> Fluttershy's Cloud Lessons
>  by Skylight77
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Weather Training
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Fluttershy took a deep breath as she stood just outside the doors of a cloud mansion that floated in the skies. Her heart pounded violently at the thought of what she was going to ask Rainbow Dash. She had pondered this for days and decided, now would be the day. 

“Come on Fluttershy, you can do this.” Fluttershy had to hold her breath and look away as she lifted a hoof in front of her. Every fiber of her being wanted her to stop and walk away, but she allowed herself to do this, not wanting to wait anymore.

*Knock, knock, knock.*

Fluttershy waited in anticipation for Rainbow Dash to answer. Not everything was made out of clouds from this cloud mansion, so knocking on the doors made their usual audible sounds. As Fluttershy waited, she started having more second thoughts, but she forced herself not to move. Thankfully, she didn’t have to stay motionless for long as the door to the mansion opened shortly after she knocked.

“Hey Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile upon seeing her best friend at her doorstep, even if it was in the skies. “What brings you here?”

“H-hi Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy said silently, losing confidence within herself. “Um… can I ask you something… very important?” Rainbow Dash blinked as her smile turned to a slight confusion, wondering what this was about.

“Uh… sure…” Rainbow Dash stepped aside, motioning Fluttershy over. “Why don’t you come inside?” She moved back inside after offering.

Reluctantly, Fluttershy entered inside the house without a word, slowly closing the door behind her. With what she was about to ask Rainbow Dash, it felt like the mansion was gonna end up swallowing her whole.

“So, what’s on your mind, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked as she led her friend towards the center of her living room. She could tell by looking at Fluttershy’s face that she was more nervous than usual, so Rainbow Dash wanted to make sure she was at a comfortable environment.

“Okay, here goes…” Fluttershy took a deep breath before responding. “Rainbow, Ahh!” Rainbow Dash interrupted Fluttershy by pushing her body towards the ground. Fluttershy heard something flying above them.

“Whoa Tank, calm down!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “We have a guest here, and not just any guest!” By her guess, Tank was probably excited to see Fluttershy again and tried to pounce her. Rainbow Dash learned from previous experience that being hit on the head by a flying tortoise was not fun at all, and probably one that Fluttershy hadn’t felt, yet… 

Rainbow picked her friend back up on her hooves and started dusting her off. “You okay, Fluttershy?”

“Y-yes, a little startled, but fine.” Fluttershy tried to focus on her question before anything else. “Rainbow Dash, I… um…” Fluttershy was interrupted again when a multitude of cloud puffs started barraging her face, knocking her backwards a bit.

“Ahh!” Rainbow Dash turned to see Tank’s rotor blades from the mini-copter he wore on his shell shredding against the cloud walls. She immediately rushed towards Tank, turning off his copter, and setting him down on a shelf. “Practice flying later.” she said to the tortoise, patting his shell.

After setting Tank down, Rainbow Dash looked back to Fluttershy, who was trying to remove the cloud puffs that had covered her face. Noticing Fluttershy struggling with them, Rainbow Dash gasped. She immediately rushed over to Fluttershy, wiping her face clean with a few swipes of her hoof. 

“Sorry about that, you were saying?” Rainbow Dash said after grabbing the cloud puffs in her hooves.

“…Mmm…” Fluttershy used a hoof to wipe her face of whatever remained after Rainbow Dash took the cloud puffs away. When she opened her eyes, she saw Rainbow Dash bringing those cloud puffs towards the shredded part of her wall, putting it back together and reforming it.

It came as no surprise to Fluttershy that Rainbow could easily repair the wall because the entire mansion was built solely by Rainbow Dash. And that very same reason was why Fluttershy was here right now. Well, not exactly the same reason, but similar enough.

“Um, well…” Fluttershy stuttered as she watched Rainbow Dash fix her wall. “I want to learn how to do… that…” she finished by pointing her hoof towards the wall Rainbow Dash was fixing. Rainbow Dash’s attention shifted away from the wall. She slightly turned her head towards Fluttershy, but not enough to be able to see her.

“Uh, what now?” Rainbow Dash asked, not fully understanding what Fluttershy said there.

“Um…” Fluttershy swallowed her nerves as she tried asking more clearly. “I… want to learn how to use weather clouds.” Rainbow Dash turned her body around to look at Fluttershy more directly, but kept a hoof on the damaged wall as she kept herself standing on her hind legs. She was kind of surprised by Fluttershy’s question.

“You want me to teach you how to use weather clouds?” Rainbow Dash asked. “How come?”

“Um… well…” Fluttershy looked away as she continued. “My animal friends haven’t been enjoying the weather patterns lately. And I… well…” She started rubbing one of her forehooves against the other as her nerves were returning with more force.

“You know I’m happy to change the weather in your area to the way you want it,” Rainbow Dash said as she looked back to her damaged wall, smoothing it out with her hoof. "All you have to do is ask."

“Oh no, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy responded, looking back at her friend. “I… I don’t want to be a burden every time my animal friends want the weather changed.” Rainbow Dash brought her attention back to Fluttershy, who was hanging her head low. “I... I want to learn how to do this, so that I can keep them happy. It's my responsibility to take care of them. So... I have to learn... please Rainbow..." 

It was too difficult for Fluttershy to bring her attention to Rainbow Dash while she was asking this, but she managed to ask at least. As a result, Rainbow Dash gave off a bright smile at Fluttershy’s request. She never expected Fluttershy to be the one to ask for this, but she was quite happy that she did now.

“Okay, Fluttershy, I’ll teach ya,” Rainbow Dash responded in a joyful tone. She didn't have to think much at all about her answer. Fluttershy’s head shifted back up to meet Rainbow Dash’s eyes more directly.

“You... you will?” Fluttershy asked in a hesitantly surprised tone.

“Sure I will,” Rainbow Dash said, using her hoof to put the finishing touches on her damaged wall. “We’ll meet up tomorrow at noon and I’ll get you started. How does that sound?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Fluttershy said with more delight. “Oh, thank you Rainbow Dash,” she finished by bowing her head.

“No problem, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash gasped when she saw Tank falling off of the shelf he was standing on. She immediately swooped towards Tank to catch him in her hooves before he landed on the ground. Fluttershy held a bit of concern for Tank right now.

“Um, is it okay if we meet at my cottage tomorrow?” Fluttershy requested, giving an area for them to meet at. “You can bring Tank along. I’m sure he’d like to visit his old friends again.” Rainbow Dash looked at Tank a bit hesitantly at this request. Before she could say anything, Tank was licking her across her cheek in his usual slow tactics. Rainbow Dash blushed a bit as she felt that tongue slowing sliding across her cheek.

“…Uh… sure…” Tank’s tongue flicked off of Rainbow’s cheek, leaving a saliva trail to stick.

“Aww…” Fluttershy cooed at the adorability that Tank was displaying towards Rainbow Dash. The fact that Rainbow Dash just allowed this made it even cuter, even if it made Rainbow Dash a bit uncomfortable. She gave a nervous smile as Tank started licking across her cheek again, making her blush even more. “I think Tank likes the idea.”

Fluttershy decided to leave Rainbow Dash the way she was right now. Her pride would never admit it, but Rainbow Dash did like the contact Tank gave her. Even if her friends, especially Fluttershy, didn’t judge her for how she felt about Tank, she still wasn’t comfortable displaying that affectionate side of her publicly. She knew that Fluttershy wanted to see more of that side to her though, so it didn’t bother her too much that Fluttershy was witnessing this. That didn’t mean that it was easy to let those emotions show, but she was getting better at it.


______________________________________________________________________________


The next day:

Fluttershy waited patiently for Rainbow Dash on the field behind her cottage. It was almost noon when she saw the sign of her friend approaching. The first thing that she could make out in the skies was Rainbow Dash pulling quite a few cloud formations that were pressed together, but somehow not forming together. Well, she didn’t understand how she was doing that now, but soon she probably will.

Fluttershy waved Rainbow Dash over as she approached. When Rainbow Dash’s flight came just above Fluttershy, she dispersed from the cloud formations and let them separate. They separated around a large open field that Fluttershy had readied behind her cottage, for that was where her lessons would take place. She noticed that Rainbow Dash was carrying two other objects though. Rainbow Dash flew down with one of them, getting it set up.

“You brought the camera, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked as she approached her friend.

“Of course I did, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash responded, setting the camera on the stand and pointing it towards the clouds’ direction. “My best friend in the whole world of Equestria and beyond wants to learn how to use clouds! I want to remember this moment for a long time!”

Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle there. She couldn’t argue with that reason at all. It was how she felt when they witnessed the Butterfly Migration. This was the same camera they used then, for the camera had special properties to it so that it would snap a picture by itself at random times every few minutes. They didn’t care about what they were doing at the time of each shot, for that’s what increased the joys of their memories.

After Rainbow Dash had finished setting up the camera, she started flying towards the cottage with the other device. Fluttershy decided to follow Rainbow Dash closely as she was setting it up.

“Is that a lightning rod?” Fluttershy asked as Rainbow Dash placed it on the roof of the cottage.

“Sure is,” Rainbow Dash said, giving the device a flick. “If I’m gonna be teaching you near your cottage, then we're gonna want this. Watch yourself!” Rainbow Dash immediately darted straight for one of the clouds she brought, causing Fluttershy to stumble in the air slightly.

Taking Rainbow Dash’s warning, Fluttershy yelped and immediately flew away from her cottage when she regained control.

*Bam!* The lightning strike was aimed to fly straight above the cottage, but due to the lightning rod, it was redirected. The lightning rod swiftly absorbed the lightning strike, leaving a bit of sparks to fly after it hit. If it didn't work, the cottage would suffer a small burn mark, but the cottage was completely unharmed, meaning this thing was doing its job.

“Perfect!” Rainbow Dash said, slapping her hooves against each other. Another thing that was convenient about the lightning rod was that the electricity that it absorbed could be stored and used for later. Fluttershy hesitantly flew up to Rainbow Dash after that sudden test performance. “So, we missing anything?” Fluttershy looked around the scenery, looking for a certain something. It turned out, they were missing something.

“Where is Tank?” Fluttershy asked. But soon after she asked that, he suddenly came into view, flying along the path to the cottage in his mini-copter.

“Right on schedule,” Rainbow Dash responded with a smile. But then her look, along with Fluttershy’s, turned to concern at the speed Tank was going.

“Uh oh…” Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth as Tank sped towards the cottage at an uncontrollable speed.

“Whoa, Tank!” Rainbow Dash yelled in concern. “Watch it!" Both she and Fluttershy winced as he reached the cottage.

*Crash!*

“Ooh…” Rainbow Dash hesitated to look back after the crash. Fluttershy was the first to fly over to where Tank had crashed. Rainbow Dash followed her. The first thing they saw of Tank was his destroyed mini-copter, with Tank flipped over a bit of a distance away from it.

“Oh dear.” Fluttershy flipped Tank over, inspecting the tortoise for any injuries. She let out a sigh of relief to find that there were no injuries to be found. While Fluttershy was inspecting Tank, Rainbow Dash inspected the mini-copter. Unlike Tank however, the mini-copter was completely wrecked.

“It looks like Tank won’t be doing any more flying today,” Rainbow Dash said as she moved the device towards the front door. “Probably for the best though…” Fluttershy nodded to that in agreement.

Fluttershy started leading Tank over to the other animals in the garden next to her cottage so that he could play with them. Rainbow Dash left the device near the door for her to get later. She would need to get that fixed later on, but right now; it was time for Fluttershy’s lessons. After making sure that Tank had reached the other animals in Fluttershy’s care, Fluttershy followed Rainbow Dash back to the clouds.


______________________________________________________________________________


The camera was set up, the pegasi were in position, it was time for Fluttershy’s lessons. No more interruptions. Rainbow Dash circled the cloud that Fluttershy was sitting on as she lectured her.

“Alright Fluttershy, if you want to attend weather duties, you need to know the three most important qualities for cloud control!” Rainbow Dash started with her coaching voice. Fluttershy paid attention to her carefully. It wasn't exactly weather duties that she wanted to attend, but that was not the point. “Focus, emotions, and balance! Repeat after me!”

“Focus, emotions, and balance,” Fluttershy copied the words Rainbow Dash used as she said them.

“Good!” Rainbow Dash paused her flying by hovering in front of Fluttershy. 

*Click* While Rainbow Dash was busy coaching Fluttershy with her lectures, the camera she set up was giving off random shots of their performances. They paid no attention to when it snapped and focused on the lectures instead.

“Without any of these qualities, you'll never influence the weather when you want it, where you want it, and how you want it! So let's get you started! Dig your hooves into this cloud!” Rainbow Dash commanded.

“O-okay…” Fluttershy hesitated a little, but she listened and pressed her hooves so that they would sink into the cloud.

“Come on, put more pressure into it!” Rainbow Dash commanded. “Get those back legs in deep!” Fluttershy put more pressure into her front hooves and back hooves. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but that’s why Rainbow Dash was coaching her.

“That’s good Fluttershy, now it’s time to focus. Think of a very sad thought.”

“A sad… thought?” Fluttershy questioned before she tried it. She put her mind to focus on something that sounded depressing, but all she could think about was the sad animals that she was comforting. The emotions that she felt from this were filled with more joy than sadness. Rainbow Dash saw the effects result from the cloud Fluttershy stood on. Instead of darkening, it was brightening.

“YOU CALL THAT SADNESS!?”

“Ahh!” Rainbow Dash’s yell caused Fluttershy’s mind to fill with fear at that moment.

*Bam!* Fluttershy’s fear caused the cloud to make a loud lightning effect that hit nothing but air. The cloud still remained white even after Fluttershy’s hooves left it.

“Weather clouds are influenced by your emotions.” Rainbow Dash placed her hooves on the cloud that Fluttershy was hovering over. Fluttershy was still a bit scared by the previous effect. “You focus your emotions correctly; you can make them do what you want at the very moment you want.” Rainbow Dash focused her emotions to fill with rage and mischief. The cloud quickly turned as grey as a storm cloud. She removed her hooves from it and continued her rant. “Now, I want you to focus your emotions and calm yourself! You do it right, this cloud will follow to its natural white!”

Fluttershy gulped as she continued with her orders. She placed her hooves on the cloud, trying to focus her emotions the way Rainbow Dash told her. But the way it sounded kept giving her confusion. Her mind couldn’t focus on being calm because there were so many things she didn’t know, and it was messing with her mind.

Fluttershy started feeling a strong breeze blowing on her. She opened her eyes to see what she did.

