Chapter One
I ask you/What is family?
A pair of earth ponies walked down the street, mother and daughter. The market was empty as the sun had barley began to rise and they were the only stall to set up this early. The mare, a red pony with a braided orange and yellow mane and tan Stetson, turned to her daughter.
“Applejack,” she addressed her daughter, an orange filly with a yellow mane tied behind her head with a red ribbon, “I’m gonna set up for the day. You can go to Sugar Cube Corner if you like but be back before opening time. Ok?”
“Ok, Ma.” the tangerine filly agreed before running off to the cupcake shaped confectionary.
Rainbow Dash yawned as she stretched her legs. The sun was barely visible on the horizon and the marketplace was near empty with the exception of the Apples, just as it always was this time of day. This made it the perfect time to sneak out without getting noticed.
Rainbow silently slipped along the building to her right’s exterior wall to the concrete estuary where the sidewalk met the back alleyway. She took a quick spot-check before taking to the walkway. Though she was only five, she already knew how to take care of herself. She also already understood that if ponies found her, she would be taken back to the orphanage in Canterlot.
The orphanage-
‘No! Don’t think about it!’ RD screamed inwardly, trying to stop the memories from making their way to the front of her brain.
But it was too late; the memories of months gone by flooded her brain.
The orphanage. She HATED the orphanage. No, that’s not what she hated. It was just another brown stone building in Canterlot.
No, what she hated were the other ponies there, but even that was too broad. The caretakers were kind enough, if a little busy, as were the other ponies her age and younger. No, the ponies that caused her strife were the potential parents who came looking to adopt and the older orphans. She might have had a few friends but hey were few and in between, as they were only there for a month or two before getting adopted, making for very short-lived friendships. That was reason she hated the potential parents. It was nice to see her friends get permanent homes, but it still hurt that she probably would never see them again. More so though, it hurt that they never even looked at her. They all wanted unicorns and she was the only Pegasus in a unicorn dominated orphanage.
But even that wasn’t what hurt the most. No, it was that the older ponies took every opportunity to remind her of that and call her a no good feather-brained Pegasus.
’Stop it!’ Rainbow begged her mind.
This time, however, her plea was heard.
She had long since been able to forget the painful memories but every now and then they crept up on her. It was all in the past. ‘Better to live in the moment and prepare for the future than dwell on the past’ she always told herself. Besides, if she didn’t leave now, she might be seen coming out. So, after taking a moment to regain herself, she left to go on her daily ritual of scavenging for wild strawberries.
AJ looked on in utter disbelief. Across the street she saw a small pegasus filly, probably no older than herself, sneak out from behind a building. Her sky blue coat was grimy and her multi-colored mane was bedraggled. She looked as if a single gust of wind would blow her away in a heartbeat, never to be seen again and AJ had no doubt in her mind that she could carry her all the way back to the acres on her own. The earth filly considered her options. She could go back to the stall and forget all about the filly. It was prob- but no she would be lying to herself if she thought that. And AJ never lied. Ever. It was very obvious that little filly needed help. Maybe she could go and get her ma- but no, this filly was on the move. That left one option left: go and see this filly for herself.
AJ looked up again to see that the filly was already gone. She had to get up to pace with the filly before she lost her.
“Ahh!” screamed the voice of a filly about her age from behind.
Rainbow barely had enough time to turn her head when she was struck down to the sidewalk with an umph! by an orange filly’s body as she herself tumbled to the cemented walkway.
“Ugh” the cyan filly groaned as she rubbed her head.
“You ok, Sugar cube? Sorry ‘bout bumping into you.” The other filly asked as she helped Rainbow back up and looked back to see the rock she had just tripped over, “Some days it just feels like ponies put those out just for me to trip over.”
Rainbow nodded in agreement only to find herself feeling light headed.
“It’s cool. I’m…” Rainbow started as she lowered her hoof to reveal a crimson red liquid, “…Oh horse apples.”
The world began to spin around her in a blur before she landed once again on the ground with a small thud and everything faded away to darkness.
“You ok, Sugar cube? Sorry ‘bout bumping into you.” AJ asked as she helped the small pegasus back up and looked back to see the rock she had just tripped over, “Some days it just feels like ponies put those out just for me to trip over.”
The messy pegasus nodded dizzily before continuing.
“It’s cool. I’m…” she started as she lowered her hoof to reveal a gash in her head and crimson red on her hoof.
AJ could have sworn she had heard her mutter something under her breath, but it probably didn’t matter. The little filly began to sway back and forth. AJ was scared.
‘What should I do?’ she thought to herself.
The disheveled pegasus crumbled to the ground. She had to something, anything!
“He-he-hey there, Sugar cube,” AJ stuttered nervously, “Mind waking up for me?”
The filly didn’t wake up but rather opted to give a pained groan. She was still alive but AJ didn’t know for how much longer, especially in her condition. Every second count, she pulled the unconscious filly onto her back and ran as quickly and as carefully as possible to Ponyville Hospital.
Deleted Scene: Fall Weather Friends (Part A)
"I can't believe you thought I tripped you with a rock!" Rainbow said with laugh, "Do you think I'm the pony whose been putting them out all these years!"
"Well, it was because of a rock that we met in the first place." AJ added with a giggle, "And 'sides, you're not one to talk! You thought I tripped you with a STUMP!"
The two mares proceeded to laugh as they reminisced about their childhood misadventures.