Love Them While You Still Have Them

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Intermission: Pinkie Pie - Part 1
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
Intermission: The Dark Clouds Have Gone
Chapter 9
Prologue
Intermission: Pinkie Pie - Part 2
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

The next day…

The train from Canterlot was making its way back to Ponyville; it was early so only a few ponies were riding. Two of them sitting alone in one of the cars were Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. The cyan Pegasus sat in silence holding on to her father’s helmet; she hadn’t said a word this morning. She had hardly even eaten since she found out what happened to her father the day before. Twilight knew she couldn’t do anything alone, if there was ever a moment when Rainbow needed all her friends to be there, this would be it.

She told this to Princess Celestia; that all her friends should have been there to console her in her time of grief. But the Princess had her reason, she knew about Rainbow Dash’s pride and how much it meant for her to keep it intact. She felt that if too many ponies she knew were there with her, she would not have been able to bring herself to cry in front of them. Although she didn’t enjoy watching her little ponies cry, she knew it wasn’t healthy to keep emotions bottled up. But now that she did cry letting out her emotions for over an hour, Twilight knew that it wasn’t enough.

Losing a father is not something everypony can bounce back from easily, especially if they were close. Twilight could tell just by Rainbow’s reaction that they were as close as a father and daughter could be. They had left Canterlot almost two hours ago, the train was going to arrive in Ponyville any minute now and she still couldn’t think of something to say. She just wanted to be able to start a conversation, to be able to get Rainbow Dash’s mind off her father, even if it was only for a minute.

“Rainbow I—“ Twilight reached a hoof towards the Pegasus, but as soon as she moved Rainbow Dash flinched and tightened her grip on the helmet as if somepony were going to try to steal it from her. Twilight quickly retracted her hoof quickly, she mentally kicked herself; of course the helmet means a lot to her.

“I’m Sorry, Twilight” Rainbow said softly “I know you want to help me, but I don’t know if you can…” Rainbow placed her forehead on the helmet and closed her eyes. Twilight didn’t take it personally; she probably would have said the same thing in this situation, though she believed she would have taken it a lot worse. Still, she knew Rainbow was right, she didn’t know how she would be able to help her, but she knew where to start.

The train was only five minutes away from Ponyville, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were getting ready to un-board. Twilight watched as Rainbow placed her father’s helmet inside her saddlebag, it was a surprise to her; she didn’t think she’d see her let the helmet out of her sight. Up till now she had held on to it like her life depended on it.

“Hey, Twilight,” this was the second time Twilight had heard Rainbow say anything today; she was glad to hear her voice.

“Yeah?”

“The others already know, don’t they?” Rainbow looked back at Twilight who could only react with a guilty smile. She had Princess Celestia send Spike a letter detailing what had happened and to meet them at the train station. Right now she would guess they were waiting for them to arrive so that they could give her as much support as they could. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now she was starting to have second thoughts. Rainbow gave her an annoyed look before letting out a sigh.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow, I should have known better…” said Twilight as she looked down to her hooves. A few seconds later she felt a hoof on her shoulder, looking up she saw that it was Rainbow Dash.

“It’s fine, I know you’re just trying to help…” she said before turning and walking away. Even though she forgave her, Twilight still felt horrible for not thinking that Rainbow wouldn’t want the others to know just yet. She could only hope that her plan would help her cheer up, even if it was just a little.

The train came to a halt; the sound of the whistle could be heard. Rainbow Dash and Twilight made their way towards the closest door and exited the train. Sure enough the rest of their friends were waiting for them to arrive, they all had a look of sympathy in their eyes, and Rainbow hated it. Of all the things she wanted her friends to feel for her, sympathy was the one and only thing she couldn’t stand. She understood that they meant well, but she hated to be felt sorry for. She didn’t want to be seen as weak by anypony, that’s why she always kept her image of being one of the toughest ponies in Ponyville.

Pinkie Pie was the first to walk up to Rainbow Dash, her hair had clearly lost some of its puffiness, and a frown was on her face. Pinkie stopped short in front of Rainbow, she wanted to give her a hug, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted one. Rainbow knew this; she also didn’t want to see the pink pony looking down. Rainbow extended her hoof and was immediately hugged. The others joined soon after, though she didn’t think it would have helped, Rainbow had to admit that it felt nice.

“Rainbow, I’m so sorry, I know this must be difficult for you.” Rarity was the first to break the silence.

“Thanks, Rares…” said Rainbow.

“He was a great pony, Rainbow” added Fluttershy.

“Yeah…he was…” Rainbow could feel it, it was going to happen again and she couldn’t let it happen in front of them, not all at once. Gently, Rainbow shrugged them off of her and began to walk away from them.

“Rainbow?” was all Fluttershy could say before the Pegasus took off at full speed. Her friends watched as she disappeared in the distance.

“Come on, we should go after her” said Twilight as she began to run forward.

“No” the others turned around to face Applejack “Not just yet, and definitely not everypony at once.”

“Applejack what are you saying, you want to leave her alone like this, who knows what she’s going through!” Twilight said angrily.

“Ah do!” yelled Applejack as she stomped her hoof on the ground. Guilt suddenly rushed over Twilight, she was so focused on Rainbow’s problem that she completely forgot that Applejack had already been through this before.

“Applejack, I didn’t mean--”

“It’s okay, Twilight, Ah know you mean well, but only somepony that knows what she’s goin’ through can help her.” Twilight wanted to say something, but she knew that Applejack was right; she doesn’t know what it feels like to lose a family member. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were in the same boat as her, they both still had family members around, and Pinkie also had the Cakes which were like second parents to her.

“I suppose that leaves you and Fluttershy,” said Rarity; however she then noticed that something was missing. “Fluttershy?” Rarity and the others looked around, but Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen.

“Looks like she’s already on top of this” said Applejack.

“What do we do now?” asked Pinkie.

“We wait, Pinkie, Rainbow will open up to us eventually, but only when she’s ready to. We just need to remind her every now and then that we’re here for her.” said Applejack as she and the others began to leave the station.

“Applejack, if you don’t mine me asking…well…” Rarity felt a little uncomfortable, she didn’t want to reopen any wounds that Applejack may have.

“Ah’m pretty sure Ah know what you’re goin’ to ask, go ahead, it won’t bother me” said Applejack with an understanding look.

“How does it feel, to lose a close family member?” she herself could only imagine, but she knew that it could only be much worse when somepony actually has to live through it.

“It aint the best feelin’ in the world Rares, Ah’ll tell ya. When you first find out, your whole world just comes to a stop, it feels like somepony grabbed your heart and ripped it right out.” Not the best image to run through one’s head, but they weren’t in a position to say if that was an exaggeration or not. “At first you don’t want to accept it, you think that it’s all just a joke or some bad dream, but that doesn’t last long. When you realize that you’ll never see them again, it hits you like a train. You’ll spend every moment thinkin’ about them, and that only makes it worse. Eventually you just get angry at everythin’. What did they do to deserve it, what did ah do to deserve this. Questions you ask but you’ll never get an answer to” Twilight placed a hoof on Applejacks shoulder. It wasn’t just because she was starting to feel uneasy, but because it was starting to get to somepony else.

Twilight motioned Applejack behind them, looking back she saw that Pinkie was sitting on the ground, her hair had become even more lifeless, and her usual shade of pink has grown darker. “Ah’m sorry, Pinkie, I didn’t think you’d take it this hard.” said Applejack as she gave Pinkie a hug, it seemed to help, but not by much. Pinkie Pie wasn’t the only one that was taking this hard, sure it was Rainbow who lost a parent, but the others couldn’t help but wonder, “what if?”

Up in Rainbow Dash’s cloud home, screams and the occasional sound of something breaking could be heard. One would think something horrible was happening to her if they didn’t know the truth. Lucky for her, at least in this context, Rainbow’s home was secluded enough that nopony could hear her crying. Or at least she thought nopony could hear her, she didn’t know that right outside her door was her longtime friend Fluttershy, and she’s been sitting at her door step waiting. She knew Rainbow needed to let it all out first, and although it pained her to hear her friend hurting, she had to let it happen.

She wasn’t sure how long she had waited, but eventually the house fell silent. Fluttershy waited a few more minutes just to make sure Rainbow wasn’t going to start over. When she was sure that Rainbow had finished, she knocked on the door. But there was no response. Fluttershy waited another minute and knocked again.

“Go away!” Rainbow yelled from inside, it was pretty much the reaction Fluttershy was expecting.

“I can’t do that, Rainbow,” no response “Please Rainbow; I know what you’re going through, just talk to me!” Fluttershy continued. Fluttershy never knew her father, but she did have a mother that loved her greatly. Over a week after she gained her cutie mark, Fluttershy was told that her mother was flying during a storm and had been struck by lightning, she died on impact. Anypony would have taken that news hard, but Fluttershy was always fragile, and the news was almost too much for her to bear. Psychologists did what they could to help, but in the end there was only one pony that helped her through it, and she was going to be there for her now.

Rainbow stood by the door, she knew Fluttershy was right, but she wasn’t like her, she couldn’t open up to Fluttershy like she could to her. “Just go home, Fluttershy, I’m fine…” she lied, but there was a door between them, there was no way she could see it in her face.

“You didn’t sound fine a couple of minutes ago…” Rainbow slammed her hooves on her head, now she knew Fluttershy had heard her episode.

“I’m not opening the door, Fluttershy, just go home!” Rainbow got up when she didn’t hear a response. She began to turn around and walk away; she figured that Fluttershy had taken the hint.

“Okay, but I’m coming back later to check on you”

“Don’t, I won’t open the door then either!” Rainbow yelled as she stomped her hoof on the cloud floor.

“Then I’ll keep coming back until you do” Rainbow could hear Fluttershy’s wings flapping as she flew away from her home. After letting out a sight, Rainbow Dash laid flat on her stomach, her hooves covering her face. She didn’t want this; she didn’t want to be felt sorry for. She just wanted to move on from this, for things to go back to the way they were. And more importantly, she wanted her father back.

Chapter 2

“Come on, you can do it!” a young filly found herself standing alone on a cloud. Across from her standing on another cloud was another pony, but his body was too dark to make out. They were both high up in the sky, and the only way for her to get to him was by flying.

“It’s too far, what if I fall?” the young filly was hesitant; she hadn’t been able to fly more than a few feet at a time. This time she would need to fly farther than she’s been able to push herself. If she wasn’t able to maintain flight, she would end up falling from the sky.

“I won’t let you fall, I’ll catch you, but trust me when I say that you won’t need me to” the voice of the stallion was so sure, so comforting, the filly had no reason to doubt it.

“You really think I can do it?” said the filly as she walked closer up to the edge. It was a very long way down, the young filly gulped lightly, she forgot lesson one “Don’t look down”.

“I know you can do it, you can do anything you set your mind to!” the young filly took a few steps back until she couldn’t back up any further.

“Anything I set my mind to” the young filly repeated in her head several times. She continued until she finally picked her goal. And that goal was standing on the other cloud. The filly took a running start launching off the cloud when she ran out of room. Extending her hooves forward and flapping her wings, the filly continued forward feeling the wind rushing around her mane. The moment was amazing, she was flying in the open air for the first time in her life; she just wished it could have lasted a bit longer.

The young filly finally touched down, her heart was racing and she was panting heavily, but there was a victorious smile on her face.

“I did it, did you see that dad?” there was no response “Dad?” the filly looked around, but the stallion was nowhere to be seen. “Where’d you go?” she began to run around trying to find the stallion, but he didn’t appear anywhere. Eventually she was able to spot him; he was in the distance and was walking away from her.

“Wait, did you see me, I flew; I made it the whole way on my own!” she yelled as she tried to run after the stallion. But no matter how hard she ran, the stallion just continued to get further away from her. ”Don’t go, I still need you!” the filly began to cry, she continued to call for the stallion only to get no response. Even when she could no longer see him, she continued to run, begging him to return.

“Come back, please come back. Don’t leave me!” Rainbow Dash rose from her bed, she began to pant heavily, she was sweating, and she had cried in her sleep. It took the Pegasus a few seconds to remember where she was. A few seconds later she began to think about the dream she had, sure enough, she began to cry again. It took her hours to get to sleep, and after she was finally able to, she ended up being haunted by that dream. Although a little sweat never bothered her, Rainbow’s bed was completely drenched in it, it was uncomfortable.

Rainbow got out of bed and removed the sweat drenched sheets; she then flipped her mattress so that the wet side could dry off on its own time. Once the sheets had been changed Rainbow Dash checked her clock, it was already 6:30; she would need to be at work in an hour. Letting out a sigh, Rainbow made her way to her bathroom, she didn’t have time to get back to sleep, not that she wanted to. Once Rainbow opened the door to the bathroom and turned on the lights, she noticed something that she had forgotten.

“Oh my gosh, Tank!” Rainbow yelled as she grabbed on to the tortoise’s shell. “I left you here all night, I’m so sorry!” Rainbow had placed Tank inside her bathroom before she went off on her tantrum the day before. She did it so that Tank wouldn’t end up getting hurt, but she completely forgot to let him out after that. Rainbow took Tank to the kitchen and placed some food and water for him.

“I’ll be right back okay, I’m just gonna take a quick shower.” Tank peeked out his shell for a second before going back in. Rainbow could tell that he was mad at her, she couldn’t blame him; she left him in a dark room all alone. Rainbow went back to her bathroom and grabbed one of the clouds she had stored moving it to just above her shower. After striking the cloud enough, the water stored inside of it began to rain out. The water was cold, but Rainbow needed the wake-me-up from not having slept much during the night.

“Great, first I lose control of myself, and then Tank ends up being the one to suffer.” said Rainbow as she shook her head. This is one of the things Rainbow was afraid of, that she would let her frustration of on one of her friends and they would end up hating her. She needed to stay away from them, at least until she was able to move on.

The shower was relatively short; Rainbow wasn’t one to take too long to get cleaned up. Once she had toweled herself dry, Rainbow made her way to her kitchen. Slowly she looked around the corner where she left Tank to see that he was eating. “Hey buddy, you okay?” she asked once she was right behind her pet. Tank looked back at her with an angry look then turned back to eat. Rainbow sat on the floor; she pretty much deserved the cold shoulder she was being given at the moment.

“I’m sorry Tank; it wasn’t fair to lock you in the bathroom just because I’m having a rough time. Think you can forgive me?” it took a while before Tank turned to face Rainbow again. He looked like he was thinking it over. He saw the look on her face, and she had never treated him badly before. Tank walked up to the Pegasus and nudged her with his head, Rainbow returned the nudge.

“Thanks buddy, I still have time before work, how about we just play till then?” Tank gave her a slow nod. Rainbow did what she promised; she hung out with Tank for about forty-five minute before she had to leave. Admittedly, enjoying some time with her pet cheered her up a little, at least enough to get her through the day.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours okay, we’ll hang out more after that.” said Rainbow as she turned towards the door. Once she opened it she noticed a container on the cloud floor. On top of it was a note signed to her, she had a pretty good idea about who left it. Rainbow grabbed the note and read.

“I’m still here to listen when you’re ready to talk.

Love Fluttershy

P.S. I made you a sandwich, please eat something.”

Rainbow’s stomach began to growl; it just hit her that she hadn’t eaten anything in over twenty-four hours. She’s surprised she hadn’t noticed earlier, normally she can’t go a few hours without having to snack on something due to her high metabolism. Rainbow opened the container to see that it was a daisy sandwich, one of her favorites. Rainbow couldn’t help but smile, she knew Fluttershy would always be there for her, whether she would admit she needed help or not.

Rainbow inhaled the sandwich in three bites and placed the empty container in her kitchen before leaving. Normally flying was how Rainbow Dash cleared her head, but for some reason, it didn’t feel the same. Rainbow found the rest of the weather team getting ready to prepare for the weather for the day.

“Yo Cloud Kicker, you ready to work?” Cloud Kicker turned to face Rainbow Dash; there was a smile on her face.

“Ready to work? Who are you and what have you done with Rainbow Dash?” she said with a chuckle. Rainbow was glad to hear the friendly insult from her; it meant that she didn’t know about Rainbow’s problem, so she just treated her like she normally would.

“Oh haha, very funny” Rainbow said with a small chuckle. “Come on, I bet we can get today's work early.” she said as she prepared to take off.

“Actually” Rainbow halted and turned back to face Cloud Kicker. “The boss wants to talk to you about something”.

“About what?” Rainbow asked as she arched her eyebrow.

“Don’t know, he said it was ‘on a need to know bases’ or something.” she said with a shrug. Rainbow’s stomach tightened up, she was almost sure what it was that her boss wanted to talk to her about, and she prayed to Celestia that she was wrong. Rainbow made it to her boss’s office, she hesitated slightly, but eventually she knocked on the door.

“It’s open!” she heard her boss say from inside.

“Hey boss” said Rainbow as she opened the door. Her boss gave her one look, and his face quickly changed.

“Hello Rainbow, please, sit down” he said with an awkward tone. “I was informed about what happened to your father, you have my condolences” Rainbow sucked her teeth, she was right all along.

“Thanks, but listen, I just want to put it behind me. I’m sure I’ll keep my mind off of it if I just focus on my work.” Rainbow tried to assure.

“I’d like to believe you Rainbow, I really would. But there are procedures that I’m legally obligated to take for situations like this.”

“Like?”

“You have to see with a psychologist, and if he or she gives you the okay, then you can go back to work.” Rainbow felt her eye twitch, but she kept herself under control.

“And if I refuse…?” she said trying to keep her anger under control; the strain was noticeable in her voice.

“Then I’m going to have to place you on medical leave, but it will only be paid medical leave for the first month. If you don’t see one in that time, then I’m afraid I’d have no choice but to cut you loose.” Rainbow didn’t say a word; she simply got up from her chair and exited her boss’s office slamming the door behind her. Her boss sat down on his chair and rubbed his temples with his hooves. He more or less expected that to be her response, he already signed her up for medical leave, now all he could do was hope that she could swallow her pride enough to get the help she needs. And in case she couldn’t, he had already made preparations with somepony he thinks could.

Applejack bucked her first tree for the day, just like always, she was able to clear it of apples in her first attempt. Only a couple hundred more trees and she would fill her quota for the day, it was tiring work but she didn’t mind. Whenever she was worked up or anxious about something, bucking a few dozen trees always made her feel better. But letting out your frustrations on a tree doesn’t work every time, and definitely not for everypony.

“Hello, Applejack” Applejack turned around to see Fluttershy landing in front of her.

“Hey there, Fluttershy, and luck with Rainbow?”

“Well, I got her to eat something, I think.” said Fluttershy “I left her a sandwich this morning and when I came back it was gone.”

“That’s a start ah guess, ah take it she’s aint talking much?”

“No, but you know how she is, she can be—“

“Stubborn?” Applejack said cutting of Fluttershy but at the same time finishing her sentence for her.

“Well, yes.” said Fluttershy as she kicked at the ground. “And, well, that’s sort of why I’m here.” she added as she rubbed the back of her head. “I uh, think I need some advice” Applejack stared at her for a second with a raised eyebrow.

“You callin’ me stubborn?”

“Yes, I mean, no, I mean…”

“Easy there” said Applejack as she placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Ah’m just kidding. I’d like to help ya, but I don’t know Rainbow like you do. If it were me ah’d probably lock her in a room with me and not let her out until she talks. No offence, but ah don’t think that’s an option for you.” Fluttershy nodded. The most intimidating feature of Fluttershy is her stare, and she can’t quite use it on Rainbow, Not that it probably wouldn’t work if she did use it, but she’d rather not go that far.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right…”

“And honestly, I don’t know if that would work on her. Not everypony deals with grief the same way, that much ah’m sure.” Fluttershy understood that, when she had gone through this she pretty much cut herself from any kind of pony interaction. “And although ah don’t want to ask this, ah’m pretty sure ah have to.” Applejack said as she kicked at the ground.

“Is there a chance that Dash could…you know…” she asked awkwardly. Fluttershy stared at Applejack with a puzzled expression. At first she didn’t understand where Applejack was coming from, but when she did, a chill went down her spine.

“N-no!” said Fluttershy as she stomped her hoof on the ground. “Rainbow would never do that, she’s stronger than that!”

“Is she? We’re talkin’ emotional pain here Fluttershy, and just like me, Rainbow hides hers from us. She want’s other ponies to see her as a strong mare, and ah can understand that, but we both know it aint healthy to keep you emotions bottled up!” a short silence fell between the mares. They weren’t strangers to the pain of losing somepony; there was no reason to argue the point any further.

“You followed after her yesterday, how did she handle it?” Fluttershy let out a sigh and bowed her head.

“Not so good, she cried a lot, and I think she trashed her house…”

“See what ah mean?” said Applejack keeping her voice in a calm and understanding tone. “As tough as Rainbow try’s to make herself on the outside, she’s just as vulnerable as everypony else. A broken heart is worse than any broken bone; it’s not something that can heal quickly, and stings a lot worse.” Fluttershy nodded.

“Now ah don’t want to think that it could come to that, but this is gonna get worse for Rainbow before it gets better. The moment you think Rainbow could be in trouble, ah need you to come get me, or anypony that you think can help you.” Fluttershy knew Applejack could be right; the mere thought of Rainbow going over the edge terrified her. Fluttershy didn’t notice but she began to tear up. Applejack noticed it and quickly gave the meek Pegasus a hug.

“Ah’m sorry to put that burden on you, ah’d share it if I could, but ah’m stuck on the ground. You’re the only one that can help Rainbow the fastest, you can fly and you live closer to her place.” Fluttershy whipped the tears from her eyes.

“You’re right; I need to be there for her. Thank you, Applejack” said Fluttershy as she nuzzled Applejack. “I’m going to check on her again, I won’t stop until she opens up to me!” Fluttershy said with confidence as she took off into the air. Applejack watched as Fluttershy flew off, a smile on her face, but that smile soon faded. Applejack covered her face with her Stetson, but that didn’t hide the tears that ran down her cheeks. A pain filled Applejack’s chest, not the pain she felt years ago but something that hurt just the same. It was the pain of knowing she couldn’t be there for one of her best friends when she needed her the most.

“Ah’m sorry, Rainbow…”

Chapter 3

Rainbow walked through the dirt roads of Ponyville; she had planned on just flying home as fast as possible so she could try to sleep the day away. But as soon as she began to fly through the air, it just didn’t feel right. Rainbow then decided to walk around instead, anything to keep her mind occupied. Eventually she decided to head for the park, skipping stones on the pond was something she picked up one time when she injured her wing. She was always surprised at how time could fly whenever she did that. If anything would help her pass the time and keep her mind busy, that would be it.

She hadn’t been to the park for a while now; the first thing she noticed was that they planted new flowers. The vivid colors of white roses and yellow sunflowers somehow brightened her mood slightly. She didn’t know it, but that was most likely the intentions of whoever commissioned the flowers to be planted. To use these colors as a way to help brighten any pony that could come across them and happen to be in a low mood. Rainbow stared at the arrangements of flowers for a few more seconds before continuing her way.

Rainbow found her usual pond; it was a ways away from the walkway of the park, secluded enough that nopony would bother her. Rainbow found a spot to sit down and used one of her wings to pick up one of the rocks on the ground. With a flick of her feathers she tossed the rock which then skipped along the water until it reached the other side. Rainbow could remember the first time she tried skipping stones; she couldn’t get it to skip even once. It wasn’t until Applejack showed her how that she was able to get the hang of it.

The whole reason Rainbow came to the park was so she could clear he head, but she still ended up thinking about what happened at work. About how they told her she needed to see a psychologist as if she was crazy.

“Like I’m supposed to just open up to some random pony with an expensive piece of paper on their wall, fat chance.” said Rainbow as she threw another stone, this time the stone only skipped once before reaching the other side. Sitting in a room while somepony else tries to tell you what’s wrong with you, if she wanted that she’d go back to school.

“Why can’t anypony understand that I’m fine, I’ll get over it if I just don’t think about—“ Rainbow was cut off when an object struck her in the back of the heard. “Ow, hey!” she yelled turning around, on the ground was a Frisbee. From in the bushes she could hear somepony running through them, grabbing the Frisbee with her wing, she contemplated on whether or not to clobber him.

“I think it flew this way!” the voice was young, clearly from a filly. About a second later a young filly emerged, she was a light purple Pegasus filly with a blond mane and tail. And from the looks of it she had yet to achieve her cutie mark. “I found…I…” the filly stopped when she spotted Rainbow Dash, her jaw hang in awe.

“Oh my gosh, you’re Rainbow Dash!” the filly yelled as she hopped in place.

“I take it you’re a fan?” Rainbow said with a small smirk as she watched the young filly jump in place.

“Who wouldn’t be, you did a Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Flyer competition!” after Rainbow won the competition, her mail box would be filled with letters from young fillies commenting about how awesome she was. She always enjoyed the feeling of the younger generation looking up to her.

“There you are!” said a stallion with a worried voice as he came out from behind the bushes.

“Dad look, it’s Rainbow Dash” Rainbow took one good look at the stallion and immediately felt her heart freeze. The stallion’s mane was blond like his daughter while his fur was a navy blue color. But the part that Rainbow couldn’t take her eyes off was his own eyes. She could see the familiar looking golden color around the stallion’s pupils.

