Twilight Sparkle discovers Rainbow Dash crying. It's not only odd that she should catch her hard core friend shedding tears, but it's the place where she's doing it. Rainbow sits in the charred remains of a cabin in the hills holding nothing but a blanket and a bloodied piece of cloth...
Her feet moved softly through the lush grass. Taking walks was what Twilight Sparkle liked to do on Sunny days. She had been walking for almost half an hour accompanied only by her singing. She finally reached the top of the second hill. To her surprise, there was a small forest in the valley below. Naturally a bit curious, she started her descent. As she stepped into the trees she heard strange sniffling noises.
“It can’t be… Rainbow Dash?”
The sniffling stopped immediately. Twilight knew it was her and searched for her friend. This mare had almost never been caught crying. As she searched her hoof struck something, a tree root. As she looked up she saw a picture frame. She gathered herself together and levitated the picture to her.
Inside it held the image of three pegasi. The first was lavender with a spiky rainbow mane and tail. The second was a small, cyan blue filly with almost the same hair; Rainbow Dash. The third was a mare a tad younger than she herself. She also possessed the same hair but her mane was less spiky and reverse order. The forelock held purple, blue, then green, and the mane held yellow, orange, then red. Twilight figured this might possibly be Dash’s mother.
She soon found Rainbow curled up under a burnt blanket, almost asleep. Tears ran silently down her face. Surrounding her was the charred remains of…
“…A cabin. Rainbow. Rainbow Dash! Wake up.”
Rainbow shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Twilight continued to try to get her friend to talk about this… place. Finally, Rainbow couldn’t stand it any more.
“Will you shut up and leave me alone?!”
Twilight was taken aback by this outburst.
“I-I’m sorry, Twi. I didn’t mean to be so mean. Forgive me?”
“Only if you tell me what’s going on.”
“Huhm-Fine… You’re probably wondering why I’m sitting way out here. Well, see, after my dad died when I was a little filly my s-sister took me here to live. Do you remember when you were a filly and there was that little uprising in Canterlot?”
“Of course! They nearly destroyed my home.”
“You know how bad it was in Canterlot, but in Cloudsdale, it was hell come to earth. My sister had been called for a special-ops mission, but my dad didn’t want her to get hurt, so he went himself. He…never came back. We were devastated. Soon after, somepony burned down our house so Spectra, my sister, took me here. Here it was safe from attackers. It was close enough to a town to be able to go get food. And there was this cabin. We watched for about a week and when nopony ever came back to it, we moved in.”
“I can tell this will be a long story. If you want, we can go back to the library and you can tell me the rest of the story there.”
“Ok. But I’m taking the blanket.”
Twilight looked closer. There was a lump of something under her wing.
“Rainbow, lift your left wing.”
She hesitated then did so. Out fell an old, bloodied bandage. Twilight levitated it in mid air.
“What’s this?”
Rainbow tried to grab it but was unsuccessful.
“It was Spectra’s! Now, please, give it back!”
Twilight did so. There was a nagging feeling in her mind that said Rainbow really needed to talk about whatever was troubling her. So, they set off for Twilight’s
Rainbow sat down with Twilight. She laid the picture and the bandage out on the table. She took another sip of orange juice before starting.
“Promise you won’t tell anyone without my permission?”
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my-aah!” When performing the pinkie promise, Twilight always forgot to close her eye, thus poking herself time after time.
“Here goes nothing…It started the day my class and I graduated from flight school. I was flying home with Spectra. Dad had died about a few weeks before…” ~ “I’m so happy for you, squirt! Now you don’t have any excuse to ride on my back on trips.”
The white pegasus chuckled as her little sister groaned. They landed at the door of their cloud house and Spectra searched through the mail.
“Bill, junk, fan-letter, junk, junk, junk- boy there’s a lot of junk today!”
“Spectra? Is there any letter from Aunt Miranda?”
“Let me see… Yup! You wanna open it?”
