Owner of a Lonely Heart

Chapters

Feels So Good
In Bloom
Everlong
Owner of a Lonely Heart
Bringing on the Heartbreak

Feels So Good

Rainbow Dash felt herself breathing again, the pleasant feeling of air rushing into her aching nostrils. She could feel light press against her eyelids, but her eyes were not ready to open. She was too sore. As she began to regain her senses, she realized how uncomfortable the position of her body was. Rainbow tried her best to remember why she was here, but her head felt like a disaster, thoughts going everywhere. She laid there until she felt ready to expose her eyes.

The initial brightness of the sun blinded her, and only made her brain blurrier. Now more aware of her surroundings, she slowly and cautiously began to open her eyes, blinking often to keep them from drying out. She was eventually able to open them completely, but the sun’s glow kept her from seeing anything but a massive yellow ball defining the sky. She turned her gaze away from the sun, and looked ahead of her. It took a minute to finally get a picture of where she was.

A tree. Another tree. More trees! She was completely surrounded by trees, towering over her head like skyscrapers. She looked around, noticing the cold grass below her, and the miles and miles of woods in front of her.

She was lying on her side with her face in the grass, her back against one of the massive trees, and her legs spread. She felt the cool sensation of wind stroke through her +tattered hair, a few strands blocking her view.

Deciding to stand up, she moved her back legs, which shriveled in pain as her limbs registered the brutal new sensation of sheer pain encompassing her body. The pain caused Rainbow to shriek.

However, one place in particular hurt a lot worse than anywhere else: her upper back region. It was throbbing intensely, and Rainbow couldn’t really describe how weird and sore it felt.

For ten minutes Rainbow Dash writhed in pain, weeping with the only moisture left in her dry eyes. She was eventually able to move a muscle in her front hoof, using it to push up her weak body in an attempt to stand. At first, her hoof was too wobbly, and she fell down several times, causing her even more agony. But soon, she was able to get all four hooves on the ground.

She stood up, hooves trembling. Her victory wouldn’t last though.

She was too exhausted to even walk, and she felt dizzy. Dash slowly shut her eyes, and fell over.

The shriek caused several birds to vacate the trees they had been resting in. Rainbow was hyperventilating from the excruciating pain coming from her upper back. Dash felt blood stream from the injury, causing her to panic even more. But then she felt it. The cuts, the bruises, the scrapes. They were all over her body.

Rainbow, as quickly as possible, twisted onto to her belly, sobbing uncontrollably. She had her mouth clenched tightly, occasionally opening it to scream in an attempt to ease the excruciating pain. She was banging her hooves on the ground, trying to deal with the awful sensation that racked her body.

As time went by, the stinging in her back finally subsided to a point where Dash could actually figure out what was causing the torture. Rainbow Dash opened her tear filled eyes, and ever so slowly began to twist her head. She didn’t want to put any more stress on her body. She couldn’t take it anymore. From the corner of her eye, Rainbow caught a glimpse of the area causing her so much pain.

Her screams could have ruptured somepony’s’ eardrums.

“My- my wings!” Dash was wailing over and over again. They looked as though they were destroyed. Feathers were torn off, they were covered in scratches and cuts, and they were bent in an awkward position. They were very obviously broken. Blood at the base evidenced that she had at some point fallen right on top of them.

Rainbow Dash was in shock. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She was going crazy, terrifying thoughts rushing into her broken mind. What if she lost her wings? What if nopony found her? What if somepony was doing this to her on purpose?

Then it clicked, her memory returning.

She remembered that she had been attempting a Sonic Rainboom, when all of a sudden… she stopped. Stopped everything. Her body, her thoughts, her control. All because of Gilda! She had ruined Dash’s reason for living. All because of the- the- Dash didn't want to think of it now.

She remembered being shot violently back into the air, and not even caring. She went soaring to who knows where, and then lost consciousness.

“HELP! SOMEPONY PLEASE HELP ME!” cried Dash in agony. She was frightened. She hadn't even been this frightened at Romeo Delight. In Dash’s mind, a slow and agonizing death was, by far, the worst possible way of dying.

Dash called out for help for what felt like an hour, and when nopony came, she lost faith that anyone was going to. She couldn't walk. She had likely injured a leg so badly it prevented her from taking even a single step, and her wings were definitely out of the question.

She cried. With all of the energy left in her she bawled. She was leaving the world in the worst way possible: being remembered as an awful pony, losing her prized wings that she loved, and being tormented by time as the pain got worse and worse.

She felt her head going black. She became motionless…

“Oh my, oh my, what do we have here? Could it be a sickened pony, or an antlerless deer?”

That voice. She recognized it. She just couldn’t remember who it was.

“I must help this pony who is in need, before she becomes delectable animal feed!”

Help. Help! Someone was rescuing her! But Dash was weak, and losing consciousness, unable to notice what was going on. Then she finally lost all awareness of the world.

The taste of some terrible liquid filled the mouth of the awakening pegasus. Dash was regaining her sight, feeling much better than when she had woke up suddenly in the sunny woods.

Rainbow heard strange, unique music. It was only conga drums, but they were playing an intense beat.

Dash could now see where she was. It looked familiar.

It was a hut with a very outlandish style to it. It looked as though it was inside of a log. As she looked around she realized it was. Bookshelves crowded with books and potions filled the spaces inside the area, and she noticed bubbling liquid spurting from glass bottles. Chilling masks were hung about the structure, staring down at Dash.

Rainbow attempted to move, but a strong force brought her right back down. Leather straps. She was lying on her belly on a table, with a muzzle wrapped around her snout. A strange sense of fear swept through Rainbow’s body. She was sure something bad was going to happen.

But then the weird taste of fluid washed around inside her mouth. It tasted absolutely awful, so, within a second, Dash spat out the disgusting liquid. She began to breathe heavily, and as she did, a door slammed open, a mysterious figure covered by a cloak walking in.

“Hey you! What are you doing to me!? What the hell is up with this table!? This is-”

The figure grabbed onto its cloak with its hoof and in an instant revealed herself to Dash. She knew this place looked familiar.

“Zecora!” Rainbow shouted in delight. “Oh my gosh! Thank you! I- I- I have no idea- how I could ever repay you but-“

“Hmmm, this is indeed very strange. How is it that you know my name?”

Rainbow looked at Zecora extremely confused.

“Don’t you remember me? I’m Rainbow Dash! Friend of Twilight Sparkle!” she said hoping to jog Zecora’s memory.

“That my friend is not true. For Rainbow’s coat is a different hue.” She said promptly.

Rainbow was quite bewildered by Zecora's words.

“Zecora! What are you talking about!? What do you mean a different hue!?”

Zecora also looked puzzled, though not as much as Dash, who now beginning to look frightened. Zecora glanced over at another table. There was a mirror was placed directly on top of it. The zebra slowly walked over to it and grabbed it. She then walked back over to Rainbow Dash, looking at her with powerful eyes.

“If what I say you do not believe, then see for yourself that I do not deceive.” Zecora turned the mirror toward Dash showing her her whole reflection. Dash just stared. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Dash’s gleaming, breathtaking cyan coat had turned into a stunning shade of brown that covered her entire body. Her gorgeous rainbow styled hair had turned jet black, and was even messier than it was before, as well as her long, muddled tail. Her deep, beautiful eyes had turned to a glowing white color, beaming with brightness as they stared directly at the eyes in her reflection.

Dash began to hyperventilate as a rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins. She thought she was in a dream. Maybe nopony rescued her. Could this be… death? No, it was all too real to be her imagination. But what happened?

Dash was speechless. She tried to speak, but the only thing that came out were gasps and stutters. She kept looking back and forth between Zecora and the mirror, trying to find the right words to say.

“But… this isn’t right! This… it can’t be right! Zecora! Something must’ve happened! I’m telling the truth! I’m Rainbow Dash!”

Zecora stared at Dash, looking perplexed. What she was saying was sounding pretty convincing from her pleading tone, but obviously Rainbow did not look like this.

“Your words seem very convincing to me. Wait here pony and let me go to where you were brought to me, and I will tell you what I see.”

Zecora immediately turned and rushed toward the door, grabbing a semi-large bag from a nearby table. She hopped up the steps, and went outside. She slammed the door shut behind her. Dash considered following her to see where she was going. She raised herself up but was brought roughly down to the table. Zecora had forgotten to untie her.

“Zecora, Wait! You forgot to…! Forget it…” Rainbow called, giving up.

Dash could hardly move her body at all in her situation. It was uncomfortable, and was driving her crazy. She could only move her head a few inches in each direction. She tried to wiggle her wings, but when she tried her back screamed in pain, and she remembered what happened.

Dash panicked. Given what she could remember, her wings were probably still badly damaged. She twitched and shuddered just thinking about them. She realized she was waving her wings around. When she moved even a feather on her tattered wings, a feeling of discomforted came over her. She continued fidgeting, despite being strapped down, for several minutes, maybe even hours, until she heard the sound of rushing hooves coming from outside. Freedom was near.

The door barged open as Zecora, with a very worried look, ran in, almost tripping on the floor trying to reach Rainbow Dash. She was carrying a bag in her mouth that she quickly spat on the floor near Rainbow Dash, and ran toward her strapped down body. The relief was apparent on Rainbow’s face, thinking Zecora may have found an answer to her problem.

Trying to catch her breath, Zecora attempted to speak to Rainbow.

“What seems to be coming to my ears have been giving me the worst of fears.” Zecora said worriedly.

Dash’s expression turned to apprehension. That wasn’t what she had wanted to hear.

“Zecora… what are you talking about!? What’s happening-”

Zecora placed her hoof inside the bag, and pulled out some weird looking plants that Rainbow had never seen before. They all bore colors of white, pink, and purple, somehow depicting faces with different expressions and emotions. Dash didn’t look too sure of what was happening.

“This plant is known as the reminiscence clematis. A very rare plant indeed, none the less. It bears colors of no harm, but be warned; these flowers often cause great alarm.”

Rainbow stared at the zebra uncomprehendingly.

“So… what do they do?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, if I’m not mistaken, these plants of disaster can give your appearance quite a shakin’.”

'No! Really!?' Rainbow thought to herself.

“What’s the cure, Zecora!? I can’t go back home looking… like…” Rainbow couldn't finish her sentence.

There was no home.

The town hated everything about her now, probably even more so after what happened at the competition. Judging by their expressions, her friends no longer accepted her in their world. They were probably doing just fine without her messing things up, she thought to herself. Moving back to Cloudsdale wasn't an option. Everypony there knew about what happened. There would only be more hatred. Moving to other cities across Equestria wouldn’t help either. Even if she wasn't popular across Equestria, Gilda would just follow her and ruin her reputation wherever she went.

There was no love. No second chances.

Zecora walked over to her bookshelf and grabbed a book that looked shockingly familiar to the one that had the cure for poison joke. It looked like it hadn’t been opened in ages. Dust filled the air as Zecora blew on the cover She then opened it up, flipping through the pages looking for the specific plant.

When she stopped, a look of extreme terror filled Zecora’s now sweating face…

“This can not be good…” Rainbow said aloud quietly.

“If these words are not mistaking me, the cure is a complete mystery.”

Rainbow’s heart skipped a beat when she heard Zecora say those life-changing words.

It was all too much for Dash to hear. Her life was being torn apart right in front of her. Her identity was gone. Forever! Nopony would ever know what happened to her when she disappeared. Her life as the energetic, comical, heroic pony… ended on such a terrible note. Rainbow slowly brought her head down to the wooden surface. She began to sob. She just couldn’t accept the information being presented to her.

“However…”

Dash immediately opened an eye at the sound of the voice that spoke of hope. She raised her head and stared directly at Zecora who looked as if she had found something.

“There is an old riddle here that is believed to be a cure for it, but listen up, for it’s hard to get.

Say you don’t want to chance it,

You’ve been hurt so before.

There’s no real reason to be lonely,

Give your free will a chance,

It will give a better start.”

Rainbow looked at Zecora with uncertainty.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Rainbow thought to herself. 'Of all the ways to explain a cure for an unusual sickness like this, it had to be a stupid proverb!?'

“If you are Rainbow Dash, as you speak, then true memories are what you seek.”

'Wait… she actually understood that!?'

“How does that make any sense!?” Rainbow yelled in frustration. “I already lived my memories! And I'm not doing it again!”

“A recollection doesn’t have to be a memory of a specific time, it could be a place or thing giving you a sign.”

Rainbow went silent. She was thinking. Hard.

“But how? How? How!?” Rainbow was now yelling. Zecora backed away from the shouting Pegasus, who was now breathing deeply.

“That can’t be serious! It makes no sense. Why did… how could it…” Rainbow gave up. She just couldn’t understand the message.

Zecora walked up to Rainbow Dash, placing her hoof upon her tied up body.

“I cannot tell if you are truly Rainbow Dash, but let me tell you this before you crash.” Dash’s teary eyes looked into Zecora’s sympathetic ones. She saw optimism, and it gave her a feeling of confidence.

“Sometimes it takes forever, to truly understand why we were brought here whatsoever.”

A tiny but bright smile lit upon Dash’s gloomy face.

Suddenly a bell rang. It was some sort of clock that made a weird, loud, and alarming sound. There were no numbers on it, but Zecora shot her head in the direction of the contraption.

“Oh how time has wasted away, it seems to be the middle of the day. My sincere apologies, but I think it's time for you to leave.”

Dash gave Zecora a stubborn look, attempting to breaking free from her bonds. Zecora returned it with an embarrassed one.

“Oh. My mistake. Give me a minute and those ropes will break.” Zecora walked over to what looked like a wooden cupboard. She reached in and took out an extremely large and sharp butcher knife. Dash could hear her own heartbeat.

Almost blindly, Zecora slammed down the knife in five different spots near Dash. Dash yelped with every hit, but was soon able to rise. Blood returned to her extremities as she gingerly began to step down, her back facing Zecora.

“Might I add young Pegasus, do not use your shattered wings, and please don’t forget.” cautioned Zecora. “For if they’re put in any stress, they might have to be put to rest.”

Dash remembered her damaged wings, and the thought of them being like that almost made her lose her balance. She turned her head, and instead of seeing her destroyed attachments, she saw a large bandage wrapped around her entire midsection.

“When will I be able to use them again!?” Rainbow asked very anxiously.

“Come to me say… one day per week, and I'll tell you the answers you seek.” Zecora said delightfully. Rainbow came up to her and gave her a massive hug.

“Thank you so much for saving my life Zecora!” Rainbow said with tears of joy, but there was one thing that bothered her.

“Zecora… what was that awful stuff that was in my mouth when I woke up?” asked Dash, puzzled. Zecora smiled and blushed.

“Why are you smiling?” Dash asked.

“Oh, it was something just some medicine to ease the pain…”

Dash gave a sigh of relief.

“…made up of insect skin and beetle brains.”

Dash nearly hurled.

Rainbow knew her way back to Ponyville from Zecora’s hut, but being grounded didn’t exactly make it easy. She walked, which felt really strange, since she usually flew everywhere.

For once in Dash’s life, she began looking around and admiring the scenery.

She had began trotting on the long and winding trail, which only led to more never ending dirt roads, but something in the back of her head just kept troubling her.

Say you don’t want to chance it,

You’ve been hurt so before.

There’s no real reason to be lonely,

Give your free will a chance,

It will give a better start.

It meant nothing to Dash. It didn't, in any way, spark anything within her. Dash was no poet, but that stuff was just too confusing. It could mean so many different things, and she didn’t know where to start. She began thinking about all of the events that had just recently occurred.

She stopped in the middle of the road. The flashbacks. They were returning! They were haunting her! She tried her best to get rid of them. The embarrassment, the torture, the misery. Dash closed her eyes. She couldn’t break free from the grief her mind was giving her. She lay down on the ground, putting her hooves over her eyes.

More memories. They were flooding in! Her mother, Gilda, her friends. They were tearing her apart! Dash was now shaking. The pain was overpowering her.

Dash screamed at the top of her lungs. This was going to be harder than she thought. She was going to have to deal with her new body for a while until she could find out the answer. Dash began to run, trying to escape the recollections of her past. More and more. She couldn’t take it!

“Anything. Oh anything! Just make it stop!” Rainbow was now yelling out loud.

Just then a bright light streaked across her eyes, some sort of reflection was blinding her. It startled her, making her jump back in surprise.

'What was that?' she thought.

Rainbow Dash stared at the top of the trees. Something red was flapping in the wind. A flag maybe? But there was something below it. A yellow top? It had to be a building, Dash was sure of that much. But what was it? A closer look answered her question.

There was a metal pony, painted bright purple, circling the peak of the structure. The building was Carousel Boutique. She had arrived at Ponyville.

A feeling of suspense entered Dash’s sweating body. How would they react to her? And more importantly, how would they react to the large white bandage that was on her? Rainbow was fearful of seeing the eyes that had once degraded her, and she wondered how life and reality was going to treat her this time. She made a decision, and walked forward to the end of the trail, and the entrance to Ponyville.

As she entered town, she began to walk along the guiding roads. The town seemed so… different than when she was Rainbow Dash. She walked on the streets, still not too sure on where to go. But then she had an idea. Why not pay a visit to somepony special?

Sugarcube Corner was the best place in town and her best friend’s business. It was a special chance to see an amazing friend again. But Dash wasn't thinking of what had changed.

Ponies were staring at her. It only made sense that they would. Her shiny brown coat gleamed in the setting sun, and her messy black hair bounced as she walked the streets. In addition to being new, the giant wrappings around her midsection were very noticeable. Ponies walked by with faces of sorrow, most likely feeling sympathetic of her injury. Surprisingly, none of them laughed or looked at her in disgust this time.

She knew her way to the bakery blindfolded, she used to go there almost every day to talk to Pinkie Pie, who always had a smile on her face. There was never a dull moment with her, always turning something into a joke or something just completely random, even when it didn’t make sense or didn't fit the mood.

The store looked open, so Dash trotted in with a smile on her face. It felt like she was playing the ultimate prank on her friend. Pinkie would have no idea it was her! Dash opened the door with a spirited smile and glanced around the fine store. She tried to find her blissful friend, knowing she would be here, but then the smile was wiped off her face.

Dash couldn’t explain the horror of what she saw behind the counter.

Pinkie rarely looked sad. In fact she never looked sad, but right now Pinkie was looking miserable. Her hair was even crazier than her usual Pinkie style, and it looked like she hadn’t cared for it in days. Her lips showed an expression of true depression, taking up a lot of room on her dejected face. Her ears were turned down, and she had bloodshot eyes, which probably meant she hadn’t slept in a while.

Pinkie didn’t even lift her head when she heard Dash come in, the bell ringing on the door. Dash tilted her head to the side in confusion.

'This can't be good…' Dash thought.

Rainbow decided to find out why Pinkie was acting like this. It just wasn’t like her to be depressed like this. Rainbow Dash slowly walked up to the table, and placed her brown hoof on top. She thought of something on the spot, though even she had to admit it sounded cheesy.

“Uh… excuse me… but uh… are you Pinkie Pie?” Dash said as nicely as possible.

Pinkie raised her discouraged face to look at Rainbow, her eyes shot through Dash’s like a canon.

“Yes…” Pinkie mumbled dishearteningly. Rainbow Dash could barely make out what she was saying.

“You look kind of… well… sad. Is everything all right?” Dash said.

Pinkie’s head rose with confusion, she didn’t know what to say to that.

“I… I… was just wondering if there was anything I can do to help… I’ve heard you’re usually so happy… and well… if that…” Dash began to regret what she was saying. Pinkie’s eyes started to shine as her lips began to tremble. Dash could now hear sniffles coming from her once happy friend. Dash felt horrible about herself.

Pinkie’s face looked down at the ground, and Dash could see tears’ coming down Pinkie’s torn face.

“Sorry! Please I'm sorry! I- I didn’t mean for you to-” Dash couldn’t finish her sentence. She felt a cold sense of guilt rise in her for what she had just done. She made her best friend… cry! She made an prompt decision and quickly walked away from the scene. Thank god the bakery was vacant. She couldn’t afford another bad reputation in this town.

Dash had no idea where she was going to go. The sun was setting, and she still didn’t have a place to sleep for the night. Her top priority of going to the town hall to receive a place to stay was unaccomplished to say the least. Dash knew of a place, though it wasn’t her first choice of places to go. The Ponyville Inn. An unsightly, run-down old place where few travelers went when they came to town. First nights were always free, but if she didn’t have a place to sleep by tomorrow, she'd be on the streets.

She walked inside the booth where a beefy colt stood behind the counter.

“Welcome to the Inn. First nights are free. Yeah, yeah. Would you like first or second floor?” he said in monotone.

“Anywhere’s fine.” Dash replied.

“Whatever. Room 21 it is.” He said back, grabbing a key. Dash snatched it from his disgusting mouth.

Dash headed toward her room, which included only a bed, a table, and a broken lamp. She crashed onto the bed feeling extremely guilty for what she had just done to Pinkie. A horrible feeling that burned her body.

She was extremely tired; the whole day had just been insane. She had forgotten to ask Zecora when she had rescued her from her near death experience. She assumed a very long time. Injuries like that don’t just disappear a few short hours after happening. She could’ve been under that tree for days! Keeping a low profile was hard enough when you were new, even without walking blindly from the chilling forest with a big bright bandage around your back.

Dash was soon fast asleep. Nothing was there to disturb her.

Or so she thought.

A vision, of a sort, of something Dash found… odd. It was just a cloud, with a severe downpour of rain. The cloud triggered something in Dash’s thoughts. She’d seen it before. She’s seen it so many times it was almost a part of her.

The rain droplets began changing color. Red… now orange… now yellow. The colors were changing in the pattern of the rainbow. The vision of the rain was closing in on the inside of the cloud. Like an opening portal, the colors began to form a picture. Gilda.

She was smiling at Dash amiably. Then Gilda’s eyes began to twitch. They were turning angrier, gazing down at Dash. The toothy grin was slowly turning into something evil. A wicked sneer was blossoming on her face. Her sharp claws raised into the air, appearing larger than normal. A cry of anger came from Gilda’s insane face. The claws swiped down right in front of her. It was like she was actually living it. The force brought red streaks in her hallucination, evolving into a frightening dark black color as Dash heard laughter from Gilda.

“NO!” Dash yelled, waking up in her bed. Her body was covered in sweat, the dim light of the morning sun causing every bead to stand out against her coat. In her entire life she had never had a dream as real as that. Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember the last time she even dreamt at all.

Dash looked around in panic, still making sure she wasn’t dead. She was relieved, and as her mind focused, she remembered something important. Today she had to try to get her cloud house back. Or at least a better place than this to live in. She couldn't stand, nor afford, another night in this dump.

She promptly got out of bed and landed on the ground. She stretched her body out, popping her aching bones, and began to walk to the door.

When she placed her hoof upon the knob, she began thinking about the dream.

'What the hell was that? I've never experienced anything like that before.'

She turned the knob with ease, and eased open the door, letting a little more light into the hideous room.

'Maybe that's the solution to this crisis! Maybe it has to do with Gilda! What if-'

“SURPRISE!” called out an extremely energetic voice.

Dash cried out in fear as she was brought to the ground unexpectedly by party noises and confetti, nearly landing on her devastated wings.

The sight blinded her, and she moved her hoof above her face to block the light from reaching it. She squinted her eyes to try to depict what was going on.

Dash felt a tight grip on her shoulder as she was lifted swiftly into the air, and whisked outside. She looked around to see confetti still in the air, and who she saw standing around her left her awestruck.

It was so unbelievable, she wasn't completely sure she had stopped dreaming. The smiling faces of her four friends that she thought hated her. But she realized she wasn't Rainbow Dash anymore. Twilight, AppleJack, and Rarity, with Fluttershy standing slightly apart from the others, her hair covering parts of the nervous expression on her face. They all had their eyes on her, their faces, with the exception of Fluttershy, full of delight.

Rainbow feigned surprise, looking stunned and full of curiosity at the sight. She felt a tug on her shoulder as she realized there was somepony's hoof around her neck. Using just her eyes to look to the side, she noticed the hoof was hot pink.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and this is your welcome and thank you party! I'm so excited that you could make it!” Pinkie explained vigorously.

Dash was perplexed. She thought she made Pinkie miserable just a few hours ago. Why was she throwing a party for her?

“I… I don’t understand? Why… I thought you hated me.” Rainbow Dash said shyly.

“Why would I hate the pony that turned my frown upside down!? You really helped me out yesterday by saying those words. I mean, I don’t even know your name and you offered to help me in my time of need! I owe you, and I'm repaying you by giving you a big awesome party!” Pinkie explained in true happiness.

Typical Pinkie Pie, Dash thought to herself.

“I would like to introduce you to my friends. Um, oh, this is tricky. I don’t suppose I know your name. Hmm… let me guess by that cloud cutie mark you got there!

Dash’s eyes opened, stunned, fear creeping into her body.

She hadn’t even thought about looking at her cutie mark! She had no idea if it had changed or not. She turned her head toward it, trying to catch a glimpse of what it showed.

Her jaw hit the floor.

It was just like her old one, except now the thunder was gone! It was just more clouds that all looked like… oh god. The one that from her nightmare! She confirmed that that dream was special.

'Nice going, Dash! You had hours and hours to think but you didn’t come up with a name!?' she chastised herself.

“Hmmm, Trotty!?” Pinkie guessed.

'Come on Dash, you gotta think of something quick!'

“…Rain Storm!?” Pinkie guessed again.

'Think of something clever!'

“Fire house!?” guessed Pinkie.

'Bleach! No! Chicken Foot… that sounds lame!'

“Ok, I give up! What is it!?”

“Shutter Cloud!” Dash blurted out.

“Cool! It’s very nice to meet ya Shutter! Hey! That rhymes with butter! And butter is in the cake I made for you at my shop! C’mon everypony, let’s party at Sugar Cube!” Pinkie screamed.

Another shot of confetti shot from the party cannons that were placed in front of the door, and everypony cheered. Pinkie signaled for Dash to follow her, and Dash did as she was told. Before she knew it, all of her once great friends were walking beside her with contentment and enthusiasm. They were treating her like she was part of the group again.

Pinkie started the conversation.

“So! Back to the introductions, that purple brainiac over there is-”

“Twilight Sparkle…”

Everypony stared at her…

'oh no… you weren’t supposed to know that!' Dash thought.

“How did ya know that?” AppleJack spoke up.

“Oh- I mean- who doesn’t know the Princess’s star pupil! I mean... everypony in Cloudsdale talks about her!”

“Looks like you got yourself a fan base coming along Twilight dear!” Rarity said jokingly. Everypony laughed, including Rainbow, but she was laughing because they actually bought it!

“So what convinced you ta move along here to this fine little town Shutter?” Apple Jack asked.

“Oh, uh, I grew up in Cloudsdale, and I stayed there for almost all of my life. It was a tough decision, but I guess my own problems forced me here.” Dash explained, confident in her lie.

“Problems? What type of problems?” Twilight asked. Rainbow showed Twilight her bruised back and the bandages.

“How did you get that?” Twilight asked in shock.

“Twilight! It's rather rude to ask somepony about their personal problems!” Rarity said in disgust. But then Rarity turned her head to look at Rainbow’s bruised up back.

“My apologies Shutter, but may I ask how did you get those injuries on your back?” Rairty asked embarrassed. Everypony except Rainbow turned their head toward Rarity in anger, knowing that Rarity could be such a hypocrite sometimes.

“Oh this? An accident. A rather rough one, too.” She said not really knowing what else to say.

“Will it be there… for good?” Rarity asked, her friends giving her even angrier looks at her question.

“I’m not to really sure. They might-“

“Okay! Let’s change the subject! Oh no! I forgot to introduce everypony else! This pony right here with the funny accent is Apple Jack, she works on that farm you probably saw on your way here. That fancy schmancy pretty pony over there is Rarity. She owns that huge building near the end of town called Carousel Boutique. And this pony… wait… where’s Fluttershy!?”

“Here,” came a small voice from behind them. Everypony turned their head as they noticed the quiet Pegasus was trailing behind the group. Faces turned to sympathy, as they knew their friend was extremely introverted when meeting new ponies, even when she was around friends.

“It’s okay Fluttershy! Come on up here! I’m sure that Shutter here doesn’t bite. You don’t do you?” Pinkie asked.

“What? Of course not.” Dash said, chuckling. She moved a bit to the right as Pinkie brought the timid Fluttershy right up next to Dash.

“Um, hi.” Fluttershy said, giving a nervous squeal at the end of her sentence, afraid she may have done something wrong.

“Shutter Cloud, this is Fluttershy! She’s literally the best pet sitter anypony could ask for in all of Equestria! She even helped me find my pet alligator that I still have today! His name is Gummy!”

Dash gave Fluttershy a friendly smile, who returned it with a nervous glance.

Dash took a while to realize she could be living a better life, with a whole new identity. She began to consider telling Zecora to blow off the whole “find a blast from the past” idea, and maybe stick around as Shutter Cloud. Yeah, she liked the sound of that. She had already become friends with all of her old friends, who seemed to love her more than ever. Nopony had changed a bit since she had left as far as Dash could tell.

“We’re here!” Pinkie shouted out in glee. While Rainbow had been lost in thought, they had walked all of the way to Sugar Cube Corner, and within a second, Pinkie rushed toward the door and opened it to allow everypony in.

“This place should look to familiar to you Shutter.” Pinkie said as Rainbow walked in.

'Oh… you have no idea.' Dash thought to herself.

As was typical for a Pinkie Pie party, the music rang through the ears of the partying ponies as they feasted and danced. A large cake with the words “Welcome and thank you so very much” spelled out in decorative frosting adorned a table in the middle of the room. A feeling of enjoyment and relaxation flooded through Dash. It was as if she didn’t have a care in the world anymore.

“Psst. Excuse me darling. Shutter Cloud, could you come here for a quick second?” whispered a voice coming from a point near Dash. She was standing next to the staircase that went up to a hallway of rooms, where Pinkie slept and did many of her planning activities while she wasn’t working or out having fun.

Dash’s looked up, seeing bouncy, purple hair and a face full of satisfaction look down on her.

“Up here. I need to tell you something.” said Rarity.

Rainbow felt anticipation run through her veins. She was talking to a pony that hated her in one form, but respected her in another. It felt weird, but at the same time good.

Dash turned toward the stairs and climbed them as fast as possible, being led into a hallway with Rarity.

“This way. I don’t want anypony seeing us.” Rarity said. Rainbow followed Rarity into the only room with an open door, which turned out to be Pinkie’s bedroom, and Rarity closed the door behind her. She turned back at Dash with a smile and watery eyes.

“I cannot thank you enough for what you did for Pinkie. You made her the happiest pony in the world because of the things you said.” Rarity said, very happy herself.

“No problem. I had no idea she was just so… sad like that.” Dash replied, and she really meant it.

Rarity’s face changed to a painful frown and she moved toward the window. Staring out at the afternoon sky, she began to talk with a rough voice.

