Chapter 19 – Planning for the Future

Like most leisurely mornings, Rainbow Dash enjoys these moments where she doesn’t need to wake up so early or have to worry about that annoying alarm clock of hers. And with nothing important in mind for the morning to come, she can enjoy the rest of her sleep with ease.

But something does disturb her. It’s very faint, but Rainbow can definitely hear that. And the fact that the unidentified noise is so low is what’s so annoying. The faintest sound can be enough to disturb the serene silence that she is trying to enjoy for herself.

Grudgingly, she slowly opens her sleepy eyes before she can verify the source of that annoyance. But once she does, Rainbow notices something different about her bedroom. In fact, she’s no longer in her room, or in her house for that matter. And yet, despite the change in location, she still recognizes it. How could she forget such a place where she married the stallion of her life?

Canterlot’s Royal Chapel.

However, her fond memories of this sanctuary are replaced with discomfort and confusion when she notices that everything in this setting is in a depressingly grayish-blue color scheme. Not to mention that the chapel is disturbingly dim, not even the once-colorful stained glass windows provide any light to this unsettling situation.

With a couple jerks of her head, she verifies her surroundings as she walks down the main aisle. There are countless ponies present in each row she passes by, but they hardly show any distinguished features nor do they possess faces. But those faceless ponies are not as disturbing as what Rainbow sees at the altar in front of her.

An opened glass coffin with a lifeless mare inside that she knows all too well: herself.

Slowly, she approaches the golden casket to make sure that one lying on its thick, soft mattress isn't just some twisted illusion. But despite her skepticism and the fact that the intact corpse's colors are replaced with that grayish-blue scheme, she is quite certain that this deceased pony is a complete duplicate of herself. The exact replica is lying there motionlessly with her forelegs crossed over each other, her ears are drooped down in a very loosened state, her closed eyes are shut heavily to signify her eternal sleep, and a strangely serene smile is cemented on her inanimate face.

Fear grips Rainbow like a snake strangling its prey as she gulps lightly on what she sees before her. She just can’t understand on how can there be two Rainbow Dashes at the same time. Unless… it has finally happened just as Ford has envisioned, which means she’s already… dead.

Still, this is too freaky and unbelievable for her to accept. She remembers the visit to the hospital with Ford as well as meeting with Octavia and Vinyl Scratch afterwards like it was yesterday. In fact, it should have been yesterday. So how can she be dead already? She still has a few months left to enjoy, right?

As she tries to assess the dire situation, Rainbow hears that awful sound again. Eventually, the noise becomes clearer, and she begins to make out on what she is hearing. It was a noise she hates most of all: crying. And the worst kind of crying was coming from her dear, sweet friend, Fluttershy.

Accompanied by her strong and silent husband, Big Macintosh, a very tearful Fluttershy hovers lightly above the immovable copy of Rainbow Dash as she carries a bouquet of flowers in her hooves. Just like the background and everything else, Fluttershy and Big Mac are in that ugly blue color. Gently as she can be, the trembling Fluttershy lays her bouquet next to the stationary mare, and the long-haired Pegasus thrusts her greatly grieving face into Big Mac’s chest.

After the large farmpony softly hugs her weeping wife, he leads Fluttershy away while the real Rainbow struggles greatly to reach out for her best friend. Yet no words could come out of her. A bit baffled by her sudden muteness, she then rushes to Fluttershy to get attention directly. But the departing couple phrase right through Rainbow without disruption as it leaves the ghostly Pegasus completely dumbstruck by the reveal of her own incomprehensible intangibility.

As frustration and confusion begin to build up from inside, her negative emotions are put on hold when a new pair makes their appearance. This time, it is Gilda and Pinkie Pie. It is quite surprising for Rainbow to see the two opposites so close together with Gilda laying a large, brown wing over the smaller Earth Pony and the latter clinging on to the griffon’s left foreleg very tightly. Compared to Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash is used to seeing her in tears, but one look at the severely depressed Pinkie Pie is simply too much to bear. No longer is she like her usually cheerful self, with her long, deflated hair as straight and smooth as an ironed-out sheet and her big, pitiful eyes that could hardly stop her cascading tears.

