Sisterhood

by Mitslits

Return

Days blended into days, weeks into weeks, and all too soon the summer was over. Spectrum was due to return the next day. On the morning of Spectrum’s return, Rainbow Dash, Daydream, and Rainbow Flash all stood in front of the house, waiting for her.

Almost as soon as she landed she was surrounded by her family, being buried in hugs. “Hey, come on, lay off!” she protested, but she was laughing. “I have something to show you.”

Dash and Daydream let go of her and backed up quickly. “What is it?” they asked in unison.

“While I was at flight camp…I got my cutie mark!” Proudly, Spectrum turned to the side, opening her wings so they could see it more clearly.

Her two sisters leaned in to get a good look at it, and Rainbow Flash draped her wing over Spectrum’s back, smiling proudly. It was an orange dot with rainbow colored flower petals circling it. “I got it when I discovered a flower that looked like this. It was near the ground and I had just flown down-“

Rainbow Flash was instantly in front of her daughter, glaring down at her. “Near the ground? Why were you down at the ground? Did the flight camp send you there?”

Startled, Spectrum stumbled backwards, landing on the clouds with a soft thump. “N-no! I was just exploring”, she said quickly.

“Don’t ever do that again!” Rainbow Flash reprimanded. “The ground is a horrible, scary place with monsters. Now I don’t want you to talk about this ever again”, Rainbow Flash said sternly.

Tears welled up in Spectrum’s eyes. “B-but mom, this is how I got my cutie mark. Aren’t you proud of me?”

Her mother softened. Pulling her close to her, she stroked her mane. “Of course I’m proud of you, sweetie. But it is also my job to protect you. I can’t do that if you go near the ground. Now, why don’t you come inside and all three of you can have daisy sandwiches and hay fries.” She turned, pushing open the door.

The sisters, now not quite as excited, filed in and ate their sandwiches in silence. “So…did you meet anyone at flight camp?” Rainbow Flash asked.

Spectrum perked up a bit. “Yeah! I met a griffin named Hilda.”

“What’s a griffin?” Dash asked, mouth full of hay fries. She swallowed noisily.

“It’s half eagle half lion”, Spectrum explained. “Hilda was really nice and she was a great flier!”

Daydream and Dash spent the rest of they day pelting their big sister with questions about the Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. No, she hadn’t met Windy personally; yes she did get to see the Wonderbolts perform, no besides Hilda she hadn’t made many friends and so on. She answered them all.

Eventually, Rainbow Flash poked her head into their room, telling the twins to settle down and get ready for bed. “Spectrum, can I have a word with you in the living room, please?” their mother asked.

The filly nodded, following Rainbow Flash out to a spacious room filled with fluffy clouds. They each sat on a separate cloud, and Spectrum turned her gaze to her mother. “What is it, mom?”

“I wanted to tell you why I got so upset earlier today”, Rainbow Flash said, taking a deep breath. “When you told me about going to the ground. The truth, Spectrum, is that I’m not your real mother.”

Spectrum’s jaw dropped. “Wh-what do you mean? Of course you are!” She shook her head back and forth, confused.

“No. Think about it. Haven’t you ever wondered why you’re only two months older than the twins?” Rainbow Flash asked.

She covered her ears with her hooves. “No. This can’t be true! It just can’t be! How could you have lied to me like this?”

“I had to! I didn’t want to-to ruin this”, Flash admitted, tears springing to her eyes. “I was selfish by not telling you, just wanting to keep you with me. The reason I wouldn’t let you near the ground was because I was afraid you would find your real mother”, she confessed.

Tears streamed out of Spectrum’s eyes. “Bu-but I look exactly like you!”

Rainbow Flash shook her head. She put her hoof next to the filly’s. Spectrum was slightly lighter, almost white. And her mane was darker. “You are the daughter of Cloud Lightning’s sister”, Flash told her. “So, you are related.”

“It’s not the same!” Spectrum screamed. “I don’t understand how you could lie to me like this. I hate you! I HATE YOU!” With that, she leaped off her cloud, galloping into Dash’s and Daydream’s room, slamming the door as hard as she could.

Daydream jerked her head up. “Sis, what’s wrong?”

Spectrum shook her head. “DON’T call me that. I’m not your sister. I’m adopted. I can’t believe your mom would lie to me like this. We’re not sisters anymore.” Tears dripped onto the cloud below her hooves.

Dash stood, draping her tiny wing over Spectrum’s back. “We are sisters.”

“Didn’t you hear me?” Spectrum whispered. “We’re not. Not really.”

“Sisters aren’t defined by blood”, Dash told her. “Sisterhood is how many times you’ve been there for someone, how much you love them. How much you miss them when they’re not around. No matter what you’re our sister”, she finished.

Daydream gathered them both together and hugged them, tears leaking out of her eyes as well.

“You’re right”, Spectrum said, wiping the tears away. “But I can’t stay here. Not now. That’s why I’m sneaking out. And you two can come if you want”, she said, stamping her hoof.

Daydream shook her head sadly. “I don’t know. We don’t even know how to fly”, she pointed out.

“Then I’ll teach you! It’s not that hard”, Spectrum promised.

Dash shot off the cloud, doing a small loop-the-loop. “I’m pretty good at it. I’ll help you too, Dream. But we HAVE to go with Spectrum.”

Spectrum smiled widely. “We’ll leave a week from now”, she told them.

Later that night, the three fillies lay with their ears pressing against their door. Their father had returned.

A weary, red-eyed Rainbow Flash met him. “I told her”, she rasped.

“You WHAT?” Cloud Lighting shouted. “I thought we agreed we wouldn’t ever do that!”

Flash sighed. “She got her cutie mark, Cloud. It was time.” She sat down, tears falling softly.

Cloud Lighting paced agitatedly. “I just can’t believe you would go back on every thing we ever agreed on”, he muttered, glaring at her.

“I’m really not in the mood to fight. I’m tired of arguing all the time”, Flash sobbed. “Just drop it will you?”

The stallion’s eyes blazed with anger. “Just drop it? Is that all this means to you? She’ll probably never forgive us!” he shouted.

Red-rimmed eyes met his. “You think I don’t know that?” she rasped. “I have spent the entire day trying to come to grips with the fact that I have essentially lost a daughter!”

“And whose fault is that?” Cloud retorted. “YOURS!” He lowered his head, suddenly exhausted. “I just hope you can live with yourself. Because I’m done.” Without another word he turned, walking out of the door, closing it with a soft click of finality.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

I guess this explains why we never see Dash's parents or her siblings.

[GlitchyProductions]

This whole little plot about the adoption thing is pretty all of a sudden, I'm guessing there is going to be more of an explanation as the story goes on.

[NightmareBlaze]

SO SAD!

[NinjaBrony43009]

This adoption thing was a bit too sudden for me. More showing, less telling!

[Comma-Kazie]

Your exposition is very rushed; you give very little detail, instead relying heavily on dialogue to try and show us what's going on. 1/5 stars.

[Obsidian Warrior]

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