A Daughter and her Dragon Side Stories: Gone, But Not Forgotten

by Level Dasher

A Child's Stories

“Once upon a time… there, there was a cave. And in the cave there was ursas.”

“Mhm.”

“And, they had a baby. But the baby was lost!”

“Oh my!”

“And… and, he was almost eated by a bugbear!”

“The poor dear!”

“But then he rooooolled back to his mama.”

“I see.”

Rarity listened intently to the little teal green unicorn colt sitting on the rug in front of her as he concocted his story, his muted opal mane bouncing around as he exuded as much enthusiasm as he could wherever he found it necessary. She sat in a chair, running a needle through a sparkling, jewel-encrusted tie for Spike that she had brought from her boutique with her aura. Now in her eighties, there was only so much she could do when she wasn’t sitting down, but it never stopped her from babysitting for the family who lived above the shop next door.

The little colt continued, “And then the dwagon blew a giant fiaball inta the air and hit the bugbear!”

“Wow!” Rarity exclaimed.

“And the bugbear aspoded! PFBFTHBT!” he cried, raising his hooves high in the air before falling onto his back.

Her eyes widening for a moment, Rarity muttered under her breath, “Oh my…”

Before she could react to him directly, the colt zipped back into his seated position and kept going. “And tha ursas said thank you for savin’ ‘em.”

“It’s always appropriate to thank your saviors,” Rarity told him with a nod.

The colt stopped for a moment and tilted his head at her. “Wha’s ‘a-pope-ee-it’?”

“It means it’s the right thing to do,” Rarity replied.

Staring at nothing, the little colt simply said, “Oh.” Shaking his head, he finished his story. “And the dwagon waved g’bye… and they all lived happy eva aftah!” He raised his hooves up one more time before dropping them into his lap with a grin.

Rarity chuckled, placing her sewing down beside her before clapping her hooves together. “Very nice, Dreamweaver! I do love your stories. It’s much better than working downstairs in my lonely shop.”

Dreamweaver beamed. “Thank you, Missis Rarity.”

“You are quite welcome,” she replied, picking her work up again.

After a moment, there was a groan and a wail just across from her. She looked up at the crib behind her storyteller. “Uh-oh, seems my sound dampening spell has worn off. Steel Masque is up from his nap.” First placing the tie back down, she then levitated a little light gray unicorn colt out of the crib and brought him towards her.

As he watched his newborn brother hover over his head, Dreamweaver said, “At least he was… a-pope-ee-it enuff to wait ‘til I was done.”

Rarity chuckled as the infant colt dropped into her forearms and she cradled him. “That’s not quite how you use that word, dear.”

“Why not? It was the right thing to do!” Dreamweaver countered.

Breaking out into a laugh, Rarity shifted Steel Masque into one arm as she rocked him back and forth, then picked Dreamweaver up in her aura and brought him toward her so she could rub his cheek with her now free hoof. “You are absolutely adorable!”

“Missis Rarity!” Dreamweaver cried. “C’mon, stoppit!”

Rarity chuckled again as she placed him back onto the floor, then shifted her forearms to cradle his brother in both again. “I’m sorry, dear, I just couldn’t resist.”

“…S’okay,” Dreamweaver replied, rolling his eyes as he crossed his forelegs.

Steel Masque continued crying as Rarity rocked him back and forth. “My, Dreamweaver, your brother certainly has quite the set of lungs, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Dreamweaver replied with a nod, “but at least he doesn’t do it at night.”

Raising her eyebrows, Rarity said, “Well, that’s quite courteous of him.” Seeing the colt tilt his head again, she continued, “That means it’s nice of him.”

Dreamweaver’s muzzle formed an ‘O’ at this, then he looked out the open window with his eyebrows curled up as the sunlight cast a narrow beam through the glass. “Missis Rarity, do you know when my mom and dad are comin’ back?”

Rarity glanced out the window momentarily, then looked at the clock above Steel Masque’s crib, which read three-fifty in the afternoon. “I honestly couldn’t tell you, dear. You never know when it comes to doctors.”

“Is my dad gonna be okay?”

“Absolutely, dear. He only had a minor leg injury, after all,” Rarity said. “Bad enough that your mother had to go with him to his appointment, but I’m sure he’ll be fine in a week or two, if not sooner.”

Dreamweaver nodded as he turned back toward Rarity and looked at the floor. “Okay.”

As Steel Masque continued crying, Rarity let out a breath. “My, I’m surprised he hasn’t tired himself out yet.”

