That was a little while wasn't it?
Remember how the last chapter was long? Well this one is longer... yay.
I'll just mention here that I will be going back and reworking some chapters in 'On a wing and a rainbow.' I have received a bunch of helpful critique that has given me the motivation to rewrite the bits I wasn't happy with. There won't be any continuity changes, so you don't have to reread it if you don't want to.
I'll see you at the end
Disclaimer: I don't own MLP:FiM, Hasbro does.
Now, read on!
A blaze of warm sunlight awoke Rainbow Dash. Shutting her eyes quickly to block out the blinding light, she rolled over expecting to meet resistance in the form of Soarin next to her but instead rolled into empty space. Cautiously opening her eyes again she noticed that Soarin was indeed missing. Sighing disappointedly she recalled the argument they from last night. 'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' she thought. Groaning in frustration she slammed her head against her pillow several times. "Should've… resolved… last… night… last… night" she said, punctuating each word with a blow. A bitter feeling formed inside her as she tried to force the recent memory away. 'I'll make it up to him tonight' she thought. With a resigned sigh she leapt off the bed and trotted downstairs. She was slightly surprised to see Patchwork lounging on the couch, an old game controller clutched in her hooves.
"Morning Patch" she muttered
She replied with a grunt which could vaguely be translated into a greeting, she was too focused on the game to properly respond. Deciding to ignore the fact that her daughter was playing games when she was supposed to be being punished, Dash stomped into the kitchen and hastily made something which could be passed off as something resembling breakfast. Clutching the plate of food in her mouth she walked back into the other room and lay down on her back next to Patch. Patch glanced up from her game at her mother. "Aren't up going to get up me for playing?" she wryly remarked.
"Nope." Dash said as she chewed
"Mum, you're sitting funny again, like that weird aqua mare."
"Bite me." Dash said shrugging.
Dash looked up from her sorry excuse of a meal at the game her daughter was playing. A happy memory surged through her as she recognised the game and more specificly what she was playing on. Setting the barely palatable meal aside, she slid off the couch and bent down to get a better look at the slightly dusty console on the floor.
"Where did you find this?" she asked turning back to look at Patch.
No response.
Rainbow cleared her throat.
Still no response
With a frustrated sigh she flicked the small bump she remembered was the power button into the off position. She glared at Patch
"Hey I was winning!" she protested.
"And I was talking to you, you pillock." Rainbow shot back. Patch crossed her forelegs in and glared back. "I asked, where did you find this?"
"What does that even mean?"
"Huh?"
"Pillock?"
"Somepony who is not very smart" Dash quoted."Maybe if you expanded your mind a bit you'd learn a thing or two."
"Egghead." Patch taunted, a smirk appearing on her face.
"I am not am egghead… I am well read!" Dash replied back, using a line Twilight had used many years ago. "That's beside the point though, where did you find this?"
"Attic. I was bored and I found this old thing while I was looking around." Patch said, seemingly annoyed her gaming session had been interrupted for such a trivial question.
"Never realised we still had this" Rainbow said, prodding the jet black console with her nose. "I have some very fond memories with this…" she trailed off, lost in thought.
"Care to share?" Patch said, not really interested but hoping if she kept her mum amused, she could turn the console back on.
"Well there was this one time, about five years ago I think…" Rainbow trailed off. Patch moved a hoof up to her head and mimicked a shooting action before throwing her head back with a sigh.
"Yeah, five years ago. I had only really just started dating…" she hesitated for a moment. "Y-your father. We'd just had the best night out. I mean it, it was amazing." Her eyes gleamed with excitement. "He'd taken me to one of The Patrouille's aerial shows…"
"The Who?" Patch interrupted
"No not The Who, The Patrouille" Dash snapped back.
"Yeah, who is The Patrouille?"
"Oh, right…" Rainbow flushed red in embarrassment "The Patrouille are the national Griffon flight team, they're like the Wonderbolts but… well… their Griffons."
"Oh… Never heard of them…"
"Really?" Dash was genuinely surprised. "They are one of the oldest flight teams around; they were doing shows before the Wonderbolts even existed. If they do a tour in Equestria sometime I'll have to take you to see them, they are absolutely amazing. Even better the Wonderbolts" She admitted grudgingly.
