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Chapter One
Left without a Warning
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Our story begins in Cloudsdale; a metropolis in the sky made for the ponies who are gifted with flight. The soft taps of rain drops against the window echoed in the room, gusts of gentle wind quietly howled outside around the oblong shaped home. Inside, is our Rainbow Dash, a young pegasus who is unsuspecting of what is to come...
Rainbows eyes peeked open, the glare of the sun blinding her as it glowed perfectly over the horizon. She tossed her body over over, yanking the covers up to her neck as she snuggled back to bed, wanting to sleep in much longer for the weekend. Soft snores and wheezes sounded from the little pegasus as she fell back into slumber...
Again, her eyes peek open, noticing her room is much darker than before. She sits up, looking out the window to see that the sun has risen much higher. She raised a brow, noticing that it was nearing noon, and her mother hasn't woken the pegasus up yet. Tossing the blanket to the side, she stepped from the bed, stretching her front hooves out, then her rear legs, and finally her wings. Rainbow popped her stiff neck as she yawned again, walking from her door. Walking out of her room, she doesn't even smell breakfast or lunch at that. Noticing that her parent's door is cracked, she peeked her head in, hoping not to see them kissing again...
Her eyes were met with something horrible. Clutter was covering the floor. From her mother's make up to her father's ties were scattered across the room, the bed not even made. The little heart in her chest began to pound as she panicked, darting around the room to check their bathroom and closet, nearly loosing it to see that the closet was nearly empty. "I'm going to flip out..." She though... "Where could the be? Where could they have gone..."
"Mom?" She called out, leaving the trashed room, "Dad?" Rainbow felt her heart flutter, growing a very irregular heart-beat as she began to get scared. "You guys are freaking me out... Where are ya?"
Once downstairs, she looked around, seeing that everything seemed untouched. To the kitchen she went do to the same, darting her eyes around as she trots through the room, around the center island and past the fridge; and that's when she heard it.
A piece of paper flapped in the wind as she passed by the fridge, making the mare look back instantly, watching that paper flop against the metal fridge, held by a magnet. Quickly tearing it off the fridge, she sat on her rump to read. Tears welling up in her eyes as she only had to read the first sentence to have her heart torn to pieces...
To our Dashie,
Your father and I are very pained to do this to you. You are too young to understand, and we would even have a harder time trying to explain it. We have to leave you... Alone in Cloudsdale. You'll find your own way, and you'll be able to make through it, sweetheart. You have friends who will always be there for you. You are strong and you KNOW it... Rainbow Dash, you are going to be a great pegasus one day; your father and I promise you that. We may never be able to make this up to you, or you may never forgive us. We know that... But you need to know that we love you Rainbow Dash... We will always love you, and if there was another way to do this, believe us, we would take it instantly! We're sorry...
Goodbye Dash...
We love you ♥
Mommy and Daddy
Rainbow couldn't hold back even if she could. She felt the weight that no child ever should. All of life has been thrown on her shoulders in a matter of seconds. Rainbow wasn't much of a crier, but this was unbearable. She crumpled the note, soaking in tears before throwing it against the fridge, and falling onto her side. She choked and trembled, crawling into a ball as she just couldn't understand how this could happen.
"Why..." She cried out, "I don't get it... Why the b-buck..." She tried to speak, wincing as her lungs began to ache from the lack of air. She gasped and cried out again. "WHY!?" She screamed, drawing out the moan in agony as her life had been destroyed. Rainbow was far to young to be able to handle this, and she knew it. The pegasus trembled as she cried and cried for what seemed to be hours to her. Sitting up she looked at the note a moment before she ran back up to her room, unable to understand just how this even could have happened...
Many minutes later, the pegasus couldn't cry any more, even if she wanted to. She laid back and thought, being the only thing she could do now. Her stomach grumbled as she thought, wincing and grinding her teeth as she thought about her mother's cooking while her empty stomach ached. "Mom..." She whispered, "Dad..." The pegasus said, sitting up and facing the window. "I-I don't understand why you did this... I don't blame you... But I can't help but feeling like I hate you now... I feel so abandoned." She spoke aloud, gazing out the window as the flying pegasus outside flew to kick away the night's rain clouds.
