The Pursuit of Pride

by The Real Steel

Chapter 5

The next day Rainbow Dash awoke to one of the dreariest days she had ever seen. The sun was shadowed by clouds despite the fact that she could have sworn that she and the rest of the weather patrol had cleared the skies not the day before. The room she was in was pretty grey for what she could only assume was almost midday.

With a groan the sky blue pony swung out of bed and stretched for a second, her half drooped gaze failed to notice the lump on the bed right next to her previously slept upon spot. Curious to the lack of light she trotted over to her curtains and drew them back.

Sure enough the sun was indeed shining though blocked a bit by some gray clouds but it wasn't just that. Something was wrong and to her it was like a churning, an uneasy feeling in her gut. It seemed as if the day itself had prepared itself for some kind of event but Rainbow Dash had no idea what it could be.

Shrugging it off she shelved her uneasy feeling for the moment and made her way from the window over to the bathroom where she did her normal morning routine. She brushed her teeth, took a shower, made sure her mane looked as awesome as always and stepped out of the shower around the same time the lump in her bed had shifted and started to awaken.

Scootaloo through the night had been able to sleep peacefully and surprisingly hadn't dreamed about her parents. It was a blank void, dreamless and without complication. It had left her feeling very rested and as such she waved to her older idol who had just stepped out of the bathroom and was running a towel through her prismatic mane.

“Heya Dash, good morning.”

As she wished her mentor a good morning the young teen hopped out of bed herself, literally jumping out from under the covers and onto the soft cloud floor. Her smaller wings made a light buzzing as she woke them from their sleep as well.

“Mornin' squirt. Sleep well?”

As she asked this Dash made her way over to the bed and sat down, ruffling her housemate's mane, messing up the already messed up bedmane of the brash teen. When she was done with drying her own mane the equally brash older pony simply tossed the towel into a corner clothes basket.

“Sure did Dash, I am ready for whatever today has to offer. Think we can train some more today?”

The eager Scootaloo made her way into the bathroom and looked herself over. A light cringe came when she saw the state of her eyes and her mane, her purple eyes were half drooped much like Dash's and her mane which was normally slicked back or cool looking was more akin to somepony exploding a jar of grape jelly .

“Sure squirt, just take a shower first.”

“Alright, thanks Dash! I will!”

And with permission granted she wasted no time in hopping into the shower. The warm, soothing water allowed her to clear her clarity of mind and she used this new clarity to war with the sadness that built inside her. She tried to act tough in front of Rainbow Dash and she felt much happier around her mentor but the death of her parents still weighed heavily on her and she was having trouble deciding which voice to listen to.

As Scootaloo waged her inner war of strength Rainbow Dash made her way downstairs to fix herself and Scootaloo some breakfast though the younger pony got the better deal. Dash made a bowl of Zap Apple Crunch for herself and gave a daffodil sandwich on a plate for Scootaloo's breakfast.

Eating her cereal in record time she headed out the door to check the mail. Inside were none of the usual things she was used to getting. Inside there was only one piece of mail and when she pulled the letter out of her mailbox it simply read on the front 'Please attend'.

Curious as to what it could be she opened it and skimmed the contents, reading as she flew and by the time she was done her wings had taken her to the front door of her cloud home. With a now saddened look on her face she entered and folded her wings.

Scootaloo had just finished her shower and was heading downstairs when she heard Dash open the door. Upon the sound she put on her best facade of happiness and trotted towards her mentor. The look on Rainbow Dash's face however quickly made her lose that fake smile and adopt a concerned look as she came over.

“Dash? Something wrong?”

The addressed pony said nothing and merely hoofed over the letter for her younger counterpart to read. Confused by her silence Scootaloo took the letter and began reading it out loud.

“Ms. Rainbow Dash, you are invited to attend the funeral of Swift Shot and Mayflower. The funeral shall be held today at midday and we sincerely hope you can join the rest of us in paying our respects for the fallen.”

The facade shattered as a fresh wave of tears flooded Scootaloo's face. She couldn't help but look up at Dash, tearing her eyes from the already tear stained letter.

“Th-those a-are my p-parents D-Dash.”

“I know Scoots. We should attend and say our final farewells.”

The older pony came over and put a wing around the side of her younger counterpart, hugging Scootaloo to her side which the orange pony proceeded to bury her muzzle into and cry.

A few tears boiled up under Dash's eyes as she watched her protege break down, she suppressed them as best she could. Scootaloo would need her to be strong right now.

“We don't have long Scoots. Get on my back, we will make it in time.”

The form of the sky blue pony almost touched the cloud ground of her home, sandwich forgotten in the light of this news. Seeing this and hearing the words the broken young teen clambered onto her back and simply stared ahead.

Knowing that nothing she could say at the moment would make it better Rainbow Dash merely opened the front door and flew out of the house. Unlike usual though she did not fly fast today. She flew very slowly towards the town of Ponyville in which there was a significant lack of the usual activity. The merchant's stalls were left where they stood, their products untouched. The lights were off and nopony roamed the street. Even Sugarcube Corner, usually the most bustling place in the world this time of day, was completely silent.

Around the few twists and turns of the town the two ponies flew, towards the outskirts of town where the entirety of Ponyville had gathered to pay their respects to Scootaloo's parents. It looked like they were the last to arrive and so it was that with a heavy heart and light wings that Rainbow Dash made her landing, Scootaloo sliding off of her, broken and dead to the world right now, gaze locked on the ground.

