The morning sun poked its head above the horizon, the early rays banishing the shadows of the night once more. The world was quiet, save for the occasional bright notes of birdsong. Far away, storm clouds loomed, but the sky above a certain sleepy town was clear, calm, and quiet. Well, except for one thing.
“Yeah, as if!” came the loud tones of a certain colourful pegasus. “Ah’m tellin’ ya, ya can’t do that! It’s cheatin’!” An orange earth pony returned, nearly as loudly. “Hey, I don’t stop you from using your limbs, what’s the problem with me using mine too?” “Ah don’t have any wings! Ya can’t use them ‘cause it ain’t fair, that’s why! What if Twilight was using her magic? Ya wouldn’t like it, would ya?” Applejack sat back on her haunches, convinced that would be the end of the argument. “Magic’s…. different! You can’t compare that freaky stuff to solid muscle.” There was no convincing the stubborn Rainbow Dash. Both ponies were equally stubborn, and they stopped, both convinced that they had won the argument. The silence continued on for a moment, and then another moment after that. Peace returned to the early morning, save for the occasional bright notes of birdsong. A distance away, storm clouds loomed, being moved by a great number of pegasi, but the sky above a certain sleepy town was clear, calm, and quiet.
Except for the two sets of determined eyes staring each other down, two wills heating the air between them.
Perhaps they would have stared each other down for a while longer, maybe a lot longer, but they both had things to do. They were reminded of this when Fluttershy, being followed by a veritable horde of small animals, emerged from the trees between them. Happily humming to herself, she didn’t even notice them until she happened to cross the point where their gazes met. Suddenly having the attention of two vicious stares, she jumped, stopping dead and halting the swarm of creatures behind her. “Oh! I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt…” Fluttershy began to slink away backwards but the two ponies she’d interrupted were no longer hostile, but instead merely curious.
“Say, whaddya doin’ out here Fluttershy?” Applejack inquired. “Oh, well, there’s a storm coming, and I just had to help the animals get to somewhere comfortable. I hope you don’t mind that I interrupted you…” She continued slinking backwards in a painfully obvious attempt at being subtle. “Oh, that’s right,” Rainbow Dash hopped into the air, “there’s a storm scheduled for today. I should really be helping out,” she glanced up at the oncoming storm wall, before turning back to glare at Applejack, “but this isn’t over!” Rainbow Dash disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of rainbows straight towards the grey clouds. Applejack glared after her for a moment before turning back to Fluttershy. “Ah have ta go as well, sugar cube. Ah need ta help out with storin’ the apples away. Applejack trotted away, leaving Fluttershy to wonder what had caused such disagreement.
Meanwhile, a little further up in the atmosphere…
“I can’t believe Applejack,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, “”of course it’s fair to use my wings in competition. Flying’s what I live for!” Rainbow rushed between the clouds, pausing to buck a black thundercloud every now and then. She was one of the few pegasi on lightning duty, clearing the storm of thunderclouds so that the storm was free of lightning. It was an important duty, one that required speed and skill. To safely stop a thundercloud, a pegasus has to buck it from underneath so as to discharge the lightning in a safe direction. At the same time, the pegasus can only touch the cloud for a moment, lest the bolt drive through the unfortunate soul and into the ground far below. Dash enjoyed it, it being one of the few weather duties that actually challenged her. Today, though, she completed her task sullenly, muttering to herself all the way through. Her argument with Applejack was the focus of her thoughts. “I’ll show her…”
However distracted Rainbow might be, she was still practically unequalled in the sheer speed and agility that she displayed. As her duty continued, her argument with Applejack became of less and less concern. Instead, Rainbow found herself enjoying herself. The number of dangerous clouds rapidly diminished to nothing in Rainbow’s area. If the higher parts of the storm had been visible from below, the flashes of rainbows in the storms heart would have been just as spectacular as lightning. Rainbow forgot almost entirely about the argument as the last cloud was dealt with. She was in a good mood now, and looking forward to riding the storm winds. Job done, Rainbow rocketed off to do some more recreational flying.
