One Life to Love

Chapter 6: The City of Clouds

Rainbow Dash settled on the cloud gracefully, settling her wings as she set her gaze upon the graceful floating city that was Coudsdale. A sudden sense of foreboding swept over her as she watched the pegasi in the city move about on their daily routines. She had a lot of memories here, and not all of them were good. To be honest, most of those memories were horrible.

The city seemed to grow above her demonically. The rainbow waterfalls and cloud skyscrapers seemed to only be a personal reminder of the worst moment in her life.  Her eyes filled with tears, and she was almost unable to hold back as memories of the day she'd ran away from this place. This place was once her home, but it had lost that title to her long ago.

She was here because of a letter from an old friend. Someone very close to her in the old days wanted to see her again, someone she knew she could trust. She wished she could avoid this city though. Everything she'd ever hated in life came from this place, and yet here she was, returning to her own personal hell.

Of course she'd been here before for many events such as the 'Best Young Fliers Competition,' in order to show off her promise, but that was because of an old promise she'd made.  She smiled when she remembered that promise, the only good thing about this city was friends she'd gained within it. Beyond the allure of the happy and colorful decor though, something evil lived in this city to her. A past she'd kept well hidden for quite some time, a secret that only three creatures in this world other than herself would ever know about.

She ruffled her wings and set off into the city, recalling the letter in her head.

Rainbow Dash.

I know it's been a long time since you left Cloudsdale, and I know that there's a certain part of you that never wants to come back, but there's an opening in our schedule that I'm sure you'll find quite interesting. I know how badly you want to prove your strength. Now's your chance Rainbow, please come. Practice with us, just for a month. I'm certain you'll come to terms with things here.

Your Faithful Friend, Your Favorite Wonderbolt.

Spitfire.

The last words burned through Rainbow Dash as she flew through the city. Coming to terms, like that was even possible with the things that happened here.

"Oi, Rainbow Dash," came a voice from below her. Rainbow Dash turned her head in the direction of the voice and noticed a yellow pegasus waving at her, a bright smile on her face. Rainbow Dash landed in front of her and ruffled the tingly feeling from flying out of her feathers. "Looks like you decided to come after all, eh, Dash."

Rainbow Dash nodded at her friend and smiled saying,"yeah, looks like I have."

***

Rainbow Dash stood in Spitfire's cloud home, watching her friend rummage through a pile of clouds used for strorage. Spitfire had brought her Dash over without much of a word, only saying things like,"wait 'til you see what I got for you," and,"the look on your face will be priceless." Finally, they were standing in Spitty's appartment, and Spitty had started to rummage through the storage cloud for a good ten minutes.

"Aha!" Spitfire exclaimed, and then came out from the the cloud holding a blue cloth with a particular design upon it in her teeth. Rainbow Dash noticed the cloth, and her eyes widened as it was thrown to her. "What do you think?"

"I think it's awesome," Rainbow Dash answered," but I'm not a Wonderbolt." Dash looked at her friend bewildered, unable to understand what was happening. The Wonderbolt's already had their max capacity of members, so why was Spitfire giving her this.

"Think of it as a temporary move thing. We need someone to practice with us while one of us is gone on a little vacation. . .and I thought you would be the perfect person for the job."

"That's all well and good Spitty, but. . .you know I can't as long as-"

"I was getting to that. He's not going to be there, so you won't have to worry about facing up to what he did." Spitfire smiled at her cyan friend, who was able to smile back. She should have known her old friend wouldn't have made her face her old demons.

Rainbow Dash took a moment to revel in the idea of finally showing how much stronger she'd become since the day she'd left this terrible city filled with demons. She was going to prove herself now. She was going to be a Wonderbolt,  temporary or not.

"Then I guess I'm in. I'm gonna make the Woonderbolts twenty percent cooler."

***

Luna was troubled. Her sleep had been filled with horrible visions, visions of an evil that seemed all too familiar to her. She wondered what these visions meant, but could find no answer. Her sister seemed of no help either, and could only offer worthless suggestions as treatment. She needed answers, and she'd hoped Twilight Sparkle could give her the answers.

She could not, however, and simply offered the same advice as Celestia. Now, as she sat in the carriage on the way to Canterlot watching her companions slumber and wishing she herself could be allowed a peaceful rest, she wondered what would become of her. These demons of her past that haunted her in her dreams could only mean one thing, she knew this now.

A storm was brewing, and she could only hope that it did not sweep away everything she held precious.

***

Fluttershy stood outside the Carousel Boutique, more nervous than she'd ever been in the past. She'd thought a lot about what she was about to do, and she could honestly say that she'd rather fight a manticore. She gulped audibly, telling herself to relax and failing to convince herself at all.

She fidgeted her neck nervously and shook her feathers, readying herself. She pushed out a breath, and readied herself as best she could. She had thought through this decision long and hard, and she wasn't going to turn back now. She put her front hoof forward in front of her, and looked at the door with a scared frown.

She'd rather be walking into Hell.