“Well what do you know, I knew you lived in Ponyville but I never thought we’d actually meet you.” said the stallion as he extended his hoof which she shook. “I have to say, that Rainboom you did was impressive” complimented the stallion.

“I’m gonna do a Rainboom too someday, you’ll be there when I do, right dad?” said the filly as she jumped on the stallions back. The stallion turned his head toward his daughter and nuzzled her gently.

“Not even Celestia herself could keep me from seeing that.” when the stallion turned his face back to Rainbow, a frown suddenly spread on his face. “Are you okay?” Rainbow didn’t know what he was talking about until she felt something running down her cheek. Rainbow quickly rubbed the moisture out of her face and backed away.

“Yeah, I-I got to go, nice meeting you” Rainbow Dash took off before either pony could say anything. Rainbow continued to fly until she was outside of Ponyville, she found a stray cloud and landed on it.

“I started to cry, why did I start to cry?” Rainbow asked herself, but an answer was nowhere to be found. Rainbow rested on her back, her hooves placed behind her head for support as she stared up at the sky. “Maybe I’m just tired” Rainbow said to herself, it made sense, she hadn’t slept much. Closing her eyes, Rainbow wondered why she reacted the way she did when she saw that fillies father. But she didn’t have to think about it for too long as the relaxing sensation of sleep took her over.

Fluttershy was in a panic, Rainbow Dash wasn’t at home and her boss told her that she had been placed on medical leave. For the past hour she searched Ponyville trying to spot her but came up empty. With each minute that passed she would feel her anxiety grow, she didn’t know where her best friend was, and had no idea if she was okay or not.

“What if Applejack is right?” Fluttershy paused as a chill ran through her again. She didn’t want to think about it, but she promised Applejack, she needed to get some help. Looking down Fluttershy saw that she was above the library; she descended quickly and knocked on the door. A few seconds later the door was opened by Spike.

“Oh, hey Fluttershy”

“I need to talk to Twilight, quickly!” Spike didn’t even need to ask why; Twilight had already made her way down the stairs.

“Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” she asked looking almost as panicked as Fluttershy. Her hair was slightly frizzled as well, but Fluttershy didn’t pay it any mind, she had to keep focused on the situation.

“It’s Rainbow, I tried to visit her at work but her boss said she’s on medical leave, and she’s not home. I’ve tried to find her for over an hour but I couldn’t find a trace of her." she tried to hide it, but the worried expression on Fluttershy’s face didn’t fade.

“I’ll get the others, Rainbow Dash usually likes to sleep outside of town, search every cloud you can!” Fluttershy nodded before Twilight disappeared in a flash of light. Obviously Twilight resorted to using the teleportation spell; they didn’t have time to waste.

“What should I do?” asked Spike.

“Come with me, the more eyes on the sky the better” Spike nodded and climbed on Fluttershy’s back before she took off to the sky. Spike didn’t say anything at the time, but she took off faster than he had ever seen Fluttershy fly before. The two spent the next several minutes searching the sky’s trying to spot Rainbow Dash.

“Look over there!” Fluttershy turned her attention towards Spike’s finger, at the distance she could see a rainbow-colored object sticking out of a cloud. Fluttershy flew up to the cloud so see Rainbow Dash lying motionless. A few tense moments passed before Rainbow snored, Fluttershy let out a relaxing sigh as her anxiety cleared.

“Spike, can you find the others and let them know that I’m with Rainbow?” Spike nodded as Fluttershy landed on the ground. As Spike ran off back to town Fluttershy flew back to the cloud that Rainbow was sleeping on. Gently she lowered herself until she was sitting on the cloud beside the cyan mare. As she watched her, Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice the smile on Rainbow’s face. The wind blew causing a chill, when Fluttershy noticed Rainbow shiver slightly she quickly moved in closer.

Fluttershy rested Rainbow’s head on her lap and used her wings as a blanket to keep her friend from feeling cold. She watched her friend sleep, she was glad that Rainbow was safe, and she was glad that she could keep Rainbow safe.

Fluttershy didn’t know how long she sat there watching Rainbow sleep, but she didn’t care, she was just glad that she could watch over the rainbow manned Pegasus. Fluttershy herself almost nodded off, but she was snapped into attention the moment Rainbow began to stir. Looking down she thought that Rainbow could have been waking up, but that wasn’t the case. Rainbow Dash’s smile was replaced with a frown, and from the way she was tossing, Fluttershy could only assume that she was having a nightmare.

“But you promised…” Rainbow mumbled “You said you’d be there” she continued. Fluttershy watched as Rainbow continued to toss, it seemed as though her nightmare was getting worse. “Please don’t leave!” Rainbow said louder, tears began to stream down her cheeks.

“Rainbow; Rainbow wake up!” Fluttershy couldn’t stand watching her friend in so much pain; she had to take her out of her nightmare. Rainbow gasped as she opened her eyes, her eyes in a panic as she scanned her surroundings. Eventually Rainbow’s eyes locked on to Fluttershy and she began to calm.

“W-where am I?” she asked unable to remember how she got on the cloud do to the panic of the sudden wake up.

“I found you sleeping here, you were having a bad dream” Rainbow had a blank expression on her face.

“No I wasn’t” she said as she got up from Fluttershy’s lap.

“You were talking in your sleep” Rainbow froze for a moment; she turned to face Fluttershy with an arched brow.

“What did I say?”

“Something about a promise?” Rainbow’s eyes went wide before she closed them shut and grit her teeth. Rainbow turned so her back was against Fluttershy. Fluttershy stood up and took a step towards her friend.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked as she placed her hoof on Rainbows shoulder. Almost as if Fluttershy’s hoof had burned her, Rainbow flinched away from her. Fluttershy froze; she had never seen Rainbow flinch before.

“There’s nothing to talk about, I’m fine” Rainbow said lowly.

“But…”

“I said I’m fine!” she yelled as she flared her wings as though she were going to attack. Fluttershy gulped and took a step back, immediately Rainbow began to feel the guilt sink in.

“I’m sorry, Fluttershy.”

“It’s okay, Rainbow.” said Fluttershy as she took a few steps forward. “You say you’re fine, but I’ve known you for years. I know when something is bothering you, please, talk to me.” Rainbow looked at Fluttershy, her longtime friend who would always be there for her. Fluttershy would always help her if she ever had a problem.

“I…” Rainbow froze, she was about to say something but in the end, she just couldn’t do it. “There’s nothing to talk about…” Rainbow said finally before taking off into the air, this time heading home.

“So close!” Fluttershy said as she stomped her hoof on the cloud frustrated of how close she came only to have Rainbow close herself off again. Fluttershy didn’t want to give up, she was going to take off after Rainbow, but—

“Fluttershy!” she heard from the ground, looking down she saw the others running towards her. Fluttershy let out a sigh and descended towards the ground where the others were waiting for her. One of the first things she noticed was Pinkie Pie, her hair was still lifeless, in fact; she looked a little worse.

“Where’s Rainbow?” asked Applejack.

“She went home, I almost got her to open up…” said Fluttershy as she bowed her head.

“Well at least she’s okay” said Applejack before taking a glance at the others that stood behind her.

“Has her behavior changed in any way?” asked Rarity.

“A little, I think she’s starting to have nightmares” Fluttershy decided to leave out the moment when Rainbow snapped at her.

“Nightmares…I know, maybe I can ask Princess Luna to tell us about what Rainbow Dash’s nightmares are about” suggested Twilight.

“No!” said Applejack and Fluttershy in almost perfect sync.

“If Rainbow finds out we've been poking through her dreams she’ll close herself off more than she already has” Applejack explained. Twilight had decided to listen to Applejack’s advice before, but she just couldn’t sit idly by and let her friends do all the work.

“Applejack, I can’t even pretend to know what she could be going through. But I’ve read up enough on this to know that ponies that try to keep their emotions bottled up can’t handle it for very long.” Applejack knew Twilight was right, but if she had almost opened up to Fluttershy, then maybe they just needed a little more time.

“Two weeks, that’s all the time ah can ask for. If Fluttershy can’t get Rainbow to open up by then, then we’ll do it your way.” Twilight didn’t want to have to wait any longer than she felt was necessary, but she also trusted Fluttershy and Rainbows friendship.

“Alright, Fluttershy, please understand that I don’t want to force Rainbow to do something she’s not ready for, but if you can’t get through to her, then I’ll have no choice.” Fluttershy nodded, she knew Twilight’s heart was in the right place.

“I’ll get to her, I promise” Twilight nodded and turned around to leave, soon she was joined by Spike, Pinkie, and Rarity.

“You think you can do it?” asked Applejack who stayed behind.

“I have to” Fluttershy said plainly.

“Also, we might have another problem” Fluttershy arched a brow as she stared at Applejack.

“What do you mean?”

“Ah take it you’ve seen Pinkie and Twilight, they’re not looking good.” Applejack was right; Pinkie hadn’t jumped back from her depressed state yet. And Fluttershy remembered that Twilight was starting to look stressed out.

“You think it’s because they’re worried about Rainbow?”

“Maybe, but ah can’t help but think that Rainbow’s father dyin’ might have brought up something in them. Listen, keep trying with Rainbow, every second counts, in the meantime ah’m going to check with the Cake’s to see if anything had changed with Pinkie. After that I’m going to do the same with Spike.” Fluttershy nodded, she wasn’t sure what could have been her other friends problems, but she needed to focus on Rainbow first.

“Okay, I’ll leave them to you” said Fluttershy before she took off towards Rainbows home. Once Fluttershy was out of sight, Applejack took up a serious expression. It may have been unintentional, but Rainbow’s problem had in some way gotten to the others. The others didn’t know what it was like to lose a parent, but sometimes thinking about ‘what if’ could hurt just as bad. Applejack may not be able to help Rainbow like Fluttershy could; but she sure as hey was going to help her other friends if they needed it.

Intermission: Pinkie Pie - Part 1

As much as she wanted to help, Applejack left Fluttershy to continue trying to get the Pegasus to open up to her. While Applejack had no choice but to sit back and wait for any updates from Fluttershy, now she found that she had her own role to play. Although she didn’t expect it to effect the others like this, somehow Pinkie Pie and Twilight have started to act differently. It was understandable for Pinkie to feel sad for Rainbow losing her father, but she seemed to be taking it a bit too hard. Twilight was also starting to act different, her hair beginning to frizzle was never a good sign.

Applejack had to weigh in which of her two friends were considerably worse at the moment. While Twilight’s hair was slightly frizzled, Pinkie Pie had already gone into a full state of sadness. Not a lot would get Pinkie down, so if she was the way she is now, then something must have stirred up inside the Pink pony that’s causing her to feel sad. The answer was obvious enough; Applejack was already standing outside of Sugar Cube Corner. Applejack pushed opened the door, it was considerably empty, and Mr. Cake was standing behind the counter reading from a book.

“Well hello Applejack!” said Mr. Cake as he looked up from his book and gave Applejack a friendly smile and wave.

“Howdy Mr. Cake” said Applejack as she walked up to the counter.

“Is there anything I can get you?” he said as he placed a bookmark and moved the book under the counter.

“Actually, Ah was wondering if you could tell me something.” Mr. Cake raised a brow. “Ah’ve notice that Pinkie has been a little down lately, do you know what could be the problem?” Mr. Cake let out a sigh as a frown took hold of his face.

“So you don’t know either, huh?” asked Mr. Cake as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Ah’m sorry?”

“She’s been like that since the day Rarity took her from the shop in a hurry. There wasn’t even a very deep explanation, all she said was, and I quote ‘Pinkie, Rainbow, she needs us’ then ran out the door with Pinkie.” Applejack was probably going to have to ask Rarity to take some time to explain the situation rather than leave any listening ponies thinking the worst case scenario. “Is Rainbow okay, I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She’s fine, for the most part.” Mr. Cake raised a brow at the second part. “But right now Ah’m worried that Pinkie might be hiding something, what happened after she got back.” Mr. Cake tapped his chin with his hoof as he thought back.

“Well…”

Yesterday

Mrs. Cake stood at the window of the sweet shop, a worried expression taking hold of her face as she stared off at the distance. She nervously tapped her hoof as she waited for Pinkie Pie to return.

“I’m sure everything is fine, Cup Cake.” said her husband as he placed a hoof on Mrs. Cakes shoulder.

“I’m sorry; I just can’t help but worry. I mean, what if something happened to Rainbow, she’s like a sister to Pinkie.” Mr. Cake pulled in his wife for a hug.

“I’m sure she’s fine.” said Mr. Cake trying to convince himself of it as well. But the fact was he was also worried, just the thought that something could have happened to Rainbow Dash sent chills down his spine.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t worry too much.” said Mrs. Cake even though she couldn’t help it. “I’m just going to wait till Pinkie gets back, and then we can ask her what happened.” She continued as she looked out through the window. Mr. Cake knew that Cup Cake wouldn’t let it go until she found out what happened, so he left her to wait while he went to the kitchen. He needed to do something to keep his mind off of what could have happened to Rainbow.

Mr. Cake decided to prepare a fresh batch of cookies, they were running low anyway. He gathered the ingredients he needed and quickly placed them in the bowl. Eggs, milk, flower, butter, etc, all placed in the bowl to the right measurements. Then he moved it under the mixer and moved his hoof just over the starter button until-

“Honey, come quick!” the sudden yell from Mrs. Cake cause Mr. Cake to press the highest speed on the mixer. The mixer blades spun at top speed causing the batter inside to start flying through the air.

“Horse feathers!” yelled Mr. Cake as he shut up the blender. The kitchen was a mess, but he didn’t have time to clean it up at the moment. Mr. Cake quickly made his way to the other room hoping that nothing was wrong. “What happened?” he asked as he ran up to his wife’s side, she was still looking through the window.

Mrs. Cake placed the tip of her hoof on the glass pointing to something in the distance. Mr. Cake looked in the direction she was pointing until he spotted what she was pointing at. It was Pinkie Pie, she was walking home alone, and she looked far from happy. A flurry of assumptions flashed through both ponies minds. They waited until Pinkie walked through the door before walking up to the depressed mare.

“Pinkie, what happened, is Rainbow okay?” Pinkie Pie slowly nodded as she looked down to her hooves. Mr. and Mrs. Cake both let out a sigh of relief, but as glad as they were to know that the rainbow manned Pegasus was okay, they still had questions. Namely one question, what did happen to cause Pinkie Pie to look so depressed?

“Then, why do you look so-“ Mrs. Cake was caught off guard when Pinkie Pie suddenly hugged her. Being hugged by Pinkie wasn’t new to her, but something about the way Pinkie was hugging her now seemed different.

“I never said this before, but I love you both so much, it’s because of you that I’m able to make so many ponies happy.” At any other time the Cakes would have taken what Pinkie said to heart and would have felt warm inside. But now, with an unknown emergency regarding Rainbow Dash, and Pinkies sudden sadden state, the married couple couldn’t help but feel a chill down their spines.

“Pinkie, please, you’re scaring us now. What happened to Rainbow that’s got you like this?” asked Mr. Cake as he placed a hood on Pinkie’s shoulder.

“I can’t tell you, I promised.” Pinkie said lowly. The Cakes knew how much a pinkie promise meant to her, but was it really worth enough that she’d carry on the way she is now?

“Please Pinkie, I understand how you feel about keeping your promise, but if it’s hurting you in any way, you have to tell somepony.” Mr. Cake tried to explain, but Pinkie wouldn’t budge.

“I’m not hurt, really!” Pinkie said trying to put up a happy tone. “I just, really wanted to get that off my chest you know?” Pinkie said with a smile, but the Cake’s weren’t buying it.

“Are you sure Pinkie, I mean, the last time your mane looked like this…” Mrs. Cake trailed off as she ran her hoof through Pinkies mane.

“Oh, this?” Pinkie said as she touched her mane with her hoof. “I’m uh…just trying a new style is all…” she lied, and they knew it. They wanted her to tell them the truth, but they didn’t want to push her into it.

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” Mr. Cake asked one more time.

“Yes, everything’s great, who want’s cupcakes; I’m going to make cupcakes.” said Pinkie as she made her way to the kitchen leaving behind the two worried looking Cakes.

“And that’s about it, we haven’t tried to bring it up again after that.” said Mr. Cake as he finished his story. Applejack wasn’t sure what to say, it was clear that something was causing Pinkie to feel depressed, but the cause is still unknown.

“Is there anythin’ else you can tell me?” Mr. Cake thought for a moment.

“There is one thing. Last night I was walking back from the bathroom when I heard a sound coming from Pinkie Pie’s room. Call me crazy but I think she was crying, but when I knocked on the door to talk to her she told me she was fine. Obviously I didn’t want to leave it at that, but she locked the door and refused to talk about it.” Pinkie never cry’s, at least not as long as Applejack has known her.

“Is it okay if ah take her for a while, maybe ah can try to get her to talk about it,” asked Applejack.

“By all means, she’s upstairs right now.” said Mr. Cake as he motioned Applejack to the stairs. Applejack thanked Mr. Cake and made her way up stairs, along the way trying to figure out how she would get Pinkie to talk about what’s got her down.

“But how do I get her to tell me?” Pinkie wasn’t the same as Rainbow Dash, she tells it like it is and isn’t afraid to show her feelings. Obviously just asking her wouldn’t work, so she needed to come up with another way. Applejack reached the door to Pinkie Pie’s room, when she walked up to it she noticed that it was cracked slightly. Applejack was going to knock, but curiosity seemed to get to her first.

Applejack looked through the small opening at the door; she looked around until she found what she was looking for. Applejack found Pinkie Pie sitting on her bed, her back against the wall and a sad expression on her face. Pinkie was motionless minus the rising and descending of her chest at she breathed. It pained Applejack to see her like that; it would hurt to see any of her friends looking down to be honest. But Pinkie was always the cheeriest of her friends, her mood always being infectious to those around her. It was Pinkie Pies job to make everypony in Ponyville happy.

“Everypony in Ponyville…” Applejack said as an idea hit her as if it was right in front of her the entire time. Applejack knocked on the on the door and saw Pinkie flinch slightly at the sound and jumped out of bed.

“Um, come in!” Pinkie said with a light tone trying to put up a smile in the process. Applejack waited a second before pushing the door open.

“Howdy, Pinkie.” said Applejack as she stepped inside of the room.

“Applejack; is Dashie okay?” asked Pinkie as the smile on her face faded.

“She’s fine, Fluttershy will take care of her, don’t you worry.” said Applejack which seemed to help Pinkie relax a bit. “But there’s somepony else that needs your help.” Pinkie Pie stared at Applejack with wide eyes.

“Really, who?” she asked taking a step closer.

“Ah didn’t catch her name, but she really needs somepony to help her be happy again.”

“Then what are we waiting for, lead the way!” yelled Pinkie, Applejack nodded and began to walk away with Pinkie Pie following close behind. When both mares made it to the bottom step, Applejack gave Mr. Cake a subtle nod before she and Pinkie bolted out the door.

Applejack had led Pinkie Pie to the park, probably not the best place she could have thought to bring her, but she made sure they found a secluded part. Eventually Applejack stopped running as did Pinkie Pie who looked around trying to find the pony that Applejack mentioned.

“Well, where’s the pony you were talking about?” asked Pinkie when she didn’t see anypony else around them.

“Over here.” said Applejack as he sat down next to a pond. Pinkie walked up next to Applejack but still couldn’t see anypony.

“Where?”

“Right there.” Applejack pointed at the water in the pond. Pinkie looked in the water trying to figure out what Applejack was pointing at. It took her a while, but she eventually found the pony that Applejack was pointing at. Her mane was lifeless, her fur darkened, and her eyes just screamed sorrow. It was her; Pinkie Pie was looking at her own reflection in the water.

“M-me, I’m the pony that need’s help getting happy?” Applejack nodded “B-but I’m not sad, I’m just fine.” said Pinkie as she placed her hoof on her chest.

“Pinkie, you’re not fooling anypony. Whenever you’re feelin’ low, everypony else that knows you can see it. Mr. Cake told me you’ve been like this since you got back from the station. Ah know you didn’t tell them about what happened to Rainbow’s father, but even somepony like you wouldn’t feel this sad from knowing one of your friends lost a parent.” Pinkie Pie looked down at her hoof while she rubbed her foreleg with the other hoof.

“It’s nothing, really.” Pinkie tried to assure her, but there’s no way to lie to the element of honesty of all ponies.

“Come on Pinkie, if something is making you feel sad; you’ve got to tell us. How can you help Rainbow be happy if you’re not happy yourself?” Applejack didn’t know it, but that struck a chord in Pinkie’s heart.

“That’s just it, I shouldn’t be sad. You, Fluttershy, and Rainbow all lost sompony important and I haven’t, what right do I have to feel sad just because—“ Pinkie trailed off her sentence, a hitch caught in her throat as tears began streaming down her cheeks. Applejack had never seen Pinkie Pie like this, since the day she first met her years ago she had always smiled, expect for one or two times. But that’s when it hit Applejack, she had seen Pinkie almost daily, always making ponies happy, always helping her friends, always in Ponyville.

“Pinkie, when was the last time you’ve visited your folks?” asked Applejack as she arched a brow. Pinkie looked at Applejack for a moment before evading her eyes again as she bit her bottom lip for a moment.

“I don’t know…” she said rubbing her foreleg slightly. “Maybe, six years…?” Pinkie said with a guilt look on her face. There was a part of Applejack that was surprised to hear that Pinkie hadn’t visited her parents in so long. But when she remembered what kind of pony Pinkie is, she began to understand it. Pinkie Pie would always make time for others, she would do everything she can to make others happy. At the end of the day, Pinkie Pie would always feel good about herself for being the cause behind so many smiles. But she when she spend so much time making others happy, sometimes she forgets that she need to make herself happy too.

“That’s an awful long time not to visit your folk don’t you think, don’t ya miss them?” asked Applejack.

“Of course I miss them, they’re my parents and I love them.” said Pinkie Pie. Suddenly Pinkie looked like she said something she shouldn’t have. “I-I mean, of course anypony would love their parents, everypony dies—“ Pinkie paused for a moment when she realized what she said “Does! Everypony does is what I meant to say.” Applejack blinked Pinkie’s sudden slip of the tongue caught Applejack’s ear.

“Uh, Pinkie, how are your folks doing?”

“Well, they were okay last time I got a letter from them…”

“And how long ago was that?” Pinkie just couldn’t bring herself to look up anymore.

“Six months…” she said as her ears lowered.

“So you’re saying you miss your folks, anypony would feel sad if they didn’t know if their family were okay or not.” said Applejack. “But, why would you say you don’t have any right to be sad about that?” was the part Applejack couldn’t figure out.

“B-because, you and Fluttershy—“

“Don’t get to see ours when we miss them?” said Applejack finishing Pinkie Pie’s sentence for her. Pinkie nodded, she looked almost ashamed at herself for the moment. A frown fell across Applejack’s face, getting closer to Pinkie; she gave her a hug she was sure she needed. “So you’ve kept this bottled up because you thought we would hate you?” Pinkie has buried her face in Applejack’s shoulder, but she still nodded a yes to the question.

“Well that’s just silly.” said Applejack as she pushed Pinkie Pie back slightly so that the pink pony could look her in the eye. “Pinkie ah’m not going to hate you if you miss your parent or want to see them. Though ah might had resented ya if you took them for granted, but that’s not the case, right?” Pinkie Pie nodded. “Let me tell you something, ah may not be able to see mine again, but sometimes when ah’m sad, or want to talk to somepony, ah visit their graves. Sure it might not be the same thin’, but ah know that they’re listenin’, even if they can’t say anything back.” a small tear ran down Applejack’s face, but she held on to the smile she was giving Pinkie Pie.

“Now ah know what happened to my folks and ah know where they are right now, but you don’t. Sometimes not knowin’ can be just as bad, you don’t know where they are or if they’re okay, but you assume the worse.” Pinkie tried to look away, Applejack had read her like a book, but the farmer pony wasn’t going to let her shrink away. “But there’s a simple way to get over this, take a few days off, visit your family and see what they’ve been up to. Ah’m sure that by the time you get back, you’ll be back to your old self.” Applejack assured her.

“B-but I can’t do that, what if Dashie need’s us while I’m away.”

“Pinkie, look at yourself. Do you really think you can help her the way you are now?” Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but no answer came out.

“I-I have to try, it’s what I do, I make ponies happy!” said Pinkie as she pointed at her cutie mark.

“Yes, you do, you make sure that everypony in Ponyville are happy.” said Applejack with an understanding tone. “And last ah checked, ah’m a pony, and ah live here, and ah’m a little bit sad right now.” She continued as she put up a fake frown.
“Y-you are, is it because of me?”

“Well, sort of.” Pinkie looked like she was about to cry “Ah’m sad because you’re sad. And ah’m sure all of our friends would feel the same way if they saw you this way. Now, it’s your job to make us happy, and do you know what would make me feel happy?” Applejack asked her. Pinkie looked at her as she tilted her head slightly.

“It would make me happy to know that you spent some time with your family, that you show them you still care. But most important of all, ah know that it would make you happy to see them again, and right now, that’s all that matters.” Pinkie looked unsure, she wanted to see her family again with all her heart, but she still feared that she would be resented.

