When Cloud Nine is Far Away
When Cloud Nine is Far Away
Rainbow Dash soared through the skies with a grin on her face. Her wings adjusted to aid her lift as she flew up towards the Wonderbolts base. She had been called into a meeting with her team, to discuss a matter of a recent security breach.
She made her way towards the base, and came in for a smooth landing on the landing strip. She looked around for Spitfire and Soarin, and saw them by the doors to the administration building. They beckoned her over to where they were standing. When she caught up with them, she felt a question escape from her mouth, “Hey guys. So, what’s up with this thing about a security breach? Must be pretty serious, right?”
Soarin and Spitfire quickly exchanged glances as Dash looked at them for answers. Soarin was the first to speak, “Let’s just go inside, Rainbow Dash. You’ll find out all you need to know.”
Rainbow Dash soon found herself in Spitfire’s office. Soarin left as soon as they got there. “Hey, where did Soarin go? And, why is it only us in here? Shouldn’t we be talking with the whole squad about this? I mean, if it’s serious, shouldn't everypony know?”
Spitfire sighed and took her aviator glasses off. She sat down in her swivel chair, and leaned back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as she mentally prepared how to address the situation. “Rainbow Dash, you were the security breach.”
Rainbow Dash felt herself go cold. “What? Me? What did I do?!”
Spitfire cleared her throat. “You brought an unauthorized pony onto base without consulting with any of us before you did.”
Rainbow tried to think. Who did she bring onto base? “Wait, you mean Zephyr Breeze?”
Spitfire confirmed her answer with a nod.
Rainbow clammered for words. “But, but, he’s just my best friend’s idiot brother! I was just trying to help him find a job! You just...you can’t be serious! I mean, that’s totally ridiculous! He can barely take care of himself! How is he a security problem?!” She saw all the mental images playing in her mind on where this conversation was going, and it didn’t look like it would end anywhere pleasant.
“The problem isn’t him in particular, Dash, the problem is the principle that you violated. He may very well be a non-threatening pony, but what if he turned out to be? What if he wasn’t who you thought he was? Millions of ponies turn out to be threats when you never thought a threat was there. Turn on the news lately, and you’ll see just what I mean.”
Spitfire turned in her chair to look out the window, and clasped her hooves together. “This world’s a dangerous world, Dash, and we can’t afford to take any chances. I’m sorry, Dash, but you really went too far this time. You put lives at risk, including yours. I don’t care how well you know him, the point is, we didn’t know him.” She turned back around, and stood from her chair, now eye level with Dash. “For violating security protocols, I’m afraid I have to suspend you indefinitely, without pay, until we can further review your case.”
Rainbow’s jaw was hanging to the ground. She felt words try to make their way out of her throat, but could not muster up the strength to speak them. Her eyes were brimmed with tears, and she felt sobs work their way up her chest. She quickly slammed her eyes shut, and turned her head. She then looked back to her former commanding officer, and saluted. “I understand, ma’am.”
Spitfire saluted back. “I’m very sorry, Rainbow Dash. Dismissed.”
Time was became Rainbow’s enemy. Over the course of the next few weeks, her dismissal gradually became more a part of her. She stopped flying as much, only doing so when she absolutely needed to. She managed to get her old job as lead weather pony. While it was still a job, and she was grateful for the money, she still knew that this wasn’t where she was destined to be.
Even at home, she began to forsake the most basic of tasks. Dishes would pile up in a heap in her kitchen, mail went uncollected from her mailbox until Storm went to get it, and her friends barely heard from her. And, when they did, they knew it would never be an upbeat conversation.
After a long day of cloud kicking and planning the weather for the next week, she made her way home. She opened up her front door, not bothering to fly in through the windows like she was famous for. She walked slowly into the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator door slowly, barely grasping a soda with her wing as she gradually made her way over to the couch.
Storm had just entered the room, and noticed Rainbow’s blase appearance. “Hey hon. What are you up to for today?”
She took a sip from her soda, and some of it dribbled down her chin. “Eh. Just got home from work. I’m pretty tired today.”
