You've got a friend in me
It was a nice, clear day in Ponyville. All the ponies were going about their business, and all the pegasi were soaring through the sky… All of them, except one. Rainbow Dash looks longingly from the front door of Sugarcube Corner up at the skies, watching all the other pegasi flying, before turning to look at the two stumps on her back. Where her wings were once attached to. She lets a single tear fall down her cheek before going inside and putting her work apron on.
“Hey Rainbow! Ready for work?” Pinkie Pie asked over enthusiastically.
“Oh, hey Pinks… Yeah.” She puts on a soft smile, but Pinkie saw right through it and saw that Rainbow was feeling depressed.
“Why so glum?” Pinkie said, toning it down from her usual bubbly self, much to Rainbow’s relief.
“Days like today, I used to love to fly. I’d be up there with all the other Pegasi, fling in and around clouds, not a care in the world… I just… miss it.” said Rainbow, a hint of longing in her voice.
“Aww, well, I’ll teach you everything about being an Earth Pony if you want!” Pinkie said, her usual smile springing back onto her face.
“What’s to teach? Earth Ponies aren’t really special…” Her eyes shrink as she realizes how insulting that could come off as. “Uh, no offence.”
“None taken...I guess,” Pinkie said, a little unsure. “but I’m sure somepony will come in and change things for you.”
At that moment, the bell above the door jingles, as a pony walked in, while Pinkie went back into the kitchen to help the Cakes with the baking.
“Hi! Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner!” Rainbow said with as much of a smile as she could muster, as an orange pony with a curly brown mane walked up to the counter.
“Hey… I know you” The pony says to Rainbow Dash.
“You… you do?” Rainbow replies.
“Yeah.. How could I forget that mane.” The pony’s eyes are lit up with admiration. “You’re an awesome flyer.”
“I was an awesome flyer..” Rainbow turns and shows the stumps on her sides.
The mare then realized what she said, “Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“It’s okay.. You didn’t know… Is there anything I can get you?” Rainbow said, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
“Yes, I’d like a bag of chocolate muffins to go.” The mare says brightly.
“Alright.” Rainbow Dash gets what she ordered and passes it over the counter. “That’ll be 5 bits.”
The mare turned to her saddlebags to get her bits when Rainbow came back and saw a scar on the mare’s back. When she turned back to face Rainbow, she saw the shocked reaction on Dash’s face, “Are you alright?” the mare asked.
“Uhh… yeah.” Rainbow Dash shakes her head. “Forgive me for prying… But… How did you get that scar?”
“Oh...um...I...I actually have a scar on both sides, like you, I used to be a pegasus,” she stated calmly as she paid.
“Y… you did?” Said Rainbow, slightly surprised, sweeping the coins off the counter into the cash register.
“Yeah…” The orange pony looks slightly to the floor as she remembers her story.
“Oh.. I’m sorry for asking this…. But, uh… H-how?...”
The mare looked up and surprisingly didn’t look offended or shy about it, “It’s okay, I understand that you’re curious...though, I will tell you...having your wings removed at the age of 6...it kind of scars you. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what happened. I had a Mom who was dating this stallion and let’s just say...I wasn’t his favorite. He pushed me, he insulted me and sometimes...he hit me. He did all this behind my mother’s back, I tried to tell her but she didn’t believe me.”
“Oh.. I- I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have asked.” said Rainbow, her voice heavy with regret.
“It’s okay, I’m sort of over it. I help pegasus ponies who are going through the same thing with my story. I’m sort of a motivational speaker on the side. But, my wings were rendered useless because one day, he went a little too far and...well...I crashed into the wall of my bedroom back first which broke both of my wings. I was then rushed to the hospital where they had to amputate my wings because the bone broke to the point where they couldn’t be fixed. After I was released from the hospital, I was removed from my mother’s custody and placed with an adoptive family.”
Rainbow Dash just stands there silently behind the counter, letting her story sink in.
“You see, at first, I was really sad about losing my wings. Because I hadn’t even learned to fly yet, but as I grew older, I kept telling myself that it wasn’t my fault that it happened and that I need to think positive. But, my family didn’t really understand me and kinda limited me because of my...you know...they wouldn’t let me do anything on my own, they got on me for finding a way to walk on a cloud again and it made me fall back into depression. But then, I found a way to express my feelings.”
“Wow... “ Was all Rainbow could say. She looked up to the mare in front of her with admiration… before she noticed there had been quite a line gathering behind her while they had talked.
“Sorry if I’m holding everypony up, but before I go...I need to tell you this...I know what you’re going through and I know it hurts now but I know you’ll find a way to get past it and find a way to be the amazing athlete you are. I know because the Rainbow Dash I know doesn’t give up, no matter how tough life is.” Rainbow smiled softly at that, feeling somewhat reassured.
“Well, I’d better get going, my date is going to want these muffins warm.” She giggled lightly
The pony turned to leave, but then Rainbow realized she never got the mare’s name.
“Wait!” Rainbow called after her. “I never got to ask your name.”
“Oh, it’s Brush Stroke! And if you need to talk to somepony, give me a call.” Brush then pulled out a piece of paper from her saddlebag, and wrote down her number, and handed it to Rainbow.
“I will, thank you.” Said Rainbow, feeling better than she had that morning.
Brush then smiled with a small nod and left.
Author's Note
This was written as a colabaration with Brush Stroke, thank you so much to her for helping me with this story.
Torn from the sky was my first story that I actually published here to fimfiction.net, and it's something I've always wanted to go back to, but I never really knew what I was going to do for a sequel.
I hope you guys all enjoy this story. Please give me feedback, and anything we could do to improve the story.
