Ch. 2-Back to normal? And a Surprise Party

Two weeks had passed since the incident with Thunderlane and Dash did her best to get back to normal. She still refused to cry although her eyes did get glassy once in a while, but although her friends thought she was ok, she really wasn’t. She did everything like normal, but she was broken. It was hard for her to trust her friends anymore and she would never let anypony into her house. Everything that touched her fur made her jump, and she was even having troubles trusting Fluttershy. She had gone to only 1 of Pinkie’s 5 parties she had thrown and when she did go she stayed separated and never talked to anypony. Even after 2 weeks had passed, her body was still begging her to release her emotions, but it hurt.

Dash was defiantly not back to normal, she did her normal things; she still laughed, worked, and flew fast, but she wasn’t back to normal. It was like fixing a toy with glue, it looked good as new, but never really worked the same way. Sadly only Fluttershy saw through Dash’s fake enthusiasm. Rainbow sat on her couch again in silence; her eyes were starting to get shiny. She huffed as flashbacks filled her mind and it hurt her, “no you can’t cry you stupid pony, if you cry he wins” she barked aloud to herself, “no he doesn’t” a shy voice came from the door making Dash jump two feet in the air. Fluttershy had come up for the third time this week to check on her oldest friend, “yes it does, if I give in, it is proof her broke me, and if her broke me, her wins” she said as her eyes hardened, “no Rainbow it doesn’t, if anything you won by putting him behind bars, you won by escaping, if you cry it only shows that you are a normal pony” Fluttershy said quietly but confidently, Rainbow sighed and flew upstairs and Fluttershy sadly let herself out.

The next morning Rainbow Dash flew over and did her normal weather duties and flew home to take a nap. Ever since the incident, she refused to fall asleep anywhere besides her own bed. While she was flying home she was stopped by the enthusiastic pink party pony, “Dashie! Dashie! Down here silly” she called up at her so Dash would land. “Yes Pinkie?” Dash asked tired, “well I know you don’t like parties anymore, but my cousin Surprise called and she wants me to come throw her a birthday party! She said I could bring whoever I wanted and I really want to bring my five bestest friends in all of Equestria! Pretty please with a cherry and sprinkles on top come, if you want you can go sit in by yourself at the part, but I want you especially to be there for my first Wonderbolt birthday party” she squealed at her without a breath, “if it means that much to you I will go” Dash said and started to get ready to fly off, “wait, aren’t you excited about the Wonderbolts?” Pinkie asked confused, “sure I am” Dash said giving her a fake smile and flying away, “wait Dash, we leave tomorrow, Fluttershy will be up to get you” she yelled up at her then disappeared.  Dash wasn’t actually excited for the Wondebolts because she’s been finding it hard to get happy or excited about anything recently.

When Dash woke up she was shocked to see Fluttershy in her home rushing around doing things. “Um, Flutters? What are you doing?” a very confused Rainbow Dash asked, “oh um I’m terribly sorry for um intruding, but um pinkie said you were joining us to Canterlot for the party and that we were going to um be down there for a couple of days, so if you don’t mind I packed you a few things and cleaned up a bit” she squeaked out, Rainbow only nodded, picked up her bag, and they both flew out. They met their four other friends at the train station and quickly got on and departed. Her friends giggled and laughed the whole way there, but Dash just sat quietly in her cabin. Fluttershy entered to check on her or ask her if she needed anything, but always was turned away. Fluttershy just wanted her old friend back to normal, but Rainbow never seemed so far away as she did then. Late that night while Rainbow lay awake in her cabin she heard soft weeping from the cabin next to hers. She got up to investigate; she saw that it was Fluttershy sobbing quietly in bed, “Flutters?” Rainbow worried for her sad friend, Fluttershy sat up and hugged Rainbow as tight as she could, “I’m sorry Rainbow, but I miss you” she wept, “what in Equestria do you mean Flutters, I’m right here” she pointed out, “no I mean I miss the you before that meany hurt you” she said still sobbing, “what? I’m still awesome Rainbow Dash” she said again trying to cheer her up , “no, you are still awesome, but you are also hurt and broken and you refuse to admit it, I hate seeing you bottle up you tears” she said crying even harder now, Rainbow was shocked at this, “try and get some sleep Flutters” she said as her eyes got glassy again and her heart was squeezed tight, she turned to see a concerned Applejack at the door wanting to say something, “try to calm her down A.J.” Rainbow said with a tiny crack in her voice only Fluttershy would hear if she wasn’t crying. Rainbow walked back to her room and listened to the sounds of A.J. calming down Fluttershy.

When they got off the train the two cousins squealed at each other and hugged and started a rapid-fire of words they knew as a conversation. Nopony really understood them and just waited for them to finish, then they went off to their suites to get. Rainbow was unpacking when she was interrupted by a knock. “Hey Rainbow I just stopped by to tell you that only 3 Wonderbolts can come to the party” Pinkie said extremely fast, “oh ok pinkie thanks for the heads-up” Rainbow said as enthusiastic as she could sound convincing Pinkie Pie as she left the room. Rainbow sighed and closed the door, as she continued unpacking and getting ready she saw a few of the Wonderbolts outside from her window. They were racing and flying, she missed being sincerely happy, but that’s not something that she can force out.

The party finally came and they all went down to enjoy themselves. Rainbow quickly separated and found a nice empty balcony to sit and enjoy the night sky. She heard the giggles and laughs and music shooting up at her and she just sighed as she slumped down into a chair. “What’s got you so glum Ms. Dash?” a stallion’s voice was heard from behind her scaring her, she slowly turned around to see that it was only Soarin’ that had snuck up on her, “what a mare can’t enjoy some time alone?” she questioned with a sigh. This confused Soarin’ because normally when he saw her, she bounced off the walls like an extreme Wonderbolts fan, but now she seemed so upset, he hadn’t seen her since the wedding and something seemed different. “A-are you ok? You usually perk up when you see a Wonderbolt” he said with a goofy smile, “I’m fine” she simply said, “Are you no longer a fan?” he questioned, “I don’t know”  she said, “please do tell me you still want to become a part of the team?” he questioned her more, “I don’t know” she sighed, “Dash, what happened? What’s wrong?” he said with actual concern in his voice, “I’m fine” she said again as she could feel her eyes get glassy again so she looked down towards her hooves, “I’m fine” she whispered more to herself than to Soarin’ who had been inching closer to her.