He sat down next to her. “Oh yeah? What did you do?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Same old, same old. Not much changes, Storm. Move a few clouds here, make a few weather adjustments there.” She took another sip. “Just another day at the office.”
He frowned. He noticed that she’d been acting this way since her dismissal from the Wonderbolts. While that was surely a bad experience for her, he knew that she had to move on sometime. “Hey, I have a great idea. How about we call up all the girls, and we all go on a picnic? That sounds fun, right?”
She shrugged. “I guess so.” She took another sip, and let out a small burp. “Listen, I’m gonna go take a nap. If you need anything, you know where I’ll be.” She got up and flew slowly to their room, and shut the door.
Later that night, Storm and Rainbow read together in bed. Storm looked over at Rainbow, who had her head sitting on her forelegs, while her wings held the book up. He looked between the book he was reading and her, and set the book down on the nightstand. He moved over and started planting gentle kisses on her cheek, and pulled her into a small hug.
She allowed her eyes to shift from the book over to Storm. “What are you doing?”
Storm broke away from the sudden romance he displayed. “I’m starting something that I know I’ll need help finishing.” He went back to kissing her. He heard her sigh a little, and she pushed him off of her.
She managed a little shadow of a smile, “Listen Storm, I appreciate it, but I’m just not feeling it tonight. I just kind of want to sleep. Okay?”
If he wasn’t already in bed, he would have stammered back into a chair. “Alright. I’m sorry, Rainbow.”
“It’s okay.” She turned to switch off her light. “Goodnight.”
Storm was stuck in time as he sat upright in the bed while Rainbow got comfy. “Yeah...night.”
The next day, Storm woke up to an empty bed. He looked around for Rainbow Dash, and found her in their living room. She was plopped on the couch, reading her novel from last night. He came to sit next to her, but she didn’t move. It was as if she didn’t even acknowledge his presence.
“Rainbow, are you alright? Lately you’ve been acting...weird. Like, weirder than your usual self.”
She took a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. “I’m fine, Storm.” Her expression didn’t change, as her eyes were still scanning the pages and her eyelids remained level. She lazily turned a page with her hoof, and remained in her trance.
Storm put his hoof gently on the top of the book, and pushed it down slowly. Her eyes remained glued to the page, before she inevitably had to look up at her coltfriend. Her expression remained the same though, with her eyes remaining as empty as they were ten seconds ago.
He spoke up, “Dashie, I’m really concerned. You haven’t left the house, except to go to your job. Any time I try something romantic with you, you shut me down. All you do is eat, sleep, and read. I want to know what’s going on here.”
Her eyes remained on him, before looking down. She took a deep breath, and waited a few seconds before she responded. “I’m fine. Okay? Just please, please leave me alone? I just need some time alone.”
Storm was having none of it. “Rainbow, it seems like that’s all you want lately. I understand we all need it, but not all the time.”
Rainbow slammed the the book shut. “I don’t expect you to understand, okay? I just expect you to give me some space.” With that, she threw the book across the room, jolted out of bed, and flew out the window.
Storm had it rough. He watched Rainbow Dash day in and day out, with no idea how to approach the situation. Then, as she left for work one day, he went for a midday fly. As he flew about Ponyville, he saw Spike waddling down the road, just going about his day. Then, he remembered that Twilight was great with friendship crisis! She was literally the Princess of Friendship after all, who better to help with a situation than her? In addition to that, over time, she had become one of his very close friends. She would often invite him over for tea and discuss various topics that she felt she could not really communicate to her other friends. So, with the possible start of a new plan in the works, Storm made his way to the magnificent castle at the edge of town.
Storm walked into Twilight’s castle. He made his way down the crystal halls into the chamber with the six thrones. He saw the studious princess indulging herself in her studies, being oblivious to his hoofsteps. He called out her name once he was a few feet away from her, and gained her attention.
“Storm? What brings you here?” She gave him a hug, and he quickly returned the gesture.
“Hey, Twilight. If you don’t mind, something pretty major is going on and I need some advice. Big time.”
