The Past of a Shy Mare

by Songbrony

Rainbow's Parents Return

Rainbow looked like she could barely move. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!" the Doctor said. Rainbow looked to me. I was confused. She told me her parents were on a mission trip to the Griffon Kingdom. So them coming back would be expected. She stood up and walked downstairs. I followed her and saw two ponies sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Mom? Dad?" she said, shakily. They turned around and looked at her. The mare stood up and walked over to Rainbow Dash.

"Honey, look at how much you've grown since we've seen you last." the mare said. "And how old are you now?"

"Um, 15." Rainbow replied. "What are..." she stammered.

The stallion limped over to them. The way he dragged his hind leg behind him told me he had a terrible injury. "Hey Wondermare! I thought you hated dresses?" he said, smiling.

"I...what?" Rainbow stammered. "What are you two doing here?"

"What's wrong with stopping in every now and again?" the Doctor said as he smelled random objects.

The stallion turned to him. "Mind giving us a few minutes?"

The Doctor had put down a Wonderbolts model he had taken a quick sniff of it. "Oh! Right, right! Big family reunion, sorry. I'll just wait outside." he said, running out the door.

"Wait!" Rainbow exclaimed, flying to the door.

"Easy there, sweetie. He'll be fine. He's not going to fall." the mare said.

"How? He's not a Pegasus in case you haven't noticed mom." she retorted, but slowed her speed.

"I know, but he won't fall. He's a strange pony, but he's very reliable." her mom said.

"What's going on? First you're here, then you vanish, and now you decide to suddenly drop in and say hi?" Rainbow said angrily.

Vanished? I thought. That didn't make sense. Rainbow said just a few weeks ago that they were in the Griffon Kingdom on a mission trip. "Umm...excuse me?" I asked, quietly. "I know it's none of my business, but...what does she mean when she says you vanished and are just showing up?"

Her parents looked at her. "You mean you haven't told her? Even after her parents..." her dad trailed off. I saw them flash into my mind, making me flinch.

I looked to Rainbow Dash who had started kicking her foot across the floor. "Well, Felix said we needed to keep it a secret, at least until we know exactly what we were dealing with." she said.

"But you kept it from Fluttershy? Your closest friend?" her mom said. Rainbow nodded her head with a look of hurt and regret.

I walked over to her. She was a strong mare who didn't show her hurt emotions too often. And when she did show them, it was because of something big. "Rainbow? Are you okay?" I asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

"Yeah." she said, regaining herself. "I'm fine."

"Where is Felix, anyway? Shouldn't he be home from work by now?" her dad asked.

"He had to take over for another pony." Rainbow said. "How do you know so much about our lives? No offense, but you two haven't neccesarily been around to see it." she said, rather rudely.

"Take a seat. We'll explain everything." her mom said. "Fluttershy can stay too."

"Oh no. I wouldn't want to impose." I said shyly. If they really hadn't seen each other in a long time, I didn't want to be interrupting and hearing things that weren't meant for me.

"You wouldn't be. Besides, if you're living with our daughter you should know what's gong on, just as much as she does." her mom said.

I followed Rainbow as she sat down on the couch. I sat next to her, not sure what to do. I mean, they did say I could sit down and listen, but I felt like Rainbow would be mad at me for taking up time with her parents. I looked at my dress and found it wrinkled. I saw hers and was drawn to her face. Even in that wrinkled dress and messier than usual hair, she was still beautiful. I blushed and turned to her dad when he started talking.

"Right after you left on your first Nightmare Night, Felix left to get some cider with his money we gave him. As I'm sure you've come to realize, we weren't a poor family. It was, however, the best way to keep you and Felix safe, or at least, that's what we had hoped for." he said, looking to her mom.

"A few minutes after Felix left, the Doctor came by and told us that they were coming. We packed our things quickly, knowing that if they knew you two were out in Ponyville, they would find you and probably hurt you." she continued. "We created a distraction to draw their attention to us. After awhile, we were running through the forest. Our biggest concern was hoping that Felix had read the note and left before the fire started. We're extremely happy that he did."

"As we ran through the forest, we met up with some members of the Royal Guard. They took us to Canterlot where we were put in protective care. We can't give you details, but we will tell you what we can. You see, Rainbow, we are part of the Equestrian Intelligence Agency. We used to do a lot of spying on different nations in the world. We've made a lot of enemies, some of which, are following us now." her dad said.

"Who are these enemies?" Rainbow asked?

"We don't know exactly. What Celestia believes is that they are members of a group from the Griffon Kingdom. Not much is know about them. Your father and I were sent their to acquire information on a possible chemical attack." her mom replied. "More or less, things didn't go as planned. We were captured and tortured for information. We were able to escape, but only because one of the guards was cocky and got too close to us."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. These weren't the parents she told me about. She said that they were on a missionary trip and that they wrote back and forth all the time.