*Gasp!* Fluttershy immediately removed her hooves from the cloud, seeing that she had generated a wind power coming from the cloud. Rainbow Dash stopped it simply by hitting it with her hoof. She made it look so easy and it was discouraging Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. I just can’t seem to concentrate.” Fluttershy sat back down on the cloud as she looked at Rainbow Dash with an apologetic expression. “I don’t know if I can do this.” Her emotions continued to lower, causing the cloud to get darker.

“Are you saying you’re calling it quits?!” Rainbow Dash scolded more intensely by flying very close to Fluttershy’s face. Fluttershy squeaked and put her hooves in front of her face in fear of Rainbow Dash’s assertion.

*Click*

“Cut that negative attitude, Fluttershy! Put your hooves back down!” Fluttershy kept her head looking away, but let her hooves drop back down on the cloud. Her emotions and actions caused the cloud to start raining. “That’s not what you want to display in front of your critters!” Rainbow Dash continued yelling as she circled around Fluttershy slowly in the air.

“…My, critters...?” Fluttershy tried to ask.

“Who was the one who wanted to fulfill their requests?!”

“…Um…” Fluttershy struggled with her words.

“Who was the one who found the courage to ask for these lessons?!”

“…I…” Fluttershy’s heart warmed at the mention of her courage, but she still couldn’t find her words.

“Who is the one who wants to see their faces in the mornings of an awesome weather?!”

“…Their smiling faces…” Fluttershy’s emotions started to brighten up as she thought about those critters’ smiling faces. The cloud she was sitting on was starting to grow brighter, being influenced by her emotions. “Of course, I want to see their smiling faces.”

“But you can’t give it to them unless you give it to yourself first! Think positive, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash gave off a smile through her continuous yells.

“Yes! I want to see their smiling faces!” The emotion Fluttershy held calmed her enough to brighten up the cloud, ceasing the rain. “I want to succeed!”

“And you're doing just that.” Rainbow Dash's tone dropped as she halted Fluttershy’s excitement by showing her what she just did. “You just managed to create rain and calm it down.” Fluttershy looked carefully down at the cloud she was on. Looking below it, she could see that a small puddle of water had formed on the grass due to the rain. Fluttershy was stunned by this. She hadn’t realized that she was already controlling the weather.

“I-I did, that…?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash just nodded to her. “I, I can’t believe it. I did it! I actually did-“

*BAM!* *BZZT!* *Click*

Fluttershy’s jump for joy was halted when the cloud beneath her released a large amount of electricity that shot around and ended up hitting her. Rainbow Dash flinched aggressively when that bolt impacted Fluttershy, singeing parts of her mane and coat without warning.

Fluttershy’s body made small shivering motions as she kept herself floating in mid-air. She kept making very silent sudden whimpers.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her mouth, very concerned for Fluttershy’s condition. She wasn’t expecting that to happen.

“Fluttershy?... Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked hesitantly. Fluttershy slowly nodded, but she kept her injured and sad expression.

“W-what did I do wrong?” Fluttershy asked as hesitantly as Rainbow Dash did.

“S-sorry Fluttershy, that wasn’t supposed to happen,” Rainbow Dash started as she was dusting Fluttershy off. “That was an aftershock from the cloud itself. Sometimes a cloud will zap lightning randomly soon after it’s been activated.” Rainbow Dash stared at the cloud itself. “I got these out of the tested clouds that were in the weather factory, so this wasn’t supposed to do that. Looks like one untested cloud got in there somehow.”

Fluttershy looked at the cloud with more determination on her face. There certainly was a lot to learn about them and she unintentionally learned a very dangerous thing about them. Regardless, she still really wanted to learn how to use them, especially how to use them safely. She didn’t want to give up after her first lesson turned out to be partly successful.

“Okay Rainbow Dash, I’m ready for my next lesson,” she said, giving Rainbow Dash a bit of a surprise.

“Whoa, you sure Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure where this confidence was coming from, but she liked seeing it coming from Fluttershy.

“Yes, I am,” Fluttershy responded, wiping off the burnt hairs off her mane and coat.
> Aftershock
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The clouds in the sky were moved around to better positions for Fluttershy's next lesson. Fluttershy was placed on a different cloud, for the defective one was disposed of by Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash hovered in the air as she circled around Fluttershy, repeating the lessons that they went through.

"Now, what have we learned?!" Rainbow Dash said, using her coaching tone again.

"Focus, emotion, and balance," Fluttershy answered, following Rainbow Dash with her eyes.

"Good! Why are they important?!" Rainbow Dash continued.

"Mmm..." Fluttershy closed her eyes as she thought about it. "They control how pegasi can affect the weather. We use our emotions to control them and operate them."

"WRONG!"

"Ahh!" Fluttershy jumped a bit backwards as Rainbow Dash zipped right in front of her face.

"Pegasi have no control over clouds!" Rainbow Dash shouted, leaving Fluttershy confused and afraid.

"B-but, wasn't I-"

"What you did Fluttershy, was manipulation, not control!" Rainbow Dash zipped over to a lone cloud in the sky. "You see this cloud?" Rainbow Dash motioned her hoof towards it.

"Um..." Fluttershy hesitantly focused her eyes on the cloud.

"This cloud is a tired cloud," Rainbow Dash announced, sounding like she was changing the subject. "Therefore, this one isn't capable of doing its duties anymore. That means we have to let it go!" Rainbow Dash finished by kicking it with both hind hooves, dissipating it instantly.

*Click*

Fluttershy flinched in fear with the way Rainbow Dash expressed that action.

"These clouds have the same emotions as us ponies. Therefore, we use our emotions to tell them what to do." Rainbow Dash flew back up to Fluttershy. "That is manipulation. We tell them what to do, they'll cooperate, just like a pony on the job." Fluttershy let out a nervous, yet silent whine sound as Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on her shoulder, motioning her eyes towards where the previous cloud was. "If they're too tired or refuse to do their job, we let them go." Fluttershy's pupils shrank at this statement.

"L-let them g-go?" Fluttershy hesitated, bringing her attention to Rainbow Dash. "By murdering them?!" Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide by this statement.

"What? No! Clouds don't get murdered," Rainbow Dash corrected, turning her head's attention to Fluttershy.

"W-what?" Fluttershy was now really lost. Rainbow Dash groaned and smacked herself on the forehead with a hoof.

"Fluttershy, when we bust clouds, we aren't destroying them, we're dissipating them." Rainbow Dash continued her lecture, letting go of Fluttershy and hovering back into the air. "It means they shrink into smaller ones that separate in the air. When other clouds touch them, they form together as a whole, becoming one with their emotions."

"Oh... my..." Fluttershy looked back down at the cloud she was standing on. She had seen Rainbow Dash busting clouds like these for years now and it never occurred to her that they had just about as much feelings as everypony else did. The thought that every single speck of cloud basically had feelings staggered her mind.

"So if you want these clouds to do what you want, you gotta pony up and be assertive." Rainbow Dash pointed to the cloud Fluttershy was on. "You see that cloud?" Fluttershy was already looking at the cloud, but nodded anyway. "It hasn't listened to your emotions at all. So it's time for you to let it go!"

Fluttershy gulped at the command. She felt as if she was working at the weather factory itself all of a sudden. She tried pushing it out of her mind and just focusing on Rainbow Dash's lectures. She really wanted to learn how to do this. She spread her wings apart to get herself ready.

"Release your emotions like you're scolding somepony, and give this thing a good kick!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Fluttershy released the shyness on her face and put on a confident look. There was a lot more concentration to this weather managing than she had thought. Rainbow Dash made it look so easy that no pony could've known it was really this complicated. Summoning up her courage, Fluttershy closed her eyes to focus on her strength. She brought her hooves up into the air, and then down to stomp on the cloud as hard as she could, ready to let her wings keep her airborne.

*Click*

But nothing happened. Fluttershy opened one eye to take a look at the cloud. It didn't change at all.

"Tch, tch, tch." Rainbow Dash shook her head. "No good. Too much confidence in your emotion, not enough scolding. Try again."

Fluttershy squeaked in response to her screw up. She wasn't sure what she did wrong, but she did as Rainbow Dash said and tried again.

*Pomph* ...No response. 

"Nope," Rainbow Dash shook her head again and put a more stern look to her face. "Come on Fluttershy, focus!"

"Unh... what?" Fluttershy's mind was starting to panic.

"You're punishing a cloud for misbehaving! Stop being so soft!"

"U-um... why am I-" *Bam!* "Ahh!" Fluttershy jumped when that lightning bolt struck.

"That's why you're punishing it! Get it to stop!" Rainbow Dash continued to command, pointing a hoof at the cloud.

"Oh... please stop," Fluttershy said to the cloud while she was hitting it more with her hooves, not even focusing on her mind.

"Don't tell it with words, tell it through your emotions!" Rainbow Dash yelled again. Fluttershy's emotions started going wildly haywire and all over the place. Her emotions were causing the cloud to start creating wind.

"H-how do I do that?!" Fluttershy's panic led to her to start having to yell. The wind was causing the hairs on her coat and mane to blow around, the mane smacking across her face.

"Think about when your pets misbehave!" Rainbow Dash shouted, keeping her flight stance despite the wind. Fluttershy made a large grunt as she focused her emotions towards anger and struck the cloud again. 

*Bam!* *Click* "Ahh!" Fluttershy flinched as she caused more lightning to strike.


______________________________________________________________________________


*Tchh!* The animals that were playing outside of Fluttershy's cottage were brought to attention when that last lightning strike was absorbed by the lightning rod on top of the cottage. They were attempting to back away from the garden, fearing the wind power's force.

Fluttershy's personal and most helpful pet bunny, Angel, ran towards the door to the cottage, opening it. He called out to all of the other animals outside and started motioning them to get inside. The weather was getting dangerous, so it would be safer inside. All of the animals listened to Angel's orders and scurried to the cottage.

Angel kept the door open and waited until all of the animals had entered inside. Tank was the last one to enter, being the slowest out of the group. Once he was inside, Angel went inside as well, closing the door to the cottage.


______________________________________________________________________________


*Bam!* A lightning strike struck straight towards the ground, causing large scorch marks on the grass.

"Balance Fluttershy, balance!" Rainbow Dash yelled over the wind. The clouds began clumping together as they grew darker, spurred on by the wind.

"Aha! I'm trying, but-" 

*Bam!* "Whoa!" A lightning bolt struck towards Rainbow Dash. She moved out of the way before it hit her. *Bam! Bam!* "Fluttershy, what are you doing!? Calm down!"

"Okay! Um..." Fluttershy clung her hooves on the cloud she was on, trying to find a way to ease her mind." *Bam!* "AHAAA!" Fluttershy's nerves stopped listening when that lightning bolt singed her mane. She continued stomping her hooves on the clouds, trying to get them to calm down while they were forming together.

"Fluttershy!" *Tchh!* "Gaah!" Rainbow Dash's eyes flinched when that lightning bolt struck a nearby tree, instantly incinerating it, and causing it to crumble into a pile of charcoal. Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof away from her eyes and shifted her attention back at the cloud, growing increasingly worried at the sight. She wasn't sure what was going on anymore. This shouldn't have been happening. "Fluttershy! Get out of there!"

"But Rainbow Dash, I have to learn how to do this!" Fluttershy yelled through the wind, keeping her hooves on the cloud as the wind violently blew her mane around. She didn't want to lose her confidence in maintaining weather clouds. "Tell me what I need to do!" Rainbow Dash wasn't liking this anymore. Fluttershy was showing a side to her that Rainbow Dash was forced to admit, had to put a stop to.

"Fluttershy, drop your confidence!" Those words coming from Rainbow Dash made Fluttershy's stomach drop. "Listen to me and just-" *Bam!* "Gaah!" More lightning struck the ground, creating more small scorched craters across the land. The wind turned very cold all of a sudden. "Nngh!" They blew on Rainbow Dash with enough force to cause her to struggle staying airborne.

Fluttershy completely stopped listening to Rainbow Dash's words. It was rare for her to do something new like this with a lot of confidence, and now it was being shot down. Her frustration grew as the cloud formed around her, filling up with more darkness. They kept zapping her randomly and they had to go away now. Fluttershy looked towards her cottage through the clouds, thinking about what her animals wanted. They wanted a calm weather to relax their spirits, and it was the exact opposite that this cloud was giving her. Squeezing her eyes, she scrunched her mind into one fact, pumping adrenaline in her hooves. She wanted this cloud gone now.

"NNNGAAAHHH!!!" Fluttershy gave off an extended yell as she stomped her hooves on the cloud again.

*Bam! Tchh! Bam!* "Argh!" Rainbow Dash forced herself to keep her eyes on Fluttershy while the winds fought to blow her away. That last strike Fluttershy did caused the cloud to split. Things were not going the way they should've been at all. 

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash decided enough was enough. She flew towards the clouds, pushing her wings to flap harder to allow herself to fight against the powerful winds that blew on her. The cloud kept firing lightning bolts randomly, striking the lightning rod in one direction, and scorching the fields in every other direction.

"AAAAAHH!!!" Large lightning bolts violently swirled around the area where the cloud split. Rainbow Dash zipped towards Fluttershy as fast as she could.

*Tchh! Tchh! Bam!* "FLUTTERSHY!!!" *Click*

*Crash!* "AHH!!!" *BAM!!!* Rainbow Dash barely managed to push Fluttershy out of the cloud as it struck within itself, striking the separated cloud. The cloud was blown away by its force, spinning quickly and shooting lightning wildly as it was thrown across the skies.

"Gnnh!" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hit and slid along the ground with a large thud. Rainbow Dash got Fluttershy and herself up on to their hooves quickly as soon as they stopped sliding. They immediately cringed as they looked towards the sky.

*Gasp!* Fluttershy watched with wide eyes as the spinning, lightning tossing, cloud was blown straight towards her cottage.

"NOOO!" Rainbow Dash was only able to reach a hoof out before the cloud made contact.

*BOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!!* The explosion blinded them as light lit up the entire area, leaving a shadow behind their flashing coats.

*Tchh, tchh. Tchh...*

...They covered their eyes and looked away as that cloud left behind powerful bolts of lightning swirling around after hitting the cottage. When they looked back after the light went away, they witnessed the worst. The entire cottage was engulfed in flames, flashing a new light that resonated around the area.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs and immediately dashed straight for the closest cloud near the cottage, acting fast.

