The Fleeing Wing

Rainbow Dash was shocked when she yanked off Mare Do Well's mask.
There, in the costume, was Pinkie Pie.

"P-Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash was speechless. The mask fell to the floor.

Suddenly, two other ponies, looking exactly like Mare Do Well, appeared and pulled the identical masks off their faces.
There, was Twilight and Applejack.

"Twilight...Applejack?..." Rainbow Dash stuttered.

"Yup, we all played Mare Do Well at different times."

At that moment Fluttershy and Rarity appeared too.

"I made the costumes! They are some of my best works! What do you think?" Rarity asked, getting right into Dash's face.

To her surprise, Rainbow Dash pushed her away.

"What do I think?! Guys, you took my title away! Why? Don't you want me to be a hero?" Rainbow Dash asked angrily.

"Of course we do!" Twilight stated in a high-pitched voice. For some reason, the tone she was using that moment made Rainbow Dash want to punch her.

"But real heroes don't brag." Applejack winked, frustrating Rainbow Dash even more.

Real heroes.

Rainbow Dash growled out in anger.

"A REAL HERO?! WHAT, YOU DON'T THINK I'M A REAL HERO?!" Rainbow Dash boomed.

Applejack stood back.

"Well, what ah mean is... you were sort of bragging a little... especially at the fanclub..." Applejack said softly.

"BRAGGING?! THIS IS BECAUSE I HAVE A FAN CLUB?! I SAVE PONIES LIVES FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE! WHY WOULDN'T I HAVE A FAN CLUB? I BET IF YOU WERE THE HERO OF SEVERAL PONIES, SURELY YOU WOULD TALK ABOUT IT JUST A TINY BIT TOO! I'M JUST GIVING MY FANS WHAT THEY WANT!"

Rainbow Dash took a moment to catch her breath before continuing. She turned away and lowered her tone.

"Now... I've lost my name. My fans... Scootaloo, she was like my little sister. Now she doesn't even seem to think I'm there. I've got nothing now..."

Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky. Then she turned back to her friends.

It was only then when they realized how much they must of hurt her.

"Rainbow... we-"

"I don't want to hear it..." Rainbow Dash interrupted, tears stinging her eyes.

She turned away.

"Now if you'll excuse me... I'm gonna' go and try to get my life back."

Before her friends could say anything, Rainbow Dash took off and soared away.
There was a moments silence.

"We... we shouldn't have challenged her like that." Fluttershy looked down at the ground.

"Yeah... she did save pony's lives," Applejack agreed.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" Rarity asked.

"I hope so! When she comes back I'm gonna' throw her the biggest apology party ever!" Pinkie Pie declared.

Twilight said nothing.

"Maybe the best thing we can do right now is apologize," she said after a while.

Her four remaining friends nodded and they trotted out the alleyway.

Rainbow Dash flew back to her house as fast as her wings could take her.
She felt completely betrayed by her friends.
She saved lives. She thought what she was doing was good.
Apparently not.

Real heroes.

Those very words rang in Rainbow Dash's head like a non-stopping church bell.
She was a real hero wasn't she?
Rainbow Dash closed her front door shut. Tank was sitting on the couch as usual. He looked at Rainbow Dash with his big eyes.

"Oh Tank. I don't know what to do." Rainbow Dash picked up her pet, "My friends... they were Mare Do Well the entire time! They've... completely destroyed my reputation... now what am I gonna' do?" she asked hopelessly. She stroked Tank on the shell and settled down on her couch, pondering.

"Friends that betray you aren't real friends at all Rainbow."

Rainbow Dash remembered the exact words of advice that her mother once gave.

"It's best to leave them behind and start anew."

It's best to leave them behind and start anew.

Rainbow Dash suddenly realized.
She would never properly be able to rebuild her reputation here. From this day everypony would be talking about how she was upstaged by the so called Mare Do Well.
Maybe it was best to start anew.

A huge smile grew on Rainbow's face.

"That's it Tank!" Rainbow Dash picked him up and spun him around with her, "Let's leave Ponyville!"

Rainbow Dash was grinning from ear to ear with excitement. This was by far the best idea she had ever thought of.

Rainbow Dash placed her faithful tortoise down and grabbed a bag from her room. She began to pack all her important things. Her medals, her diary and the picture of her and her family. A few loose pictures fell to the ground. They were of Rainbow Dash and her friends. She just kicked them under her cabnet however...
Until she saw one of her and Scootaloo.
She retrieved that one and looked at it closely. There was something on it that she hadn't seen before.