“There was a Pegasus here, not too long ago, who betrayed all of us by not telling us information that we could’ve really needed to know about her.”

Rainbow’s heart jumped. She was talking about… her.

“She was a great friend to us, especially to Pinkie. They did practically everything together, but then something came out. A story that revealed the dark side of her that ruined her life… and I believed she deserved it.”

A rush of grief went through Dash’s body. Did she deserve it?

“Everypony you see down there tried not to believe the hard truth, but I mean, who didn’t see that ugly as dirt pony with the scar on his arm walking around town!? Not to mention the pictures that were shown… wait, you probably don't understand what the story was… let’s just say it ended badly.”

Rainbow nodded.

“The ponies down there were worried… that their friend would do something to herself that she would regret… and one day… she did… in front of everypony.”

The information of the scene from Rarity’s point of view interested Rainbow Dash. She finally understood why Rarity looked so angry at the competition.

“She disappeared… for good… and right now she’s dead. I mean… it has been two weeks since it happened, and there’s been no word of her… even when they searched for her.”

Dash was surprised to hear that they had searched for her. She thought nopony would even raise a hoof to help her. Then again, they were probably forced to find the corpse. It only made sense.

“My apologies. You probably still don’t understand what I’m blabbing about. You see, she was a sports pony, and she was doing this very complicated move at a competition… and she failed. She was then thrown back into the woods, and hasn't been seen since. I thought everypony would have been glad to see her go, and most of them were. But many actually felt sorry for her, can you believe it!? I mean seriously, I wouldn’t raise a hoof for her even if she did make it out alive!” Rarity began rambling.

The sudden mood shift from calm to anger on Rarity’s face frightened Dash, and she took a step back. Rarity looked at the scared pony.

“I’m getting off topic… aren't I? My apologies. It’s just… let’s just say you would have probably reacted the same way as me if you were in my horseshoes.” Rarity said, calming down. Dash returned to her previous position, and Rarity took a deep breath.

“Pinkie just lost it, and everypony knew why. She locked herself in the bakery for four days! She lived off disgusting fatty foods for 96 hours… oh gracious just imagine her breath!”

Rainbow smiled at Rarity’s overly dramatic complaints, but the smile soon left her.

'Four days?' Rainbow thought.

“She came out one day, her hair was a mess, she was as dirty as a dog, but mostly she was void of all emotions, and became this awful pile of… depressing, broken pieces. She ignored everypony that made an attempt to greet her, and if she did reply, it was nothing more than a rude mumble. A raincloud stood over her head for days, until I decided to visit her at the shop and knock some sense into her. When I came in, it was like a fountain was coming from her eyes. She was holding a picture… of her and… the pony that disappeared.”

Dash stood there, stunned beyond belief. Pinkie… had missed her.

“She was calling out the name of the Pegasus that departed, and I left there as fast as I could. I started worrying about her to the point where I thought she would just end it all for herself. That is until you came.”

A smile planted itself on Rarity’s face.

“Now whatever you said last night must’ve triggered something in her head. Whatever it was, I could never thank you enough for it. When she came knocking on my door with the happiest expression I’ve ever seen anypony have, saying “we have to go to the Inn”, I thought a miracle had just happened. You made my friend happy in her time of need, and for that, you’ve earned my respect as a friend.”

Dash still couldn’t get over that somepony cared for her. Somepony she thought she had lost.

“Thank you Rarity. I can’t wait to see you more.” Dash replied, almost speechless. The story came close to making her cry.

“No problem. Come, let us go enjoy the rest of the blissful celebration!”

Nopony was really sure how long the party lasted, time seemed to lose track of itself it went by so fast. Dash had never enjoyed hanging out and socializing with her friends as much as she did that night. It was weird discussing things she’d heard millions of times from her friends, but it was cool hearing them again anyway. Then Pinkie made an announcement.

“Okay everypony! I’ve hoped you all enjoyed yourselves tonight! And I’m proud to say Shutter Cloud is our new truly best friend in the whole wide world now! But I’m afraid it is time to leave! Have nice trips home.”

'Home… oh no! A home!' Dash thought. Dash had missed her chance to get a new one from the town hall! This was very bad.

“Oh no,” Dash said aloud. Everypony’s eyes turned to her in both confusion and curiosity.

“Oh Shutter, I know you’ve enjoyed your first great party, but I promise there’ll be more where that came from.” Pinkie said trying to cheer her up.

“No, it’s not that, not that at all. It’s just… I don’t have a place to stay… at the moment,” she admitted. Everypony let out a short gasp, and began discussing this, trying to see if any of them could give Shutter a place to sleep for the night.

“The library is too messy!”

“Mah little Apple Bloom is havin’ another one of those sleepovers. I don’t want to put Shutter through that. She might go crazy and move outta town.”

“The Boutique is getting fixed up!”

“I gotta clean up this party!”

Rainbow Dash sighed. Looks like it’s to the streets.

“I could do it… if that’s all right with Shutter.”

Everypony turned their heads toward the volunteering voice. The kind and shy face of Fluttershy appeared from the corner of the room as she began to talk.

“I don’t think the animals will mind her at all. Plus, I love sleeping on the couch. She can have the cozy bed.”

Throughout the duration of the party, Fluttershy had only spoke to Rainbow three times, and then had only discussed her passion for animals. If Rainbow had not already known about Fluttershy’s social problems, she would have thought Fluttershy was a very odd and helpless pony. But she was her childhood friend that she stood up for. She may have treated her like dirt at times (feeling very bad about it afterwards), but she was the kindest pony anypony could ever meet.

“What do you think Shutter?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, that would be wonderful Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled, probably feeling good about what she had done for her new friend.

Fluttershy walked up to Dash.

“I’ll show you the way. It’s right next to the Everfree forest, and is very peaceful,” Fluttershy said in a quiet, passive tone.

“Bye everypony.” Shutter said.

They all said their farewells, Pinkie saying goodbye with a mouth full of cake, as Dash and Fluttershy went outside into the fading day. There was an awkward silence between the two while they were walking home, neither of them having the courage to start a conversation. However, Dash didn't notice. She was too busy in her thoughts.

She was thinking of herself. Of how she was being loved by the best friends anypony could ask for. She was being treated with respect and they all seemed to have accepted her into the group. She thought about leaving Rainbow Dash behind, and moving on as Shutter Cloud.

If her wings healed, Rainbow thought, beaming, she could go back to competing! She would once again become the best flyer, and blow everypony away. It was a dream come true, she was being given a second chance.

“I know Angel is just going to love you” Fluttershy spoke up, and Rainbow lost her train of thought.

“Uh, wha?” Rainbow replied. Fluttershy looked embarrassed.

“Oh. Sorry, um, he’s my pet bunny.” Fluttershy said. Then Rainbow remembered Angel.

“Oh yeah! He’s a cool animal isn’t he?” Rainbow said, realizing too late her mistake.

'Shoot! I wasn’t supposed to say that!' she began to think

“Um, what? You’ve met angel before?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“Uh, No! I meant to say they’re great. Those rabbits… they’re really cool things.” Rainbow said with a bad poker face.

“Oh I know! Aren’t they just the cutest things ever! One time I tried giving one as a pet to my friend Rainbow Dash but…” Fluttershy froze, an expression of gloom beginning to show.

Rainbow stopped and looked into Fluttershy’s eyes. It seemed like she was reliving a memory. They stood there for many moments.

“Uh, Fluttershy?” Rainbow spoke in a cautious voice.

“Yes?” Fluttershy replied in a strange high pitched voice. Something was up.

“Are you…?”

“I’m fine!” Fluttershy replied in a sharp tone, her expression turning to anger.

Fluttershy had never spoken like that to Rainbow before. An awkward feeling permeated the air. Fluttershy’s face began to fill with grief.

“I’m… I’m so sorry! I… I never do that! Oh please-“

“It’s all right Fluttershy. I’ve done that to a friend before too, only I went too far.” Rainbow said remembering that instance with Twilight.

As Rainbow and Fluttershy reached the cottage, Rainbow was greeted by all of the animals that Fluttershy kept outside. The birds flew around her body. The woodland creatures snuggled up to her legs, drawing a chuckle from Rainbow.

“I knew you would love it here Shutter.” Fluttershy said with a smile on her face. She opened the door and allowed Rainbow into a room filled with even more animals. Just like she had remembered; so peaceful, so nice.

“It’s still a little early, but I can show you where you sleep if you like.” Fluttershy said.

Rainbow still had animals covering her body.

“Sure! That would be awesome!” Rainbow replied with a smile. Fluttershy signaled her animals to get off of the guest, and told Shutter to follow her as she flew up into the staircase. Rainbow had never been in the bedroom before.

The staircase led straight into the quiet, lovely room. On one side of a window that looked into the forest was a rather bland fireplace, and on the other was a standard sized bed with butterfly covers, and bird houses and nests dangling over it. To the side of that was a nightstand which held a few books and a lamp.

“Do you like it? I know it’s not fancy but I promise you’ll sleep like a rock.”

“It’s amazing Fluttershy. I can’t thank you enough for this.”

“Oh it’s nothing. that’s what a friend is for. I mean, you really helped Pinkie out so this is the least I could for you!”

Rainbow started walking around the place. It was the nicest thing anypony had ever done for her. Providing her with shelter and food. She wished she could do more for Fluttershy.

And then she saw the picture. Right on Fluttershy’s nightstand.

It was her, when she was still Rainbow Dash, with Fluttershy. They were fillies and Rainbow was in the air, both hooves on Fluttershy’s back with the happiest look she had ever seen on herself. Fluttershy had an adorable filly smile looking at Dash, who was looking right back. It was back when they first met each other. They were the best of friends.

Rainbow’s heart melted for the third time.

A tear rolled down Dash’s face as memories of when she and Fluttershy hung out assaulted her mind. She quickly wiped her eyes with her hoof.

“Oh Shutter, if you like the style in this room, oh just wait until you see the garden! It is just… um, Shutter? What are you looking at?” said Fluttershy, noticing Shutter was concentrating on something.

Rainbow didn’t reply. Fluttershy walked toward her, not saying a word. When Fluttershy noticed what Shutter was looking at, she too went silent.

A few moments passed, the quiet night breeze coming through the window. Silence filled the air. Fluttershy slowly moved her hooves toward the photo. She picked it up, and brought it toward her body. Rainbow watched Fluttershy, curious as to what she would do.

A small sob escaped Fluttershy’s mouth, tears filling one eye, then the other. Fluttershy sniffed, closing her eyes and allowing tears to stream down her face. Her arms began to tremble as her cries grew louder and louder.

A moment of silence, and then she broke down.

She began to bawl as streams of tears escaped her blinking eyes. Her ears fell, and the sounds she made told of true sorrow. Rainbow just watched in astonishment.

Fluttershy fell onto the bed belly first and covered her eyes with her hooves, her head buried in the covers. She would look up at the picture from time to time, the words “Rainbow Dash” barely audible in the cries. She was being torn apart, and there was nothing Dash could do about it.

'What… have I done?'

In Bloom

Rainbow Dash felt the brightness of sunlight press against her closed eyes as she slowly began to wake up. She stretched out her hooves far up into the air, cracking all of the unawake bones that were still waking up from her sleep. Her eyes opened to the beaming sunlight that had awoken her, as they quickly adjusted to her surroundings. She planted her hooves that were in the air back onto the bed, side to side of the mattress. She laid there with open arms and her eyes leisurely closed back up, as she listened to the sounds of morning ring in her ears. The peacefulness couldn’t have been any better that morning, for the only thing she could hear was the sound of her breathing. She loved waking up on a warm summer day in Cloudsdale.

Dash brought up her hooves back up into the air again, and instead of getting out of bed, she picked up a fluffy pillow lying next to her, and pounded it against her face, as she went back to sleep. Dash’s style of doing things was very unique. One minute she could be bouncing off the walls fanatical, and be napping on the cloud covered ground the next. Her friends saw her as a very outgoing, which was an underestimate, for Dash was much more active than that. Dash did whatever she felt like doing, and didn’t like taking orders that would affect her “agenda” from anypony. It seemed to be Dash’s life only focused on eating, and resting, and dreaming, which Dash saw no problem with.

Dash squirmed around in her bed sheets, becoming more and more comfortable with each move she made. She then remembered the dream she had while she slept that night, the she been having almost every week now. The excitement of the dream never got old, and it always brought a smile to Dash’s face thinking about it. It started out late at night, when darkness was the only thing anypony could see. The only thing that could be heard was the whistling wind in the air that breezed by. Then, she would explode into the air from the ground, going straight towards the murky clouds as she left a gorgeous gleaming rainbow streak behind her. She was no longer a filly like she was in reality, but instead she was all grown up, with the most beautiful wings anypony could’ve imagine. Her long and flowing hair flapped ferociously in the air, as she darted at extreme speeds. When she was at nearly cloud level, she then shot back down aiming towards the ground. Her goggles pressed against her face and her wings worked overtime as they couldn’t catch a break. Her astonishing blue uniform glared in the light of her own rainbow trail that she left behind that shone across the area. Suddenly, coming from all directions she was joined by three other pegasus’s, who all carried on the same uniform as Rainbow Dash. They would continue flying at the crazy speeds they were pulling off and then do several amazing tricks in the air. She was a Wonderbolt, and the best one on the team.

Dash couldn’t get the group out of her head ever since she saw them perform an air show on she watched on the TV months ago. Dash’s eyes were glued to that screen as the Wonderbolts performed a spectacular routine in some city she couldn’t quite remember. Dash had never seen anything so stunning or attention grabbing in all of her life. She didn’t realize that flying could pull somepony’s thoughtless attention so easily like that. It was like she was in a trance watching the trail’s that the several flyers left behind them as they did all sorts of mind-blowing actions. That’s when Rainbow got interested in flying.

Her interests in flying grew larger and larger each day after what she had witnessed. It wasn’t only her that was growing a special kind of love for this obession, but many of her friends started to catch notice in their own ways for soaring. In fact, not only her friends, but it seemed all of the young pegasi were falling in love with the hobby. Soon enough, everypony was being taught how to rise into the air. Everypony was starting to learn the most important thing that they would ever learn in their lives, all except Rainbow Dash, who cried buckets full of tears at the fact of that.

Just then a faint noise rang through Dash’s ears. The sound was muffled and barely audible, due to the fact that feathers covered by a pillow case blocked all sounds coming from everywhere. She became curious about the sound, so she brought her head up from the pillow. She quickly began listening in to the conversation going on from all the way downstairs.

“Marrying you was the worst mistake of my life, you brute!” screamed a voice coming from outside Dash’s bedroom door. Dash felt a rush of uneasiness go through her body. She knew another argument was going on downstairs. She only prayed it wouldn’t get violent.

“Well I got better things to do right now then to argue with an ignorant prick like you!” yelled an even angrier voice coming from the outside. Dash found her father’s voice the most frightening sound that had ever made it through her ear drums. Dash lived in her own personal hell, living in a war between her aggressive father against her innocent mother.

It almost brings tears to Rainbow’s eyes whenever her friends point out that she has to walk everywhere. They would just be flying five feet in the air miraculously as they flew to all of their destinations. They would usually pick at her about it, which usually made Dash feel distressed, but then you had the bullies who plagued her about it. They would force her to cry immensely for they knew that Dash didn’t have normal parents like everypony else to turn back to. They had nothing to lose, for they thought they were better than Rainbow. They all had parents who taught them with precision and affection, while she had… well nopony to even raise a hoof to help her.

She wasn’t poor, in fact her family could pay for flying lessons, but her parents’ way of life prevented her from doing a lot of things. Her father was rarely ever home, and when he was everything became a living nightmare. He abused everypony in the family, and anger taught him how to be over reactive. Both Dash and her mother have both mental and physical scars to prove it. Her mother said there was a reason behind all of this behind her father’s actions. Her mother said there was a reason behind all of this behind her father’s actions. She explained that her daddy was ill, and there was something wrong with his brain. That was the explanation on why he was so abusive and angry all of the time. Which wasn’t really a good excuse from Dash’s views, but it clarified one thing. Her mother also added that he got unwell after they had married, which was why he looked so happy in all of the pictures she had of him when he was actually handsome and thin. Weirdly enough, none of those pictures had him carrying the “magic drinks” he always had in his hoof.

Dash’s mother was far too busy caring for the house and for her own safety than to worry about flying lessons for Dash, even though she really wanted to for her daughter. Her father however couldn’t care less for what Dash wanted. She remembered one time months ago when she had asked her father about flying lessons, days after she had gotten interested on the topic. He just laughed, and looked into her eyes with iniquity.

“Flyin’ ain’t gonna get’cha anywhere kid. Might as well lose that dream before it gets crushed.” Was what he said. Those words shot through Rainbow Dash’s heart like bullet through tissue paper.

The rough sound of the wooden door slamming shut outside of Dash’s room made Rainbow jolt. She knew whatever the heated dispute was, it was now probably over. Whenever one of her parents left the house so intense like the way one of her parents just did downstairs, whatever the argument was, it was pretty severe.

“Look’s like daddy’s going out for another drink.” Dash quietly said to herself cheerlessly. She once again twisted in her bed sheets finding a more comfortable position to sleep in. The angle her back was tilted at gave her the feeling like she was on a cloud, which she had actually experienced before. The thoughts of the amazing dream came back to her head, as she almost fell back to sleep mode, until the sounds of several mini volcano’s erupted in her lower area. It was time for breakfast, she had realized.

She gave out a moan that sounded of disappointment. She wished that she could sleep in for another hour, but her tremendous hunger disallowed her from doing her indolent task. She pulled the sheets that enclosed her body off of her lethargic body, and rolled out of bed. She landed on all fours, as she took a minute to stretch out all of the dormant bones that still were in her body. She cracked all of the small bones one by one; as her extremely famished stomach made Dash feel more unpleasant then she needed to be.

She stared up at the door that blocked her way from her breakfast. It always made Dash feel a little embarrassed that she couldn’t even reach her own door knob, let alone flying. She jumped into the air as she managed to cling onto the knob with her hooves. She turned from side to side, as she finally managed to creak the obstacle open. She then let go, as she went outside the room with a smile on her face.

She made her way through the empty hallway as she came towards the long staircase that seemed endless from her viewpoint. It was just a simple straight stairway that stopped at two levels. She was located on the third floor where her bedroom was located, so the stairway made its way from the top, middle, and bottom of the house. She made her way down the grand flight of steps, and as she reached to bottom, a terrifying sight caught her eye. Hundreds of shattered pieces of glass, along with a large broken beer bottle were shattered across the floor that was heading towards the kitchen. The brownish liquid seemed to have formed a puddle where it lay, getting only bigger and bigger. That answered one of Dash’s questions.

She carefully made her way around the sharp glass, and headed on towards the kitchen room. She made a right turn that lead into the large kitchen room, which included an eating table as well with many cooking machines. As she focused towards the table, the smile that had once been stretched across her face was nearly slapped across her face off.

She saw her sitting on a chair facing away from Rainbow, with her head on the table uncontrollably weeping. She was taking in deep breaths as the sounds of sobs filled the air, as she began to stutter out words that Rainbow didn’t quite understand. Dash could feel her mother’s pain; she had lived through one of her father’s outbreaks before. Rainbow saw that her mother’s once beautiful rainbow mane looked like it hadn’t been groomed in weeks, and she cringed at the bruises on her snow white arms.

Rainbow slowly walked towards the chair where her mother sat, who didn’t even notice her come into the room. She looked up into the side of her mother’s face, which shined with the tears that had been falling down her eyes for a while now. It made a tear in Rainbow’s broken heart to see what she was seeing. Not in her life had Rainbow seen her mother show so much misery in her days being married to the obese pony controlling her. Rainbow could sense that for months now that her mother was falling into a world of depression, even when Rainbow told her things that she thought would cheer up her mother. Her own sorrow wasn’t just affecting her, but everypony else around her, especially Rainbow. Without the desired love from her mother, Rainbow felt like she had nopony to care for her.

Rainbow slowly brought her hoof up towards her mother’s thigh, which made her mother jolt with panic. She slammed her hooves down on the table with her head shooting up from the table with her teary eyes opening up with shock. She even gave a mini shout of alarm as her head swayed side to side trying to see what had touched her. Rainbow Dash backed away from her crazy mother, making her tear up at what her father was doing to her mother. Her mother was afraid of everything, including the soft and gentle hands of her daughter.

As Rainbow’s mother’s eye finally made their way to the frighten face of Rainbow Dash, the sudden realization of what she just did to her daughter only made only brought more tears to her trembling face. What happened next occurred so fast, that Rainbow couldn’t prepare for impact. Open arms jumped forward to Rainbow Dash, as they tightly grabbed onto her body. Rainbow could feel the tears ride down her back, as the source pressed against her shoulder. Rainbow stood there for a moment, not too sure about what to do next. But as the miserable sounds came out from the mouth of her mother, Dash found her arms tightly hug her mother back as she found herself become teary to the eyes.

“I’m so sorry Dashie… please… I love you.” Said her mother continuing to whimper.

“I know mommy. I love you too.” Dash said not entirely understanding why her mother was saying those words to her. She just couldn’t imagine the argument that could’ve made her mother break down like this.

It seemed like hours as Rainbow’s mother continued to clench onto Rainbow Dash, who managed to let one tear flow down her warm cheek. Then Rainbow could feel the tightness release from her body, as her mother had a change of mood on her face. What showed up was a heartwarming smile that sparkled in the lights. Rainbow’s heart began to repair at the sight of the face that promised kindness.

“Would you like something to eat, Dash?” Dash’s mother said, no longer sobbing. She raised her hoof up towards her wet eyes as she wiped off most of the remaining tears that were still in her eyes. Almost immediately, Dash respond with several nods all signaling definitely.

A chuckle found its way out of the once miserable pegasus’s mouth, as she slowly rose up and turned away towards the cabinets to get some food. Dash leaped onto the vacant chair as she began to hear the sounds of tableware clatter together and the sounds of breakfast being made soothed her ears. Dash looked down to see the tears her mother had left behind while she wept harshly. There were so many tears; it seemed to have made a mini puddle as the lights made the puddle twinkle. The reflections were like a mirror, as Rainbow Dash found herself lost in old memories, probably the farthest she could think back.

“Mommy, why are you frowning?”

“Oh, it’s nothing Dashie.”

“Mommy, why are you crying?”

“Those are personal reasons that are none of your business.”

“Mommy, why are you hiding?”

“Dashie, please leave me alone for a bit longer. Until he goes away.”

The bowl landed on the table with a thud, as the tears splashed away, interrupting Dash’s unpleasant memories. She didn’t bother to look up at her mother’s somewhat happy expression on her face, as she began to eat her cereal with the spoon her mother brought along. She walked over to the other side of the table and took a seat on the empty chair, placing a hoof on her cheek as she just sat there. She took a deep breath as she began to stare at Dash, who was devouring her cereal. She carried on a dull expression as you could only hear the sounds of food being consumed.

“Guess what mommy!” Dash said with enthusiasm. She looked into the gloomy ears of her not interested mother.

“Hmm?” her mother replied in a uninteresting tone.

“I had that dream again last night! Each time I have it, it feels more realistic!” Dash explained with even more exhilaration.

“Which one?” her mother asked in the same tedious tone she had before. Dash became a little disappointed with her mother’s mood.

“You know the Wonderbolt one!” Dash explained trying to jog her memory.

“You still are having those dreams?” her mother asked beginning to smile. She sounded like the typical mother just trying to please her child.

“Of course I am! And I think Gilda is too!”

“I think that’s just-”

Rainbow’s mother was interrupted by the sound of wood being pounded on by astrong force coming from outside. Rainbow’s mother was lost in her words for a few seconds.

“No… he can’t be here. That was too quick!” she said raising the volume of her voice. Dash saw that the table was now shaking uncontrollably, with her mother’s trembling hooves pressed against the table. Moments after the large bangs, a bulky and evil sounding shout came from the entrance of the house. Dash swore she saw the furniture shake when her ears were blasted by the sound of the fuming intoxicated pony. Both heads bolted towards where the sound came from, and faces of terror rose upon both Rainbow Dash and her mother as they both realized who had arrived back home.

Blood was the first thing Dash saw on his face when he came storming in. There was a large bruise with many other bleeding scars on his face that were definitely not there the last time Dash had seen her father. Judging by the damage on his face, there were probably more scars that secretly surrounded his fat body.

Dash would describe her father as a plump, hideous, creature who only found happiness in other pony’s sorrow, but her mother always tried to convince her that that wasn’t the case. Dash didn’t understand why she still gave the colt second chances. She was like a running politician, always trying to please the man who judged weather she lived another day or not. It just didn’t seem fair.

“You’re bleeding again.” Dash’s mother spoke out, noticing the huge and aching looking gash on his forehead.

“Well way to go miss obvious!” retorted Dash’s father in his low and raspy voice. The sudden remark made Dash’s mother back away a few inches. She was bracing for impact.

“What happened?” Dash’s mother asked in a calm voice, keeping her cool. Rainbow became terrified with thoughts that she would be in the middle of another enormous battle between her parents

“I’ll tell you what happened! One simple joke token the wrong way caused the joint to become an instant fiery hell-hole!”

“I can’t imagine who in Equestria swung the first fist.” Dash’s mother replied, quickly regretting her rude comment.

“Well look who’s the comedian here! Everypony needs a sense of humor do they in this house!? Well for your information, I won’t be returning there for a few weeks… that lousy blind bar owner!” Dash’s father explained in a bad mood, “That means I’ll need to take some from my own stash.” A smile appeared on his face, having high hopes for another bottle of anything that he felt like.

Dash kept her head low, trying not to make any eye contact with her father, but the sound of a mini gasp coming from her mother caught her attention. She raised her head upwards and looked into the petrified face of her mother. Her eyes were the size of mini plates as she bit her bottom lip harshly. When Dash listened closely, she could hear the sounds of whimpers streaming out of her mouth. Sweat droplets poured down her shaking face, which gave Rainbow the uneasy feeling in her stomach. She felt like running from the scene to avoid any conflict from the scene, but it was too late to make a full decision.

He went over to the kitchen cabinets and kneeled down towards the one with a very protective lock on it. Dash noticed her mother begin to hyperventilate, as she began taking in short and quiet breaths that were barely noticeable to the naked ear. He took out what looked to be like his wallet, and fished around in the opening for a few moments. Eventually, he managed to bring out a small but very shiny looking key from the leather case. He made a few attempts in jamming the key into the small hole that sealed up the secret compartment, until he finally got the key in. In nearly half a second, he twisted the shimmering key furiously, letting the lock fall down to the floor.

Almost ripping the pull out drawer out of its place, he ferociously ripped open the wooden storeroom expecting to find his large hoard of liquor. His jaw nearly dropped down to the cold hard floor as his eyes, which were once filled with expectations, nearly shot out from his eye sockets. His mouth began to stutter out jumbled up words as the high hopes in his head came crashing down to the low and miserable ground. Not one drop of liquor was found in the blank and soundless cabinet.

Many moments had passed by as he began to mourn over the loss of his secret pleasure hideaway. His mind was wiped with bewilderment and uncertainty, until he had enough of the sappy feeling. His eyes nearly caught on fire with rage as he shot his head towards the table where Dash’s mother now sobbed.

“You!” bellowed Dash’s father at nearly the top of his lungs as he gradually and dramatically began to stand on all fours again. He got into a fighting position as he stared into the horror-struck eyes of his own wife.

“That stuff will kill you one day! You need to realize that!” Dash’s mother pleaded as she stood up from her chair. There was no place to run from the annoyed colt, as he slowly walked towards Dash’s mother. The fire in his eyes signaled to both Rainbow Dash and her mother that this event wouldn’t end well. Even how much you would plead for mercy from the uncontrollable colt, his mind would be blinded with revenge, until he was satisfied with what he had done.

“You just made the biggest mistake of your life.” he spoke calmly with his low and raspy voice. His head then twitched a couple times, and the calmness was no longer. “I’ll teach you to get in the way with my life you bitch!”

Dash just sat on her chair frozen to the bone, trying to ignore the chaotic madness that was going on in front of her eyes. Her ears were used to the piercing volume of the yells and screams between her parents, which probably wasn’t good for her hearing. She could only pray she wouldn’t get involved in this mess.

The colt raised his hand in the air, aiming directly towards Dash’s mother’s neck, as she tried to protect herself from him. Tears flowed down her red eyes, as you could hear her prepare to scream when the pain arrived. Out of nowhere, he brought his other empty hoof up in the air, as he without delay, grabbed onto Rainbow’s lengthy and flowing rainbow hair. Rainbow Dash let out a horror-struck scream of agony, as her father began to talk.

“It’s sad that the one’s you love have to pay for somepony else’s own thoughtless actions.” He said as he looked into the scared stiff eyes of his own daughter. Rainbow’s eyes were staring directly at the hoof that was preparing for impact. Her once wide eyes closed shut as she braced for impact, until the sounds of sobs rushed into her aching ears.

“Please! Don’t do this to her,” screamed her mother as Dash’s father began to smile, “Hurt me instead!”

Dash’s father’s hoof was halfway towards Dash’s faced before he heard that last comment. He nearly slammed his hoof against the precious cheek of the now crying Rainbow Dash. His smile eventually smeared off his face, as he kept a good grip on Rainbow’s hair. Then he finally let go.

“You know what? This is just stupid. You’re right; I should beat you instead of her to the ground.” He said softly regaining his smile. Right after he said that, he shot the hoof that once held Rainbow’s hair and gripped onto the hair of his wife. Another ear splitting scream filled the air, as he roughly dragged her outside the room. She tried tugging his fat hands of her head, but it was no use, as it did absolutely no affect on the colt. Dash wished she could save her mother from the horrors of her father, but she had to face the facts that there was nothing she could do. The last thing Dash saw on her mother’s face was her mouthing out ‘please’, and moments later after the two left the room, Dash could hear the ear-piercing screams come from the outside.

Rainbow had actual dreams of saving her mother from her father’s cruelty. She wanted to give him a taste of what his fat mouth deserved all of these years of nothing but negative actions. But at her size and age, her father could do unimaginable things to her that she couldn’t protect herself from. Things she did not want to be revealed in front of her eyes. Rainbow was force to suffer through everything her father brought upon the family, and she realized she wasn’t living in the perfect family home.

Tears began to roll down her eyes, as the screams of pain coming from her mother shot through her ears like a rock through water. Each scream spoke a different story, some more anguish sounded than the others. Her father always overdid his “deserved punishments” he forced upon all who dared to challenge him, which explained several of the brutal marks found across Rainbow’s body. More tears started tumbling down the young filly’s eyes; she just wanted everything to stop. She wanted her world to stop. She wanted everything to go blank for the rest of time.

“Hey, come on Rainbow. Wake up.”

Rainbow felt large hooves of somepony familiar move across the side of her body, as her tremendously dry eyes began to slowly open. At first all she could see was the silent darkness of night, but as her eyes got use to her surroundings, everything became much more vivid. That was, until an intense light pulverized her eyes, causing her to close them almost instantaneously.