The flames reflected off of Fluttershy's eyes like they were sucking her soul out. The cottage was already collapsing before her very eyes. She could see many animals within going into full panic and scurrying across the area, but no where to go. The flames had surrounded them. Fluttershy could plainly see the terrified faces on both Angel and Tank in the center of it all. They shivered violently, shutting their eyes tightly while they held each other. Tank retracted his head and pulled Angel inside of his shell. It was the last thing Fluttershy saw before the flames blocked her view of them.

Fluttershy's mind shut down on her. The wind from Rainbow Dash's flight didn't even register in her mind. She just dropped her rump to the ground without her notice. It was as if her heart had stopped beating when the realization beat into her mind.

She had caused this... 

Rainbow Dash took one of the clouds in the air and immediately pushed it over the cottage. She could feel the heat wave surrounding her while the cottage was collapsing. She gave the cloud a good kick when it was quickly set into position.

*Bam!* *Click* "Gah! Nngh!" More lightning shot forth as Rainbow continued to beat at the cloud, forcing it to cooperate. She didn't stop until it started dropping large amounts of rain.

*Tssssss* A large amount of smoke dispersed above the cottage as the rain hit the fires. The smoke covered Rainbow Dash's vision, penetrating through her lungs.

*Cough, cough, cough! Gasp, cough, cough!* Rainbow Dash started slowly hovering towards the ground. She continuously coughed away all the smoke while she landed lightly. When she recovered, she looked back towards the cottage.

...Rainbow Dash's form stuttered at the sight. She slowly backed away as she saw that cottage collapse into ashes. Even the lightning rod had crumbled to pieces while the rain was putting out the fire. Her voice stuttered in gibberish tones, realizing that she had failed to stop the fire before it was too late. Hesitantly, Rainbow Dash slowly turned her head towards Fluttershy with worried eyes..

Rainbow Dash saw that Fluttershy's body was scorched up slightly. She wasn't moving her body much at all and her mouth just hung open in shock. Rainbow Dash slowly walked closer to her, noticing the slightest shedding of tears coming from her eyes while her body shivered, yet stayed motionless.

"F-f-fl-..." Rainbow Dash tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. She continued getting closer until she was positioned in front of Fluttershy. She could see a bit more tears coming from Fluttershy's eyes before her body slowly leaned forward in Rainbow Dash's direction. Rainbow Dash's eyes started forming tears as she embraced Fluttershy in a comforting hug.

Fluttershy's tears soaked into Rainbow Dash's coat as her sobbing was becoming slightly audible, yet muffled through the coat. Rainbow Dash shut her eyes, trying to keep herself under control. She slowly brushed the pink mane, attempting to calm, not only Fluttershy down, but also herself. 

*Click*

Rainbow Dash couldn't find anything to say. She didn't know what she could do at all. She could only do what she could think of at the moment and just be there for Fluttershy. Things weren't supposed to happen the way it did. She couldn't figure out why it happened the way it did. There were so many animals living in that cottage that Fluttershy cared so deeply about. And now it was just incinerated right before her eyes.

...Even Tank was...

*BAM!* "*GASP,* HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Rainbow Dash was suddenly jerked away by Fluttershy when that last bolt struck. The screaming cry from Fluttershy echoed loudly, ringing her ears in a strong sense of pain. She saw Fluttershy running wildly away from the scene, letting tears slide off and drop behind.

"Urk, Fluttershy!" *Bam!* "Gack!" Rainbow Dash tried to give chase to Fluttershy, but a lightning bolt struck in between their paths, scorching through the already burnt up grass land as if it was bouncing along it. The large cloud formation that Fluttershy had formed was becoming increasingly unstable. It was blowing powerful winds and shooting powerful lightning bolts across the area.

"Nngh!" Rainbow Dash had to put a hoof in front of her face to block the wind that was attempting to blow her away. The power that this cloud was producing was making Rainbow Dash uneasy. She was slowly sliding across the ground while that cloud started moving in a certain direction.

"T-that thing is... NO!" Rainbow Dash released her hoof and hopped closer. "If that thing gets into town, all of Ponyville could be destroyed!" Rainbow Dash looked over towards the direction Fluttershy ran to. "But... Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash looked back to the cloud and then back at Fluttershy's direction, conflicted of what to do. Fluttershy was already leaving her view and she had no idea where she was going. She looked back towards the unstable storm cloud.

*Bam!* The lightning strike shot near her direction, incinerating the tree that could house other creatures that was near Fluttershy's burnt down home.

"Gaah!" Rainbow Dash smacked both her hooves on the sides of her head, knocking her senses under control. She spread her wings and went airborne, pushing against the strong winds and flying towards the large storm cloud. The storm cloud continuously shot lightning in random directions. Some tried hitting Rainbow Dash, but she avoided them as she flew.

The cloud's winds started to reach the town. Some of the citizens of Ponyville already started screaming and panicking. There were just a few homes on the outskirts of Ponyville. The winds were blowing roughly against the trees, snapping off some of their branches, and causing destruction to those outside homes.

Rainbow Dash darted through the large storm cloud as fast as she could, creating a large hole through it. She turned around to make another pass through the cloud, putting another hit on it with audible grunts. She continuously flew through random spots in this cloud, avoiding all of the electric currents that the cloud produced. She punched the cloud, kicked the cloud, avoided the lightning, and fought its wind resistances.

As the cloud broke apart, the storm grew weaker. The cloud became increasingly easier to deal with as it grew smaller, calming the area down and relaxing the citizens. Rainbow Dash didn't stop until the entire storm cloud was dissipated. She let out one last grunt after taking out the last tuft.

*Pant, pant* The storm was stopped before it had reached Ponyville. Some of the outskirts' citizens had witnessed the scene. They started applauding to Rainbow Dash's brave tactics of saving them from a disaster.

But Rainbow Dash paid absolutely no attention to the praises. The sounds of their cheering grew silent to her. She hovered in the air, breathing aggressively, keeping her sight on the spot where the last tuft of that cloud laid. Her body shivered with rage as she thought about that storm.

Rainbow Dash knew exactly what had happened now and she was not happy about it one bit. It wasn't just one of those clouds that were unstable, all of them were. A storm cloud couldn't have become that dangerous unless most or all of these clouds held unstable aftershocks. That only meant one thing, and that one thing was, somepony had sabotaged the clouds in the weather factory.

Rainbow Dash's wings vibrated in a fury that was causing a powerful wind to blow on the cheering ponies. She ignored those ponies and flew away from them, causing them to get startled by her sudden display. Rainbow Dash flew back to her and Fluttershy's practicing site to go back to the camera that she set up. She went to reach into the camera.

*Click* "Nngh!" The camera made one more flash, blinding Rainbow Dash a bit and causing her to jerk away. After recovering, she gave a frustrated groan. She ripped that last picture out and threw it away. Afterwards, she took out the other last picture that it had set off before the one that blinded her and shut the camera down. 

With the picture on hoof, Rainbow Dash immediately dashed off into the skies, causing the camera stand to fall over due to her wing power. She placed the picture in her mane as she flew off towards the weather factory's direction, ready to use the picture as evidence if she needed to. She had to have a word with those ponies as soon as possible, which was right now, whether they wanted it or not.


______________________________________________________________________________


A single pegasus pony was working at a receptionist desk at the Cloudsdale weather factory. She was flipping through her files with little care in the world, having a bored look on her face.

*Crash!* Rainbow Dash burst through the front doors of the weather factory with no hesitation, causing the receptionist pegasus to get startled.

"Hey!" the receptionist started. "You can't just-"

"Enough chat buster!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, flying up towards her. "Somepony left unstable clouds in this factory's storage facility! Why did you allow this!?"

"Wha-at? Me?!" the pegasus argued back, placing a pile of papers in front of her to block her view of Rainbow Dash. "I didn't allow any defective clouds in here!"

"Your job is to inspect all the clouds that get put into this storage!" Rainbow Dash yelled back, smacking the papers away and slamming her hooves on the desk, getting closer to the other pegasus.

"Which, there are none! I know!" The pegasus looked away from Rainbow Dash, crossing her forelegs.

"Really?!" Rainbow Dash challenged, flying in front of her to regain eye contact. "Why don't you check now and tell me otherwise?!"

"Rainbow Dash, get out of here!" the pegasus yelled back, keeping herself at her desk and just looking at Rainbow Dash. "I don't need a lazy feather brain like YOU telling ME how to do my job!" The last comment riled Rainbow Dash up more so than she already was. This pony was not cooperating at all. She suspected that this was done on purpose now. She let a steam of breath snort out her nose as she changed her tactic.

"Fine! I'll do it myself!" Rainbow Dash was finished with this conversation. She started flying up to the storage, but was stopped when the ignorant receptionist flew in the path blocking the storage area.

"I said go away Rainbow Dash!" the receptionist yelled.

"Move it!" Rainbow Dash yelled, moving the pegasus aside. But the pegasus provided violent resistance.

"I am in charge here! And I'm telling you to-" The receptionist tried to punch Rainbow Dash, but Rainbow Dash stopped it and retaliated.

*SMACK!!!* The receptionist was sent flying quite a distance away from the storage due to Rainbow Dash's kick. She hit the solid floor with a loud thump. Her pain was evident by her audible cringing grunt, curling her hooves around her face.

Rainbow Dash wasted no time in opening up the storage room. She flew to the first cloud she saw and hit it without hesitation.

*Bam!* The lightning strike shot towards the other clouds in storage, linking from one cloud to another, giving each cloud a small activation. The receptionist from earlier managed to recover slightly and enter the storage room. 

"Oh no..." The receptionist's pupils shrunk as she witnessed those clouds' activations. Rainbow Dash saw that the look on the receptionist's swollen face was not a pleasant one.

"I suggest you leave now," Rainbow Dash said, predicting exactly what was about to happen. She dashed straight past the receptionist, causing her to get knocked down due to the wing power. Rainbow Dash went to the receptionist desk and went up to the microphone for the intercom.

"EVACUATE!!!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she smashed her hoof on a button that would activate an alarm.

*Bam! Ring!*

Rainbow Dash immediately exited the weather factory in frustration. She already saw the clouds becoming unstable as she was flying towards Ponyville's direction. She could see many other pegasi flying away from the weather factory. It looked like they didn't hesitate to heed that alert. The entire weather factory was going dangerously unstable with lightning bolts as all of the pegasi flew away from the place.

*BOOM!!!* The explosion of the weather factory lit up her coat even through this distance. Rainbow Dash didn't make any sort of flinch when the factory exploded. Her mind focused on one thing and one thing only.

Fluttershy...

She really didn't deserve what happened to her. It wasn't fair at all. Rainbow Dash felt so stupid for not paying attention to the signs. She thought all of that lightning was being caused by Fluttershy's increasingly startled emotions. She didn't expect them to get powerful enough to cause such a dangerous storm.

But that storm wasn't caused because of Fluttershy's emotions at all. That storm was created by all of the aftershock that came from each one of those clouds. Their continuous activations only caused them to become stronger and more unstable than ever.

It was even more unfair that Fluttershy's confidence was used against her so punishingly like that. Rainbow Dash always liked seeing Fluttershy be more confident with out going activities. But now... the one day Fluttershy was the one who asked for herself...

*HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...* Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes as they started tearing up again. She could hear Fluttershy's high-pitched scream echoing in her mind as she flew. Why was it that these things had to happen the way it did? It was just so unfair.

"*Sniff* Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash shivered at the thought of her. What was she doing now? She had to find her. She wanted her to be okay. She couldn't think of anything else. All she wanted was to find Fluttershy and make sure she was okay... somehow...
> Finding Fluttershy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sunset was largely becoming apparent across Ponyville. Rainbow Dash landed near the area where Fluttershy's cottage used to be.

"Fluttershy!" she desperately called out as she looked around. The first thing that she had noticed was the rain cloud that she positioned earlier above the cottage. It was showing its aftershock effect by zapping its lightning among the remains of the cottage.

Rainbow Dash growled through her gritted teeth at the sight. This was absolutely insulting, like this cloud was mocking the destruction of Fluttershy's home. She dashed straight towards the cloud, kicking up dirt in her wake. She made a loud audible grunting yell as she gave the cloud a powerful smack with her hooves. Instead of dissipating, the cloud was knocked down towards the ground. The cloud hit the ground with an audible thud before it dissipated.

Rainbow Dash let a large breath of irritated air escape her. She flew towards the direction she saw Fluttershy run off to, hoping she could find her that way.

"Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow Dash called her name, trying to call louder every time. She couldn't hear any response, but she continued looking.

But then, her eyes caught something that made her gasp. She was both hoping and not hoping that it was what she thought it was. She landed towards what she noticed to get a better look, but she didn't want to believe it. She rubbed her eyes, thinking it was an illusion.

"...Oh no..." There was no denying it anymore. Rainbow Dash was looking at Fluttershy's tears. It looked like she had created a puddle with her own tears and ended up stepping on it as she continued to run. But where those tears were heading was what terrified Rainbow Dash.

"No..." She looked up to see that these hoof stepped tears were leading inside the Everfree Forest. This was bringing a majorly bad omen to her mind. After registering this for a few seconds, Rainbow Dash spread her wings again and flew inside the forest.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy, where are you?! Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash continuously called Fluttershy's name as she looked for her. The tears didn't give her much of a lead as they appeared to dry up shortly after entering. Not to mention the lack of light due to the sunset was severely limiting her visions. She didn't care what sort of creatures she was attracting. All that mattered was that she find Fluttershy. She continued her search despite the potential dangers.


______________________________________________________________________________


"Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash made a whining groan. "Fluttershy... please answer me..." Rainbow Dash's search had tired out her wings. She was deep inside of the forest, possibly lost now. Regardless, she continued to search. She needed to find Fluttershy no matter what. In order to give her wings a rest, she searched on hoof, continuously calling out Fluttershy's name and hoping to Celestia that she would answer.


______________________________________________________________________________


"urk... Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash sniffed as tears were starting to return to her eyes. A lot of time had passed since Rainbow Dash's search. She couldn't tell how long she had been searching, but it was starting to prove her futile. She couldn't find her like this.

"...Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash stopped walking, sobbing as she sat on her haunches. She shut her eyes as she dropped her tired body down on the ground, lying in her depression under utter defeat. She was desperately on the verge of giving up despite her efforts of not wanting to. She didn't want to stop her search, but what could she do?

*HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...* That screamed echoed through her mind again. Fluttershy's terrorizing moment continued to torment her. It was the last that she saw of Fluttershy and not the last she wanted to see.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes with heavy tears as she picked herself back up. Those cries continued to torture her mind, but it gave her more reason to continue her search. She continued walking with one thought on her mind. Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash's breathing was became unsteady, but her eyes caught something that gave her a stuttered gasp. It was as if Celestia herself had answered her prayers. She was now seeing those teary hoof prints again.

