Chapter four

There was a faint light at the top. It was glowing. It was inticing. But in her gut, Rainbow felt like she didn't want to go in there.

Rainbow?! Rainbow Dash?! A voice called from below, It sounded like Scootaloo, but with the whack dreams she'd been having lately, Rainbow couldn't tell.

She felt a strong force pull her upward. Weakly, Rainbow let the force take her with it.

Rainbow Dash?! Where are you? I miss you!

That weird Scootaloo voice again. What the hay was it doing in this weird dream? Rainbow felt the force pull her up, and this time she tried to fight it, but her attempts were vain.

In the background, Rainbow heard sniffles. Please don't die! Are you going to die? Please don't! Then you can never take me under your wing and teach me to become awesome and stuff!

More sniffles. Rainbow felt confused.

Now you can never rescue me from the orphanage and become my sister! The sniffles increased to sobs, and Rainbow heard somebody in the background saying There there. It's not like she's your sister or anything.

But that didn't matter. Her mind seemed like it was stuck on replay. Now you can never rescue me from the orphanage and become my sister! The words echoed throught the caverns of her mind endlessly. And just as she was reaching the top, being sucked into the bright light, Rainbow knew what she had to do.

Won't. Leave. Scoot. Hangin'! through gritted teeth, she fought her way downward with every ounce of energy she had left. She wasn't certain if this was just a dream, or if this was real life, she knew nothing for sure. All she knew was that she couldn't leave Scootaloo hangin'.

Fighting the mysterious force, Rainbow Dash reached the bottom, and suddenly the force stopped pulling on her. And just as she was about to get up and dust herself off, she fell into a vast and open space.

Flailing her arms, no sound could escape Rainbow's mouth. She felt like she was in a black hole of some sort, never ending and pitch black. When she glanced down, all she could see was an ominous darkness. I'm gonna die, Rainbow thought, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die and Scoot will be all alone without anyone to come and rescue her from the orphanage.

And before she could think, a sense of feeling returned to her body. She felt a hard mattress under her, and the rough, starched blankets covering her body. A beeping sound assaulted her ears, and the smell of cough medicine pierced her nose. Slowly, her eyelids opened, revealing vibrant her vibrant rose colored eyes.

And before she could say anything, or even think, Scootaloo had flung her arms around her.

"Wha…what happened? Scoot? Why are you here? Why are you hugging me? Why am I in…"

Rainbow paused for a moment, and she felt the warmth and love of Scootaloo melt through her bangages, into her skin, and right to her heart. She had never felt this way before. It was strange and unsual, and Rainbow couldn't tell exactly what it was. A feeling? A heart attack? All sh knew was that at the moment she felt like hugging Scootaloo.

So she did.

The warmth spread throughout her body, and she felt something strange in her eyes. Rainbow blinked, but the weird twitch or whatever just didn't go away. It was watery, and as it trickled down her mouth, she tasted its salty-ness and acidic-ness.. Was she… was she…crying?

Impatiently, Rainbow brushed the tears from her eyes. She had never cried since…well…since her mom had died, and she didn't plan on ever crying again. Quickly, she pulled away from Scootaloo's hug. Since when had things gotten so sappy?

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, I'm so happy you're alive, cause you fell while you were doiung this totally awesome SONIC RAINBOOM and then you were in a coma for like a week and I waited and waited and waited for you to wake up and you never did and then I was crying cause you could never come and rescue me from the mean old orphanage and you woke up, it was like you heard me or something and now I gotta go pee! Bye!"

Scootaloo dashed from the room across the hall to the little fillies room. Rainbow managed a shaky laugh as she looked at all of the bandages and monitors and needles hooked up to and on her body. She turned to the nurse. "Ummm….what was with…that?"

"Oh,"she replied, "You had blacked out for a few days after saving that pony who's name escapes me at the moment….uh…hold on….I'll remember…."

A vague image popped into Rainbow's mind of Derpy falling off a cloud. "Derpy,"she said, "her name was Derpy."

"Oh…yes…right. Anyway, most of Ponyville thought you weren't going to make but..uh…turns out, you did," she gave an exaggerated smile at the last part.