Patch's jaw dropped open, for her mother to be admitting that someone or something was better than the Wonderbolts was unheard of.
"Anyway, he had just flown me home after the show, it was pretty late and he was just about to leave. I managed to convince him to stay the night though."
"How did you do that?" Patch asked
"You know… Males." Rainbow said. Waving her hoof around in a circular motion.
"Wait do you mean… like… um… uh…" Patch said, a dirty thought springing into her head.
Rainbow enjoyed the mixture of horror and awkwardness that suddenly appeared on Patch's face. She tried to keep a straight face but failed after Patch let out a tiny whimper.
"The look on your face! Priceless!" Rainbow struggled between fits of laughter. "There was none of that. We stayed up until sunrise playing games on this damned machine, I won every game." Rainbow stated proudly.
"You sure he didn't just let you win?" Patch asked. She winked playfully at Rainbow before springing of the couch and turning the console back on.
"Whatever" Rainbow mumbled, returning to her half-eaten meal.
After cramming down the rest of the meal, Rainbow sped out to start her morning weather patrol. Her initial enthusiasm was quickly exhausted.
Kick cloud. Move cloud. Kick cloud. Move cloud. The cycle itself repeated itself endlessly, a boring task which seemed to last ad infinitum. This coupled with the occasional bitter thought from last night's argument made Rainbow Dash lose her grip on reality. The morning seemed to melt together into one big blur of white cumulus and blue sky.
'Assessment of life: Initiate' she thought robotically 'Relationship with husband: Currently patchy with chance of storm. Job satisfaction: Rock bottom is an understatement. Life dream: Currently on hold.' Her curiosity was aroused by the last thought. She decided to delve deeper. 'My dream… my desire in life… The only thing I ever wanted… Join the Wonderbolts… How did any of this happen? A psychotic Pegasus, a jealous Wonderbolt, husband, kids, and a child of said psychotic Pegasus? Where the hell did they come from? Why can't my life just be simple for once?' She scowled as she bucked another cloud. 'And why the hell hasn't Soarin put me back on active duty yet? Surely if he cares so much about being a fatherly figure and whatnot, Soarin would be happy to look after the kids himself. Instead, he's off with them while I'm stuck in this dead-end job.' She angrily bucked another cloud, turning it into a fine mist. 'I just want to fly with the Bolts again. I've had enough of the slow life.' She concluded. A small amount of resentment against Soarin suddenly forced itself into her mind. She fluttered to a stop for a moment as she tried to untangle her thoughts. Deciding that it would be too difficult, she moved to another cloud and bucked it roughly in an attempt to vent some of her frustration.
"OW! Son of a-" A voice yelled out.
The sudden sound pierced the haze that surrounded Rainbow's mind. Snapping back to reality, she looked around for the source of the noise. A burgundy coloured stallion with a jet black windswept mane was sprawled over the cloud. An ugly splatter of blood covered his nuzzle and the surrounding cloud.
"Dammit, sorry!" Rainbow gushed. She swooped in front of him to inspect his wound. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah no thanks to you." He growled. His dark green eyes swivelled around and fixated on her. They widened with surprise. "D... D… Dash? Is that you?" he rasped.
Surprise flashed across her face. Her eyes fell on the stallions toned flank.
"Scar?" she asked, a look of shock appearing on her face.
Soarin plodded wearily through the Wonderbolt's HQ. The few Wonderbolts on base and the support staff respectfully kept their distance, the large bags under his eyes and the way a sliver of drool ran down the large stack paperwork clutched in his mouth was enough to get across that he didn't need any more to think about. After the fight last night, Soarin had been plagued with insomnia. Unable to sleep, he had left home and gone to the HQ in hopes that working would clear his mind. After filing through a few leave forms, a transfer request and an infraction report involving fireworks, smoke generators and an outhouse, he felt no different. If anything the monotonous paperwork had worsened his already foul mood. Entering his spacious office, he hurled the stack of papers he was carrying carelessly into a corner and laid his throbbing head on his desk gently. "Something… for the pain." He uttered lifelessly. He pulled the top drawer open to reveal a picture of Rainbow Dash. "Ok anything besides that." He growled, slamming the drawer shut again with a loud thud. Grimacing, he opened the drawer again; the picture still stubbornly remained though. "I hate you so much right now." He snapped to the desk. As if it heard him, the drawer suddenly slammed shut on its own accord. The faint sound of a lock clicking came from it. "That's new." Soarin remarked dryly.