Applejack grunted as the apple wagon was hauled through the doors of the barn. It was important to get this harvest into cover before the storm hit – if they were still out the strong winds would pluck them from the trees and being repeatedly bashed into the ground but forces of natures was sure as hay going to ruin apples. Dragging wagons and bucking apple trees was difficult work. Applejack was used to it, and though she didn’t always enjoy the backbreaking labour while she was doing it, the result was more than worth it. Every bucket filled was very satisfying for her, and even if some ponies looked down on her as a farmpony, she took pride in her work. “Just like Rainbow, that hotheaded girl” Applejack grumbled, “as if she woulda played fair. Ah even thought, that fer once, she woulda played me fairly. Even after everythin’ we’ve done…” The orange pony subsided into silence. “One day she’ll see.”
With a last mighty heave, the last cart was safely stored in the barn. Applejack climbed higher up in the barn, hooves clattering against the wooden steps. She joined Big Mac in gazing out over the farmland. “We sure did a good job out there, didn’t we?” “Eeyup.” They spent a moment in silence, surveying their handiwork. Every tree in their sight was clear of apples, and as the storm swept over the land, they had a clear view of the vast shadow engulfing their farmland. “Well, ah guess we gotta get back ta the house. You comin’ with?” “Eeyup.” Big Mac was never one for words. Slipping out the barn door carefully, so that it wouldn’t blow open, they both started trotting the short distance to their home.
It was almost right when Applejack was midway across the gap between the barn A and the house when it happened. There was very little warning, certainly not enough to prevent it from happening. The wind suddenly rose in a gust. Applejack’s precious hat caught part of the wind. A suddenly upturned corner allowed the wind to pull even harder, and there was a sudden moment of lightness, a moment of lightness atop her head mixed with a feeling of emptiness that something was missing. But then that moment was gone and her hat was whisked from her head, flying at a speed that Rainbow Dash would have been impressed with (for an inanimate object, of course).
Luckily though, it caught on the fence nearby. Unluckily, the hat was barely hanging onto the fence post, and Applejack couldn’t possibly have reached the hat in time.
A brown shape pelted across the distance, through the wind and rain, at Apple-hat speed. Winona leapt up to the fence post and snagged the hat in her mouth. Applejack felt a smile break out, and gratefully took the hat back from Winona. “Aww, thanks! Yer such a wonderful companion, Winona.” The drenched orange pony was indeed grateful. Continuing on the way to the house, her smile was plastered on her face, especially when Winona started some amusing antics. Prancing and leaping despite the wind and rain, Winona caught a stick right out of the air. It was an impressive catch. Applejack’s smile grew even wider, her mood thoroughly improved from what it had been earlier. Applejack reached the threshold of their home at that point, stepping in after Big Mac. She turned around to call Winona back. “Come on, you. Ya should get inside now.” The smile was still on her fond face when a blinding flash tore the world in two in front of her eyes. An ear-splitting crash of thunder drowned out a desperate yelp.
A bolt of lightning had struck Winona right in front of Applejack’s very eyes.
“Woo-hoo!” Rainbow Dash cried, flying across the sky at ludicrous speed. The high winds combined with her natural aerodynamic form allowed her to glide just as fast as if she were flying at an average pace. It was difficult to move control her wings in the storm, but when she did she flew at near sonic speeds without much effort at all. A muffled thunderclap and flash knocked her out of her reverie. Huh, I bet somepony missed a cloud. Oh well, it’s not like it’s likely to hurt anypony. Brief moment of pondering over, Rainbow returned to laughing as she rocketed amongst the storm winds.
Applejack pulled a blanket up over Winona. A pitiful whine escaped as the dog’s eyes followed Applejack as she moved over to the window. She looked up at the sky and saw something that caused her to shake with fury. A rainbow crossed the sky near the horizon, right in the middle of the storm. “Rainbow!” Applejack screamed at the sky.
Rainbow Dash was woken by the sound of a sharp rapping on the door. “Huh, who is this?” she wonders. She didn’t get many visitors up in her cloud home. Her visitor was probably a pegasus. Maybe the weather team? She sleepily went over to the door, blinking tiredly.
Rainbow opened the door and was promptly bucked in the face.
She slammed into the wall, causing a few clouds to puff out of shape.Her head spun. ‘What just happened?’ Rainbow wondered. The room was blurry, but her eyes came back into focus. On two angry green eyes.
