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Organised by
RogerDodger
Word limit
400–750
Just As Planned
“We’ll miss her. I don’t think I can say any more or any less for such a remarkable mare. Rainbow Dash touched a million lives in her brief time in the sun. We will never really find a way to replace her in our hearts.”
Twilight paused, gazing out upon the crowd of ponies. There must have been a thousand of them, most pegasi but a few enchanted earth ponies and unicorns dotted the clouds. Her friends were front and centre. Applejack, holding her hat and trying not to cry. Fluttershy sobbing, clutching Rarity like she was the last rock in the ocean. Pinkie her eyes dead.
“The world will remember her for her crowning achievements, the Rainboom; the air speed record; saving the world time and time again as an Element Bearer. We’ll remember her as a friend.”
Scootaloo seemed to be taking it worst of all. Resplendent in the Wonderbolt blue she seemed to hang between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, as if she were a puppet with her strings cut. Twilight sighed, before continuing.
“We don’t get to spend enough time with our friends. Rainbow Dash was always on the move, always working towards the next goal, and it’s to my great regret that this took her away from us far too often. Still, whenever we needed her, Rainbow Dash would be there, and I don’t think I will ever stop looking over my shoulder expecting her to be there.”
Twilight gazed over at the casket. Closed, of course. Rainbow Dash had gone out in a blaze or glory, just as everypony had expected.
“We’ll miss you,” Twilight echoed. “Goodbye, Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight wasn’t sure why she volunteered to clear out Rainbow Dash’s house. There was a certain logic to it she supposed. Besides Fluttershy she was the only one with wings, and Fluttershy was a wreck after the funeral. Filing always calmed her down, anyway, and somepony had to go through Dash’s things.
The cloud door opened silently, revealing the grand hall. Dash had filled it to the brim with trophies, blue ribbons and newspaper articles, along with her own promotional posters. It brought a smile to Twilight’s face, she could always trust Rainbow’s ego to dominate above all. Picking her way through the shrine to speed she made her way up towards the tiny cubby hall Dash called her office. There would be bills still to pay, long lost friends to notify and Equestrian Revenue to scream at. All the mundane detritus a pony had to deal with when one of their friends died.
Dash’s office was just as she remembered. A desk, a couple of filing cabinets spilling their contents out onto the floor below and a wall full of photos. Twilight’s face lit up upon seeing the one in pride of place. It was the recreation photo, thirty years on from the first she’d ever sent to Celestia but in exactly the same pose. Oh sure, Spike was five times bigger, Pinkie was round in the middle and not from sweets and you’d could see the grey in Dash’s hair. It still brought a little spark of joy, though. It was remarkable how much it hurt that Twilight was the only pony who still looked like she was in her twenties.
There’d never be a forty year on photo. It wouldn’t be the same without Rainbow.
She sighed, sitting on the cushion before the desk and began to pick her way through the scattered papers. Reading Dash’s hoofwriting was an acquired skill but she persevered. A ten year old expense form blurred into with a bundle of fan letters and page ninety-one of Dash’s long aborted third draft of her memoirs. A slip of paper fell from one of the folders as she tried to stack it appropriately and Twilight caught it with her aura.
Frowning, Twilight opened the folder. Her breath caught in her throat.
Dash’s final stunt was laid out in dispassionate white on blue. The daredevil dives. The dizzying rolls. The impossible turn which had claimed her life. There was nothing beyond that, nor a clue as to how she would have survived to fly another day.
It had gone just as planned.
Twilight paused, gazing out upon the crowd of ponies. There must have been a thousand of them, most pegasi but a few enchanted earth ponies and unicorns dotted the clouds. Her friends were front and centre. Applejack, holding her hat and trying not to cry. Fluttershy sobbing, clutching Rarity like she was the last rock in the ocean. Pinkie her eyes dead.
“The world will remember her for her crowning achievements, the Rainboom; the air speed record; saving the world time and time again as an Element Bearer. We’ll remember her as a friend.”
Scootaloo seemed to be taking it worst of all. Resplendent in the Wonderbolt blue she seemed to hang between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, as if she were a puppet with her strings cut. Twilight sighed, before continuing.
“We don’t get to spend enough time with our friends. Rainbow Dash was always on the move, always working towards the next goal, and it’s to my great regret that this took her away from us far too often. Still, whenever we needed her, Rainbow Dash would be there, and I don’t think I will ever stop looking over my shoulder expecting her to be there.”
Twilight gazed over at the casket. Closed, of course. Rainbow Dash had gone out in a blaze or glory, just as everypony had expected.
“We’ll miss you,” Twilight echoed. “Goodbye, Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight wasn’t sure why she volunteered to clear out Rainbow Dash’s house. There was a certain logic to it she supposed. Besides Fluttershy she was the only one with wings, and Fluttershy was a wreck after the funeral. Filing always calmed her down, anyway, and somepony had to go through Dash’s things.
The cloud door opened silently, revealing the grand hall. Dash had filled it to the brim with trophies, blue ribbons and newspaper articles, along with her own promotional posters. It brought a smile to Twilight’s face, she could always trust Rainbow’s ego to dominate above all. Picking her way through the shrine to speed she made her way up towards the tiny cubby hall Dash called her office. There would be bills still to pay, long lost friends to notify and Equestrian Revenue to scream at. All the mundane detritus a pony had to deal with when one of their friends died.
Dash’s office was just as she remembered. A desk, a couple of filing cabinets spilling their contents out onto the floor below and a wall full of photos. Twilight’s face lit up upon seeing the one in pride of place. It was the recreation photo, thirty years on from the first she’d ever sent to Celestia but in exactly the same pose. Oh sure, Spike was five times bigger, Pinkie was round in the middle and not from sweets and you’d could see the grey in Dash’s hair. It still brought a little spark of joy, though. It was remarkable how much it hurt that Twilight was the only pony who still looked like she was in her twenties.
There’d never be a forty year on photo. It wouldn’t be the same without Rainbow.
She sighed, sitting on the cushion before the desk and began to pick her way through the scattered papers. Reading Dash’s hoofwriting was an acquired skill but she persevered. A ten year old expense form blurred into with a bundle of fan letters and page ninety-one of Dash’s long aborted third draft of her memoirs. A slip of paper fell from one of the folders as she tried to stack it appropriately and Twilight caught it with her aura.
I’m sorry, girls. The Bolts dropped me. I couldn’t go quietly.
Frowning, Twilight opened the folder. Her breath caught in her throat.
Dash’s final stunt was laid out in dispassionate white on blue. The daredevil dives. The dizzying rolls. The impossible turn which had claimed her life. There was nothing beyond that, nor a clue as to how she would have survived to fly another day.
It had gone just as planned.