Chapter 20: Optimism
The next morning Rainbow awoke to the sound of the birds chirping outside. Her blurry and tired eyes got adjusted to the morning light as she stared at the wooden ceiling for a few seconds. She turned over to see Soarin, who usually slept to the left of her.
But when she looked, there was nopony looking back at her. That's when the sadness of the day prior came back to her, crushing any hopes she had of having a good day.
She looked at the ceiling once again and sighed. She could feel a few tears about to come from her eyes, but she shut them to not allow the tears to escape. Rainbow was done crying. She was a strong mare, and crying would just make things worse. What she needed to do was go forward with a little bit of optimism.
Twilight was once again making breakfast for her. The unicorn had proven to be a very caring and hospitable friend at this sad time for the pegasus.
Rainbow dragged her legs straight to the table. She didn't go and look in the mirror to see how she looked, because she truly didn't care at this point.
"Good morning, Rainbow Dash," Twilight said while Rainbow sat down on the chair at the table. The pegasus just stared downwards.
Twilight placed a plate of hash browns as well as a pancake with syrup and butter on it. The unicorn also came over and stroked her hoof through Rainbow's messy mane to try and say that everything was going to be okay.
Rainbow had no reply though. She couldn't manage to smile back. She tried her best to eat, but the food was just tasteless to her. That was nothing against Twilight's cooking; it was Rainbow's emotional state. With Soarin gone, she just had no purpose in life anymore.
After trying her best, Rainbow was able to eat almost every bite of her breakfast. She didn't have any tears in her eyes. She was dead on the inside; too dead to even cry; too dead for any emotion at all at this time.
"Twilight... what do I do now?" Rainbow asked. "I feel like I have nothing left to hope for. I can't just stay here forever. I need something- something to cheer me up. But I just don't know what would."
Twilight pushed a chair up right against Rainbow's. She sat down on the chair, and facing Rainbow, she reached her forelegs around the pegasus and held her tightly. "Rainbow, I don't know what will help you at this terrible time. But if you think of anything you need, I'll be here for you."
Twilight let go of Rainbow and looked her straight in the eyes.
"I just feel like there is nopony who can relate to the sadness I feel right now. I lost my parents, and I lost the only stallion I ever loved. I just... I need somepony who can relate with me," Rainbow said while looking both at Twilight and also at her own hooves.
"What about Scootaloo?" Twilight suggested. "Scootaloo also lost her parents, and she lost you too."
"What do you mean by that?" Rainbow asked while her head tilted to the side.
"Well, Scootaloo lost her parents as a very young filly, and she now has to live with her aunt here in Ponyville. You were her role model, yet you couldn't always be there for her. Maybe it would be good for both of you if you would reach out to her. The little filly really cares about you, and she cried her eyes out upon hearing what happened."
Rainbow thought deeply for a few seconds. Twilight was right; Scootaloo did look up to Dash. She was the young filly's hero and big sister, yet Rainbow hadn't acted like it in recent months.
"You're right, Twilight. I should go talk to her. It could help me too," Rainbow replied after thinking.
Twilight put her right hoof on Rainbow's left shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Rainbow. You made the right decision."
Rainbow gave Twilight another hug, and prepared herself to leave for the day to go to see the young orange pegasus. The mare flew to Scootaloo's house, which was on the other side of Ponyville. It wasn't an extravagant house; it was just a normal wooden Ponyville abode.
Rainbow flew up to the top window where Scootaloo's bedroom was. Looking through the window, she could see the filly just lying down on her bed with her head on her front hooves.
Rainbow knocked on the window twice. The filly perked her head up, and the smile on her face upon seeing her hero made Rainbow feel warm inside.
"Rainbow Dash! Come in," Scootaloo said while opening her windows.
The blue pegasus flew into the filly's room, and the two of them sat down on the bed.
"Hey, squirt, I've been thinking," Rainbow began to say.
"Yeah?!" Scootaloo replied with wide, eager eyes.
Rainbow continued, "I know back when we went camping I said that I would take you under my wing, and, well, I didn't really do that."
"But that's okay, you're just too awesome to have any time for me," Scootaloo replied while looking up at her.