Rainbow Dash squeaked in alarm and scrambled a little further back into the cloud wall at the hate in Applejack’s eyes. This was a total surprise for her, particularly as earth ponies shouldn’t be capable of walking on clouds. That meant that Applejack had gotten Twilight’s help! An orange hoof slammed down into the cloud in front of her, proving the point.
“What are you doing?” Rainbow inquired, nervously. Applejack moved forward until she was eye to eye with the pegasus. “What am ah doin’?” Applejack glared at Rainbow. “What did ya do yesterday? Ya were on lightning duty, weren’t ya. Twilight told me. Now, Winona happened to get struck by lightnin’ just then, and when ah look at the sky, ah see a trail of rainbows. Ya wouldn’t know anything about that, would ya?”
With every word, Rainbow shrunk back further and further into the cloud wall. “No! I didn’t… I don’t…” She protested her innocence but Applejack held up a silencing hoof. “Ah can’t believe ya, Rainbow. Ah thought ya were a good pony. Not the kind ta backstab yer friends like this. Ah thought you were loyal!” Applejack’s last few words rose in volume as she stomped out to the door. Before leaving she turned back to the stricken Rainbow. “Ah thought ya were loyal.” She spat in Rainbow’s direction and then was gone.
Rainbow Dash didn’t move after Applejack left. She didn't understand. I didn’t miss a cloud, did I? The odds of a stray lightning cloud just happening to hit Winona, Applejack’s pet, right after they’d argued, were astronomical. No wonder she thought it was my fault. But it wasn’t! Was it my fault? What did I do wrong? If Applejack had come up to her cloud home, then that meant she’d gotten Twilight to help her. Which meant… All my friends know! What will they think of me? If Twilight helped Applejack, that means she agrees with her.
Oh, Celestia. What did I do wrong?
Rainbow dejectedly trotted through Ponyville. For once, she wasn’t hovering. She’d tried to speak to Applejack, but Applejack had blanked her. When she went to the library tree, she ran into a forcefield. When she went to the boutique, no one seemed to be in. She hadn’t seen Pinkie, or Fluttershy, but she was sure she’d get the same treatment. All through the day, the same thoughts had been going through her mind. ‘What did I do wrong?’ ‘How could I fix this?’ and, most of all, ‘Was it my fault?’
Rainbow was about to leave and go back to moping in her cloud house, but a familiar flash of yellow and pink caught her eye, just a few houses away. The shape disappeared behind a corner, but Rainbow was over there in an instant. “Fluttershy!” Fluttershy jumped at the sound of her name, and turned around. Rainbow was relieved that she’d stopped, but then felt a jolt of sadness as she realized Fluttershy wasn’t actually looking at her, but instead stared at the ground. “Oh… Wh-what are you here for?” “What’s up? Why’s everypony avoiding me?” Rainbow asked, though she felt she knew the answer. The response was surprisingly straightforward for Fluttershy, “Because you hurt Winona… and…” Rainbow stared at her. “And I can’t believe you! Why would you do that? You hurt an innocent little animal because of an argument! You hurt it for revenge, Rainbow. Revenge.” Fluttershy’s last word was quiet, but the way Fluttershy, quiet, evasive Fluttershy, had straight out shouted at Rainbow seemed to stab at her very soul. She just looked at Fluttershy, pitiful whispers of denial escaping her lips, as her oldest friend walked away.
The next two weeks were empty for Rainbow. She got up, flew, napped once, did her weather duties, and flew again. This was all routine for Rainbow, she’d done it many days of her life, but it was empty now. Her flights, previously full of passion, were now devoid of enjoyment. Before, she flew at a breakneck pace, pushing her limits. Now, she barely strained her muscles in flight, making just enough effort to lose herself in her flying, and when she napped, she lay down and stared over the land with hollow eyes. Her weather duties were completed with a religious zeal, the work taking her mind off of her problems.
About midway through the second week, Rainbow was off of a cloud at a gathering of ponies far away on a hillside. A picnic blanket was spread, and five ponies congregated around it. Recognition stirred. A white unicorn reclined on a sofa, a pink earth pony bounced around energetically, a purple unicorn was reading a book, a yellow pegasus was feeding a rabbit, and an orange earth pony was standing still, looking around.
