"Gyah!!"
Twilight awoke with a start, a blank look on her face, she felt cold. She felt dizzy.
"Oh my gosh, Twilight. I'm so sorry."
Twilight heard Rainbow's hooves clip and clop back away from her. She shook her head, grogginess finally starting to clear.
"What's the matter Rainbow Dash?" she mumbled, standing up. She shook with stiffness and yawned. She turned around. She gasped. She didn't even recognize the mare in front of her. Rainbow had entirely lost her color. Head to hoof, she was grey. Her expression was unsure. Her eyes watered. She was speechless. She was afraid. She was a shadow of the pony she had once been. In a single night, Rainbow Dash had been completely lost.
"Why did you apologize?" Twilight asked. Rainbow lifted a hoof and gestured towards Twilight's back. She twisted her head around. Her purple coat was interrupted by a large grey spot. Where Rainbow had laid, Twilight no longer had her color. She panicked for a moment, her expression broke.
"Twilight I'm so sorry." Rainbow was starting to lose her grip. Twilight frantically tried to keep things together.
"No Rainbow, uh, its ok, really, I'm not upset. Everything is going..." the entire tree shook as Rainbow stamped her hoof on the wooden floor.
"NO!!" she yelled. "I'm not myself anymore. I'm a danger to everyone around me. It isn't OK, and it's not going to be!"
"Rainbow, please, I understand that you're..." this time Rainbow interrupted by turning and rushing out the door. Head down, eyes full of tears, she was gone. The open door swung wildly in the wind. A crack of thunder rolled in, shaking Twilight to the hooves. Spike stumbled down the stairs, hardly awake.
"Twilight, what's going on? I heard yelling." Twilight fought back tears.
"Spike...I need you to take a letter."
"Now?"
"Right. Now."
“Why?”
Twilight looked out the window at the storm. “Just in case.”
The wind blew with a fury. Rainbow's mane whipped all around her. The storm drew lines in the grass as gusts bent trees and tore leaves from branches. The sky was a dark grey, the clouds were billowing in. The air was cold and moist. Rainbow could hardly see for all she was crying. She had never felt so afraid before. She stopped on a hillside just outside of Ponyville. Mane in front her face she pondered for a moment. She searched her thoughts for that one place she would be safe. She remembered.
Crouching low she leapt, shooting up into the sky, towards Cloudsdale. She weaved and bobbed in the wind. She couldn't stop thinking about Twilight, what had happened. She felt cheated, she felt defeated. It was as though Equestria had it out for her. She was cornered by her own insecurities and her own faults. A flash. A loud crack of thunder filled the sky and shook Rainbow to her very bones. She took comfort in the tumult of the storm, the only fury that matched that of her own pounding heart.
She reached the highest point in Cloudsdale, the tallest tower. She landed, her knees shook, and she collapsed. She had never cried much before, she never let herself. She never had much reason to. On top of that tower, she shook and shuddered. She felt every inch of her despair and the depth of her loneliness.
And then, it began to rain. Cool, soft rain fell gently from the sky. It floated and drifted about in the wind. Rainbow opened a red eye, looking up into the face of the oncoming storm. The cool rain felt good. She opened both eyes. It began raining harder. The cold drops cleared away her hot tears. One hoof in front of the other, she stood up, shaking. She sniffled, wiping her nose with her hoof. She looked up at the storm, feeling almost nothing. The wind began to gust. It pulled her mane, drawing it out beside her face. It ruffled her wings, pulling out lose feathers that shot by into the wake of the storm. Rainbow took a deep breath and opened her wings wide, and with that, the storm pulled her into its belly.
She kept her wings level, the draft of the storm carried her far out into the sky, away from Cloudsdale. A blinding flash of lightning cracked through the sky and thunder rolled loudly. Rainbow felt calm, she was adrift in a furious sea, but her empty heart remained steadfast. The cool draft slowed and Rainbow began to drift downward out of the clouds. She slide out from underneath the storm and caught a gust of wind and let it carry her. Looking down, she saw she was flying over Ponyville. For a moment she panicked. What if they see me? she thought.
She realized, against the grey stormclouds, she was invisible. No one could see her. She was alone, but she was safe. She took comfort in her melancholy thoughts. Again she looked down. Twilight was dashing across the field between the library and the boutique. Rainbow couldn't see her expression. Why did I have to hurt the one pony who really helped me? She puts up with me all the time, and all I do is cause more trouble. She thought back to all the times Twilight's words saved her from digging an even deeper hole. She was grateful for friends, but maybe they weren't for her.
She looked towards the boutique. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were hopping around in a muddle puddle. They were laughing and screaming in the storm. Rainbow managed a small smile. Rarity poked her head out of a window and yelled "you three get in here right now! It's storming out, come in where it's safe...and dry…and clean."
"Coming!!" the three fillies cried back. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom dashed inside. Scootaloo paused for a moment. She looked up into the grey sky. Rainbow felt as though she was looking right at her. She saw a gust of wind billow up across the field, making waves in the grass. Scootaloo crouched, and waited. She opened her tiny wings as the gust of wind passed by. For a moment it lifted her into the air, she began to beat her wings. Too hard, not enough rhythm Rainbow thought. Scootaloo slowed her wings just a tad, she almost had it. After a few moments and a few feet she tumbled head over hooves into the grass. She shook her head and stood up, looking determined as ever.
"Scootaloo, get inside, its storming out!" Twilight cried as she galloped by.