“Dashie, come on now, wake up.” whispered the raspy voice of a large figure standing next to her. Dash’s mind couldn’t comprehend what was going on around her. The sudden awakening already caused enough stress for her, as she tried getting back to sleep.

“Dash, get up now!” the voice whispered out again. This time however, it sounded annoyed and the tone felt like whoever was talking to her was threatening her life. After those four words spoken, Dash realized who was attempting to wake her. Her heart began to beat much faster with fright.

Rainbow’s eyes sluggishly opened to the blinding lights, as she quickly twisted her head to the side of her bed to official see what was waking her. The heavy evil looking figure had his face looking down upon her bed like a vulture. His bloodshot eyes gave Dash’s the idea he had been awake for awhile now.

“Well come on lazy! Get outta this bed!” He said in a irate but quiet tone. However, there was only one question in Dash’s head she wanted answered.

“Dad… what time is it?”

“Never mind that,” he said impatiently, “come on. I need to take you somewhere.” There was something very unusual about the fat pegasus, as he began to smile instead of glare hatefully into Dash’s confused face. He also showed good posture, which was something Dash had never seen on her father in ages. There were still the pictures of him smiling when he was actually fun to be around with.

Dash had no choice but to follow her father, in fear he might bring her out of bed by using force. She jumped out of the bed as her father began to speak.

“Dash, be very quiet when you follow me down the hall. We don’t want to disturb anypony now do we?”

“Whatever you say, daddy.” Dash replied very puzzled. The only pony who lived in this house was her, her father, and mommy. Dash wanted to know why they weren’t trying to disturb her mother, but she was too busy focusing on not messing up her father’s orders.

Dash’s father led the way by creeping open the door that headed down the hall, and gently placing his hoof outside the door. Dash just followed through, coming up with solutions in her head why they were even doing this.

In nearly five minutes of tip toeing and quietly breathing down the long hallway, they both had made it to where the staircase stood. It would’ve token Dash at least ten seconds to do it at her normal pace, but her father gave her a fierce look whenever her hoof made a large noticeable noise when she planted her hoof down on the ground to fast.

It took even longer to get down the stairs then it did going through the hall. Whatever plan Dash’s father was having, Dash thought he must’ve thought it all out precisely to get it this exact. Without both of them making peep going down the steps, they finally made it towards the door, and as soon Dash’s father opened the grand piece of wood, they were off into the night.

Dash took this opportunity to speak out to her father since they were no longer a disturbance in the house. She had many questions she wanted to know about.

“Daddy, what’s going on? Why are we going outside?”

“That isn’t important now Dash.”

“What do you mean it isn’t important!? Why are we outside when it’s the middle of the night!? I want to go back to bed!” Dash whined.

Dash’s father gave Rainbow a stern look as he signaled her to be quiet. She could tell he was quite annoyed, so she backed down a tad bit for her own safety.

“You can sleep on my back, how’s that?” he asked lowering his back down allowing Dash to ride on it. Dash still wanted her questions answered, but she didn’t want to argue anymore with her father. There was no point in trying to win a fight you just couldn’t win. She waited a few seconds before proceeding onto the large and flat back of her father.

It was tough at first for his overweight body to take off into the air, but after a few minutes, he actually managed to jump up and not come back down. He was panting like a dog, but he was making good progress. After Rainbow got comfortable on her father back, she was about to badger him with more questions, now that he no longer had the energy to fight back at her if she went too far. However, her eyes started getting heavy. She made a tiny peep as an attempt to speak towards the flying pegasus, but her mouth had become too weary to even move. Her eyes closed shut, and the last thing she felt was the wind brushing against her mane.

“Dash, I think you better wake up.”

Dash could barely hear those words, as everything felt very unclear. For a second, Dash thought she was dreaming, hearing strange noises in her head. But as her nerves and senses began to regain control over her body, everything felt a little too genuine to be a dream. Her eyes gradually opened to the sight of blaring lights, which came in nearly every direction possible. She waited a few seconds before attempting once more, and as her eyes opened to what she saw, her jaw nearly fell to the ground.

At first Dash couldn’t believe in what she was seeing. Excitement ran through her bones at the sight of the magnificent and astonishing Canterlot Castle, which was only a few miles away from where she was laying down. She knew where she was. She was in Canterlot.

She looked out into the large city where ponies trotted on what seemed like golden streets that stretched for miles. Lights covered the incredible skyscrapers that sliced into the air like a knife. Sounds of chattering, arguing, screams, and anticipation rang like music into Rainbow Dash’s filly ears. The blue covered, sun blaring, sky shined down upon everypony who trotted under it, and Dash loved every second of it.

Dash swerved her head towards the face of her father, who was facing away from her with a grin on his face. She saw in front of him was a huge line of ponies, looking as if they came from all sorts of places in Equestria. They were all facing towards a large building, and they all had excitement in their eyes. Dash recognized the astonishing monument from when she watched TV, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on where exactly she saw it from. But then the posters hanging across the coliseum walls jogged her memory in nearly an instant.

‘An air show nopony will forget!’, ‘A once in a lifetime chance to witness the greatest flyers of them all perform!’, ‘The greatest show ever to be witnesses’, was what all of the posters read.

“The Wonderbolts…” Dash whispered. Dash thought her heart skipped a beat at the news. Rainbow was only thinking of one thing.

“Daddy… Is this… are you really!?” Dash said blurting out words. Her father looked down into the sparkling eyes of her blissful daughter. He nodded with contempt, and followed with Rainbow Dash’s heart exploding.

The fill’s sparkling eyes quickly developed glimmering tears of pure joy, as they fell out one by one. She gave her father probably the biggest hug she had ever give anypony in her life, as Dash began to laugh at the entire fact she was seeing her lifetime idols. However there was something besides that that felt more special than the show.

She never imagined the day in which she would see an actual smile of joy on her father’s face, and how the smile actually meant something to her. Something about him changed, and she knew it was for the better. Maybe after this day there would be no fighting. No more times in which he would come home like a monster. She would actually live in the family she only pictured in her dreams.

Minutes passed after her father had showed the ticket booth pony the two tickets to the show, and were finally seated on the huge bleachers. Everypony everywhere was being obnoxiously loud; they even caused the seat to rattle with the racket they were causing. Rainbow’s father brushed his hoof over Rainbow’s hair, and gave out a cheerful laugh as he saw the keyed up expression on his own daughter.

“You know Dash, there’s something I want to give you when we’re done here.” He said trying his best to be louder than everypony else surrounding him. But Dash didn’t notice him at all, as the audience overpowered her father’s low and raspy voice. He decided to make his move later on that day.

Rainbow would never be the same pony after seeing what she saw in those two hours. She was engulfed with inspiration, stimulation, and cheerfulness and you could literally see stars in her meaningful eyes. Rainbow kept a large striking smile on her face throughout the entire duration of the show, as her teeth shimmered in the glaring lights the Pegasus flyers made. Even on the way out of the arena she was flabbergasted with intense ecstasy. Those were the best couple of hours in Rainbow’s lifetime, and she couldn’t wait to rub it in to everypony. With her large father by her side, they both walked over onto the streets of Canterlot, heading towards who knows where.

They walked together silently until Dash’s father came to a direct halt, and Rainbow stopped with him. Rainbow Dash became puzzled, as the look on his face became much more serious than before. He took a deep breath and kneeled down to Dash’s height.

“Hey Rainbow, there’s… well, something I want to tell you.” He said growing a smile on his face. Rainbow stared up at her father with contentment.

“Yes daddy?” Rainbow asked. Rainbow’s father turned his head the other way for a second, noticing an empty bench not too far from where they were. He grabbed Rainbow’s hoof and carefully walked towards the bench, rudely pushing everypony who walked by them away. He sat onto the bench with a great thud, and Rainbow took the rest of the space on the bench that her father didn’t consume. She looked into her father’s deep eyes.

“What is it daddy?” Rainbow asked curiously. Dash, for once in her life, began to feel sorry for the pony that she once hated her guts towards. It was weird how Rainbow Dash’s mind worked. She could hate the living hell out of somepony for some stupid reasons, but if that specific pony did a real nice thing for her later on regardless of what he or she did, her feelings towards that pony would change instantly for the good. Dash began seeing the true goodness in her father, for the fact he made one of her biggest dreams come true.

“I have faith in you kid, that you could one day be like that new Soarin’ flyer in the show you just witnessed today. That’s why I took you to this show. To demonstrate you I know you could fly like them one day.” He said proudly. Rainbow’s once cheerful face, drooped down dramatically with gloom.

“But daddy, I can’t fly like them. I mean… I wish I could… but I don’t know how to. I’m a weak flyer.”

“True,” he said noticing her daughter’s depression, “but doesn’t mean we can’t start now.” Rainbow seriously needed to get to a hospital for the amount of times her heart exploded that one day. In just a matter of seconds, Dash began bawling out tears of absolute delight. She could just picture it, flapping her wings in the cool air… feeling free.

Dash gave her father a massive hug, with the thoughts in her head he was making two of her biggest dreams come true in less than 24 hours. Flying meant a whole lot more to her than watching professionals do it. Maybe one day she could be the professional.

“But there is something I must add here Rainbow.” He spoke up.

“Whatever it is daddy, I’m sure I’m going to love it!” Rainbow replied, having her mouth ache from all of the smiling she did.

“Living in the house in Cloudsdale is not going to work out with your lifestyle… and more importantly your training.” Her father said. Rainbow slowly began to release her father from her hooves. She had a look of confusion on her face as her smile became weaker.

“Huh, why not daddy?” she asked sounding a little worried.

“You see, mommy’s going to be major problem with this whole flying business. Take it from me; she doesn’t want you to fly at all. She’s being way to overprotective and keeping you grounded. She just doing this to mess with your head, Dash. She wants you to suffer to the point in which you cry.” He explained vigorously. Dash was dumb stricken by the words that came out of his talking mouth. Rainbow felt like she was living a huge lie of all her life, thinking she was loved by the only pony that cared for her.

“But… I thought mommy loved me. She said so…” Dash thought in her head.

“Mommy’s going through tough times now, and probably will need to be on her own for a long time. And Dash, when I say long, we’re talking years hear. She needs to be alone for awhile and this is the only way we can help her. It’s best we go someplace where there are lots of open spaces and parks to practice on… say Manehatten?” he said trying not to make Rainbow feel any worse than she did already. Rainbow’s mind couldn’t think of anything about what to think of her mother. She almost couldn’t believe in what her dad was saying to her.

“Is that the big city place?” Rainbow asked cheerlessly. Her father chuckled at the comment and replied with a nod signaling yes.

“Now Dash, I’m going to respect your decision here. We can either go to the city and you can learn how to fly freely. Or it’s that we go back home where we’d have to do it secretly. Which one will it be?”

Dash didn’t know which life to chose. She either had the life of living with a family member that hated her feelings, or she had the life of being a city pony. She would lose everypony she knew from home… but learning to fly just was too important for her.

“I guess we can sometimes go visit mommy.” Dash said as a tear fell down her eye. Her father wiped the tear off with his hoof.

“We’ll leave tomorrow.”

The hours that past after the air show were probably some of the best times Dash would ever experience with her father. They visited sites across the grand city, admiring every detail of what they had to offer. The foods and entertainment were some of the coolest things Dash had ever laid her eyes upon. The tastes of the cuisine were so much pleasing to taste than her mother’s cooking. Her and her father literally went overboard on the ‘all you could eat buffet’ they had at a nearby restaurant.

Everything they did together only made Rainbow more excited to move to the big city of Manehatten. At first she felt extremely sad for going, but as she began to love city, she knew she should’ve been born a city pony. If city life was as good as she imagined and was just like Canterlot, she would be living in her own paradise. She would meet new friends; in fact she would meet better friends. She would have friends that didn’t pick on her weak flying abilities, at least until she learned how to completely out fly them with her father’s teachings. Also, she would have friends that would understand her struggling life, and for once, they would just be all pegasus ponies.

When her father rented a small room in a nearby hotel, it was almost impossible for her eager mind to fall asleep. She would never forget this day, which she considered the best day of her life… so far at least.

She dreamt about everything she pictured about Manehatten. There were dazzling lights that lit up the entire shadowy sky, and they were practically everywhere she looked. There were faces that came and passed by her on the sidewalk that surrounded the blacktop streets that were engulfed with carriages and automobiles that were in traffic. Then she pictured her house. It was on the top floor on an expensive looking building that was so high it went passed the low clouds that were lit by the moonlight. Up in that room, was her father, and smiling next to him was her mother. They greeted her with open arms, and there was the smell of fresh cooking coming from the kitchen. It felt so right to Rainbow Dash; she knew one day that that dream in a few years would be coming true.

“Hey Dash, wakey wakey.” whispered the pleasant voice of her father. Rainbow’s eyes shot open, her mind knowing she was now awake.

“Daddy!” she nearly yelled as she brought her hooves up to hug her father. He hugged back, but he had to push her daughter away to tell her the news.

“Listen, we gotta get going down to the bottom of the mountain where Canterlot stands if we want to catch our ship.”

“Daddy… we’re going by boat to the city?” Dash asked confused.

“It’s much cheaper and more efficient and-“

“But dad, what about the stuff I still have at home? I thought we would visit home to get our things before we had to go.”

“You mean these things?” he said pointing his hoof to a suitcase that looked nearly full with items. The suitcase was ready to burst open with everything inside of it about to explode. Dash stared at the suitcase, and something clicked in her head.

“Daddy… you planned this?” she asked. Her father’s happy expression turned immediately to a one filled with fear. “You forced me to leave home in Cloudsdale?” Dash said a tad bit concerned. Just then her father’s face began to sweat. His eyes swerved around everywhere as he began to stutter with nervousness.

“Well… I… you see Dash. I… I... sort of needed to protect you from your mother’s insanity. I didn’t want to tell you the hard way, but your mother had a nervous breakdown the night in which you were asleep with all of the stress pilling on top of her. That’s why I had to force you to come with me.” He said sounding confident with what he was saying.

“Where did you get the tickets then?” Dash asked as curious as she was. She started having a gut feeling about going to the city now.

“I have a friend… uh… you remember Fire Star don’t you? You see he was going to go to the show with his filly daughter, but something came up and well… I knew how much you loved those Wonderbolts, so I decided to take you there myself. He gave me those tickets a week before the show.”

Dash had no choice but to go follow her father, and she thought his explanation sounded pretty convincing to her. The whole scandal about the unexpected suitcases was brought to the back of her head, as the fun thoughts rushed back to the front. She stormed out of bed and went towards her very own suitcase. The size was a little too big for her to carry along, but she managed to find a way of moving it by dragging it. The two made their way out the door of the cheap hotel, and Dash saw the sun being halfway up o\in the horizon. It was early in the morning, but there were still many ponies out doing everyday tasks you would normally see in Canterlot.

It took a while to get to the train station, which of course was pretty busy full of ponies that looked as though they came from all over Equestria. Some ponies were with families, some were going on their own, and some just lived at the station. Dash thought that the ones who lived at the station looked pretty funny as they would usually be sleeping with old hats over their faces. Some had buckets with signs written in poor hand writing asking for money, and Dash thought they were joking. Dash kept close to her father as they were shortly boarded onto a train that laid on the rails that stretched for miles both directions.

They were both very silent; in fact they were pretty worn out from the lack of sleep they received by waking up so early. They sat at two empty spaces of the train, and Dash brought her suitcase down to the ground of the train. She looked over to her dad’s suitcase that was on his lap. She could only wonder what may have been in there, for there was really nothing else to wonder about that was fun. The train gradually became very crowded full of ponies looking as if they all had a different place to go to.

Some of the ponies looked very serious and wore suits. They also were wearing stern looking shades and carried big brief cases, some with names of businesses. Along with those types of ponies, there were also breathtaking ones, who wore all sorts of things. Hats, necklaces, earrings, you name it. They came all in different sizes and shapes, and each pony had a specific style to them.

Dash looked around at everypony, admiring the differences until all of a sudden there was a large force that bumped her, and nearly brought her to the ground. Then she heard the ear shattering train whistle. The train was starting to move.

Dash found the whole train ride boring, for everypony in the whole cart was dead silent. Nopony wanted to start a conversation, and neither did she. She looked to her father who had his neck back sleeping off as he rode. In fact, the only noise ponies heard was the blaring sounds of her father’s snoring. Dash turned her head behind her, noticing the sun was rising more into the air, as the sight of everlasting fields stretched on for miles in front of her. The trip was fascinating, for the fact that the rails spiral down the mountain where Canterlot is built, and sometimes went through mini caves that blocked sunlight to come through the windows of the train.

As the train came to immense halt, Dash rubbed her hooves against her father, rudely waking him up.

“What is it?” he said half asleep in an impolite tone.

“Daddy, we’re at the bottom of the mountain.” Dash said as she saw outside a sign that said ‘Canterlot Bay’. To the words of that, he shot up from his seat and held his hoof upon Rainbow Dash’s. He tugged her along out of the train, nearly pushing everypony out of his way. Dash almost dropped her suitcase by her father’s fast getaway.

As Dash exited the train, everything looked like the station back at Canterlot, except for the smell. The aroma smelled worse than it did back up in even the main city of Canterlot, and the ponies appeared different too. They looked more uncivilized than the ponies up in the city, but then again, Canterlot was a very elaborate city. Maybe that was the reason why her father wanted to move to Manehatten instead of Canterlot. Manehatten seemed more of a wild city as in Canterlot they were given odd stares by decorative looking ponies as they walked around the city.

“Well there’s the boat Dash,” he said pointing towards a large dirty looking ship, ‘you see, we’re going to ship over towards the dock of Manehatten, and once we get settled there-“

“Daddy?” Dash said.

“Yes Rainbow?” he replied.

“When will we ever see mommy?” Dash asked.

“Well,” he said sounding serious, “hopefully when she recovers from her breakdowns I’ll mail to her. How does that sound.”

Dash only nodded, she wished her mother could come along with her. Whenever she thought of her, she remembered the times in where she cared for her whenever daddy got carried away. She comforted Dash, which was something she was really going to miss… but then she remembered what her father had told her, how everything was just a lie. Still, saying goodbye to somepony you lived with your entire life was tough.

“We have a bit of time before the boat leaves Dashie. How’s about we walk on the beach for a bit?” he said staring upon the long strip of sand that stretched for miles ahead of them.

“To swim?” Dash asked in confusion. He chuckled, as he brought his hoof upon Rainbow’s back, looking out to the millions of sand grains that lay before them.

“Dash, this was where I met your mother.”

The thought of her mother almost brought tears to Dash’s eyes, but something told her in her head that her mother was going to be alright. She would wait for her to get better, and then they would live in a happy family again.

The two walked down onto the vacant beach, as the cool mid morning breeze brushed sand against their hooves. They were exhausted from the amount of sleep they received last night, so they didn’t go too far out before they stopped. Dash’s father practically fell backwards onto the sand, as he used his hooves to push his upper body upright. He faced the endless ocean as his eyes gazed upon the rising waves that went back and forth. Dash was still on her hooves looking at the boat they were to ride in.

“It was just like this Dash. Nopony to disturb us, the sun was just rising over there, and all I could see was that face.”

Dash completely ignored the cliché speech that her father was giving, all Dash could think about was her new life. All Dash did was stare at the crowded port full of ponies, as her father rambled on about how Dash’s mother became insane after their marriage, explaining what convinced him to do this with Dash. Rainbow’s mind, however, was focused on the future. She thought about if her mother never recovered and came to Manehatten, and if her father would remarry somepony new. Rainbow gave out one last sigh, wishing just to see her mother’s face one last time before she went.

“Lightning Flicker, wait! Stop this!” screamed out a voice.

Rainbow Dash did not move a muscle, as she kept staring at the boats assuming the scream had to do with none of her business. She still kept thinking about her mother, which actually started to bother her. She assumed things would start to feel better once she got to the city.

She heard off to her side her father scramble to get up from the sand, which caught Rainbow’s attention towards him instantly. She stared into her father’s eyes, which were now opening wide with shock. She saw his hoof close tightly into a fist, as he then spoke to Rainbow.

“Here comes your mother, kid.” Said her father completely taken aback and irately.

At the news of that, Rainbow shot her head towards the port area, in which see saw somepony violently pushing her way through the crowd. She nearly jumped onto the beach, as she ran for her life towards her and her father. She saw tears fly off her head as she ran furiously, nearly tripping on the ground. She had large black and blue bruises on her face, as her uncombed hair flew viciously in the air. She was calling out Rainbow’s name along with screams; Rainbow was thunderstruck at the sight of all of this.

To save time, Rainbow’s father signaled Dash to follow him towards the breathless pegasus, as he grabbed onto Rainbow’s hand, tighter than ever before. They both slowly walked as Rainbow’s mother got closer and closer.

A few moments had passed before her mother finally caught up with both Rainbow and her father. A furious looking expression shown on her father’s face towards the exhausted pony that now stood before him. He snickered with disgust at her.

“It’s been a while since you ever spoke my name in front of my face, Autumn.” He said keeping his calm. All she could do though was look into the perplexed eyes of her daughter.

“Hello, Rainbow.” She said with relief. Dash stared at her mother’s shining eyes. Something wasn’t right. Didn’t her father say her mother detested her?

“Hello, mommy.” She replied, not knowing what was going on. She looked back at her father, knowing something was up. Along with her mother showing how much she cared for her, there was nothing wrong with her mother at all like what her father had been telling her about. She wasn’t loony or anything; apparently her father had missed something when he explained her to her.

“What are you doing here?” said Dash’s father very heatedly. He didn’t act angry like this at all during the time he was having with Dash the past 24 hours.

“Did you know how freaked out I was to see your friend Fire Star come up to the front door with his nose bleeding, claiming you stole his two tickets to a Wonderbolts show? You don’t think I could’ve just offered your friends at the bar a couple of drinks to make them talk why my only daughter was missing when I woke up, did you? How you intended to ruin my life by taking away what really mattered to me in this world! I literally searched all of Cloudsale! I even called the police! Then when I realized the Wonderbolt show was taking place in Cloudsdale, I’ve flew right over here, went to the cheapest hotel in the city, assuming you would be there. I told the colt who worked behind the desk your description and how he was carrying with him a young rainbow haired filly, and he told me they went out the door to Canterlot Bay twenty minutes ago!” She explained word by word. She then paused for a moment to see the fat face of her husband blush with embarrassment that she had figured him out entirely. He took a step back, as he opened his mouth to speak, but she spoke out first.

“What you’re doing is absolutely absurd! Please, it isn’t right for her!” She pleaded. Rainbow’s father’s face nearly exploded at the comment she made.

“And a girl living in a family that is on the break of destruction? That’s not right either.”

“Oh Please! You don’t care about Dash! As soon as you get to Manehatten, you’ll abandon her as a father like you did with me and her! She’ll be home alone waiting for her daddy’s promises to come true! And when he does come home pissed to the face, you’ll treat her like you treated me!” yelled Dash’s mother with tears coming down her face. Her father just watched her with a stern look on his face. Dash didn’t know what to say.

“Dash!” called her mother, kneeling down to her filly. Dash stared into her eyes with fear, signaling her that she had her attention. The tears she saw in her mother’s eyes made Dash feel melancholy.

“Has your father told you about moving to Manehatten?” she asked, fearing her daughter’s answer.

“Yes.” Dash replied.

“And do you really want to go?” she asked sounding more teary, hoping for the answer she wanted to hear.

Dash thought about her mother’s question. Her father was offering her the chance of a lifetime if she went on with him. She did want to go. She wanted to pursue her flying dreams. She actually had faith that her father had changed.

“Yes, I do.” She said making up her decision. Her mother was struck deeply by her answer.

“Dash, you must listen to me,” she said grabbing onto her shoulders, “it’s important. Your father is just using you to get what he wants. He knows if he takes you from my life I’ll be heartbroken until the day I die. You can’t believe in everything he’s-”

Just then Dash saw her mother being brought down roughly to the sandy ground. It all happened too fast for Dash to recall what exactly happened, but seeing her father’s hoof in front of where her mother’s face just stood gave Dash a good hint on what happened. She watched her mother lay crying on the ground with an ugly mark on her cheek and with blood coming down her nose. She just laid there whimpering.

Dash now realized something she should of saw coming a long time ago. What she once saw in her “new” father was all but a lie. She just realized what her mother was telling her was true; her father didn’t change at all. She was tricked by his clever plan, and by his good actions. She thought he had quit the bad stuff. The magic drinks, the smoking sticks, all of those things that made him mad. But no, she knew that while she was growing up she’d end up just like how her mother was right now. On the ground, abused to the point where her own blood would flow out of her mouth. A rush of fear ran through her body, she was now terrified of her father once again.

“Stop scaring the girl, Autumn! She’s made her choice and she wants to be a city girl for now on!” He said acting like she was the bad pony. Dash was frozen at the sight of her attacked mother, as her dreams of being taught how to fly by the pony she once looked up to were now gone. She felt her hoof being tugged by a strong grip.

“C’mon Dash. It’s time to go to the boat.” He said sounding extremely strict. Dash couldn’t stop staring at her weeping mother, too weak to rise up and defend her daughter. He tugged on her again, becoming more livid, until he managed to drag her away with her on the sand. Dash didn’t want to say goodbye to the pony who actually cared for her. She tugged away from her father’s grip, who was putting on quite a fight not to lose her, but she managed to break free from his fat hoof after a third try.

She ran towards her mother who was still lying on the ground, and went down on the ground. She opened her hooves wide across her body as she began to let out tears, as the thoughts of leaving her home came into her head.

“Mommy, please don’t cry! I… I want be with you!” She yelled in misery, holding tight to her mother who began to hug back.

“You do?” her mother said burying her head into Dash’s chest.

“Yes! I don’t want to go!” cried out Dash. The two began to mourn in each other’s desolation as Dash’s father just stared at the two. He grew extremely impatient at the sight of this, and he knew the boat would be leaving soon. He decided to take action. He reached out to grab Dash by her hoof, as he started to mumble to himself.

“Look what you’ve done now,” he said grabbing Dash’s hoof pulling her away from her mother, “Dash, we’re leaving now!” He pulled the young filly away from her mourning mother, as Dash began to cry out more tears. He picked up both suitcases with his empty hoof as Dash struggled to get free. She made up her mind; she didn’t want to see her father’s lying fat face ever again.

“Daddy! Let go of me!” Dash screamed. She looked up into her father’s face, who was completely ignoring her every move. Her mom was right, he didn’t care for her well being at all. Dash had no choice but to do what every little filly would do in a situation like this, by using her teeth. She took good aim at the hoof that grabbed onto her tightly and in nearly a few seconds later, Dash was set free.

Her father yelped at the sudden painful sensation, as Dash ran straight back to her blissful but heartbroken mother, who looked into the eyes of the fearful pegasus. Dash nearly jumped right on top of her, as the both began holding each other tightly on the sandy beach. Tears were now falling down onto the sand, as the sun shone across in the now grey sky.

Dash’s father just stood where he was, holding the part of his hoof that was bitten. His face showed of annoyance and hatred towards the two ponies that were now better off on their own, and he realized he had lost his own war. His mission to make his wife’s life a living turmoil had failed. There was nothing left to do but to just walk away.

So that’s exactly what he did, and he was never heard from again.

Many minutes had passed by until words finally formed into Rainbow Dash’s mother’s trembling voice.

“Rainbow Dash, I know of the things that awful colt promised you.” She said overwhelmed in tears. Just then the thought of the entire things Dash’s father promised made its way into Dash’s head. She cried even harder. She thought she was so close to capturing her dream, but it all just vanished in the summer breeze.

“I promise those things will happen.”

“You mean…” Dash said with her sparkling eyes looking up at her mother.

“There’s a flight camp in Cloudsdale that I think you’ll love.”

Dash hugged onto her mother even tighter.

“I love you mommy.” Dash said as her mother began to hug back almost as strong as Dash did. Dash promised to herself that very moment, she would never in her life speak of the past 24 hours she just experienced. There were just some things other ponies couldn’t know about her.

“You don’t know how big of a smile you bring to my life every day Dashie. The future will hold better things for us now that he’s gone. But whatever happens next to us Dash, just think pride in yourself. Pride is all you need.”

Everlong

“No…” Rainbow whispered in denial as the night breeze gently blew against her fur as she slowly began to close her eyes. Everything started to feel like a dream, for it felt too unreal for reality. She nearly fainted onto the ground, with vertigo taking over her thoughts. Weak tears began climbing down her cheeks as she dropped down on her knees and began to press her hooves against her face. Her hooves were wetting up with the liquid coming out of her eyes.

“No… please no. Don’t let this be real.” Rainbow quietly spoke. As moments that felt like an eternity passed by, it felt like the wind blew even stronger. Rainbow began to breathe more intensely as she could hear her heart pounding. Her quiet murmurs of telling herself she was just imagining what she was seeing turned into sobs in a matter of seconds.

She pounded her hoof on the ground with rage, as her quiet sobs turned into fierce screams and yells that echoed into the night. The barely noticeable tears strolling down her face turned into an explosion of water, much like a dam bursting all of its’ water away. Her eyes opened to a blurry reflection of herself. Her glistening black hair, with her charismatic brown fur, and her shining silver eyes were all gone in nearly an instant. Her last chance of regaining the love from her friends, which she desired so much for, shattered right in front of her tear-filled eyes.

Rainbow Dash looked up into the luminous sky, as an intensely bright moon shined a light across a star covered sky. Her original wet rainbow hair blocked parts of her vision, and she felt her hooves growing weak. Her mucus filled nostrils made it difficult to breathe the cool air that surrounded her, as her eyelids began to close.

Rainbow dropped onto the ground knees first, as she lowered her head into the image that was in the water. For a while, the only sounds were of misery coming from Rainbow. Her face was still dripping wet from the accident that had just happened, and all of her bones in her body were freezing.

Rainbow began to cry harder as she began to remember old memories. She thought of times when she was actually joyful in her life. Especially of the times when ‘Romeo Delight’ was just a horrible memory that was forgotten by everypony she knew. She thought of her favorite moments with Pinkie Pie, especially of the first time they met.

Rainbow never knew loneliness to cause her so much pain. Her life practically died ever since she was forced to leave her home in Cloudsdale, in fear her life would be ripped to shreds if she even dared stay. But it seemed living in a place where she knew she would be hated seemed better than how she was living now in Ponyville.

Every night Rainbow would cry herself to sleep with enough tears to soak her pillow entirely. The new house that she got for a reasonable price echoed her screams of misery across the vacant halls, as the moon lit up the dark night. Rainbow felt as though she would be alone like this for the rest of her dejected life.