"F-fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash ran her hoof along the first small teary print that she could reach. It looked like the hoof prints would lead her to Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash followed them with her own tears falling on the path. She wouldn't find any joy unless she found Fluttershy herself.


______________________________________________________________________________


Rainbow Dash continued to follow Fluttershy's path even after they diverted from the dirt trail in the forest. She could hear the rustling that was being caused by other potentially dangerous creatures lurking around. Rainbow Dash's stomach couldn't stop twisting as she continued to follow the path like her life depended on it, or rather her closest friend's life.

The further she followed those tears, the less visible they became. But the hoof prints that Fluttershy was leaving behind was becoming increasingly easier for her to see. She couldn't tell if that meant she was getting closer or if she was increasingly recognizing them better, but she continued following them regardless of which reason.

"Fluttershy... *Sniff*... Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash continued to call her name. The rustling around the area became more apparent overtime. Rainbow Dash cautiously listened to those rustles as she followed the hoof prints.

*Rustle... RUSTLE! SNAP!* "Ahh!" Rainbow Dash jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding the vines that had tried to grab her. She could see a few more moving vines in her area. It felt like there was some sort of Snap Trap around the area.

Rainbow Dash screamed in terror as she rushed out of the area, using her wings again. But she didn't stray from the path she was following. The vines attempted to snap at her, but barely missed her. They gave chase, but due to Rainbow Dash's speed, they shortly became out of reach.

Rainbow Dash landed back on the ground, panting after that heart attack inducing moment. She put a hoof to her aching chest as she caught her breath. If there was any relief to the situation, it was that she didn't lose the path that the hoof prints marked. But she was getting more and more discouraged the longer she followed them. They seemed to go on forever.

"...Fluttershy... please, answer me..." Rainbow Dash sniffed as her tone became softer and softer, losing her voice overtime. "Please, say something... Fluttershy..."


______________________________________________________________________________


Rainbow Dash's motivation was slowly losing her. Her muscles strained as she continued to travel. She long lost track of how long she had been following these hoof prints. She thought she could hear the rustling sounds of the hoof steps up ahead on multiple occasions, but every time her hopes came up, there was never a sign of Fluttershy, only more hoof prints without noises.

*HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...* Rainbow Dash dropped her body to the ground, placing both hooves over her closed eyes as she continued to weep. Fluttershy's scream just continued to torment her mind. She regretted all of the nasty things that she had ever said to Fluttershy in the past. She only wanted her to be more assertive and outgoing. She wanted her to have the kind of fun that she felt.

And she was succeeding. Overtime, Fluttershy had shown more and more progress of coming out of her shell. She was able to take care of herself on even more occasions than ever before.

But now... this was the result. She regretted ever trying to bring Fluttershy out of her shell. She should have never given Fluttershy the confidence to be more outgoing. Fluttershy would still have her animal friends. Fluttershy would've still been living with them, alone and happy, just her and her animals living in that lively cottage.

Rainbow Dash lied there, wallowing in her own torment for an extended time. She didn't realize her conscious had lost itself in her mind as she thought about Fluttershy. She didn't know how long she was lying there, but her body felt numb and weak when she regained her senses.

Rainbow Dash hesitantly picked herself back up on her wobbly legs, using a shaky hoof to wipe some of the tears off her eyes. She didn't care how brave Fluttershy was anymore. She just wanted to see her friend okay. She wanted to see Fluttershy safe.

A few whimpers escaped Rainbow Dash's mouth as she continued walking, still following the hoof prints as if they were taunting her. She tried to call out Fluttershy's name again.

But no words were able to leave her mouth.


______________________________________________________________________________


Rainbow Dash's breathing became slowly hesitant. After much more traveling, something new caught her eye up ahead. Whatever it was, it was very bright. The hoof prints were leading her towards this light. She slowly walked her aching body towards it, half hoping that this light was leading outside. If it lead outside, at least Fluttershy would be in a more safe environment.

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what the other half she was hoping for. Maybe she was afraid of how delicate Fluttershy would be around others now. Maybe she was hoping it would lead her to answers to where Fluttershy was. She wasn't sure what she was hoping for at the time. All she really knew was that she wanted to find Fluttershy beyond these lights. Her body scraped through the bushes concealing the light as she held on to that hope.

But she didn't find Fluttershy beyond these lights. They weren't even leading outside. These lights lead to what looked like a bright spring. The spring was being illuminated by many fireflies flying just above it.

Rainbow Dash tried to get her voice to work, but all that escaped were her painful moans. Her throat stung her every time she made a noise out of them. She couldn't even get whispers to form out of her mouth. Only her movements were still alive, yet dead as they continued to grow more numb. She continued to walk towards the spring.

Fluttershy's hoof prints disappeared inside the waters of the spring. Rainbow Dash slowly walked up to it, hesitant to look inside. A wave of both relief and despair was filling her soul at the presence of the bright calm water, seeing her depressed reflection staring straight back at her. Her body started to return their feelings at the sight of this reflection. The pain and exhaustion that her traveling had given her was returning. Her body yearned to drink from this spring.

Rainbow Dash winced as she obeyed her body's instincts to do what it needed. She slowly dipped her muzzle into the spring, sipping large contents of the water into her mouth. The dehydration that her body was suffering became apparent when the water soaked along the inner walls of her throat. The water was easing her body, but her mind continued to twist. She opened her eyes to gaze upon her reflection as she drank. She could see the colors in her eyes changing. Those magenta eyes slowly started turning into a cyan color. They were the eyes of Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash's heart pounded into a deeper depression as she saw those pupils pulsating slightly. It pained her more than when she was seeing her own eyes.

Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes shut and pulled her muzzle away from the water. She couldn't handle the depressed figure that she witnessed. It was bringing Fluttershy's tormenting scream back into her mind. A whine escaped her sore lungs as she slowly brought her head down to rest. 

The taste of the spring started registering to Rainbow Dash. She was conflicted by this odd taste. If she didn't know better, she would say that she was actually drinking Fluttershy's tears. The spring obviously wasn't Fluttershy's tears, but to Rainbow Dash, it somehow felt as if it was. Maybe it was because she was drinking at the spot where some of Fluttershy's tears fell. Which meant that she must've drank from here as well.

Rainbow Dash let her head drop to the ground. Her ears flattened against the sides of her head as her mind wandered in her own torment. Fluttershy was here, but she was no where in sight. She felt so close to her, yet so far. It was as if Fluttershy was so scared that she was even avoiding Rainbow Dash on purpose. That feeling made Rainbow Dash really sick to her stomach. She wanted to protect Fluttershy, not harm her or scare her.

Rainbow Dash's hope for finding Fluttershy was failing her. All of the signs that she had followed that would lead to Fluttershy continued to taunt her with their false hope. She continued to lie at the front edge of the bright spring, weeping her sorrows as her own tears dropped into it.


______________________________________________________________________________


After much time had passed, Rainbow Dash felt one of the fireflies from the spring fly and land onto her nose. The bright light that it emitted shined even through her closed eyes. She awakened and opened her teary eyes to see that firefly. The firefly removed itself from her nose and floated up in response. Rainbow Dash hesitated a little before she slowly picked her body up, sobbing a little as she did so.

It was odd. This firefly slowly circled along Rainbow Dash's visions as if it was calling to her. The firefly started floating around the outside circle of the spring, bobbing up and down as it occasionally moved a bit towards her before continuing its path. It was an odd sense of calling that brightened up some hope left in her. No matter how much the signs seemed to taunt her, more signs came.

Rainbow Dash hesitantly followed this firefly along the spring. She no longer tried to form words, only her actions and reasons reached her now. She followed this firefly as if it was Fluttershy herself, or at least more so her only lead to Fluttershy left.

Rainbow Dash's ears perked up when they caught those rustling sounds again. They were in the direction that the firefly was leading her.

When they reached just about the other side of the spring, the firefly started flying back to it. To Rainbow Dash, that didn't matter anymore, because she discovered what the firefly was trying to show her. Fluttershy's hoof prints were leading out of the spring, continuing deeper into the forest.

Rainbow Dash's ears caught the sound of more rustling. Those noises sounded very close by. Rainbow Dash continued on into the forest with a slight new found hope. She would never find that relief again unless she saw Fluttershy herself with her own eyes. It was like she had to repeat that in her head over and over again. Nothing really led her to Fluttershy, until she saw her with her own eyes.

______________________________________________________________________________

A bit more time had passed and Rainbow Dash could still hear the rustling ahead of her. But now, a new wave of anxiety rushed through her body. She started hearing multiple rustling sounds up ahead. They were in the direction that the hoof prints were leading her.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she feared the worst. She quickened her pace, following both the sounds and the hoof prints. The rustling became clearer and clearer the further she went. She was losing more control of her breathing the louder those rustlings sounded.

But then her breath stopped when the rustling ceased. Rainbow Dash's nerves were attempting to paralyze her movements. It was almost as if the rustling sounds were just more tricks being played on her mind. But the hoof prints still existed, so she forced herself to continue. Up ahead, she saw the path being concealed by thicker bushes.

There was a low growl sound present on the other side. Rainbow Dash's mind raced much more aggressively at that moment. She could hear those screams tormenting her mind again. Rainbow Dash wasted no time in passing through the thick bushes, seeing exactly what was ahead.

Rainbow Dash's breath released a small gasp from her mouth upon seeing what was on the other side... All of the signs had finally rewarded her... The first thing that came into Rainbow Dash's sights in this clearing when she passed through those bushes, was the very one that she had been searching for all this time.

Fluttershy.

All of the feelings on Rainbow Dash's body and senses immediately returned to her. Though Fluttershy wasn't alone here. There were three creatures slowly treading closer to her, each of them Timberwolves. They must've been the one that did that growling she heard earlier. But one of them looked as if it was missing an ear.

Fluttershy was backed and curled up against a tree. Her coat and mane no longer held those burnt marks, but filled with a mess of grass and dirt, along with what looked like a few bruises. She was also holding something in her hooves that she was rubbing close to her body. It looked like the piece of wood that formed the missing ear of that timberwolf.

A large new bound of hope and determination filled Rainbow Dash's heart. The water that she drank from that spring earlier suddenly felt like it was taking effect and restoring the ache in her body. She growled as her body shivered at the sight of the timberwolves that were slowly closing in on Fluttershy with those low growls. They were about to harm Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash spread her wings, launching herself into the air with the desires of stopping these timberwolves at all costs.

*Rrr...* The timberwolves slowly treaded closer to Fluttershy's whimpering body. She didn't look like she was trying to run away. She just sat there, paralyzed by fear and holding that wooden stick close by. Was she even aware of what she was holding?

When one of the timberwolves came close enough, it gave off a loud roar while it lunged at Fluttershy.

*Smash!* Fluttershy winced when that timberwolf was stomped on by the force of the flying pegasus. Some of the wood from the timberwolf's body was scattered after Rainbow Dash's attack. The other timberwolves let out a roar, lunging at Rainbow Dash when they became aware of her presence.

Rainbow Dash jumped backwards and out of the way, causing the two timberwolves to collide with each other. The timberwolf that she smashed into previously managed to pick itself back up. The other two soon followed suit. Rainbow Dash kept a glaring focus on these timberwolves, blowing out steam through her nostrils while her wings shuttered for battle. She wanted to make sure their attention was away from Fluttershy.

The three timberwolves charged at Rainbow Dash with loud roars. Rainbow Dash started flying in circles with great speed, immediately kicking up a powerful wind. When the timberwolves lunged into this wind, each one let out a cry as their bodies were launched upwards due to the wind's power.

Rainbow Dash charged at one of the timberwolves that was helplessly blown in the air. She let out a large grunt as she forced a lot of power into smacking that timberwolf down towards the ground. The timberwolf was thrown against a tree, shattering upon impact.

The other two timberwolves had landed back on the ground. One of them had picked itself up and was charging back towards Fluttershy. It was the one with the missing ear. Rainbow Dash flew straight towards its back, slamming it to fall onto its belly and stopping it in its tracks. Rainbow Dash used her teeth to bite on its wooden neck, using her strength to pull on it and break it off, causing the timberwolf to let out a roaring cry.

*Chomp!* "Ahh!" Rainbow Dash felt her tail being bitten and tugged on by the last timberwolf. She took off into the air, dragging the timberwolf with her. She struggled to keep herself in the air as the weight and wiggling of this timberwolf threw off her flight path. 

But Rainbow Dash was able to fly between a narrow passage of bushes, She was able to get the timberwolf to lose its grip on her tail, but not without taking a few of her hairs with it. Rainbow Dash flicked her tail, trying to brush off the pain that she felt on it.

But right when she regained her attention, the timberwolf lunged onto her, pushing her a bit of a distance before slamming her down onto her back. The timberwolf barked aggressively, showering its bad breath on Rainbow Dash's face while it was trying to sink its wooden teeth on her. Rainbow Dash was putting all of her strength in her hooves, keeping its head as far away from her as she could muster. Her body struggled to keep her grip and strength on the wiggling head. 

Rainbow Dash looked away from the bad smelling breath this timberwolf was giving her. Rather than her own life, her bigger concern lied on who was behind her. Fluttershy. She hadn't moved from her spot. She just continued to rub that wooden ear while her eyes hid behind her mane, blocking out her visions of the battle. Even her ears were flattened against her head. The display of fear caused Rainbow Dash's heart to pound faster and pump more adrenaline into her body. She had to protect Fluttershy at all cost.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth harder as she put more strength in her hooves. She started flapping her wings underneath the timberwolf, allowing herself to slide on her back. This caused the timberwolf to lose its grip on top of Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash was able to use this moment to sweep her hooves along the ground, swiping the timberwolf's legs, causing it to trip. She then kicked the timberwolf from under its chin, causing its body to thrust upward on its hind legs. She finished off by flying upwards to it, sending it slightly in the air before she pushed it straight back down, slamming it into the the timberwolf with the missing ear, shattering both of them upon impact.

Rainbow Dash's body slightly flexed up and down as she tried to settle her heavy breathing down. All of the timberwolves were shattered. It was silent now, save for Rainbow Dash's low, yet heavy breathing. But there was also a silent whimper as well... 

Rainbow Dash slowly turned around to look back to Fluttershy. She could see those pulsating eyes staring back at her with fear. The sight of Fluttershy's body shivering when she was looking back pained Rainbow Dash's heart. But it was worse when it appeared that Fluttershy was trying to lean away from Rainbow Dash, ready to crawl away with the timberwolf's ear at any second.

