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.