//------------------------------// // Chapter 37: Its Been A While // Story: This Bright Blazing Future // by Dynasty-Kaine //------------------------------// 4 Years Later... It had been a long time since Dash had been in the hospital, and her entire world had revolved around the selfless sacrifice of her adoptive father Signature Sandwich. So much had happened in the four years since that day. Within the first year she was physically rehabilitated, and started over with Spitfire. In fact, they were walking around dusty roads outside of Ponyville hand in hand at that very moment. The relationship had not been an easy thing to remedy for either of them, but all the work they put into repair paid off in the long run. They grew as mares together. Every fight, every time they loved, when they would cry, would hurt, would fear... They stood by one another. Dash had even gone so far as to propose to Spitfire a few days earlier. A request which the golden mare gladly accepted, knowing full well what they had been through. Then she remembered year two after the day she was reborn. The Wonderbolts finally all got back together, but they were short one flier... Fleetfoot. She never returned to the team when Nydus sent out the summons to return. Dash had recently applied to the team again and Nydus had replied to her with a call, an actual degree of happiness in his voice. Spitfire said that was a dirty trap to think he'd be happy, but it had been a good intent of a joke. Well, at least that was what the golden mare thought, but Nydus had been serious and Dash now had a job beside her love. Imagine that, the cyan mare had achieved what she had always dreamed! What of the other fliers though? Soarin' and Spitfire are as close as siblings again, Valkyrie finally got married to the stallion she loved most after simple divorce hearings, Misty Fly and Wave Chill are also engaged, and then there was Rapidfire... He actually announced his retirement from the team at the last performance. He said, "I've only got enough left in me to finish out the season, after that... Time for a little R&R." So they'd have to start searching for a replacement soon. Dash was basically third in command of the team. The order was Spitfire at captain, Soarin' at lieutenant, and Dash was next though without title it meant very little. Though, there was another thing that she could be proud of in the mean time... The Rainmaker mk2. Her father's guitar, restored and modified for her personally. It had taken her three long years since she came back to life to master the guitar. It had been oddly simple to restore and modify the instrument. Guess it was meant to stay in the family? She chuckled at the thought. Although, this reminded her of the princess and her inaction on funeral services for her father. She scowled at the simple thought. There was no grave site, and there was in fact no body that she knew of. He had simply disappeared that day, and not a soul knows where he is. Not even Ace, the closest stallion to the guitarist, had the faintest idea what had happened. He was of course none too happy at any of Celestia's explanations. He was arrested at his outburst in fact, mostly because he had lost his temper to a degree even Sig could match. He spent a week in the jails at Canterlot castle, just to have Celestia give nothing away. "Dash are you doing alright?" came the sweet voice of Spitfire. "You're spacing out again." "Stop picking on me Spits... I'm just reminiscing about the last four years." she answered wistfully. Pinkie and Big Macintosh had also been enjoying a very fruitful relationship, but sometimes Pinkie was too much for Mac and Dash had to lend a hand. A bright memory finally worked it's way into her mind. The day that her and Spits burned down the house that somehow caused only tragedy to her. After that, the princess had banned the production of any standing structure upon that soil forevermore. Oddly enough, the event that followed this was the death of the remaining hate soul manifestation that doctor Psych had so dutifully protected. After the fiasco his colleague had caused, it was undisputed that he knew best how to handle the thing. Though no one expected it to die off so suddenly, not even the doctor could explain it. To be safe, they magically sealed the vials into a stone vault under the guidance of Celestia. Dash came back to her senses suddenly seeing a flash of arctic blue. She looked in front of her to see what looked to be a stallion cloaked in a ratty, tattered, brown cloth. He stood at a fork in the path, and Dash didn't know why but she felt her heart flutter. She didn't know this drifter, so she and Spitfire would just simply pass by unhindered. Yet, she felt as if she knew this drifter... Like they had once met. As they came before the stallion he spoke, and Dash instantly knew how she knew the stallion... But this