Hey everypony! Thanksgiving Break ends tomorrow! Whaaaaaaa! Back to school, and all the people that annoy me. :/ Just wondering… do you read my author's notes? Tell me in the reviews. Rainbow Dash is the hero of this chapter! And no, the story is NOT OVER! But it's close! ;)
-Novi
XXX
Ponyville's resident self-proclaimed speed demon cruised in the clouds, looking for a certain orange filly. She knew this filly practically worshiped her, but talking to the little one wasn't going to be easy. "Scootaloo!" she cried into the sea of puffy whiteness surrounding her. "Squirt! Kidlet!" It seemed as if the downy clouds were packing in tighter around Rainbow as she searched, making it harder to move. Suddenly, she realized that somepony was pushing the clouds purposefully closer, to trap her.
And Dashie had a pretty good idea who was doing it.
She ramped up the rate at which her wings were flapping, keeping her body in one place. Her wings blew away the clouds to reveal a guilty-eyed filly with a tiny piece of cloud stuck to her muzzle. "Rainbow Dash?" the filly stammered out.
"Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash said quietly. "Why?"
Scootaloo's eyes brimmed with many an unshed tear. "Everypony keeps trying to comfort me," she said with a sniffle. "They don't know how I feel. They don't know how it feels to lose your best friend and not even know how she died!"
Rainbow Dash was not good at hugging. Or consoling. Or counseling. Or cajoling. Or comforting. She was good at what she knew: being sarcastic and snarky, being rather narcissistic, daredevil stunts, flying at breakneck speeds, Sonic Rainbooms, being brave, and above all: being loyal. She could out-loyal any horse, pony, cow, pig, sheep, cat, dog, or giant mythical beast in all of Equestria if it came down to it.
But making Scootaloo feel better? She was gonna have to wing this one.
"We may know how you feel," Rainbow Dash said quietly. "C'mere, Squirt." She pulled a cloud over and sat down on it, patting the space beside her. Scoots reluctantly flew in beside her, and Rainbow wrapped a wing around her. "In fact, most of us know how you feel."
"Prove it!" Scootaloo sneered.
"Alright," Rainbow answered plainly. "When Pinkie Pie was a young filly, her father would lock her in the closet if she was bad. The same with her sisters, Inkie and Blinkie Pie. Blinkie, or Blinkamina, was the oldest. She took care of them. The youngest was Inkie, or Octavia. Pinkie Pie was the middle child. My Sonic Rainboom repaired their family bonds… at least for a little while. Pretty soon their father got back to being his mean old self. When Blinkie was fourteen years old she took Pinkie, now twelve, and Octavia, or Inkie, now ten, far away to their Granny Pie's house. They lived there until they were old enough to move out. Blinkie was the first to go. She went to live in Manehattan, far away from anything farmlike. Then went Pinkie to Ponyville. She wanted to go to a place where everypony would be her friend. And finally Octavia, or Inkie. Little Inkie is now in Canterlot, performing as a champion cellist."
Scootaloo's eyes were big. "Wait… that Octavia is related to Pinkie?! They're sisters?!"
Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. The Pie sisters' parents died soon after they all had careers and lives of their own. And the saddest part? Not a single Pie sister showed up at the funerals."
Scootaloo gaped. "That's horrible!" the little filly cried. "Their parents may've been mean when they were little, but still!"
"Pinkie Pie knows loss," Rainbow said quietly.
"Do… do the others?"
Rainbow nodded, and began to tell the tales of Fluttershy's animals and how often they died, Rarity's sorrow over Sweetie Belle's muteness, Twilight Sparkle's friend Secret Keeper, who she had told Rainbow Dash about only yesterday, Applejack's sorrow over her sister's death, and so on.
"So… everypony has experienced death?" Scootaloo asked.
Rainbow nodded. "It's not just you. You have every right to be mad, but not at us. You're not the only one who's sad about Apple Bloom."
At that moment, Scootaloo felt something inside her click. Apple Bloom was dead. Not gone on a trip for a while. Not playing hide and seek. Not grounded and stuck inside. Dead. Dead and gone forever. "She's dead," Scootaloo whispered quietly. "She's not coming back… is she?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head and hugged the little filly as she sobbed.
XXX
Rainbow Dash was feeling pretty good about herself. She had fixed Scootaloo, once and for all. Before, if you mentioned the words 'Apple Bloom' and 'Dead' in the same sentence, Scootaloo would've practically attacked you. Now, though, she had even gotten the orange filly to say it herself.
If only she knew what Sweetie Belle had done.
She went into Carousel Boutique, sighing. "Sweetie Belle!" the husky-voiced mare cried. "I'm gonna talk to you! I'm the last one, I promise!" The last comment had the mare chuckling.
Sweetie Belle materialized in front of her with two saddlebags and a backpack. "Hi," she said quietly, and handed Rainbow Dash a letter. With that, she took off running.
"Sweetie!" Rainbow Dash cried, but her eyes drifted to the letter. What it said made her want to break down and cry.
But she could cry later.
She had to find Rarity.
