//------------------------------// // Rainbow's Free Spirit // Story: Rest of Their Lives // by babyuknowme13 //------------------------------// It was the sort of day that made every feather on her wings bristle. The storm clouds had taken two entire hours to position over Ponyville, and although it was leagues better than most other teams could do it was still slower than their all-time record. Rainbow gave it a six, at best. Her cloud home was surrounded on all sides by angry, gray clouds. Rainbow wasn’t worried though, she’d built this house with her own two hooves and had used the best grade of Material Cloud she could afford. It wasn’t as good as Silver Lining brand cloud, but Heavy Smog brand was nothing to sniff at. It had five rooms, a large den, a study, an exercise room, and three rainbow waterfalls. It was pretty much her dream house. Rainbow had spent most of her fillyhood after graduation designing it, getting the floor plan the exact way she wanted it. It was miles above better than the house she’d grown up in. ‘Whoof, gloomy weather brings gloomy thoughts.’ Or maybe the weather had nothing to do with it. It was just weather, it had been on the mandated schedule for two weeks. Rainbow had even been looking forward to it so she could test her weather captain replacement, Drizzle. Her sub-captain had done pretty well with the formation and stuff previously, but hard weather was where you made it or broke, and Rainbow was pleased to say Drizzle had made it. How could she not when she’d been trained by Rainbow Dash herself? As if there was ever any doubt. Being a Wonderbolt Reserve paid well, not as good as full membership would, but enough that she could afford to give up her weather management job if she cut back a bit. She wouldn’t always be available to work the weather if she was on call for the Wonderbolts, and it was only a matter of time before she was given a place on the main team. In two weeks, Rainbow would no longer be working the weather except as an occasional volunteer. Rainbow looked out the windows and watched the storm for a while. She couldn’t remember Cloudsdale ever being in a storm, it always hovered above the clouds. When she was little she’d loved to look over the edge and watch the thundering blanket cover the earth. Probably why she’d done something so stupid as to fly straight into one before she’d even attended flight camp. A filly even younger than Scootaloo, she’d never dreamed that weather could be dangerous before. Rainbow was lucky she hadn’t been struck by lightning. ‘Yikes, there I go again. Get with the program, Brain!’ She fiercely shook her head and went in search of entertainment. Tank was fed and chilling out in her bedroom, she’d already read all the Daring Do novels she had, and she had already performed her daily exercise regimen twice today, any more than that could strain her muscles. She didn’t really feel like taking a nap either, so she was at a loss. Times like this she almost wished she lived on the ground. At least she wouldn’t be risking a zapping if she stepped out her front door right now. Pinkie was probably in her new party cave, planning some parties to surprise them all with, or maybe getting ready to leave for her family reunion in three days. Rarity was probably either still working at the boutique or at that law pony’s office, it was awesome how she was finally putting her hoof down and getting rid of her leeching parents. Geez, with Pinkie Pie moving out on her own and Rarity suing her parents, it seemed a lot of their personal issues were circling back to the family theme. Rainbow hadn’t even seen her family since she’d left home. Her dad had been part of a surveyor team, exploring new prospective settlement sites to see what the weather was like there and how it could be improved without compromising the ecosystem. Her mom was an artist who specialized in landscapes, she flew all across Equestria looking for a new view to put on a canvas. They were good ponies who were good at their jobs, and Rainbow never doubted that they cared for her, but they hadn’t been in love. Hadn’t even been married. Rainbow, to put it bluntly, had been a mistake during their wild years. The two ponies had been dating, getting closer, and when Color Splash had been in heat they’d decided to stay together and raise a foal to satisfy Quick Dive’s ESC. The ESC was a dumb rule as far as Rainbow was concerned. Since the ratio of stallions to mares was so messed up there was a law in place that said every stallion must sire at least two foals in their lives, otherwise known as Every Stallion Contributes. It was the only way to keep their population up since hardly anypony did herds anymore. So ten months later Rainbow Dash had been born, a little early but perfectly healthy. Her parents had originally traded off foal-sitting responsibilities, Quick Dive would take care of her for a few months, then Color Splash would, but as Rainbow had gotten older they’d more and more gone back to their old jobs, hardly remembering or caring about the filly they’d made together. Well, that wasn’t fair. Color Splash and Quick Dive had loved her, and probably still did, but it was the love you would reserve for your niece or nephew. The kind of love that had you buy presents and send cash occasionally, but taking care of the foal was always somepony else’s responsibility. By the time she was eight, just stretching her wings for the first time, it had been solely Rainbow’s responsibility. Rainbow was 21 years old, and she hadn’t seen her parents since she