Disbelief and despair filled in Rainbow Dash's eyes. Fluttershy wasn't saying anything, but the look on those eyes were telling her everything on how Fluttershy felt right now.

Those eyes... they held no confidence... no bravery... only fear, and sadness. It twisted Rainbow Dash's heart seeing those eyes the way they were. She desperately wanted to find Fluttershy, but she didn't want to see her like this...

Before Rainbow Dash found the conscious to move her legs, a green magical aura started resonating underneath them and around the area. Rainbow Dash's eyes shifted to the piles of wood that belong to the timberwolves from earlier. They were all starting to shake lightly as the aura floated around. Even the one that Fluttershy was holding was shaking. But Fluttershy's attention stayed on Rainbow Dash, ignoring all of the aura resonating around the area. All of the pieces of wood were starting to float off of the ground. But the one Fluttershy was holding had stopped shaking and didn't move from her grip.

Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes shut, beating her own mind mentally. These timberwolves were putting themselves back together. She had no time to feel despair right now. She had to get these timberwolves to leave them alone.

While the timberwolves were putting themselves back together, Rainbow Dash took off into the air again. She charged straight for one of the trunks of the trees. She brought one of her hind hooves to kick out against the trunk as soon as she came within range.

Rainbow Dash's kick caused a large stump of the tree to break off, leaving the rest of the tree to land perfectly back together with a loud thud, completely balanced to not fall over. The large stump that she broke off was now carried in her hooves. The wood from the timberwolves started to form together into a much larger timberwolf. Rainbow Dash flew up into the air with the trunk in hoof. She started twirling herself around, allowing the trunk to build up momentum in her spin.

When all of the pieces of wood had formed together to create a giant timberwolf, it released a very loud and extended roar. The force of its breath blew against the trees, attempting to pry their leaves and branches off of them. As soon as that monster let out its roar, Rainbow Dash released her grip from that trunk, tossing it straight towards the timberwolf while it was roaring.

The trunk collided against the monster with a bang, causing it to instantly shattered to many pieces once again. But it didn't matter how many times they were shattered. If those pieces of wood weren't gathered into her hooves, they would always be able to regenerate back up.

This must've been why they were trying to attack Fluttershy, because of the one she had in her hooves. There were too many pieces for Rainbow Dash to gather herself, so her only option was to get them away from here.

Rainbow Dash started flying around in a circle around the piles of wood, using her wing power to stir up a powerful wind. The wind was able to generate a vacuum tornado that was sucking in all of the pieces of wood around the area inside her circle while blowing against everything outside of it.

The wind was blowing on Fluttershy powerfully. She held the timberwolf's ear tightly against her body while the wind knocked her to the ground, causing her body to slide. Her tears were being blown off of her while she whimpered in fear.

Rainbow Dash shot herself out of the tornado when they were all gathered up, sliding her hooves across the ground and kicking up dirt before she was able to come to a stop. The tornado was starting to break apart, tossing out all of the timberwolves' pieces randomly across the Everfree Forest. They were blown a very long distance away. Rainbow Dash didn't know and didn't care where they would land, as long as they landed very far away from them.

Rainbow Dash hesitantly looked back to Fluttershy after the wind had settled. She saw Fluttershy curled against the ground, looking back at her with even more tearful pulsating eyes. Her body just wouldn't stop shivering. Rainbow Dash could clearly hear her whimpers as her tears continued to fall on the stick she still held.

The look on her face continued to tear at Rainbow Dash's heart. She tried to move closer to Fluttershy, wanting to do whatever she could to calm her down. But the second she moved, Fluttershy flinched backwards. Rainbow Dash froze in her tracks the second she saw that fear intensify. It hadn't occurred to her that all of the pain that she was feeling while searching this forest was only probably a fraction of the pain Fluttershy was feeling right now.

Rainbow Dash didn't blame her. She must've been blaming herself for what had happened to her home and animals. She was fearing everything around her, including her own self. Those animals were everything to her. They were her life. To lose everything due to her own actions just like that... to lose... Angel... to lead Tank to his...

"F-fluttershy... p-please..." Rainbow Dash finally found her voice again. She put all of the sanity she had left in her into forming her words. They seemed to be reaching Fluttershy as her head shifted slightly in Rainbow Dash's direction. Rainbow Dash continued to pull words out of her mouth. "...You don't have to say anything, but please... listen to me..." She spoke in a very soft tone for Fluttershy.

Fluttershy's attention was slowly coming into more focus on Rainbow Dash. Her tears seemed to be slowing down slightly as a result. Rainbow Dash continued to push her words out, but she let them out as gently as possible.

"Come back to me, Fluttershy... come back... home..." Rainbow Dash let a few tears fall herself from the very delicate situation. "...Please Fluttershy..." Her words seemed to be working. Fluttershy was slowly leaning towards her direction. Her breathing was still rather unsteady, but she managed to take her first step in Rainbow Dash's direction. Rainbow Dash's heart started filling with warmth. She continued her words, letting out a small smile.

"That's it Fluttershy... there's no need to be afraid of me..." Rainbow Dash let herself sit on her rump while she continued. "...I'm here for you, Fluttershy. ...I'll take care of you..." Fluttershy let the wood she was holding drop to the ground as she continued walking her shaky legs closer to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash's heart continued to fill with more warmth the closer Fluttershy got.

"Please come back, Fluttershy... come back with me..." Rainbow Dash let her hooves open out for Fluttershy when she got close enough. This made Fluttershy freeze where she was. Rainbow Dash kept her hopeful look on Fluttershy, keeping very still. She barely breathed, her heart beat very slowly, and she kept her body as still as possible. This was a very delicate situation. All that was left was what Fluttershy chose right here and now.

And Fluttershy, chose Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy thrusted her body towards Rainbow Dash's forelegs, letting out a large cry that was muffled into her cyan coat. Rainbow Dash's heart burned with an intense heat of relief and joy as she embraced Fluttershy strongly in her hug. 

"It's okay, Fluttershy... let it all out." Rainbow Dash slowly rubbed the pink mane as she whispered to Fluttershy, comforting her as best as she could. She could feel Fluttershy's sobbing hitting her chest with full force. No amount of tears would stop her though. Rainbow Dash's only reasons left lied on comforting and protecting Fluttershy, doing whatever she could to be there for her.

"I'm here for you, Fluttershy. And I promise, I won't let anything happen to you." Rainbow Dash let out a smile as she let her own tears fall into the pink mane that she continued to brush. The comfort was working, as Fluttershy's sobbing was slowing down. She still didn't say anything, but Rainbow Dash didn't care. All that mattered to her now, was Fluttershy's safety.

Rainbow Dash started hearing the low rustlings of other creatures that were lurking in the forest. She couldn't tell if they were dangerous or not, but Fluttershy started shivering into her coat when those sounds came up. Rainbow Dash slowly covered one of Fluttershy's ears with a hoof while she used her chest to cover the other.

It seemed that Fluttershy was at a state where just about anything would set her off. Rainbow Dash could hear that scream silently echo in her head again. It wasn't so much a torment as it was a mental warning that she gave herself. If Fluttershy entered that state again, Rainbow Dash may never be able to calm her down again.

It was time for them to get moving. Fluttershy was in no condition to take care of herself, so Rainbow Dash had to get her out herself. But the situation was very delicate, so she had to be very careful.

Rainbow Dash slowly spread out her wings, but kept her hooves embraced strongly on Fluttershy. She flapped her wings with just enough speed and strength to slowly carry them both in the air. Their bodies slowly lifted off the ground, Fluttershy's legs sliding off and dangling as they left contact. Rainbow Dash wasn't entirely sure what that spring from earlier did to her exactly, but she knew that all of her strength returned to her a while after she drank it. And Rainbow Dash had been using that strength to protect and take care of Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash allowed her wings to take them both above the forest, keeping her head close to Fluttershy. She didn't know how much time had passed, but it was currently night. There were always more mysterious things that occurred with this forest, some good, some bad. Even the skies were potentially dangerous because of the clouds that moved on their own. So while they were up here, Rainbow Dash had to make sure that none were close by, less they break Fluttershy into that terrifying cry again.

Rainbow Dash started flying in the direction of Ponyville, keeping her flight as steady as possible. It was always easy for Rainbow Dash to carry Fluttershy in her flight, and this time was almost no different. The only difference this time was that she had to be very gentle with her flight this time.

Rainbow Dash looked down to Fluttershy's mane as she flew. She still kept Fluttershy's ears covered, but it seemed that Fluttershy had been able to calm down a bit. She could still hear a very silent sobbing coming from her, but it was heartwarming to Rainbow Dash to see her quiet down.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy... everything's going to be okay..." Rainbow Dash wanted to believe that those words would be true, even if she had to make them true herself.
> The New Pet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was still the middle of the night. Rainbow Dash had managed to exit the forest with Fluttershy still wrapped in her forelegs. Fluttershy's sobbing had stopped, but Rainbow Dash still felt a twist in her stomach after exiting the forest.

The first thing that came to her sights was the burnt remains of the cottage, along with a whole garden of scorched grasslands surrounding the area. But there was more to it than that. It looked like the place had had activity going on around it at some point. Some of the charred areas were cleared, the rubble from the cottage was moved around, and she didn't see the camera she left there anywhere.

Rainbow Dash shut her eyes, forcing a breath to escape her mouth as she looked away from the area. She didn't want to think about what had happened. It shouldn't have happened the way it did. She steered herself away from the area and started slowly increasing her altitude, heading towards her own cloud home. She couldn't tell how Fluttershy would've reacted if she had lifted her head to see, but she knew that whatever Fluttershy saw here wouldn't do her any good.

While they flew, Rainbow Dash paid attention to Fluttershy's soft breathing. Each breath that Rainbow Dash felt from her was bringing a rush of warmth along her body. It felt like an odd determination to protect Fluttershy, but it was different because her heart beat slowly grew with more feeling after each breath. It felt like she was feeling this before, but this was the first time she had noticed its presence. 

Rainbow Dash put a stronger grip around Fluttershy's body while she thought, allowing her heart beat to reach Fluttershy's ears and keep her calm. Regardless of what Rainbow Dash was feeling, she had more important things to worry about right now. She focused her eyes around the area for just about anything. She knew that in Fluttershy's delicate state, she wouldn't be able to face what she had caused. She didn't want Fluttershy to have to face it. She had to take her somewhere safe and quiet. And the best place she could think of now was her own cloud mansion in the skies.


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Rainbow Dash carefully started descending her altitude as her cloud mansion came into view. Due to the current time, Rainbow Dash guessed that everypony was most likely asleep. By the position of the moon, she could guess that it was probably about an hour before midnight. 

Before she reached the grounds of her home, she noticed that there were two different stacks of newspaper placed by her door, giving her quite a silent rush of a shock. The shock didn't come from the fact that she was still getting newspaper, but rather that there was two of them right now.

Rainbow Dash landed at the front doors of her home, carefully letting Fluttershy's hind hooves touch down on the soft material. Fluttershy's sobbing returned, but slightly while her legs wobbled on the cloud. Rainbow Dash still let Fluttershy rest on her while she opened the door, leading them inside. While they were walking though, Rainbow Dash allowed her tail to scoop up the newspapers that were lying on her doorstep, letting the door close behind them after they entered.


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Rainbow Dash led Fluttershy into her bedroom, letting Fluttershy down at one corner of the room. Fluttershy sat there, staring back at Rainbow Dash with teary eyes and hesitant breathing. Rainbow Dash could see those eyes pulsating with more potential tears. She used the tip of her wing to try and wipe some of those tears away.

"Fl..." Rainbow Dash cut herself off with a small groan. She tried to say something, but she couldn't come up with anything comforting. She let out a sigh and instead examined Fluttershy's body for the state it was in. Fluttershy just turned her head away while Rainbow Dash did her thing.

Fluttershy's body wasn't in the best of shapes at all right now. Not only did she need a good cleaning, but she also needed a good restoring of food and water. Fluttershy still wasn't saying anything, but it was clear that she was still hurting a lot, both physically, and mentally. Rainbow Dash slowly brushed the pink mane with a hoof, bringing Fluttershy's attention back to her. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath for what she was gonna do next.

"Fluttershy... please listen to me..." Rainbow Dash started carefully, making sure Fluttershy's attention was on her. "Stay here... I'll... I'll be right back with something for you..." Fluttershy didn't give off a response. She just looked at Rainbow Dash with the same depressed eyes.

Rainbow Dash slowly let her hooves leave contact from Fluttershy. But while they were leaving her, Fluttershy started leaning closer to her, returning her soft whimpers. She wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash's foreleg, not wanting to let them go.

It tore Rainbow Dash's heart out to see Fluttershy like this. She very well couldn't leave her for a second while she was in this state. An odd warmth filled her soul when she felt Fluttershy started to lick one of her hooves. It was so odd of Fluttershy to act like this, but Rainbow Dash didn't want to move. She couldn't let Fluttershy be more depressed than she already was. She just allowed Fluttershy to run her tongue along her hoof if it meant Fluttershy would calm down.

Fluttershy stopped her licking when a soft cough came to her. She looked up to Rainbow Dash with hopeful eyes. Rainbow Dash slowly let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She could still feel Fluttershy's saliva dripping along the front part of her hoof, but she paid no attention to it, focusing all her attention on Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash used her other hoof to brush along Fluttershy's mane again, calming her down. She decided it was best to make do with what she could do at the moment.

"Okay Fluttershy, come here..." Rainbow Dash got Fluttershy to pick herself back on her wobbly hooves. She carefully led Fluttershy towards the washroom, allowing Fluttershy to work her hooves again, as slow as it took.


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Rainbow Dash got Fluttershy to rest her back against the sink. She turned the sink's faucet to let it run cold water, allowing the cold water to drop in her hoof. She slowly brought this hoofful of water over towards Fluttershy's face.

Fluttershy looked at the hoof for a few moments in deep thought. Rainbow Dash kept her hoof still, waiting for Fluttershy's response, holding a lot of hope and uncertainty in her face. She wasn't too sure about what she was doing, she just did what felt like the best thing to do at the time.

"...Come on, Fluttershy, please..." Rainbow Dash whispered, not exactly trying to allow Fluttershy to hear her, but rather hoping that Fluttershy would drink here without pressure, whether there was more pressure on her or Fluttershy at the time.

Fluttershy slowly made her response. She brought her muzzle slowly towards the hoofful of water, gently sipping its contents. The feeling of Fluttershy's mouth on her hoof like this gave Rainbow Dash a really odd feeling that rushed along her body. She wasn't sure what it was, but it made her more relaxed.