Like Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie also had a bouquet of flowers in her hooves. She tries to present the flowers herself, but her unrestrained emotions were too much to handle as she bawls loudly before she immediately muffles her cries with Gilda’s feathery chest. With a wing still wrapped closely around the crying mare, Gilda gently takes the bouquet from Pinkie and leaves them right next to the doppelganger’s corpse. And as the two friends depart from the opened casket, the sad griffon takes one last look over her shoulder before she continues to lead the heavily weeping pony away. Once again, the ghostly Rainbow Dash tries to stop her friends by waving her forelegs frantically in the air, but as expected, her desperate antics go unnoticed as Pinkie and Gilda leave the scene.

Then, Rainbow Dash meets another pair after the last one: Applejack and Rarity. AJ has her treasured hat like always, even though she's not wearing and is holding it against her chest with a right foreleg, but Rarity, on the other hoof, is wearing a very traditional, black funeral attire, complete with long leggings and very wide-brimmed hat with a lacy veil covering her face. Even with the veil covering the seamstress’s face, Rainbow can still see the agony on Rarity’s face as she desperately tries to hold back her tears. Each of them has their own flowers to contribute with Applejack using her mouth and Rarity using her Unicorn Magic. One at a time, the Earth Pony leans over and places hers, and the Unicorn does the same with her magic. As they take a good, long look at Rainbow, Rarity make a couple of sniffles as she levitates a handkerchief to wipe her tears while Applejack struggles with the lone tear that creeps onto her cheek. Unable to get her tear back where it belongs, Applejack wipes it away with a free fore hoof, and the grief-stricken couple eventually make their leave.

After the last pair left, Princess Twilight Sparkle is up next and gracefully steps forward. Like the others before her, the barely composed princess presents her own bouquet to Rainbow. Along with the flowers, Dash also notices her Alicorn friend wearing her customary crown to signify her royal duty. But much more to Rainbow’s shock, Twilight’s right fore hoof is holding a particular golden necklace very close to her chest, one that bears a red, lightning-shaped gem at its center: the Element of Loyalty. Seeing her own element before her causes the blue Pegasus to cringe immensely on the dreadfully possibilities if she’s no longer around. With her gone, who’s going to fill that gap to complete the Elements of Harmony? While Dash dreads on the future for her friends, Twilight lays her bouquet with the others as she shed soft tears that cascade across her face before taking her leave.

Next up is somepony Dash doesn’t want to see, or rather, to not see her like this at her own funeral. Mustering all of her strength in her small legs and tiny wings, Scootaloo climbs over the casket as she holds a few flowers in her mouth while expressing very big, tearful eyes that can give Fluttershy a run for her money when it comes to sad, crying faces. Carefully, she places her small arrangement of flowers before getting one last look at her fallen idol.

But as Scootaloo prolongs her weepy gaze, she couldn’t bear it any long and wraps her forelegs tightly around the immobile mare. Rainbow Dash’s heart could barely take it any more once she is sets her sights on the deeply upset filly. She so desperately wants to call out to her little sister, to let her know that she’s here and that everything’s okay. But because of her bizarre circumstances, Rainbow wants to curse herself for not being able to do anything at this point. All she can do is just float in place and watch this heartbreaking scene in play. Eventually, the parents pull their weeping daughter away as poor, little Scootaloo wail hysterically while trying to reach out to her big sister, with Dash wanting to do the same thing for her.

Things became even more heart-wrenching for Rainbow when her father, Turbo Dash, stands before the casket. Trying his best to stay strong for his presumably deceased daughter, Turbo is unable to contain his emotions as never-ending tears pour of his old, tiring eyes. Rainbow wonders if this is what he was like when her mom passed away years ago. From placing his flowers right next to the others, Turbo leans in closer to brush some of the motionless mare’s hair before giving her a loving kiss on her forehead. Gradually, Turbo walks away in subtle anguish as Rainbow mentally cries out for her daddy in desperation.

And finally, to make it more heartbreaking than the last, Rainbow comes face-to-face with her husband, Ford Mustang. Unlike the other ponies before them, Ford is hardly showing any emotion at all. His eyes look very heavy, and there are faints trails of dried-up tears underneath them, but his emotionless, stone-cold face looks like that all of the life was suck right out of her. And seeing how so detached he is over her death, that is what truly terrifies Rainbow Dash.