was seventeen. She was at peace with their current relationship, such as it was, and felt no need to track them down. She was comfortable with her life as it was, with friends, work, and the occasional quest to save all of Equestria. So why was she doing everything in her power to distract herself from the letter she’d found in her mailbox this morning? It was sitting innocently on the kitchen counter, she hadn’t even paid much attention to it earlier. She’d gathered it with the rest of her mail and dumped it in the kitchen to read after work. As soon as she’d raced home ahead of the storm she’d sought out her mail, intending to get all responsibilities out of the way so she’d be free to spend the afternoon as she pleased. The letter was from the Equestrian Bureau of Exploration and Settlement, the place her dad worked for. She opened the letter and began to read. To whom it may concern, The pegasus stallion Quick Dive has unfortunately died in the line of duty while surveying the Bad Lands for possible settlement. You have our deepest condolences for your loss, he was a well respected pony who always put the betterment of Equestria first. His body was unable to be recovered, but a memorial ceremony will be held in Canterlot on the 14th of June. As his oldest remaining family member you are expressed in his will to inherit everything he left behind in death. Please speak to a representative in Canterlot at your earliest convenience. It was cold, clinical, and hurt worse than the time she’d sprained both wings doing a stunt she wasn’t ready for. The next morning came all too soon. It was the morning of the 13th, if she was going to the ceremony she had to leave today. She would need to get everything squared away, figure out what was left to her, and figure out how she felt about this. She needed her friends. She flew without thinking to each one’s house, telling them she was calling an emergency friendship meeting. She didn’t stay long enough to answer their questions, beating her wings to take her straight to Twilight’s castle. She was pacing the library floor when the others came in, panting and wheezing and strangely carrying an assortment of travel supplies. “Rainbow, can you tell us what this is about?” Twilight prompted her as the others caught their breaths. “Yeah, you’ve got everypony in a panic!” Spike hovered uncertainly near Rarity as she tried to fix her mane. “I…Uh, I got a letter this morning.” She pulled it out. Twilight levitated it in front of the group so everypony could read it. Rainbow only completed four laps around the library before they were done, she was a little off her game. “We’re mighty sorry to hear that, Rainbow.” Applejack was the first to lay a hoof on her shoulder. “Ah, come on, I mean he….We never really…” She gulped and tried again. “I don’t even feel like crying.” That had not been what she’d meant to say. What the hay, brain? Did you have to make her sound like a heartless monster? Frankly, Rainbow felt worse for not feeling worse. “They were never around. I don’t even know where mom is, haven’t seen her since I was seventeen.” She tried to find the words to explain the mix-up in her head. “Same with him. They made sure I had enough money to buy food and stuff, paid for school, but other than that we never really spent time together.” “The fact that you called an emergency meeting about this shows that you do care, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight reassured her. “I don’t know why I don’t feel worse, but I don’t!” She plopped down and tried not to scowl. “I mean my dad just died but I can’t even shed a tear for him?” “Everypony grieves differently.” Rarity came up to softly nuzzle her. Rainbow had really good friends. “Nopony can tell you how to feel.” She added. “We’re going to need seven tickets to Canterlot on the next train.” Twilight announced. “Spike, you take care of that while the rest of us go home and pack a few things. Pinkie, you might want to bring everything you were going to take to your family reunion, you can head straight there afterward.” “Okey dokey lokey!” The pink mare saluted, teleporting to Rainbow’s side to give her a quick squeeze before disappearing again, presumably to her house. “Applejack, do you think Granny Smith would mind terribly if I left Sweetie in her care while we are away? I don’t want her to be alone if my parents arrive ahead of schedule.” Rarity followed the cowpony to the door. “Shucks, she won’t mind. You should probably tell that law pony yer gonna be gone for a bit too.” AJ advised. “Rainbow?” Rainbow snapped her attention away from her retreating friends to look at her oldest one. Fluttershy was crying the tears Rainbow couldn’t, and when she saw she had the rainbow mare’s attention she came in for a warm hug, wrapping her yellow wings around her entire body. “Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.” “Yeah, I know.” She puffed up her chest. “This is me we’re talking about here.” “Um, will you be okay packing your things?” She asked hesitantly. “Sure, no prob, I only need a few things. It’ll fit in a saddlebag easy.” She should probably get some bits out of the bank for a hotel, and to pay Twilight back for the tickets. Rainbow officially had the bestest, coolest friends in all of Equestria. If there were some kind of Friendship Games she knew hers would win hooves down. No competition! On the train ride they were all respectful, only talking about her dad when she brought him up first and changing the subject whenever she got uncomfortable. Best. Friends. Ever. Spike