Fluttershy soon finished sipping the water from Rainbow Dash's hoof, letting the water hang in her mouth for a bit before swallowing it. Rainbow Dash's hoof only had enough water for one mouthful, but it would do for now. Fluttershy was able to clear her throat after swallowing that sink water.

Rainbow Dash put more water into her hooves, this time to use it to scrub Fluttershy with. Fluttershy just closed her eyes as Rainbow Dash scrubbed her. Fluttershy had quite a bit of dirt on her body, along with a few minor bruises. Rainbow Dash used the light sink water to scrub some of that dirt away. It wouldn't be comfortable for Fluttershy to have that dirt on her body all night.

After Rainbow Dash had gotten most of the dirt off of Fluttershy's body, Fluttershy opened her eyes back up, letting out a very small smile that lasted for a split second. The smile gave Rainbow Dash an immense joy of relief. It was short, but it was the first sign of happiness that she saw from Fluttershy. She wanted to see that happiness return back to her. Even if she never said anything ever again, that smile was enough for Rainbow Dash's heart to fill with joy.

Rainbow Dash picked Fluttershy back onto her hooves again, leading Fluttershy out of the washroom. It was odd, but with the way Fluttershy was acting, it felt like she wanted to be led by Rainbow Dash. Maybe she would do something about that someday.


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Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy returned to the bedroom. Fluttershy showed a sign of pain and was slowing down. Rainbow Dash had stopped walking to let Fluttershy down into a sitting position to rest. Her face scrunched up as she clutched her stomach. 

Rainbow Dash winced a bit. She needed to get Fluttershy something to eat, but with her current condition, Rainbow Dash didn't have many options. She did luckily have one option that she just remembered was still in her bedroom.

"Hang on, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said as she slowly took a few steps backwards away from Fluttershy, hoping that she wasn't too pained. Rainbow Dash slowly walked up to a drawer that was on one side of her bed. She opened the drawer, putting her muzzle inside to dig something out. Soon after, she had pulled out a single carrot, leaving the rest of the items that weren't food inside. After getting it out, she closed the drawer and started walking back to Fluttershy, who had dropped herself on her stomach, lying low.

This carrot had intended to be a midnight snack for Rainbow Dash, but now it was to serve a different purpose, a more important one at that. She placed the carrot down in front of Fluttershy when she reached her.

"Here you go, Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash nudged the carrot slightly closer to Fluttershy. But Fluttershy didn't bring her muzzle towards it. She just looked at it before returning her sorrowful gaze up to Rainbow Dash, inching slowly backwards. Rainbow Dash felt her stomach drop at Fluttershy's hesitance.

"Come on, Fluttershy... you gotta eat something..." Rainbow Dash brought her muzzle back down to the carrot, attempting to move it closer to Fluttershy. But she stopped when Fluttershy appeared to inch closer to it. She brought her eyes back to Fluttershy, trying to see if she would take it. But Fluttershy didn't move.

Rainbow Dash brought her muzzle back to the carrot, picking it up with her mouth. Fluttershy's attention was brought back to the carrot as a result. She inched closer to Rainbow Dash in response, keeping her body low. Rainbow Dash decided to bring her body down to Fluttershy's level, motioning the carrot in her mouth towards Fluttershy.

Fluttershy gazed at the carrot for a few seconds. A small drop of sweat slid down Rainbow Dash's forehead as she waited for Fluttershy to make a response, hoping she would take a bite out of it.

And Fluttershy did. She slowly brought her muzzle to the carrot, taking a gentle bite on the carrot until a small bit of it chipped off inside of her mouth. Rainbow Dash blew out a sigh of relief through her nose as she watched Fluttershy chewing the carrot. Her emotions filled with more joy when Fluttershy took another bite of the carrot without any hesitation.

Fluttershy continued to take more bites into the carrot. Rainbow Dash's breathing went slower the closer Fluttershy got. She didn't want to move, lest risk Fluttershy in responding by stopping her eating. She forced herself to keep as still as possible while Fluttershy chomped further and further into the carrot.

Fluttershy continued until she reached the end of the carrot, biting down on the last piece. This caused Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy's lips to come into contact with each other. Rainbow Dash's cheeks grew red at the contact, but her body filled with warmth in response. She didn't mean to do it, but her body was instictively kissing Fluttershy at this contact. The feeling was very new to her, but very pleasant. And from the look on Fluttershy's eyes, she seemed to like it as well.

Rainbow Dash instinctively pulled away after a few seconds of holding it, causing the leaf part of the carrot to rip off with her. She ended up swallowing the leaf part as she brought her body back up, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath over what had just happened. It was shocking... but at the same time... pleasant.

Fluttershy still kept her body low while she was finishing the last of the carrot, but she kept those joyful tearless eyes on her face. Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what to say right now. She wasn't sure if she should say anything at all. All she knew was that she really liked seeing that smile on Fluttershy's face, and she would do anything to make sure they stayed on her face. Rainbow Dash cared about her that much right now. She waited for Fluttershy to swallow the rest of the carrot before she decided to say something.

"...Okay, Fluttershy... let's... get you to bed now..." Rainbow Dash was still trying to recover from her shock, so it was a bit difficult for her to speak clearly. But Fluttershy seemed to understand her. She closed her eyes and actually nodded this time. But what really took Rainbow by surprise was when Fluttershy's tail started to swish around slightly.

It was as if Fluttershy was a helpless animal now... The trauma she had went through must have reduced her into believing that she couldn't take care of anyone anymore, not even herself. She must've been too afraid of everything, too scared to make her own decisions anymore.

Rainbow Dash would say that she didn't know what she should do about this, except she did know. She already made a promise to Fluttershy that she would take care of her, and she intended to keep it, no matter the reason. Fluttershy's behavior here wasn't changing that.

Rainbow Dash slowly got Fluttershy to pick herself on her hooves so that she could lead her to the bed. Fluttershy's hooves were no longer wobbling on her as Rainbow Dash led her. Rainbow Dash lifted the covers so that Fluttershy could climb in. She made sure that Fluttershy was comfortably tucked into bed, leaving a bright smile as she closed her eyes.

It warmed Rainbow Dash's heart to see Fluttershy like this. It just seemed so... cute to her now...

But before Rainbow Dash could lose herself in Fluttershy's form, her attention was brought back to the newspapers that she still held in her tail. She let the newspapers drop to the ground, making sure that Fluttershy was comfortably asleep before she opened them up to read what they said.

It was just as Rainbow Dash had thought. The way these newspapers were dated meant that two days had passed while she was searching for Fluttershy in the Everfree Forest. She didn't remember it being that long, nor did it feel like it. But she guessed that it was her loss in the track of time for how long it felt. The spring otherwise must've done wonders in her healing, but didn't do anything for Fluttershy for some reason. Maybe because Fluttershy didn't actually drink from it like she thought, or Fluttershy's injuries occurred sometime after passing by that spring.

Rainbow Dash couldn't think too much on that right now. She brought her attention to look at the contents of the two newspapers, looking at the earlier dated one first. She cringed at the sight of what it was about. It mentioned not only the burning of Fluttershy's cottage being discovered, but also the explosion that happened at the Weather Factory. The paper provided a picture of Rainbow Dash very close to the camera with glaring eyes and gritted teeth. Underneath the picture, it was saying that Rainbow Dash was the blame for both of these events.

Rainbow Dash's breath became heavy as she saw those words. But then she started seeing more pictures that were provided with the reasons for the cottage's burn down. One of the pictures showed Fluttershy crying with her hooves in her face while Rainbow Dash was yelling at her... The sight of the picture tore at Rainbow Dash's heart. She continued looking through the pictures.

There was one when Fluttershy was zapped with the lightning cloud, one where Fluttershy was jumping in surprise after Rainbow Dash had dissipated a cloud, one where Fluttershy was dodging a lightning strike, and one where Rainbow Dash was charging at Fluttershy in the middle of a large lightning storm with a mean look on her face.

Rainbow Dash could recognize that moment. That was the moment she had saved Fluttershy by getting her out of that dangerous storm cloud just in time. But the last picture told her a completely different story. Her stomach dropped to a bottomless pit at the sight of the last one.

The last picture showed Rainbow Dash kicking lightning from a storm cloud while the cottage was in flames and collapsing. The paper said that this was the undeniable proof they received that Rainbow Dash had been the one responsible for the destruction of the cottage. It was saying that she had caused the death of hundreds of animals. Many animals were inside the cottage at the time of the fire... and according to their results... none of them had survived.

Rainbow Dash's ears flattened. She found it very hard to breathe at the realization. Rainbow Dash simply couldn't believe it, but her actions of destroying the cottage was staring right at her in the face. Her voice stuttered a bit, attempting to let out a scream. She tried to hold it in as best she could.

But then she remembered. Those pictures must've came from her camera. She remembered taking one of those pictures out. That meant she had one right now, and it was in her mane. She was hesitant to take it out, because she never looked at it. But if there was anything to prove to her that she didn't do this on purpose, this would be it. Taking a deep breath, she reached into her mane to pull out the picture so that she could look at what it had.

The picture contained Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy together, hugging each other in their tears. The picture gave her an odd sense of relief and regret at the same time. That cloud in the background putting out the fire with its rain, and the comforting hug that she was giving Fluttershy, convinced her that she didn't do this on purpose.

However, her actions at the Weather Factory still existed. The only information that they had on the first newspaper was that witnesses described Rainbow Dash breaking into the Weather Factory, and purposely setting off the tested storage chamber of clouds to explode. Rainbow Dash's gut hit her full force, because that was exactly how she recalled that event. There wasn't anymore information other than that on the first newspaper, so she had to look at what happened the next day.

But what Rainbow Dash saw made her eyes widen in shock. The first words that she saw were about her blame of the two events being lifted. It said that Twilight and the rest of her friends had investigated the situation, and there was a lot more that they didn't know about, even something Rainbow Dash didn't know.

The paper mentioned that somepony at the Weather Factory had sabotaged it on purpose as a method of revenge, but their intention wasn't this at all, and certainly wasn't intended for Fluttershy. They wanted revenge for a certain clumsy pegasus named Derpy for when she accidentally wrecked some of their property after trying to make a delivery. It was an event that happened a long time ago, and they had planned for the perfect way to get revenge. Instead of having her pay for the damages, they wanted to see her suffer the same type of punishment.

The paper didn't say who it was that wanted this revenge because they never found the culprit. They got the information from the pegasi that were hired to assist whoever had caused this. Those pegasi's jobs were to make sure that the storage had nothing but defective clouds on the day only Derpy was scheduled to use them, which unfortunately was also the same day that this tragic event occurred. Their reasons for doing this was so that Derpy would accidentally cause some damage to her own property, making her think that she was fully responsible for it for when it happened.

The paper said that neither Rainbow Dash nor Fluttershy were responsible for what had happened to the destruction of the cottage, or the death of those animals. The true reason for that destruction was defective clouds that neither of them knew about or had control over. Although, the paper was also trying to say that Rainbow Dash may not be responsible for the destruction of the Weather Factory. Their proof relied upon other witnesses saying that Rainbow Dash was the one who had warned them to evacuate, which is what truly allowed them to have absolutely no casualties occur when the factory blew up.

The paper concluded that neither Rainbow Dash nor Fluttershy had been seen ever since these events. Rainbow Dash's heart twisted in a very complicated way after finishing the reading. She knew that she was the one who had caused the Weather Factory to explode, so the paper saying that she wasn't responsible for it made her feel very conflicted.

But she did know one thing. The only reason that these events had happened at all was because of one thing. Revenge. After reading the paper, that's what Rainbow Dash wanted for whoever had caused this. But revenge was the reason why it happened at all. And she already proved that when she...

Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes shut as her mind pounded on her. She let out a painful whine as so much regret filled her heart right now. It didn't matter what the paper said. The fact that she was partly responsible for what had happened to Fluttershy still remained. She brought those clouds to Fluttershy, and she blew up the Weather Factory. She may not have meant it, but she still blamed herself for it, because she knew things the paper didn't.

Rainbow Dash wished she didn't know what she knew. She may not have known those weather clouds were defective, but that wasn't good enough for her. She tried to block out the whole event. She immediately slipped the photo in her drawer and out of sight while she slid the two newspapers under her bed. She cleared her mind of all the negative thoughts that had plagued her mind. It was as if all that swam in her mind was nothing but negative thoughts for the past two days. She had to remember what she truly wanted to do right now. She wanted to take care of Fluttershy. She wanted to keep her happy. And she couldn't do that if she was always thinking negative all the time.

*"But you can’t give it to them unless you give it to yourself first! Think positive, Fluttershy!"* Those words repeated in Rainbow Dash's head. It was the only successful thing she had told Fluttershy that gave her progress. That situation was very true right now. She had to keep herself positive if she was going to keep Fluttershy happy.

After taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash looked back to Fluttershy's sleeping form. Fluttershy did not hold joy in her face, only whimpering. Her face scrunched in a display of fear and sadness while her body shivered under the covers. And this was happening to her because Rainbow Dash wasn't being there for her. Rainbow Dash lied on the bed and brought her head to lay very close to Fluttershy's. She slowly brushed her pink mane with a hoof while she spoke with gentle happiness again.

"Fluttershy... listen, Fluttershy..." Rainbow Dash whispered carefully. "I'm here for you Fluttershy... there's no need to be sad, or scared anymore... I'll take care of you... and I'll never abandon you..." Rainbow Dash's words seemed to slow down Fluttershy's shivering. Rainbow Dash brought a wing under the covers to wrap around Fluttershy's body, allowing her to calm down her whimpering. Rainbow Dash snuggled against Fluttershy very gently. "You're not a bad pony, Fluttershy. Don't... ever think that you are."

Rainbow Dash brought her head to nuzzle with Fluttershy's. Fluttershy gave off a relaxing moan as she displayed her cute smile again, the smile that Rainbow Dash did not want to see fade. Rainbow Dash slowly started closing her eyes with that smile in her mind

It helped when she felt Fluttershy slowly licking her along her neck. The feeling didn't discomfort Rainbow Dash at all, but rather helped her relax as well. Fluttershy really was like an animal now. But not just any animal. She was now Rainbow Dash's pet. And she was happy for that.

If that was what she wanted, Rainbow Dash would allow it. Fluttershy continued to lick Rainbow Dash along her neck as she fell into a deep sleep. Rainbow Dash gave a smooch deep in Fluttershy's mane. There was no reason for her to be sad right now. As long as Fluttershy smiled, Rainbow Dash had all her reasons to be happy.