“Are you sure they won’t hate me?”

“ah’m sure” said Applejack as she pulled Pinkie back in for another hug.

It took a little more assuring, but eventually Applejack was able to convince Pinkie that nopony would hate her and it wasn’t selfish to want to make yourself happy too. Applejack walked Pinkie back to Sugar Cube Corner, her hair unchanged, but she didn’t look as sad as she did earlier.

“Thank for the help, Applejack.”

“No problem, Pinkie, you going to tell the Cakes?” Applejack and Pinkie came to a stop right at the door to Sugar Cube Corner.

“Yeah, I’m going to tell them and see if I can get some time off to visit my family. But only for a few days, I want to be here when Dashie needs us, and I know Fluttershy will work fast.” Pinkie’s confidence in Fluttershy was warming.

“Just don’t rush over here until you’re sure you’re okay again.” Applejack felt that she needed to point out.

“I promise.” said Pinkie before giving Applejack one last hug. Pinkie wanted to talk to the Cakes alone, so Applejack said her goodbyes and made her way back home. Once Applejack had disappeared in the distance, Pinkie opened the door to the sweets shop and walked on. Mrs. Cake was behind the counter while Mr. Cake was restocking the shelves.

“Oh, Pinkie, welcome back.” said Mrs. Cake with a friendly smile and a wave.

“Thanks, um, there’s something I need to tell you…” Pinkie Pie explained to the Cakes about the problem she was having, making sure not to tell them about what happened to Rainbow's father, a promise was still a promise in her book. She told them how long it’s been since she saw or heard from her family, and how she was scared about weather of not they were okay or not. Even the Cakes were surprised by how long it’s been.

“Pinkie, why didn’t you tell us this was eating at you?” asked Mr. Cake.

“Applejack, and Fluttershy both lost a family member. I thought that if they knew that I was sad just because I missed mine, they’d hate me.” Pinkie explained.

“Oh Pinkie, they’re your friends, they wouldn't hate you for that.” said Mrs. Cake.

“Yeah, Applejack told me that.” Pinkie said with a smile. “So, I was wondering, can I take a few days off to, you know.”

“You want to visit your family?” Pinkie nodded “Well of course you can, take as long as you need.” said Mrs. Cake as she hugged Pinkie tighter. Pinkie smiles, probably the first real smile she’s had since yesterday. She hid her feeling in fear of being hated only to find out it would never happen, and now, she was going to visit her family.

“Oh, I should make cupcakes for them!” said Pinikie, her mane visibly regaining some of its life as she did.

“Of course, come, we’ll make the best cupcakes we’ve ever made!” said Mrs. Cake as she made her way to the kitchen to the kitchen with Pinkie following close behind. And so they did, Pinkie and Mrs. Cake made the best cupcakes they ever made before, Mr. Cake made sure to save the recipe. Tomorrow Pinkie would set off to see her family again after so many years, and she couldn't wait.

Chapter 4

Fluttershy sat on her sofa, she had spent the day trying to get Rainbow to open up again, but she couldn’t even get her to open the door. The sun had gone and the moon had taken its place for the night. Fluttershy sat frustrated on her sofa, her head resting on her hoof as she thought to herself. That afternoon while she was watching Rainbow sleep, she heard her friend sleep talking while having a nightmare. She had tried to ask Rainbow Dash about what her nightmare was about, but she denied having one.

Fluttershy had two weeks to find a way to get Rainbow Dash to admit she was hurting or Twilight would have to take action. Fluttershy knew that it was all in good intentions, but she didn’t want to force Rainbow Dash into something that would only make her angrier than she is now. But at the moment it was looking like it would be a possibility, Rainbow Dash was by far the most-hard headed pony Fluttershy’s ever known.

“Not that it’s her fault; Rainbow has always tried to keep up her image around everypony.” Fluttershy said to Angel who was sleeping on the sofa. “Especially around bullies,” Rainbow Dash’s nick name was due to her attempting stuns her body wasn’t ready to perform. Most of her attempts to attempt a stunt would end up with her crashing into something which earned her the title of ‘Rainbow Crash’ in fly school. Bumps, scratches, and bruises, things most fillies would try to avoid getting, but Rainbow always wore them as badges of honor. Rainbow’s whole life revolved around being the toughest pony around. And to hold such a title, Rainbow Dash never let anypony know she was hurting.

“Only a hoof full of ponies that would know when something was bothering her.” Fluttershy continued even though nopony was listening. “Like the time that teacher got a little too ‘friendly’” Fluttershy said with a little venom in her voice. The problem was discovered before it turned too serious. But that didn’t stop Rainbow’s dad from giving the teacher his two bits before he was arrested. Getting up from her sofa carefully as to not wake Angel, Fluttershy walked up to the picture she had over her fireplace. The picture was taken several years ago; on it was Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy when they were still fillies. Behind them stood two large adult ponies, all four had a smile on their faces.

“You figured out something was wrong even before I did.” said Fluttershy as she placed her hoof over one of the adult ponies in the picture. “I wonder what you would do.” she said to the picture, though she knew she wouldn’t get an answer. Fluttershy let out a yawn, it was late, and she needed to get as much rest as she could to try with Rainbow Dash again in the morning.

“You said that you were going to retire, why are you going back!?” two ponies stood alone in a room, one was rather bigger than the other.

“I know I promised that, but things have gotten a little heated. The team needs somepony they can trust to lead them, nopony else is ready to take the responsibility.” said the older pony.

“You’ve already served more time than any other captain has, just give the title to somepony else!” protested the younger pony.

“It’s not that easy, I can’t do that unless somepony fills the qualifications to handle the title. Listen, I know this means I’m going to miss the competition but—“

“This has nothing to do with that!” the younger pony yelled cutting off the older one. “Do you know how it feels, to not know if you’re okay or not when you’re out there!?” the older pony didn’t answer at first.

“You know I write to you when I can…”

“Yes, once a month at least, but you have no idea how scared I get when I receive an official letter from the Royal Guard.” the younger pony had begun to cry. “I don’t want to read a letter from you, I want to be able to see you, I want to be able to visit you and know that you’re okay…” the younger pony hung her head.

“I—“ the older ponies word were silence but the sounds of loud banging. The area around both ponies began to dissolve; eventually even the older pony vanished leaving the younger one in a black void. The younger pony looked around in confusion, it didn’t seem real to her anymore.

“T-this is a dream…” and with that, she awoke.

“Gyah!” Rainbow awoke when the banging continued. She had thought she dreamt it, but now that she was awake, she could hear it coming from her door. Rainbow groaned as she ran her foreleg across her face. She had been crying in her sleep again, it was starting to annoy her. Rainbow looked over at her clock; it was seven in the morning.

“Oh for the love of…” Rainbow kicked off her sheets and hopped out of bed. She made sure to clean her face first before going to the door. She stood at her door and waited to see if the knocking would continue. Rainbow waited almost half a minute before the knocking continued, this time it was louder than before. It may have been due to her nightmares causing her to lose several hours of relaxing sleep. But Rainbow had awoken particularly agitated that morning. Without thinking, Rainbow Dash reached for the door nod with a scowl on her face.

“Stop checking up on me!” yelled Rainbow Dash as soon as she opened the door.

“Well, and here I thought I was entitled to check on you every now and then.” the pony standing in front of Rainbow’s door wasn’t Fluttershy, no this Pegasus was older. Her mane style had a striking resemblance to Rainbows, only it was blue. In fact, the mare looked like an older version of the cyan Pegasus only with a different colorization. Blue mane, pink fur, and her cutie mark were of two blue lightning bolts.

“Mom!?” Rainbow said with a combination of being surprised to see her mom at her door, and embarrassed because she just yelled at her own mother. “I-I’m sorry, I thought you were somepony else…!” Rainbow said staggering.

“It’s okay, sweetie, I’m sure you weren’t expecting me to visit today” said Rainbow’s mom as she nuzzled her daughter before stepping in. “So, who exactly is it that’s got you so miffed?” she asked as Rainbow Dash closed the door.

“It’s nothing, just somepony that won’t take a hint…” Rainbow shrugged as she walked up to her mother. Rainbow’s mother stared at her for a second, the cyan Pegasus knew she was reading her like a book, she could always do that. “So, I take it you already know?” Rainbow’s mother looked away for a moment; she took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah, I found out yesterday. I took the next train I could just arrived not too long ago.” said Rainbow’s mother as she walked up to her. “So, are you okay?” she asked as she placed her hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“Y-yeah, I mean, I’m sad about it…but I can handle it…” said Rainbow as she put up a brave face. Rainbow’s mother looked at her intently, but she still held her face strong to prove she was fine.

“Are you sure, you look like you haven’t been getting any sleep.” Rainbow panicked for a moment, she searched for every possible answer she could think of.

“O-oh, I’ve been up late reading the Daring Do books, once I pick them up they’re hard to put down.” she said rubbing the back of her head. Rainbow’s mother raised a brow; it looked as though she saw through her again.

“You’ve really need to be more responsible with your sleeping habits.” Rainbow’s mom said with a sigh.

“Right, I’ll try.” Rainbow said with a small chuckle. “So, are you staying for a few days, I can pull out the guest bed.” She added right after.

“I’m only here for today sadly, I need to head to Canterlot for the…arrangements” Rainbow was about to ask what her mother what he mother meant, but she figured it out quickly.

“Oh, right.”

“And there are a few things I need take care of while I’m here, but listen, how about this afternoon we go out to dinner and catch up?” Rainbow’s mother asked her.

“Yeah, that sounds cool.”

“Good, well, I should get going.” Rainbow’s mother said as she moved towards the door. “Sweetie, you know you can tell me if anything is bothering you, right?” Rainbow’s mother said when she stopped at the door.

“I know mom, but seriously, I’m fine.” Rainbow assured her. Rainbow’s mother looked at her one last time before giving her a smile.

“Okay, I’ll be back this afternoon.” Rainbow gave her mother a nod before she took off for Ponyville.

“Now if only Fluttershy would understand like that…” Rainbow said to herself as she closed the door. If she was right, her meek Pegasus friend would arrive soon to check on her again. Until then, she decided to try to get back to sleep; a few more hours could probably put her in a good enough mood not to snap again.

Rainbow’s mother touched down in Ponyville, she looked back towards the direction where Rainbow Dash built her cloud home and a frown spread on her face. Rainbow was good at wearing a mask around other ponies; she could fool anypony from knowing if she felt scared, nervous, or any other emotions she wouldn’t admit to be feeling. But she couldn’t fool her own mother, she could see through any mask her daughter tried to put on. Rainbow’s mother let out another sight before catching the attention of one of the ponies passing by.

“Excuse me, but can I get directions?”

Fluttershy had been up for almost an hour now; she was just about finished up with feeding the animals around her cottage. Most ponies would have gone crazy trying to remember who to feed what and how much, but for Fluttershy it has been second nature. The had gotten up a little earlier than she usually does, she wanted to be wide awake for when she flew over to Rainbow Dash’s cloud home. Though she was sure she’d spend several hours sitting at the door trying to get Rainbow to talk to her.

“And here’s your salad Angel.” said Fluttershy as she placed the bowl down on the floor for her rabbit to eat. With that, she was finished for the next couple hours, but it was still too early to head over, she imagined that Rainbow Dash would still be asleep. She just needed to wait a few hours, and knowing that Rainbow wouldn’t be going to work, she wasn’t sure how long the Pegasus would sleep.

Knowing she needed to pass the time, Fluttershy decided to make some tea while planning how she would try to talk to Rainbow Dash today. “Maybe I should try indirectly, get her to talk about something else and then try to move the topic back to her father?” Fluttershy questioned. It was clear that her approach wasn’t working, and a direct one wasn’t an option for her. She’d need to be as strong as Applejack in order to keep Rainbow in one place.

Knock Knock Knock

Fluttershy had just put the tea-pot on the stove when she heard the knocking. She wasn’t expecting anypony this early, she wondered if it was Applejack, but hopped that it could have been Rainbow Dash. She got her answer when she opened the door, and a smile grew on her face.

“Mrs. Firefly!” said Fluttershy as she gave Rainbow’s mother a warm hug.

“It’s good to see you too, sweetie.” said Firefly as she returned the hug. “I haven’t seen you in years, look at you, you’re the spitting image of your mother.” Fluttershy took the compliment to heart and blushed lightly.

“I’m sorry I don’t visit you very often, I can’t take too many days off because of my animal friends.”

“I understand; they depend on you.” a loud whistling rang through the air; Fluttershy forgot that she had left the tea to boil.

“Oh, the tea.” said Fluttershy as she ran back into the kitchen turning down the flame and moving the pot. “Would you like some?”

“Sure!” Firefly yelled from the living room. Fluttershy grabbed the pot by the handle with her teeth and grabbed two cups with her wings before she walked back to the living room. Firefly had already sat down at the table waiting patiently for Fluttershy to return. Fluttershy placed the cups on the table then poured the tea for both of them before putting the pot down.

“I hope you like it.” Firefly cooled off her tea before taking a sip.

“Mmm, this is amazing!” she said with a smile. Fluttershy was glad that she liked it, the two drank from their cups in a comfortable silence, once their cups were empty, Fluttershy spoke.

“So, are you here to visit Rainbow Dash?”

“I already have.” Firefly said with a frown. “She hides it well, but I know she’s hurting.” she continued. Fluttershy already knew that much and she knew that Rainbow Dash would never admit it.

“She’s been having nightmares, but she won’t tell me what they are about.” Firefly looked up at Fluttershy, that part she didn’t know. “But now that you’re here, we can work together to help her!” getting Rainbow the help she needs looked easier now, who better to help Fluttershy than Rainbow’s own mother. It was a positive thought, but Firefly didn’t look as convinced as Fluttershy did.

“Fluttershy, be honest with me.” Fluttershy tilted her head at Firefly “Was I a bad mother?” Fluttershy was completely stunned by this, and somewhat angry.

“No!” Fluttershy yelled as she slammed her hooves on the table. “You were a great mother, and still are, don’t ever think otherwise!” Fluttershy stared at Firefly; it looked like she was ready to attack. A few seconds passed and Fluttershy realized what she had just done. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me…” said Fluttershy as she sat back down. Firefly wasn’t hurt, just surprised to see Fluttershy be so forward, it was a rare sight.

“It’s okay, I’m glad you think that.” Firefly said with a smile. “It’s just, why can’t I get my own daughter to open up to me, it was something I could never get her to do.” Firefly’s bottom lip began to quiver “I often thought it was because she doesn’t trust me enough.” Rainbow’s relationship with her parents varied between the two. With her father she was always ‘Daddy’s little girl’ she would always talk to him about anything that was bothering her, embarrassing or not. But with her mother, she would always treat her like one of the girl, they’d joke, they’d laugh, but Rainbow would never tell her anything personal.

“Of course she trusts you, it’s just, how do I put this…?” Fluttershy wasn’t sure how to describe it. “When we were growing up, Rainbow would always talk about how cool you were, about how lucky she was to have a cool mom. You’re strong and independent, and she wanted to be just like you, somepony that wouldn’t falter to anything. And whenever she’s around you, she just feels that she needs to hold tight to that image. She wants to show you that made her who she is today, a mare who tackled the world and came out on top. Why else do you think she pushed herself to be captain of the weather team?” Firefly is the current captain of the manehattan, a position she worked hard to get.

She remembers the day she found out that Rainbow had gotten the same position in Ponyville, and in less time no less. She was so proud of her, but at the time she didn’t think that her daughter did it to be like her.

“You’re an inspiration to her, never forget that.” Firefly began to cry, but not from sorrow, only pride.

“Thank you Fluttershy, I needed that.” she said as she gave Fluttershy another hug. The hug lasted a few more minutes before the two let go. “It’s been nice seeing you again, but I need to take care of a few things before I leave for Canterlot tomorrow.

“Oh, leaving so soon?”

“I wish I could stay, but I need to make the arrangements for the funeral.” said Firefly as she whipped the tears from her eyes. “Oh my, I was so busy self-loathing that I never asked, how did you take the new when you found out?”

“It hit me hard, but as much as I wanted to cry…I felt that I couldn’t. I knew that however bad it felt for me, it would be worse for Rainbow, so, I had to be strong, for her.” Firefly smiled.

“You’re a stronger mare than you think, Fluttershy.”

“I have both you and him to thank for that.” Fluttershy said as she nuzzled Firefly lightly. Both said their final farewells, Firefly convinced Fluttershy not to check on Rainbow Dash for the day and that she’d and Rainbow were going to eat out later. Fluttershy was reluctant at first, but Firefly convinced her that Rainbow would be fine. When Firefly left, Fluttershy found herself drawn to the picture she had over her fire-place. She thought back to why that picture meant so much to her, and remembered everything Rainbow and her parents have done for her. And that’s when it hit her; she knew how she would get through to Rainbow Dash.

“I’m not giving up Rainbow, tomorrow I’m going to get through to you; I know it.” Fluttershy said with confidence as she stared at the picture of Rainbow Dash when she was a filly. She could only hope that it could work.

Author's Note

I'd like to thank everyone who had enjoyed reading this Fimfiction, I never thought it would be rated so well. I has been an honor to know I could touch the hearts of the readers. More chapters to come.

Chapter 5

“Eleven days, plenty of time” Fluttershy assured herself as she flew towards Rainbow Dash’s home. She was still under a deadline that Applejack was able to get her. She was sure eleven days were more than enough for her to ease her way into getting Rainbow to open up to her. “Here goes nothing.” said Fluttershy as she knocked on Rainbow’s door and then waited for an answer. Part of Fluttershy’s plan required her to leave a few hours later than she normally would.

“Who’s there…” said Rainbow in an ‘as if I don’t already know’ tone of voice.

“It’s me, Rainbow, I was wondering-“

“Let me guess, you still think I’m hiding something and are trying to get it out of me?” was Rainbow’s spot on guess. As much as Fluttershy hated to hear Rainbow was still in denial, she had to follow her plan.

“Not anymore, you were right; I was just being silly thinking that something was wrong. Obviously if something was bothering you you’d tell me, I mean, you trust me, right?” Rainbow felt like something grabbed her by the chest and started to pull.

“O-of course I trust you, Fluttershy.” said Rainbow trying to keep herself under control.

“That’s good to hear.” said Fluttershy as she put up a cheerful tone. “So there’s actually another reason why I came over. I was wondering, when was the last time we hung out?” Fluttershy felt her stomach lurch when she said ‘hung’ but continued on. “Just the two of us I mean.”

Rainbow thought this over, she and Fluttershy have been friends since they could walk, but recently they haven’t spent much time together. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?” Rainbow said through her guilt.

“I was wondering, maybe we could spend the day together like we used to.” Fluttershy waited a full minute waiting for an answer. What she heard felt like music to her ears, it was the subtle click of the lock to Rainbow’s door.

“That does sound good.” said Rainbow as she opened the door; it was the first accomplishment Fluttershy has made since Rainbow’s return from Canterlot. It was a short-lived victory for Fluttershy when she saw what Rainbow looked like.

“Dear Celestia, it’s only been two days since I’ve seen her, Rainbow, how much are you trying to hold in!” Rainbow’s mane was always messy, but the way it looked now would probably cause Rarity to faint at first sight. The bags under her eyes were blacker than a starless night, and her eyes were so bloodshot it was hard not to notice.

“I can’t let anypony else see her like this…” Fluttershy had originally thought a day in town would work, but if they did that then everypony would know something was wrong with Rainbow.

“So, what do you want to do?” Rainbow asked snapping Fluttershy out of her train of thought.

“I, uh…I thought that maybe we could go to your usual spot and you could show me some of your new stunts, if that’s okay with you.” Rainbow looked away as she rubbed her foreleg.

“Um, I don’t really feel like trying any stunts right now…how about we grab a bite to eat in town?” this was the first time Fluttershy had ever turned down an offer to show off, it was concerning, but Fluttershy couldn’t try to bring up the real issue, not just yet.

“T-that sounds great, but maybe you should wash your eyes, where you cutting onion?” said Fluttershy as she gently touched Rainbow’s cheek.

“Onions?” Rainbow asked wondering what Fluttershy was talking about. “O-oh right, yeah onions…should probably have worn some goggles.” Rainbow chuckles as she backed away from the door. “I’ll be right back, come in if you want.” said Rainbow as she made her way to her bathroom to see how bad she looked. If she didn’t know it was her reflection, Rainbow would have thought there was a ghost in her mirror.

“Geez, I look horrible…” Rainbow was never one to care much for her appearance, but today she looked like she had just come back from spending several sleepless days in the Everfree forest. “I’ll be out in a bit, going to shower first!” said Rainbow as she cracked open the door slightly so Fluttershy could hear her.

“Okay.” said Fluttershy as she closed the door. Fluttershy walked up to the door to the bathroom placing her ear close to it until she heard the sound of the shower. She wasn’t sure how long Rainbow would be in there, but while she waited she made her way towards Rainbow’s bedroom. The first thing she noticed was the helmet placed on the shelf next to Rainbow’s bed; it looked like it was recently cleaned. On the side was the sticker of Rainbow’s cutie mark that she placed there years ago.

“I remember when you put this on it.” said Fluttershy as she reached to grab the helmet but stopped short. “No, I can’t just touch it…” Fluttershy thought to herself as she backed away from the helmet.

“You know, your stickers are still there too.” Fluttershy turned to see Rainbow standing at the door; she looked a lot better now.

“T-they are?”

“Yeah, take a look.” said Rainbow as she motioned her hoof to her father’s helmet. Fluttershy hesitated at first but then grabbed the helmet and looked inside. After they got their cutie marks, Rainbow’s parents took her and Fluttershy to a store that custom-made stickers. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy got several stickers of their cutie marks. After they placed their stickers on several surfaces, Rainbow and Fluttershy wanted to pick a special place to put their last ones.

Rainbow wanted more ponies to see her cutie mark than just the ones in Cloudsdale. So one day she took Fluttershy to the room where her father kept his armor. Without hesitation she slapped her last cutie sticker on the helmet. It took some convincing but Rainbow got Fluttershy to do the same, only the shy Pegasus decided not to have hers be too visible.

On the back wall inside the helmet, Fluttershy could see the butterfly sticker she placed there years ago. The sticker hadn’t faded thanks to a spell that Rainbow’s father had placed on them so they would never come off. ‘This way you’ll know that I’m always thinking about you’ Rainbow’s father told them after the spell was placed. Fluttershy could feel her bottom lip quiver slightly but after a deep breath she composed herself again.

“I still find it hard to believe he kept mine.” said Fluttershy as she placed the helmet back where it was.

“He knew how much it meant to you, and you know how much you meant to him.” said Rainbow as she placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“And I’m supposed to be the one trying to cheer you up.” Fluttershy thought to herself as she smiled back to her friend.

“Yeah, so, ready to go?”

“Yup; maybe we can catch a movie too.” said Rainbow as she and Fluttershy walked to the front door. Once outside of Rainbow’s home, Fluttershy was first to take to the air, but was surprised to when she turned around.

“What’s wrong?” asked Fluttershy as she noticed Rainbow standing on the edge of the cloud.

“I uh, why don’t we walk into town, this way we can we can talk longer on the way.”

“It’s not that she just doesn’t want to do stunts, she doesn’t want to fly period…” Fluttershy thought to herself. She knew how much flying meant to Rainbow, she knew how much joy it brought her she raced as fast as she could. And she also knew who thought Rainbow how to fly in the first place.

“I’d like that.” Fluttershy finally as she and Rainbow touched down to the ground before making their way to town.

The walk to town was better than Fluttershy could have hoped. She didn’t bring up anything about Rainbow’s father; instead they talked about anything some of the happy moments they had together. As they conversation progressed, Fluttershy could see Rainbow relaxing, this is what she wanted, for Rainbow to feel at ease. By this time they were already in town trying to find a place to eat.

“So, um, do you want to eat something at Sugar Cube Corner? Rainbow stopped to think about it for a moment. She knew Pinkie was probably there, and there was a fair chance that the first thing she’d do is try to cheer her up or something. She couldn’t blame Pinkie for being who she is, but she didn’t want somepony bringing up what happened, especially after seeing that Fluttershy finally understands that she’s fine.

“Nah, I’m not really in the mood for sweets.” said Rainbow as she looked around town to find another place. “How about we eat at Alabaster Castle?” asked Riainbow as she pointed at the fast food restaurant. Fluttershy wasn’t too big a fan of fast food, but she figured it wouldn’t kill her to eat some now.

“Okay, why not?” said Fluttershy as she and Rainbow walked into the restaurant. It wasn’t too busy inside, but there was a fair amount of ponies eating at the tables.

“Get us a table while I get in line. What do you want to eat?” asked Rainbow.

“Oh, anything’s fine I guess.” Rainbow nodded and walked up to the short line while Fluttershy found them a table to eat at. Once she found a table and sat down, Fluttershy thought to herself on what she would do next. Rainbow seemed rather comfortable now, a lot better than she was before they got to town. She wondered if bringing up her father now would ruin that, but she a simple question couldn’t hurt that badly, right?