Rainbow ducked back down into her cloud when the green gaze swept over it. They’ve left me, came the miserable thought. She sighed, lying back down into the blissfully fluffy cloud. How did this happen?
The day arrived when it was time for another storm. Most of the town was busy – the pegasi were preparing the weather, the earth ponies and unicorns were getting everything inside and battening down the hatches. One pony though had already done her work. Applejack had carted in all the apples early in the morning, and had shut the thick pine bolts on the barn doors. Now she looked at the sky, watching in case Rainbow tried to hurt her or her family and friends again.
The pegasus that Applejack was worried about was surprisingly vigilant. Her soul ached with rejection but she held her head high as she flew through the storm. Rainbow felt empty, but she held her loyalty close to her heart. She would prove that nopony need fear her, and she would try and prove Applejack wrong. She’d already spoken with the wind and rain teams – Sweet Apple Acres would be blessed with gentler winds and just the right amount of rain. ‘Why am I doing this? They betrayed me, not the other way around. They should suffer!’ A malicious voice spoke in the back of Rainbow’s mind, but she supressed the thoughts and continued.
Rainbow Dash was on lightning duty again, though she had a smaller sector. ‘They even told the supervisor’ another bitter voice spoke. But Rainbow had her mind set, and bitter thoughts wouldn’t dissuade her. I’ll prove myself to them! Go!
Rainbow Dash began to clear the lightning.
Applejack, down below, was also vigilant. If Rainbow tried anything, she’d get lassoed down, and Applejack would have her locked up. Every time Applejack’s thoughts wandered from her watch, they wandered to Winona, and then what Rainbow had done, and the burning anger snapped her back to her watch.
By the time afternoon came though, she wasn’t quite as watchful. Even the drive that thoughts of Winona gave her wasn’t enough to keep her watching the same part of sky for an entire day. Obviously though, as anything that can go wrong will, it was around about this time that something horrible would happen. Applejack knew that, but she’d never really believed in that idea anyway. Part of her didn’t believe that Rainbow would be so vicious, even as she distrusted the pegasus.
Unfortunately, everything that can go wrong will go wrong and Applejack had let her guard down. A shadowy shape flitted towards the barn, pushing a very large thundercloud very delicately. A flash of red, orange and yellow in the sky alerted Applejack, but the cloud was already looming. The lasso launched into the air, but the shadowy shape moved out of range, and hovered there, the darkness of the storm hiding its identity. It watched, and it waited.
It didn’t matter that the darkness hid its face and features, Applejack already knew who it was. She could see the colours red, orange and yellow, muffled though they were. A rage rose in Applejack, a terrible, righteous rage. The barn was doomed if that cloud went off, and the house might be too. Thus, the furious cry was audible even above the mighty noise of the storm. “RAINBOW!”
Rainbow Dash cleared another thundercloud, then another, and another after that. She cut through the sky like a hot knife through butter. Flying was what she did best, and a zeal born of pain and longing coursed through her. Her sector had been cleared, checked, and double checked. She’d moved on to another sector. The other pegasus looked at her in shock as his work was suddenly done, done by a rainbow blur. Every sector felt her passing, every sector was cleared in moments by the same rainbow blur. The entire storm was cleared, checked, and double checked. Rainbow was happy for the first time in a long time. She felt as though she had purpose, she felt… alive.
Rainbow was so vigilant on checking for thunderclouds that she even burst out of the cloud banks to check above. The higher layers of the sky were almost totally free of clouds except for the odd high flyer. However, when Rainbow dived out of the storm to the ground below, she saw the problem.
Applejack stared up at the dark cloud, full of a hopeless anger born of impotence. She could do nothing to stop the cloud. That’s why Rainbow did it. The orange farmpony stood rooted to the spot as sparks crackled in the belly of the cloud. Flashes began to intensify, until the cloud was glowing sporadically, illuminating the horrified face of Applejack in a harsh white light. In the corner of her eye, a shadow hovered, watching. Waiting.
Rainbow Dash saw the cloud looming, and her sharp pegasus eyes cut through the murk to see what Applejack could not – there was a fiery coloured pegasus hanging around malevolently. “Sun Streak…” she narrowed her eyes and growled.