Rainbow Dash fell into a deep sleep, with her new found pet, Fluttershy.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rainbow Dash glanced with heavy eyes at her watch while flying towards her destination. Four minutes till six, early in the morning. Her stomach felt like it would fall out of her body as the minutes ticked by.

Rainbow Dash had to get this dilemma over with eventually, and now was the day. She thought back to why this was happening in the first place.


______________________________________________________________________________


"Rainbow Dash! Can you stop working for one second so we can talk about this?!"

"There's nothing to talk about and I can't stop! Ponyville needs this water right now!"

The sound of both Rainbow Dash and Twilight's argument boomed in the skies. Rainbow Dash was moving clouds from one destination to the next quickly and without rest while Twilight kept tailing.

"Rainbow Dash, I know you're upset, but-"

“I already told you it was my fault!”

“Rainbow Dash!”

"Look Twilight, if you wanna talk about it, be at your castle tomorrow at six, before my shift starts in the morning!” Twilight had to move out of the way when Rainbow Dash shot straight towards her, hitting a cloud that was behind her to give it a small activation. “And you can tell Pinkie Pie, that I Pinkie Promise to be there AND tell you everything, AT six! Be there, or you’ll get nothing from me.”

“But Rainbow Dash-”

*BAM!*

Twilight yelped and dashed out of there when that cloud demonstrated its aftershock. Rainbow Dash kept her stern expression, not even flinching. She busted the cloud while keeping her eyes on Twilight flying off. Tomorrow was gonna be a big day.


______________________________________________________________________________


Rainbow Dash glanced at her watch again. Two minutes. The castle was in sight. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her altitude to descend at the castle’s library entrance.

It had been about a week since that tragic event occurred. Dozens, possibly even hundreds of animals had lost their lives due to what happened at Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight wouldn’t stop pestering Rainbow Dash to talk about it. She wanted to know what occurred there and why it happened.

Like she didn’t already know…

Rainbow Dash softly landed in front of the castle doors. One minute. She removed the watch from her hoof and placed it inside the satchel she was carrying. She took a moment to squeeze her eyes shut, knocking out any sleep deprive that was in them, and then cleared her throat.

It was time. Rainbow Dash pulled both handles on the doors, flinging them open with a loud slam. On the other side, in the center of the room, were her other friends. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and of course, Twilight Sparkle, each standing in circular formation around the altar at the center of the room. They each held discerning and sorrowful expressions.

The sound of hoof steps echoed around the library. The sound of the doors closing boomed the silence in the room, letting the large chandelier high on the ceiling swing and clatter. If there was ever a time for Twilight to use that throne seat behind them, it would be now. But Twilight still prefered not to use her princess hood in such a way.

Rainbow Dash stopped her movements after reaching the altar. Spike was no where to be seen, possibly due to the tension from these five ponies, Pinkie biting her lip and rubbing her neck while the others tried to stay calm. Rainbow Dash kept her stern expression, waiting for them to start anything. But it didn’t matter what they would say. Nothing would change what happened.

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight was the one to start things up. “Will you talk to us now?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash could only sigh out. She felt like a broken record having to respond to this. “It was all my fault. There is nothing to talk about.”

“Rainbow Dash, please,” Rarity responded softly. “We don’t mean you any harm.”

“We know that you’re hurtin’ pretty gosh darn badly, but we just wanna help,” Applejack continued with similar sympathy.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “You can’t help with something that’s already happened!”

“Rainbow Dash, stop that! You are being disrespectful to your friends!” Rarity argued.

“Hey! I’m not the one who wanted to talk! You guys are the ones that-”

“STOP IT!” The argument ceased after Twilight’s outburst, making Pinkie jump and move further away from her. Rarity and Applejack stayed together where they were, but stopped their dispute with Rainbow Dash, who didn’t care for that outburst, but stayed silent anyway. “We’re not here to argue. We’re just here to talk things out.”

Rainbow Dash turned her head away, repeating her previous statement. “There’s nothing to talk about. You all already know what happened.”

Twilight’s face twitched at the remark. “Why do you keep saying that?”

Rainbow Dash flipped open her satchel and brought her muzzle to get a newspaper out. She tossed it at the center of the altar for everypony to see. The newspaper held the details of the tragic event. 

“Everything in this newspaper pretty much tells you everything.” Rainbow Dash pointed towards the pictures that were provided with the paper. “A storm destroyed Fluttershy’s cottage, hundreds of animals lost their lives-” She pointed to the part where they blamed her for this event. 

She would’ve continued, but she was interrupted. “But Rainbow Dash, we know that you couldn’t have possibly caused this.” Rainbow Dash shot her head towards Twilight.

“You can’t deny that I was there! Just look at these pictures!” Rainbow Dash pointed at all of the photos showing her anger points towards Fluttershy, even the one where she was alone and shooting lightning above what they assumed was the smoking cottage. “What do you think we were doing, huh?”

The rest of the four ponies only took slight glances at the photos. They already saw them before, but denied what it told other ponies.

“Well, from what I can see,” Rarity started. “You two were working on the weather together.”

“But at some point, it looks like ya got real mad at Fluttershy,” Applejack continued. “They said ya got so mad, you wrecked her cottage in frustration, not even carin’ ‘bout what ya did.” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at the remark. This was something that she didn’t know about.

“And you believed what they said?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Of course we don’t,” Twilight replied. “And that’s why we wanted to talk to you.” She had to pause for a few seconds, allowing the sounds of everypony’s uncomfortable movement shifts to be heard. “We know that you wouldn’t be this mean to Fluttershy for no reason. So we want to know, what were you two doing that day? What really happened, and why did you look as mad as you did?”

Rainbow Dash looked away with a frown, ears dropped. The thought of that day sunk her stomach to a bottomless pit. If there was any other reason why she didn’t want to talk about it, it was that she wanted to forget it. And maybe if they heard it, they would want to forget it too.

“Okay…” Rainbow replied with a sigh. She already Pinkie Promised that she would answer all their questions, so this was the best time than any to get it out of the way. “It all started the day before this.” She pointed towards the newspaper to express her time. “Fluttershy came to my house, asking me to teach her how to control the weather, so that she could make her animals happy. Of course, I agreed to teach her, and we would start-”

“Hold on a second!” Pinkie raised her hoof in the air, interrupting Rainbow Dash. “Fluttershy doesn’t know how to control weather clouds? Isn’t it as simple as just hitting it with your hoof?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at her.

“Pinkie Pie, are you that stupid?” Rainbow Dash insulted.

“Now Rainbow Dash, that was uncalled fer,” Applejack defended.

“Also, didn’t you two go to Flight School together?” Rarity asked. “Since she was there too, she must’ve learned something.” Rainbow Dash’s expression didn’t change.

“That was Flight School, not Weather 101,” Rainbow Dash corrected.

“But they must've taught some weather manipulation lessons,” Twilight replied. "Isn't it an important lesson for flying?"

“Fluttershy didn’t care about learning how to fly or control the weather. She wanted to learn about the ground and all of the animals that were down there.”

“Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy may be shy and secure, but she’s not stupid. She must have-”

“TWILIGHT! STOP ASSUMING THINGS!” Rainbow Dash flared her wings with her outburst, causing all of the ponies to jump off the altar. She had enough of this subject. “TELL ME ONE TIME THAT YOU’VE SEEN FLUTTERSHY MANIPULATE THE WEATHER!”

The four other ponies cringed at the question at hoof. They tried to think of a moment, but Rainbow Dash was right. They never saw Fluttershy do anything with the weather before, thinking that she just didn’t want to.

“Why do you think Fluttershy has always been so shy in the first place, huh?!” Rainbow Dash started pacing in and out of the altar as she rambled. “She’s a pegasus that is interested in something different from every other pegasus in Cloudsdale! Everypony thinks she should know the things that everypony else can pick up easily! But she can’t! Bullies pick on her so easily for that! How do you think she feels when she performs in front of others and she can’t live up to their expectations?!”

The other ponies looked at each other in confusion. It wasn’t because of Rainbow Dash’s questions, but rather how she was acting. She always wanted to see Fluttershy perform better and break out of her shell, but now it sounded as if she was against it.

Rainbow Dash stopped her pacing, pointing at Twilight before continuing. “And I didn’t even know it was possible to not know how to stand on clouds! But after seeing you struggle to, if anypony else knew, they could’ve made fun of that too, making jokes that she lived after being born at all!”

“Okay Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled out so that the subject would stop. “I think you’ve made your point. We’re sorry for expecting that, but we’re getting off topic.” Twilight took a deep breath and let it out to relieve the tension in the air. “So Fluttershy wanted to learn how to control the weather, and you agreed to help her?”

“But wait! I still don’t understand! Isn’t it really easy to, mmph!” Pinkie’s mouth was zipped shut by a glaring Twilight using her magic to stop her from making things worse.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Anyway… I agreed to teach Fluttershy on how to control the weather. We began the next day. I provided the time, she provided the location.”

“And the location was Fluttershy’s cottage?” Twilight asked, to which Rainbow Dash nodded to. “But Rainbow, isn’t that a little risky? Weren’t you worried about-” Twilight stopped herself when Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at her.

Rainbow Dash didn’t want to have to answer that question. Of course there were risks. She knew that. But that was why she prepared the way she did. “I setup a lightning rod on her cottage before we did anything.” She looked away frowning. “It would protect her cottage and the garden while we did the lessons.”

Rainbow Dash stopped discussing her reasons there. The real main reason she didn’t mention why they decided on the cottage was because of Tank. The reasons weren’t very logical, but it was all the reasons they thought they needed at the time.

“But it didn’t work?” Rarity asked. Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrow. The questions they were asking weren’t making sense anymore.

“The lightning rod did work like it should,” Rainbow Dash answered anyway.

“So what happened?”

“Guys, stop acting like you don’t already know!” The other ponies flinched at Rainbow’s sudden annoyance. “The clouds that I brought were unstable! It’s because of my stupidity that they became dangerous and destroyed her cottage.”

“But that’s not possible,” Twilight defended. Rainbow Dash just focused her eyes on Twilight, waiting for her to continue. “You’re right about one thing. We do know about the unstable clouds, but that doesn’t mean that you are at fault here. You didn’t know about them.” Rainbow Dash snorted, thinking about that reply. It sounded completely off topic.

“Twilight, what do you know about how weather clouds work?” Rainbow asked. The other ponies remained quiet while they conversed, including Pinkie who had managed to unzip her mouth.

“I don’t know as much as you do, but I do know that pegasi have no control over a cloud when it is unstable. But you didn’t make them unstable, it was some of the other pegasi who did. We couldn’t figure out who specifically, but we know that you had no influence on this.” Rainbow Dash spit at the last comment Twilight made.

“Twilight, an unstable cloud is still tame on its own. An aftershock doesn’t happen until a few moments after it’s been activated.”

“Rainbow Dash-”

“It doesn’t matter if it was an accident! An accident doesn't bring those animals back!” Rainbow Dash pointed towards the pictures of Fluttershy trying to activate a cloud. “I was the one who brought them to Fluttershy in the first place!” The other four ponies started wincing at the rise of Rainbow’s voice. “I got mad at her because she couldn’t understand the basic controls of weather! But guess what?” She glared her eyes towards Pinkie. “Weather manipulation is not as simple as you would think, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’RE WORKING WITH UNSTABLE ONES!” She slammed a hoof against the ground in her rage, causing enough force to make the chandelier shake.

When the yelling stopped, silence filled the room. Only Rainbow Dash’s steady pants could be heard. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were looking away in fear after the display of rage Rainbow Dash showed. However Twilight and Applejack kept their composure.

“Don’t you get it? It’s because of me that those animals died!”

“Rainbow Dash! Y’all need to stop blamin’ yourself fer somethin’ ya didn’t mean to do,” Applejack stepped in to defend.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t!”

“Well first, I don’t think you did it,” Twilight answered for her. “You mentioned earlier that you had a lightning rod setup. How did it not protect the cottage?” Rainbow Dash grunted at the logic. They were still trying to pin the blame off of her.

“A lightning rod can’t redirect lightning if it’s still in the cloud,” Rainbow answered bluntly, but the other two were not convinced.

“Rainbow, yer not makin’ a lick uh sense anymore.” Applejack took charge and stepped across the alter. “Ya were sayin’ that a cloud destroyed the cottage because uh aftershocks, but now yer sayin’ a cloud moved to the cottage and destroyed it by itself?” 

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and flared her wings at the comment. “Are you saying that I did this on purpose now?!”

“No! But that’s what yer makin’ it soun’ like! And I know you’d naver do somethin’ like that!”

Rainbow Dash snorted and looked away. “You’re right, I wouldn’t, but it doesn’t change the fact that I did.” She looked back at Applejack and continued. “I tried to stop the aftershocks, but I only made it worse, worse to the point a cloud was thrown straight for her cottage." Rainbow Dash pointed to the picture with her stomping on a cloud above smoke. "I tried to stop the fire, but I couldn't save it. And it was all because of those aftershocks." She stomped her hoof down. "It was because of me those animals died!"

Applejack listened to Rainbow Dash's rant, but her serious expression did not change. "I don't buy it," she said. Rainbow glared daggers at her, growling and swishing her tail.

"What don't you understand?! I told you everything that happened!"

"Ya keep tryin’ ta blame yerself! Yer hidin' somethin' and Ah wanna know what!" That last reply… Does Applejack not realize what ground she’s treading? This was enough.

"Mmmrph! If you don't wanna believe that, then I have nothing left to say!" Rainbow Dash turned around, readying her wings. "I'm outta here!" She proceeded to fly, but something grabbed her by the tail.

"Ooh hno you donph't!" Applejack said through her clenched teeth while her hooves slid.

"Let go of me, Applejack!" Rainbow Dash shouted, grunting and beating her wings faster in an attempt to get away. Applejack slid off the altar on the other side before coming to a stop.

"Rhinbhw Dhsh! you Phromiphed to tell uth!"

"I SAID, LET GO!"

"I'hm noth lething go unthil-"

*SMACK!!!*

...

...Everything slowed down. The color of the world was lost.

Twilight, Pinkie, and Rarity all gasped at what just happened. The events repeated in slow motion to them.

Rainbow Dash pulled back one of her hind legs, and thrusted it as hard as she could directly against Applejack's face. Every crunching sound effect of her hoof colliding with Applejack echoed across the room. The sound of Applejack's cry of pain was distorted, and the fur of her forehead jiggled like jelly.