knew where the Bureau was located and they found it without much trouble. Rainbow led the way inside and asked to speak to the representative. “Ms. Rainbow Dash, daughter of Quick Dive and Color Splash, correct?” A matronly unicorn questioned her in her office. Rainbow wished she’d been allowed to bring her friends inside, but they were all waiting out in the hall, just on the other side of the door. “Yeah.” Her voice broke. “First, the company is very sorry for your loss, it is an occupational hazard but each of our surveyors are precious and losing even one is a terrible tragedy.” The unicorn didn’t look sorry. “Second, our surveyors are required to keep up to date Wills in the event of such a tragedy, but I’m afraid your father fell through the cracks in that respect. He hasn’t updated his Will in seven years, you were still underage then.” She continued. “So we will not be turning full custody of you to your mother, naturally, nor will we be holding the full funds until you turn of age.” She pulled out a scroll and unrolled it on the desk. “To his name, Quick Dive held two plots of Cloud Real Estate in Cloudsdale, one of which is currently being rented, and after his final dues are paid there will be 36,780 bits to be transferred to your account holdings.” Here the mare paused and looked over the brim of her horntoad glasses. “All underage foals are left with a blood relative, if possible.” For the first time the unicorn mare didn’t seem to know how to proceed. “I’m of age, what’s the problem?” Rainbow asked. “You have a brother.” Oh my gosh! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! “A step-brother, actually.” “O-Oh, scared me there for a second.” Rainbow sighed. “He can just go to his mom, right?” “I’m afraid his mother, a mare named Gem Polish, died two years previously.” The unicorn gave her a level look. “Do you need a moment to process this?” “Ye-Yeah, just—!” She dashed out the door and straight into the arms of her friends. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight gasped as she was nearly run over. “What’s wrong?” “Foal! A foal!” She knew she probably wasn’t making any sense, but none of this made any sense anyway. She had a brother, who was at least seven years old. Rainbow would’ve been fourteen when he was born but she’d never even heard of him! “Rainbow, calm down!” Applejack grabbed her before she could flap her way through a glass window. “Take it from the top, what’s this about a foal?” “I-I…My dad had a son!” She felt her throat closing up in her panic. “No relatives! H-How do I—What do I do?” Oh gosh, the foal, where was he? In Cloudsdale, probably. With her dad’s assets frozen while they organized his funeral the foal wouldn’t be able to afford food. Who was taking care of him? “Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie’s tone brought flashbacks of drill sergeants at Wonderbolt training, Rainbow immediately shifted into a ready position. “What are you willing to do?” “Huh?” She blinked. “You said you never planned on having foals, but now you’re in a position to gain custody of one.” She continued on, as serious as she’d ever heard her pranking buddy. “Are you willing to raise him to adulthood, pay for his schooling? Or pay for a nanny mare to raise him for you?” “A nanny?” Just the thought almost startled a laugh out of her. “I couldn’t let somepony else raise my flesh and blood!” “Then you’ll have to do it.” Pinkie nodded, as if she’d expected that answer. Which, uh doy, it was obvious. Rainbow was way too loyal to leave a foal stranded like that. “Okay, okay, I don’t even know his name but I’m going to adopt my own half-brother.” She breathed in and out. “I can do this, I can do this!” ‘I can’t do this.’ She was back in the office, going over the Will. Half the money Quick Dive had would go to Rainbow, the other half would be held for her brother, Fast Pace, until he came of age. Quick Dive had invested stocks in settlements all across Equestria, including Appleloosa, she was going to have to get a lawyer to look at those. It was all simple, really, she was done before lunch time. Not that Rainbow had much of an appetite at the moment. Her stomach felt a little uneasy and she didn’t want the extra weight for what she was going to do next. “Fly to Cloudsdale? NOW!?” Twilight gasped. “Yes, now.” She said firmly. “I have to. If it’s anything like my situation as a foal then he’s alone right now, with nopony to take care of him, and he can’t buy any food without dad’s account.” “You girls find out when the ceremony is taking place, I’ll be back before dinnertime and we’ll meet ya at the hotel, okay?” She got their agreement, tenuous though it was, and took off. A foal, she had to take care of a foal now. Any burgeoning grief for her father lost, Rainbow flew to Cloudsdale. The property that was being rented was the same house she’d lived in as a foal. A single mare was living there and gave her directions to the second property, occupied by Fast Pace. Rainbow raised a hoof to the door and knocked. A little colt with her blue fur and a striking sea foam green mane answered. “Hey, your name’s Fast Pace, right?” She coughed nervously. “Yup.” He wrinkled his nose. “Who’re you?” “My name’s Rainbow Dash, did Quick Dive ever tell you about me?” From the way his eyes widened to the size of saucers, Rainbow was betting he had. The colt practically dragged her inside and proudly showed her the eastern wall of the living room. There were newspaper clippings, old photos, achievements, everything Rainbow had ever done or