She was new, and with the scars and bruises all over her beaten face that were caused by the hooves of Stinger, ponies were afraid of her. Even when Rainbow Dash asked for help on some things, some ponies would ignore her. She was sometimes even given snarls from colts filled with disgust, which angered her to the point where’d she start arguments. Her friend Fluttershy wasn’t exactly the ‘social’ kind; in fact the only breathing life forms she introduced to Rainbow to make friends with were all of her animals and a couple of trees. Nopony cared about Rainbow Dash, which really pissed Rainbow off to the point where she became nothing but an emotionless empty body with excellent working tear glands. Some ponies would ask her rudely how she got the scars on her face, but Rainbow knew that was one secret she could never reveal as long as she lived.

Rainbow discovered the ‘rainbow pool’ a couple weeks after moving to her new home in Ponyville, and even after that she was still engulfed with gloom. Sleepless nights caused her eyes to become bloodshot, and Rainbow could see in the mirror she was slipping into insanity. She would be obsessively thinking about home, how everything could’ve still been the same. She always thought of her mother, and wondered if she still even cared about her.

Breakdowns came along quite often, even at public places. A simple jog of memory of a painful experience turned into hours of suffering through denial. She would find places to hide, and how long she would stay in those places and cry her heart out would vary depending on her mood. Some nights she wouldn’t even return home.

However, there was one afternoon that would change Rainbow and how she looked a life forever.

Rainbow was in the middle of bawling her eyes out, sitting behind a few buildings where she was completely out of sight. The wind blew her hair to her side as she had her tear-filled hooves up tightly against her face. It had been weeks since Rainbow had moved to Ponyville, and her heart was still as cold as a glacier. There was no hope of receiving any love from anypony’s friendship in Rainbow’s mind.

“Hi there! I’ve never seen you before!” shouted out a voice coming from above Rainbow’s head. Rainbow shouted in alarm with the crazy surprise. Her arms shot down to the ground as her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. She turned to both of her sides, noticing nopony was in sight; however that was soon to change.

Rainbow gave out a short shriek, making nearly every bird in the nearby area fly into the air, as a large pink object dropped down right in front of Rainbow’s hyperventilating body. It was a young, bright pink, mare with hair more frazzled and chaotic than Rainbow’s. She had a smile big enough to swallow the world and her dazzling blue eyes glistened under the summer light. But all of a sudden, her massive grin died down into a disheartening frown.

“What’s the matter? Why are you so sad?” The pink mare asked curiously. Rainbow honestly thought she was joking. The pony seemed to be getting on her nerves. Rainbow’s mood changed from total desolation into pure annoyance.

“It’s none of your business.” Rainbow replied in a rough sounding tone, glaring hatefully into the eyes of the cheerful pony. There was an awkward pause between the two, and the pink mare looked quite shock at the rude comment. She probably wasn’t expecting an answer like that. However she was far from giving up.

“Well there’s gotta be a reason why you’re crying like that! Wait a minute… I have a great idea!” the pink pony yelled as she brought herself right next to Rainbow Dash picking her up from the ground. “Yes! Yes! Yes! This plan will certainly cheer you up!”

Rainbow Dash wanted to smack the psycho who was touching her so badly, but she needed to keep her cool.

“You need a party! Not just any party! A fun party! No wait! TWO PARTIES! One to welcome you here to this town and one to turn that frown upside down!”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t take this any longer. She grabbed onto the mare’s chest, as she shoved her away nearly pushing her onto the dirty ground. Rainbow Dash thought she got the message straight as she glared at the mare; however she just got right back to how she was acting before.

“Hmm… this one’s a toughie. I just can’t understand why you are so cheerless!” she said smiling.

“I bet you don’t understand a lot of things.” Rainbow mumbled to herself.

“Let me try to guess your name!”

Rainbow was trying to ignore the annoying mare, thinking she might have to make a break for home if it got out of hand.

“Hmm… judging by that cutie mark… CLOUD COVER! That’s your name isn’t it!? No wait… FUNNY HAIR!” The pink mare guessed. Rainbow Dash opened her wings, getting ready to shoot into the air at full speed.

“Wait! One more guess… STARLEY RUN!”

That last guess made Rainbow jolt with shock. Out of all of the possible names in the world she had to pick that particular one.

“Starley...” Rainbow whispered with sorrow in her voice remembering her friend. She never had a chance to say goodbye to her. She didn’t even know if she liked her anymore.

“Yes! You startled! That must mean I got it right! Wow, that must’ve been a one in a nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, chance that I was able to-”

The mare was interrupted by a powerful force painfully shutting her mouth closed. In nearly two seconds, Rainbow had pinned the pink pony against the wall with her face red full of hate. She brought her other hoof up against the mare’s pink chest, making it very hard for the mare to breath. The pink mare was now frantically scared to death as she fearfully stared into the eyes of Rainbow Dash, with her mouth blocked by the blue hoof of Rainbow Dash. She began to tear up, with pain begging to take over her body.

“You listen to me you freak! My life is a complete living hell! I don’t need some pink blabbering idiot making it worse!” Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs. Tears were strolling down both pony’s eyes, with the mare staggering to breathe. The mare fearfully and as fast as she could, nodded her head, signaling she understood.

“Ponies like you should just keep their big mouths shut, and keep out of ponies businesses! Specifically mine! You got that!?” screamed Rainbow as her nose pressed against the one’s of the mare. The pupils in the eyes of the pink mare literally shrunk as Rainbow Dash began to choke on her body even harder. She quickly nodded her head signaling she understood Rainbow completely. Dash breathed in heavily with rage as she saw the trepidation in the suffocating mare’s eyes. She tried begging for release, but all that came out were short gasps. Her eyes were now engulfed with tears as muffled screams could be heard coming out of her blocked mouth.

Rainbow finally had enough of the sight of the mare. She abruptly let loose of the pony, as the pink pony fell harshly onto the floor on her stomach. She raised her head she sucked in every last molecule of air there was around her. Her tears began dripping down onto the ground as she attempted to back away from Rainbow’s fearsome presence.

Rainbow’s mouth was open, just about ready to insult the pink pony once more. Her appearance was horrifying, with red bloodshot eyes looking down at a defenseless pony as her wings belted out from her body into the air. She was breathing heavily, with a couple tears strolling on downward on her face, as her frayed hair blew in the wind.

But then she saw the blood.

Almost immediately her wrath filled thoughts went away, as horrifying thought’s, filled with regret, replaced them. The blood came out in the coughs of the mare, as each time she would cough, more blood would spit out. Rainbow couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing. She didn’t want to believe it.

She thought of herself as a monster. Only a monster so evil could’ve been blocked with that amount of rage to do that to a complete stranger. Fury took the best of her, and she unloaded it onto an innocent pony. Just like what Stinger did that horrific night to her, except he knew who he was actually doing it to.

Rainbow’s first attempt to speak was nothing but a stutter, as words to say scrambled in her mind failed to become actual words. She blurted out more things sounding more sorrowful each time she spoke. This caught the attention of the mare, as she stopped trying to back away from Rainbow. She saw Rainbow’s mouth give out a powerful frown, as she sniffed mightily through her nose.

“Please… I… I’m… I don’t…” stuttered Rainbow. Rainbow’s back hooves dropped down onto the dirt ground, as a mini cloud of dust flew up in the air. There was a few seconds of silence, where the two eyes of the two ponies stared into one another’s, none of them knowing what was going to happen next. Rainbow’s eyes were the first to close.

A heavy flow of tears rushed out of Rainbow’s closed eyes, as the sounds of whimpering filled the cool air. Every so often the whimpers and sobs became stronger, as Rainbow felt her face going red with embarrassment. Rainbow soon found her head lying down on the dirt ground; her heart was filled with despair.

She never wanted any of this to happen. She never wanted to go.

“You know, you don’t have to live your life like this.” A soft voice spoke aloud. Rainbow’s head slowly rose from the ground, as the symphony of snivels turned into barely audible sobs. Her magenta eyes stared directly at the mare.

“I… I can help you.” The mare said growing a smile on her once terrified face. In nearly two seconds, Rainbow saw the expression of fear on the mare’s face turn into sheer joyfulness as she shot up from the ground and landed on all fours.

“No wait a minute, I want to help you!” said the mare raising her hoof up in the air near her mouth. A painful look arose on her face as she gave out a loud and harsh cough as she almost fell back onto the ground. The small and extremely gentle smile returned after the sickening cough, with her eyes becoming wider once more. Rainbow was no longer crying, as she could only stare into the glittering eyes of the pink pony in front of her. Rainbow was extremely bemused at the sight of this.

“But… but I nearly strangled you to death!?” Rainbow yelled in a state of confusion. She was thinking the mare had gone crazy in the head. “You nearly died because of me!” Rainbow shouted sounding guilty with tears building up in her eyes making her words wobble. She was yelling in frustration, expecting the mare would do what everypony else did in her life, Leave her to suffer in her own world. Her words were filled with rage. “You should hate me.” Rainbow’s irritated and fiery expression drooped down to one filled with remorse and desolation right after the yelling had ended. “Shouldn’t you be?” Rainbow asked in a whisper-like volume. Rainbow pictured in her head the memory of everypony watching her that night when she slashed Stinger across his arm; how they all must’ve thought she was a monster.

“Like how everypony else does.” She muttered. The pink pony looked at her with sorrow.

“I’ve never in my whole entire life seen anypony cry that many tears like you just did. That’s just… well… isn’t right at all! Nopony no matter what should ever suffer through their lives without a friend to care for them.”

Rainbow sniffled at the last statement the mare said.

“You don’t have anypony who loves you, do you?” she said sounding sympathetic. Rainbow lowered her head, as she began to whimper a few times more. What she was saying was right. She felt as if the world had shunned her, and had left her to rot in the box the world left her in. She was once treated with respect, but now she couldn’t tell if she had any respect for herself.

Dash felt something on her neck that felt warm and furry. Her head rose to where the thing was touching her. Her eyes ached from all of the fallen tears that flowed down from them, causing her to almost close her eyes completely. But it was the feeling that grabbed her attention.

“The ticket to ride happiness starts with a friend.” Dash heard through her ears. Rainbow’s eyes immediately shot open to see the smiling face of the pony, which made Rainbow’s heart nearly burst with happiness and with a feeling that somepony cared for her.

She was still unsure of what to think of the mentally insane pony that she nearly killed; in fact Rainbow thought that a friendship with this pony could only lead in disaster. But without even thinking, she lunged her arms around the pink pony giving her a massive hug with her head burying in her neck. Tears began to soak the fur of the mare, as she could only hug back at the sadden pony.

“My name is Pinkie Pie,” she said as Rainbow Dash just hugged tighter, “And I’m here to make you smile.”

Rainbow finally snapped. The sound of a broken and harsh bellow coming from the pegasus filled the night sky as Rainbow couldn’t take it anymore. Just when she got so close to getting what she wanted to last forever, her hopes were crushed by reasons that she didn’t see coming. She was finally loved by her friends, the ponies she was like sisters with. The memories caused her so much suffering, and she knew more agony was yet to come.

“Is this some kind of cruel joke!?” She screamed. Rainbow slammed her hooves down into the cold water, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling the water gave to her hooves. She slowly with anger and despair lowered her head, knowing she had lost the fight for the last time. Gentle weeps coming from a pegasus who had lost her own war rang out along with the sounds of tree’s being blown by the wind. The sounds that were once loud with rage turned into nothing but the whimpers of a heartbroken pony.

Giving up wasn’t something Rainbow liked to do. However, giving up life was a thought Rainbow had dealt with before in her rough past. There was nothing left to live for in her brutal life. Her second chance for a better life was taken away for good, and she knew that there was no chance at all of a third one coming her way. Drowning herself in the freezing water in front of her didn’t sound hard to do at all, and it seemed like the only way out of the chaos she was suffering through. She thought of maybe meeting her father in heaven.

That was until Rainbow saw a blurry light shine through her closed eyelids.

A dream. A psychedelic unimaginable dream was the only thing Rainbow could compare what she was seeing with. It took a few seconds for Rainbow to clearly see what was going on as she opened her eyes to see what took her attention. She could only dazedly stare in a state of near shock. Rainbow began to breathe a little heavier as the tips of her hoofs began to tingle with a weird, but familiar feeling.

A sheer white glow covered the ends of her hooves, as they glistened under the moonlight. It took Rainbow a moment to notice that the light began to move up towards her body. In fear, Rainbow firmly clasped her eyes shut as she fell onto her back. She felt the weird tingly feeling storm across her entire body, as the feeling gave Rainbow a cold shill all around. It almost felt unreal, as if something was taking over her body.

But then all of a sudden, the strange feeling’s reign over Rainbow’s body had ended, and everything seemed to feel like how it did before.

Rainbow lay on the grass a few moments after the unusual sensation faded away from her skin. She then immediately shot one eye open, as she found herself lying on her side on the ground that was once illuminated by the strange glow. Rainbow Dash rolled onto her back and stood up as she sat looking up at the mesmerizing sky. Her bones felt achy, as if she had just woken up from a couch with cushions made of concrete.

She managed to rise herself up on her hooves, with her head feeling like it got hit by a freight train. It took her a few moments before she could raise her eyelids fully open only to see the vividness and colors of the waters that were in front of her. Completely ignoring the aches the colors gave her eyes; Rainbow stared into the watery bed.

“Time to say goodbye.” She whispered to herself tearing up. Each step felt like an earthquake below her feet as she grew closer to the water. The cold breeze blew against her mane as tiny whimpers made it out of Rainbow’s mouth.

She finally made it to the edge of the pond, as she stared up at the moon and started taking in deep breaths filled with nervousness. A tear rolled down her cheek as the whimpers became stronger and louder. She never pictured her life to end like this; she wanted to do so much more with it.

Rainbow’s head dropped down near the surface of the water…

“Holy Celestia.”

Jet black hair, clear sparkling eyes, brown fur, and a single cloud for a cutie mark. There was not a single rainbow strand of hair in sight.

Rainbow fell on her back hard, bringing her bandaged wings to her sides so they wouldn’t get injured. A feeling she never felt before took over her brain as a painful throbbing sensation covered her head. She was stuttering out words, sounding more and fainter every time she spoke. She lost all feeling in her hooves, as she felt dizzier each second. Rainbow stopped stuttering, as her eyes began to close. Darkness was all Rainbow could remember, and in a few seconds she was gone.

Rainbow Dash felt a cool morning breeze brush against her fur as her eye’s slowly began to open to an intense sun. It’s glaring and blinding lights made it hard for Rainbow to see anything, but the sounds of trickling water in front of jogged her memory of where she was. It took a minute for Rainbow’s eyes to get use to the sun’s extremely powerful brightness, which seemed to be more powerful than usual. Rainbow felt herself lying on the ground, with her body feeling very grungy.

Then she remembered what had happened last night.

She brought her hoof up to her eyes, only to see a vivid brown color covering what used to be a light blue color that she thought she would be stuck with until the end of her life. She used her hoof to bring down her hair above her eyes; hair black as night blocked part of her vision.

She quickly got up from the ground and saw the pond lying right in front of her. She twisted her body so that her head faced the surface of the colorful waters that glistened before her. Her reflection only showed Rainbow Dash as her original self with her rainbow characteristics. Rainbow finally had it with all of the confusion.

“What the hell does all this magic mumbo-jumbo mean!?” She yelled scaring the birds above her in a tree. Out of complete frustration, Rainbow brought both hooves up in the air and slammed them down on the surface of the water. The water went everywhere, including Rainbow’s body as she began to furiously pound against the water many times. Her attacks started to become less powerful after many times of hitting the surface of the water. They also became less frequent as she soon started to lose energy, and then all of a sudden she stopped. She closed her eyes tightly with aggravation, as she dropped her head down low. Her mouth had an sad looking frown on it as she began to heavily breathe through her mouth.

But then Rainbow felt the old familiar sting rummage against her skin.

Rainbow opened her eyes, only to be blinded by a light she didn’t see coming. Rainbow immediately closed her eyes to block the painful light from her eyes, as the uncomfortable feeling climbed up her hooves and up to her wet chest, which then made its way across her stomach area. Rainbow was feeling like her energy was draining away as she began to feel more tired. She just wanted the stupid sensation to end.

Then there was silence, and Rainbow sighed with relief. The bizarre feeling seemed too have faded away as Rainbow lay dazed and confused on the ground. Rainbow’s wet hair was stuck to Rainbow’s forehead which started to feel uncomfortable right away. Almost instantly she brought her hoof up to her head to wipe away the rainbow hair off of her-

“What the!?” Rainbow shouted. She stared down at her hooves, which were as blue as the bright sky above her. She jumped up on the ground to face at the reflective water below her. What looked back was the ragged confused look of her as Shutter, with the water gently rippling the image.

Then it clicked in her head. It was the water, the same water she had been going to, to remorse behind the backs of her friends. For years she had been coming here, it felt as though it was a part of her. Ever since she came to Ponyville, this place felt like a home. It gave her a powerful feeling inside whenever she was here; it was like she was walking on thin air. The water was the reason for her transformation. It was like a key, but how did it all work out? How did it relate to the words Zecora gave her?

A small smile found its place on Rainbow’s mouth, and then Rainbow closed her eyes with relief, feeling all of the worry flow out of her body. She had found the solution to all of her problems. It was a getaway from her life as Shutter Cloud whenever she wanted to be her true self. Rainbow chuckled, which soon turn into a happy laughing sensation as tears of joy ran down her eyes. She laughed at the fact she was going to drown herself without even knowing the water she would be drowning in was going to change her life forever.

Then the laughing came to a dead stop.

“Oh no…” Rainbow said aloud with a tone filled with worry, “Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy was expecting her to return to her cottage last night! Rainbow was supposed to be sleeping on a couch, not unconscious lying on wet grass. Rainbow quickly glanced over the water at her reflection. She immediately shot her hoof through the surface of the water, and furiously shook it splashing water everywhere. Rainbow could see the blinding light form on her hoof, as she began to feel the strange feeling once again.

The time it took for the feeling to finally go away from Rainbow’s body seemed to be shorter than the few other times she had transformed. As soon as Rainbow couldn’t feel it anymore, she took a quick glance at her body. She wasn’t ready just yet to show anypony her true identity, nor did she think she would ever be. As soon as the brown fur caught Rainbow’s eye, she took off into the woods in a rush, leaving the rainbow pool far behind her.

Rainbow had flown back and forth from town to the rainbow pool enough times that she could do it blindfolded. Running on the ground though, was a different story. She had only twice in her lifetime ran through the woods to get to the water, one of those times included the night before. She continued to run, hoping she would be able to find some sort of pathway. She had notice a pattern while flying in the air, which gave her hope that somehow she would be able to find a pattern on the ground somehow.

Soon enough, with her heart beating nearly three times a second with panic, Rainbow found herself running on a dirt pathway. She stopped to look where the path was going, only there was nothing. It seemed to be just an everlasting road of dirt surrounded by large trees and unspeakable animals. However the path was the least of her worries. She was too busy thinking about Fluttershy.

Rainbow couldn’t imagine how Fluttershy would react to a missing friend. She knew for a fact that Fluttershy overreacted to small situations, but what she did over huge problems like this was unthinkable. Rainbow could only pray she wasn’t having a heart attack worrying about her. Rainbow felt her teeth clench and a nervous sweat rolled down the sides of her face as she continued on the path.

Rainbow Dash had absolutely no idea where the path she was taking was heading towards. She wanted to break away from the bandages that covered her wings, and fly away. She didn’t care if it brought her pain; she just wanted to go home. She missed the feeling of the clouds brushing against her belly as she flew right above the large pillow like structures in the sky. Getting used to using the ground for transportation made her feel ashamed. The sky was where she belonged, the sky was her home.

But then there was an indescribable noise.

It was a faint scream in the distance that caused the birds in the trees above her to fly away into the air. The scream was beyond description. It sounded like something, or even worse, somepony, was dying. Rainbow could hear her own heartbeat through her shaking ears. But then an unusual strong sense of courage surged through her body.

“Come on out! You… you… whoever you are! Show yourself!” Rainbow yelled sounding solemn. Rainbow knew that she was very vulnerable to any attack coming her way; with the disadvantage of having an injured body part. Without the use of her wings, even a quick getaway was impossible to accomplish. For the first time in a while, Rainbow was scared for her own life.

The scream burst out once again, except this time, the sound sounded fuller and louder. Whatever was coming its way towards Rainbow Dash, it was coming towards her fast and furiously.

“I will show you no mercy on your pathetic body! I’m warning you now!”

Rainbow could hear the sound of bushes shaking not too far from where she was standing. Rainbow had once witnessed a creature from the forest a while back inside the Everfree forest, when she was on a mission to stop Nightmare Moon from keeping the moon in the sky forever. She remembered the pain she suffered through when she was attacked by a manticore’s tail that had smacked her while going at an extreme speed. She made the stupid decision by not telling anypony of the hurting she was dealing with as they continued to walk on. She had managed to keep the cuts and bruises hidden throughout the duration of time with her wings, but being splashed by a large quantity of water from a wussy sea serpent didn’t help ease the pain.

She also heard of the stories of the many who didn’t return home upon entering the Everfree forest. Not only stories, but also of the reports of bodies that were discovered in the Everfree forest was another thing she cringed about. Only nightmares could depict how those bodies got the way they did.

Another scream made Dash finally lose it.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough! Come to me so I can beat your skull-” Before Dash could finish her statement, she found herself down on the ground with something jumped on top of her back. Her back writhed with pain as she let out a cry, as she could feel blood flow on her back.

“Gotcha!” Shouted a familiar voice that Dash could not, at the moment comprehend.

Dash couldn’t compare the feeling on her back and her wings to anything she had ever felt. It may have been even worse than when she woke up in the woods only to feel her skin and bones on fire. It burned like the flames from a burning building, Dash felt like her wings were about to fall off of her body. Another blood hurdling scream signaled that her pain levels were working overtime.

“This was a good one! I surely got you this time Shutter Cloud! Don’t worry; I’m pretty sure you’ll… Shutter?”

Water started spraying out of Dash’s eyes, as the cries coming from Dash’s mouth pierced the ears of any living creature in the nearby area.

“Shutter!?”

Dash had her eyes tightly closed, but even that didn’t ease the pain that was engulfing her entire body. She felt hooves bring her up from the ground, as she began to hear whispers of words that were of worry. Then Dash heard the word she didn’t want to hear.

“Blood… oh no! NO! PLEASE NO!”

Dash opened an eye, only to see somepony she knew with a look of dismay on her face.

“Pinkie!” Dash yelled with frustration.

“Shutter! Oh please! I’m so sorry! I… I totally forgot about the-”

“JUST GET ME TO A HOSPITAL! PLEASE! IT HURTS!” Dash screamed in agony as she slowly slid into a world full of darkness and confusion. Her entire world went blank, and she could feel nothing.

“Ugh, just look at that mane!”

Rainbow felt like the whole world had gone silent after she heard that comment. All afternoon Rainbow was just napping and it had been a quiet day, but the rude disturbance below her ended the enjoyable experience almost instantly. She had just been chilling all afternoon on what seemed to be the most comfortable cloud in the history of all things fluffy, as the warm sun covered her like a blanket. The sky was tinted orange as her shadow covered most of the cloud. Her head was dangling off the surface of the feathery mattress.

Thinking a pegasus was in the air commenting on her specifically, Rainbow raised her head as she began to search around the air for any flying pegasus nearby. After a few seconds of seeing nothing but a highlighted sun, Rainbow returned to her napping.

“Excuse me! You up there! Up there in the sky! Hello!” hollered a voice below.

Rainbow moaned as she tilted her head to her side only to see a large pink building casting a massive shadow on the surface of the ground. Rainbow searched for anypony that was located below, thinking she was trying to be contacted with by somepony. That’s when she saw her. She was far below, but Rainbow could definitely see that she was the one who wanted to speak with her. She had bright blue eyes that stared into her dark soul, and a sparkling expensive looking hairdo that gave the idea to Rainbow that whoever was trying to speak to her was very snobby. Rainbow didn’t hate rich ponies, it was just she hated whenever they would show off their wealth to everypony’s faces.

“What do you want!?” Rainbow yelled with frustration down below her. The white elegant pony flipped her hair to the side. Rainbow rolled her eyes thinking what an ego this particular pony had.

“Oh! Why… your hair darling. Haven’t you seen it? The poor thing was dangling from the side of the cloud and it just looked… extremely tattered and rather… how would you say weak.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe in what she was hearing.

“Um, excuse me!” Rainbow Dash replied sounding offended. Whoever this pony was, she was starting a fire that couldn’t be ceased.

“I’ve never seen you before,” shouted the unicorn towards Rainbow Dash, “you must be new here then. My name is Rarity, and I would be delighted to give your mane a good trimming. I think it will make those gorgeous colors look stunning!”

Rainbow stared down at the contented looking unicorn with her long hair blocking her vision. She flipped her head to her side swaying the hair that was once covering her eyesight away. She couldn’t remember the last time she got a haircut, nor did she even remember what her hair even looked like at the moment. But she was definitely in no mood to be made fun of.

“No thanks! Now leave me be!” Rainbow replied rudely as she turned her head back to laying on the cloud. She began to smile as her body began to feel as it did not so long ago when everything was peaceful. It just felt so good to be resting in a place such as-

“Are you quite positive about that? I mean I’ll be happy enough to do it for free. I mean, your hair color… it’s just so magnificence! I would be heartbroken if-”

Rainbow could no longer take this bratty pony commenting on her looks. She decided to end it once and for all. Rainbow flew up from the cloud and shot down to the ground at an intense speed. The white unicorn nearly screamed as Rainbow Dash landed with such force nearly right in front of her. Rainbow just stood there, giving the unicorn a deep and evil looking stare along with a teeth-showing frown that would give anypony the right idea to run away without delay.

“Oh! How dare you! That was absolutely uncalled for! Why did you even… wow… you look even more dreadful up close than you do up there sleeping like a filly.”

Rainbow’s eyes turned a darker shade of red after hearing that comment. She pounded her hoof down on the ground causing the unicorn in front of her to take a step back. Rainbow took a step closer to the elaborate pony.

“You know, I don’t need some bratty little pony coming up to me and telling me what’s wrong with my body!” Rainbow yelled right in front of the unicorn’s face. The unicorn gasped in shock as Rainbow took another step closer to the pony, making her move her white hooves back a step. “You don’t think I know I look like a train wreck!”

“Well I would say more than a train wreck you thug!” The incensed pony replied who now took a step forward towards Rainbow with a glare in her eye. “More like a tornado caught in a hurricane if you ask me!”

Rainbow let out a fearsome growl towards the unicorn who now was giving Rainbow a sharp glare.

“You just can’t keep you precious little mouth shut can you!?” Rainbow replied taking another step forward towards her enemy. The unicorn nearly lost her balance.

“Careful! You almost made me-”

“You don’t know when to just shut up!” Rainbow replied screaming in front of the white unicorn’s face. The white pony’s expression turned from sheer anger into a more fearful looking appearance. Rainbow took one more step towards the unicorn.

“Oh dear, I think I went a little too far. I apologize if I ever hurt your feelings. It’s just a natural thing with me. I always try to please ponies with their-”

“By insulting them before you even know what they’ve been through!? Ponies like you should just mind their own business! Do you know the hell I suffered through that ended me up in here!?” Rainbow hollered. The pony in front of Rainbow Dash now looked scared.

“Please. I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to harm you, really.”

“All of the ponies I never got to say goodbye too!?” Rainbow took another step closer to the white pony, and her white hooves began to tremble. It seemed that Rainbow’s enemy had nothing left to speak of. And if she did, she would have no time at all to even open her mouth.

“Saying goodbye to all of my broken dreams that I had as a filly!?” Rainbow yelled at the top of her lungs. A single tear rolled down the side of Rainbow’s face. The white unicorn gulped.

“But I-”

Rainbow grabbed onto the unicorn’s shoulders as she violently pushed her to the dirt covered ground. The white pony yelped in pain upon landing the ground. Dust flew up into the sky, as the white glistening fur of the unicorn turned quickly to large dirty stains across her body.

“Do you feel pretty now!?” Rainbow yelled standing above the body she brought to the ground. The unicorn just stared up into Rainbow’s glaring red eyes, as tears began to form in her own blue shimmering eyes.

The unicorn was speechless, as the fur below her shimmering eyes began to soak with tears. Rainbow looked down, feeling like she made her point.

“How does it feel?” Rainbow asked sounding like she had just taught her opponent a lesson. She began to hear sobs coming from the unicorn’s mouth, as she began to slowly shake her head side to side. Rainbow felt no remorse. “What? You’re gonna cry up to your parents and ask for some soap?”

The unicorn immediately looked up at Rainbow, shocked as she gasped at the comment. Rainbow noticed something different about the pony; she looked more offended than usual. The unicorn blushed red with anger as she began to breathe more heavily. Rainbow grinned feeling as if she aggravated the pony to the point where she was getting furious. Then there was silence in the air.

“My real parents are dead.” The pony spoke with a mixture of sadness and anger in her voice.

Rainbow’s skin burned with embarrassment. Rainbow had her mouth open to say another thing towards the unicorn just a few seconds ago, but what was to be a laugh of pleasure and a rude comment quickly turned into an open jaw with no words to say. Rainbow felt herself nearly tremble as she backed away slowly away from the unicorn.

Rainbow thought in her life she had it hard. She thought she had control of everypony around her when she wanted to. She didn’t care about anypony’s opinions except if they involved her. She didn’t care what anypony suffered through in their lives, she only assumed her life was the hardest. She didn’t really know much about anypony’s personal lives in this town except for Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be living a dream with her spastic attitude towards everything. But this one pony’s back-story was something Rainbow wasn’t preparing for.

“They died while they were on vacation. Sunk into the ocean, just like the boat they were on.”

Rainbow watched as the unicorn sobbed some more with dirt covering her once glowing fur. This unicorn reminded Rainbow of herself, for she too lost a mother she’d loved all her life. Just when Rainbow thought she had missed seeing her mother’s beautiful appearance, she realized she wasn’t the only one with parents who were gone.

Rainbow walked up to the unicorn that had her eyes closed with hooves covering her crying face. As the unicorn’s cries dissolved into barely audible sobs, a gentle touch on her white shoulder caught her attention to Rainbow’s sympathetic expression. Rainbow’s lips began to tremble with sorrow, but no tears came out.

“I… I know how it feels to miss a loved one.” Rainbow said with a raspy tone. She looked into the sad expression the unicorn she brought to the ground showed; watery tears shined in her eyes. Rainbow lowered her wing down at the unicorn’s level, as the white pony just stared at the beaten up looking wing. She grabbed on as Rainbow began pulling up the unicorn back up to the ground, where she then proceeded to brush off some of the dirtiness off of her using the same wing.

“I don’t know really what to say. I never did that to somepony before… I just can’t-“

The unicorn shushed the stuttering Rainbow Dash. Rainbow fell silent.

“It was rude for me to just blurt something like that to somepony I just met, and I apologize for that.” The unicorn looked at the extremely messy hair of Rainbow Dash. “I have an idea,” she said bringing a hoof up to wipe the tears away from her eyes, “if you aren’t sleeping anywhere tonight, I’ll be happy enough to give you a room in my residence.”