Applejack's grip on Rainbow's tail was removed due to that blow, along with a few hairs. Rainbow Dash’s angered expression did not change or falter during that blow. In fact, it intensified in the same slow manner as everything else. Even her growling could be heard in its distorted manner as if all of her rage was released from that one kick.

Applejack’s body was thrusted backwards, her legs being pulled off the ground. She was slowly floating across the air due to the massive blow. Rainbow Dash turned her body towards the other ponies watching Applejack’s helpless figure while she remained hovering in place.

A distorted thud echoed around the room when Applejack landed back on the altar, bouncing before stopping on the opposite end of it, the side where the others were. Chips of her teeth and saliva flew out of her mouth, and Rainbow Dash showed no remorse.

The color and sounds started returning to normal after Applejack stopped moving. Rarity was stunned with disgust and fear while Twilight and Pinkie were shocked stiff, barely breathing.

“A-applejack!” Rarity cried, rushing towards her. She lifted Applejack’s head up while the others entered the altar as well to join Rarity. Applejack could only make silent grunts, her eyelids barely visible due to the swelling mark that was left on her face. “Rainbow Dash, h-how could you?!” Rarity asked with all the others looking at Rainbow Dash with a mixture of anger and sympathy.

“Hmph.” Rainbow Dash showed no sympathy or regret for what she did. She just hovered where she was, keeping that scowl on her face with her hooves crossed. She told Applejack to let go and she wouldn’t listen. She had it coming, and now she paid the price. Applejack was a tough mare. She could handle what was brought to her.

And then, there was another large and extended gasp. It came from Pinkie Pie. Her mane suddenly deflated a large amount of its puffiness. She was looking at Applejack, pupils shrunk and mouth agape. She moved a violently shivering hoof towards the pony next to her.

“T-t-twilight… l-look,” Pinkie stuttered. Twilight looked to Applejack as Pinkie pointed. And then, she gasped as well, letting her mouth hang while her ears dropped.

“T-that mark… no...” Twilight looked back at Rainbow Dash with pulsating eyes that could spring tears at any moment. “Rainbow Dash… you didn’t…”

Rainbow Dash’s attention was caught. She looked at the mark that she left on Applejack’s face. Everypony else seemed to be oddly interested in it, despite how tragic it was for them to see. Applejack’s face was swelling with the large black spot that marked a hoof. What else did they expect to see?

That was when Rarity looked as well and answered. “That’s the same mark that the receptionist had in the weather factory… Rainbow Dash…?” All eyes were turned to Rainbow Dash. The only thing that changed was that Rainbow Dash now knew what they were talking about. Maybe now they’ll get it through their thick skulls.

“Yeah, I hit that stupid receptionist,” Rainbow Dash spat. “What do you know about it? I’m sure you already know what happened there too.”

Near silence filled the air. The only sounds available were the sounds of Rainbow’s wings flapping in the air. The tension was all but gone. Everypony’s hearts were probably aching right now. The silence was a great reminder that they were in a library. If they didn’t know better, they were just reading the newspaper at the center of the altar, not being able to believe the words that sprung from them. But no. All words came from their mouths instead, and that’s what brought the tension.

“When we investigated...” Twilight was the one to break the silence. “We came across the receptionist with the swollen face. She said that she was in charge of maintaining the storage facilities in the weather factory.” Twilight closed her eyes and hung her head down. “S-she said that… you deliberately forced your way inside the storage facilities, attacked her, and purposely set the clouds inside the tested storage chamber to explode, so that it could destroy the entire weather factory.”

It took Rainbow Dash a moment to think about the way that was said. She slowly hovered back to the ground, just outside the altar. Her face was no longer serious. She looked away slightly with a frown, thinking those events over. When she found her answer, she sighed.

“Yeah… most of that is true.” The other ponies stuttered softly at the answer, but didn’t dare to say anything. They waited for Rainbow Dash to continue.

“After that cloud threatened to destroy all of Ponyville, I had to put a stop to it.” Rainbow Dash looked back to the others, narrowing her eyes again. “And after I did… I knew what happened.” Her voice filled with venom recalling this event. 

“It was no accident that some untested clouds were left in the tested storage chamber, because every single one of those clouds held aftershocks. So I flew to the weather factory to have a word with them, but they denied that there was a single unstable cloud in their storage facility. The receptionist in charge tried to stop me from checking, so I went in, even if I had to use force.”

The shock in everypony’s eyes said it all. They didn’t believe that she had attacked anypony, but she did. She waited for a moment to see if anypony would jump up and say something. But they didn’t, so she continued.

“If they were so sure that the weather factory was safe from aftershocks, then they would be ready to face the punishment of not doing such an important job.” Rainbow Dash raised a hoof in the air. “In a room full of dangerous clouds, all it takes is one to be set off to cause a chain reaction, a reaction that can generate an explosion powerful enough to destroy all of Ponyville, all of Cloudsdale…-” she paused, looking at Twilight to express her point, “-...even all of Canterlot if it wanted to.” The white orbs in Twilight’s eyes disappeared. It was as if Rainbow Dash threatened that even somepony as powerful as Princess Celestia herself couldn’t contain it.

“But, I don’t understand,” Pinkie suddenly started speaking again. “The pegasuses who worked at the factory said you warned them that it would explode.” Her voice turned into a whine. “Why?” The white orbs returned in Twilight’s eyes, making her no longer look possessed.

“T-that’s right,” Twilight said. “There were no casualties in the weather factory because of that warning.”

Rainbow Dash growled softly under her breath, her body shivering in frustration. She couldn’t handle this anymore. Why couldn’t they see the truth? If there was anything that she would’ve been happy to hear right now, it was that her actions allowed everypony else to avoid harm. But she already knew that.

“I did that because I wanted revenge,” Rainbow Dash continued, answering the question Pinkie asked specifically. “When I found out they let those clouds in on purpose, I wanted them to feel the punishment of losing something so precious to them. Since they didn’t do such an important job, they would know what the consequences are for not following them.”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and looked away. “Of course, I didn’t want anypony dying. So I warned them on the receptionist’s intercom before the fuse went off, so that those who weren’t responsible could get out.” She looked back towards the others with a snarl, her wings shivering in her rage. "They, didn't deserve it!" she shouted, pointing towards the newspaper to express what she meant.

Silent sobs could be heard coming from Rarity while she was trying to ease the swelling from Applejack's face. Pinkie made the same sobs, squeezing her eyes shut and looking away.

Twilight spoke up. "Rainbow Dash, I know what you're saying, but revenge doesn't solve anyth-"

"I KNOW THAT!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the top of her lungs. "WHAT DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN DOING THESE PAST FEW DAYS?! HUH?!" Her voice was so loud, everypony flinched away in sync. "YOU THINK I DON’T REGRET WHAT I HAVE DONE?! YOU THINK THAT I’VE BEEN SITTING AT HOME, TRYING TO AVOID MY PROBLEMS LIKE A LAZY FEATHER BRAINED PEGASUS?!" The force of her voice blew against the ponies' coats while the chandelier above swung and clattered.

"ALL I’VE BEEN DOING IS TRYING TO FIX WHAT I DID! THAT’S WHY I’VE BEEN WORKING THE WEATHER! BUT NO! YOU GUYS DON’T CARE AT ALL!" Her voice only got louder, making the others have to squeeze their eyes and fold their ears. "YOUR FRIVOLOUS MINDS TOOK ME TO TALK ABOUT MY PROBLEMS, TELLING ME TO STOP WORKING WHEN YOU ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED!" Her yelling cracked into screaming levels. "AND NOW YOU SHOVE YOUR WORDS INTO MY FACE, SAYING THAT WHAT I HAVE DONE IS WRONG?!" The chandelier swung violently. "THAT’S WHY I’VE BEEN WORKING TO FIX IT! THAT’S WHY I’VE BEEN WORKING ALL THOSE WEATHER CLOUDS EVERY DAY! BUT ALL YOU CARE ABOUT, IS YOUR FLYING FANTASIES, TRYING TO PROVE WRONG WHAT MY FEATHERED MOUTH TOLD YOU FROM THE STAAART!”

Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves, cracking the ground to let out all her rage. The chandelier above snapped off due to her screeching voice. Rarity had to immediately pull Applejack out of the altar, while Twilight jumped away from it. The chandelier slammed and shattered on the ground, covering the whole altar.

Rainbow Dash stayed where she was, bouncing her figure and snorting her breath while the smoke cleared directly in front of her. Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight safely avoided the chandelier. Pinkie was somehow unharmed, but trapped behind the shattered bars of the chandelier.

Rainbow Dash took in the scene without remorse. The tension in the air had peaked. Pinkie was staring at the ground she was locked to, letting her tears drop. She looked like a helpless mare trapped in a prison. Rarity was balling her eyes out, holding Applejack close to her. She looked like she had just lost the life of a special friend, despite the fact that Applejack was still alive and twitching in her hooves.

Twilight’s shrunken eyes and hanging mouth said it all. She held the face of one who was betrayed by a special friend. But the only thing that betrayed her, was what her mind wanted to believe.

Rainbow Dash’s words had left her friends in both physical and mental pain. She didn’t want any of this, but they gave her no choice.

“Are you satisfied now?” Rainbow Dash asked, her throat hurting due to the yelling she did earleir. The other ponies didn’t look like they were gonna say anything, until Pinkie lifted her head up, wrapping a hoof around one of the bars.

“W-what about Fluttershy?” The question Pinkie asked wasn’t very direct. What about her? Rainbow let out a soft snort, letting her eyes tame down.

“You think I wasn’t looking for her too?”

The response left only silence in the air. No pony dared to say anything else. Pinkie closed her eyes and let her forehead lean against the bar.

“Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got a lot of weather duties to maintain.” Rainbow Dash turned away from the chandelier, but looked back at her friends. “And unlike you guys… you aren’t capable of helping me set up the weather. Think about that, the next time you think I’m lazy.”

That was the last Rainbow Dash said before she walked towards the front door of the castle. The silence made her hoofsteps audible across the library. It seemed like no pony was going to stop her this time. She put her hoof on the door handle and pushed it open, letting the rays of the sunlight inside.

“Rainbow Dash, w-wait…” It was Twilight’s voice that called out. “P-please, tell us something…”

Rainbow Dash let herself stay where she was. She had already done enough damage, what more did they want? She stood there not moving, just waiting for her to ask.

“W-were you… successful…?” ...The way Twilight asked that, pained Rainbow’s heart. It was so much different than before. It was like she was choosing her words very carefully, hoping Rainbow wouldn’t take it the wrong way. “D-did you manage… to find Fluttershy…?”

The question pierced at Rainbow’s heart like a freezing blizzard. It was the only question in the entire conversation she felt had any real meaning. Of course they were worried about her, so why wouldn’t they ask that? No pony else knew but her, and it made her realize why she’s been so edgy lately.

Rainbow’s eyes pulsated, letting a tear spring out of her eyes. When it dropped to the ground, all she did was answer. She didn’t even turn her head. She just answered by giving a steady nod with her head. She then flared her wings and took off, flying out of the castle.


______________________________________________________________________________


Depression filled Rainbow Dash’s heart when she left that castle. Her friends must’ve been hurting really badly after the display of rage she had unleashed upon them. What choice did she have? It was the only way she could get them to understand.

Or perhaps, what she wanted them to understand. How would they feel if they heard that Fluttershy was the one who activated those unstable clouds? All Fluttershy wanted to do, was learn how to work the weather. Why should she have to face the blame of hundreds of animals dying because of her accident? 

...Why didn’t Fluttershy just listen?

No, Rainbow Dash shook her head. She didn’t want to think like that. Nothing was Fluttershy’s fault. Fluttershy shouldn’t have to face what happened. She didn’t want Fluttershy to have to face it. Fluttershy was the most delicate and innocent pony in Equestria. A pony like Fluttershy should never have to face this.

Rainbow Dash thought about the last thing she said to her friends before she left. Of course, Twilight and Rarity did have the magic to assist her with the weather duties, but they didn’t have the knowledge. Twilight was still learning how to simply stand on them without sinking inside, and without a cloud walking spell, while Rarity didn’t know the first thing about how they could be manipulated. And after that tragic event, Rainbow Dash couldn’t trust herself to teach anypony anymore.

If there was anything she was thankful for that her friends did, no pony believed that she was responsible for those two events. But the only reason she was thankful for that was because it allowed the ponies to trust her with handling the weather. Otherwise they wouldn’t allow her to even be near any weather factories anymore.

But because of those events, a lot of ponies were either relieved of their duties, or quit being a weather pony altogether. Most of the weather duties were now done by her alone.


______________________________________________________________________________


Rainbow Dash treaded across the hallways of her mansion, leaving her satchel by the front door. This place had taken many changes since that tragic event. There were no more damaged walls for her to see. Nothing was knocked over anymore. And of course, it was very quiet.

Life had been very stressful lately. With no weather factory in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash had to take it upon herself to call for cloud deliveries from the other towns, even if she had to get them delivered here herself.

But before she would have them placed in Ponyville, she would make sure each cloud was safe. She didn’t trust anypony else’s words on them, she tested them herself.

It was a very tiring and nerve wrecking job, that she could no longer attend her training to be a Wonderbolt anymore. She would sooner give up her dream then let her friends suffer.

But it was all worth it. The reason lied behind the door she was in front of. The door that led to her room. She opened it.

“Hey Fluttershy… I’m home.” A yellow figure in one corner of the room stirred awake at the sound of Rainbow’s voice. Fluttershy looked at her owner, but kept herself lying low where she was. She was too scared to move. So Rainbow Dash walked up to her herself, letting the door close behind her.

“Come on, Fluttershy, there’s no need to be scared,” Rainbow Dash said with a soothing voice. “It’s only me.” Rainbow rubbed a hoof under her pet’s chin. Fluttershy’s fearful expression turned into a smile. She purred while her tail swished around at the soft feeling.

Fluttershy found the courage to move out of her corner. She rolled on her back, allowing her owner to pet her along her stomach. The belly rub she received was scaring all her fears away, giving her only safety and comfort.

Rainbow Dash could only smile at the sight of her pet. That smile made everything she did, worth it. Fluttershy was a pet with no responsibilities. Of course Fluttershy wasn't at fault for anything.

Rainbow Dash allowed her face to drop down lower so that Fluttershy could lick along her face. The repeated rubbing of that tongue against her eyelids relieved all of her stress. She would do everything she could to take care of Fluttershy, to make her feel happy and safe.

Rainbow Dash only wished she didn’t have to leave her pet from time to time to make that possible.