'Great now even my desk hates me' he thought giving the apparently sentient furniture a solid kick.
"If you're done harassing your furniture…" A rough voice said from the corner. Soarin fell off his chair in surprise. Picking himself up, he peeked cautiously over the edge of his angry desk. Seated in the corner of the room, behind another desk was his number two, Juggernaut.
"Celestia, you scared me Jugs." Soarin remarked embarrassedly.
A coy smile appeared on the large pegasi's lips. "I try my best." He looked Soarin down. "You don't look well. Problems?"
"I have a better question, how the hell did you get that desk in here?" Soarin remarked looking at the monstrous desk the Vice-Capitan was behind.
"That's for me, Torchie and Rapid Fire to know, and you to find out." Juggernaut stated wryly as he nonchalantly inspected a hoof.
"Alright, what do you want?" Soarin said after a moment of silence. He wasn't in the mood for goofing around.
"Firstly, I want to know what's wrong with you and Secondly, I have something you might want to have a look at." He threw a newspaper at Soarin.
"That's private." Soarin scolded as he looked down at the paper.
The headline caught Soarin's interest immediately.
'ESCAPE FROM EQUESTRIAN MENTAL INSTITUTE'
'Last night caretakers at the Equestrian Mental Institute were shocked to discover of one of their patients missing. The patient in question is the former Wonderbolt Capitan, Spitfire, who was institutionalised several months ago after suffering a complete mental breakdown. The former Captain's mental state had been deteriorating over the course of several years leading up to her admittance to the facility according to the Head Warden.
If seen, citizens are advised to contact the relevant authorities. Do not under any circumstances approach the patient. A city wide search for the escapee is underway but has so far been unsuccessful. More on this story can be found on page 5'
"This is bad isn't it boss?" Juggernaut asked worriedly as Soarin looked up from the article.
"You have no idea. Alright, I want you to round up team two, take them out and help in the search. If you don't find anything in a day, get team one and three out as well."
A flash of surprise crossed Juggernaut's face, the Wonderbolts usually would occasionally assign a team to assist in large searches but sending all three teams out was unprecedented. "Pardon me asking boss, but why?"
"I don't want her to find me first" Soarin said, remembering the promise he had made several years ago. Seeing the look of seriousness on Soarin's face, Juggernaut backed away slowly.
"Alright I'll get right on it boss."
"Keep me apprised Jugs."
"Will do." The burly Pegasus said, throwing Soarin a salute.
Soarin nodded in thanks as the vice-capitan trotted out. 'Could this day get any worse?' he thought.
"Scar?" Dash asked again. The burgundy pegasi nodded once, still clutching his bleeding nuzzle.
"But… but… how?" Dash asked flabbergasted. "You died!"
"I got better." He said wiping his hoof clean on the cloud, turning the white fluff a vivid pink.
"But you died!" Dash said, overcome with emotion.
He sighed. "It's… complicated."
"Like hell it is." She said. She swooped down on him and gave him another fierce blow across the head. She shot back up into the sky and glared down at him, hooves crossed. "If you didn't die, why didn't you come back? We had something special… Do you know how much it hurt me when you died!" Rainbow practically screamed. Her response caused Scar to shrink back.
Scar looked around nervously; he wished he could have been anywhere else right now. "I'd thought you'd be happy to see me." He said ruefully.
"EIGHT YEARS. Eight years, Scar. You could have done something. A letter, a picture. But no, nothing. Why didn't you tell me?"
He stammered for a moment before he said anything else. "Because I loved you, I wanted to keep you safe." He gushed.
"Safe? Safe from what?" she yelled back.
"The feud. The damn stupid feud. That's why I 'died'" Scar said softly. "If I had come back, they might have found me… They might have found you. There was no way I could let that happen." He stated.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa… slow down… They? The feud? What in the name Equestria are you on about?" She looked at him confusedly.
"I don't w-." he started.