Rainbow looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun was just a few minutes away from going away completely. Her real house was far away, and Rainbow didn’t have time to fly back to it without getting lost in the dark. What the pony was offering to her was a good bargain that only a fool wouldn’t take. Rainbow smiled.

“Yes, that would be awesome!” Rainbow replied enthusiastically.

“Only on one condition. You’ll let me at least attempt to fix up that dreaded mane of yours.”

Rainbow took a step back at the comment; she had been tricked into a deal she couldn’t decline.

“And possibly… we can relish the good memories of our parents.”

Rainbow gulped at that sentence. She’d knew she have to stretch the truth a lot tonight, not to mention at all of “Romeo Delight”. But she did have good memories of her mother she could share with this unicorn. She could even talk about her father. She can pour her sadness into this one pony who will actually listen to her problems. She gave the white pony a smirk for her devilish plan.

“Who are you again?” Rainbow said giving a chuckle at the end of her question.

“I’m Rarity. It’s a pleasure to meet you-”

“Rainbow Dash. The name is Rainbow Dash.”

“Shutter Cloud!? Shutter, please wake up!”

Rainbow Dash could feel something warm and wet against her forehead. She also began to feel herself breath in the dry air that flowed in through her arid nose. She wanted to open her eyes, but they felt too heavy to even budge.

“Pinkie, please calm down. I am very worried too.”

Rainbow could barely make out the noises she was hearing in front of her. Her weak ears made the voices she heard unrecognizable, for it was like listening to ponies talk underwater. However, her hearing started to change, and everything started to sound clearer.

“Please Shutter!” called out a frantic sounding voice followed by a sniffle. “Wake up!”

Rainbow had only enough energy to give out a simple sigh. However her sigh was followed with a squeak of delight.

“Shutter? Are… are you waking up?” Rainbow heard through her tired mind.

Rainbow knew that voice. It was Fluttershy trying to get her attention. With Rainbow ignoring the pain, her eyes slowly opened to a bright light beaming across her eyes. Two of the most relieved ponies of all of Equestria were staring directly at her.

“Oh Shutter! You’re not dead!” Pinkie Pie yelled in delight. She stretched both arms towards Rainbow Dash’s body, only to have her arms pushed away by an annoyed Fluttershy.

“Pinkie. You should really be careful. Those new bandages on her wings are there for a good reason.

Rainbow’s heart jumped.

‘Did she say new bandages? Oh no. My wings!’ Rainbow thought to herself. She tried to move her wings, and they wouldn’t budge.

“What happened to my wings!?” Rainbow asked frantically.

“Oh… um… you see, they were bleeding uncontrollably because they were irritated by…” She quickly glanced at Pinkie who gave her a puppy dog stare. “Let’s just say it was caused by something that’s not important to this conversation at this very moment. When I took those bandages off, your wings looked horrific. I had to do something about them so I gave them a good scrubbing and wrapped new stronger bandages to help ease the bleeding.”

Rainbow Dash sighed in relief.

“But there is one other thing I have to ask you Shutter.” Fluttershy asked sounding more serious. Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy a nod that she had her full attention.

Fluttershy’s sympathetic appearance changed from a nice and gentle kind of pony to looking like a pony who wanted to kick something. She gave Rainbow Dash a mean looking glare.

“Where were you when I was looking for you all over town, ALL NIGHT!?” She asked emphasizing her last two words.

Rainbow Dash’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment, she wasn’t prepared to give an excuse for that question to her. She began to stutter out words, not knowing what to say.

“Oh! And I have a curious question too!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with enthusiasm. “Why was there a piece of tree bark lodged into your back when Fluttershy was scrubbing your wings!?”

“I… I… I’m sorry Fluttershy.”

“I told you I was very scared of the dark. Why did you force me to look for you? I said to be back here by seven!”

“You see… I have… there was just-“

“And why were you walking home from the Everfree forest?” Pinkie spoke out.

“YOU WERE IN THE EVERFREE FOREST!?” Fluttershy screamed in shock looking scared to death.

Rainbow Dash was losing time. She only had a few moments to think of some lousy excuse to explain so many questions she didn’t know how to answer. She couldn’t tell the truth. It would ruin everything. She would lose her identity, her personal place of relaxation, and her friendship.

“I… I was in a tree in the forest looking at birds and… I,” Rainbow Dash looked down at the ground sounding like she didn’t know what she was talking about. “I fell off a tree. And I landed on my back and became unconscious. That probably explains the tree bark lodged into my back. And I decided to walk home until I was attacked.”

At first there was silence. Then Pinkie was the first to sneak out a single chuckle. The chuckle soon turned to a symphony of laughter as Fluttershy began to giggle as well. Even Rainbow Dash began to chortle, but not because she fell off a tree in her excuse.

‘Wow, they actually bought that?’ Rainbow thought to herself.

As the laughing died down, Fluttershy’s happy mood turned into a shy and low mood.

“There is some bad news.” Fluttershy exclaimed. Rainbow stopped laughing.

“First off, when I tried getting information on your whereabouts from Twilight, she screamed at the door to go away.” Rainbow Dash frowned at the news, Twilight’s misery was all her fault. “I told her Shutter was missing, and she didn’t reply. She just continued crying, or at least that’s what I heard in her home.”

Rainbow Dash was speechless. She didn’t know what she did hurt Twilight that much.

“Second, concerns your wings.” Fluttershy said at a volume that was barely audible to anypony’s ears. Rainbow had all of her attention towards Fluttershy. “They need to rest for a couple of months, at least from what I saw, they need that. You may not be able to use them for a while.”

Rainbow Dash felt a horrible feeling run across her body. She was heartbroken to hear that news.

“Any good news?” she asked sounding down and out. Fluttershy just gave Rainbow a look full of remorse. There was nothing good to say at the moment. Even Pinkie looked gloomy at the moment.

“I’m so sorry.” Fluttershy said.

A warm tear rolled down from Dash’s eye. Then all of a sudden, Dash could hear loud sobs coming from somepony in this room. She glanced over to Fluttershy, who had her head turned to her right. Dash looked in the direction Flutershy was looking at, and the two grew dead silent.

“No! I’m the one who should be sorry!” Pinkie yelled as she stood up from where she was sitting. Rainbow and Fluttershy could only stare at Pinkie; none of them knew what to say to calm her down. Pinkie dashed towards the open door, and slammed it shut behind her. Rainbow turned her head towards Fluttershy. Both of them were wordless.

“I don’t want you to do this.”

“Come on Fluttershy! It won’t happen again, I swear!”

“I just don’t know if you’ll get hurt again. I don’t want to risk it. Plus you need some rest and-”

“I feel fine! I need to go out and check on some things. It’s very important for me.”

It had been nearly twelve hours since Rainbow Dash had woken up from her dreadful injury. She needed to find Twilight and settle things down today, and she needed to do it quick. She had caused two friends in a matter of less than three days to be engulfed in misery. There was no word from Pinkie Pie, who had left Fluttershy’s cottage in a horrible state the night before. It hurt Rainbow Dash so much to think about Pinkie. She was a pony she never wanted to see a frown on her blissful face ever in her life. She needed to fix the mistakes she was all accounted for with.

There was a few seconds of silence between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Fluttershy pouted as though she had given up on something.

“All right, but just promise me this. If you go out for a while today, you will be back here tonight at seven o’clock sharp.”

“I promise.” Rainbow Dash said as she gave Fluttershy a wink. She ran out the door and trotted down the dirt path that would soon lead to the streets of Ponyville. The day was much hotter than usual days, and there was not a breeze in the air. Thoughts ran across in Rainbow Dash’s head, making her feel confused. She could only pray her friends were in good spirits. She could only wish they could accept her friendship.

She came to a halt as she took a step into the street of town. She turned her head around to look at the busy ponies walking along everywhere. Everypony seemed to have a place to go, including her.

“Ok,” she sighed as Rainbow began to whisper to herself, “find Pinkie Pie. That shouldn’t be hard.”

Rainbow began to trot along the crowded streets as she made her way towards Sugarcube Corner. If anyplace, that would be where Pinkie Pie would most likely end up being. She hated walking on the ground on days like this, when too many ponies crowded the streets. She wanted to fly so badly. She wanted to touch the clouds. She wanted to feel free once more.

“Shutter Cloud!” a voice filled with alarm called out. Rainbow Dash knew who that sounded like, her hopes got high. She saw the large decorative building she knew as Sugarcube Corner, as the sun made it’s’ window’s shine. Right in front of the store was Pinkie staring directly at Rainbow.

“Pinkie!” Rainbow spoke out trying to get her friend’s attention. Pinkie turned her head away towards down on the ground. Her cheeks turned red with shame. A frown stretched across her face where her smiles once took place.

Rainbow Dash managed her way out of the crowd she was bundled in, as she made her way to the open space that was just located outside the store. Rainbow came to a halt as she came up towards the gloomy Pinkie Pie, who avoided eye contact.

“It was my fault you bled. It was my fault you can’t fly. I just wanted a laugh out of both of us but I-“

“Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash interrupted loudly. Pinkie squealed in fear as she stared up at Rainbow.

‘Did… did I just make her afraid?’ Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

“Listen Pinkie, you don’t have to feel like this. I forgive you.”

“You do?” Pinkie asked sounding confused.

“Absolutely! We all do stupid things in our lives once in a while.” Pinkie still had a sad expression.

“But what I did… I can’t forgive myself.”

“Yes you can!” Rainbow Dash spoke out. “Hey, I’m still alive right?”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right.” Pinkie said sounding a little happier.

“Plus, I’m not proud of some of the things I’ve done to people in my life. I know how the guilt feels.”

“Well, I guess that makes me feel a bit better.”

“Then smile for me.” Rainbow said.

Pinkie was taken aback by the request. She nervously looked around everywhere hoping that would ease the situation. Then she looked at Rainbow Dash with an awkward expression on her lips. Then all of a sudden, she cracked a grin. Then after that she began to laugh.

“I knew that would do the trick.” Rainbow whispered to herself.

“You’re amazing Shutter Cloud! Come on in! I was just throwing a new mare in town a mini celebration on her welcoming!”

“That’s cool Pinkie Pie, but I have to go do something. Run her name by me and I’ll say hi sometime.”

“I think she said her name was Starley or something. I’m not sure. Does that name ring a bell to you?”

That’s when Rainbow Dash froze. A hot annoying sweat began to flow down her head as her eyes began to twitch. She didn’t even breathe. She too busy thinking about if the Starley Pinkie had just mentioned, was her long lost friend. It had to be years since she had spoke with Starley, and she could barely remember what she even looked like. She prayed her instincts were right, and that this would be the day she would once again meet up with her best friend from Cloudsdale.

“Actually Pinkie Pie, I guess I can stay just for a bit longer. I’m feeling a bit hungry.” Rainbow Dash said giving a fake smile to try to convince Pinkie she wasn’t lying. Pinkie jumped in delight.

“Yay! I made some delicious cupcakes for everypony in the store. Walk this way Shutter!” Rainbow Dash nearly tripped onto the ground sprinting into the building. Her eyes jotted everywhere, looking for the one pony she came to see. In her mind, Starley was just an old memory. In the years behind the two where they haven’t spoke at all, Rainbow assumed her appearance must’ve change dramatically. That’s when she saw her sitting there.

Her mouth was wide open, stuffing a pink frosted cupcake into her watery mouth. She looked as though she was in the greatest shape of her life, and looked as though her wings got even stronger. She had more make-up on, which was something that pissed Stinger off completely, for he thought she put on make-up for other colts’ attention. Her fiery red hair looked a little like hers except it was much messier looking. Her yellow fur in Rainbow’s eyes sparkled under the lights of the shop, making her look picturesque. Her eyes were closed, taking in pleasure from the delicious treat in her mouth.

“Oh Celestia.” Rainbow whispered in nervousness.

“Isn’t it such a great party!? I mean, she deserves one right? She’s just-”

“That’s nice Pinkie; can you give me just a minute? I need to do go do something.”

“Sure thing! Have some fun!” Pinkie exclaimed in joy as she bounced away.

Rainbow knew it was her. She trusted her memories completely, matching the picture in her brain to the mare just a few feet away from her. It was weird looking at Starley through Rainbow’s vision. Whenever she looked at her, all Dash could see was Starley’s childhood body, looking like she didn’t age a bit. Rainbow Dash needed to talk to her before the day ended.

“So how’s the cupcake!” Pinkie asked, bouncing up in front of Starley.

“I’ve gotta say, I’ve certainly never had anything like it. ‘Grats to you and you’re baking skills.”

“That voice,” Rainbow Dash whispered aloud, “it hasn’t changed a bit.”

“Pinkie, I can’t thank you enough for such a warm welcoming into town like this, but I gotta get going home now.”

Rainbow cautiously walked over near Starley and Pinkie to hear more of the conversation. She tried her best not to get caught by the two.

“Oh, are you sure? I still have some soda left, just one sip?”

“Oh no, I seriously need to go. I’ll be back though, don’t fret about me. Thanks for all of this.” She spoke in a pleased tone getting up from her seat.

“Well ok, I guess I’ll see you soon.” Pinkie replied cheerfully.

Starley turned towards the door and let her glorious fearsome looking wings unlock from her body. The sight was unimaginable. Those had to be the best pair of wings Rainbow Dash ever laid eyes on. They were fearsome looking and looked as though they could fly to the sun. She trotted outside the door with a delighted smile on her face.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for years.” She whispered to herself.

‘I need a way to get her attention.’ Rainbow Dash thought as she walked the streets of Ponyville

She had been following Starley across town, all the way up to the market place where Starley began to look through. Rainbow Dash made sure she was a good distance away from her, trying not to be seen by Starley at all. Dash didn’t want Starley knowing she was watching her every move.

When Starley would browse the stalls, Rainbow would gingerly walk to the stall directly across from the one her friend was at. She would wait in line until it was her turn to order something. She would then find a different market that was near the one Starley would be browsing or buying at. Dash tried her best to listen in the conversation’s Starley would have with the owners of the shop’s, but most of the time the ponies around Rainbow would be too loud for Rainbow to hear anything. But suddenly, she was able to hear what Starley was saying the colt in charge of one particular stand.

“Hey, I’ve never seen you before. What’s the name?” The owner asked.

“Starley, I just came from Cloudsdale.” She replied.

Rainbow gave out a sigh in pure delight. She officially knew now who she was looking at was her friend. The shop owner glanced behind Starley, noticing nopony was there behind Starley. With the fact that Starley was his only customer for the moment, he decided to start a conversation with the mare.

“What brings you to Ponyville?” the shop owner asked.

“Oh… well… personal problems. Let’s just leave it at that.” Starley replied like she didn’t want to talk about the matter. Rainbow Dash took a quick glance at Starley. She saw Starley had guilt printed all over her face as she blushed with embarrassment.

“Well I won’t go badgering you about your issues here. But where ya’ staying? Do you have a home?” The colt said, trying to change the subject.

“Actually, yes I do.” Said Starley sounding much more positive. “It’s that cool looking cloud structure in the sky with the rainbow colored water in the fountains. Does that place sound familiar to you?” She replied enthusiastically hoping for a decent answer.

Rainbow was speechless. Starley bought her own house.

The shop owner took in a short gasp at Starley’s response. His head dropped down as he let out a heavy sigh.

“Wow… it’s been nearly a month after the accident,” the colt spoke in a depressing tone. But then Rainbow could hear the colt mutter out words in a much angrier sounding voice. “But she deserved It.” he mumbled. Rainbow overheard the comment, and her heart sank low. She knew who he was talking about very well.

“I’m sorry, who are you talking about?” Starley asked puzzled.

“It’s a very long story. Please don’t make me talk about it. You’ll probably hear somepony talking about it.” A smile grew back on his face, “So anyways, that’ll be ten bits for the food you got here.”

Rainbow began to panic. She was worried she was going to miss a chance to speak to Starley. But she didn’t even know what to do if she even confronted Starley, and also didn’t know what to say. She wanted to talk to her so badly just to say hello as a friend, but she would only make herself look like a fool in her costume that hid her true identity. Out of desperation, Rainbow Dash gave up on trying to reach out to her friend. She needed time to think about what to do to get her attention. She decided to walk away from the scene, feeling like a loser.

She decided to make her way to the library to check on Twilight, which involved going in Starley’s direction. Rainbow would just ignore her as she passed by her. Rainbow began walking with her head low, wishing she had the right words to face her friend. As she was walking, she began to remember the good times she had with Starley, especially the ones back in flight camp. She loved to think about memories when they would-

Rainbow felt a powerful kick against her body as she was shoved onto the ground. Rainbow Dash was laying on the dirt covered ground with a painful feeling stirring up in her body. She moaned in soreness.

“Oh Celestia! I’m so sorry! I’ve should’ve been more cautious and-“

“Well maybe if you looked where you were going-” Rainbow Dash did not continue what would’ve been a massive argument. Instead she froze in amazement. She was staring into the eyes of Starley, who had a nervous look glancing at her. Then Rainbow realized she nearly flipped out on her intended target.

“Let me help you up.” Starley said reaching for Rainbow. Rainbow allowed her friend to pick her up onto the ground. She even dusted Rainbow off with her wings. All that went through Rainbow’s mind was if what she was witnessing was actually real.

“Those bandages look really painful. Must’ve been some sort of accident.” She said trying to drive the awkwardness away from her and Rainbow.

“Uh… yeah. It was pretty intense. I nearly got killed.”

“Whoa… pretty crazy. What’d ya do?”

Rainbow did not want to come up with another lame excuse about her injury again.

“It’s kind of personal. I don’t like sharing.”

“Oh.” Starley blurted out sounding kind of embarrassed. There was an uncomfortable silence, as both ponies gave each other a shy stare and smile to one another. The storekeeper grew impatient of the two.

“Do you mare’s mind moving out of the way. I have other ponies to care to that your blocking… well not yet, but when they get here they don’t want to be blocked by two rambling ponies!”

Starley sighed.

“Listen, I kind of feel like a jerk making you go through all of this… and causing you pain on your already hurt wings.” A smiled appeared above her lip as she continued speaking. “Maybe you can head over to my place for a bit, and you can tell me a little about this place. My house is the new one in the sky made of clouds with those rainbow fountains. You’ve seen it right?”

“Oh… sure! That’s sounds cool, I’ll just-

“Oh, and the name’s Starley, I’m from Cloudsdale.”

“Shutter Cloud. I’ll head over there when I’m ready. Sometime this evening if that’s alright.”

“Sounds good to me. See you there Shutter!”

And with that, she flew off in a rush into the air, as she left behind red streaks, matching the color of her mane and tail. Rainbow watched her fly away with her massive wings flying up and down until she couldn’t see her anymore.

“How long are you going to be gone?” Fluttershy asked demanding to know.

“Just for a short while Fluttershy.” Rainbow replied in a frustrated tone. “Now come on, I need to go! You can stop asking me these stupid questions!”

“Just promise me you’ll come home right after and be safe.” Fluttershy begged.

Rainbow Dash gave Fluttershy a pathetic look; Fluttershy was acting like an overprotective mother. Looking like an idiot, Rainbow Dash brought her hoof in the air, and swore an oath keeping the promise she had just made with her friend. Just as Rainbow had a hoof out the door ready to go, Fluttershy interrupted her.

“What’s her name again? I’ve never met her before.”

Rainbow sighed in annoyance. “Her name is Starley okay! She’s new and she wants me over there at her house right now!”

“Do you even know her? I mean, from what you told me you’ve just met and-“

“Trust me Fluttershy, I know what I’m doing!” Rainbow said leaving her worried friend as she made her way on the path towards town.

“I hope.” whispered Rainbow to herself soon after she departed from the cottage.

Rainbow’s journey with the glowing afternoon sun shining across town brought back old memories, especially ones that included her old house. She wasn’t sure whether to be excited for talking to a friend she hadn’t even seen for years, or to be absolutely scared out of her mind. She had a nervous gut feeling that something bad was bound to happen.

Whenever Rainbow tried to think of the last time she saw Starley, it brought her heart pain thinking of the moment where their lips made contact with hers, and then shortly after her head was stricken down by the hooves of a monster. The lasts things Rainbow heard from Starley, were her shrieks of pleading and of forgiveness. She could just imagine what Starley thought of her, at least of the original Rainbow Dash.

“You need help getting up here?” Rainbow heard from above her head. Rainbow gazed up into the almost completely dark sky; she could Starley’s head poke out from a large cloud above her. Rainbow then noticed there was a huge amount of clouds in the sky where Starley was smiling out of. Then Rainbow noticed, she was at her home.

“Yeah, but how did you do that so-” Rainbow was shortly interrupted by hooves forcefully grabbing onto her body. Rainbow quickly realized she wasn’t standing on anything anymore, and there was more wind blowing into her face than usual. Rainbow remembered this old familiar feeling. She was flying, and it felt so good. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt wind this fast in her face. It was like discovering something she already knew about.

She was brought up to the entrance of her magnificent house. The wooden door she had flown in and out all the time back when she practiced for races was standing right in front of her. Not a single thing had changed about it.

“Neat, right! I feel bad for the poor sucker who sold this place. I especially love that symbol thingy right above the door. That rainbowy style is just so… well fitting. It feels so familiar too, like it somehow reminds me of home back in Cloudsdale. Rainbow glanced up above the door and noticed the emblem Starley was talking about. She remembered specifically making that herself, as a tribute to her cutie mark. It took her forever to make with her hooves, but she knew it was worth it. Rainbow chuckled, knowing that Starley was right in front of the pony that made the creation she made, and was complimenting it.

“It’s really cool, Starley. How’s about we get a look inside.”

“Alright, let a lady show you in.” Starley said sounding fancy, laughing right afterwards.

“Well she certainly didn’t lose the bad sense humor she had as kids.” Rainbow muttered to herself. Starley pushed walked inside the building, heading over to the kitchen room. Rainbow slowly galloped in, glancing around at the room looking for anything familiar. Nothing seemed to have changed at all; in fact everything looked as though it was the same.

‘Wait a minute… this is all of my furniture! So the town decided not to touch anything in here after I left!?’ Rainbow thought to herself.

“You’re probably asking yourself why everything is unpacked so quickly after a mare like me just moved here. Well to completely honestly, most of this stuff ain’t mine. You see apparently something happened with the owner of this house and then they never bothered with the furniture you see here, but they said they’d have some colts come in and take it away sometime. A little weird if you ask me, but there’s literally nothing in the furniture. They were all empty when I got here so I guess they did some things with those items.”

‘Well that explains a lot’ Rainbow thought to herself.

“But there was one item they must’ve forgotten.” Starley continued heading over towards a counter. Rainbow’s eyes open wide, as the curiosity of what this item could be ran in her head.

“This jar right here. And it has this weird liquid inside that I never touched. It matches the rainbow water outside so I guess this has something to do with it. Hell, it ain’t even useful to me.” She laughed. “Maybe you want it?”

Rainbow stared at the jar Starley had in her hooves. She knew that was the jar she used to transform that water back at the pond to the color it is now. It had to be if it had that rainbow liquid in there.

“Well let me stop rambling. I got a meal ready in that room over there.” Starley said trotting over to the kitchen room. Rainbow quickly followed her as the two walked into the same kitchen Rainbow would make her breakfast every morning. She took a seat on the chairs that faced the large table in front of them. Starley had prepared an adequate looking meal for them, which consisted of small hay sandwiches and what looked to be left over cupcakes from Sugarcube corner.

“I’m no cook, but since I’ve only been in this house for a couple days now I need to get used to the new kitchen. But those cupcakes that Pinkie made are delicious! Do you know Pinkie?”

‘We’ve been best friends for years.’ Rainbow thought to herself.

“Not really, we’re good friends and all but I don’t really know her as much as everypony else here does.”

Starley nodded.

“Shutter Cloud was it? That’s such a cool name. I was blessed with just plain Starley. I hate it so much. It’s such a pansy name.”

Rainbow dash laughed at the comment she made. She grabbed in for a sandwich.

“So why’d you move here to Ponyville?” Rainbow asked beginning to much on the sandwich.

“Parents got sick of me living with them all the time. They told me I had to go, but lucky for me I am amazing with weather duties. I got a job here in no time, and my parents helped me with paying for this house. But wow was I lucky. There was only one more spot left in the weather team, and who would’ve guess that it was the captain’s spot! After they looked me over, I’m now the captain of the Ponyville weather team. Now that I’m living on my own, I get to do anything I want as a free pegasus… regarding I have to work.”

Rainbow didn’t know whether to happy for her friend, or to be furious with her. She literally just took her job in a matter of weeks! It took her months to get promoted to captain of the weather team!

Rainbow Dash wanted to hear more about the ponies she left behind in Cloudsdale when she left unexpectedly. She was always curious to hear what happened to Stinger.

“Do have a special somepony back at home? A very own colt-friend?”

“My love life is nopony’s business.” Starley replied in a strict tone. There was an awkward silence in the room. Rainbow Dash felt her cheeks burn with discomfiture.

“I’m sorry about that. I’m just so sick of playing the love games. No colt understands me… and quite honestly, nopony understood those colts I’ve been with.”

Rainbow could just imagine what happened after ‘Romeo Delight’. What did Stinger do to get revenge on her? Maybe he was the reason she wasn’t interested in love anymore.

“I’m sorry to hear about that. I’ve never been in love myself.”

“Trust me Shutter, you don’t want to get into it. Love will eat you up and smile.”

Rainbow started to discuss about the town as Starley wanted. She asked many question to Rainbow, and Rainbow gave all the answers she could respond to. However in the time being the conversation about town grew old and they started talking about their interests. They both found out they were massive Wonderbolt fans and they then discussed how much they admired them. Rainbow felt a special connection between the two. They hadn’t talked like this in ages.

Starley began to talk about her life from the very start, starting when she was a young filly. Hearing Starley’s words touched Rainbow’s heart, and reminded Dash of the pony’s lives she changed over her lifetime. The things she and Starley did together were some of Rainbow Dash’s greatest moments she had ever done in her life.

But something began to bother her.

As Starley began talking about growing up and all of the friends she made during this time, Rainbow was expecting her name to be on that list. Starley was one of her only friends growing up, and she herself pulled Starley out of sticky situations. The two would’ve practically died if they didn’t work together in flight camp. They were like sisters.

The fire of cruelty grew in Rainbow’s heart as Rainbow began to notice something in Starley words. Not once in the entire conversation did she mention any flight camp. Not in a single sentence did she mention Rainbow Dash. And she never talked about the good memories she had with friends; only the bad ones with enemies. But she didn’t understand why her best friend who she grew up with all her childhood didn’t even mention her name.

After sometime of discussing about a day in the life in Pony, Rainbow decided to change the subject.

“Did you have a good childhood growing up Starley?” Rainbow asked out of the blue.

“What?” Starley replied sounding very confused.

“Were you a good friend to ponies? It’s just a curious question I have.”

“Oh… well nopony’s ever asked me that before.” Starley said. She took a second to think of an answer. “I had good friends. Well, at least I had friends that I could tolerate. But none of them really affected my life. I grew up standing up for myself.”

Rainbow Dash felt the fire in her angry beating heart spread across her body. Were all the moments they shared together wasted? They were like crime partners; they wouldn’t survived the cruel world if they weren’t together. All of the times where they said they would never forget each other, could have that been a waste of time? Rainbow Dash wanted to scream at her friend for making her feel like wasted dirt.

“But there was one who grew up with me.”

Rainbow got excited. It had to be her who she was talking about. It just had to be.

“But she betrayed me.” She said with her face turning angry. “She made me look like a complete fool because of her selfish actions. It was a long time ago at a party… no. No! Please, don’t let me talk about.”

Rainbow’s hopes exploded. After all of those years of waiting, the pony she thought she loved as a friend hated her. All of the thoughts and the greatest experiences they had together were wasted away. Rainbow couldn’t hold the tears in. They just slipped down her face. A sob made it out of Rainbow’s crushed body.

“Shutter Cloud, what’s wrong!? Are you alright? Do you need fresh air or something?”

“All of the times I was there for you!” Rainbow screamed as her tone began to sound furious. The flames within Rainbow’s body reached out of Rainbow’s eyes, as they glowed with shocking fury.

“Wait, what!? What the hell are you-“

“All these years I thought of you! All this time I’ve been dreaming of a day I could get to see you again! All the nightmares! All of the tears I shed!”

“Shutter, you’re screaming nonsense! What do you mean-“

“You were a friend I loved! Forget it; you were the only friend I loved! Now you’re spitting on my face, and all of the good times we had together!”

“Shutter… what is it that-“

“I’m Rainbow Dash!”

After that comment, there was a long pause in the room before the thunderstruck Starley could speak.

“No… no you’re fucking not! You rotten horse! Get the hell out of my face!”

“Please, I know it’s hard to believe, but what I’m saying is the cold truth!”

“Some kind of truth you got there!” Starley rose up from the table and slammed both hooves on the table. “Now get out of here Shutter Cloud, before I force you to!”

“But Starley-“

“Don’t fucking call me that!! Get out!!”

Rainbow Dash jumped from her chair and ran outside the room. Starley quickly ran after her out the door, but as she entered the room where Rainbow Dash entered left through, she was nowhere to be seen. Starley ran outside to the pitch black night, only to hear the rustling of bushes and the shaking of trees near her residence. From her views, Shutter Cloud was gone. Starley slowly turned away from the cloud floor below as she made her way back inside home.

However when she got back inside, her eyes glanced over at an empty table surface, as she felt something was missing.

Starley sat at the table for at least an hour before her eyes grew tired. She couldn’t process at all what just happened. She couldn’t ignore it, which was a problem she had with big deals like this. She thought this could’ve been a dream, or an even better solution, a nightmare. She thought maybe her head in real life was drooling on the kitchen table sleeping, and the Shutter Cloud didn’t actually come yet. But it couldn’t have been. It felt all too real.

She began to think about Rainbow Dash, and how she was always in the mood to get in a fight with her proud glorious wings shining everywhere making her look like a self absorbed egotistic maniac. But she then remembered how alone Rainbow Dash was. How almost every week she would catch her crying somewhere about something that had to do with her father. About all of the times she wished she could help her with her problems and all of the times Rainbow protected her from bullies. How maybe if she did-

There were three loud knocks at the door.

Starley caught back into focus from her thoughts as she glanced on over at the clock. It was nearly midnight, which had to mean if this wasn’t a dream, she knew who it had to be at the door. Anger took over her body as she stomped onto over to the door as she nearly broke the hinges open by opening it so fast and furiously.

The lights located right above the door clearly showed who was at the door.

“What the hell do you want!?” Starley spoke out in an enraged tone of voice.

“Prepare yourself for a different kind of truth.” Rainbow Dash spoke. She brought her hooves above her head as the jar in her hooves began to glisten under the lights casted by the house lights. The colors were all from the rainbow, changing from the original rainbow colors to a pure white color every five seconds or so. Rainbow closed her eyes as Rainbow tilted the jar over her head, as the watery substance washed over her like a shower.