"Is Derpy Ok," Rainbow asked, geniuenly concerned.

"Oh, of course! Not even a scratch!"

Rainbow sighed. "Ummm….was Scootaloo here the whole time I was in the hospital?"

"Oh yes. She stayed here all seven nights. She even brought some games for you two to play in case you woke up. She stayed the night on that little cot over there,"the nurse guestured to a small cot, with springs poking out and sparse blankets. "We tried to get her to leave for the orphanage, but she just wouldn't go. So we ended up letting her stay the night. She kept talking about you two 'becoming sisters' and other things like that in her sleep. Beats me what that was about"

"How 'bout my other friends? Did they come?"

"Oh, no, they were all busy. They did leave you some cards though! I'll go downstairs to the front desk to get them!"

"Oh. Ok. Bye!" Rainbow said as she trotted from the room. Rainbow took in the room with one glance- the cot, unmade and messy, the piles of board games in the corner, the fake telephone (what purpose it served was a mystery to Rainbow), a brush, and a card. She had never seen the card before. Curious, Rainbow picked it up, straining all the wires and hooks attached to her. On the front, there was a small picture of two….what was it?...suns? Maybe. There was a heart around the suns (?) and the heart was rimmed with still gloppy glitter glue. Attached to the glitter glue was lace. Rainbow cringed as she got red sparkely glue all over her hooves. Judging by the amount of glitter glue, she could tell that the card had been drying for a few days now. Gingerly she opened it and squinted at he handwriting that read:

Deer Rainbow Dash,

You ar the awsomst pony in equestria. Evryone in Ponyville says you will di, even your friends, but i don't think so. i hop you recsku me from the orfanag and adopt me . i hope you live forever so i can be your sister forever and ever and always.

Your fewtchur sister,

Scootaloo

Again, Rainbow felt that wetness coming back in her eyes, but brushed the tears away. She really loves me. She really does. Like a sister. Like my family. If they were around…

Rainbows thoughts tumbled throughout her head, a jumbled mess. She glanced back at the card. "I hope you live forever so I can be your sister forever," she read in an almost whisper.

Rainbow really liked Scootaloo. She really did. She just didn't want Scootaloo to have the terrible past she did…

"Mommy, are you OK?," Rainbow Dash asked as her mother lay in the hospital bed, eyes tired, and body limp. She had been this way for the last few months, ever since she got diagnosed with a very serious case of wing cancer.

"Oh, Dashie, you know I'm fine," her mother said, managing a weak smile.

Still, Rainbow didn't believe her. "But what if… but what if… but…"

"Shhhh…It's gonna be Ok. Mommy's just going to take a loooong nap now,"

"A long nap!" Rainbow exclaimed frantically , "But what will I do when those mean stallions at school call me 'Rainbow Crash'?"

Rainbow's eyes were pleading and frantic.

"Listen to me, Dashie. As long as you know who you are and what makes you happy, those losers can't bother you."

"They can't?"

"Nope. But only if you do what makes YOU happy."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Like flying?"

"Just like flying. So, Dashie, as long as you fly, you'll turn out fine."

"I will," Rainbow echoed, more to reassure herself than to talk to her mother.

"Dashie, I'm feeling sleepy. I think it's time for my very long nap."

"Oh, Ok. I love you, Mommy! See you later!"

Her mother's eyes brimmed with tears on Rainbow's last words. "I love you too, my Dashie"

After that, things had just gone downhill. Her dad had started drinking shortly afterwards to cope with the stress. Nearly one month after hermother's death, he had died in a terrible drunk flying accident. And ever since Rainbow had been….well….incomplete.

The door to her room slowly creaked open and Scootaloo entered. Rainbow glanced up at her, and briefly remembered her flashback. She knew what she had to do.

"Hey, little sis, get your butt over here. I wanna give you a hug."

"LITTLE SIS! You really mean it?!"

"Why would I lie to my little sister?" Rainbow asked as she embraced Scootaloo in her bandaged arms, tubes in all directions. She felt that feeling in her eyes, the saltiness as the tears rolled down her cheeks, like a trickling stream.

And this time, Rainbow let the tears flow.