Some years ago, at flight school
Fluttershy quailed beneath the eyes of half a dozen pegasi, sinking slowly into the cloud below her as they closed in around her. “Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can barely fly!” they chanted cruelly.
Fluttershy’s tormentors rarely left her alone for more than a few hours. They were the ‘cool’ crowd, the sporty types, the ones who thought they were better than everyone else. Every time Fluttershy fell, missed a cloud ring, or crashed, they were there, jeering. She didn’t understand why.
“You’re a disgrace to pegasi everywhere, Fluttershy.” One of the bullies, a bright yellow pegasus with a flame-coloured mane, was the worst. Unfortunately for Fluttershy, she’d just crashed into him. “I bet there are earth ponies who can fly better than you.” Sun Streak continued, Fluttershy’s antics seeming to spur him on. “I doubt you’re even worth my time, because you’ll just go right ahead and crash into me again. Well, I’m not going to lose another race because you. You’ll hardly be able to drop on me when I lap you if you don’t get past the finish line.” Sun Streak smirked evilly, before delivering a vicious kick to Fluttershy’s side.
Fluttershy squealed in pain as her wing shot back at an unnatural angle, sending a jolt of pain lancing through her. The cloud she was on puffed as she keeled over onto her side, wailing quietly. The cruel laughter came from everywhere, mocking her misery. It was some time before the echoes faded in her mind.
Rainbow Dash lay on the cloud sofa lazily. She yawned. A number of races had tired her out – so it was on to her second favourite pastime, lazing about. It’d been a pretty good day so far. Rainbow had won all of her races, after all, she thought, I am the fastest flier in flight school.
Seemingly the moment Rainbow shut her eyes, the sound of the door opening drifted over her. She lifted one eyelid to see Fluttershy. Simple curiosity satisfied, Rainbow promptly shut it again. Fluttershy’s unusually clumsy trot eventually got her to open an eye again for a better look. Fluttershy wasn’t normally very clumsy, except in the air. Today though it seemed that Fluttershy was in bad shape. Rainbow opened her other eye in concern. “Fluttershy? What happened?” she asked.
Fluttershy turned around to face Rainbow, revealing a fresh bandage on her other side. Rainbow leapt to her hooves protectively. “It doesn’t matter…” Fluttershy mumbled. “Of course it matters! What happened? Did those bullies get you again? Who was it?” Rainbow asked quickly, enraged at Fluttershy’s suffering. “I, um… I crashed into someone… and… well, um, they got angry…” Fluttershy shivered and moved into a corner, nestling in the cloud wall there. “Who?” Rainbow asked quietly. “S…. …k” Fluttershy squeaked, unintelligibly. At another look from Rainbow, she tried again, louder. “Sun… Streak.”
“I’ll kill him!” shouted Rainbow, who dashed out of the door immediately, leaving a dismayed Fluttershy behind, quivering.
Fluttershy didn’t move for some time. She just sat in the corner, staring blankly at the door that Rainbow had slammed. Rainbow was going to do something brash, she was sure of it. Would it make things better or worse?
Rainbow lashed out at Sun Streak again, hooves catching a wing. “You never touch Fluttershy! Never!” she shouted at him. The fiery stallion, normally even more headstrong than Rainbow, had stopped struggling some time ago. I’ve gone too far, Rainbow thought dimly. As she stepped away leaving Fluttershy’s tormentor bleeding on the floor, a loud knocking sounded throughout the room.
“Sun Streak?” the knocking came again. “Sun Streak! I know you’re in there!” The noises on the door stopped a moment, before the door was flung open and a coach came striding in. “Sun Streak, I know what you did to Fluttershy, you’re going-“ he shut up abruptly as he saw Rainbow standing over Sun Streak.
He stood there in shock for a moment, and then narrowed his eyes and stated “You’re both out.”
Sun Streak… Rainbow thought. He swore revenge as we left that office.
Did he put that cloud there? The cloud began to spark, and the narrowed eyes widened in horror. Applejack! He’s going to kill her! A thought struck Rainbow as she wondered what to do. Did he… frame me? He did, didn’t he? A vast weight seemed to lift from her back, and she smiled. I’m innocent! It’s not my fault, and it isn’t my friends’ either! The cloud sparked more, and Rainbow then realized what a difficult situation they were in.