“What the hell are… you?” Starley couldn’t finish her question.

Rainbow’s body transformed into an amazing sheer white color that made Starley’s eyes burn. Starley could see the brightness of the sight get brighter and brighter to the point where she had to look away.

It seemed as though the world had stopped, but in nearly several seconds later, the furious light had vanished. Starley brought her hooves away from her face, but it took a few seconds for her eyes to get used to the original dim light.

Her rainbow hair casted a shadow over her face, blocking her newly transformed eyes from Starley. The cyan skin glared in the light, as well as her rainbow lightning bolt cutie marks. Rainbow breathed heavily in exhaustion, as her wings began to expand from her body. They looked tattered and worn out and they looked as though they needed more healing. There were no bandages to be seen. Rainbow flipped her wet hair to reveal her magenta colored eyes that glistened. Starley couldn’t move.

“Ra… Rainbow Dash?” Starley spoke sounding choked up with tears. At first there was nothing but silence as the two gazed at each other. Starley was the first one to breakdown. Rainbow fell forward into Starley’s arms and buried her head into her shoulder exploding into tears. Starley soon followed in doing the same as well, except she had a tighter grip.

"Say you don’t want to chance it,

You’ve been hurt so before.

There’s no real reason to be lonely,

Give your free will a chance,

It will give a better start.”

Owner of a Lonely Heart

“Where do you think she is!?”

“Oh she’s long gone.”

“Somepony needs to go in there!”

“Are you kidding!? Nopony’s been that far into the Everfree forest before!”

“Somepony has to save her!”

These were just some of the words that the frightened crowd on the bleachers were screaming.

Part 1

“Typical Rainbow, always fashionably late.” Said Twilight with a smile on her face.

(Oh… I sure hope she takes this well)

Twilight’s heart started to beat a little faster, as she quickly realized what was only fifty feet away from her. She could never really describe it, but she compared it to a blue bullet, with rainbow streaks coming from the back of its shell. Usually when Twilight saw this she was thrilled… but today was different.

The bullet came closer and closer, the noise getting louder and louder. It finally came to a stop about five feet away from Twilight, the wind generated blowing up a cloud of dust.

“Wow Rainbow, I see you’re really training hard for tomorrow’s competition.” Twilight said cheerfully.

The dust in the air quickly disappeared to reveal a blue pegasus, none other than the famous Rainbow Dash. She was nearly out of breath, and her mane looked messier than ever. However she looked incredibly energized, for Rainbow always enjoyed Twilight's get togethers they had at the library every now and then.

“You bet! Oh boy is this competition gonna be a big one! I’ve never felt so prepared in my life!” said Rainbow in a good mood.

(Better be prepared for what I’m going to tell you…)

“Well come on in. Spike's getting the drinks ready, have a seat. Anything happen?” asked Twilight as the two walked inside the building.

“Oh do I have a story for you Twi! Pinkie and I scared the living hay outta Rarity this morning!” said Rainbow, laughing while she was talking. “She’ll never be able to look at a mirror the same way again!”

(She seems so happy… I don't want to do this...)

As soon as Spike brought the cups over to the table, they began chatting like they always did. Rainbow told the hilarious story of Pinkie, and her dying Rarity’s entire body black, watching her go insane trying to get the stuff off. She also discussed the new aerobatics she was planning on for her act tomorrow. Twilight of course, as a sophisticated pony, talked about her personal studies and how “interesting” they were. She assumed Rainbow knew everything having to do with what she was talking about, but she didn't. Rainbow changed the subject and talked about the Wonderbolts. Oh how she loved talking about that topic. Her passion for flying was like no other pegasus who had ever walked on the face of Equestria. She put all of her extreme energy and stamina into it, resulting in her unique and glorious moves that she was praised for. It was only a matter of time before the Wonderbolts asked her to join them.

Twilight got so deep and interested in the conversations the two were having, that she completely lost track of time. Before she knew it, the hour had ended.

“Well catch ya later Twi! I gotta get ready for tomorrow. I was just getting ready to head over to the field where I’m competing later to see what I’m dealing with here. Hopefully nothing too much for my incredible-”

(Oh no! The story… I have to tell her… I have to tell her now before it's too late!)

“Rainbow… I need to tell you something.” Twilight said, switching to a very serious tone. Rainbow paused, and then focused on her friend.

“Yeah, Twilight? What's up?” She said joyfully, thinking it wasn't a big deal. Twilight took a deep breath, beginning to look rather sad.

“Rainbow, have you ever had that experience of where… well… you felt betrayed by somepony, and it was somepony you once considered a good friend?” she said, being very careful about which words she was using. Rainbow looked at Twilight confused. She thought it was a stupid question, but she thought hard about it anyway. She never recalled being in a situation like that, so she shook her head.

“Well… the other day, I was at Sugar Cube Corner and… I… I overheard some things.”

Rainbow wasn’t saying a word, she was focusing all of her attention on Twilight.

“Rainbow, Gilda was there-”

As the words passed through Rainbow's head, an expression of anger rose upon her face.

“What’s that feather-head doin’ here?! Didn’t I teach her not to come here anymore?! Is she still here?! 'Cause if I ever get my hooves on her, I’ll-”

“Rainbow! The things she was saying were just… awful! She was back lashing you like crazy! Getting revenge on you for making her look like a fool!”

“Oh really? Well who’s gonna believe in a few rumors?! Especially from a jerk like Gilda! What does she have that I don’t-”

“She was with other ponies Dash, and one of them had something that actually proved her point!”

“Wait… Wha? What type of proof? What would need proving!?”

“Rainbow, she talked about a particular event that they nicknamed… if I remember… Romeo Delight.”

It was going to be one wild night in Cloudsdale for any pegasus that came to it. A celebration for the pegasi that had just completed their third year of flight camp, ready to complete one more year, and then pursue their dreams of flying. The party was titled “Romeo Delight”, named after the party-thrower, Romeo. It occurred every year, with each year being the same 'ol party... however this particular party would be one to remember.

“Come ON Dashie! Just do one and then you’ll be done!” begged Gilda.

“I don’t know guys… what if I… get a little… you know, carried away?” said Rainbow Dash in a worried voice.

“Don’t be scared Dash!” another voice said. “We’ve all seen you do things that most other pegasi would never even dream of doing! You’re not going to back off now just because of a silly little drink now are you?!”

Dash looked down at the drink rather worried, for she knew if she got tipsy, it could ruin the night for her. She would be remembered as the pegasus that couldn’t say no, the pegasus that went too far! The pony that got waste-

Dash took a gulp of the drink.

A mini applause rang out as Dash began drinking more and more, enjoying the taste as it flowed down her throat.

“Yeah! There we go! I knew you would do it Dashie!” said Gilda in a rather surprised voice.

Dash then felt a little better about herself. She also felt good… too good. She poured the rest into her mouth, slowly so she could appreciate the flavor. As soon as she finished, she slammed the drink down promptly, and reached for another.

“See Dash! Told ya’ you could do it!” said Gilda in a proud attitude.

“Of course I could! But I think this is going to be my last one. You know, just to be on the safe side.”

A few minutes later, Dash could hardly walk.

“Um… don't you think you've had enough?” somepony asked her in a tad bit concerned voice.

“Whoa! Take a load of this!” Rainbow said to the colt asking her the question. “Hey man… that suit is you! You’ll get some hooves tonight for sure! Tell us how… you… how you do!” Rainbow rambled. She began to slide to the ground.

“Is she all right?” asked somepony else.

“Dashie… do you need help?” asked a voice Rainbow could barely recognize.

Rainbow slowly got up and attempted to speak. “I’m… f… fin…. fine as can be… and-” Rainbow was stuttering, there was something very wrong with her head. She was falling each time she tried to get up, laughing every time she did.

Then she did the unthinkable.

She wrapped her arms across the pony that had asked if she needed any help, and pulled herself back up… and pushed her lips to hers.

A large gasp came from those who saw it, along with cheering as Rainbow closed her eyes. She was too drunk to comprehend what she was doing, and they continued on. Whether the other pony was drunk herself was unknown, but for some reason it felt like it never ended. Until...

WHAM!

Rainbow Dash was shot to the ground, a rush of extreme pain coursed through her body, concentrating in her head. She had completely lost consciousness.

The music slowed to a stop, and everypony gasped in shock. Everypony’s attention went straight to what was happening around Rainbow. The only thing that could be heard were the small whimpers coming from Rainbow.

“Sting! What the hell do you think-”

“YOU STAY QUIET!” yelled the angered pony standing above Rainbow. “You should be taught a lesson for cheating on me with this… pathetic excuse for a pegasus!”

Rainbow tried her best to figure out what was going on.

“Sting! It was an-”

“A very big mistake is what it was!”

A crowd had built up around the scene as the yelling of the colt attracted more attention. The crowd was overwhelmed and they whispered amongst each other, frightened of what might happen to Rainbow Dash.

Dash could finally open her eyes. She felt her nerves regain their feeling, and could feel blood coming out of her nose. With blurry eyes, she saw who she was looking at. She was looking right into the eyes of Stinger, a very physical and powerful colt, who was a good friend of Gilda. More importantly, he was the boyfriend of one of Dash’s best friends Starley. He was very angry, and very unstable. Probably drunk for all she knew. It wouldn’t have surprised her. But she had never seen him like this.

He was yelling at a particular pony, the pony she had kissed… Starley.

Starley was one of Rainbow Dash’s best friends, ever since they were fillies. She had breath-taking, yellow flame colored fur with a wondrous scorching red mane and tail. They grew up soaring together, and they had a great passion for flying. They loved to chat with each other, especially about their dreams. Starley wanted to be a flying teacher, Rainbow… a Wonderbolt. That’s all Rainbow would talk about. She would sometimes talk about what her costume would look like. Starley called her a little dreamer, Rainbow called it the future.

They had had a great bond, until Starley had gotten a boyfriend. Rainbow could always tell Stinger didn’t like her at all. Whether it was because of her tomboyish personality or her interests, she always tried to avoid him, and he always tried to avoid her. When Starley met the colt, Rainbow had been happy for her friend, or at least she thought she was.

Stinger, on the other hand, was different. He was a large brown shaded pony with messy red hair that focused more on competition than on fun, which was very different from her and Starley’s personalities. Rainbow couldn’t really tell if Sting even liked Starley at all. She thought he was doing it to make himself look good, but somehow it made Starley happy, and that was what Dash wanted for her friend.

Starley had tears forming in her eyes, feeling sorry for Rainbow and afraid of her own boyfriend. She was frightened, and could tell Rainbow was too. Then after Sting finished scolding Starley, there was a pause. Sting turned around, glaring at Rainbow.

“And YOU!" Stinger said, picking up Rainbow Dash slowly. A bolt of fear ran through her body, knowing she was too weak to defend herself. She had never been this scared before.

“I think you had a little too much to drink tonight.” He said in a soft but angry voice. He then threw Rainbow Dash to the floor harshly. Rainbow yelped at the sudden pain that ran through her spine. She was now scared beyond belief… scared for her own life. She had no control at all.

“I’m gonna tell you something, you hear?” Sting said in a serious tone. Rainbow looked up, hoping for it to be over, only to notice Sting's back hoof stretched back.

“You do not!” BAM!

Rainbow Dash screamed, he had kicked her on her right flank, causing her to jolt with immense pain. He then slowly moved to Rainbow Dash’s other side.

“I repeat, do NOT!” BAM! Right on her other flank. Rainbow screamed again, tears coming out of her damaged eyes.

“Touch Starley again! Got it!?” he yelled in an intensely threatening voice.

Rainbow could barely move her agonized head to respond in any way. She didn’t know what to do besides lie there until she could get back up.

Sting then went over to the table to grab a drink, and returned to Rainbow Dash. He took a sip, and then threw the cup at her, leaving Rainbow to just lay there in her misery.

Sting then made the biggest mistake of his life.

He laughed as he realized Rainbow Dash was helpless. He could do practically whatever he wanted to her. He kicked Rainbow Dash a few more times, except this time, he aimed directly at Rainbow Dash’s wings.

Rainbow screamed and hollered at the strikes louder than she had ever screamed before. Her wings were like fine China, delicate to the touch and extremely precious to her. She had never in her life felt pain like that, especially in her wings. She began sobbing aloud as she lay there helplessly with her throbbing wings.

Gilda then came from out of the crowd, running over to help her beaten down friend. Sting took a step back, as Gilda put her arm in his path, blocking him from making any more contact. She tried to pick up Dash, being extremely careful not to harm her in any way, but she needed help. Starley came over, and both Gilda and Starley picked up Dash beneath her distressed arms, with Dash’s hind legs dragging on the ground.

Dash looked as if she had just came out of a boxing fight. She had bruises and cuts where Sting had kicked her, blood coming out of her nose and various other places, and her mane looked like a train wreck. She also had tears running down her cheek and moans were making their way out of her mouth. Her head was hung, dripping alcohol and blood, with more tears flying down. Her eyes were barely open, and her mouth was tightly clenched trying to ease the suffering. It only made breathing more difficult.

“I’m leaving.” Sting said in a low and outraged voice.

Rainbow looked up at him. He looked back at her with no remorse at all. Rainbow was scared. Scared of being touched by him again, scared of being hurt, and scared for her life. But he just watched and began to turn away. He walked slowly to the door with the ponies backing away from him with fear as he neared them.

Rainbow felt a surge of something run throughout her body, a feeling that made her fear completely fade away. Anger. Rage. And it was uncontrollable. Sting had touched and injured her precious wings that she adored and couldn’t live without… the want of revenge also crept into her thoughts.

She stopped sobbing, and opened her achy eyes. She quickly looked up, completely ignoring the irritation of her shoulders and back. With a glare in her eye, she stared at Sting who had his back turned away from Dash, just a couple feet away. Gilda looked down at Dash, noticing the angry expression on her face.

“Dash…” Gilda whispered. “Just let him go-“

Dash promptly shot her hoof out towards Sting’s back legs, just barely reaching him. Losing his balance, Sting tripped and landed flat on his face on the hard, cold, wet floor.

There was a large gasp from the crowd as everypony gazed at Rainbow.

“Dash, you are literally going to die now.” said Gilda in a concerned and heated tone. Starley just stared at Sting with jaw opened with awe.

Dash didn’t care. Without saying a word she began to stand up, using her frail wings to slowly push Starley and Gilda away from her.

The crowd was indescribable. Some ponies were cheering for Rainbow Dash, and some for Sting. However most were talking frantically to each other, either painted up with fear, excitement, or astonishment. Gilda was now terrified for her friend.

“Dash!” she called out.

Rainbow swiftly turned her head back toward Gilda. Gilda froze as she looked into Rainbow's face. She had never seen such wrath in a pony’s face in her entire life. Rainbow had a mixture of pure frenzy and not knowing what the hell she was going to do on her face. Gilda was silent, not knowing what she could say or do to help.

Dash turned back to Sting who was on the ground, staring into Rainbow's eyes. He was a little surprised at what just happened, thinking Rainbow Dash was too weak to fight back. Sting and Rainbow were nearly two feet away from each other, neither knowing what they would do first.

Sting made the first move. On the ground, he quickly swung his legs, curving them to trip Rainbow Dash. Rainbow backed away hastily, barely missing his swipe. Sting was now in a position that gave her an opportunity to give him a taste of his own medicine. Rainbow came up to Sting, and forcefully struck him in his side with her back hooves. The crack of bones soothed Rainbow's ears.

Sting gave out a shout of pain as he curled up his body. Though Rainbow gave out a harsh moan, putting that much pressure on an already sore hoof caused a lot of pain. More uproars came from the crowd as things started to become heavier. Rainbow used her other hoof this time, and harshly gave Sting another fierce hit. Rainbow was winning.

Just then Gilda turned to Starley, and noticed something very strange about her. The yellow Pegasus was looking very scared. Her watery eyes and frantic look told Gilda that something wasn't right. She was staring directly at Sting, watching his every move.

“Hey Star,” Gilda began to speak. “Is everything cool? You wanna go outside for a bit until this is over?”

“Gilda… I’m scared for Dashie.” Starley said, tearing up a bit.

“Starley, I think she’s gonna make it." Gilda said, sounding quite sure of it. "She’s got this under-“

“No she doesn’t!" Starley snapped. She turned her head at Gilda, who had a look of curiosity on her face.

"Before Sting and I left, Sting brought something, just in case something like this happened.”

Gilda’s eyes widened with apprehension. She paused, and then began talking rather frantically.

“Starley! What did he bring?!”

Rainbow was just about to buck Sting once more while he was on the ground, but she noticed something that made her stop. It was laughter, and it was coming from Sting. Sting started laughing harder and harder as he slowly got back up like nothing even happened. When he finally stood up, he began to grin at Rainbow.

“Heh, heh, heh.” he went off... then his smile completely left his face. “No more Mr. Nice pony!” Stinger said, sounding bitter.

He then reached for something at his side: a leather container he had been holding this whole time. Rainbow began to feel a little sick; she didn’t know what to do. She knew running away was not the answer, but she realized if Sting thrashed her one more time like before, she could be done for. She worried about all of the-

Rainbow lost her breath, trying not to believe what she was now seeing.

Sting swung his hoof in the air.

“Not such a tough pony now are ya?” What he was holding was a leather handle with a razor sharp blade at the end of it. The dagger was quite large, and looked like it had been sharpened before the party. Everypony gasped and began to panic. They all took a few steps away from the scene, giving the savage pony his space. Gilda had her jaw open in alarm, while Starley began to gently weep. Sting began to walk slowly towards Dash who was now breathing heavily. He began to grin as Dash teared up at the thought of what he might do to her.

Dash’s mind was going in all directions. She couldn’t leave by air, her wings were too injured. Running to the door wouldn't work, the crowd was blocking all exits. She turned her head back to Gilda and Starley, but for their own safety they followed the crowd and backed away from the brawl. Gilda had sweat streaming down her face with a look of terror, and Starley was shriveled up in fear with tears of distress running from her eyes.

Rainbow's fear levels spiked as she realized she had run out of space to back away from Sting. The cold wall gave her spine an uncomfortable shiver as she was now flat against it with Sting still creeping up on her. There was only a five foot space between the two, the distance becoming shorter and shorter each second. Sting was staring directly at Rainbow with the bloodshot eyes on his raging drunk face burning heavily with hate. He shot out his empty hoof, and Rainbow yelped in fear. She tried to take a deep breath, but something prevented her from doing that. It was something she’d never felt before, suffocation. Rainbow brought her eyes down to see Sting had his big hoof on her neck, pinning her against the wall, and he began to chuckle.

"Sting..." Rainbow whimpered, her voice muffled, barely a whisper, by the hoof around her throat. The crowd was dead silent, as all focus was on Sting's other hoof which carried the blade. “Please… Don’t…”

Sting brought the knife up to Rainbow’s left cheek as she closed that eye. She began to cry, which only made breathing more difficult. But fear and sorrow were the only emotions left in Dash's broken body.

“You know, you have a pretty face Dash. Too bad it has to go.”

He then placed his blade on Rainbow’s skin. She was in full-panic mode now, as both eyes shot open and her lungs started working overtime. She felt the cool blade touch her cheek, her mind was about to explode. Any second now he could-

The scream could have been heard from a mile away. The faces of the ponies in the crowd went absolutely mad. Some were dead silent, screaming, whispering, or doing any number of things that could cause a commotion. They cringed at the sight of the blade cutting into Dash's face.

Rainbow felt the burning sensation strip down her face, slow but excruciating. She felt warm blood stream down to the bottom of her face, beginning to drip onto the floor. Rainbow felt like she was about to faint. Things started looking blurred; she slowly closed her eyes, allowing the tears to drift down onto her face. Feeling weaker and weaker by the minute, she could no longer take full breaths of air. Everything started turning black.

She had given up…

'No…' she thought to herself. 'No… No… NO!'

A brief rush of adrenaline ran through her body, and began to turn into a sway of pure fury. She felt outraged for not sticking up for herself, disgraced. She let her fear take advantage of her, and now it was paying her back with sheer pain. All she wanted now… was revenge.

Rainbow opened her weak eyes to the fullest, ignoring the vicious cut on her face, and glared at Sting. He didn't even notice her, he was too busy enjoying torturing his victim. He was staring at where he was cutting, far too distracted to notice Rainbow’s sudden mood change. Rainbow waited for the right time, when he least expected it…

'Do it Dashie… Do it… Do it…DO IT!'

Dash immediately brought both hooves onto Sting's arm, and the blade swerved away from her face. Sting then stared at Dash’s hooves, looking a little stunned at her rather fast recovery, but was then blocked by irritation once more.

“You just don’t know when to stop, do you Dash?” said Sting in a harsh tone.

Dash didn’t even flinch at the rude comment. She was too focused on keeping the blade away from her body. Dash thought the idea of revenge was something definitely worth considering after the way she was treated by him. It seemed only fair. Then again… this is Rainbow Dash. The violent solutions came first to her in situations like this.

Dash watched as the blade come ever closer to her face as she began to lose power against the colt’s strength, until an idea popped into her head. She looked down at the ground for a moment, checking if her plan could work. It could. Dash looked up at Sting. She began to grin; Sting looked rather puzzled.

In a matter of seconds, both Dash and Sting were on the ground. Dash saw Sting's footing as an advantage. All she had to do was wrap her leg around his and Sting would lose his balance. However, her plan had backfired big time. Sting was now on top of Rainbow, giving him the upper hand of the fray.

'Come on Dash! At least try!' she thought to herself.

Sting and Dash were using all of the strength in their arms at this point, with Sting getting closer and closer to Rainbow's chest with the blade. He was winning.

An extremely panicked look was on Rainbow's face, and a wicked grin on Sting’s. The blade was making its way toward Rainbow’s sweating body, coming closer every second, her heart beating more and more rapidly.

Then the adrenaline rushed in as the cool blade touched Dash’s chest. Not even making a cut, it sent a signal right to Dash’s head, 'Do it! Before he freaking kills you!'

With a tear coming down from her eye, her arms starting to wobble, Dash began to push up Sting's beating hooves. Then a risky idea formed in Dash’s head: get the blade. Rainbow then began to quickly twist her hooves, making the blade go to nearly a 45 degree angle. Sting was now grinding his teeth in frustration. Whatever was going through his drunken head, it was obvious he wanted to end this fight just as much as Dash did. In just a split second, Dash released her right hoof and grabbed on to a better spot on the leather handle in order to give her a better grip of the base of the knife. Sting now had a much different expression on his face, changing from extreme frustration into one of alarm, knowing that Dash was overpowering him.

Dash was making progress, pushing the knife away from the two ponies, but then the thought of revenge returned. It seemed only right to get back at him, but then again she could just end it right here…

It was too late to make a choice.

It was clever, but Sting's plan greatly backfired. He raised his back hoof and slammed it against Dash’s. The sudden action caused Dash to do something that Sting wasn’t expecting.

The blade made a long cut across Sting’s right arm, ending the brawl.

It wasn’t Dash’s fault, not at all. The sudden shock of pain had startled Dash and her arm swung across Sting’s, causing the blade to scratch his entire arm. The cut was somewhat deep, and it sprayed a lot of blood, with more still coming out. It went from the front of his hoof to almost the beginning of his shoulder, which, given Stinger's size, was quite the slice.

He gave a large yelp, but he was too drunk to react normally. He slowly slid off to the right side of Dash and on to the ground, facing sideways, curling into a feeble position. He was moaning and covering his arm, beginning to mumble some words that Dash didn’t quite understand. Some ponies from the crowd came out to help him.

Rainbow looked at her bloodstained hoof, the equally bloody blade staring back at her. The blade dropped out of Dash’s hoof and fell to the cold, hard ground.

'What… have I done?' Rainbow thought to herself.

She looked back up with tears in her eyes. She never meant for this to happen. The crowd was dead silent, and before anypony had a chance to react, Rainbow opened her weak wings, and flew straight out of the door as fast as she possibly could, ignoring the excruciating pain her wings gave her.

It was late and very shadowy, but Rainbow Dash was able to reach her home, just barely making it to the door. Her house lights glowed brightly in the sky, along with the grand rainbow fountain near the entrance, glowing with a passion.

Rainbow Dash lived in what looked like a dream house to anypony. It was three stories tall, had a glorious yard on both sides with many fountains and cloud sculptures, and bright lights surrounding the structures.

But what caught ponies’ attention, was the mammoth rainbow fountain that was placed near the entrance for all to see. It was like a mansion fit for royalty.

Rainbow took a large breath, and heaved at the door. She almost tripped going up the stairs to the door, but she had managed to get two hooves on the knob, making a huge effort to twist it. The door slowly crept open as the exhausted pegasus nearly fainted in.

She made a break for the stairs, using both hooves to drag herself up the rails. After her great escape of the party, her wings were too beaten up to even make an effort to fly up to her room.

She was nearly halfway up the stairway when suddenly a cry came from the bottom of the steps.

“Rainbow? By Celestia! What happened to you!?” yelled the frightened mare. Rainbow turned around in utter shock. Her wet eyes wide with the rush of fright.

“Mother? I was just… about… to-”

“You’re covered in, blood! Rainbow Dash! What happened!?” she yelled in a more angry tone.

“Mother, it...” Rainbow Dash didn’t want to ever speak of the night again, as long as she lived. “It’s nothing, please just-“

“Nothing!? I swear Rainbow Dash! This is the last time in my life I'll ever trust you again! This is just too far! What you’ve been doing these past years have led me to realize that!” yelled her mother near the top of her lungs.

Rainbow began to tear up once more. She hated herself for what she had done. “Please mother… I-”

“Oh no, don’t give me that! All the time with that! There’s your excuse right there! You make me worry sick about you, and it seems you don’t even care!”

Rainbow replied with multiple sobs, not knowing what to say or do.

“It seems like you are better off living without the ponies who really love you, doesn’t it!? You show as much satisfaction with me as I now do to you!”

Rainbow began to shed tears in her distress as she made the decision to turn around and finish her way up to the stairs. Her mother didn’t even make an attempt to comfort her in her greatest time of need. She went up the last flight of stairs to the third floor and headed toward her room, not to cry, but to pack. She slammed the door shut and locked it.

Rainbow picked up her almost filled suitcase and flung it onto her sheet-less bed. Her room was almost completely empty, only a few items remained. She started to grab some of the precious items that were still located in the largely vacant room, and put them in her bag.

The memories the possessions brought back to her as she was packing increased her misery, making her cry even more. Especially one photo, of her family. The picture showed her as nothing more than a filly, along with her mother and father. Smiling, even her, before the fights happened. She couldn’t bear it.

Then all of a sudden, two heart-stopping strikes on the door caught Rainbow’s full attention.

“Rainbow Dash!” a loud scream came from outside the door.

Dash began to look around in panic, trying to find one very crucial item.

“Rainbow Dash!” a louder scream along with two even louder bangs came from outside the door.

Then she saw it on the floor. A piece of paper… and a pencil.

“RAINBOW DASH!” came the final scream Dash heard.

Mother, it is time for me to go. You will never be forgotten and I swear I will always love you forever. And I promise we will see each other again, and that’ll be a promise I keep. I’m so sorry. –Rainbow Dash

Dash left the note on her bed. She then looked around her room for the very last time, crying hard as she did. She then closed her suitcase and slowly began to carry it with her damaged right arm, her left too weak to be useful.

She headed for the glass window and quickly opened it. Being extremely careful, she placed her banged up legs on the edge, causing agony for the pegasus. She then remembered about her wings, how they were too injured to fly away from-

Bang! Bang!

The sudden blast of hooves banging on the door caused Dash to lose concentration. She lost balance, and her left hoof slipped.

It was a three-story building, and Dash was on the top floor. She dropped her suitcase while trying to regain balance, but she couldn’t. Luckily, she fell forward. If she had fallen back into the room, it would have caused major problems for her already injured back. But on the other hand, she was plummeting to her death.

Since she had fallen forward with her belly facing the ground, she tried to open her wings, but they wouldn’t budge. She tried finding something to grab onto, but there was nothing. Full of fear, she screamed as the tears began to stream to the sides of her face. She knew it was the end, but she couldn't accept it.

She was about ten feet away from the ground, but then it all just… stopped.

She stopped, midair, or that’s what it felt like at least. Thoughts were racing through her head, wondering what had happened.

'Is this what it feels like when you die?' she thought to herself.

But then she realized something. A soft feeling on her chest and waist was grasping onto her, in fact, grasping onto her a little too hard. She stopped screaming momentarily after the feeling rushed through her body, but she still kept her eyes slammed shut with the feeling of fright. Thoughts were racing through her head on what this feeling could be, what it could have meant. Her questions were soon answered.

Dash felt the sensation of grass arise on her back as if she was laying down on it. She was confused… what just happened? As she felt the solid ground against her back, she was greatly relieved. She actually thought she was in heaven, or at least someplace like it. It felt so peaceful, so she decided to get a look at her surroundings. She slowly opened her eyes to find a worried look on a friend, a griffin to be exact.

“Dashie! Are you insane!?” said her friend in a panicked tone.

“Gilda, was that… you?” Dash said surprised. Dash realized that the soft feeling that caught her was Gilda's feathers.

“Rainbow Dash!” She yelled as she pinned herself to the rainbow pegasus. Her face turned red with rage. “What is wrong with you!? Killing yourself over… over… well this! That's freaking senseless! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“What!?” Rainbow yelled out in confusion. She was shocked that her friend would say something like that. But then she realized, she did almost accidentally kill herself. She began to get defensive.

“I wasn’t trying to kill myself Gilda!”

“Oh really,” Gilda said in a sarcastic tone. “Then what were you doing exactly?”

Dash began to tear up. She was now being harassed by one of the only friends she had left. She felt lonely, too lonely. Nopony seemed to to love her in this world anymore. Not even her family. She looked into her friend’s angry eyes and her heaving chest, taking deep breaths of frustration. Dash couldn’t take it anymore.

She turned her head, facing away from her angry friend.

“Leaving here. For good.” She said softly with a depressed attitude. Rainbow’s newly calm demeanor turned into sorrowful weeping; she had had enough for one night.

Gilda calmed down, realizing she had gone too far for her broken friend. She backed away from Rainbow, giving her some space. Rainbow looked up at her friend, who was now feeling guilty for what she had just done. She stopped crying.

“Say uh… can you get that for me?” asked Rainbow Dash as she slowly raised her weak arm to point at the windowsill. It was her suitcase, standing there right on the edge where she had dropped it.

“Oh um, sure Dashie.” Gilda said. She opened her wings and, in nearly two seconds, flew up to the windowsill, grabbed the suitcase, and brought it back down.

“I tripped.” said Dash in a soft voice, grabbing the case from her friend.

“What?” asked Gilda a little puzzled, “Oh… well what’s wrong with a door?” she asked while giggling, trying to lighten up the mood.

Dash glared at Gilda, which told her to change the subject as soon as possible. She then looked at the suitcase, and a question entered her mind.