was utterly impossible. "So, I see my daughter is to be married." he said taking off the hood of his cloak. "Guess I was right about the both of you making it through hell and back!" It was a forest green stallion with a bright electric yellow mane... It was Signature Sandwich! "How?" Dash exclaimed breathlessly. "You died!" "Hah, you underestimate my ability to negotiate!" Sig replied with a smile and an oddly vacant stare. "Although, the price of these negotiations was quite steep as well." "Sig why are the pupils of your eyes foggy..." Spitfire began. "...Oh my... You're, blind." "Well, yeah... That would be correct dear." Sig answered with a sheepish grin. "One of the few prices I had to pay to be allowed to return... Couldn't miss my daughter's wedding after all!" Dash noticed a second slower than Spitfire when Sig went to scratch his head that somepony stood behind him. "What is she doing here?" the golden mare roared in fury. Dash barely grabbed her fiance in time, "What's gotten into you hun?" "That's Fleetfoot standing behind your father!" "What?" she said in shock looking again as the mare came around from behind Sig. "See Sig, I told you this was a terrible idea..." the arctic blue mare said hopelessly. "Fleet, you can never mend a relationship without trying." he answered in a sagely tone. "I alone know the why behind what you became, and I alone reminded you who you were once upon a time. Every single pony has their chance for opportune change, you just had to hit absolute bottom first." "I told you to never show your face to me again!" Spitfire shouted venomously. "Silence your tongue!" Sig roared over the angry mare. "You had your moment of weakness and made your reparations for them. Now give somepony else the chance, you fiery fool!" The golden pegasus immediately went limp in Dash's arms, "Fine then Sig, both of you tell me your stories. I'm sure Dash wants to hear why you are still with us after all." "That is a wise choice, but come and sit with us atop the hill behind us." the green stallion suggested. "It will be more relaxing for all of us." Dash could not help but feel a deep tension in the air as they headed over to the hill. She felt questions bombard her mind, but most prominent of these was the one about how her father lived and breathed. She saw him pass over to the realm of spirits. A short walk later they came to the top of the hill and Sig sat down with a grunt, Fleetfoot standing beside him. Spitfire and Dash just stood across from them. "Oh come now, don't be so confrontational about this." Sig said in a kind tone but it was unconvincing. "It's still a bit hard to wrap my head around the fact that you are here dad." the cyan mare piped up first. "Okay then, I'll start at the moment I made a deal with death." Sig stated plainly. "I told you I'd see you again kiddo. I knew what I was doing that day, and after you rejoined your body. I struck a deal with Mortalitas that she wouldn't refuse..." He paused noticeably so Dash questioned, "And, what was the deal?" "I'm not allowed to give you the details of that." the stallion answered heavily. "Just know, that she accepted it and returned me to this world... And just as you returned with a gasp, so did I..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Signature Sandwich recoiled into life with a loud gasp in a mostly vacant hospital room. He opened his eyes to darkness, and his fears had kicked into full gear. Lady Mortalitas hadn't told him what side effects would befall him regaining his body. His hearing was sharp though as he heard the surprise in a familiar mares voice. "S-Signature?" came the shocked voice of princess Celestia. "You're alive again, but how is this possible?" "Tia where are you?" He said turning his head side to side, darkness at all points. "I can't see you, or where I am..." "Sig your eyes are wide open though, how can you not..." the princess stopped dead in her sentence. "...Your eyes, they are fogged over. You're blind!" "Well, there is one payment to your mom." he mumbled putting his hands to his eyes. "We must tell your daughter at once, she will be--" "No, we will not tell her a single thing." he demanded in a fierce tone cutting her off. "But Sig!" she pleaded. "No, these next few years are for her and Spitfire to grow into the adults they need to be." the green stallion said turning his head to the right. "We must keep my death a mystery to the entire world 'Tia. In the meantime, we need to rehabilitate me for my blindness. We also need to figure out what other costs I've had to pay the lady Mortalitas." "As you wish SIg, but I can't imagine this going over well when she finds out..