The thundercloud was about to go off – This was a bad thing. It was dangerous to go after discharging clouds, as they had a nasty tendency to injure pegasi that tried to tackle them. When attempting to safely discharge a cloud, speed was important. Clouds that were already discharging more often than not went off the instant they were touched.
Yet, if Rainbow left this cloud, Applejack’s farm would be annihilated, even if Applejack herself wasn’t killed, as well as the other farmponies. I'll have to deal with Sun Streak later, Rainbow thought.
So Rainbow decided not to leave the cloud. In order to safely discharge a cloud that large, one that close to the farm buildings, she’d have to ram the cloud at speed, enough to send it flying away from the farm before it discharged. She also had to be fast enough to get out afterwards before the cloud hit her instead. You can’t do it, a tiny voice in her head said. You’re the fastest flier in Equestria, of course you can do it, the rest of her head said. Rainbow wet her lips. She did love a good challenge, especially one with high stakes. Dash went from hover to full sprint in an instant.
Applejack sunk to her knees, feeling pathetic. Even her tears, landing on the old wood floor, served only to provide a contrast with the rain outside, and to show her how utterly impotent she was. Everything would be gone. Her harvest – gone. Her barn – gone. Her home – gone. Even she herself would be killed. “Why?” she asked the empty space, her accented voice carrying over the roar of the rain. Still sobbing quietly, she cast her eyes heavenward, as if searching for one last hope.
The searching eyes found it. They saw two pegasi in the air, the shadowy form of Rainbow and… another Rainbow Dash? Applejack’s eyes widened in disbelief. Rainbow was streaking towards her, her colours quite distinct. But if Rainbow was coming, who was the other pegasus? Who was the one who’d set the cloud up? Were they working together?
When Rainbow Dash struck the cloud and the sky lit up in a flash, Applejack realized something. It wasn’t Rainbow’s fault. It was the other pony’s, the watcher. Guilt washed away the anger as Applejack realized that Rainbow probably hadn’t hurt Winona either, she’d been framed! Ah don’t believe it… It’s all mah fault. Applejack’s heart ached as she realized what Rainbow had probably gone through.
And furthermore, comprehension of what Rainbow was doing right now struck her.
Moments before Rainbow Dash hit the cloud, she saw the bolt coalesce inside the cloud. Everything happened in slow motion, and she knew then that there was no hope of getting out before the lightning struck. As the world slowed down, everything started to seem clear to her. The skies didn’t seem as dark, and the noise of the storm seemed to fade away. She believed that she could do something, something that could save Applejack. She could restore their trust in her, but it would require a choice from her. A hard one, but she chose the loyal decision.
Her wings thrummed and her muscles strained, and her heart pounded in oddly slow beats as she closed in on the cloud. A barrier seemed to come up from nowhere and push against her, slowing her down. Not… now! Rainbow only pushed herself harder, onwards, to break through it. The barrier broke, and as she hit the cloud, three cracks split the air, two flashes lit up the sky, and one pegasus took all the force of the lightning as she slammed the cloud with all her might.
The lightning burned Rainbow. Searing agony drove through her, pain like she’d never known. She strove onwards, powered by a longing to prove herself in the eyes of others. She let the lightning burn at her, but she felt satisfied. She knew the cloud had gone far enough away for it to be safe, and knew it had gone off.
Whilst the lightning seared her world away, Rainbow Dash was content. Her blazing form cut through the sky, a meteor with a trail of rainbows. She’d proved she had something worth having after all.
Loyalty.
A/N:
This happens to be my first work here.
Chronologically, it takes place just after the ‘Iron Pony’ competition.
This is to test the waters, really. Unless I get drowned in dislikes (which I certainly hope doesn’t happen!), there will be more coming. I have a few story ideas that I’m quite happy with.
Please comment, rate, and criticise. I self-edited this, and I tried to be spelling and grammar conscious but I’m of the opinion that self-editing isn’t perfect.
Criticism about my writing style would also be appreciated, if you see anything.
Thanks for reading!