careful with their actions and words, so they avoid hurting others they love. I see that you do understand that you did something wrong, and so I forgive you.” As her memories faded tears streamed down her eyes, a sad, thoughtful look on her face. “Scootaloo…” “I’m sorry. It was an accident.” “Please, Dash. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen” “But Dash, I’m sorry!” Three times her sister had apologized. Three times her sister had shown she knew the severity of her actions. And what was her response? Three times she had spurned her sisters attempts to make amends. Even so, right before she left, she had still cared enough to say, “I love you.” Her mother was a glorious mare. Very loving. Very considerate. She had taught Dash a valuable lesson that day about forgiveness. She was her mother’s daughter, was she not? That being the case, she had to follow her mother’s example, and go to her sister now and make things right between the two of them. She tried to fix up the room as much as she was able, and then left the house, flying towards Ponyville.