accomplished. She didn’t even need to read them to know which ones were featured, she had the same thing in her study. “This is amazing! Dad always bragged about you when he was home! He said you were the fastest pony in Equestria and you’re the Element of Loyalty and you’re a member of the Wonderbolts!” He galloped back and forth in glee. “Not a full member just yet, but I’ll get there.” She chuckled. Then she sobered. “Hey, kid.” She snagged him on his next run around and set him in front of her. “I got some bad news.” “Our dad, he…..He ran into some trouble in the Bad Lands.” She choked up. “Is that why I couldn’t buy any food yesterday?” He asked. “Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, kid, but dad’s never coming home again. He’s dead.” “Dead?” Pace repeated. “Bu-But he said he was going to teach me how to fly when he got back. He promised.” Rainbow remembered similar promises, ones that had never been kept. “I’ll teach ya, kid.” She promised, and she meant to keep it. “But not right now.” “Right now we need to get you packed up and head back to Canterlot for the ceremony tomorrow.” Fast Pace began to cry. Rainbow joined him. After a good long cry, that she made Fast Pace swear to never tell anypony about, they packed his things. Rainbow would have to arrange for somepony to come here and deliver most of the stuff to her house later, for now they had the essentials and it was time to get back. Fluttershy was waiting for her outside the hotel. Together they trotted to the dining room and filled Fast Pace’s plate twice before the foal felt full. “How’d he take it?” Twilight asked her as soon as he’d fallen asleep in her room. The girls, plus Spike, were all congregated in the rooftop garden. “He cried a bit, but I think it went okay.” She carefully did not mention her own bit of mourning. Any redness could be explained away by the flight back. “We found out where and when the ceremony is taking place.” She held up a clipboard. “Eleven AM tomorrow, at the Canterlot Tribal Memorium.” “Thanks.” She nodded. It seemed incredibly unfair that this day wasn’t over yet. Something told Rainbow she’d be going sleepless tonight. “We tried to locate your mother as well, but I’m afraid it only led to a dead end.” Rarity sighed dramatically. “Although perhaps that was for the best. No mare likes to hear that their beloved was having an affair whilst they raised a foal together.” “They were never really together.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. Trust Rarity to turn this into a bad romance novel. “I was just Quick Dive’s ESC foal.” The conversation after that was light, nopony really knew what to say. Perhaps nopony ever does in these types of situations. Regardless, Rainbow had been right when she thought it would be a very long night. The ceremony was small, and short. Only a few ponies that Quick Dive had worked with showed up, Rainbow’s was the largest group. For a moment when she watched them lower the casket she felt like she might cry, but her breath only shuddered and hitched. She kept one wing draped over her brother for the whole ceremony. Rainbow did silently wish her mourning dress was a little uglier. She didn’t feel like it was right to look so awesome at a funeral. She really wanted to know how Rarity had gotten Fast Pace’s size though. “Hey Rainbow Dash, do you want me to stay a little longer? I’m sure my family won’t mind if I’m a little late to the party!” Pinkie offered as they gathered their things from the hotel later that same day. “Nah, you go ahead and visit your folks.” She laughed without humor. “Besides, I’ve got the rest of the girls to help out while I get everything settled.” “Okay, but if you need a laugh you can just visit Gummy! He’s a great Party Gator!” The pink mare beamed. This brought out a more authentic chuckle. “Right, I’ll definitely do that.” Pinkie boarded a train that would take her to Rockfalls town and the rest of them boarded the train to Ponyville. “So I’m really gonna live with you from now on?” Pace had already asked that question thirty two times. Rainbow was counting. “Yup.” She said uncomfortably. What did one do with grieving foals anyway? She’d hugged him, sheltered him with her wings, made sure he ate, did he not want to live with her? Was that the problem? She couldn’t let him live alone, but this was going to be a major adjustment for both of them. “I might leave for Wonderbolt training every now and then, but never for more than a couple of weeks. You can decide if you want to come with me on those trips or, if you’ve got school or something, then you’ll probably stay with one of my friends.” She looked questioningly at her friends, who each gave her reassuring nods. “Can I call you Sis?” She looked between Rarity and Applejack in sheer panic. They both gave frantic nods. “Yeah, sure.” She tried for a smile and was afraid it came off as a grimace. Luckily he was looking out the window, not at her. “You can call me Sis if ya want.” “Dad said you learned to fly when you were my age. I don’t know anypony else who flew so early, dad said it must’a been a record!” He chattered on, never stopping to come up for air. “Yeeeaaahh,” Hadn’t that been the year she’d flown into a storm? “Dad said you fought Nightmare Moon too, that must’ve been so cool!” He continued. “Uh well, that was only a one-time thing. Princess Luna is cool now.” She informed him. “And you helped fight Discord and Tirek!” Huh, this kid really knew how to appreciate the important things in life. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.