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The princess had been right, Dash was not too happy about this deception. She had to hear the whole story though, so many questions were just gnawing away at her inside. Sig sighed loudly and she came back to reality. "The costs were I am blind during my return, although, the princess theorizes that I will regain my vision for one day in particular." Sig said after reliving his rebirth. "The second is all healing magic cannot effect me, and in fact, all magic cannot effect me. I can also no longer channel magic ever again. Even after I die... This part seems bound to my spirit. There is probably more but we couldn't unveil them." "Wait, so you can't play guitar anymore?" Spitfire blurted out. "No, he still totally can!" Fleetfoot said dreamily. "I didn't ask y--" "She is right though Spitfire." He answered silencing the golden mare. "I can still play, but it was the hardest thing to learn now being blind. Heck, walking around without smashing my face into walls was a hard thing to figure out." Dash only had one question tearing away at her, "What day do you get your vision back?" "Most likely, it will be the day of your wedding since that was my primary reason for coming back." He said with a warm smile. "She pitied me enough to give me one joy... She is apparently an avid follower of the drama that is my life. Fanmare extraordinaire." "Continue your story and explain Fleetfoot's place in all of this." Spitfire demanded. The golden mare had cut Dash off before she could ask all the questions she needed to ask. It hurt to see her lover be so insensitive to her, but she knew that deep down Spitfire was burning with anger and confusion at the same time. Which she never handled very well. It had taken these past four years for her to learn this about the golden mare, and the knowledge served her well. I really have grown up like dad wanted, haven't I? "Fine but if you keep acting rude like that, I will take offense to it in the most excessive ways." "Alright, I'm sorry Sig." Spitfire conceded. "You just know how bad the blood is between me and her." "I do know, but let's keep it civil till you understand the whole story." He said as he began again. "It was about two years back as I was wandering around the countryside I came upon a forest..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A serene and peaceful atmosphere surrounded the forest green stallion as he strode through a forest. It felt different from the countryside he had just wandered through. Something also felt purposeful here. He wandered deeper and deeper into the forest, he was unaffected by the magic here but could feel it around him all the same. His demons were at peace so the forest treated him solemnly. "The Vox Na'run forest... The forest of the dark." Sig said aloud. "Any who wander in here are confronted by vivid visions of their darkest memories, and if they cannot overcome them... They perish. Being consumed by the forest spiritually and physically." He was immune to all magic now also so this forest could not enter his mind either way around. It was nice to have such protection sometimes, but it was a hindrance as well. A voice reached him at this point, a whimpering cry on the winds. It sounded like a young weak mare, who had already suffered greatly at the hands of the forest. "One so young, I cannot abide by this." he said aloud heavily. To steal prey from the forest may incur some penalty though, and of course the stallion just could not let a young one be absorbed if he could do something about it. He headed in the direction of the whimpering and came to a deep crater that he stood atop looking down. A young arctic blue mare curled up in the fetal position lay there crying. "No, sisters... Don't punish me like this anymore..." Sig worked his way down into the crater to find the mare was injured and looked mostly starved. She was on the very verge of death. He sat on a boulder on the far side of the cave that was slowly encroaching the mare. What was her story? "Little sister why, big sis no..." the pitiful mare cried. "I couldn't save you from yourselves... I was too absorbed in myself... My selfishness just takes everything good from me... It just blinds me to everything. Even to hurting the golden one I cared about most..." "Oh, and what happened to your sister's young one?" Sig asked in a loud deep tone. "One overdosed on Siraka Nol, that terrible drug from the badlands... Poor big sis tried to come to me for help but I was too absorbed in myself to pay any mind. She was indirect about it but she did come to me." she said crying. "Little sis hung herself in a state of utter depression, I should have seen that too but was too absorbed in me. In my life... In my success." "Your big sister had a drug problem, but I sense something caused the depression in your sister." "She was raped." the mare answered with a hollow tone. "She battled with her feelings constantly over it. It bothered her that she had taken some enjoyment in it, when she didn't want her first time to be like that. But she was so