Like Spitfire said, they pretty much spent the next hour just posing for pictures with a bunch of strangers (to Dash and Scootaloo), and answering the same questions over and over again.

Rainbow was bored and sick of saying the same things over and over after the fifth time, but had to continue to smile and tell everyone who asked that yes, she’s the newest member, and yes, she’s fine now after her fall, and no, she couldn’t perform that incredible trick for their birthday/anniversary/wedding if Spitfire says no.

Some of them ask her about Scootaloo, but it’s blatantly obvious that they don’t actually give a damn whenever Rainbow proudly introduces her as her sister to these strangers, but they apparently still feel the need to point out that a young filly is with the Wonderbolts in the VIP lounge.

Don’t get her wrong, being a Wonderbolt is awesome. But it’s mostly the flying part that she loves about it.
The social events, and the paperwork? Not so much, and she’s had more than enough of that from weather duty.

She feels bad for Scootaloo, because heck, Dash would have been out of there in no time at her age. If she’s this bored, then the poor filly must feel like she’s being punished or something. But she never leaves, and she stays polite whenever a noble inquires about a young filly being in the VIP lounge in a rather rude fashion.

Roughly two hours of meet and greet’s pass by before Rainbow starts to feel shaky and lightheaded, but every time she wants to excuse herself and Scoot, some other pony calls for her, wants an autograph or a photo with her, or asks her how she likes being a Wonderbolt so far, or any of the other same, boring questions, which she’s replying to like a broken record at this point.

It’s when Scootaloo notices her sister’s wing feathers tremor and her eyes blink more than normal — symptoms that she has witnessed more times than a filly her age should ever have to recognise — that she has to think of a way to get her out of there, and fast.

“Excuse me!” She suddenly calls out, disrupting a mare’s ramblings which Dash is probably not even listening to anymore, anyways. “Princess Celestia is calling for you.” She loudly tells Rainbow, in hopes that any other ponies who want to speak to her will back off, before adding a “so sorry” to the now dumbfounded mare.

Not catching on to the fib, Rainbow follows her sister out of the VIP lounge and into the great hall of the castle, where the buffet is. It’s not too crowded, but quite a few guests are dining and chattering.

“I don’t see her anywhere?” Rainbow asks, looking around the room and failing to find the princess in question.

“I just made that up.” Scootaloo confesses. “Let’s go get some food.” She says, heading to the buffet, and is glad when Dash keeps following her instead of panicking and running off.

The filly casually fills her own plate with whatever she likes, and when she checks on her sister, she finds Dash more or less copying her choices, though her plate is mostly filled with broccoli.
Well, it’s better than nothing, she supposes. The more important part is that she actually eats it.

They choose a table in the far back, away from anypony else, and Rainbow decides to take off her suit, in hopes that she’ll be less recognised. It’s adding to the growing anxiety, as she would much prefer to keep her body covered up right now.
Of course she stands out like a sore hoof either way, but she hopes that not wearing anything will make her stand out less than if she’s representing the Wonderbolts.

They eat in silence for a few minutes, and once Rainbow could think clearer again, she wonders, “how did you know?”

Scootaloo pauses, then realises what she meant. “Let’s just say I know the signs of low blood sugar in a pegasus.” She replies cryptically, keeping her eyes downcast.

Rainbow watches her for a moment longer, debating on asking more questions, but she feels that this is a topic that neither of them should be discussing at a public event.

“Look, there’s Scootaloo n’ Rainbow Dash!” They hear Apple Bloom call out, and look up.

The rest of the group joins the two pegasi, along with a certain princess of the night.

“Princess Luna!” Scootaloo cheers excitedly when she sees her.

“Good evening to you too, Scootaloo.” Luna greets her, before nodding to Dash. “We hope that everything has been going well so far for you?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow says, looking at Scootaloo. “It has.”

“A dress with the star constellations on the fabric!” Rarity suddenly exclaims next to Luna. “And a star shaped charm for your mane! Aaaah!” She practically squeals in her apparent excitement.

Twilight snorts at the pegasi’s lost expressions. “Rarity wants to make Luna dresses. She’s getting a LOT of inspiration.” She explains with a giggle at the flabbergasted Luna.

“I have no idea how she never runs out of ideas and inspiration.” Rainbow deadpans.

Sweetie Belle shrugs. “It can be pretty annoying when she’s deep in her ‘flow’ and practically wants to murder you if you disturb her. But she does have amazing talent.” She says, showing off her own new dress, which pretty much makes her look like a snow fairy.

“Oh! And a moon charm at the chest, of course!” The fashionista continues. “Yes, I can already see it!”

Applejack leans in and whispers in Dash’s ear, “Ah think Princess Luna is in for a fashion show, just for her own dresses, if she keeps this up.”