“Yes! Yes!”
Rainbow tore the envelope open.
“Dear Spectra and Rainbow Dash- Why’s your name always first?!”
“Oh, just keep reading.”
“We are sorry to hear of the passing of your father. It breaks our hearts to hear the news. Spectra, take good care of your little sister. Without family, nopony is the same. Rainbow, be a good filly or no presents when you come to visit next week.-Pfhh, like I’m ever a bad filly. Why are you giggling so much?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t help it. Do you want me to read the rest?”
Rainbow nodded and handed the letter to her sister. The letter went much quicker with Spectra reading it.
“Please remember to bring your sleeping bags, camping supplies, and anything else you might need with you. See you then, Aunt Miranda.”
* The night before the trip came. Rainbow was lying in bed and Spectra lay at the foot of her bed reading a bedtime story. When it finished Spectra turned off the light. Almost as she reached the door she stopped.
“Spectra, can you sing me Mamma’s lullaby? Please?”
She made the biggest puppy eyes she could muster.
“Oh-the face, the eyes- Alright, alright! Stop or you’ll kill me with cuteness.”
Rainbow stopped immediately and looked as if she were about to cry.
“I was kidding, squirt. You’d never kill me for real. I might have a heart attack but- dang it. Sorry, of course I’ll sing Mamma’s lullaby.
Sweet Dreams my darling, the day is done. The moon is here to say goodnight to the sun.
Gather your blankets and climb into bed. Close your eyes and lay down your head.
Rest for now with peaceful dreams, Of twinkling stars and shining moon beams.
Sweet dreams my darling, sweet dreams my love, Sweet dreams my precious gift from above.”
* Morning came and Rainbow woke up. She rushed over to her mirror, hovered, and brushed her hair. She sped out of the room and into Spectra’s room and started dive-bombing her sister.
“Spectra! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!!!!!!!!!!”
“Owww, ok. I’m up! Hold your fire! Ugh, is that my wake up call for every time we go on a trip?”
“Maybe-Can you make pancakes? PPLLEEAASSEE?”
“Dashie, we’re going to be flying all day. I don’t want you to throw up because you had too much sugar. You only want to do that once. Tell you what, I’ll make eggs and corn flake cereal. Sound good?”
“Okay…fine.”
They ate their breakfast quickly and gathered their things. Spectra fastened them on a cloud, tied a rope to it, then tied the other end around her waist. The trip did take all day and Rainbow had to ride on the luggage cloud for a while. It was late afternoon when they arrived at the campsite.
It was on a hill, just a mile out from a small town called Ponyville. Aunt Miranda greeted them. She was an older mare and was like a mother to them. She wasn’t really their aunt, just a good friend of their late mother. Miranda had light pink hair that swooped up at the end. Her coat was yellow. She had a daughter who was a pegasus. Miranda herself was an earth pony but her husband, Clarence, was a pegasus.
Rainbow Dash was best friends with the filly. As soon as she saw her she flew over.
“Fluttershy! How long did it take you to get here?”
“Oh, no too long. It was quite pleasant really.”
Fluttershy was a sweet, delicate pony who didn’t like flying as much as some thought she could. Even though very different, they got along very well. After the fillies had gone off to play Spectra settled down for a rest after a long day of flying. Clarence joined them shortly.
“How long did it take you to get here?”
“Well we started at seven thirty and made bathroom breaks but we flew for most of the day.-Stop with that guilty look Uncle Clarence. It’s not like I’ve never flown this far before.”
“Sorry. Miranda, I told you we should have sent them train tickets.”
Miranda looked at him sternly. “I’ve already told you, just because the uprising has ended doesn’t mean that everypony is at peace. There are still skirmishes all over.”
They talked for a while before the fillies started getting hungry. They sat around the fire roasting marshmallows after dinner. They told stories and Clarence gave both Spectra and Rainbow Dash wing rubs. The sung camping songs late into the night. They sang Rainbow’s favorite: Home on the Range.