young, and she turned to me for answers because big sis would be too high to be of much help. Heck, big sis would have molested her if the notion hit her when she was high... And yet, that never happened. But I never was of help either having little time for her trying to keep us together...Selfishly." "Your name is Fleetfoot if I'm not mistaken?" "How do you know--" "You developed the same addictions as your sisters and wrapped them around your original sin hoping it would hide the bad things... That it would hide the truth... Why?" "Because I... I..." She broke at this point it seemed. "Why did they both attack me that day, why did they try to kill me?" Sig was so shocked he couldn't answer. That didn't add up, she said one overdosed and the other hung herself. There was a problem way deeper that she was still leaving out. Something beyond this trauma for her. All of this was wrapped around the main problem. This all could just be a delusion hiding her from the real pain. A shield from the truth, and she didn't realize it was being used against her by this forest to destroy her. "I defended myself and ran away." she continued her tale. "But I never returned to that place, and since mom and dad had abandoned us when they felt we could take care of each other...they had nothing left to save them. They hated me for being so obsessed with my own success, but is that really such a bad thing? To want better for yourself, so that you might be able to help your siblings? Why couldn't they understand I was trying to do it all for them..." "So they died after you left?" "Big sis two months later, and little sis a week after that..." "Are you sure that is how it happened, Fleetfoot of the Northern Skies?" "How do you..?" "You are reliving something just as bad as what did happen to you." Sig replied in a sagely tone. "Somehow, I feel the truth is still buried from the surface. I feel you are being tormented by delusions that are not truly your own... At least, not anymore they aren't. This forest took your shielding delusion, warped it, and turned it against you. All because you are weakened by your last loss... Spitfire." Fleetfoot began to twitch violently at the mention of this name. This was a dangerous route to get her to snap back to reality, but Sig knew it would be impossible to get the truth otherwise. She looked like she had been here for a week, maybe two weeks, and you could easily see her rib cage defined before her body so malnourished. If he didn't hurry she would die here, and no matter what she had done... He couldn't just let this happen to her. Not like this. "You never had any real sisters did you Fleetfoot." he paused before bringing the harshest part. "Your sisters were all your female team mates on the Wonderbolts. Their betrayals of your trust are symbolized in your story of how they attacked you and died. Albeit, I'm not sure who or how... I know that is what you are feeling. Specially big sis Spitfire." "Shut up!" She screamed. "Your just another vision sent to torment me! I should have never ventured into this forest, but I just wanted to die so badly! I didn't expect this to be how I'd die, tormented by all my faults and failures! All the things that hurt me deep inside..." Tears began to well up and stream down her face. She was opened up, that was her greatest weakness in this forest. An open heart meant death to most ponies. He had to bring her closure somehow, so that she may walk away from this alive. If she could unravel the truth and find closure rather than get stuck in the memories, she could get out alive. Only about five pony's had done that since this forest came into existence though. What is fate's decision on this mare going to be? "Spitfire isn't the biggest issue is she?" Sig ventured a wild guess. "It's something that happened farther back than that... Isn't it?" "N-No, it has nothing to do with that... Not my past no." Fleetfoot fumbled away from him in almost visible terror. "There is nothing there before I became a successful accomplished mare of the Wonderbolts of Equestria!" "But the Wonderbolts recently reformed their team, it was all over the news..." Sig stated innocently. "...Did you not see the notifications from Nydus? Why wouldn't you respond to the team you hold so dear in your heart? The world was shocked when they reported that you never showed. Rainbow Dash has been the media's favorite to replace you in the coming months. It's practically a done deal." "I guess success really is short lived, isn't it?" Fleetfoot whined softly, in pain. "She is the best replacement though. Really, she is a good mare... Sometimes I wish I never did her or Spitfire wrong the way I did. I was just being selfish... You know... I wasn't always like this..." "Then where was your heart once upon a time Fleetfoot?" "Don't make me go there... If I open this wound in this forest, it will destroy