Owner of a Lonely Heart

“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.”