You'll always be my hero!
Scootaloo

Rainbow Dash smiled at that. Her and Scootaloo had shared a lot of good times together.
Maybe she should at least tell her she was leaving.
Rainbow Dash nodded and stuffed the picture into her bag. She flew back downstairs and stared at Tank.

"Should I take you, buddy?" She asked.

Tank just gazed at her as usual. After a moment she grinned and picked him up.

"Of course I should. Your my pet! You deserve to come with me!"

Rainbow Dash looked at her house for the final time.
For one moment she thought the idea was nuts. A mistake.
But she had come too far to stop now. Besides, she was actually... excited about leaving!
Rainbow Dash patted Tank on the forehead and was just about to leave when...

Knock knock.

Rainbow Dash froze.

"Rainbow?" Came the familiar voice of Twilight.
Rainbow Dash sighed quietly with relief. It was her friends. Probably there to apologize.

'Good. This will make it easier for me to tell them.'

Rainbow Dash brushed her fringe off her face, relaxed into a neutral smile and opened the door. There of course was her five friends. At first Rainbow Dash was going to question them about how they could walk on clouds, but then she noticed the auras around their hooves (with the exception of Fluttershy) and realized Twilight must have cast the cloud-walker spell.

"Hey Rainbow."

"Oh, hey guys!"

"Listen Rainbow, we just want to apologize about what happened. We-"

"Oh, it's fine!" Rainbow Dash raised a hoof to stop Twilight, "I actually have some awesome news!"

Her five friends grew curious.

"What is it Rainbow?" Twilight asked.

"I'm leaving Ponyville!" Dash announced excitedly. Her friends gasped.

"L-Leaving, darling?" Rarity stuttered.

"Yup! I figured that my reputation will never be the same here, so I'm leaving to start anew! Think about it! I can go be the hero somewhere else, and you guys can continue being the heroes here so everyone is happy."

Pinkie Pie's mane deflated.

"B-But-"

Rainbow Dash embraced her friends.

"I'll miss you guys too, but hey! This is for the best!" She chirped happily.

"But Rainbow! Your an element of harmony! It's... essential, important that you stay here! We need you here to help defend Equestria!" Twilight explained in a desperate attempt to stop Rainbow from leaving.

"Don't worry Twi! I'm sure you guys will be awesome without the element of loyalty! Besides, with your new hero reputation, you'll have your fans to support you. Take care of that title. I held it once myself."

"But... Dash, we just wanted to teach you a lesson... we didn't know-"

"Sorry guys. I'll be sure to write some letters to you!" Rainbow Dash pulled her friends into one final hug, "peace!"

Rainbow Dash grabbed her stuff once more, flew off and called;

"Feel free to look after my old house!"

She did a spin before heading towards Scootaloo's home.

Pinkie Pie's mane was as deflated as it could get. Twilight stood there speechless. Fluttershy was sobbing quietly while Rarity was comforting her and Applejack held her hat close to her chest.

"She's... gone."

Twilight still couldn't believe it.

"We shouldn't have done it..." Fluttershy whispered through her tears.

"Ah feel awful."

Applejack looked down.

"Do you think we should have stopped her?" Rarity asked.

"...I don't know. It was her choice."

Twilight looked back at her remaining four friends.

"But... what if it was a bad one?" Pinkie Pie asked without a hint of happiness.

Twilight shrugged. For once, she felt like that question was unanswerable.

"I'm gonna' go and have a look at her house."

Twilight walked inside. Rainbow Dash's living room was still full of things. The blue bag she had was quite big but it couldn't carry everything.
Twilight examined a few things before walking into Rainbow's bedroom. It was very nicely decorated. Twilight wouldn't mind having some of it in her library, but she wasn't going to take anything. As much as Rainbow had abandoned the place, Twilight still thought it rude to take the things she left behind.

Suddenly, Twilight banged one of her back legs on the cabnet. It fell down with a crash.

"Ooops!"

Twilight blushed and was about to push the cabnet back up, when she saw what was collecting dust under it.
She levitated one off the floor.
There were the pictures of Rainbow Dash and the rest of the gang. The one Twilight had was a shot of them having a picnic together.

They looked so happy.
But Rainbow Dash must have felt betrayed and left the pictures discarded under the cabnet.

Twilight's eyes filled to the brim with tears. She sunk to the ground and examined the picture. She twisted it to the back and saw what was written on it.

A picnic with my awesome friends!
23rd May, 2011
Still 20% cooler!

Twilight began to cry.
"I'm so sorry Rainbow..." she sobbed.
"I'm so, so sorry."

Rainbow Dash landed on the ground and knocked on the door.
As expected, Scootaloo answered it.

"Oh... Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo grinned with joy.