“O give me a home Where the buffalo roam, Where the deer and the antelope play, Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the skies are not cloudy all day.”
The stars twinkled as they sang. The crickets chirped in the grasses. Owls hooted, the wind whistled softly, and all were at peace.
It was now seven in the morning, a day since Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash had talked together. Rainbow had to leave without finishing her story for Fluttershy had a problem with Tank. Twilight was intrigued by this different part of her friends life. She knew everypony had secrets and parts of their life they’d rather forget, but from what she had heard so far, she had trouble wondering why Rainbow never talked about it.
She always knew that there was a special connection between Dash and Fluttershy. Now she knew why. They considered each other as cousins. Twilight was so intertwined in her thoughts that she didn’t notice her coffee spilling out of the mug. After she had cleaned up, she wrote down a message.
Dear Spike,
I’ve gone into town and won’t be back for a while. There is breakfast in the
kitchen. Make sure to feed Owlicious.
Love,
Twilight
Just as she had said, Twilight headed out into town. It was a fresh, spring morning. She stopped by the fresh market to smell all the wonderful foods. After meandering for a while she went on her way to Fluttershy’s cottage.
The small structure was placed on the edge of the Everfree forest. It was strange for a pony so afraid of the woods to live right near it. She knocked on the door and was met by Angel. He peered up at her curiously.
“Hi Angel, is Fluttershy home?”
The bunny twitched his tail and opened the door for Twilight. She stepped inside, thanked him, and looked over to see not only Fluttershy but also Rainbow Dash sitting at the kitchen table.
“Hi Fluttershy, sorry to burst in on you. I was looking for Rainbow. May I sit down?”
“Oh, of course, Twilight. She was just telling me about yesterday. I know how you feel. I felt the same way when I heard the full story. Please, come sit.”
Twilight did as she asked. Rainbow remained silent not looking at Twilight.
“Rainbow I-”
“It’s not you Twilight. I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel guilty about something but really, it’s not you.”
“Oh, ok. Would you mind telling me the rest of the story? I want take no for an answer.”
“You’re always stubborn, aren’t you?” Rainbow chuckled as she spoke.
Twilight looked at her concernedly. “Why, is that a bad thing?”
“No, no. I’m joking- You want to hear the rest of the story. Well, there’s not too much left to tell. After the camping trip we headed back home. The trip took all day again and I had to ride on the luggage cloud…” ~ Darkness came early as clouds rolled in. Spectra and her sister had just arrived in Cloudsdale. They landed and stretched their wings. Hurrying in the shadows, they made their way to the cloud house their father had left them.
“Spectra, I smell smoke.”
“Me too, squirt. I hope those cult ponies aren’t at it again. The uprising’s just died down.”
They trudged on. Soon they could see an orange light reflecting off of the clouds overhead.
“Wait, Dash, that fire looks like it’s coming from- oh no!!”
“Is the fire coming from… our house?”
Spectra’s white face seemed to drain of any color that it previously had. At the sight of her sister Rainbow Dash started to whimper. Suddenly, Spectra scooped up Rainbow and sped towards their home with luggage in tow.
They arrived too late the house had been destroyed and set afire. The light shone on the pegasi’s distraught faces. It wasn’t until she heard the staggered breathing did Rainbow Dash notice the tears streaming down the older mare’s face. At the sight of her sister, Rainbow could not bear but to cry also.
Suddenly Spectra’s ears shot up. She turned her head just in time to see a stallion charge at her.
“Rainbow, RUN!!!!!!!!!!”
They ran as fast as they could but the pony behind them caught up quickly. Spectra frantically searched the sky. She spotted a cloud.
“Get to that cloud! GO GO GO!”
Rainbow obeyed her sister and shot into the sky. She looked down as she reached the cloud. Spectra skidded to a stop. Sh stood facing the charging, drunken pegasus. Just as he was about to make impact, she flew out of the way. Rainbow could hear him cursing and calling Spectra foul names.