“Dash, where are you going to go? I mean like, your own hometown isn’t really a place to run away from.” She asked puzzled.

Dash’s eyes turned to Gilda, she looked as though she was making a tough decision by the looks on her face. Rainbow took a deep breath.

“Gilda, I’m going to tell you something that nopony’s ears except for yours must ever hear, and you must promise me that with your life.” said Rainbow in a somber voice.

“Dash, whatever it is, nopony is going to be hearing it from my beak.” She said compassionately.

Dash took another deep breath; she was getting ready to reveal something big.

“I'm not running away. I’m moving to a newly built house in Ponyville, one made of clouds, and the best part is, it’s in the sky.” Dash explained.

Gilda’s eyes grew wide with shock. It was life changing news for Gilda, she was about to lose a friend. But then again, she felt so happy for Rainbow.

“Fluttershy told me about the town… and the house, and I thought why not give it a shot after I completed my flight training here... or at least most of it. But hey, she got the mayor to offer me a job to kick clouds all day.” Rainbow said. A small smile appeared on the torn face of the pegasus.

“Dash, I’m so proud of you.” Gilda said. Her face then turned distressed.

“What’s the matter Gilda?” asked Dash in a bothered voice.

“It’s just… Ponyville is so far away… and… we might not have a chance to… you know… see each other.”

“Don’t be silly Gilda! Of course we’ll see each other again. I mean, c’mon! I’ll still want to see you lose races to me when I move there.” Gilda chuckled.

“We’ll see about that!” she said with a grin.

They both smiled as they looked into each other's friendly faces. Dash was the first to say it, her face turning into complete worry.

“We’ll never speak of this night ever again… promise.” She said in a scared tone.

“Swear it.” Gilda said enthusiastically.

There couldn’t have been a happier look on Dash’s scratched face all night. Dash then heard the door in her room barge open.

“I better get out of here.” Dash said in a panic now bending down to reach her case.

“I’m losing time, I wanna get there before-” POP! Dash gave a great moan. Her back. It was something she had been expecting.

“Um… I think I better help you… at least get to town.” said Gilda in a courteous voice. Rainbow nodded as her face slowly filled with an expression of sharp pain. Gilda slowly picked up her friend like she did when she saved her, and began to fly away from the house. Dash was so weak, she began to sleep in Gilda’s arms. Gilda just smiled, as she flew towards the edge of Cloudsdale.

There was an oppressive silence in the room. Dash’s face went completely dead. Her once incensed mood turned immediately into a face full of panic and shame. A small tear even began to form in her eye.

“Rainbow? Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked. Dash didn't move a muscle. “Rainbow? What is it?”

Twilight slowly moved her hoof towards Rainbow Dash’s, which was on the table. She went to touch Rainbow’s hoof to see if she was still dazed. That’s when Rainbow lost control. As soon as Twilight touched the blue hoof, Rainbow, in a panic, shot her hoof backwards guarding it from her friend, causing a small clatter on the table. Twilight stared into Dash’s eyes, and Dash stared directly at Twilight’s. Both expressions were full of confusion. Rainbow quickly regretted what she had just done.

“What… kind of proof?” Rainbow asked, strangely quiet.

“Uh, what was that Rainbow? I didn’t quite catch that.” said Twilight keeping a polite attitude.

“I said what did she have!?” Rainbow said sharply, raising her voice. Once again there was a moment of awkward silence that echoed through the room.

“Well there was a colt… and a very unpleasant looking one too I might add. He had a large scar across his arm.”

Rainbows eyes shot open, the pupils contracting. Rainbow began to harass Twilight with questions.

“Was he a pegasus?!” she asked demandingly.

“Oh… uh… yes he was.” Twilight said trying her best to remember. Rainbow began to sweat.

“What else!?” she asked in all out dismay.

“Pictures… they said ponies were taking them at the celebration you were at, and they somehow got a lot of them. I didn’t really see what they depicted, but I could pretty much tell there were photos… Dash! Are you all right!?“

The tear that was building up in Dash’s eye finally flew down with ease. Her tear was not one of sadness, but mostly of fear, and the thoughts of everypony’s reactions when they saw those pictures. She started to have bad feelings for her future, especially ones involving her best friends.

“Rainbow Dash, you can tell me whatever it is that’s troubling you. Trust me, I don’t believe in any of those things they were saying… even with all the pictures! I mean heck, they could’ve all been fake!” Twilight was saying in a positive mood, trying to cheer up her friend.

“But they’re not! Everything… it’s all… true!” yelled Rainbow Dash filled with sorrow. She put her hooves on her face beginning to sob greatly.

“What?” Twilight said in confusion. Twilight thought to herself, she needed to help her friend without getting her even more upset. Although, she was rather curious of this “Romeo Delight” event. She wanted to know more about it.

“Rainbow?” she said truly sympathetically. Rainbow raised her head only showing her teary magenta eyes. “Whatever it is that is troubling you, as a friend, you can share with me. I want to help!”

Dash’s eyes turned from agony to pure ferociousness.

“Oh you do eh!? Why!? Why should I trust you Twilight!? So you can just stab me in the back the next opportunity you get?! Oh No! Not this time! I thought I could trust ponies that treated me with kindness and tolerance, but no!”

“Rainbow Dash! You know I would never do that!”

“You wouldn’t eh. Yeah right, I can see right through you Twilight! You’re just like everypony else!”

“Please, I’m just trying to help you!”

“Nopony can help me!”

“You’re acting insane Rainbow! This isn’t like you!”

Rainbow Dash finally snapped. She slammed her hooves on the table, and, raising her right hoof, she aimed for Twilight’s cheek, head-on.

The force turned Twilight's head to the side, leaving a painful looking red hoof mark on her face. She had only made a small shout of pain upon the strike. For a moment, Rainbow felt satisfied with herself. She felt like she had an absolute reason to do what she had just done, but that feeling quickly faded.

Rainbow then remembered something that she hadn’t thought of for a long time. Sting’s vicious acts. She recalled how his over-reaction nearly killed her. She looked at what she had just done, to her best friend.

“Twilight!” she said in a voice that sounded like she was pleading for forgiveness. “Please! I… I…” she was interrupted.

Twilight slowly turned to Rainbow’s face with the worst expression Rainbow ever saw her friend show. It showed trepidation and misery along with a long, streaming tear coming from her eye. The expression of unbelief, it brought the worst feeling to Dash's weak heart. For a few moments the two ponies were motionless, still trying to figure out what had just happened.

“Twilight… I… I would never-” Dash was having trouble speaking. She didn’t know what to say. She was horrified with herself. She realized that she was doing the exact same thing to Twilight that had been done to her that damn night so long ago.

“I’m sorry,” Dash said as she closed her eyes in an awful, teary remorse. Before Twilight could say anything, assuming she was going to say anything at all, Dash stormed out of her chair and flew straight out the door. She went faster going out the door than she did coming in late to Twilight’s home.

Just then Spike came in from the other room.

“Jeez, what was all that?” Spike asked, curious.

“Rainbow…” Twilight said slowly. “And a part of her, I believe, is gone forever.”

Rainbow’s mind was shattered into a thousand pieces. She was empty, and became lost in her thoughts, not knowing what to do. So many things she wasn’t told. Now that she was starting to learn, her spirit was changing within her.

She knew only one place where she could go and settle down. It was located deep in the Everfree forest, a place full of memories; where she could remind herself of good times and bad times. It reminded her of home, and where dreams could fly around her head in solitude.

She called it the rainbow pool.

It was a secret, personal place where she went when she felt dazed and confused. It was so secret that only she knew of it, and would never share its location, even with her friends. The liquid found in the pond there was once clear as the bright summer sky, but Rainbow had added something very special to it. She added a jar of liquid rainbow to the water, making the colors of the rainbow rove around in it, all seven of them. It was a beautiful sight that she felt comfortable around. She even got in sometimes. The colors all had different sensations, which soothed her greatly.

The pond had an interesting story to it as well. When Dash first moved to the town, she only knew one citizen, her old friend, Fluttershy. Fluttershy introduced her to some of her friends she had met, but as unsocial as she was, it didn’t really do much for Rainbow.

She was lonely; she couldn’t speak to her mother, to her friends back in Cloudsdale, not even to Gilda. She was busy back at Cloudsdale continuing flight camp. Rainbow would go to her new cloud home to cry, or sometimes find a spot in town where nopony could see her and mourn.

But one long afternoon, the pain in her heart felt worse than ever before. She just couldn’t bear it any longer. She was already in the air heading home when a flash of heartbreaking memories appeared out of nowhere. She didn’t feel like going home this time, but rather, she decided, she would go wherever her wings took her.

She flew into the Everfree forest, and she flew far into it, uncertain of where she was anymore. The day turned into a scenic sundown as the pegasus kept flying into the mystifying woods. She was thinking that she would keep flying until the tears just stopped coming. That was until a shimmer of light reflected off water gleamed into her tear filled eyes. It was like she was possessed; she flew down on the spot where the light caught her eye. Pure beauty.

The spot where the large and incredible pond was couldn’t have been at a better place. Large trees surrounded the area, and the grass gleamed with loveliness. In the air you could see Cloudsdale, which glowed with bright lights, igniting the striking clouds that held it up. It brought back memories of her home, and of the amazing experiences of growing up and becoming a young mare. At another angle from where the pool lay was the astonishing city of Canterlot. You could see Canterlot from Ponyville, but the view was much better from the pond. Her dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt made the sight even more worthwhile, for on some days, she could see small specks of several of the greatest fliers in Equestria practice in the cloud-covered skies near the glorious city.

Dash tried to stare at her own reflection in the rainbow colored water below her. She couldn’t bear to look at it; she was too ashamed of herself to do so. The tears were slowly coming down her face as she began to weep out loud. Smacking her friend made her feel like a monster.

But then she felt something extremely odd, something she had never felt before. It felt like she couldn’t cry anymore, like all of the tears stored in her body had finally run out. A memory that had been locked up for so many years, so long that she couldn't recall the last time she thought of it, that was never meant to be opened again had been thrown back at her face, and she had let it loose on one of her greatest friends.

She looked at her reflection, the thoughts in her head finally winding down. She splashed her face with the water, feeling more serene. She then rubbed her face again, drying her it off.

A positive thought ran through Dash’s head.

“Wait a minute… proof shmoof! I mean, everypony remembers Gilda as the big bully she is today. Who are they gonna trust more, the loyal amazing pegasus, or some feathered party crasher! And who cares about pictures and lousy arms! Everypony, no matter what, will treat me the same no matter whats thrown against me! Just watch!”

Rainbow got up, a grin worn proudly on her face . She felt right, oh so amazingly rational, but a minor gut feeling was telling her she was making a big mistake.

As Dash flew into town she felt as normal as ever, but she still had a small feeling in her gut that something didn’t quite fit in. She zoomed down onto the semi-crowded streets and began to trot with a beam on her face. However, the minor feeling of insecurity inside her body was bothering her.

For about a minute or so, she had been walking across the town looking and greeting ponies feeling like nothing ever happened, but then Rainbow heard the laughter.

At first it didn’t really catch Rainbow’s attention. Heck, the laughter could’ve been about anything, she thought to herself. But then a soft voice coming from the same direction grabbed her attention by the throat and proved her wrong.

“Look everypony. It’s Shamebow Crash.” said a voice laughing.

“Careful she doesn’t have a knife on her.” said another voice laughing as well.

“How do you think she lives with herself?” said another voice in disgust, then began to laugh. Rainbow’s heart fell. Rainbow felt the insecure sense grow larger inside her. She felt the watery sensation in her eyes…

“No… not here… just get away from here Dashie.” whispered Rainbow to herself. Before long, Rainbow’s wings shot from her sides and she flew away from the scene.

She soared in the sky looking for another place to continue her trot around town. She began to talk to herself with a positive attitude.

“C’mon Dashie, that’s just a few ponies who bug you about the accident. I mean c’mon! Everypony else still thinks you’re awesome…” the grin left her face, “I hope...”

As Dash found a spot on the ground to land, she decided to be more aware of what was going on around her. Thoughts of being mocked or shunned by ponies were racing through her head, wondering if she’d ever be the same pony she was-

'Wow Dash, you’re becoming more paranoid by the second' she thought to herself.

Dash began her trot once more through the streets of town, like she did before, except she was more alert of anything suspicious going on. Everything seemed fine... until she noticed something.

They were walking right by her, both eyes staring directly at her. One had a hoof covering her mouth, and was whispering, the other pony was whispering back.

Rainbow kept a straight face, trying to smile. But she couldn’t as she walked by the two, as they were now laughing. As they walked past Dash, she overheard one of them say, “Oh wow, are you serious!?”

Instead of sadness, Dash felt the energy of embarrassment and fret run through her. The rumors were catching on, and she knew it wasn’t going to end well.

She started trotting faster, avoiding all of the different expressions of eyes gazing upon her. Some were with disgust, some with disappointment, but mostly they were laughing at the sight of her. Everywhere, ponies with dirty smirks were sniggering at her, except for a few, and they probably just hadn't heard the rumors yet. She kept hurrying away, her wings were ready to launch off again, until it happened.

Before Rainbow knew it, she was being surrounded on all sides by ponies that were whispering and chatting with one another. Dash felt the feeling of insecurity finally over power her. All around her she was hearing whispers.

“I never knew that she would do something like that!”

“And to think I could trust her!”

“It’s all over for her now.”

Rainbow couldn’t take it anymore. Her sanity and insecurity finally snapped. She had finally cracked, but didn’t know what to do. Her wings flew open and the large crowd backed away in alarm. Rainbow noticed she couldn’t run in any direction... except up.

Like a bullet, she shot into the air as fast as she could, not knowing where she would go. Ponyville was out of the question. She closed her eyes tightly, the wind violently rushing by her face forcing her to do so. She made an attempt to open an eye. With the small field of sight afforded by this, she saw that she was far away. She was nearly 25 feet above the clouds! She stopped and fell down belly first on the nearest cloud. As she landed, she quickly, but carefully poked her head through the clouds to see if anypony had followed her. There was nopony in sight.

However, she noticed a large swarm of ponies way below her breaking apart and scattering. It was the crowd that had surrounded her, they no longer cared for her well being.

Using her hooves, Dash pushed on the cloud, her head popping back through, and she jumped onto her back. She was breathing heavily after her escape.

She could no longer keep it in, the town’s reactions had just mortified her, and she had lost everypony’s respect, including her own. She bawled. There was no other word for it. Her eyes were like an open faucet. The thoughts in her head from that forbidden night were running all over her mind! She brought her hooves up to her face.

“How could this happen to me? Why did this happen to me!?” she sobbed.

Time passed, quicker than Rainbow realized, and soon, on that very same cloud, she grew exhausted, still teary-eyed. The day grew darker and darker, and all she could think about was the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that… and the… the… Dash had fallen fast asleep, tears still on her face.

“Um… Rainbow Dash? Are… are you all right?” asked a sweet angelic voice.

Rainbow began to open her eyes. She felt achy all over her body and in her bones. Rainbow felt a nudge on her side. Dash roughly pushed whatever it was away, which was quickly followed by a tiny squeal. A squeal of... fear? Dash finally opened her eyes. Her blurry vision made it hard to see what the mysterious thing was that had woken her. She could barely make it out.

“Fluttershy… wait… what?” said Rainbow realizing what was going on. Fluttershy began to speak in an embarrassed voice.

“I was looking everywhere for you Rainbow. Oh I was so worried that I wouldn’t find you in time-”

“In time for what…?”

“Oh! Don’t you remember? The tournament you are in this afternoon. I thought you would be practicing at the field already but you weren’t there or at your house so I got worried and started panicking and-“

“THE TOURNAMENT!” Rainbow shouted in alarm. Her loud voice made Fluttershy back away in fear. She made sure she kept her distance from Rainbow whenever she moved.

Rainbow had no time to lose. She flew up and bolted towards the arena where she was going to perform. It was an annual Ponyville competition to see who the best flyer in all of Ponyville was. Rainbow had won every single year since she moved to Ponyville.

That was what got ponies to notice her.

It was weird; Fluttershy had acted… different when she was speaking to Rainbow. More afraid than usual, but Rainbow didn't have time to think about that at the moment. She was late. Very late. There were only five more minutes until the competition began. When she saw the arena, she only flew faster towards it. She flew straight to the entrance and walked into the building barely breathing.

“There she is! Come on, write her in!” shouted a low voice.

Rainbow couldn’t talk; she was too tired to even lift a hoof. There was a commotion between a few ponies in suits when Rainbow Dash finally looked up.

'I think you made it Dash.' She thought to herself. Just then she felt a hoof pat her back.

“Glad you can make it Miss Dash!” It was one of the ponies in the suits. He began walking with her.

“Just like last year you’ll wait in this room until your number is… Hey! Somebody give Rainbow Dash a number!” Rainbow felt a hard smack on her flank. She turned to her right with an expression of anger, but realized it was somepony providing her with the number 20.

“So yeah, just fly or whatever when you hear them call your number and uh… see ya! And good luck to you!” said the pony. He walked her over to a door and left her there as he ran back to the other ponies in suits. Rainbow stood there for a second and then raised her hoof. Slowly pressing against the door, a small squeak of fear escaping her lips as she opened it to find everypony’s attention on her.

The room was huge, and had mirrors almost everywhere you looked. It reminded her of when Rarity brought her to a fashion show to see what went on behind the scenes. She hated it, but that’s how it was. There were also windows that opened to the inner part of the arena so the competitors could see the audience and other opponents do their performance. To one side there was a curtain that pegasi went through in order to access the inner arena. Every year it was the same, except she was usually earlier than most ponies.

There was a slight pause, and then the sounds of sighing and displeasure rang through Dash’s ears. They knew they were going to lose as soon as Dash walked in that door. But then the noise turned into chattering, and Rainbow noticed faces of disgust, and some, amusement. They knew.

Just then the memory of what had happened last night shot through Dash’s head. An embarrassed expression came upon her face as she walked over to an open spot and turned her head away from the ponies so she could just be alone.

But it didn’t last long. Dash began to hear awful words like jerk and slut thrown about amidst the commotion she had started.

'Please… leave me alone! I can’t deal with this anymore!' She thought to herself.

Dash sat down and faced the ground directly in front of a wall. She wasn’t loved by anypony anymore...

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” came a voice from the microphone. “I’m pleased to announce the annual best flyer of Ponyville competition!” Enormous cheers rose from the audience as Dash raised her head just a little, admiring the loud cheers that rang through her ears. She loved it.

“19… er… 20 of the greatest flyers in town have come to compete against each other to win the honor of being crowned the best flyer in all of Ponyville! Good luck to all!” The ponies surrounding Dash backed away and were getting ready to perform. Dash just sat there.

“First up we have number one with his heart stopping act called… Onn Fyer? …All righty then! Let the competition begin!”

Dash felt a slight breeze run through her hair. She turned to see that it was a colt storming out through the curtains. Loud and glorious cheers were coming from all directions. Dash got a nervous feeling in her gut. This was strange. She rarely had this feeling before a show.

She stood up, and walked over to one of the large windows, looking at the crowd, trying to find one specific pony.

'No…No… oh please be here!' she was thinking to herself.

“Number 2!” called out a mare with a clipboard in her hooves. “You’re out in one minute! Get ready to roll!”

Rainbow looked down at her flank. Twenty. She was the last one to go.

“3…2...1! You’re off!”

Just then, the announcer was calling out the number and the act name of the pegasus, followed by more cheering. Rainbow turned around sharply to see the pegasus fly off into the air over the field. Rainbow then returned to the window. She was searching for her friends, especially one in particular… Twilight.

Eight more pegasi went onstage to perform before Rainbow finally found the ponies she had been looking for. For once she was happy, a smile rose up on her empty face, but her happiness wouldn’t last for long.

Yes, her friends were there, but one of them was missing. It wasn’t Twilight, it was Fluttershy. Why wouldn’t she be here? After all, she was Rainbow’s cheerleader and proud friend. Fluttershy looked up to Rainbow. Oh no, maybe she heard about it. Maybe Fluttershy hated her.

'Fluttershy did sound rather weird when she woke me up… more scared of me than usual…' The thought of losing one of her childhood friends made a tear form in her eye, but then Rainbow heard laughing behind her. She turned her head and noticed 3 of the 10 remaining competitors were laughing at her, laughing at her sorrow. Pure anger rose in Rainbow’s body. She began to speak up.

“You think my misery is funny eh! How 'bout I-”

“NUMBER 11!” called the mare.

It caught the attention of one of the mares that was laughing at Dash. She walked away, getting ready on the runway that faced the curtain. The two other mares started to walk away, chattering about Dash.

“Hey!” Rainbow called out at them. They ignored her.

Rainbow went back to looking out the window and looked at her friends. She noticed Twilight had Spike with her. But something was different about Twilight, it was... Rainbow facehoofed in embarrassment. It was the bruise where Rainbow had hit her just yesterday. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who was frowning, and wasn't excited like she usually was, were talking to Twilight, probably about Rainbow Dash.

But then she looked at Rarity, and her heart fell once again. Her face was red with anger, ignoring everything going on around her, even her three friends. She sat, not caring for anything, with hooves crossed, occasionally speaking to Twilight, who would then look at her friend with a scared or angered look.

Rarity knew, and so did her friends. She knew Rarity. She was the kind of pony who would get really upset if she found out something like this, and adding the fact that she assaulted Twilight as well didn't help.

Thoughts of turning away from the competition and going home entered her head.

No! She worked too hard for this day, and she wasn’t going to ruin it for herself.

“Remember what mom used to say Dashie… think pride.” She said to herself.

Time flew by extremely fast. A little too fast. Next thing she knew, number 18 was getting ready to make an explosion onto the stage and blow everypony away, and before she knew it, she was alone with another pony.

She took deep breaths. She had around 10 minutes left until she was to go on. She kept telling herself pride, and that it was the only thing that would make her succeed, but the feeling of loneliness was too much and overpowered her.

“I’ll show ‘em. I’ll show ‘em all.” She told herself.

“NINETEEN GET READY IN 10!” hollered the mare.

The colt breathed heavily as he brushed the ground with his hoof, positioning himself in a ready stance.

“3, 2, 1, GO!” screamed the mare.

Probably the fastest out of the bunch of colts that showed up, this one had to be the biggest and fastest. He was a colt Rainbow never seen before, but she couldn't concern herself with that, for it was now her time to try to regain her respect amongst the citizens of Ponyville, and her friends.

“You ready… um Dash Rainbow, or er… Rainbow Dash?” asked the mare.

“You bet.” said Rainbow in a rather anxious voice.

“You better be. Because that colt is putting on one hell of a show out there.” She said in a surprised voice. Rainbow gulped.

She could hear the announcer calling out her number.

“Good luck to ya! You’re out in 5!”

'Here it comes…' Rainbow got in a ready stance.

“4!”

'Can’t back out now…' Rainbow stared directly at the curtain.

“3!”

'Remember Dash…' Rainbow felt a single drop of sweat run down her cheek.

“2!”

'Pride… Pride… Pride…' Rainbow closed her eyes tightly.

“1!”

She was off, a rainbow colored trail coming from her back. She went through the curtain, practically tearing it to the ground. Her entrance usually made ponies go insane, but what she heard this time was a whole lot of everything.

Rainbow was hearing booing, and then she heard rude shouting, and the laughing, but little applause.

“That’s one way to make an entrance… lets see if we can crack a smile!” Dash said to herself.

“All Right!” she said getting herself together. "Time for part one… Diver Down…” she said to herself. She hadn't felt this nervous since the Best Young Flyers Competition in Cloudsdale that had happened many months ago. Usually when she was this nervous, something bad was bound to happen.

Rainbow flew in the air extremely fast and tremendously high and, in a diving pose, shot down with hooves in front of her using no wing control whatsoever. A signature trick that was very daring and was very dangerous, but it usually pleased the crowd. She began pulling large G's as her saliva drooled to the sides of her face and her hair began pushing away from her head.

20 feet…

15 feet…

10 feet…

5 feet…

Blue wings shot from Rainbow's sides as she turned at a 90 degree angle. A trick she learned when she saved Rarity and the Wonderbolts from falling to their deaths at Cloudsdale. The applause was barely noticeable. Rainbow had expected more for her extremely dangerous act.

“Not good enough for them ‘eh? Well I guess they need a little taste of Fair Warning!” she said, starting to get angry.

Fair Warning was an experimental trick that she discovered one day while she was out scaring ponies with lightning bolts. She flew to the sky again and found two amazingly dark, wet clouds. She brought them nearly 25 feet from the ground. Rubbing both hooves together, she bucked the two clouds almost instantaneously, and the clouds burst with lightning. While the bolts were still rampaging out of the clouds, she grabbed on tight to the clouds with her hooves and, like a mad scientist, she turned them in the same direction, causing a major explosion. This caused Dash to fly up in the air with extreme speeds, followed by a large crack of thunder, but the audience was no longer showing any effort for her. There was more booing from them than there was cheering now. And soon enough, there wasn't any cheering.

Then Rainbow realized something, something that affected her intensely. Not only did Gilda take Rainbow’s honor away from her for good, she took Rainbow’s passion and dreams along with it. She loved performing at places like this. She loved the mood. She loved the cheering. They were all gone now. Rainbow’s fake smile turned to a deep frown, looking at all of the ponies below her.

Then the truth smacked Rainbow Dash right in the face. Rainbow was thinking of never performing again. What good would it be to have thousands of ponies always disapprove of her. Rainbow shed a single tear as she realized this meant she would never become a Wonderbolt. Her childhood dreams had been crushed, and there was absolutely nothing left to live for anymore.

Rainbow continued looking down. She looked at all of the unfriendly faces gazing at her.

“Might as well end this career with a boom,” she said to herself with a tone that indicated she had given up. She flew very high into the air, though at far slower speeds than usual, exceeding cloud level, and stopped when it finally became hard to breathe anymore. She looked down.

“Where have all the good times gone?” She asked herself. She dropped full speed toward the ground, this time making use of her wings to give her the required speed to accomplish her most famous trick, the “Sonic Rainboom”. She was going to make history, her third Sonic Rainboom, if she could pull it off. Eyes locked on the ground, she noticed the spiral cone form around her body. She was getting close. The only thing she could hear was the wind screeching at her ears, zoning out the reluctant crowd. Sweat and tears from the force were streaming down her face and began to fly off…

But then she thought of something. Where would she go after this? Where could she go? She had no love from parents, no love from friends, no love from herself anymore. Gilda had completely ruined her. There was no way at all she could ever get back at her. With nothing to live for, why bother?

Rainbow gave up, not only at flying and competing, but also at life.

She closed her eyes, became completely motionless, and went numb. She didn’t care for the world anymore. Her mind went completely blank of all thoughts except for her loneliness.

What happened before would happen again. Just like with her attempts to create the Sonic Rainboom while she was practicing for the Cloudsdale competition, the cone forming around her would just bounce her back, harshly and powerfully, in the opposite direction. But of course when it happened back then she tried her best to regain control, which Rainbow was always able to do with effort.

She felt the cone pushing against her as she was brutally shot backwards from the arena. Completely motionless, Rainbow let the wind take her wherever it wanted to. She felt frozen. It felt peaceful to her. Rainbow was now out of the arena, and was now flying far into the forest, which everypony was afraid of. Rainbow disappeared into the sunset, and nopony was able to see where she went. There was silence, and then there was chaos. Everypony began freaking out about Rainbow Dash, never in Equestrian history has something like this happened before.

Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack had their mouths wide open in utter shock.

“Good riddance…” Rarity mumbled.

Bringing on the Heartbreak

Rainbow just stared at her curled up friend weeping her eyes out on the bed. The cries and whimpers she made shot through Rainbow’s heart like a flaming bullet. She hated it when Fluttershy cried. It just tore her apart. Somepony so innocent didn’t deserve this kind of misery. But the worst part was she was the cause of Fluttershy’s desolation. She was the cause for Pinkie’s desolation too. Rainbow was just so confused.

'I thought… they all hated me.' She thought to herself.

Minutes flew by as Fluttershy mourned on her bed, eyes closed tight, with tears streaming down rapidly. She tightly hugged a pillow with the picture in her right hoof. If you listened very closely, you could hear the word “Rainbow” being repeated in between her sobs. Rainbow couldn’t take it anymore. The anguish was becoming too much for her to handle anymore.

Rainbow slowly and gently walked out of the room and softly went down the stairs. She walked into the living room, where many of Fluttershy’s animals looked up into her eyes with faces full of sorrow and confusion. They all wanted to know what the noises coming from the bedroom were. Their faces got even sadder as they realized what it was.

Rainbow walked toward the couch, where a pillow and a blanket laid scattered across the fabric. She grabbed the blanket and laid sideways on the sofa, wrapping the covers around herself. She was careful not to touch her upper back; she didn’t want to disturb the injury. Even the slightest touch made Rainbow cringe with pain. She tried blocking out the sounds of sorrow coming from the upper room, but that only made trying to sleep harder. A single tear dropped from Rainbow’s eye. It was her fault she was making Fluttershy suffer. If only she could do something about it.

It was impossible to see in the darkness, but Rainbow felt a breeze brush against her face. She felt the hard ground press against her body. She finally rose up from the black floor, turning her head to try and catch a glimpse of anything. The dead silence and the petrifying dimness caused fear to build up inside the pegasus’ shaking body.

She heard whimpering ring loudly in her ears. Rainbow trembled and shouted at the torturous noise that was deafening her. The whimpers and screams coming from nowhere were far louder than normal.

Suddenly a light flickered in front of Rainbow’s face, nearly blinding her. It glowed pink, and as Rainbow began to open her eyes, she saw something unimaginable. Pinkie Pie was standing there, her entire body glowing. It was probably one of the coolest things Rainbow Dash had ever seen in her life, until she noticed the streaming tears rolling down Pinkie’s face. She had been the one crying, and the volume kept getting louder.

“Why Rainbow Dash!? Why did you have to go!?” Pinkie cried. Rainbow didn’t know what to say to that. She was actually a little freaked out. She started to slowly back away from the glowing Pinkie, until she bumped into something. She swerved around-

“This can’t be happening.” Rainbow Dash said aloud. Shining even brighter than Pinkie was a golden yellow figure. More sounds of gloom and pain filled the air, as what appeared to be Fluttershy broke down with a look of dismay on her face.

“I thought you loved all of us! We cared for you… I cared for you!” Fluttershy yelled in melancholy. Rainbow was breathing heavily at the sight of all of this. Fluttershy started walking up toward her, as did Pinkie.

“Well ah guess we were all wrong then.” A voice called out. Rainbow turned her head.

'Not Applejack too.' Rainbow thought. The orange pony was walking toward Rainbow, her face full of disappointment.

“Indeed we were.” Another familiar voice said.

'No! Please! Don’t be her!' Rainbow yelled in her head. A purple glow filled the air as the unicorn magically appeared just a few feet away from Rainbow. Her face was filled with rage and hate, and she was slowly creeping up on Rainbow.