Rainbow chuckles at the imagery.

“Oh, you simply must let me design you a dress, or two!” Rarity pleads.

“I… suppose?” Luna stammers.

Twilight smiles knowingly. “Don’t worry, I promise you won’t regret it.”

Accepting her fate, Luna nods. “Alright-”

“YES! Yes yes yes yes!” Rarity squeals happily, causing the other guests nearby to stop and stare.

Even though (probably) none of them are staring at her, Rainbow suddenly feels like all eyes are on her, and every pony is judging her — for eating, and for showing her disgusting self so openly.

She couldn’t breathe.

It’s like there is suddenly no oxygen inside this huge castle anymore.

Only the cold, disgusted, judging stares, in a room that now feels uncomfortably hot.

With her heart hammering away in her chest, Rainbow does the only thing she could do.

“Rainbow? Are you-” Scootaloo never gets to finish her question, because the pony in question is only leaving a rainbow trail in her wake as she flees from the room, out the large doors, into the night sky, in not even two seconds.

“Oh, great…” Twilight laments. “Stay here.” She commands to the filly, taking note that Dash barely even touched her own plate. She grabs Rainbow’s uniform in her magic, because it’s way too cold for her outside without anything on. Then she teleports herself outside and starts looking for Dash.

She quickly finds her up on a cloud, hyperventilating and desperately trying to make it stop.

It feels surreal, to see her like this, when just a moment ago she’d been fine. She’d been laughing, and conversing, and maybe even enjoying herself.

It makes Twilight wonder just how long she’s been so close to the edge all day, that it took…
She doesn’t even know what the trigger was, to send her spiralling off like that.

“I’m okay.” Rainbow mumbles breathlessly, the hoof she was touching at her shoulder slides down to her chest, feeling her racing heart slowing down a bit.

“Are you sure?” Twilight asks seriously, eyeing the gesture. After what happened, she can’t help the spike in her own anxiety whenever Dash is holding her chest.

The pegasus nods. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She promises.

Twilight holds out her uniform. “At least put this on again. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

Playfully rolling her eyes, Rainbow takes it from her but doesn’t put it on. “I will. The cold is helping, and I feel way too hot right now.”

“Alright.” Twilight says, but doesn’t leave her side. In fact, she lands next to her on the cloud, and quickly finds herself stargazing. The stars seem to shine brighter in the pitch black night sky than she’s used to.

It doesn’t take long for Rainbow to realise what the alicorn is doing, and she smirks knowingly. “Still obsessing over stars, huh?”

“I am not ‘obsessing’!” Twilight argues, scandalous. “I just like to see which constellations I can find, and knowing that these stars have existed for thousands of years before us. It’s just fascinating.”

Rainbow snickers, much to Twi’s annoyance. “Egghead.” She teases.

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you tell me which ones you can find?” She challenges. It’s a long-shot, but it might help Rainbow clear her head from the anxiety-ridden fog that’s clouding her judgment and thought process.

“Psh, easy. Up there is the big dipper, there’s the large Ursa, over here’s Orion,…” Rainbow lists off, pointing to each one without hesitation. Until suddenly, she freezes, staring at a particular formation of stars.

Twilight squints, trying to find whatever is causing her distress. She’s about to give up, when she finally discovers… “is that.. The Wing of Icarus?” She asks, surprised to see that particular collection of stars tonight, as it’s usually only seen during the summer months — hence the name.

Rainbow nods. “I’ve only ever seen it in a book at Flight School. They told us it’s a reminder to-“

“To not become blinded by ambition and lose sight of the risks, or you’ll suffer the consequences.” They finish together, both feeling the irony of it. Not just about Rainbow’s fall, but also the eating disorder in its entirety.

“…do you know that you flew up here by yourself?” Twilight asks carefully. It’s the first time the pegasus has taken to the air without her or Spike with her, and it’s quite the distance from the ground to up here, not like whenever they started high up from the roof platform of the castle.

Rainbow seems to only realise that now. “Huh… I didn’t even think about it.” She says, peeking over the side of the cloud, to the ground below.

“The sky is your safe place. I don’t think anything in the world will ever be able to change that.” Twilight says knowingly. She gets it — she has seen many times to what evil, pain and suffering magic is capable of, in the wrong hooves. But she will never be afraid of it, or at least not of her own magic.

“Yeah… maybe.” Rainbow agrees, ruffling her feathers and standing up. “Let’s go back inside, before they send someone to check on us.”

They’re greeted at the entrance by their friends, who were clearly worried by Dash’s sudden exit and them not coming back for a while.

“Might I make a suggestion?” Luna asks the ten friends. “If you wish, I would be more than happy to have you dine in peace in your own room.”

