Of Rainbow's Fall and Fluttershy's Winter

Of Rainbow’s Fall and Flutter’s Winter

A warm summer day, a nice summer breeze.

Perfect for flying, as Rainbow Dash did every morning. “What a lovely day” she thought. “I think I’ll visit Fluttershy”.

Nearing her friend’s house, she landed with a slight grace.

“Hey Fluttershy! What’cha doin?” asked Rainbow as she entered her house.

Fluttershy was holding a bag of birdfeed, while some birds opened their mouths, eager for the food.

“Oh. Hey, Rainbow Dash. I’m just feeding the birds, as usual. Do you need something?”

“I was wondering if you could come with me to Cloudsdale. I have a race there today.”

“Sure! Just give me a few moments. I have to go get Angel’s food.”

“Alright, I’ll wait for you.”

Fluttershy moved over to the nearest cabinet. After opening it, she removed a bag full of carrots.

She placed one of them on the counter, and carefully chopped off the top part of the carrot with the leaves. She then took more out of the bag, and did the same thing for each of them, one by one. Then, she took all the leaves and one carrot, and placed it on Angel’s plate.

“How come you only gave Angel one carrot, and not the other ones?” asked Rainbow Dash, curiously.

“Well, carrots have a high amount of sugars, which is bad in high quantities, even though rabbits like sugars.”

“Oh. Are you ready now?”

“All done. Let’s go!”

The two ponies exited Fluttershy’s house and went to Cloudsdale. They also brought along Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Applejack. Twilight recasted the walking-on-clouds spell, and the four of them went to Cloudsdale by means of the hot air balloon.

When they arrived, they noticed that the whole place was under construction. There were groups of pegasi moving around clouds, some were bringing in materials, and some were constructing new towers.

“What’s going on?” Pinkie asked.

“Cloudsdale is under construction. Some of the places were getting old, so they decided to remodel them.” Rainbow replied.

“How fabulous, they’re using such a simplistic style for the detail!” commented Rarity.

“Wow, they’re really hard at work.” Twilight said. She observed a group struggling to lift some materials, so she went over and helped them with her magic. Applejack followed suit.

“Cmon, the arena is this way.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Go on witout us” Applejack said. “We’ll catch up with ya’ll later.”

Rainbow and the rest of them flew off to the arena, which was also under construction. There were clouds above the arena, so spectators could watch without obstructing construction.

A rather formal-looking guard stood by the entrance.

“Oh, Miss Dash.” He said. “You didn’t get the message?”

“What message?”

“Since we’re reconstructing the arena, the race has been moved to next week.”

“Oh, come on! I trained for this day for weeks!”

“I’m sorry Miss Dash, but-“

“LOOK OUT!”

A stack of wood fell from the sky, and knocked Rainbow Dash through the clouds. She was unconscious from the blow, unable to fly back up.

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy exclaimed. In a frantic dash, she went after Rainbow Dash.

“Fluttershy! It’s too dangerous!” Rarity said.

Down Rainbow went. Fluttershy was unable to keep up, and her eyes were constantly averted by flying debris from the wood.

A deep yearning grew in Fluttershy’s heart. Some say that on that day, Fluttershy’s wingspan grew threefold. She accelerated at twice her speed, hoping to catch up to her falling friend in time.

Two years later.

A lone pony walked to the land below Cloudsdale. She was dressed in all black, and her mane was a mess. It was a rather cold day in winter, one that made you wish you wore another layer before going outside. Fillies and colts could be heard playing in the background.

Slowly she walked, with her face in anguish. A chilling breeze ran through the air.

“Dammit!”. She brusquely stomped her hoof on the ground. Snow was scattered elsewhere, leaving the flats exposed.

“Dammit! Dammit all to tartarus!”

She cried, while contemplating all the sad thoughts in her head. She was about to smash her hoof once again until a hand reached out and stopped her.

“It’s not your fault, Rainbow Dash” said Twilight.

“Why Fluttershy? Why not me? It’s just not fair.” Complained Rainbow.

“I should have died, not her!”

Twilight gave a sad look, and then replied “She risked her life to take the impact and save you, Rainbow Dash. She was and still is a great friend. And she’s not dead; she lives on forever in our memory.”

Rainbow Dash then felt 3 other comforting hooves, and a hand. She turned around and saw Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike.

“Sniff. Thanks guys.”

In the distance, the clouds cleared slightly. In the clear sky, a rainbow appeared, light in color.

Three butterflies could be seen flying off towards the rainbow, fluttering, fluttering. Happily they flew, without a care in the world.

A cold winter day, a harsh winter wind.