"Stop it! I am not too awesome for you! You are just as awesome as I am, maybe even a little more so. You've had to deal with the same hardships I had to. In fact, you're more loyal to me than I was to you; and that says a lot, since I am the Element of Loyalty after all. I followed my dreams and put my friendships on hold, and that wasn't fair to the ponies important to me; including you."
"Rainbow, honestly... I'm totally fine that you did that," Scootaloo replied. Rainbow could sense a little bit of hesitation in the filly's voice though.
"Well, you shouldn't be fine with it. I wasn't here to help you earn your cutie mark, and that really sucks. I shoulda been the own who made you get it." Rainbow paused for a few seconds. "I'm really, really sorry for leaving you."
Scootaloo jumped up into Rainbow's grasp. "I accept your apology. I'm also really sorry for everything that you went through."
Rainbow gave a light noogie to the filly with her left hoof while still holding her in her right hoof. "Hey, how many days do you have until you have to go back to school?"
"I actually start school tomorrow," Scootaloo replied sadly.
"That still gives us enough time to do loads of things," Rainbow replied. "Would you like to spend your final day off with me? I really need somepony I can relate to. It's the only way I will be able to have any happiness at this time."
Scootaloo's eyes opened as wide as they possibly could. A whole day with her hero? Nothing could be better! "Of course! Where are we gonna go?"
"It doesn't matter, as long as we go together. Let's just go where the wind takes us."
Rainbow and Scootaloo went down the stairs and out the front door. They looked out to the early September skyline. They had one day to find happiness before Scootaloo had to go back to school. They didn't decide to bring anything with them, except for a few bits, which Scootaloo kept in a small pouch she wore at her side.
Rainbow and Scootaloo spread their wings. Rainbow rose into the sky with a few majestic flaps, and Scootaloo slowly rose with a loud buzzing sound and many flaps. Scootaloo had to flap her wings many more times just to get up to the same height of her hero.
It was still in the morning, and Rainbow took the lead by slowly flying in a direction that was away from Ponyville. Even though she was a few months pregnant, she still had very good wing speed. Rainbow flapped light enough so that Scootaloo, who was buzzing as hard as she could, could fly alongside her. Where they were going was unknown to both, but it had to be somewhere that the two of them could forget about their sadness.
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As the two of them flew, they decided to go towards a place that was special for both of them. That place was Winsome Falls, where Rainbow first vowed to take Scootaloo under her wing.
Winsome Falls was the location of the camping trip that the two of them went on, along with Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle.
They flew over the many trees of the forest near the falls. About half of the trees were starting to already change colour for autumn, which was a beautiful sight, but was also a sad sight, signaling that summer was coming to a close.
Rainbow was beginning to get very tired, especially since she was carrying extra weight that she normally wasn't used to. She didn't want her tiredness to show, that six until she looked over to Scootaloo, who was sweating as panting due to having much smaller wings.
"Let's go down for a little rest," Rainbow suggested. Scootaloo, who was sweating and panting, nodded her head in reply. The two of them made their descent into the trees and found a clear area where they could rest.
They found a log where the two of them could sit on. The filly wiped the sweat from her forehead as she took deep breathes. Rainbow was also tired from the flight over.
After the two of them regained their energy, Rainbow said to Scootaloo, "So, this is where it all began. In this forest, you became my little sister."
"Yep. I was the happiest filly in Equestria when you grabbed me with your wing," Scootaloo replied.
"Do you wanna go for a walk?" Rainbow asked. "It might be nice if we can hike through the trees a little. I haven't seen much of nature in a while." Scootaloo agreed, because she would do anything that Rainbow would want to do.
The two of them trotted through the trees, stepping on a few of the leaves that fell. As they stepped on sticks and dirt, the crunching sound was calming to the two of them. They already had started to forget about their pain, and began to have a little bit of optimism towards the future.
The two of them continued to walk through the forest, along the river, and eventually over to the falls where Rainbow saved Scootaloo from falling to her certain death.
They stood at the end of the river, right beside the cliff, looking down towards where the waterfall leads to, which was at least thirty metres below. The young orange pegasus looked down as she remembered when Rainbow saved her life.
Rainbow watched as Scootaloo was lost in thought. "Hey Scoots, are you remembering what happened here?"