Twilight shook her head and blinked rapidly at his words, “Of course, is everything alright? Please come in.”
They sat down at the round table she often used for the friendship meetings that took place every week. He ran a hoof through his mane and sighed, “No, that’s the thing, everything’s not okay. It’s just, well, it’s Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight scrunched her eyebrows. “Huh. That’s odd, I just saw her a few minutes ago.”
“Really? She’s supposed to be at work.”
“I think she was on her lunch break. She stopped by and gave me these,” Twilight motioned over to the corner of the room where various posters were sticking out of a burlap sac, “Do you know why she’d give me all her Daring Do posters?”
Storm squinted at the posters, beating his brain trying to find a reason. “No, that’s really odd, actually. But I’ll ask her about that later. Right now, I got big problems. Ever since she got dismissed from the Wonderbolts, she’s been acting weird. Like, in a not-herself kind of weird, ya know? She won’t even bother to hug me goodbye anymore.”
Twilight rubbed her chin. “Yeah, that is kind of odd. I mean, I know Rainbow Dash isn’t exactly the most affectionate pony in the world, but she’d never be that closed off.”
“I mean, I get that getting dismissed from the Wonderbolts was a huge blow and all, but she’s got to get over it. I miss the old Dashie, ya know?I just feel like she’s lost sight of what’s important, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get through to her. I only make her angry.” Storm looked down and fiddled with his hooves in his knees. But Twilight pulled his head back up with a hoof under his chin.
“Hey, we’ll get it all sorted out, alright? I know it must be tough, but hang in there. Our old Rainbow Dash is still here, we just have to guide her back to where she belongs, you know? Sometimes we all lose sight of what matters, and it just takes a lot of determination to help get someone back on track. We’ll help her, okay?”
He smiled at her kind words. “Thank you, Twilight. I truly appreciate it. What should I do until then?”
She looked up in thought, as she searched for something to say. “Well, at the moment it sounds like you’re doing all you can already. I’d say just be there for her if she needs you. That’s really all you can do for now.”
He nodded, and hugged her again. “Thanks Twilight. I’ll just try to do what I can, I suppose.”
Storm returned to his home, and went to their shared bedroom. However, upon walking through the threshold, he saw that the shelves no longer held Rainbow Dash’s pictures of herself. He raised a brow as he slowly walked out of the room, and found Rainbow in the kitchen. She was eating a sandwich, and had a blank expression on her face. He approached her with caution, for he didn’t want to cause another outburst. If he would even call what she did an outburst, that is.
“Hey, Rainbow. What uh, what are you up to?”
Without looking away from her food, she responded. “What’s it look like?”
She continued to eat, and Storm took a deep breath to keep his composure calm. “I just got home a few minutes ago from Twilight’s. Speaking of that, why did you give her all of your Daring Do posters? And why are the pictures of yourself off the shelves by the door when you first walk in? You love those pictures!”
She shrugged. “I figured I didn’t need those things anymore. I dropped the posters off to Twilight, and sold the trophies. Here.” She tossed a bag of bits to Storm, who almost didn’t catch it. “Use them for whatever you want.”
He lost his breath. He wanted to try and say something to her, but what could he say? She would probably just shrug it off, and go about her business like she has been. He looked at her as she ate her sandwich. She paused and looked up at him. She raised a brow, and swallowed. “What?”
He slammed the money on the counter and glared at her. He walked around the counter and up to his marefriend. He got in front of her, which forced her to turn her body in her chair to look at him. He felt like he wanted to explode. He felt a burning in his chest, and his blood was boiling. He wanted so bad to just grab her and shake her, but then to hug her and cry for her.
Rainbow’s eyes grew wide at her coltfriend’s odd behavior. They went even wider when he hugged her. He hugged her so tight, that for a moment, she felt as if she couldn’t breathe, then he let go. Her mouth was open just a little bit, her eyes open and frozen in place. Storm then quietly backed up, his eyes still focused on Rainbow. He then felt tears slowly trickle down his cheeks. He turned, and went to their bedroom, and slammed the door. She felt a breath escape her, and blinked once. She felt a tear roll down her cheek.