"Tell me!" she yelled. "I wasted Celestia knows how long hoping you'd come back. I was hurting. I deserve to know."
Scar sighed "Fine. The feud. Oh boy… the feud. The most stupid conflict in Equestrian history. It started many generations ago, my family against theirs." Rainbow looked to interrupt him but he held up a hoof to silence her. "It was harmless at first, a challenge if you will. But it turned ugly. Quickly. Within two generations, blood had already been spilt. An 'accident' of course, but it somehow got worse. Revenge was taken, grudges were held and soon enough, the whole escapade turned really violent. The two sides keep apart now… mostly." He added. "Nopony really knows why it's still going on; it's just been drilled into us since birth. The whole idea that 'they're the enemy, don't trust them'."
"Then why are you here?" Rainbow asked
"To get away from it all, I just wanted to live a normal life, enough of the hiding and the sneaking about, enough of the fighting and the squabbling. Ponyville is a long way away from it all."
"Who are 'they'?" Dash asked exasperated.
"I'd rather not get you involved. If I told you… you'd probably do something you'd regret." Scar responded.
"Please?" Dash asked
"No." Scar said resolutely. "I'd rather keep you out of this."
"Fine." Dash shot back, glaring daggers. Her gaze eventually softened as a rush of emotions and memories from years ago came flooding back. She gave him a rough hug. "Celestia, I've missed you so much Scar." She said
Scar's face softened and a pleased expression appeared over his face. "I missed you too Dash. Maybe we can catch up some other time? You seem to busy enough at the moment." he said winking at Dash suggestively. She blushed fiercely in response.
"I'll take that as a yes." He purred. He gave Dash a gentle nuzzle before flying off.
If it were possible, Dash's blush intensified.
"But… But…" she stammered long after he had left.
'My life gets more complicated by the day' she thought, wiping a small smear of blood off her cheek.
"Let me get this straight… Somepony from your past who thought had died suddenly shows up alive and well claiming he's been in hiding for the last eight years due to some sort of family feud, is now back and living in Ponyville." Twilight asked incredulously.
"You missed the bit where I punched him in the face." Dash added, vigorously stirring a hot drink Twilight had seemingly procured from thin air a few minutes ago.
"Right, of course, how could I forget?" Twilight remarked snarkily. "Do you know how clichéd that sounds?"
"Cli-whated?"
"Cli-shayed" Twilight said again, pronouncing it phonetically. "It sounds like something out of a book I read. How do you even know this guy anyway?"
"Well… We kind of… had a thing a while back…" Dash said rubbing her hoofs together awkwardly; she rarely talked about her past before she came to Ponyville for good reason, it hurt.
"A thing?" Twilight asked obliviously.
"You know…? A thing…" Dash said hoping the still socially awkward unicorn would pick up on her vibes. She sighed in frustration and placed her head on the library table.
"I still don't get it." Twilight said obliviously.
"How the heck did you ever get laid, in fact, even get a boyfriend let alone get married Twi?" Rainbow said, her voice muffled by the thick wood.
Twilight scowled. A faint glow appeared around her horn as she levitated Dash's head off the table much to the cyan pegasus' displeasure.
"Explain how you know Scar."
"It's long, complicated and-." Dash started.
"The story Rainbow!" Twi yelled
"Jeez, calm down Twi," Dash admonished "I meet Scar a long time ago. I was just a filly the first time I met him..."
Time suddenly shifts in Equestria, flinging the reader back many years.
"Rainbow Dash! Pay attention!" the teacher scolded. He slammed a heavy book down on his desk causing the Rainbow-maned filly to jump slightly. She loathingly turned her head away from the window and gave the teacher her best glare-that-still-looks-angry-but-won't-put-me-in-detention glare. She had been busy dreaming about flying, like she always did when the teacher had noticed her daydreaming.
"If you don't want to be kicking clouds for the rest of your life pay attention." the teacher snapped.
"Old cow" Dash muttered under her breath. A little too loud maybe she thought as the teacher suddenly whipped around, his eyes bulging slightly.
"That's it! Get out! Go to the Superintendent's office. Now!" he yelled.