The time it took the young pony to gather herself and her thoughts seemed to take eternity. She stood up, moving downstairs again to make food, swallowing hard as she tried to ignore the note. In the pantry, she dug, grabbing some bread and tossing it onto the counter, getting ready to make herself some food. "I can do this..." She thought, getting the lettuce from the fridge to prepare the sandwich. Sitting at the table, she took a bite, swinging her back hooves as they hung off the chair. Actually began to feel better for some reason, she finished her food and left only a few crumbs on the plate before pushing it back.
"Hey, can I have a glass of water, mo-" She stopped, her eyes wide open, staring at the plate. "I-I can't..."
She pushed away from the table, leaping from her seat and knocking it to the floor as she sprung out the door, leaving it wide open as she flew as high as her pre-teen wings could go. Straining herself, she reached the nearest cloud she could reach as her wings began to ache. At the peak, Rainbow sucked in as much air as her lungs could hold before yelling to the clouds around.
"MOM! DAD! PLEASE COME HOME!" She screamed until it ached, over and over, stopping to look around for anyone coming to her. Out she bursts again, tears welling up in her eyes as she couldn't keep yelling anymore. Her throat ached and she huffed and choked on her tears, gagging and finally loosing her lunch she just made. Spitting out the bile, she angrily wiped her mouth clean as tears streamed down her cyan cheeks. "This isn't fair..." The pegasus finished speaking, staring at the ground far below her cloud.
"I need to see Fluttershy..."
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Chapter Two
The First Night
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The cyan pegasus bolted from the cloud, trying to gain her composure before she meets her friend, Fluttershy. The wind blew away the remaining tears that leaked from her eyes; the mare hoping that it wasn't too obvious the moment she is spotted. Passing down through the final layer of Cloudsdale, she could see the small three that was Fluttershy's home. The pegasus never understood why her best friend would live down on the ground; in a tree at that. With a large gust of wind, she landed on the ground, watching as her friend had been outside, checking for mail down from her tree.
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow called out, causing the skittish pony to recoil, hiding behind the mailbox and ducking her head under her hooves.
"Eeep!" Flutershy squeaked, peaking an eye out. "Oh... Rainbow it's you! Sorry.... you startled me!" She said in a soft whisper, blushing from embarrassment.
Hearing the soft voice of her friend never seemed so soothing before. "Hey... Do... Do you have a moment?" She asked, dropping her ears back and lowering her ruby eyes to the dirt, kicking a hoof as she felt so vulnerable.
"Of course! What's bothering you, Dashie?" Fluttershy said, holding a hoof out to raise the cyan pegasus's chin to look into those saddened eyes.
"Ah! Uhm... N-Nothing much!" Rainbow said, forcing a smile as she tried to bring back her 'tough-guy' looks. "It's just... Have you seen my parents?" Dash asked, scratching her head and looked back to the friendly mare.
"Oh Rainbow... I'm so sorry, but you know I don't know much about Cloudsdale anymore... My weak wings can't bring me back! The ground feels so much more like home..." Fluttershy explained, getting sidetracked before snapping back to the question. "But why do you ask? Did they leave you home alone again?"
"N-No... It's not like last time..." She said, remembering how fun it was when her parents had left to Canterlot for a whole day. Back then, it seemed so cool to not have a parent around. Now it seems so dark; knowing that her parents will never be coming back. "They're gone... For good." Rainbow choked, biting her lip as she tried to fight back a tear.
"W-What?" Fluttershy said, shocked and confused. "A-are they..."
"No... They aren't dead..." Rainbow interrupted. "Or at least I hope not... My mom left me a note, telling me that they had to leave me... I don't get it, because she sounded like she hated herself. Like she was forced into it..."
"Let's go inside, Rainbow. Explain it all to me..." Fluttershy said, taking Dash's hoof and leading her to the tree home.
Rainbow sat down, sipping the tea that her friend made, making small winces at each mouthfull of the girly drink. She was never much of a tea-drinker, but she gave it another try. Finishing her tea, she finally started to explain how it all started. It didn't take long for Fluttershy to begin to cry. The yellow pony had tears streaming down her cheeks, listening to her friend speak of the horrible morning that tore the pegasus's life apart. Many cups of tea later, the two sat silent. Small sniffles came from the shy mare, sitting quietly as she looked at Rainbow. Memories that flooded the pegasus's mind flooded her thoughts in an instant, all hitting her at once and delivering the idea that she will never have them again.