HR
A few more days went by, and the mood didn’t change. Rainbow and Storm went about their lives, and only spoke to each other when necessary.
They were sitting on the couch together, but only Storm was reading. Rainbow Dash sat on the couch doing nothing, content to stare at the wall. After hearing only the chirping of the birds outside and an occasional page turn, Storm decided that he would say something. “Rainbow Dash, I can’t take this anymore.”
She didn’t look away from the wall, “Can’t take what?”
He slammed the book shut, and turned to face her. “This! This whole depressed, hollow, empty pony you’ve become!” He took a few breaths to bring his mood back down. “I mean, I get it! The Wonderbolts let you go, but you have to get over it!”
She was silent.
“All you do, is lay on the couch! You’ve quit your job! You’ve quit reading! All you do is eat, and sleep! I’ve tried so much to be there for you, I really have. But I can’t be there for you, if you won’t let me!”
No response.
He could feel tears invade his words, and his voice began to crack. “I love you, Rainbow Dash. I really, honestly do. But I can’t take it anymore! I’m begging you, I’m pleading with you, please, please talk to me! Let’s figure this out! I want to help you, Rainbow. I want to be there for you, but you won’t let me! Please, please let me help you!” By the time had had finished, he was sobbing.
Rainbow Dash looked at her coltfriend, and the emotional breakdown he was having. She could feel tears in her own eyes, but refused to let him see. She made him look at her, and said, “Storm, I’ll be fine. I’m gonna fix this, okay? I can do this. But, I have to do this on my own, okay?”
Storm sniffled, “No! We’re a couple! We’re a team! We need to fix this. We need to get through this.”
Rainbow Dash smiled a little. “I’ll be fine soon enough. Just promise me you won’t worry anymore, okay?”
Storm raised a brow, “What does that mean, Rainbow?”
Rainbow shrugged. “It means what it means”
The next day, Storm woke up to an empty bed again. But, instead of seeing her around the house, Rainbow was nowhere to be found. He found a small note written on some paper torn from a book on the kitchen counter. It read,
Storm,
I promise I’ll be fine. I’ll always watch over you, and I’ll always love you. For ever, and ever. Goodbye, Storm. I’ll never forget you.
Love,
Rainbow Dash
He choked on a few breaths, and felt his body go numb for a few seconds. He then clutched the note in his teeth, and flew at breakneck speed out the door.
Storm spent hours searching for Rainbow Dash. He asked all over town, and asked all of their friends if they had seen her. They said no, but with AppleJack, he found some luck.
“Ya might wanna try Ghastly Gorge. She practices sometimes in there, what with the canyons as an obstacle course and all that.”
“Thanks A.J., you’re a lifesaver.”
With that, he flew to where she told him.
After hours of searching, no sign of Rainbow was found. He was just about to fly back to Ponyville, when a prismatic shine caught his eye. As he flew closer to the source, he saw Rainbow. She was standing at the edge of an overhanging cliff, one that had to be at least several hundred feet from the bottom of the gorge. She had her eyes closed, and a small smile on her face. With a few steps, she fell, and didn’t open her wings.
Storm gasped, and flew directly for her. “Rainbow Dash!” He was cutting it close, as she was falling at a fast rate. Just a few more seconds, and she’d hit the bottom. “Rainbow Dash!”
After what seemed like an eternity packed into seconds, he caught up with her. He caught her, and his belly jarred the floor of the canyon, allowing a decent gash to tear into his gut. Rainbow felt even more of the impact, for as he hit the canyon, she flew from his grasp, and bounced about ten feet away from him like a rag doll.
Seconds turned into minutes, and Rainbow was the first to awaken. She gasped in pain as her entire body seized and held her in a tight muscle spasm. Only using her eyes, she looked around and saw Storm lying unconscious across from her. She gradually crawled over as her muscles loosened, and tried to shake him awake.
No response.