what little will I have left." She replied in a feeble cracking voice etched with tears. "You know this as you are a part of the forest too spirit." "Hah!" he stood up and walked over to the mare and put a firm hand on her shoulder. "I have never been a part of this magical anomaly of a forest. I've always been right here with you. And I will be here with you through your greatest pain if you will share it with me." "Yellow mane, green pelt... You seem so familiar..." "I'm just a wandering musician who has lost his guitar, and his eyes." He said calmly. "But my heart has never been more open than at this moment. Now young one, will you share your pain with me?" Her jaw quivered at the realization of his presence being real, "I can't believe it, there is someone who isn't affected by this horrid forest!" "I have no regrets in my life, and I know that I can always try to fix my mistakes." Sig said with utter assurity. "If something happens that is irreparable... Well I've just gotta let it go. Because I gotta keep moving, keep growing." "Alright then... I'll share my past with you." Fleetfoot said a little stronger than before. "A year before I came to join the Wonderbolts I lived in the north lands of Equestria with my mother and my... Father." Sig had a feeling his wild guess, was actually a lot closer to home than he thought. He also remembered a story Dash had told him about Gilda once upon a time. This was the opposite side of the road. The road not taken by Gilda in the years long since gone. Two sides to every coin I suppose. Sig thought with a smile. He would get to be a part of this side of the coin's story. "My mother was a very timid mare, but very kind and loving." She started. "Mom was amazing, I got my wings and speed from her. She could have done something great with her life, the sky was the limit for her... Instead she met dad and committed to marriage. I can't complain cause I'm alive because of her but..." This was indeed the opposite side of the road from Gilda. Fleetfoot had her mother to protect her heart for a time, whereas Gilda never really knew her mother. The mare in front of him had hope to be saved from herself time and time again. The stallion continued to listen to her story, a gentle expression lighting his face. "From the age of nineteen to twenty-one, my life was miserable." Fleetfoot hit the breaks on her recollection at this point. "I had trained my body every day to be at peak physical condition. Dad had always been a bit of a sexual deviant... Him and mom had a fight once every like, three months over whether or not he was cheating on her. More times than most during my teen years... I knew he was. But around my 19th birthday I was in the best condition physically I could ever be to join the Wonderbolts. I just had to keep it together for two years. I always told mom if I could do one thing for her, I would live both of our dreams... To be a great Wonderbolt Stunt Flier!" "You mentioned your dad was a sexual deviant?" Sig questioned. "That whole memory centered on you and your mothers dream to become Wonderbolts though. Why did you do that?" "To make the point of what kept me together most of my teen years." She said in pain. "Dad always acknowledged me as a mare... From the age of fifteen onward. He got into some real bizarre drugs around the time I was eighteen though. Mom was out on assignment in Cloudsdale a month before I turned nineteen, and I woke up tied to a bed after one of my naps around midday. I tolerated dad's sexual advances up to that point, and stopped anything involving actually doing the act with him as well. I was his little sexual muse if you will... The one that he blamed for his need to go sleep with mares other than my mother. To help him satisfy his lust for his own daughter." Oh, this story was already taking quite a volatile direction and Sig knew it. She hadn't mentioned the drug problem of her father idly. How could a father do this to his own daughter?! Sig was furious deep down inside to know that so many seemed to take their own daughters as just another mare they can sleep with one day. It disgusted him to the core. "When I turned eighteen though he started to experiment with drugs I know." Fleetfoot admitted. "But I never knew what they did, I should have tried to figure out what he was doing. He was trying to find drugs that, when used together, would make me a subservient sexual slave. I would be enslaved by my own body's pleasure, by my own heat if you will. He never wanted any of the mares he cheated on mom with, he never even wanted mom... Once he had me that is. He wanted me and only me, and now that I was eighteen and was in almost peak physical condition... He could lust for nopony else. I suppose my looks really were a curse... My athletic body with curves in all the right places... I mean, I look more tempting in my older years than