"I... I guess it's not so bad." Rainbow said, forcing another smile as she locked her gaze out the window. "No bed-time... No rules... No parents..."
"Rainbow..." Fluttershy whispered, noticing the struggle on the mare's face to hold back the pain.
"No... D-Don't... I'm fine." Rainbow strained herself. Coughing to clear her throat. "I'm strong... I can do this! You know me, Fluts... W-Who needs a family anyway?" Dash said, feeling her stomach grow knots as she lied and lied.
"Rainbow... I-ah... Sorry to say this, but Rainbow Dash; you are a terrible liar... You love your parents and I can tell that you want them back! Don't lie to yourself..." The shy pony declared, putting a hoof on the table as grew the nerve to raise her voice.
"What did you say?... You called me, a LIAR?" Rainbow growled out, standing up. "I-I pour my day out to you and almost start to cry! Yeah, I'll admit that! The toughest, fastest, pony of all time cries! But I am not lying!.." Rainbow spewed her anger out to the yellow pegasus, who whimpered in return. "I don't need my parents and I don't need YOU." She growled out, sprinting to the door and kicking it open, bolting to the skies above. She heard Fluttershy calling out for her friend, apologizing as it was only just ignored.
Rainbow didn't have the guts to return home. She stayed at the highest clouds as they wondered the skies. She could feel them growing wetter under her body, growing darker as they were going to empty the water they held. The pegasus huffed as the rain sprinkled down gently, yet not too bothersome. She laid on that cloud for quite a while, soon dozing off under the raining sky.
*CRACK!* *BOOM!*
Lightning strikes from the cloud the pegasus floated on, ripping her from the dreams she tried to use to escape reality. Jumping to her hooves, and loosing her footing, she slides from the cloud. Screaming out, she spreads her wings, unable to catch the strong, alternating winds as she plowed through clouds, slowing her fall more and more. Right at the tree-line, she caught the low winds, rocketing over the trees before one branch catches her hoof, sending her tumbling through the forest. Bouncing through trees and breaking branches, she screams out in pain. Splattering into the mud below, the pegasus remained on her back, feeling the puddle slowly start to grow up around her body, raising in level from the pouring rain.
"D-Darn it..." She moaned out, sitting up and wincing as she looked at the damage.
There was a clean hole through many trees where she made her entrance and exit, like a bullet hole. Suprisingly, she only had a few scrapes and bruises on her body. Stretching out her wings, she doesn't feel any splinters or breaks in her bones. Rainbow huffs, looking around and spotting the dim-lit tree of her friends. "Just my luck..." She thought. "Well... I guess I need to apologize anyway..."
*Knock Knock Knock*
The door swings open, the yellow mare gasping at the sight of her muddy, hurting friend. "R-Rainbow! Are you okay?!" She exclaimed, remaining in the door way, hoping to not get yelled at again.
"H-Hey Fluttershy. Do you think I can come in?... I want to talk..."
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Chapter Three
Clinging On
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It was only a few moments before Rainbow Dash had been more than welcomed into the tree-house. Well, she was more than ripped into the home at that. The sight of Rainbow Dash at the door, visibly tore Fluttershy's heart. The yellow pegasus was in tears, near fainting before she quickly grabbed her best friend and dragged her inside. Rainbow, in an instant, was put on that large green couch against the wall of the home. The pegasus gazed up to the wood ceiling as the yellow pony was rummaging through cabinets, scrambling to find her first-aid kit.
"Okay Rainbow, you just relax and let me clean you up..." The frightened pony whispered, with a shaken voice.
Rainbow chocked, holding back her emotions once the tone of her voice echoed in her ears. Her heart dropped, hearing her best friend so frightened and shaken up by what she sees. With her mind stuck on feeling awful, she ignored the pain and burning of the alcohol that cleaned her scrapes as she laid on her stomach.
"T-There... Now you just rest here, Rainbow. I'm sorry! H-How selfish of me... I-I mean, you can have my bed... I can take the cou-"
"It's not your fault..." Rainbow interrupted.
"W-What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked, sitting on her rump and listening.
"The scrapes... This didn't happen because of you. I was sleeping and I should have known a storm was coming in... But I lost track of time, and lightning struck. I tried.... To fly, but...
She stopped, looking forward now, out the window, up to the cloud city that was barely visible through the storm.
