Rainbow Origins: chapter 4
"Pinkie, is the balloon ready yet?" Twilight asked as she and the others walked into Sugarcube Corner.
"You bet, girls. It's waiting out back for you." Pinkie placed a tray of cupcakes on the counter and walked over to them. "Good luck, and make sure to stick to the script."
Twilight sighed in annoyance. "Pinkie, I told you our lives are not books that beings in other worlds read for their enjoyment. Besides, who would even want to read about our daily lives anyway?"
"Simple. Bronies!" Pinkie said before dashing off.
"I swear that filly is a few stitches short of a dress." Rarity said. "No point in worrying about it though. Come on."
The three mares loaded themselves into the balloon and set off for Cloudsdale.
A couple of hours passed and the equines found themselves coming up to the city of pegasi. After quickly casting the spell for ponies to walk on clouds, the three set out for Rainbow's father's house.
Soon they arrived and Rainbow knocked on the door. The door slowly opened to reveal a semi-annoyed Sonic Blitz.
"Look Rainbow, I love you and all, but if you haven't noticed I do have a life outside of you."
"Oh please dad, we both know that other than your job at the weather factory, you don't get out that much." Rainbow replied.
"That doesn't mean I'm not gonna start." He chuckled. "So who are these two lovely mares?"
"These are my friends: Twilight Sparkle and Rarity."
"It's nice to meet you, Mr.- "
"Blitz, Sonic Blitz." He shook Twilight's hoof. "Rainbow, if you're here for what I think you're here for, I can't tell you anything."
"You don't have to tell us anything. it's more like ... um." Rainbow Dash hesitated. "Twilight, you explain."
" I told your daughter that i could preform a spell on you that would allow her to look into your memories. Of course, you'll be asleep during this process and it'll be like you're re-living the event but-"
"No." Sonic Blitz said forcefully.
"But-"
"No buts Rainbow. It took me years to repress that memory and there is no way I'm going to re-live it!"
"Not even for your own daughter?" Rarity asked.
"No! look, i'm sorry, but I'm not going to help you. You're gonna have to take your search somewhere else!" With that, he slammed the door in their faces.
Rainbow Dash scowled and walked away with her head down. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other, before catching up to their spectrum colored friend.
"I don't get it. How could anypony be that stubborn and selfish?" Rainbow asked.
"Well you had to get it from somewhere, didn't you?" Rarity joked.
"Shut up, Rarity, you're one to talk!" Rainow yelled. She then noticed a muffin drop down in front of her. "What the-"
"Incoming!" A voice called, before a pony crashed down on top of the muffin.
"Derpy, what are you doing?" Rainbow asked.
"Hi, Rainbow Dash!"
"Ugh."
"Hey, you haven't got a package that doesn't belong to you do you?"
"Um... no."
"Aw, I'm so going to get fired if I don't find that package." Derpy sighed.
"I'm surprised you haven't already been fired." Twilight said dully.
"Hi, Twilight!" the derp-eyed pony said happily.
"Derpy, don't you have more mail to deliver?" Twilight asked.
"Oh yeah!" Derpy exclaimed as she began to fly away. "Bye!"
"I don't feel like doing anything else today, girls." Rainbow said quietly. "I'll catch you guys later." With that she flew off towards her house.
The two unicorns slowly walked back to the balloon and returned to Ponyville. Upon arrival, they were greeted by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Fluttershy.
"So how'd it go? Did Dashie find her mother? Where is she anyway?" Pinkie asked.
The event still fresh in their minds, Twilight and Rarity told them about everything that happened in Cloudsdale.
"That's awful." Fluttershy whispered sincerly.
"I know." Twilight replied. "So, did you all think of any other ideas to find rainbow's mother?"
"Ah got nuthin'" Applejack stated. "Sorrry, sugarcube."
Pinkie lowered her head and sighed. "Nope."
"Um, I have an idea." Fluttershy said. This caused Twilight's face to light up.
"Really? what is it?" she asked.
"I-I can't tell you." Fluttershy responded. "Just be at my cottage around noon tomorrow. Oh, and tell Rainbow to bring something she has from her mother."
"Okay." Rarity yawned. "It's getting late and I have to go put Sweetie Belle to bed. Good bye, girls."
The others said their good-byes and went their own ways. Rarity soon arrived at the Carousel Boutique and was greeted by the sound of laughter and crashing. Worried, she pushed open the door to see her shop in shambles.
Fabrics were strewn across across the floor, mannequins cracked in half, the furniture overturned and broken, and other materials laid about in the most random places. In the middle of all the cluter, sat Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo, laughing up a storm.
Sweetie Belle noticed Rarity walk in to the shop. "Hi, sis!"
"Sweetie Belle, What happened to my boutique!"
"We're havin' another sleepover tah earn out cutie marks!" Applebloom exclaimed. "We were tryin' our hooves at dress makin' , but that didn't work out so well."
"I told you we should have tried skydiving." Scootaloo said.
Rarity looked around the boutique and lowered her head. "I don't have time for this. Just clean up the best you can and go to sleep." She began to head to her room.
Sweetie Belle and the other crusaders followed. "What's wrong, Rarity?"
"I've had the most exausting day." Rarity said as she began to go over all the events that transpired the days before. After explaining everything, the unicorn told the crusaders to go to bed.
As the fillies laid in their room, they talked about the events Rarity had told them about.
"I think it's cool what your sisters are doing for Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo whispered. "I wish we could do something for her."