Without a word, the impassive Mustang presents his own unique bouquet and gently places it right between the crossed forelegs of his fallen wife. Curious by the more diverse flowers, the ghostlike Rainbow Dash looks over her husband’s shoulder to verify them herself. She can’t tell much due to the lack of color, but she recognizes them as the exotic wildflowers she and Ford came across when they first met as well as the time they went on their first anniversary night where he made the first attempt on his proposal for her.

After securing the distinctive flowers within her forelegs, Ford takes a moment to longingly gaze at his wife before he offers one last kiss on the lips. But as Mustang is preoccupied with his last farewells, the observant Rainbow Dash seeks a way to console him by giving him a loving kiss on the cheek. Even though her intangible lips can’t touch his coated skin, the despairing mare puts as much heart into it in hopes she will finally be noticed by him. Unfortunately, her attempt is meaningless as Ford retracts his head back while Rainbow is petrified by her actions going completely unnoticed like before.

And as she sees her husband turning around, the immensely tearful mare tries with all of her might to call out to him, even though the words she is trying to articulate are all in her head. In the midst of her fruitless effort, Ford stops and slowly turns his head back. For a second, Rainbow feels certain that she is able to communicate with her stallion. But all Mustang could give her is that same, uncomfortable, blank stare, and all of her hopes are dashed away when the now-widowed stallion walks out of her stationary sight.

With her oblivious husband leaving Rainbow Dash behind and completely heartbroken, the hopeless mare collapses on the floor as she laments heavily on what she had to go through. Even when she closes her eyes very tightly, they could do nothing to stop the never-ending tears from pouring out of them.

But upon reopening them, Rainbow suddenly finds herself in the same spot as her departed doppleganger. From there, she tries to move from her spot. But to her increasing dismay, she can’t budge an inch; not even half of an inch. She’s practically glued to the somewhat comfy mattress she’s on. And not just her back that is stuck, she is also unable to move her entire body, including her legs, her head, and her eyes. Every muscular fiber in her body is in complete paralysis. She isn’t able to unhinge her jaw so she can call out for help.

Completely distraught by what is going on, Rainbow once again tries to break free her from his invisible restraints as she desperately calls out to anyone who can hear her, no matter how hysterical she might sound. But as she frantically cries out in quiet agony, a glass case for her coffin firmly slams shuts before her, and two ponies loom over the panicky mare, this time, they are the Alicorn sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. As Rainbow Dash is a bit startled by the princesses’ sudden appearance, the two silent sisters reach for something underneath them and pull up a very large, dark-colored sheet, no doubt to drape it over the casket once the memorial is over. In a last desperate act, Rainbow attempts to call out to the princesses for their aid, but as before, her words go unheard as the large sheet conceals her vision, leaving the tormenting Rainbow Dash trapped in her own darkness.

Now brought back in a state of despair similar to the mental, dark void that Arrogon the Destroyer once trapped her in, Rainbow Dash increasingly loses her nerve as she take quick, heavy breaths instinctively. As hopelessness takes over her unstable demeanor, a bright, orange glow gradually lights up the darkness all of a sudden.

But as Rainbow starts to feel some relief from the unexpected glow, she starts to feel very uncomfortable from its drastically increasing heat. It’s become so unbearable for her that she begins to sweat very intensely. And suddenly, the source of the heat gradually reveals itself as flickers of flames dance and surround her.

It’s there she discovers the terrible realization: she is being incinerated alive.

Trapped within her own cremation, Rainbow panics uncontrollably as the flames grow bigger and hotter. And as she desperately screams at the top of her lungs, the overwhelming blaze becomes so large that it progressively blocks her field of vision with its blinding, hot light until finally… it consumes her whole.

“NOOOOO!!”

As the deeply terrified Rainbow Dash flares her legs wildly on her side of the bed, her husband wakes up in full alarm before he quickly notices the distressed mare. With the worried stallion fully awake now, he immediately pulls his wife in closely and tries to stir her out of her stressful sleep-talking by shaking her lightly.

“Rainbow, wake up!”

“LET ME OUT! SOMEPONY LET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE!”

“Honey, please wake up!”

After his screeching pleas and a few more shakes, Rainbow gradually wakes up from her own nightmare. With her awakened eyes wide-open, the completely petrified mare looks around the bedroom frantically so she can verify that this is not all part of her dream. Then, her terrified gaze locks on to Mustang’s concerning eyes before she breaks down into pitiful, overflowing tears and weeps heavily while she lunges for a hug from him.