The two made their way to the circle around two pitch black caskets inside of which all knew lay the bodies of Swift Shot and Mayflower. Around the casket in a circle so all could watch the ceremony stood the population of Ponyville. Many of whom, including Scootaloo, had never dealt with such a violent death before. Most ponies died of old age around these parts, never a fire. As such, many of them were simply at a loss for words and those who knew enough about to speak knew better so all were silent.

A single, solitary pony made his way through the crowd and headed towards the altar near in between the two caskets which were right next to the graves. Two holes, identical in length and depth were lay down beside each other with the altar in the middle. Two gravestones headed each hole.

The pony, who's name was Mortorum, proceeded to speak to the crowd of ponies gathered. His face was covered and around his form he wore a pitch black hoodie so none knew what he looked like though he had given his name and been chosen to head the ceremony. His deep, raspy voice carried on the wind for all to hear as he spoke with an almost audible rattle in his tone.

“Welcome friends and families of the deceased. We are all gathered here today to say our final farewells to those who have been taken from us by death. All things that live must one day die and so the cycle continues as it has for millenia. Before we lower them to their final rest you all may come over and say your goodbyes.”

When he finished speaking the crowd of ponies began to line up in a file. One by one they all came to the caskets and said their goodbyes. Scootaloo had still barely shown any signs she was alive herself, the only thing that gave evidence to the contrary was her occasional broken step forward. Slowly inching her way closer and closer to the caskets that held her dead parents.

Soon the lined had almost come full circle and it was now Rainbow Dash's turn. She took a deep breath and made her way over to the casket of Swift Shot first and bent her front hooves down in almost a respectful bow and spoke softly.

“I promise you Swift. Scootaloo will be the best damn flier Equestria has ever seen or my name isn't Rainbow Dash. Rest In Peace, many will miss you.”

After she was finished she let the line go forward and Scootaloo came up, almost trembling and her orange coat seemed to have lost a great deal of it's vibrant color. Her purple eyes looked at the casket holding her father and blinked blankly a few times before she just slumped down on the top of the casket and cried.

Not far away and able to see it all Rainbow Dash was on her front hooves again and speaking her final words this time to Mayflower. She hadn't know either of them all that much and now wished she had but she said what she felt nonetheless and tried her best to stay strong with the sound of Scootaloo's crying not far away.

“Mayflower......I don't know what lies in the next world and I know we never spoke or knew each other but I will try my best to take care of Scootaloo for you. Rest In Peace Mayflower, you will be missed by many.”

Dash stood and made her way over to the crowd who all stood there and watched Scootaloo. Nopony rushed her, they all knew that this was something that she needed to do. She needed to say her goodbyes though a few ponies cried with her none cried harder than two ponies in the front row. One, a yellow coated, red maned teen and the other was a white coated, purple and pink maned teen of the same age group. The two of them watched intently, crying along with Scootaloo and all knew why. They were her best friends and they hated seeing her so hurt.

After around 20 minutes of crying Scootaloo stood. Her tears had all run out and she trotted to the middle in between the two caskets. Bowing her head she said four words and four words only before she turned around to go return to the the crowd. “Thank you and goodbye.” Her words were simple but carried great meaning and a few ponies in the front who had heard her words clapped lightly for her as she returned to Dash and rested her head against her shoulder. She was worn out, exhausted. She had nothing left but her friends and Dash now so she planned to hold onto them.

“Now that we have all said our farewells and our goodbyes it is time to lower the bodies, back to the earth where they can watch over us forever.”

Mortorum's voice rang out once more before the ponies that ran the moving company in Ponyville came over and four to a casket lifted the pitch black caskets up and moved them towards their final resting place. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash watched with rapt attention as the caskets were first lowered slowly into the ground and then covered in dirt, shoveled dirt pile after shoveled dirt pile until there was nothing but dirt, a gravestone and memories to mark were once there were two ponies.

After another thirty minutes of ponies either keeping a respectful silence or wishing Scootaloo well and telling her how much they too would miss her parents or were there for her to which she numbly nodded, the crowd thinned and thinned until there was just Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash there.

As a result of the weather ponies being there for the funeral a light drizzle started to fall, the rain dripping through the trees and onto Dash and Scootaloo. The rain dropped off Scootaloo's face and mixed with the tear trails to make it seem as if she was crying again and it was as if Equestria itself weeped for Ponyville's loss.

“Dash?”

The rain and tear stained face of the young pony turned to her mentor and best friend as she spoke, looking hopefully up to her with sad purple eyes.

“Yeah Scoots?”

The older pony turned her strong but sad rose colored eyes down to stare right back. Scootaloo still resting against her neck even as it rained.

“Will I ever see them again?”

“I am sure you will squirt. They are looking out for you somewhere and one day you'll join them but until then you gotta chase your dreams and follow your own path. They will help guide you from the next life, at least, that's how I would like to see it.”

Scootaloo nodded at the words and they seemed to comfort her, she turned her gaze back forward and nuzzled against Dash's shoulder. After a minute of silence she gathered her strength and forced a smile, speaking once more to her sky blue mentor.

“Dash?.”

"Yeah Scoots?"

"Let's go home."

Nodding in respect and understanding of her protege's courage she lowered her body to the ground and Scootaloo promptly hopped on her back. Rainbow Dash's wings unfurled and soon a rainbow trail cut it's way through the falling rain. Headed towards a home in the skies and a hopeful future for two young ponies.