“Here you go.” said Rainbow as she placed the trays of food on the table using her wings. “You like hay fries, right?” Fluttershy nodded as she pulled her tray of hay fries, hay burger, and apple soda closer to her.

“Just ask if she misses him…” Fluttershy thought to herself as she began to eat from her fries. It seemed like a simple yes or no question, there was no need to go into detail about it. She would just as her and regardless of what her answer was she’d drop it for a while. Fluttershy found it a little hard to swallow, but she guessed it was due to the fear of Rainbow getting mad.

“Rainbow, do you mi-“ Fluttershy couldn’t seem to finish her sentence. “Mi-“ something was wrong, why couldn’t she say it, and why couldn’t she breath?

“Fluttershy?” Rainbow raised her brow to her friend wondering what she was trying to say. She then dropped her soda when she saw Fluttershy start to choke. “Fluttershy!?” Rainbow yelled catching the attention of everypony in the restaurant. Rainbow looked into Fluttershy’s mouth, but she didn’t see food stuck in her throat. No, in fact it was her throat itself causing her to choke.

“Your throat is swelling up!” yelled Rainbow wondering what could have caused this.

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow turned to see one of the employees has walked up to them.

“What do you fry your hay fried in!?” yelled Rainbow as she walked up to the employee.

“P-peanut oil!”

“What!?” yelled Rainbow as she grabbed the employee by his shoulders shaking him furiously. Rainbow pushed the colt back and rushed to Fluttershy and dug into her saddle bag searching through the pockets.

“Where’s your Epipen!?” Fluttershy shook her head still trying to breathe, her hooves around her neck as if she was trying to grab on to something that was wrapped around it and she was trying to remove it. Fluttershy’s struggle started to lessen at time passed on, Rainbow couldn’t find her Epipen and was starting to panic; she couldn’t do anything but watch her best friend die right in front of her.

“Hey!” Rainbow turned to see a Unicorn mare throw something at her. Once she caught it she noticed it was an Epipen. Without any further thought, Rainbow pulled off the top and quickly stabbed it into Fluttershy’s thigh. A few seconds past and Rainbow feared that it was too late, but then Fluttershy’s body jerked upwards as she finally filled her lungs with air. Fluttershy enjoyed the feeling of air filling her lungs long enough before the world around her faded into darkness.

Fluttershy felt weak, very weak, she tried to open her eyes but she couldn’t find the strength to do event that. There was something on her snout, it felt lie plastic and she could feel air running from it into her nose. She could hear a beeping sound next to her, it seemed slow but tranquil.

“Luckily she got the injection just in time, but she was without oxygen for a while. We need to make sure that she didn’t suffer any kind of brain damage as a result.” Fluttershy could hear somepony talking which followed by what sounded like crying. Fluttershy tried again, this time she was able to open her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurry; she blinked several times before everything around her came into focus. She was in a room with white walls, there were machines around her and she was on a white bed.

Fluttershy looked across the room to see nurse Redheart holding something that was crying in her shoulder. She could see the rainbow mane and cyan colored fur “R-rain- bow?” Rainbow Dash and Redheart turned to Fluttershy.

“You’re awake!” yelled Rainbow as she ran up to Fluttershy’s side. Rainbow made sure to hug her lightly, as much as she just wanted to pick her up and hug her tightly, but she knew Fluttershy was too weak to do that. Nurse Redheart placed a hoof on Rainbows shoulder motioning her to step back for a moment. Nurse Redheart used a small light and checked Fluttershy’s pupils; she seemed to have taken no damage.

“Try not to talk, you’re still recovering. You suffered from an attack caused by your peanut allergy. Your friend flew you here after you received an injected by an Epipen somepony in the restaurant had.

“H-how long…” Fluttershy said weakly unable to continue her sentence.

“You’ve been out for almost an hour. Rainbow Dash flew you in; we ran some tests to make sure you were okay before putting you in this room. She was insistent on not leaving your side until we were sure you were okay.” Flutershy looked back at Rainbow giving her a thankful smile, but Rainbow was having a hard time keeping eye contact with her.

“How long will she have to be here?” asked Rainbow as Redheart checked Fluttershy’s charts.

“Well she was having some difficulties breathing on her own, so she’ll have to stay for a few days to let them recover. As soon as she’s able to breathe without the assistance of the machine then she’ll be free to go.” Readheart concluded as she placed the chart back. “You can stay if you want but again, try to keep her from talking too much for now.” Redheart said to Rainbow before leaving the room.

The room fell silent once they were alone, Rainbow sitting next to Fluttershy’s bed but looking at the ground. Fluttershy wasn’t sure what Rainbow was thinking, but she didn’t like the look in her friend’s eyes.

“It’s all my fault…” Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide as Rainbow continued. “I wanted to eat in Alabaster Castle, and I bought you hay fries…”

“N-o…” Fluttershy’s inability to talk correctly seemed like some kind of curse, she wasn’t even sure Rainbow heard what she had been able to say.

“You almost died because of me!” Rainbow began to cry.

“It’s not your fault, please, you didn’t know!” Fluttershy thought to herself wishing she could scream to the high heavens at this moment. As to why Rainbow began to blame herself Fluttersh didn’t know, but she knew it wouldn’t end well if not fixed quickly.

“I can’t…I can’t go through something like that again.” Rainbow continued as she got up from the ground. “Everypony that’s close to me is starting to get hurt…I think it’s better if I just wasn’t around them.” Rainbow turned around and walked up to the window to Fluttershy’s room.

“No, somepony stop her, please!” Fluttershy looked around until she found the ‘call nurse’ button and began to press it as if a life depended on it, and she feared that it did. As soon as Rainbow opened the window, Redheart ran into the room.

“What’s wrong?” she asked looking to see if Fluttershy was okay.

“S-stop, her.” Fluttershy said as she pointed toward Rainbow, but it was too late, she had already jumped out and begun to fly away. Redheart ran up the window to see the rainbow trail left behind start to fade away.

“Is everything okay, if she in trouble?” asked Redheart as she walked up to Fluttershy’s bed. Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to do, should she tell Redheart that Rainbow might be in danger of hearting herself, or should she keep quiet?

“A-Apple-jack” Fluttershy said finally.

“You want me to call for Miss. Applejack?” Fluttershy nodded “Okay, I’ll inform her that you’re here.” Redheart continued as she walked out of the room. Fluttershy was left alone in her room, tears streaming down her face as she prayed that she hadn’t made the wrong decision.

“This ain’t good…” Applejack arrived not long after she was informed by the hospital that Fluttershy was there. It took a while but eventually Applejack was filled in by what happened, and she could feel the tension building. She knew that if Twilight found out about this she’d take action then and there. And Applejack was starting to think that she should have let Twilight take charge from the beginning.

“It’s my fault, ah should have let Twilight go through with her plan…Ah’m sorry, Fluttershy.” said Applejack, but Fluttershy shook her head.

“N-no, I should have…tried harder.” lucky for Fluttershy her voice was starting to return, though she wished that it had done that when she needed it to.

“What could you do when she wouldn’t even open the door…” said Applejack, she had been pacing the floor since she arrived. “Ah, ah have to tell Twilight.” said Applejack as she stopped in her tracks.

“No, I still…have time…” Fluttershy tried to plead.

“Ah’m sorry, Fluttershy…but I think we’re out of time. We did what we could, no it’s time to give it to Twilight before it’s too late.” said Applejack as she walked to the door. “You did your best, Fluttershy, that’s all that matters. Just focus on getting better, we’ll take it from here.” Applejack ended as she walked out of her room once again leaving Fluttershy alone.

“Did I…did I really give it my best…?” that’s what Applejack may have told Fluttershy, but the yellow Pegasus could only think that she could have done more.

A feeling of defeat washed over Applejack as she exited the pony hospital and started to make her way to Twilight’s home. She thought Fluttershy could do it, no, she knew Fluttershy could do it, but one uncontrollable event sent her chances crashing down. Sure Fluttershy would be out in a few days, but she wasn’t sure Rainbow could wait that long. It was over, she couldn’t help her friend, and she couldn’t do anything but pass on the responsibility to somepony else.

“Yo, Applejack!” Applejack looked up into the sky to see Cloud Kicker descending towards her.

“Oh, howdy, Cloud Kicker. I’m in a bit of a hurry, is there something you needed?” said Applejack trying to hide her uneasiness.

“Well, I was just wondering if you know what was up with Rainbow. She hasn’t been to work in a few days and it turns out she one some kind of medical leave, but the boss won’t tell me anything. Then a few minutes ago I saw her flying out of the pony hospital crying, is she okay?” Cloud Kicker asked with a worried expression. Applejack wanted to tell Cloud Kicker that everything was fine, that Rainbow was going to be taken care of, but for some reason she didn’t. Applejack looked around making sure she and Cloud Kicker were out of anypony else ear shot.

“Can ah trust you to keep a secret?” Cloud Kicker looked around before touching down to the ground in front of Applejack.

“How serious is it?” Cloud Kicker wondered.

“First ah need your word that you won’t tell anypony else about this. And you can’t go changin’ you mind afterwords.” Cloud Kicker looked confused, but Rainbow was her friend, she was worried if something was happening to her. Cloud Kickers expression went serious as she nodded her head.

“I won’t tell a soul, now please, tell me what’s wrong.” Applejack filled her in about what happened to Rainbow’s father, she felt like she was stabbing Rainbow in the back because of it, but she didn’t have any other choice. Applejack continued to fill her in until Cloud Kicker knew everything she did.

“I…whoa…” was all Cloud Kicker could say completely in shock to think that Rainbow had been in such a dark place. “So what can I do to help?” she asked hoping that she could help at this point.

“Ah need you to keep an eye on her if ya can. Make sure she doesn’t fall over the edge so to speak…” Cloud Kicker knew what Applejack meant and it made her stomach tie in knots.

“How long do you need?”

“At the rate Fluttershy’s recovering, three days.”

“You got it.” said Cloud Kicker as she began to walk away from Applejack.

“One more thing.” Cloud Kicker turned to look at Applejack once again. “Ah’m taking a big risk by not telling the rest of my friends about what happened today. If for whatever reasons you think Rainbow is in any danger, I need you to get to her by whatever means you think is necessary.” Cloud Kicker and Applejack stared at each other seriously for a few seconds before the Pegasus nodded and flew off towards Rainbow’s home. Applejack sat down as she watched Cloud Kicker fly away. Applejack bowed her head grabbing her Stetson with her hoof and placing it against her chest.

“Please, please don't make me regret this decision.” said Applejack as she looked up into the clouds.

Chapter 6

Two days passed, Fluttershy’s recovery was going better than expected, and Cloud Kicker took some time off from work to watch over Rainbow. Each night reporting to Applejack about anything that may have changed. Rainbow hasn’t left home since she blamed herself for what happened to Fluttershy. There were a few times where Cloud Kicker thought the worse was going to happen, but she thanked Celestia that it didn’t.

Fluttershy was informed on what Applejack did, and agreed to keep her hospitalization a secret from their friends, at least until she gets out. Fluttershy was already taken off the machine and breathing on her own, but the doctors wanted her to stay one more night to insure she’s in perfect health. Come the following morning Fluttershy would be allowed to go home and she could continue to try to help Rainbow like nothing ever happened. But sometimes plans that seem foolproof can end up crashing.

Rarity ran through town in a panic, her destination was Twilight’s library. Once she reached the door she began to pound away at it hard enough to wake the dead. “Hey, hey, what’s the emergency?” said Spike as he answered the door not knowing who was knocking.

“Fluttershy’s in the hospital!” yelled Rarity as she ran in knocking Spike over. “Oh, my apologies, Spike.” said Rarity as she picked Spike off from the ground.

“No prob-“ Spike stopped when he realized what Rarity had said before she knocked him over. “Wait, Fluttershy’s in the what!?” Spike yelled wondering what could have happened to her.

“I don’t know the details, where’s Twilight!?” before he could answer there was the sound of steps coming from the stairs.

“Can’t a mare get some sleep in here…” asked Twilight, she looked like a mess but Rarity was too worried to care at the moment.

“Twilight, Fluttershy’s in the hospital!” Rarity yelled once again catching Twilight’s full attention.

“What? How!?”

“I don’t know, when she missed our spa appointment I went to her cottage and found a large stack of mail at her door. I started to panic and searched her whole home trying to find her, and when I couldn’t find her I ran back to town asking everypony I could if they’ve seen her. That’s when Carrot Top told me she saw Rainbow flying Fluttershy to the emergency room two days ago!” Rarity tried to explain as quickly as possible.

“But that can’t be. I talked to Applejack yesterday and she told me…” Twilight clenched her teeth in anger, Applejack had lied to her. “Rarity, go to the hospital and make sure Fluttershy’s okay. There’s somepony I need to talk to first…” said Twilight before she vanished in a flash of lavender light. Rarity wasn’t sure who Twilight needed to talk to in a time like this, but she would figure that out late.

“Come Spike, let’s go.” said Rarity as she levitated the baby dragon on her back before she began running out the door. As she ran there was a question eating away her from the back of her head. “Spike, is there something wrong with Twilight, she seemed a little on edge, even before I told her what happened.”

“Beats me, she’s been acting strange since she got back from Canterlot. She keeps reading books about foals that lose their parents, and then starts taking notes for some reason. I’m a little worried, last night I think she had a nightmare, but she won’t tell me about it.” Spike explained.

“That’s not a good sign; I’ll have to have a word with Twilight. But first I need to make sure Fluttershy is okay.” Rarity thought to herself as she increased her speed towards the hospital.

Inside the farm of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was getting ready to tend to the crops. The stress of what happened two days ago was still there, but she knew that she’d feel better once Fluttershy was out of the hospital and back to tending to Rainbow. Applejack made her way to the front door when she heard frantic knocking. Cloud Kicker always informed Applejack on anything that happens in Rainbow home; she fear that the knocking was her and that something horrible had happened.

Applejack ran up to the door opening it quickly not knowing who it was that was knocking. “You lied to me!” Applejack froze, Twilight was the pony knocking at her door, and she did not look happy.

“Lied, lied about what?” Applejack knew what Twilight was talking about, but still she tried to play it off.

“You know darn well what, I ask you yesterday if Fluttershy was making any progress on Rainbow and you told me ‘no problem Twi, she’s got everything under control’” Twilight said trying to mimic Applejack’s accent. “But what you neglected to tell me was that Fluttershy is in the hospital!” Twilight added unable to contain her anger.

“Okay, yes ah didn’t tell you that. And ah can tell you’re mad.”

“What was your first clue!?” Twilight yelled again causing Applejack to wince. “I trusted you and Fluttershy to watch Rainbow, to make sure she’s okay. The moment you found out Fluttershy was in the hospital you should have come to me!”

“Ah was!” Applejack tried to defend, Twilight knew that there was a ‘but’ somewhere in there. “But on the way to the library…I ran into Cloud Kicker. One thing lead to another and she agreed to watch over Rainbow till Fluttershy got out of the hospital.” now Twilight looked even more steamed.

“So not only did you hide the fact that Fluttershy was in the hospital from us, but you went on and told somepony else even after we agreed to keep it between us!” Applejack wasn’t sure what to do, but the guilt she was feeling seemed to hit her all at once.

“Ah’m sorry, ah just didn’t.”

“Didn’t want to trust me?” said Twilight cutting Applejack off. “Tell me what happened now, and don’t you dare leave anything out.” Twilight demanded, and Applejack was in no position to refuse.

“O-okay…” Applejack told Twilight what happened two days ago, Fluttershy’s allergic attack, Rainbow’s blaming of herself, and Applejack recruiting Cloud Kicker for help. As Applejack told her story, Twilight’s gaze never eased.

“Are you insane!?” Twilight yelled “You knew Rainbow said something like that and you chose to keep it from us. She could have hurt herself, or worse!”

“You think ah don’t know that!?” yelled Applejack as she stomped her hoof on the ground. “Ah know what was at risk, ah’ve been there myself!” said Applejack catching Twilight by surprise. She knew Applejack lost her parents but she didn’t think Applejack had ever had those thoughts before. “Ah should have gone to you, ah should have told you what happened, but I didn’t because ah’m too darn stubborn!” Applejack yelled once more, tears starting to stream down her face.

“If anything happens to Rainbow…it will be my fault.” Twilight had come to chew Applejack out, but seeing her now, she knew that Applejack was already suffering.

“Applejack, I know your intentions were good, and I know you didn’t want to force Rainbow into doing something she didn’t want to do. But even if she resents us for it, it’s a lot better than leaving her to her grief.” said Twilight as she placed a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder.

“You’re right.” Applejack took in a deep breath “So what do we do now?” she asked looked back at Twilight.

“Cloud Kicker is still watching Rainbow, so for now let’s check on Fluttershy. Then tomorrow I’m going to go through my plan.” Applejack nodded her head as she followed Twilight back into town.

“Are you sure you’re okay, you look a little tired.”

“I’m fine, just a little worried about Rainbow is all.” Rarity’s nerves have finally settled when she saw that Fluttershy was okay, but she was still insistent on making sure.

“Who wouldn’t be, I mean, did she really say that?” asked Spike still feeling haunted by what Fluttershy had told him and Rarity.

“Why did you keep all this from us, we could have helped you.” asked Rarity who was slightly hurt from being in the dark of what had transpired a few days ago.

“I don’t know. When Rainbow left I just panicked, I wasn’t sure what to do so I just called for Applejack. She was going to tell you, honestly, but when Cloud Kicker asked her what was going on with Rainbow; Applejack thought she could buy me enough time to be released.”

“I just don’t understand why you are trying to take so much responsibility. It’s not that I don’t believe you could help Rainbow, but this situation seems a little too much for one pony to handle alone.” said Rarity.

“I have to, Rarity, When I lost my mother Rainbow and her family where there for me. And if I can’t return the favor, than I don’t deserve to be called her friend.” Fluttershy’s stakes were steep; helping Rainbow was clearly a lot more personal than Rarity had thought.

“Fluttershy, what did they-“ a knock at the door cut Rarity off. A second later the door opened revealing Twilight.

“Oh, h-hello, Twilight.” said Fluttershy as Twilight entered the room with Applejack following close behind.

“She already knows everythin’.” said Applejack saving Fluttershy the time to have to tell her story a second time.

“Oh, please don’t be mad at Applejack.” plead Fluttershy. Twilight looked back at Applejack for a moment before letting out sigh.

“What’s done is done, there’s no way of taking it back now. What we do now is try to fix this before it becomes too much for anypony to handle.” said Twilight with no arguments from anypony else. “Applejack and I talked with Cloud Kicker before we came here, Rainbow is asleep right now and that’s all she’d done for the past two days. And from what I’ve been told, I’ve concluded that Rainbow has already shown early signs of depression.” Twilight continued. Depression was not something to be taken lightly, it could make ponies actions unpredictable, and one would never know when a depressed pony would finally give in to it.

“So what are you going to do?” asked Fluttershy.

“I’m going to talk to Redheart about putting Rainbow on suicide watch. Tomorrow I’m going to bring Rainbow here myself.” forcing Rainbow into a suicide watch that she’d never agree to seemed like they were crossing a line, but it was a better option than having Rainbow cross one first. Twilight looked over to Fluttershy whose expression had gone south after hearing Twilight’s plan.

“Fluttershy, I’m sorry that it had to come to this, but I have to do this before it’s too late.” Fluttershy didn’t answer, Twilight couldn’t blame her. After one more apologetic glance, Twilight left the room in search of nurse Redheart.

“I couldn’t help her…I just made it worse.” said Fluttershy as she sunk into her bed. Applejack and Rarity gave each other a worried glance; they couldn’t allow Fluttershy to start blaming herself for something she didn’t have control over.

“No darling, you cannot blame yourself for this. What happened was a complete and total accident. You need to stay strong for Rainbow, she still needs you.” said Rarity, but Fluttershy didn’t look convinced.

“She’s right, Fluttershy, you can still be there for her.”

“No I can’t, I can’t help anypony.” Fluttershy laid back on her bed covering her face with her pillow to block out the others. Try as they might, neither Rarity nor Applejack could convince Fluttershy that she could still help Rainbow. Eventually visiting hours came to an end meaning Applejack and Rarity had to leave.

“Darn it, this whole thing is gettin’ to everypony.” said Applejack once she and Rarity exited the hospital.

“First it hits Pinkie and Twilight, and now Fluttershy’s a mess for not being able to help Rainbow.”

“How about you, how’re you holdin’ up?” so far Rarity seemed to be the only one of them that hasn’t been affected the same way as the others.

“Other than the thought of ‘what if’, I suppose I’m fine. I even have plans for a family picnic coming up.” that was good to hear; at least Applejack didn’t have to worry about Rarity getting sad too.

“Do you think you can talk to Twilight, see if you can figure out what her problem could be? After what ah did, ah don’t think she’ll be trustin’ me for a while.” said Applejack as she kicked at the ground.

“You can count on me, but what about Fluttershy?” asked Rarity. “Do you think she’ll get her resolve to help Rainbow back?” Applejack looked back at the pony hospital and thought for a moment.

“Ah don’t know, Rarity.”

Fluttershy snuck out of the hospital when nopony was looking, she wasn’t sure why, but her body just seemed to be moving on its own. It was late, everypony was asleep at this time, Fluttershy was sure Rainbow would be too yet she continued on to her home. Even if Rainbow turned Fluttershy away again, she had to keep trying as long as she could.

Fluttershy touched down on Rainbow’s cloud home, the clouds blackened as if they were going to storm at any second. Fluttershy paid the clouds no mind and walked up to the door that has been in her way since day one. As always Fluttershy extended her hoof and knocked on the door before waiting for a response.

“You can’t help her” Fluttershy looked around, she thought she heard somepony talking but there was nopony around. Fluttershy turned her head back to the door trying to knock again, on the third knock however, the door opened.

“Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked before pushing the door open further.

“Try calling louder, I doubt she’ll hear you though.” again the voice rang through Fluttershy’s ears, but still not another pony in sight.

“Who’s there?” Fluttershy asked fearing that somepony had broken in to Rainbow’s home.

“Over here, come closer.” Fluttershy heard from inside of Rainbow’s room. Fluttershy felt a lump in her throat that got bigger with each step. The door to Rainbow’s room was cracked open slightly, Fluttershy stopped just short of it.

“R-Rainbow?” called Fluttershy fearing what was waiting for her on the other side.

“She’s right here, Fluttershy, we’re just hanging out.” quickly Fluttershy pushed the door open, what she saw next sent her world crashing.

“NO!” in front of her hung Rainbow’s motionless body, the rope tied to her neck fashioned to the ceiling. Fluttershy ran up to Rainbow, the first thing she noticed that the disappearance of her friends cutie mark, she was too late. “Why, why did this have to happen?” asked Fluttershy, as she held on to her friend’s lifeless body.

“Because you weren’t there to help her.”

“I tried to be!”Fluttershy yelled as whoever the voice belonged to. “I did everything I could!” Fluttershy yelled again.

“That’s a lie, if you had given it your all, then Rainbow would still be alive!” Fluttershy looked over to see a mirror that hadn’t been there before. Inside the mirror she could see herself staring back at her. But the Fluttershy in the mirror was alone; she wasn’t holding Rainbow’s body like the real Fluttershy was. “Rainbow was always there for you when you needed somepony, and this is how you repay her?” spoke the reflection.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Fluttershy cried into Rainbow’s shoulder.

“It’s too late for sorry, you lost Rainbow, forever” instantly Rainbow’s body seemed to vanish from Fluttershy’s grip. Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide as she looked around wondering where Rainbow’s body may have disappeared to. It wasn’t until she looked back at the mirror that she noticed somepony else in it. Rainbow’s dead body laid on the ground, a light from the sky shining down on her. Standing next to her was Fluttershy’s reflection with her head bowed and her eyes closed.

“No, give her back!” Fluttershy yelled as she ran up to the mirror placing her hoofs against the glass.

“No, you don’t deserve her as a friend. She’s staying here where she can’t get hurt anymore.” Fluttershy began to bang away at the glass hoping that she could jump through and hold her friend again.

“No, I won’t accept that!” yelled Fluttershy as she struck the glass again.

“Too bad, you were too weak to help her then and you’re too weak now.” mocked her reflection.

“I. Am. Not!” Fluttershy struck the glass once again, this time it cracked from the force she used.

“Then prove it!” yelled her reflection as she walked up to the glass. “If you’re strong enough to help Rainbow, then break down the barrier that separates you!” Fluttershy continued to strike the glass, each time increasing the number of cracks on it.

“Rainbow was always there for me, she stood up for me when I was bullied, she helped me through my fears, and she guided me through the darkest moment of my life.”Fluttershy raised her hoofs once again. “And I will be there for her; I won’t let anything get in my way!” Fluttershy brought her hooves down once again shattering the barrier that separated her and Rainbow.

A bright light spread across the room, soon everything around Fluttershy faded to white leaving only her and the reflection that was starting to fade away. Her reflection stared at her with a happy smile. “Then go and save her…” the voice echoed around Fluttershy as her reflection disappeared from her view. In the distance Fluttershy saw a door, with the words of her reflection still echoing in her ears, Fluttershy charged forward.