She felt her eyes get warm, and her vision turned blurry. “Storm! Storm! Wake up! Wake up you son of a bitch! Wake up!” She felt sobs start to wrestle out of her throat, and she collapsed on top of him. Storm was unconscious, and it seemed that there was no way to bring him back. She looked up to the sky, looking for anyone to possibly pass by. “Help! Help! Anyone! Please! Please!” She continued to sob over Storm’s body as dusk turned to night.
She carried his body up to the edge of the cliff she made her leap from, and managed to flag down some stray weather ponies to help her to the hospital. She was treated for cuts and five broken ribs, while Storm was rushed into surgery.
After hours that felt like days, the doctor came into the waiting room where Rainbow Dash eagerly waited for the response. “Well, Ms. Dash, I have reason to believe that your coltfriend is one lucky, lucky pony.”
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, the fall that he took should have killed him, quite quickly at that. However, thanks to whatever forces are out there, he’s going to make a full recovery.”
Her mouth dropped. “But, but he died. I mean, I’m not questioning you, but when we were at the canyon, he wouldn’t respond! He was dead!”
“Well, looks like something, or someone, brought him back. I wouldn’t question it too much, Ms. Dash. I would just be thankful.” With that, he smiled, and walked away.
As time made its way on its lazy journey, things began to slowly weave back together. Storm began to walk again after some physical therapy classes, and slowly began to take flight once more. It was a bit hazy in the beginning, but through Rainbow’s encouragement and determination to see the one she loved return to good health, and his desire to get back in the sky again, he had made it through.The scar on his stomach was healing as it should be, and Rainbow was on her way to her own recovery. Her ribs had gotten back into shape by actually following the doctor’s orders, and Storm was very attentive during her recovery time as she was during his. Rainbow and Storm started spending more time together, and even went on some dates that had been ignored.
Changes in the home were soon to follow the changes in the couple. The shelves gradually got filled with her ego and her pictures as it had been before, and the Daring Do posters were back, as they proudly hung on the wall. And every night before bed, she would read to Storm from her favorite books in an effort to cheer him up if he wasn’t feeling up to par. Her favorite part of all of this though was the mornings, when Storm would wake up and still be a little hazy from the medication. She was always quick to make fun of the silly faces he made when he was out of it.
On one particularly lazy Saturday morning, Storm and Rainbow were lying on the couch together, cuddling and watching television. Rainbow had felt a question pop into her mind, and tried to ignore it. But, as the sappy romantic comedy played on before them, she could not ignore it any longer. “Hey, Storm, I got a question for ya.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“A few weeks ago, when I did what I did, why did you save me?”
“What?” Storm sat up, much to his and Dash’s displeasure.
“I mean, I was a mopey, emotionless wreck, and you still were there for me. Why? After how bad I treated you, I figured you’d be glad I, well, ya know.”
He took a deep breath. “Rainbow, let me tell you something. Yes, there were many times when I got frustrated, when I felt like I just wanted to throw in the towel. But, if you saw yourself the way I see you, and you saw through my eyes what you were going through, you would have done the same if it had been me.”
“But...I was so pathetic. Like, even more so than Twilight when she misses a deadline. I mean, it was really annoying and stupid, and I...I…” Her words failed her as memories of how she acted came rushing back like a flood. “I just...all I remember was this overwhelming feeling of not ever being good enough, you know? Like...everything and everyone around me was leaving forever. I just...I guess after I got discharged, I felt almost as if I didn’t matter anymore.”
Storm smiled a little. “But Rainbow, don’t you see? You do matter, you’ve always mattered, and you always will matter. Maybe some days you might not feel like it, but trust me, to those who love you, who truly, truly love you, you’ll always be a superstar in their eyes, even on your worst days.”
Rainbow started to tear up at hearing what he said. She didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve any of it. Anxiety slowly started to seep back into her, like sludge dripping from a pipe. She felt her chest get tight and lashed out at him. “But why though? I still don’t get it! I wanted to die! It’s not worth it! I wasn’t worth it!” She felt her words cease as her tears overtook her.
Storm moved in and held her tightly, “It’s okay, Rainbow, I’m here. I’m always here.”
“But you weren’t! You weren’t always there! You said you were done! You said you were tired of me!”
