Red - Blood, Danger and Longing

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Thursday, November 16th. Through the preperations for winter and all, Ponyville, and really, all of Equestria were starting to get into the holiday spirit, especially after Nightmare Night. Everypony seemed happy, and the atmosphere was perfect. I couldn't help to trot around, eyes closed, head held high and smiling. Everything was perfect.

Everything was perfect up until Thursday, November 16th. Everypony knows that nothing gold can stay, but then again, things just seem to fade into silver; almost perfect. Rarely does the world just crash as everything falls apart before our eyes.

But that's what happened on this particular Thursday. I was in school, the 6th grade to be exact, and everypony was excited for the holidays, and just done with school in general. Many foals were missing from school for either an early vacation or from being sick. Those of us who had to suffer through school these last couple of weeks tried to make the most of it.

I walked into school, scarf around my neck and boots on to keep me warm. I smiled as I walked up to my friends, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. "Hey guys! What's up!" I called excitedly as I trotted up to them.

Neither one of them turned around. They just stayed huddled up, and I vaguely heard one of them sniff.

"Hey," I said quietly. "What's happening? Guys? Guys?" I asked, not just getting impatient, but also worried. It was then that first Sweetie Belle, and then Apple Bloom, turned around.

"Scootaloo, haven't you heard the news?"

I was about to say no, when the first bell rang. Oh no, now we're late. This better not be Sweetie Belle breaking up with her latest coltfriend. If that's why I'm tardy, I swear...

But then I noticed that nopony had gone inside. Many were just huddled up in an even larger circle, and some were walking home. Now I was really starting to worry. "Guys...." I stuttered. "Why isn't anypony going inside?"

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged a glance, and then looked back at me. "There was an accident up at the Wonderbolt Academy. With all the snow and all, a bus of foals from a local school that was visiting there crashed right into it. Many were killed, along with most of the Wonderbolts and recruits, and..."

I cut Apple Bloom off. "What...what about Rainbow Dash? She's okay, right? She's tough, she could take it...she took it! She had to! Heck, she probably saved a few foals while in the process, and..."

"Scootaloo..."

"And she's going to come right back here, to Ponyville, and we can get your sisters together to comfort her, and..."

"Scootaloo, I..."

"And then I can help her get through it, and she'll only have a few injuries, and she'll be flying again in no time!"

"SCOOTALOO, LISTEN!" Apple Bloom interjected. Everypony from the circle turned around and looked at Apple Bloom for breaking the cold silence, but for once, her cheeks didn't fluster red, and she didn't get embarassed. She just stared at me, waiting for me to acknowledge her.

"She's alive Applebloom. She's alive I can feel it." I cut myself off there, not wanting Apple Bloom to yell again.

"No, she's not Scootaloo. Listen, we've all lost someone, and Dash did save a few foals, but in the end, the debris she had to dig through plus the initial damage was just too much. They didn't find her complete body, but..."

"Then there's a chance she's alive! She could still be out there!"

"They found a large patch of blood-stained cyan fur. And think Scootaloo, use reason for once." Sweetie Bell cut in for Apple Bloom. "If Dash was alive, why would she hide? Why would she just destroy others, especially ones who've already lost so much from this..."

I looked down. I couldn't believe it. The one week the new recruits had to help at Academy, the one week they had to be there. The one week Dash had to go train with Spitfire....

"I assume we're allowed to leave school," I mumbled, looking down. I began to walk away before I even got a response from my friends. Neither one of them responded, they just nodded.

As I walked away from the school, the only sound I could hear were hoofsteps crunching in the snow. Not just mine, but those of the larger huddle, turning to watch me leave. I could just barely hear a pair of hoofsteps crunch behind me, but whoever it was, they said nothing. And while I would normally tell them to beat it, I was not in the mood for it today. It was minutes later, after we had left the school far behind, that my follower finally said something.

"Scootaloo, I just want you to know...if you need anything...I...I'm...I..."

I recognized the stuttering voice as one of my fellow classmates. His name was Rumble, and his older brother, like Rainbow Dash, had been competing for a spot on the Wonderbolts this year.

"Rumble, I don't want to talk about this to anypony, especially not a pony I barely know. What could you possibly know about what I need right now?" I stopped in my tracks, and Rumble walked up next to me. I didn't turn to look at him, and could jsut barely see his light grey fur.

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe there are others like you in this situation?" He asked calmly. "A lot of ponies died. Many ponies lost younger siblings or children. And some lost older siblings, like you...and well...I...." I could hear him choking up on his words, and it was then that I realized what all the commotion at school at been about. The large huddle, the silence, and now this. It wasn't just for the accident; it was for Rumble.