She was going to keep her word, she was going to save Rainbow, and she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way. Fluttershy jumped off the ground towards the door, and prepared to make impact.

Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide as she let out a loud gasp. Looking around Fluttershy saw that she was still in the hospital. “It was just a dream.” said Fluttershy as she ran a hoof through her main attempting to ease her breathing. Fluttershy thought back to it, it may have been a dream, but that didn’t change the fact of how likely that dream was to becoming a reality. Turning her head, Fluttershy stared at the open window to her room, the same window that Rainbow had flown out of two days ago. The day she was too weak to do anything but watch her friend leave without any way of stopping her.

“No more.” Fluttershy threw off her blanket and jumped out of bed before running towards the open window. “I’m not going to be weak anymore; I’m going to be strong, for her!” Fluttershy jumped out the window extending her wings before giving them a powerful flap sending her in the direction of Rainbow’s home. Just like in her dream, it was night out and everypony was asleep, Fluttershy was going to make sure that was the only thing this night had in common with her dream.

A few minutes passed before Fluttershy could see Rainbow’s home, and a second later she spotted the one thing that’s kept her from Rainbow these past few days. The door that now seems like it was placed there to mock her attempts. Fluttershy wasn’t going to stand for it anymore, she was going to get through to Rainbow tonight, and nothing was going to stop her. As soon as Fluttershy touched down in front of the door, she quickly turned around raising her hind leg. She was going to break through any barrier that stood in her way. Fluttershy brought her hind legs out striking the door with more strength than anypony thought she had ripping it from its hinges.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy yelled running inside of her friend’s home stepping over the door she broke down. A second later Rainbow ran out of her room in a panic, hearing your door being broken down would do that to you.

“F-Fluttershy, what are you?” before Rainbow could ask anything further, Fluttershy pushed her back into her room before slamming the door shut. “What’s gotten into you!?” Rainbow yelled after she fell back from the push.

“I’m tired of waiting Rainbow, we’re going to talk, right now.” said Fluttershy as she stood between Rainbow and the door.

“I told you, there’s nothing to talk about!” yelled Rainbow angry that Fluttershy had brought it up again.

“Stop lying to me!” Fluttershy yelled louder than Rainbow had. “After everything we’ve been through together, I deserve the truth from you.” Rainbows gaze softened slightly, but only for a moment before she went off again.

“I am telling you the truth, there’s nothing to talk about!” yelled Rainbow as she got up from the cloud floor.

“Yes there is, stop trying to hide it!” Fluttershy wasn’t going to back down; she’ll yell all night if she had to.

“Get out of my house, Fluttershy.” said Rainbow as she took a step towards Fluttershy.

“I’m not going anywhere.” said Fluttershy completely unmoved from Rainbow intimidation attempt.

“Then I’ll make you!” Rainbow surpassed Fluttershy in strength and speed, but Fluttershy had two things going for her that Rainbow didn’t. She had the resolve to do whatever it takes to help Rainbow, and she had ‘the stare’. Up until this day, Rainbow had never known what it was about Fluttershy’s stare that could make dragons bend to her will.

“Sit. Down!” as commanded, Rainbow sat back down on the cloud floor completely shocked by how effective the stare is on a pony. A silence shrouded the room, Rainbow wasn’t going to talk, still convinced that there was nothing to talk about in the first place.

“Why are you trying so hard to pretend that there isn’t a problem?” asked Fluttershy breaking the silence. Rainbow didn’t answer right away; she looked down to her hooves before speaking.

“Why can’t you just accept that there’s nothing wrong.” Rainbow said, this time not sounding as convinced of her own words. Fluttershy let out a sigh before reaching into her mane pulling out what looked like a photo.

“This is why.” Rainbow looked up at the photo that Fluttershy was extending out to her. Rainbow reached out her hoof and grabbed the picture before looking at what it was of. The picture continued Rainbow, her parents, and Fluttershy, Rainbow’s forearm wrapped around her friend. They all looked so happy back then, not a care in the world.

“Do you remember when that picture was taken?” Rainbow looked at the picture for a few more seconds before nodding.

“It was too months after…the accident.” said Rainbow as she looked back up at Fluttershy.

“I never thought I’d be happy again after I lost my mother, I was an orphan, and I had nothing to smile about. Back then the only joy I had in life was when you came to visit me.” Fluttershy looked at the picture one more time and smiled. “And then came that day.”

Young Fluttershy lay on her bed alone; this was not due to the other orphans not wanting to be around her, but because she couldn’t find the energy to enjoy her days, not anymore. It had been two weeks since Fluttershy’s mother had passed, and still it hurt like nothing she had ever felt before. Sometimes the pain would be too much for her to handle the waking world, and she’d spend the whole day sleeping in an attempt to make the time pass faster. There was only one joy in her life now, and that was when she was visited by a certain pony.

“There you are!” Fluttershy seemed to come alive when she heard the voice, turning around she saw a young filly Pegasus standing at the door, a wide grin on her face.

“Rainbow!” yelled Fluttershy as she wrapped her friend in for a strong hug.

“Shy, can’t, breathe!” Rainbow said between gasp attempts for air.

“Whoops, sorry.” Fluttershy giggles as she let go of Rainbow.

“No problem, hey I’ve got news. I won’t be visiting you here anymore.” Fluttershy’s eyes went wide.

“What, why, is it something I did?” Fluttershy said before hugging Rainbow once again. “Whatever I did I’m sorry; please don’t stop being my friend!” Fluttershy plead sounding as though she was about to cry.

“Hold on, you didn’t let me tell you why yet!” Rainbow said pushing Fluttershy back slightly.

“Oh, there you two are.” Rainbow and Fluttershy turned around to see Rainbow’s dad standing at the doorway.

“Hey dad, I was just about to tell Fluttershy the good news.” said Rainbow before turning back to Fluttershy. “I won’t be visiting you anymore because you won’t be here anymore.” Fluttershy was completely lost at what Rainbow meant.

“I-I don’t understand.”

“Fluttershy, how would you like to be a part of our family?” asked Rainbow’s father. Fluttershy stared at them with disbelief; it all seemed too good to be real.

“Think about it Fluttershy, we get to be sisters!” Rainbow said happily. The realization took time to sink it, but eventually Fluttershy realized that this was happening, it was no dream. Tears of joy began to run down Fluttershy’s cheeks, and before long she jumped at Rainbow for another hug. Soon she was joined by Rainbow’s parents, who from then on she was happy to call ‘mom and dad’.

“Your parents took me in as one of their own without a second thought. They raised me and gave me back my happiness, so when you say that your fine I know you’re lying, because he was as much a father to me as he was to you.” said Fluttershy. Rainbow stared at the picture for a few more second before looking back up.

“It was his idea from the beginning you know, my mom, or rather our mom agreed to it the moment he pitched it to her. He saw you as a daughter even before you lost your mother, he’d always joke that we were twins separated at birth.” Rainbow laughed as tears began to stream down her face.

“He was a great father.” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“The best…” said Rainbow with a hitch in her throat.

“Do you miss him?” Rainbow looked up at Fluttershy again.

“Every second of every day.” said Rainbow as the tears continued to stream down her face.

“Rainbow, what did he always tell you when you felt sad?” Rainbow grit her teeth, she couldn’t hide it anymore, she couldn’t fight it back, and she didn’t want to.

“L-let it all out!” said Rainbow as Fluttershy wrapped her hooved around her. Rainbow began to cry, she didn’t try to hold anything back as she buried her face into Fluttershy’s shoulder letting out all the anger and sadness she had tried to suppress. “Why shy, why’d he have to go?” Rainbow asked her friend.

“I don’t know Rainbow, but I’m here for you, and I always will be.” Fluttershy held on to Rainbow for most of the night, she didn’t let go until Rainbow had let out all her grief and had fallen asleep. Fluttershy grabbed some pillows and a blanket from Rainbow’s bed and placed them on the floor for them to rest on. Fluttershy could still see the pain in Rainbow’s face, but she could also see that Rainbow was probably having her first peaceful sleep in days.

Once she found a comfortable position, Fluttershy closer her eyes and waited for the world of dreams to take her. She knew that the path ahead of Rainbow was going to be tough, but Fluttershy was going to stick by her through it all.

Chapter 8

It’s been almost a week since Rainbow was placed under Fluttershy’s watch, and aside from the odd nightmare or two she seemed happy. However Fluttershy knew that Rainbow was not herself, her personality was completely different. It seemed as though everything Rainbow has gone through had weakened her in a manner of speaking. The strong-willed mare Fluttershy knew was replaced with a softer version, and Fluttershy didn’t like that. She missed the strong friend and sister that she grew up with all these years.

Fluttershy decided that it was finally time to start Rainbow’s sessions; it was time the two of them finally got to the root of Rainbow’s problem. “Rainbow, did you feed the hens yet?” asked Fluttershy as she walked up to the chicken coop. Once there she noticed Rainbow standing outside of the entrance, the chicken’s food still in the bag she was given.

“He’s doing it again…” said Rainbow, her ears dropped to her sides. Fluttershy walked closer to see what she meant, the rooster of the coop standing at the door glaring at Rainbow. Fluttershy couldn’t explain it, but he was the only animal around Fluttershy’s home that doesn’t seem to like Rainbow. What confused Fluttershy more was why Rainbow was allowing herself to be defeated by a rooster?

“It’s okay, I’ll take care of this.” said Fluttershy as she grabbed the bag with her mouth and stepped inside the chicken coop. Rainbow let out a sigh and sat down on the ground while Fluttershy gave out the food.

“What’s wrong with me…” asked Rainbow. “Over a week ago I could take on anything, and now I can’t even stand up to a rooster.” she continued as she kicked at the ground. Once Fluttershy finished feeding the chickens she walked back out and stood in front of Rainbow. She wanted to assure Rainbow that nothing was wrong with her, but if that were true then she wouldn’t be under a suicide watch.

“It’s okay, Rainbow. This ordeal you’re going through took a toll on you and you’re still trying to recover. But this is why you’re here, I’m going to help you get through this so you can bounce back as strong as ever.” said Fluttershy as she placed a reassuring hoof on Rainbow’ shoulder. Rainbow looked up at Fluttershy and couldn’t help but smile, she knew she could always count on her.

“Thanks, shy.”

“No problem, now how about I make some lunch for us?” Rainbow was going to answer but her stomach did that for her causing her to blush lightly. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Fluttershy said with a giggle as she walked back to her cottage. Rainbow gave a quick look back to see the rooster was still glaring at her so she quickly looked away again and walked after Fluttershy. Once inside Fluttershy prepared them a large batch of hay fries for the two of them.

“So, are you still ready to start your sessions today?” asked Fluttershy, Rainbow agreed to it last night but she wanted to make sure.

“Yeah…” said Rainbow “I-I’m not going to cry…am I?” Rainbow wasn’t completely sure how therapy worked, but she did know it involved a lot of crying.

“Probably, but it’s important that you let any repressed feelings. But don’t try to overdo it; it won’t help if you try to deal with too much at once. So at any time you want to stop I want you to let me know.” said Fluttershy.

“That’s good to know, so what time are we going to start?” asked Rainbow.

“How about after lunch?” Rainbow paused for a moment to think it over. It was sooner in the day than she thought it would be, but it was probably best to get through this as soon as possible.

“Alright.”

Once Rainbow and Fluttershy finished their lunch they walked into living-room. Rainbow was feeling a little nervous; she didn’t know how this session would go for her. “Just sit here for a minute I need to get something.” said Fluttershy as she walked up stairs. Rainbow didn’t know what Fluttershy was going to get but she sat down and waited.

“I wonder what she went to get…” Rainbow thought to herself as she looked towards the stairs. She was getting a little restless from having to wait for the session to start. “Maybe it’s already started and she’s watching me…” Rainbow thought to herself for a moment before facehooofing herself.

“Now I’m paranoid…” Rainbow said in an annoyed tone to herself.

“I found them.” Rainbow turned around towards the stairs to see Fluttershy walking down them. A closer inspection of Fluttershy’s face showed that she was now wearing glasses. They weren’t nerdy looking and actually seemed to fit Fluttershy quite tell.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses.” said Rainbow as she watched Fluttershy walk up to the sofa.

“I don’t actually, these are fake.” said Fluttershy as she demonstrated it by pushing one of her feathers through the empty frames. “It’s actually a habit I picked up over the years, whenever I was in a session I would put these on. I guess you can say I wanted to look professional to my clients. I know they might look silly-“

“No, no you look good with them.” Rainbow had to admit.

“Thank you, now, grab some pillows.” said Fluttershy as she used her wings to grab hold of two pillows.

“Why do we need pillows?” wondered Rainbow.

“So we can sit on them outside of course.” said Fluttershy was she walked past Rainbow so she could get a blanket from the closet.

“Aren’t these things supposed to be…you know, inside?” asked Rainbow.

“Normally, yes, but I feel being out in the open would help you a lot more than if we were inside a closed space.” Fluttershy explained. Rainbow did see a point in what Fluttershy was saying; it was a nice day outside. “That is, unless you want to stay inside.”

“No, outside sounds great.” said Rainbow as she walked grabbed two more pillows for herself. Fluttershy smiled and continued her way towards the back door with Rainbow following close behind. Once outside, Fluttershy lead Rainbow to a wider area behind her cottage, it had wide open grass all around and the smell of flowers filled the air.

“How’s this spot?” asked Fluttershy, Rainbow almost didn’t notice as she looked around the area.

“Huh, oh, yeah this spot looks awesome.” Fluttershy then spread the blanket on the floor for the two of them to rest on. It didn’t take long for the two of them to get comfortable, Fluttershy sat on a pillow while Rainbow decided to lie on her back resting her head on a pillow. The two stayed in a short but comfortable silence taking in the fresh air around them. Although Rainbow didn’t say it, she did admit to herself that she was a lot more comfortable than she would have been inside.

“Now then, do you feel ready to start?” asked Fluttershy. Rainbow allowed herself one more deep breath before nodding in agreement. “Good, now, ever since you got back from Canterlot you have been having nightmares, right?” once again Rainbow nodded. “In order to overcome these nightmares we need to know what they mean.”

“How do we figure that out?”

“I need you to talk about them.” Rainbow paused for a second, it was bad enough for her to be having these nightmares at night, she’s always done what she could to try to forget them during the day.

“Do I have to?” asked Rainbow almost wishing that there was some other way.

“I’m afraid so, there are things that you may have suppressed over the years. Fears that you thought you conquered until recent events caused them to resurface.” normally Rainbow would argue this; she was a mare that feared nothing and was first to charge in to danger. But now she felt like an empty husk of the mare she was before. She lost something when she found out her father died, and she needed to get it back.

“And talking about my nightmares will help me figure out what they are?”

“Without a doubt.” said Fluttershy with a nod of her head. Rainbow knew this was going to be hard; it always hurt for her to think about her nightmares. But she needed to do this, not just for herself, but also for him. Rainbow closed her eyes and summed up the strength she needed.

“Where do we start?”

“From the beginning, tell me about your first nightmare.” as luck would have it that nightmare was also one of the worse of Rainbow’s list of recurring nightmares. It mocked her by starting happy only to crush her at the last moment. There was no backing down from this, Rainbow took a deep breath and began.

“I’ve had that nightmare more than once, even though I know what’s going to happen the pain is always the same. When it starts it doesn’t seem like a nightmare, it just seems like I’m reliving my past. In this dream I’m a filly again; back when I was starting to learn how to fly. Dad took me to the edge of Cloudsdale and set me down on a single cloud a few feet away.

“I was so nervous, I never flew in open air before and I was scared I would fall. But dad was there, he said that I’d be safe, that he’d catch me if I did. But he also said that he wouldn’t need to catch me, that I could do it. He always knew how to make me feel confident, with him around I didn’t need to be afraid of anything.” it was small, but Fluttershy noticed Rainbow had a slight smile on her face.

“And when I jumped off the cloud and started to fly, it was the best feeling in the world.” Rainbow’s smile disappeared as her ears dropped down once again. “And that’s when the dream ends, and the nightmare starts. As soon as I land the first thing I do is ask if he saw me…but he didn’t answer. I look around and I couldn’t find him so I started running everywhere I could calling out to him.” Rainbow paused for a moment so she could compose herself; she was already starting to tear up.

“Do you ever find him?” asked Fluttershy, Rainbow sniffled before answering.

“Yeah, but it just gets worse from there.” Rainbow closed her eyes and felt a light gust of wind blow through her mane. “When I find him he’s always walking away, I try running up to him but he just keeps getting further away from her. I try calling to him, ‘don’t go, please don’t go’ ‘I still need you’ Rainbow seemed to be in a trance as she thought back, tears still streaming down her face. No matter how fast I try to run he just keeps getting further away from me. I keep trying to get his attention, all the way passed the point where I can’t see him anymore. And that’s pretty much when I wake up.” Although having the nightmare itself was worse, it still felt painful for Rainbow to talk about it.

Once Fluttershy was sure Rainbow was done she looked down on her notepad and wrote ‘Nightmare #1 – open air flight practice’ she also included ‘days without flying – 6’ was her estimate. So far Fluttershy discovered her original hunch was correct, Rainbow’s love of flying had been affected by her father’s passing.

“Are all your nightmares like that, about moments from your past?”

“Kind of…”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow bit her bottom lip as she rubbed her foreleg. “All my other nightmares are about times when I was younger. But, they all go the same way I remember; the problem is…they aren’t happy memories.”

“How so?”

“You should know; you were there for some of them.” it took Fluttershy a moment, but she eventually figured out what Rainbow was talking about.

“I see; you’re talking about the times when the two of you argued.” it was rare, but once Rainbow started to get older she and her father started to have their disagreements. Some most of them were small and resolved quickly, but a small few of them would get serious and heated. But in the end they would always find a way to forgive one another and go back to the way they were before. While it was nice that they never ended up hating each other there was always a fear that those past arguments could resurface someday.

“You do know he never held any of them against you, right?” asked Fluttershy.

“I know, but, that’s not why they bother me.” said Rainbow as she shifted her position slightly.

“Then, why?”

“It’s because they were stupid, I was stupid!” exclaimed Rainbow. “There were things dad wanted to see me do, even if it was just once. I could have just said yes even though I didn’t want to, but instead I just start yelling at him!”

“What kind of things?” Fluttershy was sure she knew the answer to this, but she needed to ask.

“One time dad bought me a dress to wear to the school dance. It was just for one night, I could have worn it, it would have made him happy…but you know what I did…?” Fluttershy knew, she was there when it happened, but she allowed Rainbow to continue. “I threw it on the ground and told him ‘I’m not wearing some girly little dress’ then stormed off.” back when Rainbow started to develop her tomboyish personality she had let it get a little out of control. She turned down the idea of doing anything that seemed girly to her. That included wearing make-up, going to slumber parties, spa days, and above all, wearing dresses.

“I put up such a fuss for such a small thing and yet I wore one to the gala…it’s like I was slapping him in the face…” said Rainbow, some traces of regret could be heard in her voice. So many things she could have done but didn’t, so many arguments that didn’t have to happen, and there was no way for her to change any of it.

“Rainbow, if you could, would you do all the things you turned down when you were younger?” Rainbow turned her head towards Fluttershy when she asked her question.

“Well…yeah, but what good would that do now?” wondered Rainbow.

“If anything, it’ll help you find closure with yourself, to know that you gave them a try.” Rainbow was still having trouble understand thing how it would work. The time for her to try would have had to been while her father was still alive so he could see it. If she tried it now it wouldn’t have the same meaning, right?

“Tell you what, why don’t we make a list and then try at least one of them. If it doesn’t work then we can try something else.” Rainbow thought it over for a moment, it didn’t seem like too bad of an idea.

“Do you think it’ll work?”

“Only one way to find out.”

“Can I think about it?”

“Take as long as you need.”

Fluttershy had decided to end the session there so that she could plan what she was going to do for the next one. For a first session, however, it had gone better than she could have hopped, she felt that there were still some more problems that needed to be tackled but it was a start. Rainbow still hadn’t come to a decision on whether or not she was going to go through with the idea but Fluttershy didn’t pry. She knew Rainbow would make her choice when she was ready.

“Rainbow, can you do me a favor?” asked Fluttershy as she walked into the living-room where Rainbow was sitting to think.

“Huh, sure, what do you need?” asked Rainbow as she sat up.

“I need apples, can you go buy some from Applejack, around six.” said Fluttershy as she tossed a bag of bits towards Rainbow. Rainbow caught the bits but had a confused expression on her face.

“Wait, you want me to go by myself?” asked Rainbow. “Aren’t you supposed to keep an eye on me at all times?” as per the condition of Rainbow’s suicide watch.

“I won’t tell anypony if you won’t.” Fluttershy said with a wink. “Besides, I trust you.” she added before walking back into the kitchen. Rainbow stood frozen for a moment, she thought that this was some kind of test for a short amount of time. Eventually Rainbow’s confused expression shifted into a happy one; it was always nice to know her friends trusted her. Without saying a word but at the same time thanking Fluttershy internally, Rainbow walked out the door and made her way to Sweet Apple Acres.

The walk didn’t take very long thanks to the fact that Applejack was technically Fluttershy’s neighbor. But regardless of how short it was Rainbow still enjoyed it, to be able to go somewhere without having to have somepony watch her for her own safety. Once Rainbow arrived at the Apple family home she knocked on the door and waited for somepony to answer. She didn’t have to wait long before she heard a familiar mare’s voice coming from inside the house.

“Hello? Rainbow!” Applejack said with a smile when she noticed who was at the door.

“Hey, Applejack.”

“Where’s Fluttershy?” asked Applejack looking around to see if she could spot her. Applejack knew about the arrangement Fluttershy made to watch over Rainbow and had seen the two together whenever they were in town.

“She’s still at her cottage, she just sent me to get some apples.”

“Guess that means you’re getting better, good to hear.” said Applejack as she playfully hit Rainbow on her shoulder. “Come on in and Ah’ll get you some.” she added as she stepped aside to allow Rainbow to enter. Rainbow sat in the kitchen while she waited for Applejack to return with the apples. While she sat she found herself thinking back to the idea Fluttershy pitched to her, she just couldn’t figure out what to do. What good would it do it to do something her dad would never be able to see?

“Here ya go.” said Applejack as she placed a bag of apples on the table snapping Rainbow out of her thoughts.

“Huh, oh. Thanks.” said Rainbow before reaching for the bag of bits that Fluttershy gave her.

“No need to pay, just tell Fluttershy they’re on me.”

“Oh, uh…thanks.” said Rainbow awkwardly, it didn’t take a lot of effort for Applejack to see something was up.

“Somthin’ on your mind, sugar cube?” asked Applejack as she sat down next to Rainbow. Rainbow looked down as she traced circles on the table with her hoof.

“Kind of.” Rainbow wondered if she should tell Applejack what she was thinking, she was one of her only other friends who have gone through this before. If anypony would be able to give her some advice, it would be her. “You see, Fluttershy and I have been talking and, well. You see when I was younger, there were a few things my dad wanted me to do that I never gave him the time of day for. Looking back…I wish that I hadn’t been hasty like I was, after everything he’s done for me, I should have at least tried, for him.”

“Fluttershy thinks that if I do some of them now that I’ll have some closure. But the thing is-“

“You’re not sure if it’ll matter now that he’s gone?” Rainbow looked at Applejack surprised that she figured it out.

“How did?”

“Been there myself, remember?”

“Right, sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Applejack assured Rainbow, there was a moment of silence before Applejack spoke again. “Like Ah said, Ah’ve been there before, wonderin’ if it even matters anymore now that they’re not here to see you grow up. You know, before I lost my folks I promised them that I’d be able to knock out the apples of a tree in a single buck by the end of the next harvesting season.” Rainbow was surprised; she didn’t expect Applejack to start telling her a story about her past.

“Applejack wait, you don’t have to tell me this.” said Rainbow not wanting Applejack to open and old wounds.

“Ah know, but Ah want to.” Applejack said with a smile before she continued. “Not long after Ah made that promise…well, you know.” Rainbow didn’t dare ask about what exactly happened so she nodded in understanding. “After that Ah lost my drive to keep my promise, Ah didn’t see a reason to anymore.” Applejack paused for a moment, her eyes with a glassy shine. Rainbow thought she was going to cry, but instead, she smiled.

“But that’s when Granny set me straight. And Ah tell ya it wasn’t easy, you know how stubborn Ah can be.” Applejack said with a chuckle. “But then she told me something that stuck with me ever since. She said that dead doesn’t mean gone, that even though Ah can’t see them, they are always with me, right in here.” Applejack said as she rested her hoof on her chest. “After that Ah decided to go back to trying to keep my promise. And one week before the harvest was over, Ah did it, Ah dropped every apple in the tree with one buck. Ah was so happy, and even though they weren’t around…I knew that they saw it.”

Rainbow didn’t say a word for a few minutes; she allowed herself some time to let everything Applejack told her sink in. “Thanks Applejack, I think I know what to do now.” Rainbow said with a smile.

“Anytime, Rainbow.” said Applejack as she followed Rainbow to the door. Applejack watched Rainbow walk away through the window, a warm feeling in her chest. She had finally been able to do it, she was finally able to help Rainbow.