Standing up, Dreamweaver slowly approached her, then nudged his brother lightly as Rarity stopped rocking. He looked up at her, then back at Steel Masque, then back to Rarity again.

Rarity raised her eyebrows. “Would you like to take over, dear? Perhaps you’ll have better luck.”

“Maybe,” Dreamweaver replied as he shrugged one shoulder, then sat back down on the rug in front of her.

“Well, let’s see.” Rarity lifted Steel Masque in her aura, then gently levitated him down into his older brother’s open forearms.

Dreamweaver gently rocked his little brother back and forth. “S’okay, Steel, Daddy’s gonna be okay.” He leaned forward and nuzzled Steel Masque’s cheek, and the infant’s wailing began to lessen. Dreamweaver simply kept rocking.

Rarity smiled as she looked down at the two colts, the crying slowly fading to occasional hiccups, then soft groans, then only breathing.

“Well well, seems you have the magic touch, dear,” Rarity whispered.

Dreamweaver looked up at her with a small smile and nodded, then looked back down at his brother. With a barely audible voice, he began, “Once upon a time… there was a… a…” He looked up in thought for a moment before shrugging a shoulder. “…there was two unicorns. They—”

His story was interrupted by a loud bang from outside. He and Rarity both gasped and looked straight out the window as Steel Masque immediately began crying once again.

“What in Equestria was that?” Rarity cried.

“I dunno!” Dreamweaver looked down at Steel Masque and lightly bounced him up and down. “S’okay, Steel, s’okay.”

Rarity slowly rose from her chair. “You hold on to your brother, Dreamweaver. Perhaps I can see what’s going on.” She shuffled over to the window, then poked her head out and looked in all directions. What she saw to her left made her eyes open wide. “Oh my!”

“Wha’s wrong?” Dreamweaver asked, still cradling his crying brother.

“I see quite a lot of smoke. There must be a massi—a very large fire a few blocks over. That looks like Pudding Lane. It was likely an explosion!”

“A a-spo-shun??” Dreamweaver cried.

Rarity turned around and told him, “That would be my best guess. You keep hold of your brother, dear. Steel Masque clearly likes you better.” Looking back out the window, she saw multiple unicorns galloping towards the fire with their horns lit to put up heat shields, and pegasi pushing dark clouds in the same direction. “Oh, I wish I could assist, but these old bones would be of no help at all.” As she saw embers fly past the window, she turned and looked back at her charges. “Besides, I need to keep you two safe.”

As Rarity leaned out the window to keep on eye on the ponies’ progress, Dreamweaver called from behind her, “Are we gonna be okay, Missis Rarity?”

Turning back in his direction, she let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know, dear. But everypony out there is trying as hard as they can.”

“Can I help, too?”

Rarity let out a little chuckle. “I wish you could, dear, but you aren’t quite big enough for that.”

Dreamweaver frowned, then looked back down at Steel Masque, whose crying had once again lessened to hiccups.

“You’re doing a very good job keeping your brother calm, though. That is quite helpful at the moment.” Glancing back out the window, she whispered to herself, “And it will hopefully keep him distracted…”

She looked toward the door to the apartment; though she couldn’t see them, she knew that a stairway lay just across from it. After a minute of thought, she shook her head, then looked back over at her two charges, the little five-year-old colt cradling his infant brother.

It only took her a moment to make her decision, then she looked back out the window and leaned out to peer at the danger once more.

As if Celestia had read her mind, she heard a door slam only a few shops over. She then saw two unicorns, a stallion and a mare, galloping in the opposite direction of the fire. The mare glanced up at Rarity in the window, then stopped and called out to the stallion. “I’ll be there in a minute, Honey! Please be careful!” The stallion nodded without looking back, then kept going. The mare looked up and cried, “Lady Rarity, what are you doing up there? The fire is only a couple shops over! You need to—”

“Lily,” Rarity interrupted, “I’ve told you countless times not to address me with my title. And you shan't do it again. Now, I need you to do me a favor.”

After a moment of confusion, the mare shook her head and nodded. “Of course I’ll come and get you! I’ll only be a moment!”

“No, Lily. Stay there. Just give me a minute,” Rarity said. As the mare tilted her head, she turned around and called, “Dreamweaver, please hold tight to your brother and keep calm.”

Dreamweaver looked up at her, confused. “Huh? Why? Wha—woah!” He clutched his brother as the two of them were levitated over to the floor next to Rarity.

Leaning down to the two colts, Rarity said, “Dreamweaver, I want you to be a good colt, okay? Miss Lily is going to watch over you until either your parents or my husband return. Whomever is first.” She pushed the two of them behind her with her aura, then continued, “Now, keep calm, and when he gets back, tell my husband that I love him very much.”