Which means Thunderlane is gone. How many others were lost, who else is in our position?

"Rainbow Dash was all I had. My parents are gone, and now her. I don't have anypony else."

Rumble paused a moment, before finally breathing out, "Same here."

I guess I had never realized that I had never seen Rumble's parents in all the years I had known him. But I guess Thunderlane was all that he had. Maybe my situation wasn't the worse one out there, but still, I wasn't going to act as his comforter when I had problems of my own.

It was silent for a few minutes, until Rumble finally looked over at me, and I looked over at him. Our gazes met for a few seconds, and a feeling of sympathy and remembrance was around. Then, Rumble slowly pulled away and looked down, and broke the silence. "I asked if they could let you off school as well for the next few days. You don't have to go in until you're ready."

I nodded slowly, still looking off into the distance. I won't be back for a few months, then. If I'm ever ready to go back, anyways.

I crunched through the snow back home, to a small little cottage. My mother and I used to live in it, until she died of illness when I was seven. After I had found Rainbow Dash, we would often spend most nights together here. She didn't complete take care of me, but I was in no condition to live on my own.

The only thing I could think of to do was to search for my father....whoever he was, anyways. Where I would even start, I don't know, but until then, I'd just have to settle for this.

I opened the door to the cottage, and trudged up the staircase to my little bedroom. It wasn't much but a bed, a desk, and some stuff on the blue walls. I poked my head out of the window in the side of the room, and looked up into the midday sky.

"Mother...Rainbow Dash...why did you leave me? You both fought through everything, what was so hard about the one fight you lost?" I got a bit mad, and then calmed down. "What am I supposed to do? I need something to keep me going in life, just something...I need somepony to take care of me, and help me."

I flopped back up onto my bed, and stared at my ceiling. I had no motivation to do anything, and though it was no later than three in the afternoon, I drifted off to sleep.

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I woke up, unsure of what day or time it was, and for a moment, I had a glimmer of happiness, as I forgot all of the day's events. But I quickly crashed back down to reality as I walked back down the stairs and into the small kitchen of the cottage. I saw that there were many things on the doorstep, meaning the mailmare had stopped by. Many of them were sympathy cards and care packages from various friends, but nothing I really wanted to read. But I flipped through the pile anyways, not having much else to do with my life.

When I reached the bottom of the pile, however, I found something interesting. It was an ordinary envelope, which was what made it so intriguing. It wasn't addressed to me, nor did it have a return address. It was simply a blank envelope, but there was definitely something in it. I took a deep breath, and carefully ran my hoof under the thin paper, slowly breaking the thin seal.

I closed my eyes as I tipped the envelope over unto the table, not knowing what the expect besides something bad. I opened my eyes and found a simple note sitting on the table.

I walked up to the table, and look at the note, and not seeing anything wrong with it, I turned it over into my hoof, and read it slowly and carefully.

Scootaloo~

I'm sorry for leaving you but, it's complicated, okay squirt? I just want you to know that I'm still out here in this world, and that I'm okay. Just carry on without me, and keep the awesome going. I know you'll be great and shock the world one day.

I didn't even look at the bottom line to see who it was from. I held the note to my chest, knowing fully well where this note had come from. I smiled, and looked up.

"You're out there somewhere. And I don't know where to start, but I will find you.

We will see each other again, Rainbow Dash. Of that, I am sure."

Orange - Attention, Determination and Slight Happiness

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I didn't know what else to think when I read through the letter for the first time. I continued to reread in constantly, trying to figure out what to feel besides joy and happiness. I know that I shouldn't have been happy, not when so many others, like Rumble, were grieving. But at the same time, somepony I loved had literally just come back from the dead.

I didn't know where she was, but I knew one thing; we were going to see each other again.

So what if she had technically said goodbye? I had to see her, the fact that we could be together again blended into the fact that we would be together again, no matter what. But the thing was, there was nothing that gave me any hint of where she was; all I knew was that she was out in Equestria somewhere.

I opened the door to the cottage and stepped outside. I wanted to go run and tell my friends, and Rainbow Dash's friends; I wanted everypony to know that she was okay. And yet, as I reread the letter, I felt that nopony but me should know. If she wanted the world to know she was okay, why wouldn't she have just let everypony know? Why go into hiding and only tell me?

More importantly, if she wanted me to know she was alive, why not tell me where she is? Why leave me clueless?

Maybe she's afraid somepony else would find the letter, and so she hid a clue in it...

Given it was the only answer I had, I went with it, and reread the letter another time.