"Something doesn't make sense, though. If you were put in protective care, then why are you constantly running around? And you still haven't answered how you know so much about us?" Rainbow asked.

"In protective care, you move around a lot. Especially with the group we have after us. As to how we know so much about you, you can ask the Doctor. Do you really think that we would just leave you without someone watching over you?" her mom said.

"That's what it seemed like." Rainbow replied. "But I'm still confused. How-" She was cut off by the Doctor.

"Hello, sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem." he said frantically.

"Not one moment of peace!" her dad exclaimed, angrily. He jumped up and winced. Her mom grabbed ahold of him, to keep him upright. "How far out are they?"

"About five miles, and closing fast." the Doctor said, taking her dad from her mom and dragging him out of the door.

"Rainbow Dash, I'm sorry we can't stay and talk longer. But if they are on their way here, you're in more danger if we're here. I love you!" her mom exclaimed and ran out the door.

I sat there, trying to put the pieces of what just happened together. Her parents, who aren't really missionaries, are part of an intelligence agency and they had to run and leave Rainbow and her brother on their on. They made enemies and now they were chasing them. I had a bad feeling rise in my stomach. I looked at Rainbow Dash who was staring at the door. She turned and looked at me. I saw shock and sadness. I knew it took a lot for Rainbow Dash to cry, but how was she able to keep it together after this?

"Is that why you lied about them to me? Because of what Felix said?" I asked. She nodded her head. "I see." I put a hoof around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry, Rainbow. I know how much you love them. You had your reason not to tell me." I said comfortingly.

For the next ten minutes we just sat there while I still held her in my embrace. I felt her shake a little as she started crying into my chest. I pulled her in tighter and placed my head on her shoulder. She wept hard and loud. I wasn't going to stop her. I knew that she was going to be feeling like this sooner or later. And her parents were nice and wonderful. I kept my tears back though. I didn't want to add to her sadness. And I still had a bad feeling in my stomach. My mind kept shifting towards my parents and how awful they were.

"Rainbow? Are you home? Why in Equestria was the front door wide open?" Felix asked as he walking into the living room.

Rainbow Dash wiped her eyes and regained her composure. Her eyes were still red, though. "I'm in here!" she shouted.

He ran in and gave a sigh of relief. "Good. I thought something might have happened."

Well... I thought. I didn't want to say anything in case Rainbow wanted to tell him on her own.

"I just forgot to close it after the dance." she said casually.

He walked into the kitchen and poured some water for himself. "And how was it?"

"It was, uh, great. We had a lot of fun." she said.

Not so fun for me thought... I thought as I remembered what happened. I know that Rainbow did it for me because of that jerk Long Horn, but it still hurt that she did that.

He took a sip of the water and walked into the living room. "You okay? You look like you've been crying." he asked Rainbow Dash, worriedly.

She rubbed her eyes and gave a yawn. "I'm just tired, that's all. I think I'm going to hit the sack early tonight." she said, and started to make her way to the stairs. "Good night!"

"Good night? It's only 9 o'clock." he said as we walked into our room.

Rainbow locked the door behind her and I walked over to my bed. A package from my dad, a devastating dance with Rainbow Dash, and her parents randomly appearing then disappearing; Could this day get any worse? I thought.

"Fluttershy? Can I ask you something?" Rainbow asked.

I took a seat on my bed. "Of course."

She walked over to my bed and fell on her back. "What's it like to not have parents?" she asked.

Why is she asking me that? I thought. "It's like having a void in your heart. You know they're there, somewhere, but they don't feel like it." My mind filled with the memories of my parents again. I looked to the floor, away from Rainbow. "My parents were with me, but I felt like they weren't even there. I heard what you would say about yours. It made me think what it would be like to have actual parents who cared about me." I said.

I looked at her, feeling tears well up in my eyes. "I was jealous of what you had. Your parents were amazing and even though I wasn't a part of your family, they still looked out for me. After the hospital incident when you asked me to come live with you, I was so excited. I thought that I would actually have parents who would care about me. But then you said they were on a trip somewhere and never talked about them. I just passed it off as not being important. I had no idea that they were actually running from something."

"Yeah. Running and leaving me alone here." she said.

"Well, yes. But do you know why they did that?" I asked. She didn't answer. "They did it because they felt that you would be safer if they were away. They did it because they love you." I said, rubbing her back with my hoof. "Something my parents never felt for me." I said, letting the tears fall from my eyes.

She turned to me and pulled me into a hug. I cried into her rainbow mane. "Hey, we may not have parents, but we do have each other. That's all that matters." she said. "I'm not leaving you again. Not for anything. I promise." I noticed that she had started to cry a little bit. We laid on the bed and held each other tight. She's here. That's all that matters. I thought. I laid my head on the side of hers and fell asleep.

Comments

[thenerfherder1000]

Perfect. Just perfect.