Rainbow Dash sat in her corner of the cloud and cried. She had tried sleeping, working off her pent up rage, and even carving rough drawings into the cave wall to distract her, but all to no avail. In the end, she had let herself slump against the billowing wall and let the wave of uncertainty, shame, and despair break over her. Confiding in her solitude, she allowed her long-suppressed tears to well and drip as her body wracked with muffled sobs.

Five years. Had it really been that long? The implications of the lost time hit her like a club. She had last seen her mother and father a week before the Fall. Were they still alive? What would they look like? Liquid grief fell from her chin and fell through the mist on which she sat. And her friends.... the changeling's words were like a knife in her heart. Betrayal and the thought of having failed to protect them had always haunted her, even as she told herself that they were all victims. The stallions, the Reds who threw themselves at their masters... they were all unwilling pawns in the grasp of Cadance's corrupted sorcery.

She had betrayed them, and Twilight had followed her disgraceful descent.

Twilight? Cadance?

No, neither of them would do this without something making them.

But they have! Her guts felt twisted, contorting and tearing themselves apart as her thoughts devolved into a nonsensical ramble.

She stood and strode towards her former wing sheaths to distract herself. Lifting the four plastic plates, she examined the interiors, curious about the state of her wings. Within, silver Caribou runes were etched into the interior walls, which were still dank and musky. She looked closely at them. One plate that was plastered with her old, rotting feathers (from her right wing, she presumed), however was cracked and faded along the swirling runic text. From what she knew of caribou magic, their spells were cast through text like this, channelling the world's natural magic. She shook her head Twi would have loved to study this.

"Shut up, brain."

Why? You should be thinking about them.

They betrayed me.

Did they? Is that the element of loyalty saying that, or a pathetic, lonely filly trying to justify her failure.

Why should I care? The only one that I have even the slightest modicum of respect that I have respect for is Applejack. And even then, I am still skeptical if her. Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, they've all betrayed Equestria!

Did they? Why?

Because... Dash's mind blanked itself.

You have shed blood, tears, and sweat for each other, put your own livelihoods on the line protect each other. What kind of traitor does that?

But-

What has changed?

My friends-

Ponies don't change. Circumstances do.

"But they gave up on me!" Her cry echoed through the cavern.

They love you.

No! They used to!

Love doesn't fade without being forced out.

"They left me!" She sobbed into a patch of cloud.

"No they didn't." The hissing voice was but a mutter.

Rainbow started as the changeling offered her a spare pair of trousers and began to carve at a wing sheath. "Spitfire let you...."

"Nah. Your green friend fell athleep and the otherth are out looking for food." He sat beside the cyan mare as she hesitantly slid the cloth over her legs, all the while looking warily at him.

"You aren't running." The flat statement was edged with unconcealed suspicion, but she made no move to secure the unbound creature.

"The enemy of my enemy ith my friend. Thothe mangy caribou have Tartaruth to pay for. Bethideth, where would I run to?"

Enemy? "I thought that the changelings had allied with Dainn?"

"A few of uth have... bred with ponieth in the patht." He caught a sidelong glare from the Pegasus. "Not all of it wath conthenthual, I regret. Cadenthe'th thpell during the fall... a fair fraction of our mixed offthpring were...." He trailed off, his lisping voice betraying poorly concealed shame. "Chrythalith gave herthelf to them to thtave off any more bloodshed than had already filled our hive, and in turn, they gave her to Dainn ath a... gift."

"Canterlot?" Dash changed the topic, feeling the poorly concealed shame in his voice. A nod. "Thought so. You mentioned Pinkie's party cannon."

"Yeah. I never would have thought that tho few thivilianth could fight ath effectively ath you thix." The two sat silently as Ka'leth sliced and stabbed at the sheath. A few more times before lacing a rope of thick twine and presenting the makeshift bra to the mare. "From one warrior to another."

Rainbow Dash slid the plastic sheet over her flat breasts. The twine itched and chafed, but the feeling of vulnerable exposure leaving her bosom outweighed the discomfort. She stood. The kakhi pants clung to her tightly, but she welcomed the concealing constriction.

"Thank you. From one warrior to another."

Author's Note

A very short world building chapter. Was Dash's argument confusing? If so, it's not supposed to.