I slumped over on the porch of the cottage. I had no idea what I was doing. I needed sompony's help, but who could I tell that would also be able to solve this? Pinkie Pie would be able to solve it, considering how good she is with mysteries, but she wouldn't be able to keep a secret like this. Rumble knows a lot about the accident, but then he would be traveling along for the ride in hopes of finding his brother.

And Twilight Sparkle....she was definetly smart enough to figure this out, but she also lived in Canterlot. I was already pressed for time to find Rainbow Dash; I could only be missing from school for so long before teachers started figuring out that I was taking advantage of the time off. It wouldn't help if I had to spend a day or two traveling to and from Canterlot, on top of staying there long enough for us to figure it out. By then, at least 3 or 4 days would've passed, which wouldn't give me a lot of time to actually find Rainbow Dash.

I sighed. I guess if I'm going to do this, I'm doing it alone. So where do I start? Where would she be? Urgh, I don't know a thing about this whole mystery solving business, if only I knew somepony who could...

It was then that I got an idea. I ran upstairs up into the attic, where my mother had kept all of our books. I searched around, nosing my way through the piles, until finally, I found the book I was looking for. I blew all of the dust off of it, and wiped the cover clean just to be sure.

"Aha! The Adventures of Sherlock Hooves! Surely this will help me at least get a start!"

A small smile formed at the corner of my mouth as soon as I finished saying it. "Cutie Mark Crusaders; Mystery Detectives," I mumbled to myself.

I walked over to a small chair in the attic, sat down, and read through the book. Finally, around page 38, I found something helpful.

Alas, my dear Watson, the only way to solve this case is to return to the scene of the crime...

"The scene of the crime..." I said my thoughts out loud. "Well, in this case, that's...The Academy!" I jumped up, a grin on my face, until I realised many problems with this.

"Wait, the Academy's closed off until everything's sorted out. And how would I even get up to Cloudsdale in the first place? Not like I could fly there!" In a fuss of frustration, I grabbed the Sherlock Hooves book and chucked it across the room. "Why?" I screamed to nopony. "Why am I like this? Why can't I do anything, why can't I fly?"

"How will I be great like Rainbow Dash if I can't even get off the ground?" I whispered, tears forming, as I looked down at the ground.

I sat in the attic like that for quite some time, before I finally snapped back into reality, and why I was in the attic in the first place. I had to find Rainbow Dash, I couldn't let her down. I had to become great, I would fly, for her. I grabbed a journal from the attic and began to plan everything out.

"Okay, the take balloons up to Cloudsdale all the time, I can just hitch a ride on one of those. I I don't have enough bits, maybe I can beg and plead with the princesses to let me up. Once up there...well....um...I'll go to the Academy....and..."

Suddenly. my conscience appeared. Or so I'd like to think, but looking back, it was probably just the effects of depression and dehydration kicking in. But there, in front of me, I imagined Rainbow Dash, so real I felt that I could reach out and touch here, and she would feel it. And I would feel it.

"Squirt, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry...I'm just....I'm trying to find you....but I just don't know..."

"No, not that!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "What are you doing, planning everything out? Did I ever plan to do a Sonic Rainboom the first time? No! Planning is just wasting time. It's like Spitfire says; Just go out there, and do it. Figure it out when you get there. So, just don't even worry about it. Just figure it out as you go, and whatever you do, be awesome. And everything should be fine."

My tired eyes blinked, as I nodded, a dumb smile on my face. "Rainbow Dash...I...thank you....but please. don't go away again. Stay here, please..."

Rainbow Dash spread her wings out, and took a step out the window. "Sorry Squirt, but I gotta go. Just remember; Be. Awesome."

"Dash, no!" I called out. "Don't leave me again, please!"

And then she flied out. For a second, I just stared there, dumbfounded. But then, I shook my head, and acted upon the words. I ran downstairs and got my school backpack, and emptied everything out. I collected all the bits I could find in the house, and threw them in the front pocket of the backpack. In the larger pocket, I put the Sherlock Hooves book, and the journal, along with a pencil.

I looked around at the cottage, scooter in hand, ready to go. "Okay, Dash. I've got my belongings, and hopefully, I've got my "awesome." And I will find you."

I walked outside, to spare bits, I walked to Canterlot. About halfway there, a train nearly passed me, and I sprinted, trying to grab hold of the train. Every ounce of me wanted to scream for help, but I couldn't let anypony know I was hitchhiking. I sprinted as fast as I could on the scooter. I saw the back of the caboose car, with a small "balcony" area with a door leading inside. I narrowed my eyes, determined to make this jump. I jumped on my scooter, but I just couldn't grab onto the gate. Instinctively, I spread my tiny wings, and I noticed something; I was "flying." Gliding, really, but enough to get me forward. I flipped my scooter around, wings spread, and hooked it to the gate. I smiled, and swung myself around and into the car. I brushed my self off, folded my scooter in half, put it in my backpack, and grinned.