He charged again.
This time Spectra couldn’t jump out of the way quick enough. Rainbow shut her eyes as she heard the thump of a body fall through the clouds. Forgetting her fear and the luggage, Rainbow dive-bombed through the clouds herself.
As soon as she was below cloud-level, she searched for her sister. In the dark of Luna’s night the only thing that gave away her sister’s location was the rainbow mane.
As she drew ever closer she was able to get a good look. Spectra’s wing was bent back awkwardly. There was a trickle of blood coming from her mouth, but other than that she seemed alright. Rainbow tugged with all her might and the cloud began to move. She pushed it for miles, unaware of her own aching. She had to Spectra to safety. She had to find a home. ~ Morning came and Spectra awoke to find herself far away from Cloudsdale. They seemed to have traveled with the wind making the distance from the great, cloud city even farther. She tried to stretch her wings but found that one was dislodged out of it’s socket. Very painfully she pushed it back into it’s correct position. She found a bush with long grasses. Braiding these, she made a rope and tied her wing to her side.
She looked over at her little sister. The filly was still asleep. She had obviously crashed not too long ago.
“I’ll let her sleep. What’s in my…mouth-oh.”
A bitter taste had formed in her mouth and she found it was dried blood. Walking to the river she washed herself from head to hoof.
As soon as Rainbow woke up, she found her sister washing up in the river. She tried to contain the urge to run up and hug her. Rainbow crept down low and made her way silently until she was inches away from Spectra. Careful not to hurt Spectra’s wing, she pounced.
“Spectra! You’re okay!! Don’t EVER leave me here alone!” Rainbow buried her face it Spectra's coat.
“’Course I am, squirt. I’ll never let you go.”
“Good.” Rainbow couldn't hold back the tears now and they streamed down her face. Spectra held her sister for a little while.
“Wait, I know where we are…”
“Where?”
“We flew by here when we went to visit Aunt Miranda. There should be a cabin somewhere. Come on!”
Twilight stared at Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. She had always known that Rainbow had a complicated past, but actually hearing the story, it was unbelievable.
Rainbow dried her face and turned to Twilight.
Sarcastically she said, “Heh, I should write an auto-biography.”
A sympathetic grin formed on Twilight’s face.
“If you wouldn’t mind, I could write it. It wouldn’t take too long.”
Rainbow looked at her dumbstruck.
“You’d do that?”
“Only if you let me. I think it might be time to share this with the others. It might be good for them to know.”
“Well, you might have to wait a little longer.”
“Why is that?”
“The story’s not over yet.”
“Well then, tell on!”
“As I told you before, we watched the cabin for about a week. Nopony came back, so we moved in. I remember having lost the luggage on that night, but we found a bed and a hammock already inside. It was like Celestia herself was looking out for us.” ~ The floor creaked as Spectra and Rainbow walked on it. They looked around slowly, admiring the sleeping places and fireplace. It was a small cabin, no larger than the front room of present-day Sugar Cube Corner.
“I call the hammock!”
“You sure, squirt? You might fall off.”
“Please?”
“Don’t give those puppy eyes, I was kidding. It’s been a while since I’ve slept in a bed.”
They both flew onto their designated sleeping areas and fell asleep ‘till morning. When Rainbow woke up, she found fruit under her hammock and a note.
Dashie,
I’ve gone out to fish and won’t be back for a little while. Eat your fruit and
stay in the cabin. I put some cloud on my bed for you to play with if you
want. I’ll be back soon.
Spectra
It looked like it was written with berry juice.
“I wonder when she learned all this survival stuff. I didn’t think that the army would’ve taught her that. We lived in Cloudsdale for ponies-sake--Now let’s see what I have here. Grapefruit, Apples, Black Berries, a big nut full of water, and wild strawberries. Not bad.”
Rainbow ate in silence and listened to the birds chirp all around her. She pushed some of the berries over to the side.
“I don’t know when we’ll be able to have food again. I better make sure I have some snack.”