"Hey there Scoots. Can I come in?" Rainbow Dash asked. Scootaloo nodded and the two sat down in the living room.

"Where are your parents Scoots?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, they um... they had to go out," Scootaloo replied. Rainbow Dash nodded.

There was a moments silence.
After a minute, Rainbow Dash took a deep breath.

"Listen, Scoots, you know Mare Do Well? How everypony paid so much attention to her and not me?"

Scootaloo looked away.

"Yeah... I know... this is about how your mad at me because I hardly paid attention to you."

Rainbow Dash gently turned Scootaloo's head to look at hers.

"Oh, Scoots. I will never be mad at you. Your like my little sister."

Scootaloo suddenly brightened up. Her smile grew bigger and bigger.

"Really?"
Rainbow Dash wrapped her wing around Scootaloo and pulled her closer.

"Of course!"
Scootaloo snuggled up close to her hero. The two smiled at each other.

However, Rainbow Dash suddenly remembered why she was there.

"But Scoots, listen. We can't do flying lessons next week. Or ever..."

Scootaloo gasped.

"W-Why not?"

Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Um... Mare Do Well has kinda' destroyed my reputation here, so I'm... moving away."

Scootaloo gasped again and began to sob.

"B-But you can't! Rainbow Dash... your my only friend!"

"But you have your parents and your CMC, don't you?"

"Yeah, but your my best friend of all! It-It's like losing a family member! Your gonna' leave and I'll be all alone forever in this house!" Scootaloo wailed.

"But you have your parents?" Dash stated. Scootaloo realized what she said.

"Yeah, I um I-"

Rainbow Dash suddenly found out what Scootaloo was hiding.

"Scootaloo, don't tell me that your-"

"An orphan. I know... I was trying to hide it from you!" Scootaloo cried.

Rainbow Dash grew puzzled.

"What? Why would you do something like that?"

"Because I *sniff* wouldn't think you'd think I was cool if you found out!"

"Oh, Scoots..."

Rainbow Dash wrapped her arms around the crying filly.

"Scoots, just because your an orphan doesn't mean I think your uncool! In fact, this makes you even cooler."

Scootaloo looked up.

"I-It does?"

"Sure! You've lived on your own! You've defended yourself and taken care of yourself. In fact, you might just be 20% cooler like me!" Rainbow and Scootaloo giggled.

"But... how long have you lived alone?"

"...3 years."

3 years.
That amount of time sunk into Rainbow Dash's heart.

"My parents went away one day. They never came back. Never found out what happened to them." Scootaloo wiped her eyes.

"So... you live here all on your own?"

Scootaloo nodded.

"I always hoped you'd ask to stay the night or something. But now your leaving and I'll never get to see you again."

Rainbow Dash smiled.

"...You could come with me," she suggested.

Scootaloo's pupil's shrunk.

"W-What? You mean, I can go and live with you?"

Rainbow Dash nodded.

Scootaloo was so happy she thought she would explode into a bunch of stars.

"YES!" Scootaloo jumped into Rainbow Dash's chest, "I'D LOVE TO!"

Rainbow Dash's eyes filled with tears of happiness as the two embraced.

"But.. what about Sweetie Belle and Applebloom?" she asked.

"Don't worry. We'll visit sometimes, ok?" Rainbow Dash replied.

It might be a challenge, seeing as she wanted to avoid her ex-friends, but if it was worth it for the filly she was willing to take that risk.

Scootaloo smiled.

"But... can I at least write something to them?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. Scootaloo ran upstairs and came back down with a quill and a piece of paper.

Dear CMC,
I bet your wondering where I've gone, huh? Well, turns out I'll be leaving with RD to live somewhere else. She's had her reputation ruined and she's taking me with her to start anew. Cool, isn't it?
Don't worry. She says I can visit you. I'll always be cheering you on from wherever I'm going, no matter what your doing to get your cutie marks.
I'm not sure what the future has planned for me, whether I'll be back often or not, but I just want to say; good luck. Good luck getting your cutie marks... and living your lives. I hope to see you soon.
Your friend always.
Scootaloo

Scootaloo finished off, rolled up the piece of paper and nodded to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash picked her belongings and the little pegasus up. They zoomed out the house together.
At last, they stopped at the clubhouse. Scootaloo took one final look at the clubhouse and popped the letter inside.
Leaving did make her sniffle a bit, but as long as she was with Rainbow Dash, her hero, she was sure she would be happy.
Rainbow Dash left Ponyville. She was sure she heard her friends yelling for her to come back, but she shrugged it off as she held Scootaloo and Tank in her arms.

She was going to keep them safe, and she was sure they would be happy starting their new lives together.