"Yeah, this was where you saved my life because I was too afraid to confront my fears," Scootaloo replied with a little bit of embarrassment.
Rainbow rubbed her chin with her hoof. "Hmm... I actually remember it quite differently."
"Oh? How so?" Scootaloo wondered.
"Well, this was where I found out I had a little sister. This was where you confronted your fear and told me how you really felt. That took guts," Rainbow said while giving a light punch to Scootaloo's shoulder. The filly smiled while rubbing that shoulder with her other hoof.
"Yeah, it was hard for me to tell you that I looked up to you so much. It felt really embarrassing."
"Yeah, I could see how you could feel embarrassed, or even intimidated at admitting something like that," Rainbow said while taking a few steps closer to Scootaloo. "But I'm really glad you did," she finished as she put her arm around the filly. The two of them shared a smile, with Rainbow looking down to her.
"And now, look how far you've come!" Rainbow added. "You can now fly all on your own, and you have your own cutie mark. You're really special, you know that? And you learned so fast!"
At this moment, Scootaloo felt the best that she had in years. She forgot all about the pain she suffered as a younger filly. Rainbow finally found that caring deeply for others removed the pain and sadness from her heart, and filled it with joy.
The mare and the filly continued to walk throughout the forest, looking at the many beautiful sights. They shared moments that they would surely remember for a long time.
As the sun began to set, the two of them decided to find a spot where they could spend the night. They found a small area that was clear of trees, and it seemed like a nice area to spend the night.
"Hey, squirt, can you go find some firewood while I set up a fire pit and a place to sit?" Rainbow asked.
Scootaloo saluted to her sister and went into the trees to find some firewood. It wasn't totally dark yet. The sun was setting, but the sky was still lot enough for them to see where they were going.
Rainbow grabbed a few rocks and set them around in a circle, and then went and grabbed a log that was big enough for the two of them to sit on. Scootaloo returned with a bunch of sticks in her mouth, as well as a few logs, which she carried in her front hooves as she flew over. It was a massive improvement from the few small twigs that she managed to grab the last time they camped here.
Scootaloo put them down, and sat on the larger log. Rainbow reached down, and with two sticks, she used the friction of rubbing them together to create a fire.
As the sky darkened and the temperature got cooler, the fire warmed them up and gave them a perfect amount of light.
"Hey, Rainbow, I wanna ask you something," Scootaloo said while rubbing her hooves in front of the fire after the sun finally went down.
"Sure, anything Scoots."
"Can you tell me a scary story?"
"That depends- will you have a nightmare about it?"
"I'll try my best not to! Besides, I already conquered my true fear, and Princess Luna said that I would have nightmares until I conquered it. After I told you the truth, I had nothing to fear anymore."
Rainbow rubbed the filly's mane, and flew into the air, hovering a few metres above Scootaloo's head. "All right, if you say so!"
Scootaloo looked at Rainbow with eager eyes, ready to listen to a scary story
"This is the story of the Slendermane," Rainbow started. "It was a night just like this one: peaceful and quiet. The wind rustled through the leaves of the trees as a young filly made her way through the forest. She was on a camping trip with her family, but she got lost along the way."
Scootaloo leaned in towards the fire to warm up a little as Rainbow flew around while telling her story.
"The little filly had nothing on her, except for a single flashlight. She found herself lost, with no idea where her family was, or how to even get back to where she was. But she did find a path that led through the forest. She walked along with path, with her flashlight leading her forward."
Rainbow flew around the fire and pointed to the nighttime sky, which was clear and full of many beautiful stars. "The sky was just like it is tonight: clear and full of stars. As the little filly continued to walk along the path, she saw a large tree ahead of her. Upon pointing the flashlight high in the air, he saw how tall the tree really was. The sad thing, however, was that it was a dead tree. The leafless branches blew in the wind. There was something stapled to the tree, however."
"Wh-what was it?" Scootaloo nervously asked. Through the nerves, however, was also a voice of excitement. The young orange pegasus seemed really interested in this story.
"It was a single sheet of paper. As she approached the paper, she pointed her flashlight on it, revealing its message. 'Help me,' was all it said. The filly grabbed the paper and said, 'Help you?! I'm the one who's lost!' She continued to forward, hoping to find her family."