“Smart thinking, Dash.”
“Spectra! Whoa! Look how many fish you caught!”
Rainbow was right to exclaim. Spectra carried with her a large leaf full with Salmon and Trout.
“It will get us through a few weeks.”
“A few weeks? That much could last us a few years.”
Spectra just laughed and gave Rainbow a rub on the head as she passed by.
~~~ They spent over a year in that cabin in the woods. Rainbow grew into quite the young mare. She was able to fly longer distances without getting tired. Spectra had reached almost twenty two years of age while Rainbow had just turned fifteen. They had made friends with the citizens of Ponyville, but mostly stayed by themselves. Fluttershy often came and visited them, living close to the Everfree herself.
One such day…
“Fluttershy, can you hand me the scissors?”
“Of course, here.”
“Spectra are you absolutely sure that your leg’s okay? It was bleeding pretty bad yesterday.”
“I’m fine, squirt. I put some ground up pine needles in the bandage. It helps heal the wound quicker. There.”
The two young pegasi stared at her foreleg. It seemed unmarred.
“The Pines of the Everfree have…special properties.”
“Awesome! Where’d you learn all this stuff?”
“Well, at flight school, I knew someday that I’d probably have to join the army—Yes, the uprising was around when I was that age. Anywho, knowing Dad, if I didn’t take the survival class he’d worry too much. It wasn’t long be-Do you two smell smoke?”
They all sniffed the air. There was indeed the smell of smoke. Fluttershy whimpered.
“Shy, if there’s a forest fire, you’d better get on home.”
They heard a crackling looked out the window to see a nearby tree burst into flames.
“THAT WASN’T A SUGGESTION!! GO!”
Spectra’s eyes were livid. Fluttershy did as she was told and shot from the cabin as fast as she could.
Rainbow Dash stared at her sister. Spectra looked into her eyes.
“I’m scared, too. But we’ll be safe if the fire doesn’t spread to…far- Oh no!”
Rainbow whipped her head around hearing the crack, too. The burning tree had fallen onto another nearest to it. The same thing happened over and over until the cabin was surrounded.
“Spectra…”
BOOM!!
A bomb was heard close by.
“The uprising! Spectra, I thought the princess had settled it!”
“As did I, but I guess not. I hope whatever battle this is doesn’t last too long.”
“Forget about the battle, WHAT ABOUT US?! I don’t wanna die today.”
They huddled in the corner together praying silently. The bombs seemed to go off at intervals, like beats in a song.
“I remember tears streaming down your face When I said, "I'll never let you go" When all those shadows almost killed your light I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone" But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
Just close your eyes The sun is going down You'll be alright No one can hurt you now Come morning light You and I'll be safe and sound
Don't you dare look out your window, darling, Everything's on fire The war outside our door keeps raging on Hold on to this lullaby Even when the music's gone, Gone
Just close your eyes The sun is going down You'll be alright No one can hurt you now Come morning light You and I'll be safe and sound
Just close your eyes You'll be alright Come morning light, You and I'll be safe and sound.”
Scootaloo was speeding by everything on her little, blue scooter. She barely noticed the countryside blow by as she sped towards the Everfree Forest. She had been by there earlier and heard something peculiar. She had decided to go back to Rainbow’s cloud home to get a flashlight. Ever since that night when Rainbow had agreed to take Scootaloo under her wing, she had been living with her.
Scootaloo was a very…unique pegasus. She had been orphaned as a young foal when her parents found out she was handicapped. It was a rare condition, but very unfortunate. Pegasi with this condition would never be able to fly. She had excepted this, though she longed to do otherwise.
As she reached the forest, she heard the sound again. This time she distinguished it as the sound of brier scratching against flesh and the voice of mare. Scootaloo ran through the forest and found the source of the noise. A mare, indeed, ad been caught in brier and was fighting her way out.
“Do you need some…help? Whoa!”
The mare looked at this filly who stood star-struck before her.