Fluttershy sat in the living-room writing down notes on her notepad while she waited for Rainbow to return. She knew that Rainbow would most likely be walking to and from the farm so she knew it would take some time for her to get back. As she waited she couldn’t help but wonder what Rainbow’s decision would be. Currently she was trying to figure out what to do if Rainbow had decided against it. So far she wasn’t able to come up with anything, but she was sure she would if she needed to.

A knock at her door pulled Fluttershy’s attention away from her notepad; putting it away she walked up to the door and opened it. “Got the apples, Applejack said it’s on her.” said Rainbow as she gave back the bag of bits.

“Oh, that’s nice of her.” Fluttershy said with a smile as she tossed the bag of bits in to her coffee table. “And thank you, Rainbow.” said Fluttershy as she grabbed the bag of apples and made her way to the kitchen.

“Hey, Shy, I’m gonna need a quill and some paper.” said Rainbow as she followed Fluttershy.

“Oh, why’s that?” asked Fluttershy.

“Can’t make a list without them now can I?” Fluttershy stared at Rainbow with her jaw opened for a few seconds before smiling.

“I’ll get you some.”

In another part of ponyville a train had just arrived allowing both coming and going ponies to step in and out of it. Among the ponies exiting was a noticeably pink mare with a cotton candy like mane and tail making her way out of the train station. Eye’s closed and a smile on her face she allowed herself a moment to take in the sent that was Ponyville.

“Hello, Ponyville, did you miss me!?”

Intermission: The Dark Clouds Have Gone

A few days ago

Rarity sat behind the counter of her boutique, so far she hadn’t had a single customer show up this week and she had no orders to fill. It was probably for the best however, for now Rarity only had one thing in mind. This was the day it was supposed to happen, the day Twilight was going to force Rainbow to stay in the pony hospital so that she could get help. Rarity could only shutter from the thought, one could only imagine how Rainbow could have taken it.

“It’s almost time.” Twilight hadn’t told them exactly when she was going to take Rainbow the pony hospital, but she did inform them to visit at noon. That was the time that Red Heart told them Fluttershy would be discharged. Rainbow was going to need as much support as possible from her friends now. However Pinkie Pie still hasn’t returned from visiting her parents and Twilight was fairly convinced that Rainbow wouldn’t want to see her anymore after today. So in the end that only Fluttershy, Rarity herself, and-

Rarity’s train of thought was cut off when he heard the bell on her front door ring. Rarity didn’t want to deal with a customer right now, but she had a business to run and after letting out a sigh tried to put up a smile. However when she looked to the door she saw that is wasn’t a customer, it was Applejack, and she didn’t look very happy. But then again why would she? Due to what’s happened over the last couple of days there wasn’t much of a reason to smile.

“Hello, Applejack.” Rarity said giving Applejack a friendly smile.

“Hey, Rares.” Applejack said awkwardly. “Today’s the day, huh?” Rarity could see it in her eyes; Applejack hadn’t slept well or probably at all for that matter. She could only imagine how Applejack must be feeling right now. She had to shoulder not only the burden of lying to her friends, but suffered the guilt when it all came back at her. Something like that could take a toll on anypony, no matter how strong.

“I’m so sorry that it came to this, Applejack, I know how hard you tried to help Rainbow.” said Rarity trying to cheer up her friend, if only by a small margin.

“Thanks, Rares, but ah can’t help but feel that ah didn’t try hard enough.” said Applejack looking defeated. Rarity’s brow furrowed at the way Applejack looked right now, she couldn’t let her continue like that.

“No you mustn’t think like that, you’ve don’t everything you could and nopony could ask for more.” said Rarity as she placed a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. But her attempts yielded no fruit as Applejack’s bottom lip began to quiver.

“Ah just wanted to be there for her, ah know how painful losing somepony can be, ah just wanted to help her.” said Applejack as a single tear ran down her face. That’s all she wanted, she wanted to be there for a friend who was forced to suffer through what she did all those years ago.

Now wanting to see Applejack cry like that Rarity pulled her in for a hug allowing her a shoulder to cry on. “But it’s still not too late; in the hospital she’s going to need her friends more than ever, you can still be there for her.” She didn’t know how long the hug lasted, and she didn’t care, all she wanted to do was help Applejack feel a little bit better.

After a while Applejack broke free from the hug and whipped the tears from her eyes. “Ah’m sorry.” Applejack said with a sniffle “ah got your coat wet.” But Rarity didn’t look bothered in the slightest

“Do you feel better now?” she asked. Applejack finally got the tears to stop and gave one last sniffle before nodding her head. “I’m glad, now, how about we go see how Rainbow is doing?” she asked. Applejack got up from the ground and took a deep breath to compose herself. Once she felt she was ready she smiled at Applejack and nodded her head.

The two walked in silence as they made their way to the hospital, both thinking silently to themselves on what Rainbow’s current state would be. Would she be glad to see them? Would she hate them for putting her there? Would she ever admit to needing help? All questions with no way to answer until they saw the cyan Pegasus for themselves.

Soon the two of them found themselves standing in front of their destination, the Ponyville hospital. What awaited them inside was anypony’s guess, but no matter what happens inside they were going to be there for Rainbow. “Hey Rares.” Applejack said.

“Yes?”

“Thank you, for what you said back there.” Applejack said with a smile on her face. Rarity looked over to Applejack and returned a smile as well.

“Anything for a friend.” Was her response, and with nothing left to be said the two started continued forward, that is until.

“Wait!” both mares heard from behind them; the voice was familiar to them so they quickly turned around. Running up to them was none other than Twilight Sparkle, she was breathing heavily as if she tried desperately to catch up to Applejack and Rarity. After about half a minute Twilight finally reached them stopping with an impressive skid.

“Twilight, what is it? Aren’t you supposed to be in there with Rainbow?” Rarity asked feeling a small panic building up inside of her.

“N-no, Rai-Rainbow…” Twilight tried to say between gasps, running at full speed like that was not something she did often so her stamina was scarce.

“Rainbow what, is she okay?” asked Applejack taking a step toward Twilight. Getting tired of trying to talk between breaths, Twilight sucked in as much air as she could, ignoring the burning sensation of her lungs.

“Fluttershy got through to Rainbow!” she said before he legs gave out and she fell plop on her stomach in exhaustion. At first Applejack and Rarity had their jaws hanging with blank expressions on their faces, it was as if what Twilight said hadn’t sunk in just yet. But over time their hanging jaws shifted into full smiled.

“She did it Rares!” Applejack yelled in glee.

“I knew she could do it!” in a fit of happiness Applejack and Rarity picked up Twilight to join in on a group hug. The hug lasted for about a minute with Rarity and Applejack laughing in happiness from the news while Twilight continued to try to catch her breath.

“Wait, but how?” asked Rarity, quickly the two looked at Twilight whose tongue was currently hanging out of her mouth.

“J-just give me a moment.” Twilight was able to say. Both were eager to find out what happened but they waited patiently for Twilight to catch her breath, and when she did she told them the most amazing story that had ever filled their ears. Word for word Twilight retold Fluttershy’s story making sure not to leave a single detail out. When the story was done both Rarity and Applejack had tears running down their faces, but not of sadness, they were tears of joy.

“That Fluttershy, she really knows how to pull all the stops to help her friends.” Applejack said with a smile.

“She was only able to do it thanks to you, Applejack.” Twilight said surprising Applejack. “It was the choice you made that gave her the time she needed, if it weren’t for the decision you made Rainbow would be in the hospital right now.” Twilight’s words felt like something had hit Applejack in the chest. This wasn’t pain of sorrow she was feeling; it was a different emotional impact. The day Applejack made her difficult decision she always wondered if she did the right thing, but she never got an answer. And now, Twilight was looking her in the eye and telling her that she did.

Applejack felt tears running down her face again and try as she might she couldn’t get her lip to stop quivering. “T-thank you, Twilight.” Applejack said before covering her face with her hat, but that didn’t mask the soft sobs. Twilight and Rarity smiled at Applejack before they moved in for a hug.

“And I wanted to say I’m sorry for what I did. I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you, I had no right.” Twilight said during the hug.

“Ah don’t care about that, I’m just glad that Rainbow’s okay.” Applejack said returning the hug to both Unicorns. The hug lasted for several minutes before they all finally broke free, each of them whipping tears of joy from their faces.

“Oh I simply must go see her, coming Applejack?” Rarity asked almost ready to bolt as a moment’s notice.

“You go on ahead, ah’ll catch up!” Rarity didn’t need to be told twice as she bolted in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage as fast as her hooves would take her. Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle from seeing just how fast Rarity could run when she put the effort into it. She wanted to for with Rarity; she wanted to see Rainbow and Fluttershy too. But she needed to take care of one thing before she could.

“Ah never got the chance to talk to you about it. But ah noticed you were taking this hard too, care to talk about it?” Applejack asked turning her head to Twilight.

“You’re right; I did have an issue when I found out what happened to Rainbow’s father. As you know, Shining is a Royal Guard too, and I never really thought about what that means up until that day. When I stepped into Celestia’s thrown room and say the guards standing there, I thought that it was me that was going to get the bad news.

“Since then I couldn’t get it out of my head, the fear of wondering if I would be next to lose somepony close to my heart. I know that fear will never go away while he’s a Royal Guard, and I know I can’t convince him to stop trying to protect his loved ones. But if the day comes when I found out he was taken from me, I know I can overcome the pain, and do you know why?”

Applejack hadn’t said anything while Twilight spoke, even now she didn’t feel like she could say anything and simple shook her head. Twilight saw this and smiled at Applejack “It’s simple, it’s because I know I will have five wonderful friends who will be there for me should the time come.” she finished still holding the smile she held proudly on her face. Applejack’s jaw went slack for a moment, but it quickly turned into a smile.

“Of course, we’ll always be there for each other, no matter what.”

Author's Note

This is the last of the side stories. This was a challenge because I simply couldn't get the same sensation I always get when writing these chapters. But thanks to another Fic I had read I found my inspiration again. Now we will return to Rainbow's road to recovery.

Chapter 9

Rainbow finally decided she would write her closure list, the list that would allow her to overcome the guilt from her past. Guilt she had been harboring for years until they finally hit her all at once the moment she found out her father died. There were many, but she wasn’t looking to write a book. She wanted her list to contain things that had a deep meaning behind them. That would have truly brought happiness to her father to be able to see her try them, even if it was only once in her life.

“But what are they?” Rainbow thought to herself, her eyes glued to the ceiling of Fluttershy’s cottage. It was a question she asked herself more than once, even while she walked back from Applejack’s farm. Which ones would have truly brought joy to her father’s life, which would have shown him how much she loved him? And give her the comfort in knowing that she tried, for him.

She thought hard, going through her past trying to figure out what she did that could have been done differently. But it was harder than she thought; she put a lot of effort into pushing moments like that out of her mind. They only seem to come back to her when she’s dreaming, but she didn’t want to have to go through that every night. She needed something, anything that could trigger a memory for her.

“Any progress, Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy as she walked into the room. Rainbow put her quill down with a sigh and turned to look at Fluttershy.

“Nothing, I just can’t think of anything.” she said as she rubbed her temple. It was frustrating; to not be able to do something she had set her mind to. Fluttershy wished she could help, but everything that goes on Rainbow’s closure list needs to come from her and no pony else.

“You’ve been trying for over an hour, how about you take a break and try to clear your mind?” Fluttershy suggested. Sometimes a good idea can’t be forced; a pony just needs to wait until it hits them. Rainbow looked back at the blank piece of parchment; she tried to think but still couldn’t come up with anything.

“Alright, a break sounds good.” she said with a small sigh as she hoped off the sofa. At that moment a bell could be heard and a smile spread across Fluttershy’s face.

“Just in time too.” she said as she turned and walked back into the kitchen. Rainbow arched a brow and followed Fluttershy into the kitchen wondering what it was she had been making. The moment she stepped in she saw Fluttershy open the oven and pull something out of it. It was a cake, a chocolate cake from the looks of it.

“You still like chocolate, right?” asked Fluttershy as she placed the cake tray on the table.

“You kidding, it’s my favorite.” Rainbow said as she stared at the cake. Chocolate cake was always her favorite, just like somepony else she knew. Once she remembered her brow quickly furrowed and she stared at the floor.

“Are you okay, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked as she took a step closer to Rainbow.

“Chocolate cake was dad’s favorite too.” Rainbow said with her eyes still locked on the floor. Immediately Fluttershy regretted making the cake, she thought that making Rainbow’s favorite cake would make her happy.

“I-I’m sorry, Rainbow, I just-“ Fluttershy stopped when Rainbow put her hoof on her shoulder.

“Thank you.” Rainbow said with a smile on her face. She knew Fluttershy’s intention, and Rainbow didn’t want the hard work Fluttershy put in making the cake to go to waste. So after Fluttershy had finished adding vanilla icing on top, the two of them sat at the table with a slice on their plates.

“So is this why you asked me to get some apples, so I wouldn’t walk in on you making this?” asked Rainbow. Fluttershy looked away from Rainbow for a moment before looking back with a sheepish smile.

“Clever.” said Rainbow with a smirk before she took a bite out of her cake. Just as she thought, the cake was delicious. Not too sweet and just the right amount of chocolate flavor that melted in your mouth with each bite. She remembered this taste very well; it was exactly how her father’s cakes used to taste.

“Do you like it?” asked Fluttershy, but there was no response. “Rainbow?” Fluttershy looked up to see Rainbow was looking back at her. Actually that wasn’t true, while Rainbow seeming to be looking in Fluttershy’s direction she didn’t seem to be staring directly at Fluttershy. It was almost as if she was staring a million miles away. Fluttershy had read about something like this before, it was common among war veterans who at random times would flash back to moments in their past. So if something like that was happening right now, what was it that Rainbow was flashing back to?

Rainbow Dash was flying home after a couple of hours of practicing stunts around town. It was a freedom she was finally given now that she was in her mid-teens. Now she could fly around town as much as she wanted so long as she returned before curfew. It was early in the afternoon now and Rainbow was feeling a little hungry so she decided to go home to get something to eat. Once she landed in front of her home she noticed her mom watering the plants.

“Hey mom!” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof.

“Back already? Thought for sure I’d have to go looking for you.” her mother joked.

“Got hungry, just gonna get something to eat before I go back to practicing my stunts.” Rainbow said as she walked through their front door. Once inside Rainbow slowly made her way to the kitchen wondering what she’d eat. At this time she was thinking maybe a sandwich, it’s both simple and fast to make. And it was the only thing that Rainbow actually knew how to prepare as she wasn’t very kitchen savvy. But she didn’t care, she had better things to do than learn how to cook something. She had to spend all her free time getting better and faster at flying so that she could join the Wonderbolts someday.

“What if I put too much of something, or not enough?” Rainbow could hear Fluttershy, it sounded like she was worried about something. It wasn’t new for Fluttershy to worry if she did well enough in something. Rainbow’s been trying to help Fluttershy with her confidence but it was a lot harder than she expected.

“You did just fine, I’m sure it will be delicious.” Now Rainbow could hear her father’s voice.

“Are they in the kitchen?” Rainbow thought to herself. That’s when she caught a whiff of something in the air. “Is that…chocolate?” she asked herself again, she slowed her pace a little more so they couldn’t hear her. Soon enough she reached the corner that lead to the kitchen, she peeked her head around it to see her father and Fluttershy sitting on the floor while staring at the oven.

She couldn’t see what was in the oven, but given the smell she could guess that it was a chocolate cake. And since her dad was making one with Fluttershy it could only mean one thing for Rainbow. “Oh no, he’s gonna try to get me to bake again!” Rainbow thought to herself not too keen to the idea. Rainbow liked cakes but she hated baking, she wasn’t good at it and it never really interested her.

The last time Rainbow’s dad tried to get her to bake with him she put up a little bit of a fit to convince him not to make her. She didn’t want to have to go through that again, it was probably better that she got away before he noticed she was home. Carefully Rainbow turned around and tiphooved her way to the door.

“Daddy, how come you didn’t ask Rainbow to bake with us?” Rainbow stopped dead in her tracks. She didn’t want to bake, but still she found herself wanting to know the answer. There was a small silence before Rainbow heard her father let out a sigh.

“I wanted to, but last time I tried she made it clear that she didn’t want me to teach her.” her father started. There was another pause, one that lasted over a minute, Rainbow still hadn’t moved from the spot where she stood. She felt like there was more, something else that her father wanted to say.

“Fluttershy, be honest with me. Does Rainbow still enjoy spending time with me?” Rainbow felt like her chest was going to explode. Why would her father think that? She loved spending time with him.

“Of course she does.” Rainbow could hear Fluttershy assuring their father. “It’s just; there are things she doesn’t like to do.” Fluttershy added. Rainbow waited for a response from her father, she wasn’t sure what else to do. The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity, but it was eventually broken by a chuckle from her father.

“You know what, you’re right. Both of you have different likes and dislikes, I can’t force either of you to do something you don’t like.” her father said, the traces of sadness from his voice seemingly gone. Rainbow let out a sigh and mentally thanked Fluttershy for backing her up, even if she didn’t know Rainbow was a few feet away. Just then Rainbow heard the kitchen time go off, the cake must be done now.

“How does it look, did it come out okay?” asked Fluttershy as their father pulled the cake out of the oven.

“It’s perfect, because we made it together.” he said as he placed the cake on the counter top. “And I’m glad we got the chance to do this together.” he added before giving Fluttershy a warm hug not knowing that a few feet away Rainbow was being crushed by guilt. Rainbow quickly made her way out the door without alerting anypony else that she had been inside. Rainbow quickly took to the air not giving her mother any time to say anything.

She then spent the next couple of hours flying as fast as she could around town trying to push that moment out of her head. It actually took her days, but eventually she succeeded in doing just that. If only she had known how it would affect her in the future.

“Rainbow?” she hadn’t noticed when she had moved, but suddenly Rainbow Dash saw that Fluttershy was standing next to her. Fluttershy was gently shaking her, it had been almost ten minutes since Rainbow went into a trance and she was beginning to worry. Rainbow blinked a few times and turned her attention to Fluttershy.

“Huh, what’s wrong?” asked Rainbow.

“You spaced out…then you started to tear up.” said Fluttershy. Rainbow placed her hoof on her cheek to find that Fluttershy was right. Rainbow’s cheek was moist from her tears, he hadn’t even noticed.

“I was remembering something.” Rainbow said with her eyes locked on to the cake Fluttershy had made.

“What did you remember?” asked Fluttershy, she could only imagine one of Rainbow’s previous guilt’s had resurfaced.

“The day dad taught you how to bake.” Fluttershy remembered that day, she thought about it every time she baked. But there was something that was off about what Rainbow had said, as far as she knew Rainbow wasn’t home when that happened.

“Wait, but you were out doing stunts that day; you didn’t come home until dinner.” Fluttershy said from what she remembered that day.

“No, I came home before that, a couple of minutes before the cake was finished. I…was in the hallway listening. I heard everything you two said.” the room fell into silence after that; Fluttershy didn’t know what to say. She thought for sure that the conversation she and their father had that day was private.

“I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.”

“No, you don’t need to feel sorry.” said Rainbow. “It’s my fault for being such a brat when I turned down his offer. There’s nothing I can do to change what happened that day, but I can do something about it now.” Rainbow got up from her chair and made her way back into the living room. Once there she walked up to the table where she had placed the parchment and picked up the quill. She didn’t have to think about it anymore, she knew what was going to be first on her list and had no hesitation in writing it.

Fluttershy walked up behind Rainbow to see what was going to be first on Rainbow’s closure list. When Rainbow was done writing she placed the quill down and stepped out of the way to let Fluttershy read it. ‘Chocolate cake’ was written on the parchment, something that would seem like a simple task to somepony else. But to Rainbow, it had more meaning than anything she’s done up until now.

“It was his favorite, and he wanted both of us to be able to make it. Maybe it was because he wanted us to know how to bake like him, or maybe it was so we would always have something about him we could remember. Either way, I’m going to learn how to make one in his memory, can you teach me?” Fluttershy could see Rainbow’s determination to do this; there was no way she could refuse.

“Of course.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy were preparing to make another cake, one that Rainbow would make with Fluttershy’s supervision. Rainbow had no previous baking experience so she wasn’t expecting the cake to be perfect the first time. But she was going to keep trying until can make a cake that tastes just like how her father made it. “Uh oh.” Rainbow heard Fluttershy say from the refrigerator, Rainbow walked up to her to see what was wrong.

“Sorry Rainbow, but I used the last of the milk and butter making that last cake.” Fluttershy said with an apologetic look on her face. Rainbow rubbed the back of her head; they couldn’t bake a cake without those ingredients. She didn’t want to, but it was looking like she would have to wait until they got more to give baking a try.

“Guess we’ll have to go buy more first.” said Fluttershy as she closed the fridge door.

“Wait, you mean now?” asked Rainbow.

“Of course, I’m not going to make you wait after you made your decision. We’ll go into town and buy some more ingredients, and you can start baking when we get back.” Rainbow gave Fluttershy a look of gratitude and followed her to the living room.

“Just a little longer and I’ll give it my all.” Rainbow thought to herself as she and Fluttershy made their way to the front door. With a sound click Fluttershy unlocked the door and turned the knob opening it. The next thing she knew it something big and pink dashed its way through the opened door making its way towards Rainbow.

“Dashie!” Rainbow heard before something rammed into her knocking her into the ground. It took Rainbow some time to try to process what had just happened. And she was far to dazed to see what was around her. But slowly she began to piece together everything up until the moment she hit the ground.

“Pink blur, mare voice calling me Dashie, the smell of cupcakes and…am I being hugged?”

“Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow said as she opened her eyes, and sure enough she was met with an ear to ear smile from the very pony.

“I’m so happy that you’re okay, I’m sorry that I left town like I did. But I just started to worry about my family so much because I haven’t heard from them in a while and-“ Pinkie stopped when Rainbow placed her hoof under Pinkie’s chin.

“Easy, I already know what happened. Applejack told me about what you were going through a few days ago. I’m not going to be mad at you just because you wanted to visit your family to make sure they’re okay.” Pinkie stared at Rainbow with her brow furrowed.

“Are you sure?” asked Pinkie wanting to make sure Rainbow wasn’t angry with her.

“Positive.” said Rainbow which put the smile back on Pinkie Pie’s face. A couple of seconds passed before Rainbow cleared her throat. “Can I get up now, Pinkie?” asked Rainbow reminding Pinkie that she was holding Rainbow down on the floor in a hug. Pinkie apologized and helped Rainbow get up off the floor.

“Anyway it’s good to see you’re back and I’d like to catch up but Fluttershy and I need to get some ingredients in town.” Pinkie Pie tilted her head for a moment.

“Are you making something?”

“Well, it might seem a little silly, but I want to learn how to bake a cake.” Rainbow paused for a moment as she rubbed her foreleg with her hoof. “It’s something we think will help me get through this.” the room fell into a silence for a moment; Pinkie Pie seemed to be deep in thought.

“But maybe later we can-“

“Let me teach you.” Pinkie said with a serious look on her face. It was a rare sight from the party pony. Rainbow wasn’t sure what to say, Fluttershy had already agreed to teach her how to make one. Not just that, but the look on Pinkie Pies face made it impossible for her to refuse the offer.

“Please, even if you say it’s okay that I left town that doesn’t change that I’m here now. I don’t know why or how learning how to bake a cake will help you and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But if it will help you be happy again then I want to do whatever I can to help.” sometimes ponies would forget what Pinkie’s true talent was. Most believed it was in throwing parties, but in reality that was just her method of achieving her real talent. The talent to bring back the happiness to a pony that has lost it.

Fluttershy could see it in Pinkie Pies eyes, the desire to be there for her friend. She could only imagine that the rest of their friends were the same way. All sitting in wait for the moment to arrive when they can help Rainbow. And Fluttershy didn’t want to be the pony who would rob any them of that chance.

“I think it’s a perfect idea.” said Fluttershy as she walked up to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow looked over to Fluttershy to see if she really was okay with this. All it took was a reassuring nod of Fluttershy’s head to assure Rainbow. She then smiled and turned her had back to Pinkie who was waiting in anticipation.

“Alright Pinkie, I’m counting on you.”

Prologue

Up in Canterlot, inside the castle of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle walked down the hall beside her friend Rainbow Dash. This wasn’t the first time she had been to the castle with her friends, though it was the first time she came with only one of them.

“So tell me, why did the Princess ask you to bring me here?” Twilight’s bringing Rainbow Dash to Canterlot was sudden; she hadn’t even given her a reason.

“I’m not sure to be honest” said Twilight with a puzzled tone, she removed the letter Princess Celestia had sent her from her saddle bag and looked it over for the hundredth time since she received it yesterday.

“To my Faithful student;

Something has come up, I require you to bring Rainbow Dash to Canterlot by early afternoon tomorrow (That of course being today). I must insist that only the two of you come, I will explain everything once you arrive”

That was all the letter said, Twilight couldn’t explain it, but it just felt like something was off, why would Princess Celestia insist that she only bring one of her friends, was she going to tell them something that only they could know?