Dreamweaver’s eyes widened as he saw Rarity’s face begin to strain. “Missis Rarity, what’re you—”

“Please hush, dear. I need to concentrate. It’s been a long time since I’ve used this spell.” As the colt closed his muzzle, Rarity’s horn lit, then her aura intensified. After a moment, a beam shot out of her horn, cutting through the wall around the window.

When she had created a hole large enough to fit a sizable pony through, the wall fell away to the ground below, and Lily backed away to avoid being crushed. “Rarity, they’ve called for an evacuation! What in Equestria are you—”

“Lily, please take care of these two until their parents or my husband return. I cannot look after them anymore.” She turned back to the colts and said, “Now dear, behave for Miss Lily, and don’t look back.” She lit her horn again and lifted the colts into the air, then levitated them down to the mare below, who caught them in her own aura.

Lily called, “Rarity, please, let me help you down! I’ll only—”

“No, dear. Those two need your attention more than I.” Rarity took a deep breath and let it out. “It was a pleasure to know you, Lily.” She then turned around, shuffling her way back inside. The blaze of the fire ripped into the walls of the lower floors, and the three of them had to pull back.

She could hear the faint sound of a colt calling, “Missis Rarity! Wait! Come back!” This was accompanied by an infant’s wailing.

Painfully ignoring the words, she lifted up the tie she had been working on. “It’s a shame Spike won’t get to wear this. It would’ve been so much classier and less repetitive than those silly bowties.”

She felt the temperature around her quickly rise. As she was engulfed in flames, she heard the booming voice of her husband nearing. “RARITY! RARITY!”

So long, my dear Spikey-Wikey…

Author's Note:

“That’s just like Rarity; always thinking of others first… to the very end…”

— Spike the dragon

---

This is the last completed tale behind the passed Elemental family members. There might be an alternate ending for one of them coming in the future, but for now I'm marking this complete. Rarity was the one whose passing had the most people wanting to know about it, which is one of the reasons this is the longest of the four chapters. Well, that, and writing kids is fun for me.

Speaking of which, in case you were curious, the very beginning of Dreamweaver's first story was inspired by this video (up to the 0:42 mark). With a few alterations, of course. It was the cutest one I could find.

I don't know if I'll do other side stories for DaD, whether they be a one-shot or another collection. For now I can't think of anything that wouldn't be a huge spoiler for the main story. But we'll see, I guess.

One final note: Once again I want to thank NixWorld for doing an amazing job with the cover art. I never thought Spike could look so friggin' badass.

Comments

[Javarod]

Well written as always, but I hate to see any of the mane six pass on. That said, I'd like to see a different endings for Fluttershy and Dash (I have some ideas naturally).

Hmm, on a related note, does the whole map table and friendship mission thing exist in your world? Have the Elements been replaced? If not, I have an idea for you set... mmmm, 2 years or so from the last chapter of DaD.

[Level Dasher]

9362431
When it comes to the first part of your comment, I'm in the process of writing another ending for Fluttershy that I'm planning to stick to, but I'm a bit stuck at the moment.

BIG SPOILERS FOR DaD MAIN STORY HERE
In terms of the Alt U: Crystal Moose (the original author) started this story just after season 3 ended. He had no idea the whole Tree of Harmony arc was going to happen, or the battle with Tirek. Because of that, Twilight and Spike live in Canterlot Castle, so no Friendship Castle, and no friendship missions.
No, the elements have not been replaced. I have a very long and detailed outline from Crystal Moose, and it was not a concept that he had taken into account when he wrote it because there was so much else that he wrote in. I have since added to it, but I don't know if I can put in another subplot, and it's probably too late for that anyway.

You're welcome to share your ideas with me, though. Just send them to me via PM.

[DivinePanzer]

I guess I don't understand why Rarity died, why she went back inside instead of leaving through the hole the foals went through.

[Carolusrex1]

Just reread the description and did anyone else hear the Law & Order dun-dun in their head when they read "These are their stories"?

[MaxsDesoto]

oml this is so sad! :(

[DanvilleBengal]

9503839
My guess is after she got the foals away from the fire, Rarity went back in, and my guess for her death is that she could not escape the fire or ge back out, plus she was ready to die. It is all Rarity to care so much fir her fellow ponies that she will sacrifice herself for them...

[Noobblue]

My heart hurts. Those were excellently written, beautiful even.

[Booster Spice]

Just as I read this the radio plays, Its The End Of The World As We Know It.