Dash shrugged nonchalantly and trotted out of the class, a few snickers emerged from the other fillies and colts as she slowly walked out the class. Slamming the door loudly behind her, she casually walked through the deserted corridors. Even if she knew where it was, she had no intention of actually going to the superintendent's office. 'I could go do some flying' she thought excitedly. The thought of diving and loop through the sky sent a chill down her spine. Her thoughts were interrupted by a door being flung open. A pair of colts was thrown out and the door slammed shut again. Both had dark green eyes but besides that, they were radically different. One had a jet black mane and a burgundy coat while the other was a pale blue, perhaps a few shades lighter than Dash and a navy blue mane. Neither surprisingly, had a cutie mark. The two glared at each other for a moment before they threw themselves at each other with a snarl. Rainbow watched on with a morbid fascination. 'Bluey' gained the upper hand and landed a blow which caused the red one to cry out in pain. The door they had been thrown out of opened again and the teacher broke the struggling pair apart again.
"You, office now." He said sternly to the blue one. He looked at the red one sprawled on the ground.
"You, help him." He said.
Dash looked around surprised, expecting to see somepony else.
"Come on, you, one with the Rainbow mane, help him up and get him to the nurse." The teacher said again, helping the groggy pegasi to his hooves.
"Uh… yes sir." Rainbow said back deciding this was not a moment to be rude.
She wrapped a leg around the colt, careful to avoid the gash on his face and the large marks on his body from where the other colt had hit him.
"Where's the nurses office?" she whispered to the colt.
"That way." He said pointing down the hallway.
The pair walked through the again quiet corridors an occasion grunt of pain coming from the colt as Dash helped him along.
"You new here?" he finally asked, breaking the silence
"Yeah, I just started last week."
"You too old to be a first year." He said looking her down.
"I'm not." Rainbow said blushing slightly. "I was kicked out of the last flight school so now I'm here."
"That sucks." The colt replied. He lapsed into silence again.
"I'm Scarlet Rain, but everyone calls me Scar." He suddenly piped up.
"I'm Rainbow Dash."
"Your name suits you." He said looking her down. "Beautiful mane," he remarked "Never seen one like it before."
Dash blushed; she wasn't used to receiving compliments from boys.
"Thanks." She squeaked.
"So what are you out of class for?" Scar asked
"I called the teacher an old cow." Dash muttered
Scar grinned mischievously. "Most of the teachers are."
Dash's eye's opened wide. "You really think so?"
"Yeah. Definitely." He pointed at a door a few meters away. "That one there."
Dash nervously walked up to the door and rapped on it several times. A white Pegasus promptly opened it and looked down at the pair before her. She gave Scar one look before shaking her head.
"Not again Scar…" the nurse muttered.
"It wasn't my fault this time, honest!"
"It never seems to be…" the nurse muttered, she disappeared for a moment and returned with a bundle of bandages. She expertly treated Scar's wound and wrapt it tightly.
"Now you can run back along to class Ms." She said to Rainbow, I can look after him from here.
"Actually I'm supposed to be showing her around." Scar blurted out. Rainbow gave him a curious look but decided to play along.
"Yeah, umm… Yeah! Scar was showing me around. I'm new here."
The nurse looked between the pair; Rainbow was sure whatever Scar was planning was going to fail.
"Of course, carry on then." The nurse said obliviously
"Thanks Ms." Rainbow said, concealing her surprise.
The nurse smiled at them again and closed the door, leaving the pair out in the corridor.
"What was that for?" Rainbow asked Scar.
"I figured you didn't really want to go to the superintendent, and I sure didn't want to have to." He smiled mischievously. "Besides, she'll believe anything."
"So what now?" Rainbow said kicking the ground awkwardly.
"Do you want to go outside? May as well enjoy ourselves while we're out of class eh?"
Dash shrugged, she was not averse to spending more time with this new colt. He seemed cool enough. "Sure, sounds good."
The pair stealthily worked their way to the large doors that led outside, once there it was a simple matter of flying outside without anyone noticing them. Away from the confines of the school, Dash relaxed a little.
"Hey wanna race?" Scar asked.
"Yeah! I'm the fastest Pegasus ever, just warning you before you lose." Dash said, a confident smirk growing on her face.
"Alright… You see that tree there?" Scar said pointing at an old tree several hundred meters below them. "First one there wins."
"It's on."
