Pasts

   "Alright, alright" said Rainbow Dash before starting her story.

                                                                ***

    A small blue Pegasus had been born to Thunder crash and Lux Shine, two of the best racers in clouds dale. The foal had her Mothers colorful hair and her Fathers coat and eyes. They named her Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer of all. Rainbow Dash started flying at an amazingly young age. They would have to put a special netting over the top of her crib to keep her from flying out and hurting herself. The net had been enchanted so she wouldn't pull it off or tangle herself in it. By the time she was old enough to start school, she was the best flyer in her class. Her parents enrolled her into flight camp, where she continued to flourish. What she lacked in size, she made up for in speed. She would always come home excited, asking her parents if they would go out and fly with her. For professional flyers, they were more than happy to oblige. They would all go out and train together as a family.

  Rainbow Dash made plenty of friends at flight school. She met a griffon named Gilda, and a shy Pegasus named Fluttershy. When Rainbow first had Fluttershy over to their house, Fluttershy barely spoke. Eventually though, she started to warm up to them. She would say that they were like her second family. Although Rainbow Dash had many friends, she also, as any popular pony would at that age, had bullies. It was a trio of boys who would always pick on her about everything. This took its toll on Rainbow, causing her to become depressed. Things were better when she saw Fluttershy though. But Fluttershy left. On the day Rainbow Dash got her cutie mark, Fluttershy left Clouds dale. Rainbow was heartbroken when she finished her race only to find her friend wasn't there. Things went downhill after that. Rainbow Dash no longer had any pony to talk to. She started having...darker thoughts. Rainbow dash eventually just gave up on everything. She lost her passion for flying, and she wouldn't leave the house because every time she did, the trio of bullies would follow her around.

Her parents noticed this, so they found out who these bullies were, and had a talk with their parents. Oh Celestia, their patents were dreadful. The next day, Thunder Crash went with Rainbow to flight school. She felt somewhat confident for the first time in months, up until her dad had to leave. They were testing, and parents aren't allowed to watch their kids while testing. Thunder crash reluctantly left, leaving Rainbow dash alone. The teachers went down the list of Students. Rainbow Dash was the eighth student. Just before Rainbow began her test, the bullies started yelling at her.

"Why don't you go ask your daddy for help, Rainbow Crash!?" They yelled, causing a few other kids to laugh. Rainbow arched her back, fur standing on end. She took a deep breath, and jumped, wings flapping. She was doing great.

'Just focus, don't think about them, just focus' she told herself over and over again. She was in a long stretch with cloud pillars. She glanced around, only to crash face first into the pillars. Her entire front half got buried, with only her rear end hanging out. She could hear the colt’s cat calls and wolf whistles. She blushed furiously and forced her way out of the cloud. As she was flying, tears blurred her vision. The voices of her classmates filled her head and she couldn't see. She reached up a hoof to wipe the tears away, but crashed once again. Into the track sides. She hadn't realized how fast she had been going. Her wing got caught in the metal, tearing out a few feathers as she tried to get it free, but to no avail. A strong gust of wind pushed her away, bending her wing unnaturally but freeing her. She tried desperately to flap her wings, but her right one was damaged badly, and her left one wasn't strong enough to keep her up. Rainbow knew what would happen. She closed her eyes and tucked he wings as she fell. Down, down, down. There were a few shouts, but she knew no pony would be able to catch her in time. She passed through the cloud layer and giggled at the light wetness. And she still fell.

'This isn't too bad' she thought. 'I'll finally get away from them. Finally. Finally. Finall-'

"Rainbow Dash!? RAINBOW!" yelled a familiar voice from the ground.

'Hmm, I didn't know Flutters could yell that loud. Wait, Fluttershy?'

Rainbows eyes shot open. Sure enough, there was her kind, yellow friend.

'No, she can't see this, I can't let her have to witness this.'

Rainbow opened her wings, flapping her left one furiously to slow her decent. Fluttershy raced up to meet her, but she never was a great flyer. As she approached Rainbow, she could see that her wing was damaged. The two crashed into each other in a flurry of feathers. With the addition of Fluttershy, the two slowed enough that they fell to the ground without getting hurt.

"Rainbow, what were you doing!?"Cried Fluttershy, clinging desperately to her friend, as if she would be gone at any second.

"F-flutters, I just fell!"

"No you didn't! You were smiling and you had your wings tucked! You were trying to- to- to!" Gasped Fluttershy, bursting into tears.

"I'm sorry, Flutters-"

"Oh Celestia! This was all my fault! I never wrote to you or anything! I was just thinking about myself! I'm so sorry! Could you forgive me!?"

"Fluttershy! It wasn't your fault, it was my choice. Please don't blame yourself!"

Fluttershy buried her face in Rainbows mane and sobbed. They stayed like that until the flight school teachers found them. Rainbow had to go to the hospital to get her broken wing put in a cast. The entire time, Fluttershy followed, not saying anything, with her mane covering her face. She waited in the waiting room with Rainbows parents. Eventually the doctor came out.

"Okay, Miss. Dash is fine. We got her wing put into a cast, and she's resting up right now. But before you go in, I wanted to talk to you. Excuse me young lady, would you mind moving away? I'm only able to share this with Fa-"

"She's our other daughter," explained Lux Shine. The doctor nodded before speaking again.

"Okay, so we had her talk to a therapist, and found out some things. Were you aware she was depressed?"

"Yes. She's been bullied at flight school. These bullies have been harassing her. We tried to talk to their parents, but they wouldn't listen. I went to school with her today, but I had to leave."

"I see. You aware that this was an attempted suicide, right?"

Lux and Thunder both gasped as Fluttershy lowered her gaze.

"She said that she just wanted them to stop, that she wanted to get away from them. Apparently, these bullies had begun to sexually harass her as well, touching and verbal sexual harassment. She talked to the teachers, but they wouldn't listen. She apparently got her wing hurt while testing and couldn't keep herself in the air. She realized this would be her best chance, so she took it. I'm going to recommend a therapist for her to see at least twice a month"

"Can we see her?" Asked Lux.

"Yes, she's in the third door on the right. Go right ahead."

"Thank you"

     The three ponies hurried down the hall and into the designated room. Rainbow Dash sat in the bed, wing outstretched in a cast. Her mother ran to her side, crying and holding Dash tightly. Her father also hugged Dash, a few tears falling. As the night wore on, they all got tired. All four of them went home and went to bed. After a month, the family moved away from their old house. They still lived in clouds dale, but on the other side of the city. Fluttershy returned to Pony Ville, but this time with Rainbow Dash. They lived together for a while until Rainbow went to live on her own. Rainbow Dash went on to become a weather pony, but wanted so badly to become a racer. The scar that the bullies gave her never quite healed, and she could never build up the confidence to race. But she was happy doing her job. Along the way, she made some friends who helped restore her confidence.

                                                                            ***

The group of mares was dead silent. All had teary eyes again, except for Rainbow and, surprisingly, Fluttershy.

"Wow, we never knew that those bullies we met in clouds dale made ya do... that. If ah had known, ah woulda bucked them clean off Clouds dale." Said Applejack.

"Pshh, they would've just flown right back." Said Rainbow.

A few minutes went by of them talking before Pinkie jumped up.

"Fluttershy!" She yelled, making her jump. "Tell your story!"

"WH-what? N-no! I don't really, I'm bad at telling, I-I" stumbled Flutter shy before letting out a small "eep!" As Rainbow Dash put a hoof around her.

"Come on, Flutters! I haven't heard this story in a loooong time"

"O-okay, just, please don't laugh?"