• Published 25th Jan 2018
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XCOM: Ranger - Wanderer D



Sunset Shimmer escapes Equestria... with unforeseen consequences.

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Chapter 226: Remorse

Ranger

Chapter 226: Remorse

By Wanderer D

"Keep your head low, and take cover. Always make sure you take cover, okay? Try to go for as full cover as you can where you can shoot back if necessary. Stay close to Breaker, she's got the medikits. You know how to use that, right? If not, I think we have a few minutes for me to show you in the firing range… also, when you throw that grenade, make sure it sort of rolls out of your hand as you do into an arc an—"

"Shut up!" Scootaloo snapped, not turning around to face Rainbow Dash, who did as ordered. An awkward silence followed as she finished strapping on the body armor she had been given. "I'm not a kid anymore, Rainbow Dash," she said, unable to keep the venom out of her voice. "You lost your chance to help me twenty years ago. Right now, last-minute-next-to-useless-training it's not going to make up for it."

"I'm sorry, Scoots…"

"Scootaloo. You also lost the right to call me that. Or do you want me to punch you again to remind you of my opinion of you?" She turned around and glared at Rainbow Dash. "You have no idea what you did to me when you pretended to be dead for twenty years."

"Scootaloo…"

"Twenty years, Rainbow Dash! Do you even know what you meant to me?" Scootaloo spat. "I adored you! And you were dead!"

"Look, I'm sorry okay?" Rainbow Dash said again, and Scootaloo found herself listening despite her anger. "I was just… when I was with XCOM, we couldn't contact the outside world… ultra-secret organization, remember? And then… after… did you watch the thing?"

Scootaloo sat down, still not facing Rainbow Dash. "Who didn't?"

"Right. Well, a lot of things didn't appear there. Soarin was killed like a month before the attack. I was a wreck… he was—" Dash cut her trail of thought. "Anyway… I just… I fell down the deep end… I was declared clinically depressed. After Applejack and him I didn't want to function. I started drinking when I could, I'd avoid clinic visits, I'd just…" she licked her lips and shook her head. "Then the attack happened and Spitfire, she had told me to take care of the others… I got the Shens out, I got Galahad and Geist and we waited for Anette but she never arrived...

"I dropped off the others in different places. We promised to meet in secret locations at specific times… I didn't go. I thought Fluttershy had died… I found Pinkie and I stayed with her for a bit… I helped her set up her roadside bed and breakfast. I even stayed there for some time, helping out and stuff… cutting wood, she cooked... I had thought around that time to contact you so… one night, I told her I'd be back, and I flew over to Canterlot."

Scootaloo slowly turned to face Rainbow Dash, who wasn't even looking at her, simply staring at her hands.

"I-I know that time had passed. I knew then it was too much time. Seven years… but Pinkie, she—she kept asking me why I didn't call you. Why I didn't visit you or at least try to find out how you were. I flew over Canterlot and… I guess it was too early for the Lost to appear. It was all dead. The school was destroyed, just like I remembered… I had hoped that the city hadn't been completely emptied, but flying overhead I could see that it had been evacuated and nobody had returned.

"I headed back, I hadn't really thought about things, you know? I think Pinkie knew where you were—"

"She did," Scootaloo said, unable to keep the accusation out of her voice. "She sent us graduation cards."

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes. "I flew back. I wanted to ask her. I wanted to write or call you and beg forgiveness."

A cold feeling crept up Scootaloo's back.

"But… when I arrived, the place was on fire," Rainbow Dash whispered, "I saw a few dead bugs and a body that could have belonged to a human or ADVENT trooper… it didn't matter, it was a civilian building, noone in there had the firepower to fight them. I ran inside, I tried fighting the flames. I kept screaming and shouting for Pinkie and then I made it to the kitchen… the smoke was burning my lungs I was crawling by then, trying to keep from suffocating… she was there, with a tray of muffins or cupcakes… I never could tell the difference."

Rainbow Dash looked up at Scootaloo, eyes pleading. "I tried to drag her out but she… there was so much blood, Scoots I don't know what happened."

Scootaloo looked away.

"I woke up late the next day… someone had seen me crawl out of a broken window and they had dragged me away from the building. When I was able to stand up again, there was nothing but embers left."

Rainbow Dash took a shuddering breath. "If I hadn't left… I could have done something. Anything. I could have escaped with Pinkie in the Skyranger, looked you guys up. Maybe I would have been able to contact Fluttershy." She sighed, slumping down. "I didn't. I went away without thinking, and Pinkie was dead. Just like Applejack. Just like Soarin and so many others I couldn't save.

"I probably would have… done something. But I somehow managed to force myself to go to one of the meeting places. Galahad was there, and he brought me back to XCOM."

Rainbow Dash leaned forth, taking Scootaloo's hands in her own. "I know it's stupid. I… I know how you felt about me, back when we were in school. I'm sorry I wasn't—" she shook her head. "Smarter. Better. Honest. But I cared… I really, really cared. And I still do. And I still feel like you're someone that I can never be good enough to deserve the friendship of… and I'm scared that you're going on a mission and I'm not going to be there to fly in and save you if you need help."

"Ember's team will be there," Scootaloo said softly. "And we'll be within ground vehicle reach of the Avenger."

"I'm still not going to be around." Rainbow Dash countered. "I can never make up for what I did to you… but I care. And I'm just human, Scootaloo… I wish I could be the hero you thought I was… maybe then both Sunsets would still be here. Or Pinkie. Or Applejack or—"

"Stop." Scootaloo took a deep breath. "Just stop… it's embarrassing enough that you knew I had a crush on you and didn't—" what. Didn't what? Take advantage of a younger girl's feelings? Return love that she didn't feel? "I just don't want to deal with this right now."

"Right." Rainbow Dash stood up, a bit too fast, knocking down one of Scootaloo's bags. "Sorry. I'll uh... just go."

"Wait!"

Dash stopped, and Scootaloo lowered her hand. Why had she opened her mouth? She felt her eyes sting a little. "I missed you. I wanted you for so long, not even as a lover, or a crush… I grew up… my feelings changed, but I missed you. More than anyone else, you were a hole in my life. I wanted to be like you, I wanted to be strong and fast and brave…"

She didn't see Rainbow Dash move, but she was suddenly being held. Close.

"You are. And you are so much more than I ever became." Rainbow Dash whispered. She smelled like oil and a bit of gasoline. Scootaloo didn't care. "I'm proud of you, Scootaloo."

The pair remained hugging until it started becoming awkward, and they slowly pulled apart, chuckling self-consciously.

"Right."

"Right. Yes."

Scootaloo straightened out and reached out with her hand. "Good luck with your mission, Rainbow Dash."

Dash smiled, grasping the hand tightly in her own and shook it. "Good luck on yours, Scootaloo."

"I'll see you soon."

"I'll be waiting at the bar."

"I'll be there."

"Don't keep me waiting."

o.0.o End Chapter 226 o.0.o

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