With the grieving mare tightening her trembling forelegs around Ford, he too wraps his forelimbs around her gently while he whispers to her cooingly, “It’s okay, angel. I’m here for you.”

“Oh Celestia, it was awful!” she howls in a heartbroken tone. “No, it was more than awful! I mean…!”

“Shhhh… take as much time as you need, Rainbow.” he insists tenderheartedly as he softly strokes her mane.

Without breaking away from their embrace, Rainbow tells Ford everything about the nightmare she just experienced, from beginning to end. Throughout her narration, her initial composure deteriorates, and she breaks down like a whimpering baby towards the end of her story.

“…And then there was smoke… an-an-and fire! It really felt like I was burning alive in there!”

“Hey hey… calm down.” the stallion implores in a touching tone as he hugs her closely. “You’re safe now. It was only a bad dream.”

Taking a breather from her story, she feels more relax within her husband’s comforting embrace. But after a moment of silence, the disturbing fear begins to resurface in Dash’s heart before she takes the time to confess her worries.

“Ford?”

“Yes, Dashie?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of… dying?”

“A little, yeah. But I’m more scared on what’s going to happen with everypony else when I’m gone. Like, who’s going to take over my spot in the Wonderbolts? Who’s going to keep an eye on Scoots for me? And more importantly, who’s going to be the next Element of Loyalty if I’m not around anymore?”

With each question she addresses, Rainbow trembles ever more as she tries to hold back any more tears from leaking. But as she shivers and snivels, she looks up at her husband with big, expressive eyes as if she expects some hopeful answers from him. A bit taken back by her pitiful gaze, Mustang takes his time to contemplate on this important matter before he shares his thoughts with her.

“Sigh… I don’t know all of the answers myself, Rainbow.” he admits softly with uncertainty. “But maybe… it’s time we make some preparations for ourselves. You know, writing our wills and figuring out on who should be our foals’ godparents. And… perhaps we should tell our friends and your father on what we know so far.”

Once Ford states that with hesitation, Rainbow’s eyes widen in dismay before she averts them away in shame. Without needing to ask, he readdresses himself with an understanding smile, “I know you don’t like the idea as much as I do, but I really think it’s best to not leave them in the dark for too long. And don’t forget, I’m always here for you, no matter how little my help may be.” he concludes as he gently tilts her head with a fore hoof so she could face him once again.

Seeing that warm gaze and compassionate smile of his, she gradually brightens up with a small grin before responding to his reasoning, “Big or small, you’ve always been a great help to me. Sigh… but maybe you’re right, Ford. Maybe it is time I tell my friends about this. But can we save this until morning?”

Happy to see her smiling once more, he agrees without a fuss. “Sure thing. Can I get you anything to help you sleep more soundly? A nice, soothing drink? Maybe a bedtime story I can read for you?”

“I’m a full-grown mare, Mustang. Not some little filly.” she replies with sharp wit before she reverts back to an adorably shy manner. “But maybe… you could stay up all-night for me until I fall asleep first?”

Surprised at first by how cute Rainbow is acting when making such a simple request, he giggles to himself before drawing his wife in by having her lay on top of his chest and wrapping her up in his wings and forelegs. Once he pulls the covers up with his teeth, he then answers with a clever, considerate smirk, “Not a problem, angel. And while I’m at it, I’ll keep an eye on those big, scary monsters for you that lurk underneath the bed as well as in the closets.”

From hearing on how silly that sounded, Dash couldn’t help but burst into a hearty yet well-needed chuckle before she replies with an amusing grin, “You’re terrible, Ford.”

“I know.”

Despite the very abrupt disturbance she had in the middle of the night, Rainbow Dash is able to enjoy the rest of her sleep. So after they wake up, eat their breakfast and clean up, they spent the rest of the morning to work on a plan if Rainbow will indeed meet her predetermined fate. For the most part, they come up with lists for their individual wills. And around lunchtime, they believe they got all the necessities they need before they get in contact with an attorney to finalize them. For Rainbow, it felt very tedious for her, but she reminds herself that this is for her family’s sake, and the sooner it was taken care of, the better. But before they go over their next idea, which is to decide on the foals’ godparents, Rainbow decides to take a well-deserved break from this and goes out for a nice flight for herself.