"Oh yeah. Awesome enough for you, Dash?"

I opened the door to go inside a train car, and saw that there was nopony there. I gave out a sigh of relief, and walked inside, plopped my backpack down on one row of seats, and laid myself out on another row. I slept, something I hadn't done for a while, knowing that I would be woken up when we got to Canterlot, or wherever this thing was going.

After that, I'll get on the balloon up to Cloudsdale, and then, we wing it. Just like you, Dash. Just like you.

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I heard the whistle of the train, and bolted up out of my sleep. I looked around to check and see if anypony had come in and found out I was here. Nope. All good. I grabbed my backpack and poked my head out the window as I slung it over my shoulder. I looked outside and sure enough, there was Canterlot.

Okay, I need to jump off this thing before we get there, but take advantage of it as long as possible. Otherwise, they'll find out I'm a stowaway when they disembark the other passengers.

I opened the door and walked back out to the back of the car, continuously looking over the rail to see if we had entered the city yet. Once we're somewhat in the city, then I jump ship. I thought. It took about ten minutes for the train to begin to enter Canterlot, and then the announcement was made.

Attention, all passengers, we have entered the city of Canterlot and will enter the train station in ten minutes. Please collect your belongings and...

I didn't listen to the rest. I flipped out my scooter, and hung on the edge of the guardrail, and examined how to jump off the train. I couldn't wait for it to stop; then I risked being spotted and caught. But I couldn't just jump off, otherwise I'd end up getting killed.

I then remembered how I had managed to get on this thing in the first place. I leaned out over the guardrail a bit, mounted my scooter, and jumped. A second later, I spread my wings, and glided to safety. If safety is defined as nailing the front wheel into the ground and tumbling off the scooter, then yes, safely. But after getting up and examining myself, I saw that besides a few bumps and scratches, I was unharmed.

I chuckled. "For the first time in my life, I'm glad I have wings. Even if I can't fly."

But the celebration was short, as I had to catch the balloon at Celestia-knows-what time. I begin going as fast as possible on my scooter, intent on reaching the station where the balloon left before too long.

I got there in about 20 minutes, and fortunately, I had just enough bits to get on the balloon. The trip took maybe another ten minutes, and then, we stepped off the balloon, and into Cloudsdale. I had never been, since I had never been able to fly up here, but I had heard that it was a joyful place, filled with fun, and how Rainbow Dash put it, awesome.

But when I stepped off that balloon, it felt like a huge smack to the face that the world was facing a great tragedy. Everywhere I looked, ponies were huddled up, much like Rumble's huddle at school. Everywhere, news posts were up about the accident. I gulped, gripped my backpack, and stepped off the balloon, and headed to the Academy, where my search would finally begin.

All I could see around the Academy as I walked up to it were police lines, candles, and memorials for the victims. I examined each one, many of which were for the lost foals. I gulped back tears, as I saw how young they were.

Did you ever stop to think that maybe there are others like you in this situation? A lot of ponies died. Many ponies lost younger siblings or children.

I sighed, as I continued to walk through the memorials. And it was there, that I spotted the first memorial for Rainbow Dash. I looked at it, a blue candle illuminating a picture of her. I looked around it, trying to find some hint that it was made by her, or some clue as to where she was. I continued to do this for the next line of memorials, examining each one in attempt to find something of hers.

Finally, about the 20th candle down the line for Rainbow Dash, I found a few items tucked between the pictures and the candle. I pulled them out, and saw a Wonderbolt Uniform, with a "Lead Pony" badge pinned to it. I turned it around, and inside the collar, found the name.

R. Dash

This was hers, from just now. Her first uniform during recruit week. She was on her way to becoming a Wonderbolt, like she always wanted to. And then she just...she just gave that up..

And even though I knew that she was still alive, that just because there were memorials didn't mean she was dead, I still held the uniform to my chest and cried. I cried, and wondered why Dash would leave behind her dream, why she would leave behind her one chance at glory. Even if there had been an accident, I still wondered, why not stay, and help rebuild? Why not get comfort from loved ones?

I cried, and for the first time, I questioned if Dash and I had even been close, or if we had just simply been training partners.

Searching For Rainbow Dash

by Windy Scamper

Red - Blood, Danger and Longing

Orange - Attention, Determination and Slight Happiness