The two pegasi hung in the air, both eager in anticipation.
"Three"
"Two"
"On-"
"Go!" Scar yelled shooting of the mark.
"Hey no fair I wasn't ready!" Dash yelled as she powered after him.
"There are no rules, it's everypony for themselves." Scar crowed a few meters ahead of her.
"Oh yeah?" Dash said gaining on him. "How about this?" she slammed into his side.
"You wanna play rough eh?" Scar replied, crashing into her slightly less gracefully. The impact entangled the two, causing them to crash into the ground. Coming to a stop, Rainbow shook her head and glared at the colt now lying on top of her.
"I was so going to win." She proclaimed.
"Whatever." Scar said examining his hoof.
"Mind getting off me?" Dash huffed, trying not to notice how close he was to her.
"Oh right… sorry."
He rolled off her with a small grunt of pain. They stared up into the sky, the school a few kilometres distant.
"You're cool." Scar suddenly said.
"I know… You're not too bad either."
"Maybe… Maybe we could hang out more?"
"That'd be nice; I don't really know anypony here."
Scar craned his neck over to look at Rainbow. "Friends?" he asked, extending a hoof towards her.
"Friends." Rainbow said, a small smile appearing on her face.
Let's do the time warp again!
"So you just crashed into him and you became best of friends?" Twilight asked taking a sip from her cup.
"More or less…" Rainbow said. Her gaze flicked around the library. Nothing caught her attention though so she returned her attention to Twilight.
"Seems a little weird… And who was the colt Scar fought?" Twilight asked.
"No idea, I never saw the kid again. I wasn't at that dump for long before they kicked me out anyway."
"Ok… So now this guy is your friend? Like your best friend?
"Scar was more or less my only friend. I mean, I met Fluttershy back then but she was older than me, and not really cool to hang out with. Scar was the only one who ever really wanted to hang out with me anyway… I had a pretty depressing childhood."
"So how come none of us have ever heard about Scar then? He was your best friend for how long and you never even mentioned him to any of us."
Rainbow let out a long sigh. "I try not to think about when I was younger. Too many painful memories."
"If you don't want to ta-." Twilight said friendlily.
"No, it's alright." Dash said with determination in her eyes. "Gotta get it out sometime."
"Well then what happened?" Twilight asked, curiosity written across her face.
"We grew up, Scar joined the family business, whatever that was and I started with the weather patrol. We had some good times; we saw each other almost every day. It got better… but then it got worse." Dash said her eyes starting to watering slightly.
It's just a jump to left, and a step to the riiiiight!
Dash lay back in grass with a sigh. After a hard day of clearing up several unscheduled storms, she was happy to lie back and have a break. Propping herself against the tree she and Scar always met at, she looked up at the bustling city above her, trying to see if she could spot the burgundy stallion before he arrived.
"Hey Dash." a voice said from next to her ear.
She yelped and jumped up in surprise, she turned to see Scar hanging from the old tree grinning like an idiot.
"Scar! How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that?" Rainbow asked embarrassedly, she hated it when he managed to sneak up on her.
"394 times and counting." He said dropping out of the tree with the grace of a flying whale.
"Smart arse." Dash said flopping back into the springy grass.
Scar lay next to her and the pair chatted sedately for a few minutes about how their respective weeks had been. Scar laughed as Rainbow told him about how some ditzy mare had gone on a cloud shaping spree and had remade an entire shipment of clouds into muffin shapes.
"And how about your week Scar?" Dash asked
"The usual. Family business this, family business that." He said sourly
"Sounds boring."
"It is…"
He lapsed into silence, caught up in his own thoughts. He turned his head over to Dash.
"Can I tell you something Dash?"
"Of course you can, that's what friends are for right?" she looked back him confusedly.
"Yeah… sure… I just… I mean… I-I just really w-wanted to say this for a long time… but… I-I just haven't had…" he stammered nervously.
Rainbow silenced him with a hoof. "You don't have to tell me, I know."
His eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "Y-you do?"
She nodded.
"And?" he asked nervously.
"I'm happy for you. It's normal for stallions to get a bit curious about it, heck I know I've wondered about it sometimes…"
Scar looked at her with confusion. "Are we ta-."