As she flies nice and steady around town, she comes across her favorite filly, Scootaloo, who is outside of her house and working on her dissembled scooter, with parts laid around her and a toolbox right next to her. With an open-end wrench in her mouth, the orange Pegasus tightens a bolt that connects the handle bar’s stem to the base of the board. Smiling over Scoots' handiwork, Rainbow hovers over to her little sister in hopes to spend some time with her.

“Hey, Scoots! Whatcha working on?”

Upon hearing her role model greeting her, the surprised Scootaloo drops her tool and replies with a big grin, “Hi, Rainbow Dash! I’m just fine-tuning my scooter here. You know, give this baby some juice and make it more agile before I do some serious shredding today!”

“Sweet! Can’t wait see this baby in action myself! Mind if I help you out a bit?”

A bit startled by how her role model wants to offer her assistance, Scootaloo redisplays her enthusiasm as she gladly accepts it. “Uh… okay, sure! Can you give me that socket wrench over there?”

“You got it, boss!” Rainbow salutes playfully. “One socket wrench, coming up!”

With one, quick swipe, Rainbow pulls out the first wrench she sees from the toolbox and presents the selected tool proudly. But Scootaloo stares at it with a bewildered look before she hesitantly corrects her new assistant.

“Umm, Rainbow… that’s a pipe wrench.”

A bit shocked by that statement, Rainbow looks at the wrench she just pulled out as she could hardly tell the difference between the two. To cover up her obvious mix-up, she breaks into an awkward yet smug smile as she shrugs it off coolly, “Oh, I knew that! I was just testing you, that’s all.”

Of course, Scootaloo isn’t buying that as she simply replies with a knowing smirk, “Riiight…”

With a lucky guess, Rainbow pulls out the requested ratchet this time, and hands it over to Scootaloo. As the purple-haired filly tightens a fastener to one of the scooter’s wheels, Rainbow then asks with curiosity, “So, where’s Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom? I figure you three would be hanging out today like always.”

Focused on her work, Scootaloo answers nonchalantly, “Oh, they’re getting ready for the Sisterhooves Social by training with their big sisters.”

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” Rainbow shouts in astonishment as she totally forgot about that event. “We should be doing some serious training ourselves!”

“Well I did considered that, but… you know.”

Unwilling to state the obvious, Scootaloo sheepishly points at Rainbow’s stomach, and the older mare looks down to see her extremely bulgy belly. Realizing on the amount of physical strain she would put herself and the twins through from the event’s famed obstacle courses, her initial eagerness is shot down and feels pretty foolish for questioning that.

“Oh… right. I guess I really outweigh the competition, huh?” she jests with a weak chuckle.

“Hey, it’s okay, Rainbow.” the younger Pegasus reassures as she fastens the next wheel. “We can always do it next year, right?”

Rainbow Dash freezes in place as that awful dread begins to build before she mutters in faintly disheartened manner, “…R-r-right.”

With Scootaloo thankfully distracted with her work, Rainbow recalls on that awful nightmare she just had last night, especially on how completely miserable Scootaloo was when she attended the dreamscape’s funeral. Rainbow isn’t sure on how she can tell the awful truth to her number-one fan, but she definitely hopes to spend as much time with her as possible. And the Sisterhooves Social seems like the perfect opportunity for them. But now, she will miss that chance and will never get that again before her foals are born. Intensely, Rainbow tries to think of an alternative, something that will wow her little sister and will be just as awesome as the yearly event itself.

But after some time on concentrating some of the most awesome things ever, a grand idea finally comes to mind, and a bold grin stretches across her face while she anxiously declare it out loud, “You know what? We don’t need some social gathering to have our own bonding time together!”

“We don’t?” the filly responds with confusion and surprise.

“Yeah! We can do something way cooler than the Sisterhooves Social this year!”

Excited by that extravagant suggestion, Scootaloo inquires even further, “Really? Like what?”

With a very clever smirk, Rainbow ruffles her little sister’s mane as she asks playfully, “How would like to spend time with your big sister this weekend at the Wonderbolts Academy?”

Author's Notes:

This chapter along with the next two after this are some of the more recent ideas I came across while I was working on this story. At the very least, it will allow Rainbow spend some time with her friends outside of the Mane Six, specifically Spitfire and Scootaloo.