Rainbow, who was looking towards the sky as she floated around and told the story, stopped to look down at Scootaloo. The filly just stared at her and smiled from ear to ear. The story was certainly interesting her.
Rainbow smiled back, and looked to the sky as she continued her story. "She decided to forget about the paper and continue to look for her family. She continued to follow the path, which led her to a vehicle with a trailer attached. On the side of the trailer was yet another paper. Upon grabbing it, she shined her flashlight on it to see that this one contained a drawing. It looked like a foal had drawn a bunch of trees, and a faceless pony with four long legs."
"Eww, creepy," Scootaloo replied.
Rainbow chuckled. "Yeah, creepy is right. Well, she didn't know what the drawing was trying to tell her; or even if the drawing was meant for her in the first place. The whole thing could have been a prank on her from her family. That's what she hoped for, actually. She continued down the path, and she saw yet another vehicle. This time it was a vehicle designed to transport water or milk or some kind of liquid. On the side was another paper, and this time the paper had in big letters, 'ALWAYS WATCHES, NO EYES.' 'What? How? This doesn't even make any sense,' the young filly said to herself as she threw the third paper she found to the ground."
"Yeah, how can a pony see without eyes?" Scootaloo asked.
"Magic," Rainbow replied while waving her hooves in the air sarcastically. "Actually, I don't know. I'm just repeating what I was told."
Scootaloo still stared back with a smile. She seemed to have improved since the last time Rainbow told a scary story . The filly did seem a little scared, but nowhere near how scared she was last time.
Rainbow continued, "She decided to forget about asking questions and just continue to try to find her family. After throwing the third paper on the ground, however, everything just seemed a little more eerie. Her ears started to ring a little bit, but she continued to try and find her family. She continued on the path, and later found herself coming up to a giant white tunnel. She shined her flashlight forward as she walked into the tunnel. On the wall to her left was yet another paper, and this time as she approached it, she saw the words, 'Leave me alone!' 'I'm not bothering anypony,' the filly shouted out. She then felt a chill down her spine. She slowly turned around, and she saw it at the other side of the tunnel."
"What? What did she see?" Scootaloo nervously asked. She started to appear a bit scared by the story. However, Rainbow disappeared. Scootaloo looked around and didn't see the mare.
"The Slendermane!" Rainbow shouted in Scootaloo's ear from behind her. The scared filly jumped in the air, and then hovered with a few flaps if her wings. She looked back at Rainbow and they shared a laugh.
"Haha, sorry squirt, I didn't mean to scare you that badly," Rainbow replied while sitting back down on the log.
"Ha, I'm not scared," Scootaloo said, trying to reassure herself. She sat back down beside Rainbow.
"Do you still want me to continue the story?" Rainbow asked while putting an arm around the filly's shoulder. Scootaloo nodded with a large grin.
Rainbow continued her story. "Well, the little filly looked right into the expressionless face of the Slendermane. She jumped as she could hear a loud sound that was like the banging of a drum in her head. She turned around and ran out of the tunnel. She ended up losing the path she was on, and found herself walking through a dense amount of trees. She soon found herself facing a large red silo, and on it was another paper, which said, 'No no no no no no no no.' She quickly turned around and began to run even faster. In the trees in the distance, she could see the same white pony that was in the tunnel with her. The white, faceless pony was sharply dressed in a suit."
Scootaloo chuckled into her hooves. "That's so silly. A monster in a suit?"
"Hey, even psychos sometimes want to dress to impress," Rainbow replied, causing another chuckle from the filly beside her.
"Please continue," Scootaloo commanded.
Rainbow smiled and continued, "The filly jolted as she looked directly at the tall creature staring at her. She paused to see what it wanted. It didn't really seem to want anything; it just stared back. But the more the filly looked at it, the more she started to shake and her head was would ache. She decided to get as far away from it as possible. As she continued to walk, she would occasionally look back. Even though the Slendermane didn't move when she looked at it, every time she turned back it was closer than it was previously."
"What a creep!" Scootaloo shouted out.