I did when I was younger mind you. My overall body hasn't changed that much though, other than it looks a little older. I mean I look young but you can tell that I'm older than that, and I honestly prefer that sort of thing." "Wait, so you look the same as when you were eighteen?" Sig questioned a bit shocked. "Yeah, for the most part. Mom always said that was her side of the family's curse... The mares looked eighteen until about the age of twenty eight." She told him with a slight laugh that died quickly. "My body is catching up now days though... Anyways, back to me tied up on the bed. Dad came into the room holding a syringe full of some weird red liquid." "The Sorcerer's Heat, or as it is more commonly known... Jungle Fever Juice." Sig interrupted. "Yeah, but I didn't know it at the time." she replied sullenly. "He actually was the one who created the common version. Sorcerer's Heat is actually less prone to burning out pleasure receptors in the body. It was more natural, but was too difficult to produce cheaply and efficiently. Therefore, it was too expensive for my father... It took him eleven months to make a version he could be satisfied with. I bet he used a concoction every month on a different mare to see what it would do till he got a finished product for me." Sig felt that she was not far off the mark, as there were a string of deaths that showed up in the papers for 11 months around that time. Most all were reported to have died from drug complications. Everypony knew it was a delayed reaction to side effects, but not a soul spoke about it or knew where it originated. It was a very hushed up situation when it occurred. The story was becoming difficult to listen to, even though he knew where it was going. It was hard to take as Fleetfoot left few details out as she rambled on forward. "I fought back and struggled the best that I could that evening." She began to cry again as she fell back in time. "He restrained my arm at last and injected me with the drug, and it felt so warm. I could feel the warmth quickly flowing through my veins, and it felt so good... But I was getting so hot. It became very hazy for me at that point, but one thing I knew was... That was the night I lost my innocence. The night I lost myself and he conquered me. Drugging me into being his personal little pet." "What happened after that?" Sig dared to ask. "For the next two years he kept me addicted to that drug and others, all while having me scratch an itch he created in me." She scowled in anger. "Mom began to notice the changes in me and dad, she saved me in the end. She caught me and dad the night of my twenty-first birthday. I still felt amazing after two years of being drugged... Something we know, now days, is impossible with that drug. Mom walked into my room to wish me a happy birthday as father was upon me, he didn't even have to restrain me at that point. Mom had come home early and was shocked to find what I think she always suspected to be happening was true. She ripped him from me and actually dragged him from the room in a tangle of swinging and flailing arms. I could hear sounds of thrashing angry voices as I lay there in a haze. Wondering simply, why my pleasure had stopped." At long last something that could end this vicious cycle, but knowing what he knew of the mare's life after leaving home he couldn't help but wonder how she triggered back into a relapse. Shouldn't the trauma be over and done with after mom saved her? The stallion knew there was more to this story that he had to hear. It was tearing at his heart. "I of course, not knowing anything but a need for release from what I felt, finished myself off." She admitted shame written across her face. "It was after that reality seemed to come back to me, as the Jungle Fever Juice ran its course. I slowly came down from the high, and the tone of my fighting parents became more and more violent. I heard breaking glass, fury the likes of which I had never heard in their voices. A side effect of the drug I came off of was paranoia, but this effect brought me back to myself temporarily. I was suddenly hit with the need to shower myself, but I realized that the storm brewing in the other room frightened me so much more terribly..." She began to sob uncontrollably and was becoming unhinged by the images that no doubt had began to play in her head as if she was there again. As if she never left it behind her. The forest was never kind to those who feared the fear they themselves created. The forest green stallion had to do what he could to calm her down again, before bringing her back to her tale. "Can you finish the story Fleetfoot?" He asked with a tone of worry, a hand resting gently on her shoulder. "I have to, nopony knows this part of my life... Not even her." She said sitting herself up straight again. "I got up got dressed and packed a bag full of only the