“I bet she’s going to personally ask me to join the Wonderbolts” Dash said as she lightly struck her chest with her hoof. This earned her a roll of Twilight’s eyes but also a smile from her optimism.

“I don’t think she has any say in that, even if she is the Princess”

“Okay, then maybe…” Rainbow rubbed her hoof under her chin as she thought about what Celestia would want to tell them. “Maybe she’ll ask me to be a Royal Guard like my dad” Rainbow said with a laugh.

“No offence, but you’re hardly Royal Guard—“Twilight paused for a moment “Your dad is a Royal Guard!?” she yelled a bit louder than she wanted. Lucky enough for her nopony was around to hear her.

“Did I not tell you?” Rainbow asked placing her hoof on her chin thinking back to see if she did or not.

“Uh, No, why didn’t you tell us your dad was a Royal Guard?”

“Must of slipped my mind, AJ and Fluttershy know, could have sworn I told everypony else” said Rainbow rubbing the back of her head.

“Well you’ll have to introduce us to him someday, what’s he look like?”

“Well, I took after him in the mane and tail color department, though he’s a darker shade of blue than me” Rainbow stopped walking for a moment, her eyes wide as if she just reached an epiphany. “That’s it!” she said happily as she hopped in place.

“What’s it?”

“The reason Princess Celestia called me here, maybe my Dad’s in Canterlot and he wants to see me!” Twilight thought this over; it did make sense when you thought about it. Royal Guards weren’t allowed to leave their positions unless ordered to; it stands to reason that this whole thing was to have Rainbow see her father while he was here.

“That must be it”

“Awesome, I can’t wait to see him again”

“How long has it been since you last saw him?”

“Well almost two years, but he writes to me when he can, the last letter I got from him was about two months ago” Twilight knows what it feels like not to see a family member from the Royal Guards for extended periods of time. Whenever her brother would go out on a mission she would always fear that something could happen to him. But Rainbow never showed any signs of that since she’s known her, it showed just how highly she must think of him. Eventually they reach the door to the room they had been told Princess Celestia would be waiting for them.

“Ready to see your dad, you know, if that’s what this is about” Rainbow gave Twilight a nod, the thought of seeing her father again filled her with anticipation. Twilight giggled from the look on Rainbow’s face and opened the door, and then the smile on her face faded.

“Oh no…” Twilight said under her voice, the room seemed normal, there were Royal Guards standing between the support beams facing one another from each side of the carpet in the middle. But they weren’t the regular soldiers that guarded Canterlot; their armor was a different style. This meant that they were from one of Celestias élite teams, the last time she saw a different team of Royal Guards lined up like this, something terrible had happened. Twilight looked across the room to see Princess Celestia, her mentor looked back but was unable to hold eye contact.

Twilight felt a chill run down her spine, she took another good look at the guards, they were not from her brother’s team, in fact; she didn’t recognize any of them. That means there was only one other possibility, and although Twilight felt relived, she also felt sick to her stomach.

“You okay Twilight, you’re looking a little pale” Twilight snapped out of her train of thought, but looking at Rainbow only made her feel worse.

“Rainbow, no matter what happens; I want you to know that I’m here for you, okay?” Rainbow felt a sudden uneasy feeling strike her.

“W-what do you mean, what’s going to happen?” Twilight didn’t answer, she continued to walk forward; she couldn’t stare Rainbow in the eyes any longer. “Twilight…?” Rainbow said weakly, she looked around but she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, did Twilight know something she didn't?

Rainbow felt uneasy as she continued to follow Twilight, the feeling grew worse when she noticed that Princess Celestia had the same look on her face. Once they were directly in front of the Princess, both were going to bow only to be halted by Celestia immediately.

“Thank you for bringing her here, Twilight” Twilight didn’t say a word, in fact she seemed to be trembling.

“P-princess, what’s this all about?” Celestia finally looked Rainbow in the eyes, but the cyan Pegasus soon wished that she hadn’t. The eyes of Celestia that were normally happy and understanding were now filled with grief, as if she wished she didn’t have to say what she was going to say.

“Rainbow Dash, I…I’m sorry” Rainbow’s eyes went wide, she didn’t know what Princess Celestia was talking about, and she fear to ask, but she didn’t have to. Princess Celestia’s horn began to glow; soon an object shrouded in the golden hue of her magic came out from behind her. It was a helmet, one that Rainbow recognized, one that had her cutie mark stamped on the side.

No…

“He…was a brave stallion…”

Please no…

“Rainbow, I’m so sorry” Twilight gently wrapped her fore legs around Rainbow Dash for a hug. Slowly, it began to sink in to the cyan Pegasus, she didn’t want it to be true; she begged that it was all just a lie, but she knew it wasn’t. Rainbow did what she could to fight it off; she didn’t want to break down, not in front of Twilight. “It’s okay Rainbow, I won’t think any less of you” that was all it took, Rainbow wrapped her fore legs around Twilight and began to sob loudly, she didn’t care who listened.

Twilight herself had tears running down her cheeks, she didn't know what it felt like to lose somepony so close, but she could only imagine how she’d be if it were her. Even the guards couldn’t keep their emotions under control; Celestia saw this and gave them a nod allowing them to leave. Many Royal Guards would come to see one another as brothers, the death of one of their members may as well been the death of somepony in their family.

From outside the sounds of some breaking down to be heard in the form of them swearing to the heavens, nopony could blame them. Celestia walked up to the two mares in front of her and wrapped her wings around them. It was a warm feeling, something she needed, because now all she could feel was the cold emptiness of having just found out that she had lost her one and only father, forever.

Intermission: Pinkie Pie - Part 2

There was a slight chill in the air; this was due to the sun still resting for the day. The moon was already beginning to set; the sun would rise any moment now. At this time everypony in town were still asleep, that is, everypony except for one Pinkie Pie. Aside from the only worker tending to the station, Pinkie was the only pony out and about. She sat down on one of the benches as she waited for her train to arrive, next to her sat an enclosed box containing the cupcakes that she and Mrs. Cake prepared the day before.

Pinkie Pie was always a morning pony, but this morning she couldn’t help but feel butterfly’s in her stomach. She was going to see her family again, she hadn’t been to the rock farm in years; she wondered just how much has changed since she left.

Of in the distance Pinkie heard the train getting closer to the station. After making sure she had her ticket, Pinkie placed the box in her saddlebag and waited for the train to arrive. The train was empty for the most part, nopony exited when the train came to a halt. Pinkie hoofed over her ticket and was allowed to enter; she found the closest window seat and placed her saddle bag next to her. By this time Celestias sun was already starting to rise.

“I wonder if they’ll like them…” Pinkie thought to herself as she placed the box of cupcakes on the table. She had worked hard to make these cupcakes as delicious as she possibly could, she liked them, Mr. and Mrs. Cake liked them, and the twins probably liked them a little too much. But she wondered if her family would like them as well, Mrs. Cake told her that and parent would love the effort their child put in to make something for them, it was always the thought that mattered.

“I guess I’ll find out…” her stop wasn’t for a couple of hours, getting comfortable, Pinkie Pie enjoyed the view of the scenery outside her window as the train moved on.

“Pinkie Pie, can I see you outside?” little filly Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen with her mom preparing a pie for after dinner. Her hair was full of life, and there was her rather newly acquired cutie mark on her flank. At this time it had been a month since she earned it, and since then she and the rest of her family has live happily, a smile always on their faces.

“Be right there papa!” she called out before turning to her mother. “I’ll be back to help clean up mama.” Pinkie said to her mother before running off to the front door. As she did she found she was about to run into one of her sisters.

“Watch out Marble!” Pinkie Pie warned her sister before jumping over her.

“Still energetic, huh Pinkie?” Marble said with a giggle.

“You know it!” Pinkie replied before sliding to a stop just a couple of inches from the door. Pinkie was still small for her age so she needed to balance on her hind legs to reach the door knob. Once the door was open she noticed her father standing next to another stallion. The stallion had pistachio colored eyes with amber mane and light orange fur. His cutie marked had what looked like three pieces of cake with frosting on them.

“Pinkie Pie, this is Carrot Cake, I met him in town.” Her father said gesturing to the stallion. Carrot Cake gave Pinkie Pie a friendly nod and a smile.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, but I guess you already knew that!” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle.

“You weren’t kidding, she is an energetic one.” Carrot Cake said with a laugh.

“You should see her when she’s had candy, oh that reminds me.” Pinkie’s father reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a pouch before giving it to Pinkie Pie.

“Gummy bears, yay!” Pinkie Pie yelled in glee when she looked in the bag. Pinkie was just about to reach for one when-

“Hey now, what’s the rule?” her father asked as she arched his brow to Pinkie Pie.

“No candy until after dinner…”said Pinkie Pie as she crossed her forelegs.

“Good girl” her father said with a smile. Pinkie Pie closed the bag and placed it in her mane for safe keeping.

“So, what brings you to the rock farm?” Pinkie asked politely. For what was probably the first time since Pinkie threw her first party a month ago, Pinkie’s father frowned.

“Pinkie Pie, can you tell Mr. Carrot Cake what your dream is?” her father asked her.

“To make everypony happy!”

The whistle to the train woke Pinkie Pie; she didn’t even remember falling asleep in the first place. She looked out the window to see that she was already at her stop. After she quickly checked her surroundings to make sure she still had everything she entered the train with, Pinkie Pie ran out just before the doors closed again.

“That was close” said Pinkie as she whipped the sweat from her head, if the whistle from the train hadn’t woken her up she wasn’t sure when she would have or what she would have ended up. Once Pinkie Pie exited the station she was able to get a good look at the town known as “Neigh Rock”. It was a small town, smaller than Ponyville, but that didn’t stop it from being a good place to visit or live. The first thing she noticed about the town was that it didn’t look the same as when she left it. There were newer buildings, and some of the old ones were closed down.

“Oh no, not Mr. Date’s shop” when Pinkie Pie was younger, the town only had one candy shop, every now and then her father would buy her a small bag of candy from the owner. Mr. Date was an elderly stallion whose cutie mark contained three date chocolates. Dates were the most delicious candy in his stock. It was a wonderful place from her fillyhood, but now, it was closed for good. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why, Mr. Date was very old and didn’t have any children to his name.

“You were a good stallion, Mr. Date” Pinkie said to the shop before continuing her way. The rest of the small town seemed like it hadn’t changed much, the market seemed to have been refurbished recently thought. But as much as he liked the trip down memory lane, Pinkie Pie felt that she was stalling herself. It was a good half hour walk to get to the rock farm from town, and she had spent long enough away from it.

The walk was going smoothly, Pinkie Pie was able to enjoy see that the land had change since she last saw it. Some new trees have grown, flowers as well, it made the walk seem all the nicer for her. But as nice as it way, each step made the butterflies in her stomach go crazy, she hadn’t been home in so long, she wondered if they’d be happy to see her.

Pinkie Pie shook her head “No, no, of course they’ll be happy to see me…right?” she was going to get her answer. She was nearing a corner; once she took it she would be able to see her home in the distance. Pinkie Pie stopped just short of the corner, there was a small hill blocking her view around it. She hadn’t seen her home in so long, was it the same, had it changed; was it even there anymore?

Pinkie’s heart sank with that last thought, the idea that something could have happened and the farm was no longer there. Pinkie Pie gulped before taking a deep breath, there was only one way for her to find out. With her eyes closed, Pinkie Pie turned her head around the corner, and then realized that she couldn’t see with her eyes closed. Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and opened one eyes, what she saw caused her to open her others eye.

“It-it’s still there” Pinkie Pie said when he eyes locked on to the farm where she had grown. In fact, it looked better than when she had left. Most ponies would see the rock filled field as dull, but the nostalgia that ran over Pinkie made it look like the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen.

“Wow, they’re really coming out this year” said Pinkie Pie as she noticed all the rocks that surrounded the field. Nopony knew exactly how a rock farm worked, but it was rather simple when you figure it out, the rocks simply—

“Hey, Hooves off my rocks!” Pinkie Pie turned around to see a mare about her age running up to her, a pitch fork in her mouth. The mare looked a little like how Pinkie Pie appeared now, only with a gray colorization.

“Marble!?” Pinkie Pie said with a happy gasp. The running mare came to a halt when her name was called out. She looked closely at the mare standing in front of her and let go of the pitch fork as a smile spread across her face.

“Pinkie Pie!” both mares jumped at each other for a warming hug, Pinkie hadn’t noticed it, but some of her color had returned at that moment. “Oh my gosh, I haven’t seen you since you lift!” her sister said as she broke away from the hug still holding a smile.

“Y-yeah…sorry I haven’t visited…” said Pinkie as she looked down to her hooves.

“Don’t worry about it; you’re visiting now aren’t you?” Pinkie Pie nodded. “I see you decided to straighten out your mane again.” said Marble as she noticed Pinkie Pies mane style was back to how it was before she gained her cutie mark. Marble didn’t know the real reason why Pinkie Pie’s mane had gone straight again, but Pinkie Pie preferred it that way.

“I-I descended to give it another try, you know?” Marble nodded.

“Well come on, mom and pop are inside right now.” said Marble as she turned around, as she did Pinkie Pie noticed something on her flank.

“You’re cutie mark!” Pinkie knew that Marble had gotten hers not long after she left, but this was the first time she's seen it. Just like her sisters name, her cutie mark was of a beautifully glistened marble stone.

“W-what’s wrong with it?” Marble asked as she checked her cutie mark.

“Nothing, this is just the first time I’ve seen it is all.” said Pinkie Pie, Marble let out a sigh before giggling.

“Don’t scare me like that, come on!” said Marble as she and Pinkie Pie continued their way towards their home.

“So, where’s Limestone?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, she moved out about two month ago. She lives with her coltfriend now.” said Marble leaving Pinkie Pie in shock.

“Wait what, when did Limestone get a coltfriend?” Pinkie Pie had never been informed of this in any of the letters she’s received from her family.

“Almost six month ago I believe.” six months, in the short span where Pinkie Pie hadn’t been in contact with her family she missed finding out that one of her sisters had a colt in her life. “He’s nice too; his name is Double Scoop and used to own an ice-cream shop in town. One day he was given the chance to franchise his store, and about a month ago he gained so much money he was able to move to Manehattan and Limestone went with him when he asked.” Marble continued to explain.

“Somepony else runs the ice-cream shop in town and he’s made it so we can have whatever we want for free, within reason of course” Mable said with a laugh.

“Well, I’m glad she met somepony.” Pinkie felt sad that she missed seeing Limestone by such a short timeframe, but she couldn’t help by feel happy for her sister. Within a minute both Marble and Pinkie Pie stood at the front door, Pinkie Pie felt hesitant to move any further.

“What’s wrong, Pinkie?” asked Marble when she noticed Pinkie Pie stopped moving.

“D-do you think they’ll be mad that I haven’t visited?” Marble turned back to Pinkie Pie with an arched brow.

“Mad? They’d be happy to see you after so long.” Marble said with a confused look on her face. “You alright sis, you’re looking a little low.” she added.

“I-“ before Pinkie could say anything, the door opened revealing a light brown stallion with large sideburns.

“Marble, who are you talking t-“ the stallions eyes went wide when he locked them on the Pink pony standing in front of Marble. “Pinkie Pie!” yelled the stallion as he ran up to give the pink pony a warm hug.

“H-hey papa” said Pinkie as she returned the hug.

“It’s been so long, how are things with the Cakes?” her father asked as he broke away from the hug.

“It’s been great; Mr. and Mrs. Cake have been really nice to me all these years.”

“That’s good to hear, let’s go inside so you can see your mother, I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you again.” Pinkie’s father as he walked in with Marble close behind. Pinkie Pie smiled as she followed behind, her father was looking well and was glad to see her, it seemed as though she didn’t have anything to worry about after all. Once inside Pinkie Pie noticed that the interior had changed slightly since she left. The walls seemed to have been freshly painted and there was a new couch that wasn’t there before.

Along the wall Pinkie Pie noticed the several pictures that had been placed, many of which were old but some were new. One picture pinkie noticed had Limestone standing next to a stallion with a golden brown mane and tail, and vanilla colored fur. His cutie mark was of an ice-cream scooper with some chocolate ice-cream in it.

“I guess that’s Double Scoop” Pinkie Pie said to herself, from the look on both their faces, Pinkie could tell that Limestone was happy with him.

“Come on, sis!” Marble called from across the room. Pinkie turned away from the wall following her sister to the kitchen.

“Mama!” Pinkie yelled as she noticed her mother washing dishes at sink. Pinkie Pie’s mother turned around quickly when she heard her voice. The first thing Pinkie noticed when on her mother was the white mask she was wearing.

“My little Pinkie Pie!” her mother yelled but staying where she stood, Pinkie was going to run up to hug her but her mother raised a hoof. “Hold it dear, I don’t want you catching what I have” her mother warned her.

“Mom’s been fighting something for the past few weeks, and she’s supposed to be in bed…” said Marble.

“I’ve been on bed rest for weeks now, I can at least wash dishes.” her mother protested.

“Y-you were, sick, how come nopony told me?” asked Pinkie Pie “I would have come help.” She added.

“It wasn’t too serious, Pinkie, I got all the help I needed and we didn’t want to worry you. We know how much working with the Cake’s means to you.” her mother explained, but that didn’t help Pinkie Pie feel any better. The image of her mother lying motionless on a bed with a bed sheet covering her face flashed in her mind.

“That’s not the point, what if it was serious, what if something happened to you and I never got to see you again!?” Pinkie Pie’s bottom lip began to quiver as tears began to run her face. Pinkie’s parents gave each other worried glances while Marble gave her a hug.

“Did something happen back in Ponyville, Pinkie?” Marble asked her sister, she had never seen Pinkie overreact like this before.

“N-no…I just missed you all so much.” Pinkie didn’t want to tell them about what happened to Rainbow Dash’s father. “I haven’t seen you all in so long, and then I stopped getting letters from you, I thought something bad might have happened.” Pinkie’s father joined in the hug, her mother walking in closer but still keeping her distance, as much as she wanted to hug her daughter, she didn’t want rick getting her sick in the process.

“We’re sorry Pinkie, we’ve just been busy for the past few months, I guess it just slipped our minds.” said Pinkie’s father.

“No I’m sorry, if I visited more often then maybe I wouldn’t have gotten so paranoid about it.” said Pinkie as she whipped the tears from her eyes.

“It’s all okay now, you here and you can see where’s all okay” said Pinkie’s mother before he sneezed “Well, for the most part” she added causing herself and the others to laugh. It felt nice, being able to laugh with her family again, she had missed this.

“I finished harvesting the stones out back Mr. Rock, what should I do…now…” A familiar voice ran through the home, from the living room entered another mare. The mare was a unicorn with cyan fur and silver mane, and her cutie mark was of a wand with a magical aura floating around it.

“Trixie?” Pinkie Pie said completely shocked to see Trixie of all ponies inside her home.

“P-Pinkie Pie, h-how nice to see you again…” Trixie said with a nervous smile on her face. The last time she saw the pink pony was when she stopped at Ponyville for one of her shows which ended up causing a mess.

“Oh, you know each other?” her father asked.

“Oh, yes, we met a long time ago. Isn’t that right, old chum?” Trixie had a nervous sweat starting to run down her forehead as Pinkie glared at her.

“Yeah…haven’t seen you since you stopped at Ponyville…” said Pinkie as she tried to hide her displeasure to see the boasting unicorn.

“Well how about you two catch up while mom goes back up to get some rest.” said Marble as gestured her mother to move.

“I keep telling you I’m-“ Marble’s mother let out a sneeze cutting her off.

“Don’t argue, come on now, let’s get you to bed, I’ll make you some soup afterword’s.” said Marble as she continued to lead her mother out of the room and towards the stairs.

“Trixie, why don’t you take a break, I’ll take care of the rest.” said Pinkie’s father as he turned to leave the kitchen leaving Pinkie Pie alone with Trixie. An awkward silence fell between the mares once they were alone.

“S-so, how are things in pony-“

“What are you doing here!?” yelled Pinkie trying to keep her voice down so her family wouldn’t hear her. “Are you trying to con my family, huh!?” said Pinkie as she took a step forward causing Trixie to back away.

“What, no, I would never!” said Trixie trying to stand her ground.

“Then why are you here!?” Pinkie demanded to know.

“B-because I have nowhere else to go…” Trixie’s bottom lip began to quiver as she fought back the urge to cry. Pinkie Pie took a step back, she didn’t know what Trixie meant, but she was shocked to see that it almost made her cry.

“Everything alright?” asked Marble as she walked back in to the kitchen after helping her mother back to bed.

“Uh, yes, Trixie and I were just going to walk around the farm so I could see what’s changed” Marble nodded as she went on to prepare the soup that she promised her mother. Trixie and Pinkie Pie exited through the back door putting distance between themselves and the home.

“Okay, what did you mean by you not having anywhere else to go?” Pinkie Pie asked breaking the silence between them. Trixie looked down to her hooves; she took a deep breath before she spoke.

“After what happened in Ponyville, my life became a downward spiral to tartarus. Word had spread everywhere, my reputation was completely destroyed. No matter what I tried to do I was unable to find work of any kind. Eventually all the money I had left dried up and I was forced to beg for food.” Trixie had begun to cry by now causing Pinkie Pie to feel sorry for the mare. She had wanted karma to get her for what she did back in Ponyville, but this was not what she had in mind.

“S-so how did you end up here?” Pinkie asked.

“O-one night during a storm I didn’t have any place for shelter so I had to sleep under a park bench. It was so cold that day; my body became numb to the point where I couldn’t even feel the ground I laid on. I didn’t think I’d make it through the night, a fear that intensified when I saw a bright light getting closer to me.” Trixie started to tremble; Pinkie Pie could only imagine how terrifying it must have been for her.

“Trixie, you don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.” recanting her story was clearly painful for Trixie; Pinkie didn’t want to open any wound that she may have already. Trixie shook her head and whipped some tears from her face.

“It’s okay, it gets better after that.” she assured Pinkie Pie. “When I saw the bright light that they I’m sure I blacked out, because the next thing I remember is waking up in a bed. Sitting right next to me was your mother.” Trixie began to smile. “I was told that your father found me under the park bench and carried me home, I had come down with a fierce fever, almost life threatening I was told. Back then your family wasn’t doing so well, and yet they still took care of me without a second thought. The moment I was healthy enough I convinced your father to allow me to repay my depth to them, he tried to tell me that it wasn’t necessary, but I couldn’t leave without showing how grateful I was.

“That was over a year ago.” Trixie looked back at the farm “I was told I repaid my debt a while ago, but as I said, I have nowhere else to go. Your family has been nice to me; they treat me like family, something I haven’t felt in a long time. Maybe the day will come that I can redeem myself, the day when my name isn’t a target for everponies scorn, but even if it doesn’t I don’t care, I’m happy here.” said Trixie as she turned back to look at Pinkie Pie.

“I know you must have some ill will towards me, I won’t blame you if you do, but please know that I got what I deserved for being who I used to be. Your family gave me another chance at life and I will not make the same mistakes I did before.” the two stood there for a while, Pinkie never once averting her gaze from the mare standing in front of her.

“I-I had no idea…I-I’m sorry…” said Pinkie as she bowed her head in shame, not long ago she had accused Trixie of trying to con her family, now she knew the truth.

“It’s alright; it’s not your fault.” Trixie assure Pinkie as she placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I’ve done some bad things in the past and I’m trying to put them behind me, so, if I you’re willing.” Trixie extended her hoof out at Pinkie. “Think we can start over?” Pinkie stared at Trixie’s hoof for a few seconds, the look on the mare’s face was real; she was no longer the Trixie that visited Ponyville long ago.

“I’d like that.” said Pinkie Pie as she shook Trixie’s hoof.

For the next few hours Pinkie Pie and her family shared stories of everything that happened after the pink pony left home. And Pinkie Pie was able to tell her family about everything she’s done in ponyville, the whole time she and her family held a smile on their faces. Even Trixie joined in telling Pinkie some of the funny moment she and Pinkie’s sisters have shared. It felt great to be able to sit with her family again and talk, she had missed it. Sure she had moments like this with her friends and the Cakes back in Ponyville, but it didn’t compare to what she was feeling now.

“I have to go to the bathroom.” said Pinkie as she got up from her sofa. Once upstairs, Pinkie entered the bathroom and noticed her reflection in the mirror. She had spent hours with her family, she knew they were okay, she knew Trixie and Marble have been taking care of her parents. So after finally getting the closure she thought she needed, why did she still look the same way she did the day before, what was the feeling in her chest that wouldn’t go away?

Once Pinkie Pie finished her business she returned downstairs to see that everypony but her father was gone. “Where’s everypony go?” Pinkie asked as she walked up to him.

“Marble put your mother to bed before she and Trixie went to town to pick up some ice-cream, they should be back later.” said her father as he patted the spot next to him on the sofa. Pinkie sat down next to her father as a comfortable silence fell between them. Pinkie could remember when she was a filly; she would sit in the sofa next to her father and talk. Sometimes she would fall asleep and wake up in her bed the next morning.

“So, think you can tell me what’s wrong?” Pinkie tensed up and stared at her father who looked back at her with an arched brow.