The decision is up to Rainbow, and she hates the way everyone is looking at her. But tonight is not about proving herself and forcing herself to push past her comfort zone. Tonight is about making it as enjoyable as possible, and it would give her the bonus of being with her friends.
“I think that would be great.” She says, genuinely relieved to not have to eat in public just yet. It’s obvious that she’s not quite there yet, and that is okay.

“I’m glad we’re doing this.” Twilight remarks when they’re all secluded from the masses and get to enjoy the castle’s cook’s dishes in peace.

“Yeah. And it’s nice to get a break from all the attention, too.” Rainbow admits.

She’s not the only one who’s been getting swarmed by strangers due to her status. Twilight can definitely sympathise with her on that one, especially since she isn’t exactly a social butterfly, and hates getting unwanted attention just because she’s a princess.

“Tell me about it.” Twilight remarks half jokingly.

“Yeah! And none of them ever so much as glance at me.” Spike complains. “Maybe I should get my hands on some wings, if they make you that much more important.”

They all laugh.

“Trust me: Fame really isn’t everything.” Rainbow declares, and finally clears her own plate. The others couldn’t agree more.

“You already have an entire empire of fans, Spike.” Twilight points out.

“Yeah, but we hardly ever visit!”

Rainbow bows down before him. “Oh Spike, the brave and glorious! Our saviour of Equestria-”

“Okay, that’s enough.” He decides, causing everyone to laugh.

That night, Rainbow has a dream about the buffet from earlier. But instead of the usual turn of events that these dreams normally take, she’s only filling her plate with a normal amount of food, much like she had in the real world.

She wakes up shortly afterwards, not in a panic but completely calm, and ventures out of their room to look for Princess Luna. She finds the dark alicorn out on a small balcony that oversees most of Canterlot.

“Did you see that?” Rainbow asks, and Luna nods. “Does that mean… am I… cured?” She asks hopefully.

“Maybe not 'cured', but I’d say that you are definitely getting there.”

The next morning they all have to rush a bit, because Cloudsdale is arriving to bring winter to Canterlot, so they have to catch the early train — much to Spike’s dismay.

“No fair! They’re finally bringing snow, and we have to leave?!” He complains. “Can’t we stay another day, until we get winter at home?”

Twilight only rolls her eyes. “Ponyville will get snow once they’re done here. You can wait one more day.”

“Can we at least keep winter for longer, then?” He asks.

Applejack shakes her head. “Nuh-uh. Spring starts on the same day every year. We gotta plant our seeds for the next harvest.”

“Aaawww…” He whines, slouching in disappointment.

Twilight checks the time impatiently. “Where are Dash and Scootaloo? They said they’d be right back.”

The pega-sisters have gone out for a flight a while ago — after a quick breakfast, of course. Twilight never allows Rainbow to fly outside unless she ate something, and the pegasus is honouring that new rule without much complaint.

“Here!” Dash announces, coming in through the window with Scootaloo on her back, landing in the middle of the room.

The filly hops off her back and starts talking excitedly. “We were flying all over the city, and behind the waterfalls, and-”

“You can tell us later, we have a train to catch!” Twilight interrupts, and pauses when she sees Rainbow opening a bag to look for something inside. “Urgh, Rainbow, what are you doing? We don’t have time for this!”

“Just making sure we got enough snacks for the train ride.” She replies casually, closing up the bag again and throwing it over herself before trotting past her.

“That’s nice but- wait what?” Twilight asks when she realises what Dash just said.

“Come on!” The pegasus calls, and the group finally follows her through the castle and down to the train station.

“Goodbye snow…” Spike laments as they get on the train. “I’ll see you soon, I guess.”

“You know, you don’t need to have snow outside to drink hot cocoa.” Twilight points out, sitting down next to him.
Behind them, Rarity begins working on the sketches she’s started on yesterday, not paying any mind to the others.

“I know, but it’s just not the same…”

“Sorry.” Rainbow apologises genuinely from the row of seats on the other side.

Twilight does a double take when she looks over to the two sisters, who are sharing what looks like carrot sticks.

“What?” The cyan pegasus asks irritatedly when she’s being stared at. “I’m hungry after our flight.”

Finally getting over her shock, Twilight smiles at her before looking away. “Nothing.” She says, and then a moment later adds, “I’m proud of you.”

While Rainbow pauses, Scootaloo joins in, “me too!”

Still feeling like genuine praise like this is meaningless at best, and mocking her at worst, thanks to the way her parents raised her, Rainbow awkwardly clears her throat. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She declares, and grabs another carrot stick.

Twilight shakes her head in amusement, looking out the window at the passing scenery. Never change, Rainbow. Never change.

Author's Note

Sorry it’s so short :(