"Scoots, thats a great idea!" Applebloom beamed. "We could help by bein' like that pony we were readin' bout in school."
"You mean Sherlock Hooves?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Eeyup!" She mimiced. "An' we might even get our cutie marks!"
"Yeah, we could be CUTIE MARK CRUSADER INVESTIGATORS!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
"This is great and all, but can we talk about this in the morning? I want to go to sleep." the unicorn filly moaned as she turned in her bed.
Scootaloo frowned. "But I want to get started now!"
"Ah do to, but there's no way we're gonna find anythin' at this hour. It's probably best that we do get some shut eye." Applebloom responded as she climbed into bed with Sweetie Belle.
Scootaloo sighed seeing that she lost, and followed them.
In the next room, Rarity woke up, and up in her bed. Opal, who was at the end of the bed, meowed as if asking "what's wrong?"
"Everything's fine, Opal, darling. Mama just had a bad feeling about something that's all."
Twilight stood under. Rainbow's cloud house calling for her pegasus friend. It was almost noon and the lavender unicorn was losing her patience.
"RAINBOW DASH!"
"Coming." A voice called down. It didn't sound like Rainbow Dash.
Twilight was shocked to see her pegasus friend fall off her cloud house and crash into the ground. She quickly ran over and helped her up.
"Rainbow, are you-" Twilight gasped. "Oh Celestia, Rainbow you look awful! What happened to you?"
Rainbow blew her unkempt frizzy mane from her face revealing bloodshot eyes with bags beneath them. her coat was matted and stuck out in places.
"Nothing happened. I just didn't get any sleep last night." Rainbow groaned, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
Being the inquisitive pony she was Twilight couldn't help but ask "why?"
"I guess this whole search has put an emotional and physical strain on me recently." Rainbow sighed. "Plus, there have been the dreams."
"Dreams?"
"Yeah. Twilight, before I go any further, what are you doing here?"
"Huh, oh! Fluttershy thinks she knows how to find your mother. She asked that you bring something that your mother once owned." Twilight explained. "Do you even have anything like that?"
The pegasus thought for a second. "Actually, I do." She flew back into her house and returned with something under her wing that thhe unicorn couldn't make out. "So where are the others?"
"They're at the library." Twilight said as she began to trot to their destination. "So what are these dreams about?"
"I don't know. The first one was more like a nightmare. I was a filly back in Cloudsdale and I was with my father and the white silhouette of another mare. She was kinda big with alot of mane. When I tried to talk to her, she slapped me and said she didn't want me." Rainbow explained. "The first one I had last night had nothing to do with anything. I was flying over a forest and next to me was a silhouette of me, I think. Anyway, as we were flying, the silhouette fell out of the sky and crashed into the trees. I got to where she landed, I was attacked by something. That one alone kept me up half the night when i was trying to figure it out."
"Well, if you want, I have some books on dreams that you are more than welcome to borrow sometime."
Rainbow stopped abuptly and stared at Twilight. "Twi we've been friends for a while and I think you know me pretty well. With that said, why the hay are you asking me that?!"
"A mare can try can't she?" the unicorn sighed. "is that all?"
"No, there was one mare, but it didn't seem like a dream. it was more like a memory. I was a baby and my dad was trying to calm me down. I could tell nothing was working, because he left the room, agitated. then he came back and started talking to me, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. I only made out two things: "mommy." and "Canterlot."
Twilight thought for a second before she replied. "So it sounds like your mother once lived in Canterlot."
"I already figured that out. I even thought about going there to search, but it's been years since then. What sre the chances that she's still there?"
"That's true. Plus, theres no way of telling if she was just visiting or not. I guess that's just something we'll have to think about later."
At this time, the mares arrived at the library. After meeting up with their friends and an onslaught of questions, tips and comments from Rarity, they set off for Fluttershy's cottage.
When they got there, the yellow pegasus was nowhere to be found. They heard a loud howl came from behind the house. Upon coming around the building, the mares let loose a barrage of screams as they saw the massive timber wolf roared at them.
Pinkie stopped yelling and asked. "Why are we screaming?"
"Because that's a timber wolf, one of the most ferocious and deadly creatures in all of Equestria!" Twilight exclaimed.
"They're also the best trackers in all of Equestria." Fluttershy said calmly. "Hello girls."
"Fluttershy, how in tarnation did ya find a timber wolf?"
"Oh, I found him when I was on a stroll in the everfree forest taking an animal back home when i ran into him."
"Of course, you did." Rainbow muttered under her breath.
"So, Dashie, did you bring something?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah i got it." She took a paper out from under her wing and handed it to the other pegasus. "What do you plan on doing with that?"
"Isn't it obvious? She's going to use the scent from the paper to track down your mother." Pinkie explained. "At least I think so."
"That's right, Pinkie." Fluttershy allowed the timber wolf to smell the paper. "Although, it might take a few hours of days to find anything. So, are you willing to come?"
"Ah'd like tah, but Ah got some trees back on the farm that need mah attention."
"I have a report due to Celestia tomorrow."
"I have a big order to fill for a fashion show in three days."
"And I don't feel comfortable around that thing."
"I'll go!" Pinkie said happily
"Okay, we'll be back when we find something." With that, they followed the timber wolf into the forest.
"I hope they find something soon." Rainbow sighed. "I want this entire situation to be over and done with."
"Well, there's nothing we can do now, except wait." Twilight said as she put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Come on, what do say we figure out what your dreams mean."