“What is it?”
“I’m sorry, it’s just I’ve never seen a mane like that except on my ‘sister’.”
She raised her hoof and bent it up and down when she said the word. The mare did the same as she said, “Your ‘sister’?”
“Yeah. You see, I was orphaned when I was only a few weeks old. I’m…handicapped.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, little one. I know how that feels.”
She raised her hoof to her face and brushed back her back to reveal a large scar with stitches where her left eye should be. Scootaloo stared only for a short time for she could tell she was making this mare uncomfortable.
“Do you need help?”
“Yes, please. I’ve been stuck here for over an hour.”
Scootaloo set to work and after a few minutes untangled the thorny plants.
“There. What were you doing out here anyway?”
“I’m trying to get to Ponyville. I’ve been away for years.”
Scootaloo looked at her with a questioning expression.
“Oh-I’m in the army, or was. I was relieved of field work a few months ago. My general was hesitant about letting me go, but agreed in the end. I’ve served Equestria for four years. Enough of my rambling, can you show me the way to Ponyville?”
“Oh yeah, sure! Hope you can keep up!”
“Believe me, I will.”
And so, the race to Ponyville began. Scootaloo pushed her limits as she sped along on her scooter. When they reached the middle of town, they stopped.
“Ha! I beat you!”
“Hey now, I’ve been flying and walking for a week, I’m tired—I never got your name.”
“Name’s Scootaloo. What’s yours?”
“Spectra. Nice to meet you, Scootaloo.”
~~~ Rainbow Dash walked into the library where Twilight lived. She was surprised to find her friend’s workspace messier than usual. She looked closer at the scattered papers and saw they were all notes on her story.
“Huh, she actually is going to write this thing.”
Just that moment Twilight walked in with an orange juice. When she saw Rainbow, she smiled. When she saw the mess on her desk, she frowned and immediately straightened up her papers.
“Sorry about this mess. I’ve never written a full biography before. I wanted to base it on as many hard facts as possible. What brings you here?”
“You sent me a letter saying you wanted me to read your first draft.”
“Oh, yes! I had almost forgotten to bring it down. Here.”
She levitated a decent size stack of manuscripts onto the table.
“Wow! I knew my story was a bit long, but I didn’t know it would take up this many papers.”
“Things seem shorter when spoken than when written down on paper.”
They talked for a while after Rainbow had skimmed over the rough draft. Twilight had said she started to cry while writing it. She remembered after the fire. She had woken in a military camp near on the other side of the forest and the soldiers there said that Spectra had bent sent to Zebrica to help with some terrorists. She never saw her again. She felt deep down that Spectra was still alive…somewhere. Though she had received a ‘missing in action’ letter, she had never received one saying that Spectra had been killed.
As she and Twilight talked, the doorbell rang. Rainbow flew to get it. She opened it to find Scootaloo standing there.
“You know you can just walk in, right? This is a library.”
“Yeah, I know. I just like to ring the doorbell. Also, somepony wanted to see you.”
“Where are they?”
Rainbow’s mouth dropped open as Spectra stepped into view. Her once beautiful, white coat was smudged with dirt and full of scratches. Her missing eye was partially what made Rainbow tear up. She ran out to her and hugged her. Spectra muttered into her ear.
“Didn’t I say I’d never let you go?”
“Yeah.”
She buried her face in her sister's mane and sat there for a while.
“So I’m guessing that you guys know each other,” Scootaloo said plainly.
Rainbow laughed as she wiped tears away.
“Scoots, meet my big sister.”
Scootaloo beamed. Suddenly, she thought of something.
“Spectra, are you going to live with us?”
“Only if it’s okay with Rainbow.”
“It’s absolutely fine with me. Come on in, let’s tell Twilight.”
The three mares made there way inside to tell the lavender unicorn the good news. That night was the first in many years that those three pegasi could spend with family.
Family and friendship are the most important things in Equestria. That night, they found them.