It had been a long day at work, and Rainbow was feeling exhausted and depressed, as had become her usual daily routine by now. She walks through the quickly darkening streets to her home, located on the far side of town. Watching the colour of the sky change from blue, to orange to dark blue, as Celestia lowered the sun to make way for Luna’s moon.
“What’s the point anymore?” Rainbow mutters to herself. “Why should I keep going on? Why should I work toward what other ponies want, when I can never get what I want back?” She sighs deeply as she gets to her door, and walks into her house. Before heading to bed, she turns and locks the door, and then without eating, goes to bed and to sleep.
The next morning, she’s awoken by knocks on her bedroom window. Her eyes crack open to see Pinkie standing there, looking in. “Get up, Rainbow! You’re late for work!”
Rainbow rolls over in her bed. “Go away, Pinkie… I’m not coming in today…. Or ever again.. Tell the Cake’s thanks, but no thanks… They can give the job to someone who deserves it more than me.” Rainbow said. Pinkie hovers at the window for a few seconds, letting her friend’s words sink in, her mane deflating slightly.
“Oh… Okay” Pinkie said sadly. She then turns around and leaves Rainbow alone.
Later that afternoon, at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie is serving behind the counter, when Brush Stroke walks into the bakery.
“Hi! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie says to her.
“Hey.. I came to get some more muffins.” Brush says, observing the fact that Rainbow wasn’t there. “Is Rainbow Dash not working today?” She asks.
“No, she was supposed to come in today” Pinkie said, passing the muffins over the counter. “But she didn’t want to come in. She’s at home lying in bed.”
“It wasn’t because of what I told her yesterday was it?”
“I don’t think so… She actually seemed slightly more cheerful when she was talking to you… I think it was more just what happened to her, and the shock of it is finally starting to sink in.”
“Maybe...I should go and talk to her again?”
“Hey, yeah.. That could work.”
“Can you point me in the direction of her house?”
“Yep! It’s a small wooden house on the far side of Ponyville Square. Near the Clocktower. The mailbox is painted sky blue.. You can’t miss it”
“Thanks Pinkie.” she said as she paid for the muffins. She then turned and left for Rainbow’s house.
When she got there, the house seemed as if there was nopony home. The windows were all dark, the door was locked, and there wasn’t a sound coming from within. No movement, no talking… Nothing. Brush decided to go around and knock on the door. After waiting for a while, there wasn’t any answer, so she knocked again, harder this time.
“Who is it?” Rainbow’s voice called.
“It’s Brush Stroke, can you let me in? We need to talk.”
“Is it urgent? I kinda wanna be alone right now.”
“It is, because it’s your life that’s at stake here if you keep doing what you’re doing right now.”
“How would you know what I’m doing? I just took a day off work, and now everypony is panicking? What? Do you think I’m going to kill myself? I’m not that desperate!”
“You’re depressed.”
“So?”
“Rainbow, I want to help you. I’ve been through this.”
Silence greets her from the other side of the door. For a moment, She almost thinks she can hear hoofsteps walking away from the door, until the locks start to click open, and the door slowly swings open to reveal Rainbow in a sorry state. There are bags under her eyes, giving evidence that she hasn’t had a good night’s sleep, and her mane is far messier than usual.
“Fine… Come in, I guess.”
Brush smiles and enters without hesitation.
“I’d offer you something to eat or drink… but I don’t really have anything. I haven’t been to the market in a couple days.”
“Okay, just tell me how you’re feeling.”
“How I’m feeling? How do you think I’m feeling? It’s coming up to most major events up in Cloudsdale. I haven’t missed a year before now, and I’m never going to get to see the events up there again. It was always something I looked forward to. I booked my tickets a week before I got injured.”
“I can understand...but you wanna know a secret?”
“Sure.”
“Wingless pegasi can still walk on clouds!”
“I know that. I’m not a filly, you know!” Rainbow Snapped “I used to handle clouds. I know their properties and relation to Pegasi. It’s getting up to Cloudsdale that I can’t do. I can’t afford a balloon, Twilight’s too busy in her castle and Fluttershy would never be able to carry me up there.”
“Hmm...I think I know somepony who can. My fiance is in good with the Wonderbolts, you may remember him, his name is Ratchet. He used to work for you.”
“Yeah… I think I do remember a pony by that name…”
“Anyways, he’s good friends with a certain somepony….goes by the name of Soarin?” Brush said with a smug look.
“Wait… your coltfriend knows Soarin?”
“Yeah, they went to school together.”
“Omigoshomigoshomigosh! That is so awesome!”
“And I think I’ll be able to pull a few strings and have Soarin carry you up to Cloudsdale.”
“Do you really think he would?” Dash said, a light blush forming on her cheeks.
“Yeah, Soarin’s cool, though you probably already know his weakness for pie.”
“His actions at the Grand Galloping Gala a few years back were pretty hard to ignore… Considering I had to save his pie.”
Both of them laughed at this, “But in all seriousness, I think Soarin will do some good for you, I’ll send him a letter to arrange it.”
“Thank you so much! This is going to be totally awesome!” Rainbow says as she pulls Brush into a tight hug.
“No problem, if you need any help with anything, you know who to come to right?”
“Yeah. Thank you so much again!”
Author's Note
Sorry that this chapter feels sort of rushed... and it kind of is... I just wanted to get something out to say that I'm still here. Anyways... Thank you for being patient with me, I've had a few minor PC issues, but they're (Hopefully) all fixed now... so yay! I'm also getting slightly more busy IRL, with me now having a job, so I have less time to write now.. But I'll still find a moment here and there.