"I just can't win..."
"What?" Fluttershy asked, confused at the sudden change of the words.
"Think! My parents left, and I tried to find them... I tried to run, but I couldn't fly through a stupid storm to stop myself from falling..." The cyan pegasus' eyes began to water. "I thought I was amazing.... But now I'm a burden... A big burd-"
"Now stop right there, Rainbow Dash!" The friendly pony exclaimed through her soft voice, growing the nerve to speak up. Causing rainbow to sit up and look at her friend, never hearing this tone of voice erupt from such a fragile pony. "I'm sorry for yelling, but I can't have you talking down about yourself. I think you are amazing, Rainbow... You are my friend, and I will do anything to make you happy again... So tomorrow, let's go looking for your parents! We can start up at Cloudsdale and down from there... Okay, Rainbow?" The yellow pegasus was finished, holding a large, kind smile on her face as she gazed hope into her best friend's eyes.
"W-Wow... Okay! Let's do it, Fluttershy!" Rainbow said, her wings at full mast. "You're a good friend, so I'll need your help! And if you ever need anything from me, just ask! I can't use you, ya' know? Gotta keep my word to my friends!" She finished, holding up her head for once in the past day.
"Good. I can't ask anything from you Rainbow... B-But if you insist!" Fluttershy spoke, holding out her hand to shake on it.
Rainbow returned the gesture, using both of her hooves to shake her best friend's. Her heart was pounding again, yet instead of pain pumping through her veins, it was hope that flowed through her body. She was clinging on to this hope, letting it flood her body, washing out the bile that was sadness. A large grin was painted on her face as she then stood up off the couch, wincing in pain as she forgot about her wounds.
"Oh! Rainbow, take it easy..." Fluttershy said, holding a hoof on Rainbow's back, helping her balance.
"I-I'm fine... Heck, I'm awesome, aren't I?!" Rainbow spoke with her usual vigor, grinning from ear to ear with confidence.
"Oh... Of course, Rainbow!" The yellow pony spoke, joining the smile and helping her friend up the stairs to bed. "Now, now... You rest here, okay? Angel and I will take the couch..."
"Thanks, Fluttershy... You're the greatest friend I could ever ask for..." She spoke, resting in the bed, her Rainbow.
Fluttershy only gave a nod, closing the door behind her and leaving down the hallway. Her smile faded quickly as she got back down stairs, her weak limbs giving out. She collapsed with a soft thud on the carpet before the couch. Tears poured from her eyes, as she choked back her squeaks and moans of sadness... And regret.
"Oh Rainbow... How can I go through this... Princess Celesta, why have you asked me to lie to my best friend..."
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Chapter Four
Homecoming
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Another day... Our young pony opens her eyes again; to a brand new day. Those cerise colored orbs glisten in the sunlight as they gaze out the window. A soft, yawn followed by the cracking of her stiff limbs broke the silence in the room. Rainbow Dash is up again, another day without a single idea where her parents have gone...
Rainbow wasted no time to go downstairs, her heart fluttering as she was ready to look for her family. Her mind was set, constantly flooded with ideas where they could have gone. She found herself in the kitchen, her nose being stuffed with the sweet smell of breakfast. Fluttershy was busy mixing a large bowl of pancake batter while the skillet was cooking the contents inside.
"Oh! Goodmorning Rainbow!" Fluttershy spoke, startled when she caught glimpse of her. "I didn't hear you come down! I made some breakfast for us before we look!"
"Wow!" Rainbow spoke through the drool that flooded her mouth, her stomach rumbling as she hadn't had a good breakfast in a while. "Thanks Fluttershy... You're the best!"
"I wouldn't say that..." The yellow pegasus replied, looking away in shame. "I-I though we could start our separate ways. You go to Cloudsdale, and I go to Ponyville. I could as the Madame Mare if she knows anything."
"Good thinking Fluttershy! Let's get to eating so we can move out!" Rainbow spoke, taking a seat at the table in anticipation for the food and for the hunt to begin!
Hours had passed since they had eaten and Rainbow begun to get impatient. Fluttershy had been taking her time to water the flowers, feed the birds and woodland creatures surrounding her home, and even take angel for a short walk. In this time, Rainbow was unaware of her stalling, getting very eager to leave. She had been told directly to let Rainbow handle things on her own, and Fluttershy herself didn't know why. It broke her to pieces... Back at the tree home, Rainbow slammed the door shut, causing the skittish pony to nearly jump out of her skin!