"I'm so glad you finally admitted it though, I was wondering when you would come out of the closet." Dash said ignoring him.
"What?"
"That's what you were going to tell me right?
"N-no… And just for the record, I'm not gay."
"Yes you are."
"No, I'm not…"
"Don't be stupid, of course you are. Come on, I've known you for what… forever… I see you practically every day and not once, have you shown any interest in a mare, ever." She said finishing her argument. Scar blushed vividly, he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly for a moment.
Dash looked at him with confusion for a moment before the penny finally dropped. Her eyes widened. "Oh… OH!" she said finally realising; her jaw fell open in surprise.
"I-I should go…" Scar said embarrassedly, he took off in a flurry.
"Wait, Scar come back!" Dash yelled, taking off after him. "Scar!"
With your hands on your hips, you bring your knees in tight!
Twilight snorted with laughter. In her merriment she fell off her chair and started rolling around on the floor. "And… and… you think I'm clueless!" she managed through her fits of laughter.
"Yeah, shut up." Rainbow said, unimpressed by the unicorn's reaction.
Controlling her laughter, Twilight managed to haul herself back up to the table. "Alright then what?"
"Well, one thing led to another and we ended up dating. Still don't how I was so oblivious to it. Mind you, I don't think I'd ever seen Scar so nervous before… Now that I look back though, you don't suppose that anything to do with the fact that I would beat up any stallion who said he liked me?"
"Not at all, I fail to see how that could at all be a turnoff." Twilight said managing to keep a straight face.
Not picking up on her friend's little jab, Rainbow continued. "So yeah, we dated for a while. About half a year later I found myself living with him. I can't really remember how we got to that point though…" She trailed off.
"And then…?" Twilight asked.
"Everything fell apart." Dash said flatly.
"How, it sounds like you two were happy together."
"He died." Rainbow said her voice cracking with emotion. "We'd been together for such a long time. Years. Yeah we didn't have heaps of money, yeah we didn't have the nicest place, but we were happy. Happier than I am now." She said sullenly.
"What happened?"
"Just one day he didn't come home. And the day after, and the day after…" Rainbow's eyes started watering as the painful memories came back. She sighed. "A few days later a pair of the provosts popped around and told me he'd been killed in a terrible accident, a rock slide or something. His body was never found." A tear ran down her cheek as she finished the story.
"That's terrible Rainbow." Twilight said sympathetically. She gave her friend a gentle squeeze. "Have you ever told anypony?"
"Never, you're the first to hear it."
"What about your parents?"
"My dad was a drunkard and abandoned me and mum… and my mum died a year after I started dating Scar." Dash said softly, tears starting to flow more freely as she relived the painful memories.
"Oh my…" Twilight said. "I'm sorry, I never knew."
"Nopony ever asked. I have a rough past. I prefer not talk about it."
"You haven't even told Soarin any of this?"
"Never." Dash admitted.
"But things are better now Scar's back yes?"
"No… it's worse." Dash said breaking down into tears.
"Aww Dash, come here." Twilight said pulling Rainbow into a hug. She remained there for several minutes comforting her distraught friend.
"Sorry Twilight…" Dash said wiping a tear away. "I don't usually break down like that."
"It's ok to cry Rainbow, I don't think any less of you for it."
"You don't?" Dash sniffled.
"I would never." Twilight said, smiling back.
"Thanks Twi…" Dash said placing her head back down of the now wet table.
"Thanks ok… Now what's wrong? I thought you'd be delighted to see Scar again."
"I am… but… But I mean, I never really ever forgot about him. I moved on sure, but he was always at the back of my mind. We were always so happy together. I suppose I never really got over his death… and now he suddenly pops back into my life wanting to start again."
"What about Soarin though?" Twilight asked concerned.
"Well… Things aren't going to well with him at the moment. We're in a bit of a rough patch right now."
"You don't mean to say-" Twilight started.
"No. I could never do that to him. But…" she sighed explosively. "What am I going to do Twi? Scar doesn't know that I'm married or have kids. I can't leave Soarin and get with Scar, that's against the very element I supposed to represent and I've also got my kids to think about. But the way things are going with Soarin, there isn't going to be much left to stay around for."
Twilight looked at her curiously. It occurred to Rainbow that she didn't know about what had happened the previous night.