“Wrong, nothing’s wrong, who said anything’s wrong?” said Pinkie trying to hid the fact that her father was right.

“You can’t pull the wool over your old man’s eyes.” said her father as she patted her on the head gently. “I’m glad that you came to see us, but seeing how long it’s been since we’ve seen you on top of how you look right now, I just know that something is wrong. The little episode you had a couple hours ago was a hint too.” Pinkie wanted to know what it was about her that was so easily readable, but she figured that was something to figure out at a later time. Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and told her father what happened to Rainbow’s father and how it affected her.

“I got so scared, I was afraid that something could have happened to you too…” said Pinkie, her forelegs wrapped around her father as he rubbed her back gently.

“I can see how that could get to you…” he father said after Pinkie Pie finished her story. “Pinkie, I’d like to say that we’ll always be okay, but the truth is someday we might move on as well.” Pinkie tightened her grip slightly.

“But that’s how life works, it’s not something we can control.” her father continued as she moved Pinkie so he could look her in the eyes. “Your mother and I have come to terms with that, and you know what?” Pinkie stared at her father waiting for an answer. “Because we have three daughters who have grown up to be everything we could hope. Limestone has gone to school in Manehattan, Marble has become a better rock farmer than I’ve ever been, and you…”

“I what?” Pinkie asked as if the wait for the answer was going to crush her.

“You’ve made your dream come true, you make so many ponies happy by being who you are, and I could never be more proud of you.” Pinkie’s eyes began to tear up. This is what she was looking for, closure, to know that she had done right.

“I love you papa” said Pinkie as she pulled her father in for another hug.

“I love you too Pinkie, always have, and always will” unseen by Pinkie, Marble and her mother walked in from the kitchen, she had been listening in the whole time. Gently the two joined in on the hug, the combined warmth of her family’s love brining life back to Pinkie’s mane.

Once dinner was prepared, Pinkie had returned to her old self again, her cheering expression making it hard for anypony not to smile. “Fluttershy got so scared that the when she ran away the makeup she was wearing was left behind!” Pinkie finished as she recalled what happened to Fluttershy last nightmare night causing everypony to laugh.

“She didn’t take it too personal did she?” Marble knew about how sensitive Fluttershy could be from what Pinkie had described her in her letters.

“She was fine, she has a great sense of humor.” said Pinkie with a dismissing wave of her hoof. Soon enough dinner was completed and Pinkie favorite part of the meal was next. “Who want’s deserts!?” asked Pinkie as she reached for the box she put in the fridge when nopony was looking.

“Where’d that come from?” asked Marble, she had searched the fridge for things for dinner not long ago and didn’t see it there before. She was also uninformed about Pinkie Pie’s other special ability that nopony could quite explain.

“Cupcakes, I made these special, Mr. Cake liked them so much that he added it to our stock. I made a bunch so everypony di-“ when Pinkie opened the box she noticed something, most of the cupcakes were gone. “B-but there was at least over a dozen…” Pinkie said as the others circled around to look.

“Did the box ever leave your sight on the way here?” Marble asked.

“No, well…I may have fallen asleep on the train, somepony must have swiped some.” Pinkie looked sad, but after counting them she quickly smile again. “It’s not all bad, there’s one for everypony in the family” said Pinkie, but in fact, there were only four cupcakes in the box. One by one, Pinkie Pie passed out the cupcakes to everypony around the table.

“One for Papa, one for Mama, one for Marble, and one for Trixie.” Trixie was so surprised that she almost dropped the cupcake when it was tossed over to her.

“M-me?” Trixie was almost sure that there was some mistake. “B-but I’m not…I mean…” she wasn’t sure what to say.

“Of course you are, you’ve lived here for like a year, and you help take care of my family. If that doesn’t make you a part of it, I don’t know what does.” Trixie looked around the table to see everypony nod at her. Tears began to form around Trixie’s eyes, but she couldn’t help but smile.

“T-thank you.” said Trixie “I-I never thought I’d ever be welcomed anywhere like this” she added.

“No problem, and come by Ponyville the next chance you get, I’m sure everypony will give you a warm welcome, trust me.” said Pinkie as she gave Trixie a wink that clearly said ‘I’ll make sure of it’. With that everypony began to eat their cupcakes, each of them letting out moans of pleasure when the flavor the moment they took the first bite.

“Goddess, this is amazing…” said Marble unable to contain herself as she shoved the rest of her cupcake into her mouth.

“I’ve never tasted anything like this!” said Trixie as she did the same, Pinkie’s mother and father were also loving the taste of the cupcakes as they wondered just how well they must have tasted when fresh from the oven. Pinkie watched happily as everypony enjoyed the cupcakes, she no long had any feelings of dread. In a few days she’d return to Ponyville knowing that she wouldn’t have to miss her family when they were gone, because they’d always be with her in her heart.

Chapter 7

The night has gone bringing a new day to Ponyville, in the early morning only a few ponies had risen from their beds ready to tackle the day. Twilight Sparkle lazily walked into her bathroom after letting out a yawn. She hadn’t slept much during the night, mostly because of her planning on how to deal with Rainbow today, but partly because she had been plagued with insomnia for a reason she couldn’t quite explain.

“Geez, don’t you look peppy?” Twilight said sarcastically to her bloodshot eyed reflection in her mirror. Thought she didn’t see why there would be a reason for her to be peppy quite yet, as far as she saw it this was going to be the day Rainbow would never forgive her. Twilight had already talked to Redheart about placing Rainbow in the hospital under suicide watch starting today. The nurse offered to send some Pegasi to help bring Rainbow in, but Twilight decided that if anypony was going to force Rainbow against her will, it may as well be the mare that came up with the plan.

Twilight splashed water over he face to wake herself up then proceeded to fix her mane as best she could. Whenever her mane became frizzled it was almost impossible for her to tame, she decided to see if Rarity could do anything about it later.

“Rainbow’s not really going to hate you, is she?” Twilight turned over to see Spike standing at the doorway.

“I don’t know Spike, I mean, how would you feel if some mare forced you to stay somewhere against your will?” asked Twilight.

“You make me stay in the library all day and do choirs even though it’s clear I don’t want to most of the time. And I never hated you for it.” said Spike earning a small chuckle from Twilight.

“Although I love the encouragement, this is a lot worse. Rainbow’s going to be placed in a room that’s void of anything she could use to hurt herself. You could imagine how empty it would be, just imagine it, sitting in a large white room with nothing around.” the thought sent a chill down Twilight’s spine.

“Okay that does sound bad, are you sure you can’t just try giving Fluttershy some more time?” asked Spike.

“I want to Spike, I really do.” said Twilight as she walked out of the bathroom with Spike following close behind. “But I can’t risk something bad happening, I’d prefer she hate me and be watched at all times than risk losing her forever.” Twilight let out a sigh and looked at the time; it was 6:30 in the morning. Not many ponies wake up at this time during the summer, and she knew for sure that Rainbow would still be asleep at this time.

“So how are you going to do it?” asked Spike, he was never filled in on what steps Twilight would take to bring Rainbow to the hospital.

“Well, I’m going to try teleporting right into her house, with any luck she’ll still be asleep and I can teleport us both to the hospital before she even knows I’m there.” Twilight’s horn began to glow, the hue soon covering her whole body before fading away. With the cloud walking spell in place Twilight took a deep breath before her horn began to glow.

“Oh and about what you said earlier.” Spike froze for a moment, he was sure he’d be assigned more chores for the day. “Take the weekend for yourself.” Twilight said with a smile before vanishing in a flash of lavender light. Spike stood there in disbelief, he was actually given the weekend to do whatever he wanted. He wasn’t given many days to himself; he needed to take advantage of every single hour.

“Well, I’m going back to sleep.” said Spike as he made his way up the stair straight to his bed.

A few seconds after Twilight had cast the teleportation spell, another purple light flashed just above the cloud just outside of Rainbow’s door. The light vanished revealing Twilight, her eyes closed from having focused on the spell. Twilight opened her eyes and looked around to see that she was indeed on the cloud foundation of Rainbow’s home. Not like the one time when Twilight somehow ended up on Rainbow’s roof.

“Alright Twilight, let’s get this over…with?” Twilight froze when she looked at the door, or rather the lack thereof. Twilight looked at the ground inside Rainbow’s home to see the missing door on the ground ripped right of its hinges. The eerier sensation of fear crept up on Twilight as she ran inside.

“Rainbow!?” Twilight yelled as she looked around the house. “Nothing seems to be missing, unless, did somepony take Rainbow!?” Twilight thought to herself. The mere thought that somepony may have broken into Rainbows home and foalnapped her in the dead of night was almost too much to bare. Twilight locked her eyes on the closed bedroom door when she heard a click. The doorknob began to turn and Twilight’s horn began to glow in preparation for a fight if needed to.

The door cracked opened and Twilight saw a small mass of yellow and pink peek out from the opening. “Fluttershy?” asked Twilight completely confused as to why Fluttershy was in Rainbow’s room. Fluttershy walked out of the room and shushed Twilight before closing the door again.

“Rainbow’s still asleep.” Fluttershy whispered as she walked up to Twilight.

“I, what were you doing in there?” asked Twilight.

“I slept with Rainbow last night.” Fluttershy said plainly. Twilight blinked a few times as she tried to wrap her mind around everything. Rainbow’s door was broken down, Fluttershy was in her house when she was supposed to be in the hospital, and Fluttershy said she had slept with Rainbow.

“I’m going to need some context…”

Fluttershy explained to Twilight what she did during the night. Fluttershy started with the nightmare she had and explained how it was her worse fear. Fluttershy moved on to explain how the nightmare gave her the resolve to try again with a more forward approach and how she flew up to Rainbow’s door and broke it down. Twilight seemed surprised by this but continued to listen to Fluttershy’s story.

By the time Fluttershy had finished by telling the part of the story where Fluttershy had gotten Rainbow to admit she had a problem, Twilight looked completely dumbfounded. “So, that’s pretty much what happened.”

“I don’t believe it.” said Twilight after a few moments of pause.

“Like I said, after I had that nightmare I just knew I had to do everything I could to get through to Rainbow.” Fluttershy explained again.

“No not that, I mean…” Twilight turned her head to the door then looked back at Fluttershy. “You actually broke Rainbow’s door down…” Fluttershy blushed and gave Twilight a sheepish smile.

“What can I say…I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.” Fluttershy said with a shrug.

“I’m glad you didn’t.” Twilight said with a smile. “You really pulled through for Rainbow when she needed you the most.” Twilight looked back to the door to Rainbow’s room to see if she had awakened yet, but she didn’t hear any movement. “So how do you think she’ll be now?” Fluttershy looked over before letting out a sigh.

“I don’t know, maybe a little bit better now that she’s let out all the pain she’s been holding back these past few days. But there’s still a lot left over, Rainbow may have some things that she’s repressing and I want to try to get her to confront them.” said Fluttershy.

“Do you have any idea what they could be?” asked Twilight.

“It’s hard to say, it could stem from regrets. Maybe something she didn’t do that her father wanted her to or wishing she had spent more time with him. Things like that are common for ponies that lose their parents.” Twilight knew that, she had spent the last couple days reading up on it, but the question begged on how Fluttershy knew.

“Fluttershy, how do-“ the sound of a door opening caught Twilight’s ears cutting her off. Twilight and Fluttershy turned their heads to see Rainbow walking out of her room. Rainbow looked at Fluttershy first then turned to see Twilight.

“Twilight, what are you doing here?” asked Rainbow generally confused. Twilight looked away for a moment as she thought, this wasn’t how she planned for this to go, but now things have changed since last night.

“Can we sit down; I have something I need to tell you.” Rainbow gave Fluttershy a confused look before nodding her head. Rainbow followed Twilight and Fluttershy to the kitchen, once they sat down a silence spread across the room.

“So, are you going to tell me?” asked Rainbow growing tired of waiting.

“Right, sorry.” said Twilight still unsure how to go about telling Rainbow what she had done. “Well, yesterday I found out that Fluttershy was in the hospital.” Rainbow winced from remembering what put her there. “That’s when I found out what you said that day…and well, I had to make a decision.” Rainbow looked at Twilight waiting to find out what the decision was.

“Rainbow, I talked to Nurse Redheart about putting you on suicide watch, and I was supposed to bring you in. If you hate me I’ll understand, but I’ll rest a lot easier knowing that you’re safe.” Twilight watched as Rainbow ran her hoof on the table; she wasn’t sure what her friend’s response would be.

“Good call…” said Rainbow as she nudged her head towards one of the counters in the kitchen. Twilight and Fluttershy turned their gazes until they found a knife that had been embedded into the wooden counter top. “Sleeping…was the only thing keeping the pain from getting any worse.” Rainbow said with a sigh, simultaneously Twilight and Fluttershy gulped from seeing how close to the line they were.

“S-so you’re saying you’ll agree to it?” asked Twilight trying her hardest not to stare at the large knife.

“Not like I have much of a choice, but yes…I need help.” there was something about Rainbow’s tone that seemed off. All the confidence that Rainbow had in her voice, the voice of a strong mare that could do anything, it was gone. Twilight and Fluttershy gave each other a short glance, they both noticed it.

“Um, Twilight, can I talk to you for a moment?” asked Fluttershy as she got up from her chair only to have a hoof placed on her shoulder.

“Just say it here…I don’t mind” said Rainbow, Fluttershy nodded and sat back down.

“I want Rainbow to stay with me while under her suicide watch. I can watch her and keep her safe.” Twilight thought about Fluttershy’s offer, Fluttershy has a lot of experience when it comes to caring for her animals, and she’s also has some skills in caring for ponies. However Fluttershy’s skills also brought up a problem.

“Fluttershy, I don’t have any doubt that you could watch Rainbow. But you take care of too many animals at once.” Twilight tried to explain, but Fluttershy’s expression seemed to harden.

“Yes, I take care of dozens of animals every day. Not only that but I can understand them and vice versa. You’re worried about Rainbow not being watch at all times because I have to take care of them right?” Twilight nodded. “I can’t say that I’ll be in the same room as Rainbow all the times. But I can be there most of the time, and for the short moments when I’m not, those same animals can watch over her.” Twilight opened her mouth to say something in return, but she couldn’t figure out what to say.

“I’m okay with it…” said Rainbow. “It’s a lot better than being in some empty room.” she added making Twilight seem slightly ashamed. Twilight didn’t want to have Rainbow in an empty room alone, being close to friends would do her better.

“She’ll also need to see a therapist; I think I know of a good one in Canterlot.” it felt awkward to bring that up in front of Rainbow, but it was better that she heard it now rather than later. Though Rainbow didn’t seem to have any objections to it, there was still a chance Rainbow wouldn’t open up to some random pony, but they had to try.

“I appreciate that, but I have it covered.” said Fluttershy “Besides, imagine how much one from Canterlot would cost, it’s probably out of our price range.” Twilight rubbed her hoof under her chin, Fluttershy had a point.

“You’ll see to it that she’ll get the help she needs?” asked Twilight making sure she and Fluttershy were on the same page.

“I’ll see to it personally.” Fluttershy promised.

“Are you okay with this, Rainbow?” asked Twilight. Rainbow paused for a moment, having another pony try to pick at her brains was a scary thought, but she already came to terms that she needed to find help.

“Yeah, I’ll do it…” Rainbow said finally.

“Great, then we need to see Nurse Redheart to tell her of the changes.” said Twilight as she got up and walked towards the door. She stopped when she noticed the door was still on the ground, leaving it like that while they were gone was not a good idea. “Let me just fix this for you first.” said Twilight as her horn began to glow a lavender hue. The door and the frame both gained the hue a few seconds later and in a flash the door was back where it belongs.

“That should do it.” said Twilight as she reached for the door in order to unlock it only to realize something.

“Um, I think you put the door on backwards.” Twilight blinked and looked at the door. The key holes were facing inwards, and after Twilight facehoofed from her blunder she quickly fixed the error and opened the door.

“Think you can carry me to the ground, Rain-bow?” Twilight looked to see Rainbow standing over the edge of the cloud staring down. Before she could ask what was wrong, Fluttershy whispered something into Twilight’s ear. Twilight looked at Fluttershy and blinked once before nodding.

“On second thought, I’ll just teleport us, it’s faster that way.” said Twilight as her horn began to glow again.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” said Rainbow as she back away from the edge and walked up to Twilight and Fluttershy. Without another word to be said, Twilight cast her teleportation spell and the three disappeared in a flash.

“I believe everything is in order, I’ll just need you to sign here.” the new plan for Rainbow’s suicide watch wasn’t as simple as Fluttershy could have hoped. Not only did the hospital need to do a background check on Fluttershy, but they also had to inspect her cottage. Nurse Redheart saw to the inspection personally and found that Fluttershy’s cottage fit all the criteria needed.

“Thank you, Nurse Redheart.” said Fluttershy as she signed the forms.

“Thank nothing of it, and Rainbow, I wish you the best of luck on your recovery. Just be sure to take your medication, it will help you.” Rainbow was given a mental exam to check her stability, although she didn’t seem as a danger to herself, she was still diagnosed with clinical depression and was give the appropriate medication.

“Yeah, thanks.” said Rainbow, her tone less than upbeat. Needless to say the pills haven’t kicked in just yet. Fluttershy saw Redheart to the door bidding her farewell and thanking her one last time before closing the door.

“So, what do you want to do?” asked Fluttershy as she walked up to Rainbow who was petting Tank. Tank was one of the few things she was allowed to bring from her home.

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll sleep the day away.” said Rainbow making Fluttershy frown a bit.

“Come on, that’s all you’ve done these past few days, and it’s not healthy.” said Fluttershy as she placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, shy.” Rainbow said with a sigh. “I just haven’t had the energy to do pretty much anything.”

“I understand this has been a hard couple days for you.” said Fluttershy as she looked at the time. “You know, it might be a little early, but how would you like to help me feed my animal friends?” Rainbow looked up at Fluttershy with signs of hesitation on her face.

“I-I don’t know, remember what happened last time?” the last time Rainbow fed the animals around Fluttershy’s cottage she ended up being tied up by them. She wasn’t particularly bad around animals, but she wasn’t able to keep up with their demands and things got a little crazy.

“It’s okay; I’ll be here to help.” Rainbow let out a sigh, she didn’t feel like going outside, but she did promise Fluttershy and Twilight that she would try to get through this.

“Okay.” said Rainbow as she got up from the floor and followed Fluttershy out through her back door. Once outside, Rainbow took in a breath of fresh air and looked around the area. Rainbow didn’t have a backyard due to her home being on a cloud. Even though Fluttershy lived rather close to the Everfree forest, she still had a large piece of land that Rainbow had to admit was rather beautiful.

“Here, you can feed the birds first if you’d like.” said Fluttershy as she placed a bag of bird seed next to Rainbow. “Just place three or four scoops should be enough.” she added as she pointed at the bird feeder. Rainbow nodded before grabbing the bag of bird seeds in her mouth and carried it to the feeder. Using her wing, Rainbow grabbed the scooper inside the bag and used it to add four scoops of seeds into the feeder.

“That should do it, I guess.” said Rainbow as she took a step back from the feeder when the birds started to fly in. Rainbow watched as the birds ate, admittedly she found it rather nice and a small smile appeared on her face. After a few minutes, the bird started flying towards Rainbow causing her to back up a little.

“What, you want more? Hey, stop that, it tickles!” Rainbow giggled as the Birds flew around her, their wings brushing her lightly enough to tickle. Fluttershy watched as Rainbow laughed for a while before stepping in.

“Okay, I think she’s had enough for now.” Fluttershy said with a smile on her face. The birds obliged and flew back to the feeder leaving Fluttershy alone with Rainbow. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I guess not.” said Rainbow with a smile.

“Would you like to feed some more?”

“Sure.”

It took about an hour, but eventually each animal in and around Fluttershy’s home were fed and satisfied. Rainbow had to give Fluttershy credit, the effort it took to feed the wide range of animals seemed complicated to her, yet it was second nature to Fluttershy. “How do you do this three times a day?” Rainbow asked as she crashed on the sofa.

“Well it was a little hard at first, but eventually I just got used to it.” said Fluttershy as she sat down next to Rainbow.

“Am I going to have to get used to it?” asked Rainbow.

“Not if you don’t want to, I’m here to help you get better, not work you down to the bone. But tell, me, how do you feel right now?”

“Tired…” said Rainbow getting a small giggle from Fluttershy “But you know, I feel a little better than I did this morning. I don’t know, maybe the medication is starting to kick in.” Rainbow added with a shrug.

“That’s good to hear. I was worried you’d be bored.” said Fluttershy, but Rainbow just shook her head.

“No way, sure it might not be the most thrilling day, but I had fun.” Rainbow assured her.

“I’m glad. So, what do you want to do now?”

“Rest my broken body…?” said Rainbow which was followed by a small laugh by both her and Fluttershy.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, I’ll get us something to drink.” said Fluttershy as she walked into the kitchen. About a minute later she returned with two glasses of apple juice. The two drank in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say.

“This is going to be hard…” said Rainbow breaking the silence.

“What is?” Rainbow placed her cup down and shifted her position slightly so she could look at Fluttershy.

“I have to talk to a therapist about my problems; it’s hard enough for me to open up to you and the others. But to spill my guts to some stranger, I don’t know if I can do that…” Rainbow said with a sigh.

“I know it’s hard, but you won’t have to worry about it, I know you’ll have no trouble opening up to the one I know.”

“Do I know him…or her?”

“Yes, you’ve known her for a long time.” Rainbow paused to scan through her friends trying to figure out who it could be.

“Derpy?” Fluttershy pushed Rainbow playfully as she giggled.

“I mean me, silly.” Rainbow stared at Fluttershy blankly for a bit before smiling.

“I appreciate that, Fluttershy, but my boss wants me to see a real therapist or else I won’t be able to keep my job. He wants me to see one of those college grad ponies that wear glasses and hang their degrees on the wall.” Fluttershy rubbed her chin with her hoof thinking deeply about something.

“I can get mine out of my closet and nail it to the wall if you want.”

“Yeah, that would be…wait, what?” Rainbow watched as Fluttershy walked upstairs still unsure of what she meant. Rainbow waited for a couple of minutes hearing movement from upstairs, eventually Fluttershy came back down with a frame in her mouth. “What’s this?” asked Rainbow as Fluttershy hoofed it over to her.

“It’s my degree.” Rainbow blinked as she read the paper that was in the frame.

“It is a degree…from Canterlot University…” Rainbow looked back and forth between Fluttershy and the frame she was holding on to. “I, you, when?” Rainbow tried to ask kind of at a loss for words.

“Well, remember when I started going to Canterlot for the winter?” during the winter all the animals around Fluttershy’s home would hibernate leaving her with a lot of time to herself. She told her friends that she would go up to Canterlot to enjoy a small vacation which they all agreed the deserved. “Well you see, I decided to use the winter as a time to go back to school. Normally the cost would be too much for me, but I was able to get a full scholarship.”

“Whoa…so am I supposed to call you Dr. Fluttershy?”

“Of course not, I still have a while before I get my PHD.” said Fluttershy shocking Rainbow even further. “Look, I promised I’d be there for you when you needed me and I’m going to keep that promise. Although I never thought I’d have to use the skills I’ve learned, I’m glad that it going to come in handy.”

“I want to help you relax for a few days first, but after that we’re going to go through three sessions a week.” Rainbow nodded. “During these sessions I’m going to try and unravel your mind and see if there’s anything you’re suppressing, it’s not going to be fun for you.” Fluttershy added with a serious tone. Rainbow sat there and thought it over; on one hoof she would have to talk about things she’d probably never feel comfortable with. But on the other hoof he knew she would be talking to a friend who she trust’s.

“Well, it’s a lot better than talking to some stranger.” said Rainbow as she sat up from the sofa. “I trust my brain to you, Fluttershy.”

“Thank you, Rainbow. But until then let’s try to have some fun, want to play some checkers?”

“You’re on.”

Fluttershy did what she could to keep the mood light, she and Fluttershy played a few games, talked, and had dinner outside. Eventually the sun had gone down and was replaced with the moon. “You know, today wasn’t half bad.” said Rainbow as she spread out her sleeping bag.

“That’s good to hear.” said Fluttershy as she laid her own sleeping bag next to Rainbows.

“You’re going to sleep down here too?”

“Of course, it’s like a sleep over.” One of the things Fluttershy has been trying to do was making Rainbow feel at home and not under a suicide watch. With the lights off the two friends each entered their sleeping bags so they could sleep the night away.

“Hey Shy, can I ask you a question.” Fluttershy turned her head over to see Rainbow looking back at her.

“Of course.” she said with a smile even if Rainbow couldn’t see it in the dark.

“Why’d you try so hard to help me?” asked Rainbow. “I mean, I’m grateful and all, but you could have let Twilight handle it and she’d probably have forced me to get the help I need. Sure it would have been a little harsh, but then you wouldn’t have had to worry so much.” Fluttershy tried to figure out how to answer, there was so many things Rainbow has done for her in the past that she lost count. Not only Rainbow, but her adopted parents as well, she owed them everything. In the end she found the perfect answer, the only answer that could explain everything to Rainbow.

“Because we’re family.”