"Oh alright," Scootaloo scampered towards the door. She stopped, and searched the sky one last time before ducking into the boutique.
Through the window of the boutique Rainbow saw Twilight frantically explaining to Rarity what had happened. They both look confused and frightened. Another thunderclap. They really love me, don't they. Rainbow felt something swell inside her. They all do. Scootaloo was searching the sky for her, for Rainbow Dash. Twilight and Rarity were concerned for Rainbow Dash, their friend. Ponies counted on her. She might not be as popular as Rarity or as important as Twilight, or as determined as Scootaloo, but she was Rainbow Dash. She was important to them. She was their friend.
So that's it, huh? She wasn't even thinking about flying anymore, she was just drifting on the clouds. Another thunderclap. There's nothing I can do about what color my mane is. I can't change it. The important thing is, there are ponies who are counting on me. I'm sure I don't even know some of them yet, all friends have connections even before they meet. All I can do, is the best I can, with what I've got. She didn't smile, she didn't even really feel better, but she knew, that someday she might, and that was good enough for her.
She couldn't leave her friends. They needed her as much as she needed them. She perked up. I should probably head back and apologize. A sudden draft caught her, her breath caught in her chest. It drew her up, up, up through the clouds. She began to feel a pang of worry. She had never flown this high before. The rain drops slowed and then stopped for a moment, hanging in the air before her. Slowly they began to fall again. Suddenly she broke through the clouds. The draft had carried her above the storm. She squinted as the sun shone brightly, shooting rays between wisps of clouds. The storm rumbled and grumbled beneath her. The blue sky stretched out for miles above her. The air was cold and fresh. She took a deep breath. She felt free.
I guess I have more than one thing to live for she thought. And with that she pulled her wings tight against her coat, and began a dive back into the storm. The rush, the freedom, the wind, the rain, the thunder, the love, the pain, the fear, the friends, the clouds, the rainbows, the colors, it all mixed in Rainbow's heart. She felt something new, a sense of purpose.
Rain began to pelt her face as she plummeted faster and faster through the clouds.
Maybe it isn't color, mane, tail, voice, or personality that defines a pony. Maybe it's just what you do with what's given to you. Yeah, that's it. She felt hope. She made a promise to herself to never waste what was given to her. She wasn't letting anypony down, not without trying her hardest first. Her courage was coming back. She knew she could do it.
Thunder clapped again. A wind gust slammed into her from an odd angle. She spun out of control. For a few moments all she could do was watch the world spin. Then she saw it coming. There was nothing she could do. The tower. Cloudsdale. She was home. With teeth gritted and head tucked in she crashed through the roof of the tower. She plummeted, falling alongside bits of shingle and raindrops, head up, looking back at the storm that had carried her so far. As quickly as she had punched through the roof, she crashed down into a pool at the base of the tower. It was just deep enough. She drifted to the bottom and floated back up.
She swam to the shallower edge of the pool and stood up. She was surrounded by gasping pegasus ponies. She sat. Breathed deep. Her mane, dripping wet, fell beside her face. Red, oragnge, yellow, green, blue and purple. All the colors were there. She smiled. Whatever happened from that day forward, she wasn't afraid anymore. She knew who she was. She knew what she wanted to do.
She stood up in the pool dripping with all the colors of the Rainbow. She was in the hall where rainbows were made, standing in a basin where the colors were mixing. Rain drops fell into the pool of colors. It sounded softly on the bits of driftwood floating about. She looked out at the staring crowd of pegasus with burning eyes.
"Hey everypony! The name's Rainbow Dash, and I'm back."
Epilogue
The storm had left its mark on Ponyville. Ditches were cleaned out, grass laid flat from the weight of the water and the wind. Branches and trees laid everywhere. It seemed that the weather ponies had gotten in a little over their heads trying to whip up a storm. Ponies everywhere were patching up homes and buildings, raking up leaves, and playing in the mud.
Rainbow was resting against a tree, watching the clouds pass by. Pinkie Pie came hopping up.
"Oh hi Dashie" she smiled. "Did you see that storm last night!?"
"Yeah I saw it, pretty crazy huh?"
"Oh man, it was all *BANG* and *CRACKLE* and the rain was so heavy I couldn't even see out the window! Gummy and I watched the whole thing!"
Rainbow just smiled.
"So, have any more weird questions for me today?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"No, not today. Thanks anyway."
"Okey dokey lokey!" and off she hopped.
Not many ponies knew about what had happened. The most anypony heard was that there was a terrible storm and a pony fell from the sky. Twilight and Rarity agreed not to discuss it with anypony else. Twilight had Spike burn the letter she wrote. She was going to warn the princess that something was wrong, but the magic of friendship worked things out on its own.
It took several weeks, but Twilight's coat grew back in. She told everypony it was just a "magic accident". Rainbow never figured out what had happened to her. For whatever reason, it happened, and she had learned a lot about herself. She faced a new fear, and felt all the better for it. Her thoughts were interrupted…
"Hey Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo came running. "Did you see the storm last night!?"
"Hey Scoots, yeah I did."
"I almost flew! I swear! I got off the ground, and was in the air and everything!" Her face beamed.
"Let me guess, you were flapping your wings too hard again and lost your balance?"
"Uh yeah, how'd you know?"
"Just a guess. Want to go practice some wing balance? You need to get those things under control if you're ever going to fly."
"Sure!"
Rainbow smiled. Standing up, her mane fell beside her face.