“Better off dead!” yelled another voice, filling the atmosphere. Alongside Twilight, Rarity used her magic to appear close to Rainbow. She looked the angriest out of anypony in the area. Rainbow didn’t know what was going on. She thought she got her friend’s respect back as Shutter… she looked at her body. She was no longer Shutter Cloud.

“Please! I’m your friend!” Rainbow begged sorrowfully as the group came closer and closer. She dropped down on the ground and looked up at her friends.

“Friend? A friend who lies about an event as serious as what happened at Cloudsdale just to be respected? Is that really a friend!?” Rarity said,accusing Rainbow. Rainbow was speechless. Rarity was right.

“Good-bye Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said unsympathetically. She raised her front hoof and smacked Rainbow. Hard. Rainbow was tossed aside by the swipe. It actually felt like Rarity had broke her jaw, but it still didn't compare to Applejack’s buck. All of a sudden, she was being tortured by all of the friends. They were all attacking her. The blood actually felt real as it ran down to the edge of her mouth.

“PLEASE! STOP! I’M SORRY!” Rainbow Dash screamed.

Suddenly, she felt as if she had landed hard on her side. Covers engulfed her entire body, preventing her from moving very freely. She was crying now, and very heavily. She felt the force of the covers being whipped away from her by something, which caused her to land harshly on her stomach. She opened her eyes, facing to the ground. Her body was shaking like crazy from all of the fear that she sensed.

She was staring at… a wooden floor?

“What… wait… am I-”

“Oh Shutter Cloud! Are you all right!?” called out a voice. Rainbow Dash whipped onto her side. Fluttershy, with a heaving chest, was staring at Rainbow with a face full of worry.

Fluttershy looked like a train wreck. Dark black bags surrounded her eyes, her soft and flowing hair was nothing more than a pink mess, and her eyes were red and bloodshot. It looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow yelled relieved. She stood up, and ran toward her half asleep friend. She wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy’s shoulders and gripped onto her like a soft pillow, Fluttershy hugging her right back. When Rainbow Dash backed away, Fluttershy sighed and faced the ground.

“I think there’s something you should know.” Fluttershy said. “Let me make something to eat first, okay?” Rainbow nodded as she followed Fluttershy into the kitchen. The cottage wasn’t a mansion, but it was still a very beautiful place. The kitchen smelled of fresh carrots and other fruits and vegetables. Rainbow assumed this was where she cooked meals for her animals.

“That was some nightmare Shutter Cloud. Are you all right?” Fluttershy said. Rainbow took a seat at the table.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It happens sometimes.” Rainbow lied. Ever since she had turned into Shutter Cloud, every night there had been nothing but nightmares. They all had to do with past friends and enemies, which didn’t make any sense. Could speaking to an old friend bring her old body back?

Fluttershy flew next to the table and gave Rainbow what looked like carrot juice. 'Doesn’t she know I’m not a bunny?' Rainbow joked in her head.

“You like eggs?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sure.” Rainbow replied. Fluttershy then placed a plate with a mini egg and a slice of toast onto the table in front of Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t exactly gourmet, but she felt grateful to have Fluttershy do all of this for her. Fluttershy flew to her chair directly across from Rainbow and sat down. She looked into Rainbow’s eyes and gave a short sigh. A few moments passed, and she began to speak.

“She was a friend. Not just any friend, she was my best friend.” She said in a soft voice. Rainbow focused on the conversation, this would be the third perspective of her disappearance from her friends. She knew how Pinkie and Rarity reacted toward her, and now she would know what Fluttershy thought of her.

“She was the first true friend I ever had. She was the first pony to have ever stood up for me when I was being picked on by those… monsters. My parents thought I needed to become more social and make more friends, so they signed me up for this flight camp.”

A collection of memories flew into Rainbow’s head. That flight camp was the place they first met.

“I hated it. It was just cruel there. I wouldn’t consider myself a great flyer, but I was weak growing up. I could barely make it through even the easiest obstacles they had for me there, which got me a lot of attention. They started calling me names, and would sometimes even hurt me.”

Rainbow’s eyes opened wide in shock. Fluttershy never talked about flight camp with anypony, not even her, and that was where they first met. Rainbow never knew about anypony beating her while she was at flight camp. She had never even heard of Fluttershy when she rescued her from those bullies.

“But one day she saw me getting harassed,” Fluttershy said, beginning to pause, and then a small smile rose on her face, “and she helped me. It… it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Somepony actually had the guts to stand up for me. She also helped me find my cutie mark that day, but that’s another story that I’ll share later.” Then she paused once more, the excitement on her face slowly slipping away, back to her original sad mood.

“After that day, we became the best of friends. It was weird, we had very different personalities but we still got along. She taught me how to use my wings far better than that lousy camp. She took time with me, even when she felt frustrated with me.”

'Those were the best times.' Rainbow thought to herself.

“But one day I left Cloudsdale… and it was the worst possible day of my life. I never felt as sad as I did on that day.” Fluttershy said. Rainbow Dash remembered all the times she saw her crying around that time. She remembered how worried she was for Fluttershy’s departure, if she would make it without her there.

“I was going to be losing the only friend that cared for me. I was afraid that Ponyville would be just like that camp, full of the worst ponies anypony could imagine. We moved in here. My parents worked in town, but came back here to rest. I was always asleep when they got back, and I only saw them for a few moments in the morning. It was like I was living all by myself. I felt miserable. But one day, I was in my room right next to the windowsill silently crying, and then… she came. I will never forget when she flew in through the window, giving me that big hug she always gave me.” Fluttershy said trying her best to keep the tears in. Sparkles grew in Fluttershy’s eyes, making her pause for a few more moments.

“She wasn’t allowed to be on the surface, but she came down many times and for many hours. She said she always wanted to see what life was like on the ground. We walked into town, and it was like a whole new world for her. She talked about moving here when she finished her flight training back at Cloudsdale. But for some reason, she came a year earlier than expected.” Fluttershy said. Rainbow Dash felt her stomach turn. She knew exactly what she was talking about. “She said she was too advanced for the course, so she dropped out… but that wasn’t the case.”

A jolt of anxiety went through Rainbow’s body.

“Years passed, and we met a lot of new ponies. She was becoming recognized as one of the greatest flyers in Equestria for her first place streak at all of these competitions she participated in. We became best friends with all of those ponies you saw at Pinkie’s party yesterday. We did everything together. But one day that all changed.

“She had a friend named Gilda. She was this awful griffon who picked on everypony. Gilda snapped at everypony, she and Gilda got in a very bad argument. Months passed, and Gilda came back. She was with some other pony that had this awful looking scar on his hoof.”

'So Twilight and Rarity were right. Sting did show up.' Rainbow realized.

“I only caught a glimpse of Gilda, but I saw her a few times. She was traveling around town showing everypony these pictures and that poor pony’s hoof.”

'Poor,' Rainbow thought to herself, 'you have no idea.'

“Then I noticed everypony talking about her, and saying very rude things about her. Whatever Gilda showed them, I figured it must’ve been really big. But later that day I heard about… what she did.”

'Here it comes.' Rainbow thought to herself.

“What she did was… horrifying. I tried telling myself it wasn’t true, and that it wasn’t her, but when I saw the pictures that Gilda was handing out to everypony I almost threw up. I became fearful of her, in fact I wasn’t sure to even call her a friend anymore.”

'That explains why she was so strange when she woke me up on that cloud.'

Fluttershy’s eyes began to shine once more, and Dash could see the liquid build up in them. Fluttershy was trying her best to keep tears in, but one managed to fall out. She gave out a short sniffle as Rainbow began to notice Fluttershy’s lips were shaking.

“Then… she… she…” more tears began to drip from Fluttershy’s eyes, “She left us… and she… never… came back.” Fluttershy could no longer look at Dash. She closed her eyes tightly, forcing more tears out and looked down at the table. Water began to stream from her eyes like a broken faucet.

“It was all of our faults! She must’ve felt like dirt and we didn’t do anything to help her!” Fluttershy yelled. She was blaming it all on herself, and her words became swallowed by snivels and cries. A tear began to build up in Rainbow’s eye. For all Rainbow knew, she had been alone in the world, but somepony actually cared about her all this time.

“I owe my life to her! And I didn’t even get to say goodbye!” Fluttershy screamed. She planted her face firmly on the table and covered it with her hooves. Tears began to puddle as she began to sob uncontrollably.

A part of Rainbow died. The truth was being revealed in front of her very eyes, and it was coming on too strong. She got up from the table and walked over to her sorrowful friend. She placed her hoof on Fluttershy’s back. Another tear began to drip down Rainbow’s face. Fluttershy looked to her side and into Rainbow’s eyes.

“Fluttershy, trust me. We all make mistakes that are hard to look back on. Sometimes the memories make us do things that affect everypony else’s lives, and not always in a good way. But you have to let go of what has happened, and accept the challenges of the future.” Rainbow said with difficulty. She was speaking from her own experiences, including the memories of Cloudsdale and everything she left behind. She lived by those words.

As soon as Rainbow finished her speech, Fluttershy immediately grabbed on to Rainbow’s shoulders, and wrapped herself around her. Rainbow felt the warm tears touch her neck as Fluttershy’s heaving chest pounded against her body. Rainbow couldn’t help but hug her back and let another tear down.

Rainbow never realized how important her existence was to anypony until Fluttershy’s breakdown. She never thought about what her friend’s lives would be like when she left while she was performing her Sonic Rainboom. She just assumed everypony’s lives would be better off without her. She thought everypony would think that, but what had just happened proved her dead wrong.

She knew that Rarity didn’t care about her, but with Pinkie and Fluttershy...

She became curious as to what her other two friends thought about her. She didn’t know what to expect from Applejack, but she had a pretty good guess for Twilight. She thought the way she treated her the last time they spoke, Twilight would unarguably not care for her either. She made it a mission to find out before she met up with Zecora in five days.

After the breakfast the two shared with each other, Fluttershy decided to show Rainbow Dash around the place. It was a quick tour, for Fluttershy didn’t have much to show, but hanging out with Rainbow made Fluttershy happy, and that was all Dash wanted for her now. She showed her every single space there was both inside and outside the cottage. She also told stories, including the one about her cutie mark. Even though Dash had heard these stories many times from her friend, she still found listening to them very enjoyable.

Fluttershy then stopped near the front door of the cottage.

“Well, there you go Shutter. That’s everything there is here.”

“Uh… Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked anxiously.

“Yes Shutter?” Fluttershy replied.

“I was wondering… could I possibly go into town? You know, just so I can see what goes on here?” Rainbow asked. She was thinking of excuses to go see Applejack and Twilight.

Fluttershy paused, and then went on asking, “Do you know your way around? Because I could-”

“No thanks. I’ll discover places as I go.” Rainbow stated. “No need to worry about me.” She knew all of Ponyville’s roads inside and out.

Fluttershy paused again. “Are you absolutely sure about this? I mean, you’re new here and-”

“Don’t sweat Fluttershy! Besides, you need some sleep and time alone. You look exhausted.”

“Are you sure you know your way around town?” Fluttershy asked fearfully. Again.

“It’s all right.” Dash said while smiling.

‘Ok, you can let me go now!’ Dash thought to herself.

“All right. But Shutter, please try to be back here around seven.” Fluttershy said cautiously.

“Yes! Promise! See ya!” Rainbow replied excitedly before bolting.

“Good-bye Shutter.” Fluttershy said, beginning to smile.

Rainbow Dash could have found her way to Sweet Apple Acres even if she was blindfolded, but the fact that she was grounded made things seem odd. She was just so used to flying wherever she pleased that she found walking to be boring. She could only pray that her wings recovered soon.

Rainbow had only taken one step through the apple covered gate that entered into the glorious farm and she was already spotted.

“Hey! Ah never seen you ‘round here before! Who are you?” asked the keyed up filly.

Rainbow always remembered Apple Bloom having a lot of guts, especially for her age. She was very determined when she put her mind to things, especially her craving for her cutie mark. She would never forget the day when she trained Apple Bloom through all of those events testing her capabilities. She was smiling and staring directly through Rainbow.

“Apple Bloom! Give the pony her space! Ah’m sure she doesn’t want to be badgered right now!” called out a strict voice. Rainbow Dash always liked it when Applejack got mad. Applejack had her head poking out the door. She began trotting toward the two, looking at Apple Bloom with a stern face.

“Hey Applejack! I just thought I’d drop by,” Rainbow said joyfully. Rainbow’s mind, however, was focused on something totally different: Finding the truth behind what Applejack thought of her. It was too important to miss her chance to get the information she needed.

“Well hey there Shutter! This here is Apple Bloom, who should be cleaning up the mess she and all of her crazy friends made last night!” Applejack said, focusing Apple Bloom with a look of annoyance.

“Hey, it wasn’t our fault Scootaloo wanted to mess ‘round with the chickens while they was sleepin’!” Apple Bloom said in a pleading tone.

“Don’t ask, Shutter,” Applejack said, turning her face toward Rainbow’s with a dull expression.

Apple Bloom then stomped away from the scene, knowing she had lost. She mumbled to herself as she walked off to the chicken coop.

“Her and her weird friends… oh, what do ya need Shutter?” Applejack asked contentedly.

‘Ok… work your way up. Don’t just cut to the chase.’

“I was just wondering if you could tell me a little about this place. I mean Ponyville sounds like a great place to live and all and-”

“Why sure there sugar cube! Take a seat over there and I’ll tell you everything ya have to know about this here town! I’ll be right back!” Applejack explained in delight. She went off toward the barn as Rainbow noticed the table that was to her left. She slowly walked toward the table, took a seat and began to think.

“Well she seems really happy. Maybe I didn’t affect her as much as I thought.” Rainbow said quietly. Her thoughts were interrupted by the clanging of glass against the table, as orange liquid flew up into the air and landed perfectly inside the cup.

“Home-made,” Applejack said, “Go on! Take a sip.”

Rainbow picked up the glass and pressed her lips to the edge of it. She allowed the delicious taste to wash down into her throat.

‘Apple juice. Who would’ve guessed?’ Rainbow thought to herself sarcastically.

“Well let me start off by tellin’ you how amazin’ this town is Shutter! You won’t believe what some of these ponies do here!”

Rainbow chuckled. It always felt funny knowing her friends were clueless as to who she really was.

After a good hour of talking between the two ponies, the conversation had finally died down. Rainbow actually found out new, interesting things in the brief discussion, but something that Rainbow noticed was when Applejack was discussing all of her personal friends, she didn’t even mention her. It was like she had never even existed. In fact, she didn’t mention any of her great triumphs, or how Pinkie was depressed because of her disappearance. Something was wrong, and Dash had to find out what.

“Hey Shutter Cloud, what’s the matter?” Applejack asked. Rainbow hadn’t even noticed she had begun to frown at the fact that her friend didn’t even want to speak of her.

‘Ah hell. Might as well give it a shot.’

“Um… Applejack? I have to ask you a rather serious question.” Rainbow said, adjusting her tone.

“Oh, well what is it Shutter?” Applejack said, keeping her politeness.

“Well, let me just say first of all if you don’t feel comfortable answering this, you don’t have to.” Rainbow said nervously. Applejack’s smile turned to a confused frown.

“Well am sure whatever it is you can share it with me.” Applejack said. Rainbow took a deep breath, and paused for a few moments.

“Do you know about Rainbow Dash?” Rainbow finally said. It felt weird asking the question. For one she was asking about herself while trying to be somepony else, and the answer was coming from one of her best friends, and it was very important to her.

Applejack’s joyful face completely froze in shock. It hit her so hard that her cup tipped over on the table, all the juice left in it running out. An awkward breeze blew by the two as Rainbow’s face morphed to regret.

‘This isn’t good.’ Rainbow thought to herself. Applejack began to stutter, she had no idea what to say. The stutters went on for a minute as sweat dripped down her face. Then there was a pause.

“Rainbow and ah were best friends Shutter,” Applejack finally spoke out, “you probably know about what recently happened a few weeks back, don’t ya?”

Rainbow nodded at the question. She felt bad for putting Applejack on the spot, but she had to know what was going on. Applejack’s face turned to a soft frown.

“We did everythin’ together. There were many stories ah didn’t tell you just now about her. They were some of the best times of mah life. She was even in the ‘Mare in the Moon’ group that stopped Nightmare Moon I told you about. But her life recently just… crashed.”

Rainbow knew A.J. would never shed a tear for anything, but she certainly saw her coming close.

“It’s sad how one event that happened years ago could still affect the life of one pony. Even if they learned their lesson, they still have to carry that burden on their back for the rest of their life. Especially poor Rainbow. She didn’t deserve the entire backlash from everypony. She was the sweetest and most loyal friend anypony could ask for. But when them pictures started gettin’ passed around everywhere and when gossip grew, the respect for Rainbow started to drop immensely. They didn’t ask Rainbow anythin’! They just went along believin’ whatever was thrown at their brainless ears!” Applejack’s tone began to get harsher and louder. Apple Bloom poked her head out of the chicken coop window, trying to figure out what was going on. Big Mac stopped plowing on the fields to hear more of the conversation. Applejack turned her head both ways and noticed everypony’s reactions, including the scared one on Rainbow’s face.

“Ah must’ve gotten carried away. Excuse me for mah behavior. But it just makes me angry whenever I think ‘bout it. I mean, this whole dilemma’s got me confused. I don’t know if I should hate Rainbow for what she did, or should still value her as a friend.” Applejack said, finally calming down.

“I understand you completely Applejack.” Rainbow said quietly but respectfully. “Thank you for telling me this. I just got curious about the topic. I guess I’ll see you later.” Rainbow Dash said trying to change the unhappy mood to something a little more pleasant.

“Yeah… catch ya later.” Applejack said in a less enthusiastic tone. Rainbow got up and walked toward the gate she had entered through. The conversation made Rainbow feel awkward. The fact that she was putting almost all of her friends in these situations made her feel rather guilty. But she got what she came here for, and she only had one pony left to go.

It was afternoon when Rainbow reached Ponyville. Ponies everywhere were greeting her, which was much different from what they did yesterday when she first arrived. They all stared at her like she was some kind of freak, due to the noticeable bandages she wore. News must’ve caught on about how she practically saved Pinkie’s life from the sorrowful pit she was in. She was becoming accepted again.

She slowly walked down the streets as the wind brushed against her mane. The hair flowed over her eyes; she wasn’t used to seeing black hair covering her face. Living in this new identity definitely felt weird to her. She thought about what it would be like to return to her old self.

As a shadow covered Rainbow’s head, her thoughts quickly shifted. She looked behind her, seeing if it was a cloud that had blocked the sun, but then looked at something else. A natural monument stood before her. A colossal tree that was in the dead center of town blocked the light with its leaves. Rainbow hadn’t noticed that she was where she wanted to be.

“Let’s make this one quick, Rainbow.” she whispered to herself.

She went up to the door and casually knocked. This had to be the most important point of view she was getting from her friends. She still felt guilty about what she had done last time she saw Twilight face to face, so her opinion affected Rainbow most. It was a memory that would never be erased from her mind as long as she lived.

“Coming!” Spike yelled, sounding loud and busy. Rainbow knew there was no turning back now. She just had to know what Twilight thought. The door crept open, and the face of a short, chubby dragon looked up into Rainbow’s eyes.

“Uh… do I know you?” he asked rudely, confused. Rainbow just laughed at the discourteous remark. “No seriously. Who are you?” he asked once again.

“Oh. I’m here to see Twilight Sparkle. Is she-“

“Spike,” called out a pleasant voice, “who’s at the door?”

“It looks like it’s for you, Twi,” Spike called out. Twilight poked her head out from another room, she was squinting her eyes trying to figure out who was at the door. Then her face lit up with happiness.

“Oh! Shutter Cloud! Spike, let her in,” Twilight said, walking over to the door. Spike moved aside, allowing Rainbow to walk into the amazing structure. Books filled the shelves she saw as she looked around the place. She figured she might as well start the conversation there.

“So you live in this library?” Rainbow asked. It felt stupid asking the question, she had only been here about a hundred times, not to mention she was a close friend of Twilight.

“Yes. Isn’t it neat? I mean, I’ve read all the books in here about five times cover to cover, but it’s still-“

“What!?” Rainbow remarked. Not even she knew her friend was that much of an egghead.

“Well… yes. I’m kind of a book worm. A lot of ponies call me the smartest pony here in Ponyville… which is true, but I don’t like to brag about it,” Twilight explained. And it was true. She was the best unicorn in Ponyville. Probably one of the best in all of Equestria.

But then Rainbow remembered the task she had come here to accomplish. She didn’t want to do it; she was afraid of what Twilight’s reaction might be. Rainbow couldn’t bear another breakdown from any of her friends. Her heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Come in to the kitchen. Spike just got some dinner ready.” Twilight said happily.

“Hey! I made that dinner for just the two of us!” Spike called out in anger.

“Well… just go make yourself a cupcake Spike. This is the first time Shutter’s been here.” Twilight said. Spike walked off into the kitchen to grab a snack. He knew he couldn't win.

“Please excuse him,” Twilight said to Shutter, “he’s a baby dragon after all.” It was ridiculous how many times Twilight had said that to Rainbow in the past as an excuse for Spike’s bad behavior.

“It’s cool Twilight.” Rainbow said, not minding Spike at all. Twilight smiled and brought Rainbow Dash farther into the kitchen. On the table were two plain hay sandwiches and some carrot soup.

‘I’d much prefer that cupcake she mentioned.’ Rainbow thought to herself. Twilight walked over to a chair and used her magic to pull it back. She did the same for Rainbow, who delightedly took a seat as soon as the chair was available. It was cool seeing Twilight use magic to pick up eating utensils and food; it sometimes made her wish that she herself was a unicorn. She actually thought about that for a moment, until Twilight interrupted her.

“So how was Fluttershy’s house last night? Get any sleep?” Twilight asked. Rainbow wanted to tell Twilight about how she couldn’t sleep, and how evil nightmares have been haunting her.

“Like a rock. Fluttershy’s animals are the best pillows anypony could ask for,” Rainbow lied.

Twilight began speaking again. She was talking about all of her friends… except Rainbow Dash. Rainbow didn’t know how to describe the feeling of Applejack and Twilight not mentioning her at all in their conversations. She felt like she deserved it for not being a good friend to them, yet she wanted to at least be remembered. It made Rainbow think she was fading away, and, sometime far in the future, she would be forgotten.

Rainbow Dash tried many times to ask the question, but she lost the nerve each time. She didn’t want to put her friend through the same thing she had made Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack go through. She then pushed it to the back of her mind; she was going to save it for later. Time went on, and Twilight spoke of many different things that all somehow caught Rainbow’s attention. She was enjoying the private time she was having with Twilight; she didn’t want it to end…

“It’s six already? I guess it’s time to wrap things up. It was so nice you could drop by Shutter Cloud. We should do this again soon,” Twilight said. She walked into the other room, not noticing Rainbow, who just stood there, frozen in fear.

“It’s time I ask her.” Rainbow whispered to herself. Twilight was nearly out of the room by the time Rainbow said anything.

“Wait! Twilight, I need to ask you something.” Rainbow called out. Twilight’s head shot around toward the Pegasus. She had such a blissful look on her face. Something Rainbow didn’t want to change.

“What is it Shutter?” Twilight asked in a happy tone. Rainbow felt very nervous by this point. She couldn’t picture how Twilight might react to her question.

“Do you recall…” Rainbow Dash paused. Twilight looked at her, confused. Rainbow didn’t know how to word what she was going to say. Twilight tilted her head in puzzlement. She didn’t know what to expect from Rainbow.

“I need to know if… you know…” Rainbow kept throwing stuff out there. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. She stopped talking for a moment and then took a large breath. “Do you know who Rainbow Dash is?” Rainbow finally asked. She sounded relaxed when she said it, but she still expected the worst. Rainbow could tell Twilight was taken aback by the question. Twilight took a step back.

‘Please… by Celestia… don’t cry,’ Rainbow said to herself.

Many moments passed by before Twilight could say anything.

“I… I knew her. Very well…” Twilight said beginning to stammer. Rainbow had never witnessed Twilight hesitate like this. Twilight slowly dropped her head to look down at the ground.

“We were great friends. Better friends than you could ever imagine…” Twilight said softly. She started taking short breaths between sentences. Her eyes slowly began to well with tears as her breaths got louder and louder, turning into whimpers.

“Twilight, are you all right?” Rainbow asked in worry. It was happening; Twilight was breaking down right in front of her. Twilight raised her head to Rainbow’s.

“No… no… I… I miss her so much Shutter.” Twilight said with difficulty. Twilight’s eyes began to close, allowing the tears surrounding her eyes to fall down her cheeks. More sobs came from Twilight’s mouth as she lowered her head to the floor once more. Twilight was soon lying on the ground, curled up on the floor, crying.

Rainbow had no words to describe how she felt. She thought that this was what she deserved for making almost all of her friends suffer without her. Staring at Twilight’s misery made Rainbow realize something. She was important to her friend’s lives. No matter what she thought, her friends couldn’t live without her. She began questioning if she was actually a loyal friend. Due to her own thoughtless decisions, her friends where now mourning over her.

‘Some loyalty,’ Rainbow thought.

Twilight’s cries of suffering caused a tear to slowly crawl down Rainbow’s cheek. She didn’t want any of this to happen to her friends, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She made a quick decision to leave, and got up from her chair. Even Rainbow began to tremble with sorrow as she walked over to Twilight. A tear brought by all of the events that she caused flew down her face.

“I’m… so sorry.” Rainbow said to Twilight, who was crying with her eyes closed. This made even more tears begin to fall down Rainbow’s face. She had had enough. Rainbow went to the door and quickly ran out into the darkening sky.

She could think of only one place to go.

She had ther air route to the rainbow pond memorized she had flown it so many times. It was just one direction, no turns to throw her off, but was very far from town. Rainbow knew that it could be the only place where she could reflect on what she had just done.

She ran so fast that her tears streamed off the edge of her face and into her hair. She avoided everypony who watched her run into town, and found the familiar place where she’d usually take off. Thoughts ran through Rainbow’s broken mind as she ran through the forest.

The memories of her nightmares and today’s events rushed into her head and haunted her with each step she took. The nightmare with her friends seemed to make sense now. When she thought she had abandoned them for the better, she ended up ruining their lives. Rainbow realized she had been wrong, and nothing could change her mind about that. Her friends would probably never see her in her old form again, and that only made Rainbow feel worse about herself.

She remembered her conversation with Rarity. She knew she couldn’t regain Rarity’s trust, which made Rainbow’s heart sink even further in sadness, but what she had said about Pinkie Pie should’ve made her realize she was important to her friends all this time. Pinkie was her best friend. They had the best time together, with the funniest pranks ever attempted with hooves, and attempts to make pastries with Rainbow Dash’s “help”. With her gone, how could Pinkie have lived on without her? When she left, she took a part of Pinkie with her.

What Gilda did may have changed the way Rainbow looked at the world forever. She would always have to deal with the haunting memories, and there was nothing she could do to erase them. She also taught Rainbow an experience that she would never forget. Broken trust. Gilda’s “broken trust” spread through the town like an epidemic, and changed the way ponies looked at her. Being judged by everypony she saw wasn’t as easy as Dash thought it would be. She never knew a thing like Romeo Delight could change what everypony thought of her so quickly.

Rainbow began doubting herself, and her loyalty to everypony she knew. She was practically living a lie as she walked and talked as Shutter Cloud, lying to her friends’ faces. She felt deeply guilty about that, but more so about the other promises she didn’t keep. She didn’t even know if her mother was still alive, and she had promised she would fly to Cloudsdale and check on her. She missed home immensly.

The moon shown bright in the dark sky as Rainbow shot through the woods. She was dodging trees and other obstacles as she ran toward her destination. She was afraid that if she got lost, she wouldn’t be able to find her way home. She just needed to find the rainbow pond. She know of a trail just east of it for when she left.

Rainbow had lost all hope of finding the place… until she saw the lights.

She jumped into the field which contained the pond, just a few feet away from where she stood. With the rush of relief, Rainbow couldn’t have felt any better than she did at that moment. But when the memories started to return, Rainbow could feel the tears build up again. Rainbow slowly walked toward the rainbow colored water, looking down at her reflection.

It made Dash want to explode in frustration. Being in disguise and being loved by all her friends was amazing, but being the pony that her friends missed so much made her wish she could go back to being Rainbow Dash. Tears of both fear and sadness, accompanied by sobs, came from the pegasus.

“No feeling lasts forever,” Rainbow said softly. A tear dropped into the water. Rainbow closed her eyes and began to cry heavily. The tears dropped into the water as they left her face.

Something began to happen where the tears fell. A bright white glow slowly began to evolve around the entire pond. As the water grew brighter and brighter, it began penetrate Rainbow’s eyelids, catching her attention, and she slowly opened her eyes. It was unbelievable. Everything was becoming very bright. It hurt Rainbow’s eyes. Everything became brighter and brighter as the pond was soon consumed by this glowing liquid.

Rainbow stared at it. It brightened the night sky, as well as everything that surrounded it. But suddenly… it ended. The light faded, continuing to get darker as Rainbow's eyes adjusted. Rainbow had no idea what just happened, but she knew something caused it.

Rainbow nearly screamed as she looked back down at the pond. Her rainbow hair, her magenta eyes, her cyan coat- they were all back! She checked her hooves to make sure she wasn’t seeing anything. It was too good to be true.

Her hooves were still as brown as leather, but the reflection told a different story. Rainbow would have dismissed it as her imagination, but it was just too real.

She got up and went to the edge of the pond. She picked up her hoof, and slowly began to lower it toward the water. Her reflection was still the old Rainbow Dash, but that didn’t make any sense. She thought touching the reflection might do something, so she gave it a shot. The water felt frigid as the liquid touched Rainbow’s hoof. Nothing had happened. Maybe if she dug her hoof deeper… deeper…

SPLASH!

Rainbow lost her balance in the attempt to find another solution. She fell into the cold and colorful water with shock as the bitter cold surrounded her body. It made her wings feel weird under the bandages, which reminded Rainbow that being in water wasn’t really the safest thing to be doing with two nearly broken wings. She quickly puller herself out of the water. She was dripping wet and shaking like crazy. Her wet mane covering her face blocking her view of anything.

“Well that went well!” Rainbow yelled angrily. She violently shook her head, drying off her hair and getting it out of her eyes. She quickly brought both hooves up to her face, covering her eyes and rubbing them. That was a crazy experience that she didn’t want to live through again. She lowered her hooves and turned her head to her reflection again. She waited a while for the water to settle, but what she saw confused her even more.

It wasn’t Rainbow Dash staring back from the water anymore, but Shutter Cloud, with the black hair, silver eyes, and brown fur. Rainbow Dash looked at her hooves. They were blue as the bright summer sky.

Say you don’t want to chance it,

You’ve been hurt so before.

There’s no real reason to be lonely,

Give your free will a chance,

It will give a better start.