most basic things that I would need. I took my small allowance of money and realized my father had left his wallet in my room, so I helped myself to his cash bits. It wasn't a lot but it would help me survive a little longer. I threw my window open and jumped out into the evening sky. I ran away from what my home had become. A perverse and twisted hell with one angel trying to save something that couldn't be saved. Two weeks later, I found myself in a town not far from Canterlot. I came upon a newspaper article with headlines that caught my eye while wandering the streets during my time there." "I can only imagine what was written in that article..." he knew what story was next. "Yeah, Husband and Wife dead after a domestic dispute turns violent, Daughter reported missing." Fleetfoot said mournfully. "According to the details, mom cut dad up pretty bad when he got violent but he got in the last shot and he knocked her head into a pointed granite counter top. She bled out, dad lost it when the police arrived and attacked them. Suicide by cop it seems." "Big sister and little sister could have been mom and dad too." Sig reasoned. "No my sisters were my team mates, you were right about that." She shot down his hypothesis. "Mom sacrificed herself over this, and in my heart I feel the fight was to buy me time to come down from my high and make my own decision on what was next... And I think, she knew I would run." "Who is big sis and little sis then?" He questioned. "Well big sis is Spitfire, and little sis was Misty Fly... At least that is what I think, but I could be wrong." the mare admitted solemnly. "Anyways, I wandered the town doing what I could to make money and save it up, but it wasn't easy seeing as I was homeless. Then one day I saw it, a poster advertising open Wonderbolt tryouts. They needed a speed flier to replace Spark Flare, who was retiring from a fifteen year career. I felt confident enough in my abilities, but I didn't know if I was good enough to make it. None-the-less, I showed up for the open application day. I looked bedraggled and absolutely less than the other ponies with homes." "What was the next big thing..?" "She was there, big sis and I first met here." the arctic blue mare said warmly. "I looked the most out of place, but I did my best to show my confidence. We applied and tried out the same day. I was surprised to find out I wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Most were faster than me, with far greater agility and lithe athletic skill. At the end of the day though, Spitfire walked up to me and announced that I was their primary candidate to be recruited. There is a fire in her eyes that I can't see in any other pony's here. She told every pony in earshot. At the end of it all she noticed something I didn't think I had left in me. A Bright Blazing Spirit." "But all that changed about a year later, didn't it Fleetfoot?" he knew what happened here. "Yeah...little over a year later she nearly died, and became someone I could barely recognize." a single tear broke away from her eyes. "She became addicted to drugs, alcohol, and sex... Something she eventually pulled me into. I was bright eyed and respected her too much to turn her away, and deep down... I wanted to give in to her advances. But what did I know with what I experienced with love and sexuality?" "You were still weaning the effects of the drug your father created." Sig told her. "Withdrawals can still hit you three years after you stop using it. You were getting pseudo stimulus from your body." "I know that now days." she answered with heavy sorrow. "Because of it though, I relapsed. I still became what I tried to run away from, what my mom sacrificed herself to save me from. Now I feel nothing stimulating about physical touch, my nerves are shot. Because I just couldn't stop myself from using again... I noticed it before things went bad with Spitfire. I thought with her it would be different... It wasn't. How far I fell after that you can scarcely believe..." She held out her arms, wrists up to him. He reached out to feel her arms only to find deep scars in both of them. She had been trying to kill herself. "I've been trying for two years now, since I feel nothing." she answered him plainly. "Every time I fail, end up in a hospital, then check out quietly to try again. They can never manage to keep me, I knew their tricks by that point. I came here seeking that same death since nopony dares to adventure here, but I never knew the forest would try to kill me with my own demons. I just can't find it in my heart to die like this! Slowly decaying and fading away into nothing. I can even still feel the pain as raw as it ever was... In here I can feel my physical pain again!" "Then it is time for you to heal yourself, and change your path." Sig said easily. "Do you think you can cast off the image you've given to the