"Why the hay are we messing around, Fluttershy?!" Dash exclaimed, standing at the door.
"I-I'm sorry Rainbow... I have been behind on my chores, s-so I think you... need to start without me." Fluttershy spoke, rubbing her other hoof as she looked away, embarrassed by Rainbow catching onto her obvious distractions.
"Fine! I'll be back before the sun goes down, okay?" Rainbow spoke, not even waiting for a response before dashing out the door and back up towards the city in the clouds.
A long strip of a rainbow followed her soaring ascent to her hometown, her eyes glimmering with hope as she got closer and closer to her home that floated around uptown Cloudsdale. Once at that door, she swallowed hard, gazing through the door she helplessly left cracked open. Walking inside, she looked around. "Still as quiet..." she though, walking through the home and peeking around every corner, hoping to catch her mother's familiar cyan coat or her father's pointy, spectral hair, just like hers. Each room empty left her sadder, but she had to be strong.
"Okay... There's got to be a clue..." She muttered aloud.
The pegasus wet back to that fridge where that note was crumpled at the floor. Picking it up, she read it again, able to look over it without sobbing onto the paper again. Rainbow still couldn't make a connection, so she set it in her bags that were in the dining room. She packed up essentials, no reason to live in an empty home. Dash grabbed a picture from her room, one that was taken last Hearth's Warming Eve. She hated getting pictures, and it was visible at her disgust as she sat between her parents with her arms crossed, a pair of fake reindeer horns resting on her head. She chuckled a bit at the picture, holding back her tears. Gazing at it for a few moments she stuffed it in the bag and left her house, this time with the door locked tightly behind her. The wind blew softly in her hair as she stood at the edge of her cloud home, looking back and gazing at the place that held so many memories. She knew it was still hers, since her father had built it himself, so as long as that house could float, it would never be taken away.
"You'll be full again..." She spoke to the house, laughing at how stupid she must have just sounded, trying to speak to it.
Spreading her wings and taking flight, Rainbow decided to fly back to Fluttershy's home to show her the note. With a grin on her face, she almost felt like she was accepting the fact that her parents were gone. As sad as it sounds, the pony had nearly forgotten why she was sad at times. She thought back when she was being taken care of by Fluttershy, or when she was eating breakfast with her. She though what the note had said: "You have friends who will always be there for you..." and Rainbow smiled, believing their words. Once at the door of Fluttershy's home, pressing open the door and seeing her friend sitting on the couch, petting her baby rabbit, Angel.
"Oh! Rainbow, you're back!" Fluttershy said, smiling as her friend walked in.
"Yep! I brought a note... From my parents. But how did your trip to Ponyville go? Did they see anything?" Dash replied, handing her the note.
"Oh..." Fluttershy spoke, taking the note. "It went... fine?"
"Fine? What do you mean? Did nopony notice them?" Dash said with a louder voice before taking a step back. "Wait... Did you even GO to town?"
"I... W-Well, I did have chores..."
"What?! Fluttershy, you are my friend! You can't leave your house for an hour to ask people if they saw two simple pegasi fly over?! I though we had a plan..." Dash said, sitting on her rump. "Do you even care?"
"Oh Rainbow... You don't know-...." She cut herself off, unable to say anymore than what she planned. "Y-You don't know the half of it! I do care..." Fluttershy spoke, covering her tracks.
"Then show it!" Dash exclaimed, tears in her eyes.
"I- I-"
"No! You know what? My parents were wrong... My friends aren't there for me..." She yelled out, ripping the page from Fluttershy's hooves and stuffed it back in her backs. "You...." She spoke at the door-way, ready to leave for the second time. "You're useless..."
Those were her final words to the pegasus, tearing her heart right from her chest and stomping on it. The poor pony cried the moment Dash turned away, taking to the skies. At full speed, the pegasus had nowhere to go but back to her home in Cloudsdale. Dash felt her tears stream across her cheeks again, the wind brushing them away.
"Rainbow! I-It's not my fault!" Fluttershy yelled from her door, tears streaming down her cheeks as well, glazing up to the sky before she saw her friend pass through the clouded sky above...