“Rainbow, I never said that at all! I just couldn’t take how you were acting, I was tired of what you were doing, not tired of you! I wanted nothing less than to help you get through those tough times, but you wouldn’t talk to me.” He rocked her back and forth in his embrace. “ After a while, it seems like you shut down, and refused to talk to me. I wanted to badly to help you, but you wouldn’t let me in. I never get tired of you, Rainbow, and I promise I never will.” He kissed her forehead, and continued to hold her close to him.
Another week had gone by, and more progress had been made. Rainbow had opened up to Twilight about what she was going through, and told her the whole story from start to finish. After much of Twilight’s bickering and pleading, she agreed to talk to Twilight every two days to sort out any issues that she might have left from her depression. She was making just a little progress at a time, but Twilight insisted that it was normal, and that baby steps often lead to big change. She was encouraged by Twilight to do some household chores anytime she felt sad, to try and get her mind off things and do something constructive.
After a long day at work, Storm came home to Rainbow cleaning. “Woah, who are you and what did you do to Rainbow Dash?”
“Oh, shut up and kiss me.” The two shared a small kiss, which both smiled at.
Storm was quick to break the silence with some news. “Oh, hey, I have to tell you, guess who you’re going to go see tomorrow at 9 AM?”
Rainbow sighed. “Is this another prank? Because I still haven’t gotten you back yet for that time when we were trying to-”
“No no no let’s uh, not get into that again,” he blushed when he recalled the situation she mentioned, “But, you’re going to go talk to Spitfire tomorrow! I figured you’d like to see her again, she’s been asking about you a lot recently.”
Rainbow leaned back and cocked an eyebrow. Her trademark grin popped onto her face, “Really now? Why would she want to see me? Do the Wonderbolts miss me and the sheer amount of awesomeness that I constantly brought to the table?”
Storm picked up a throw pillow, and lightly threw it at Dash’s head. “More like Twilight making a personal recommendation about your moral character. Yeah, you’re feeling better, I’d say.”
She giggled, and picked up another pillow, “Yeah? I’m feeling good enough to kick your butt!”
And for the rest of the afternoon, the couple were content to throw pillows at each other and laugh.
The next day, Rainbow appeared back at the barracks she was once dismissed from, in full class-A uniform. She did not know what to expect, but still kept her head held high.
She knocked shyly on Spitfire’s door. An authoritative “Come in!” was quick to follow, and Dash practically scampered into the room. Spitfire sat at her desk with her hooves down on the table. She stared Dash in the eye, as she scanned her soul.
“Rainbow Dash! Are you ready to re-join the ranks of the Wonderbolts, to solemnly swear that you will protect the lives of Equestria and the Royal Crown?”
Rainbow felt a smile tug at her lips, “Yes Ma’am!”
Spitfire got up from her chair and walked over to Rainbow, getting close to her face. “Then I hereby reinstate you as a full time member of the Wonderbolts!”
“Woohoo!” Rainbow did a flip in the air, and landed to see Spitfire chuckling.
“Not gonna lie Dash, we all missed that a lot.”
“Not gonna lie ma’am, I missed doing that.”
Spitfired smiled. “Hey, Dash, are you okay? Twilight said you took things really hard, and well, we wanted to let you know that, we’re here for you, alright? We only did what we did because we had to, never because we wanted to. You’re one of the best damn flyers this outfit has ever seen, period. You’ll always be a Wonderbolt, no matter what happens. Got it?”
Rainbow felt the pride inflating in her chest like a balloon, and her voice cracked, “Thank you, ma’am. So, what are my orders?”
Spitfire laughed a little, “A hundred laps around the track! Get to it!”
Rainbow grinned, “Piece of cake”. With that, she flew out Spitfire’s window, and into a whole new perspective on life.
Author's Note
Hey, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this story. I may have pressed a few nerves writing something like this, but I just wanted to speak out and say that if you or anyone you know has considered committing suicide, know that you're not alone, and that there is help available to you. Please, press on, and fight the good fight, even if it hurts. I promise, someone is always around to listen.
God bless,
-EagleWings21