world? The harlot, the temptress, the princess of sexuality? Go back to the simpler times when a flight at top speeds was all you lived for, the rush that drove you to train your body to its perfection in all aspects of flight alone... Can you do that? Do you have the will to go on still after all you have done?" She paused for a very long moment, truly thinking about the stallion's words... Then she answered with fire, "Yes, I want to at least try to go back to what really makes me who I am." "Then it will be a long and hard road, but I will help you overcome your past Fleetfoot." Sig pledged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sweet Celestia Fleetfoot..." Spitfire said her jaw falling agape. "And for two years I have helped her fight to shed her old ways... To free her from her past." Sig said with conviction. "Just as you freed yourself Spitfire, with my daughters help. Though I nearly died again trying to get out of... Dash?" Dash had heard a lot about Fleetfoot, but she wasn't happy with her father in the least at this moment. During the story her rage had slowly come to a boil. And it was written blatantly across her face. "You've been gone for four years, and you didn't even think to tell your daughter?" Dash shouted, she was furious now. "I've grieved for years with no closure to your death only to find out you never actually died?! And better yet, you made the princess swear to not tell a soul where you were or that you were alive? How can you even justify that? So I could grow on my own? Don't spout such pony puffed nonsense, you know better than anypony how I would feel and what I've been through!" Everyone turned to face her shock written across their faces... Except for Signature Sandwich. He seemed to understand her anger easily... Which, only served to piss her off that much more. "Hun stop, please." Spitfire begged her softly. "No, he has no idea what I had to suffer through not knowing what to feel!" Dash roared. "Was he dead... Alive? If so if not what should I really feel... Sadness? Happiness? Certainly not confusion! I just don't know how to feel about any of this!" She shouted and stormed off in a rage, she didn't know where she was going but she needed to be alone. She needed to think about everything that sat in front of her. Including Spitfire and Fleetfoot being like spiritual sisters. She wasn't sure how to even start on that considering their sexual relations. Her head was spinning from all of the emotions overloading her logical calmness. Dammit dad, why did you do this to me? She heard hoofsteps behind her after a brief moment it felt like, "Go away!" She found herself wrapped up in the embrace of her father, "You overemotional twit, why do you never let me get to finish my explanations! Of course I missed you, but I had to stay away for you and for me. I had to get used to what lady Mortalitas made me into before I came back to you. I just happened to find Fleetfoot in the process, and she needed help too Dash. Our family has always been suckers for those in need, always feeling loyalty to helping others is not a bad thing!" "I-I don't want to hear it!" She began crying into his shoulders. She couldn't help but melt away into her father's embrace, she was just so confused by all of this. For all this good there were only a few answers, but wasn't that life for you? Not every answer can be given. Maybe she just had to accept that she wouldn't always be one hundred percent informed about things, and just let it go... She was still very much childish in her heart, but it was a part of what made her the rambunctious mare that she was. I need to stop flying off the handle with my temper like this when things bother me. "The winds carry this story that you learned how to play guitar while I was gone?" Sig said with pride and hugged her more tightly. "I'm proud of you, I had to relearn it myself! You have to tell me all about what I've missed kiddo!" "I'm still mad at you dad!" She shouted with more of a smile etching her face. "But you won't stay mad, because we're family." the stallion let her go and smiled brightly. "And family are never truly apart for very long, we are always in each others heart!" "You are insufferable dad, but I love you." Dash said wiping away her tears and smiling brightly. It had been a long day for all of them it seemed but it was about time that they all retired home for a rest. Eventually they would talk more on the subjects, but not today. Dash needed to regain her composure, and everypony was fine with that. The story that would come though, that would be the truest form of understanding for all of her confusion. She was 25 and engaged to be married in the next eleven months. They had decided the wait would be a wise idea for both of them. Time was precious for one stallion in particular though... Something Dash still had to learn the hard way.