"We had a fight last night. It got pretty ugly… I said some stuff I shouldn't have said and so did he… We didn't even forgive each other… I didn't even get a chance to talk to him this morning." She slammed her hoof down on the table in frustration. "And when I was clearing the clouds today I couldn't help but feel angry at him. All the things he's screwed up, all the mistakes he has made… I couldn't get it out of my head. I just feel this whole thing is starting to crash and burn" she imitated a large explosion with her hooves. "So what do I do?"
"I wouldn't so easily give up on Soarin." Twilight said "Try to work things out. Forgive and forget. You still love Soarin don't you?"
Dash rubbed her temple. "Yeah, I guess."
"Then you know what to do."
"Yeah… I guess… thanks Twi…" Dash mumbled. She looked up at the clock hanging from the wall. "I should get going… Lots to do, not enough time to do it." she turned back to her friend. "Thanks Twilight, I really appreciate it." she wiped her face to remove the evidence that she had been crying.
"Any time Dash." Twilight said
Dash opened the door and left the library, lost deep in her thoughts.
Seeing her friend leave the library, Twilight took up a quill and a parchment. After thinking about what she had learnt from the encounter, she wrote a short letter.
Dear Princess Celestia
Today I learnt my friends are complicated.
Your Faith student, Twilight Sparkle.
Due to her prolonged talk with Twilight and the arrival of a large rogue storm cell, by the time Rainbow got home, the sun had set and the moon was already high in the sky. Dark spots still scared her vision from the sudden and unexpected flashes of lightning that had erupted from the storm. Yawning she opened the door, slightly surprised to see Soarin asleep on the lounge, Patch curled up next to him and Star with his head against his father's chest. Gently, so she wouldn't wake them up, she picked up Patch and Star and moved them to their own beds. After tucking each one in, she went back down to Soarin who was still obliviously asleep. He lay down next to him, pressing up against his warm body. "Soarin." She said giving him a gentle poke in the ribs.
"What?" he mumbled irately, he opened an eye. He examined Dash sleepily. "Where have you been, you're soaking wet." He said matter of factly.
"Deal with it." Dash shot back tiredly. "Big storm, lots of rain, lots of lightning. Took a long time to clear." She yawned and shook herself off, covering Soarin in a fine mist of water.
"You woke me up to say that?" Soarin moaned.
"No I woke you up to say sorry. Things got a bit heated last night… I don't know why I got angry. Forgive me?" she looked up at him with a hopeful face.
"You're forgiven provided you don't wake me up again." He muttered, draping a leg over her.
Dash kissed Soarin lightly. "Thanks big guy."
"You're welcome" Soarin mumbled nuzzling her gently.
"Anything interesting happen today?" Dash asked.
"Umm… No… Nothing." Soarin lied. "Yourself?" he asked
"Dash blushed slightly. "Umm… nothing, nothing at all."
"Mmm... Dash… I won't be able to go on Star's trip…" Soarin said, yawning loudly.
"Oh, ok." Dash said a little disappointedly. "Why, what is it?"
"Nothing important." Soarin said
Dash felt a small surge of frustration bubble up but decided now was not the time to let it out.
"Whatever." She muttered closing her eyes.
"Goodnight Dash"
"Night"
That was a bit of slog yes?
Now... Scar, Scar, Scar. He was a bit of a thing that I added in on a 'what the hell' moment and really grew on me, so I hope you like him. I want to delve more into his past and the feud, so again, stay tuned. I bet some of the more savvy readers can see where this going.
As to why he 'died' or who the feud is, conspire away!
As for Spitfire/ Crazy cat lady, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with her but I'll figure something out.
I am nearly free of the shackles of uni (Two exams left!) so I will probably be able to write more soon.
Please leave a review if you are so inclined, I've received some great ones of late (One took me a good hour or so to fully digest!) so thanks a ton guys/ girls/ sentient organic/ non-organic life forms.
Any questions, queries, quibbles, requests, death threats, stalker mail, criticism and virtual (no real ones tanks) Molotov cocktails can be sent to me via review/ PM. I do read them all.
Until next time.
Later!
Killbles.
P.S. I don;t own 'Lets do the time warp again either'!