"Yeah, no kidding," Rainbow agreed. "Well, the little filly ended up finding a building, which actually turned out to be a public bathroom for the campsite she was in. Unfortunately, the power had gone out. Her flashlight was starting to fade. She went in, hoping to see a familiar face; and not the face of the faceless creature following her. She found a paper on the wall, which read, 'Follows.' 'Yeah, I figured that out myself,' she said. She left the one room of the bathroom and went over to another side of it. There was yet another paper on a chair in the corner. Approaching it, she saw a horrible message: 'Can't run.' That was when everything changed."
Rainbow looked down at the filly sitting beside her, who was now butting her hooves in fear. Rainbow decided to continue the story. "The filly's flashlight went out. Fear engulfed her mind. She dropped the flashlight and ran for the exit, but it was too late. The Slendermane was waiting for her at the door. She tried to stop, but her hooves slipped on the tile floor. She slid right into the grasp of the Slendermane. She tried to scream, but it was too late. Her screams were never heard."
Rainbow looked down again at Scootaloo, who was now trembling at the story. Rainbow wrapped her arm around the filly once again, who jerked at the slight touch. "Hey, I'm sorry," Rainbow chuckled. "You're the one that wanted a scary story."
Scootaloo shivered. "That was awesome!" she screamed out. She leaned in and hugged her big sister.
Rainbow picked her up in her hooves and held her straight out ahead of her. "I'm a pretty good storyteller, aren't I?"
"You sure are," Scootaloo replied as she was being held up high. Rainbow clutched the filly and pulled her into her chest, giving her a hard hug.
Scootaloo smiled as her head was held against her hero's slightly more bulgy chest due to being pregnant. They held that pose while watching the campfire slowly burn itself out.
After there was just a few small embers left in the fire, Rainbow let out a yawn and pushed the log back to create a headrest for them. Upon leaning back, Scootaloo leaned in and put her head on Rainbow's chest as the larger mare leaned back. Rainbow rubbed Scootaloo's mane as the filly began to blink slowly due to tiredness.
"I love you, big sister."
"I love you too."
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The next morning Scootaloo was able to go to school as the happiest filly in Ponyville. Rainbow was able to return home with a renewed feeling of optimism. She was able to enjoy herself without feeling pain or sadness, and she showed that she could be a very caring mare. It was good practice for when she would have to care for her foal.
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Slendermane.... Hahahahahahabbabahahahahahahah
D'aaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww
This chapter turned out good enough to me! Not perfect, of course, reaching perfection is never possible. But I'm not a good critic, so I'm not the one to go to!
It's always very, very sweet to see Scootaloo and RD bonding like this. ^^
I am also now getting those freaky memories of the Slenderman game in my head...
Scariest game in existence..
You have made me cry manly tears sir.
+1
+1
+1
+1
For you: +1
You have saved me from a long 5 days of no udates from anyone
Man, I would love to write a fic about Dash's colt.
Pweaase?
SLENDERMANN
Ok thanks guys for the good comments. I'm glad it wasn't as bad as I first thought
2259007 Wait, you mean the child they're going to have? You can write a fix about it if you want, I don't own the idea of Soarin and Dash having a child
As long as it's not based off of this idea though because this story is going to go far. I just need time to let it happen.
Yay, an update!
.... So, when does Soarin return?
By the way, my choir did a song back during Veteran's Day that I always thought was beautiful.
Listening to the lyrics now, it actually sorta reminds me of this fanfic, from RD's perspective. ^^ lol. So I thought I'd share.
http://youtu.be/0hR6O7VxKaQ
Couldn't find a lyrics video, sorry about that!
2262357 Thanks for sharing :) I'm glad to hear that!
2282230 Damn, I did? Craaaaaaap!!!! Completely forgot. I'll remove that.
I am really interested in the fact that it took this long for anybody to notice though.
Edit: fixed it to Granny Smith. I missed thatso thanks for finding it!
2259865 Dude soarin' died
2317483
On a side note, update?
2317486 Yeah... It's coming but I've been having some trouble writing because I have some other things on my mind, and some financial trouble too. I'm starting a new job tomorrow, but after that I'll probably be able to update it. I don't want to rush a crap chapter though.
2317788 I too feel the sting of writer's block.
Okay that a nice creepy story I have to add a happy song just to get it off in my mind
When I'm done with this I'm just gonna read the whole story backwards and watch Markiplier videos until I forget this