The small fillies soon lost themselves in the cloudbank. They knew no pegasus would find them there, no matter how hard they looked.
Spectrum heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you two for coming with me. You didn’t have to, you know. I’m glad you did, though. I wouldn’t have liked doing this on my own.”
Dash and Daydream simply snuggled up on either side of her. Spectrum covered their backs with her wings. Yawning, and surrounded by the fluffy gray clouds, all three settled in to catch up on their sleep.
A flash of lightning woke them. Thunder rumbled underneath their hooves as all three leapt up. “We have to get out of here!” Spectrum shouted as another lightning bolt struck nearby.
Rainbow Dash shrieked as she felt her tail singed by the electricity in the clouds. Panicked, she raced off, as far away from the lightning as she could get. She galloped blindly, dodging thunder and lightning, barreling through the cloudbank until she was suddenly free of the choking gray mass.
She spread her wings, flying rapidly away from the murderous storm clouds. The filly heaved a sigh of relief. “Whew, that was close, wasn’t it Spectrum?” Only silence greeted her. “Spectrum? Dream?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around wildly. Panic and fear gripped her heart and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t see them anywhere. “Daydream! SPECTRUM!” she shrieked, zipping around the cloud.
A large bolt of lightning struck near her, almost hitting her. The filly lost control, spiraling downwards. She hit the ground hard and was struck unconscious.
When Rainbow Dash awoke, she rubbed her head, trying to ease the splitting headache she now had. Remembering what happened just before she fell, the filly leaped to her hooves, immediately regretting it as her head protested. She slowly sank to the ground, coddling her head in her hooves. Dash looked toward the sky. The storm clouds had moved on and the skies were clear and blue once again.
Once a few hours had passed, Rainbow could once again move without her head complaining. The filly panicked when she realized she was on the ground. Her mother’s words about the dangers of earth rang in her ears. She spread her wings shakily, not yet fully recovered from the shock she had received from the lightning. Flapping them gingerly, she lifted into the air. Once she was flying, she scanned the air, looking for her sisters. After she had been looking for twenty minutes, she began to panic. She knew she couldn’t survive on her own. Dash continued her search for another hour before she knew she had to land.
Her hooves touched the ground and she collapsed into tears. In her heart, she knew her sisters were gone. There was no way they could have survived that storm, unless they too had made it out of the cloudbank. Once she had cried herself out, she clung to the small shred of hope that they had made it out. Dash figured that they would have flown home, as scared as they would have been.
Strength flowed back to her limbs and Rainbow Dash took to the skies. She remembered the way back well enough; soon she was lighting onto the clouds near her home. She trotted in, expecting her mother to be sobbing in the living room. Another burst of panic blossomed within Dash as she found her home deserted. Frantically, she checked every room, but she found no one. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she wouldn’t give up yet. Her body, however, was not as strong as her will. Her wings screamed in pain and every muscle ached. Rainbow Dash was forced to rest.
The next day, it was again storming. Rain drenched the window pains and thunder rumbled ominously. Terrified, Rainbow Dash huddled in the middle of the living room, as far from the windows as she could get. She decided she had to face her fears, so she stood and walked outside. Straightening up, she glared at the dark storm clouds above her head. “You won’t have taken them from me!” she yelled. “I WILL find them!” With that, Dash spread her cramped wings and leaped into the rain. Spluttering and coughing from the rain, she soared upwards, fighting the fear rising in her heart. Gritting her teeth, Rainbow zipped into the cloudbank. She dodged lightning and yelled at the thunder as she searched desperately for her sisters.
Eventually, even the valiant Rainbow Dash had to admit that they weren’t there. She let herself flutter back to her house, wings barely able to keep her aloft. Curling up by herself, she cried herself to sleep.
When she awoke the next morning, the filly knew there was only one place left she could look. The ground. Gulping down her terror, she let herself coast down. Dash could not bring herself to touch the ground, so she flew a few feet above it. Her search encompassed six miles each way; she flew in a large ring around the house. She found nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The filly spent almost a year on her own, surviving off of what was left in the house. Sometimes she would stare out the windows, hoping to see mother, father, or sister returning. But nopony ever came.
Rainbow Flash had left to live with Cloud Lightning’s sister. Cloud himself, had not been seen since the day he left to look for his daughters.
Rainbow Dash grew bigger, her wings grew stronger. One day, there was a knock on her door. She could barely contain her excitement. Wings buzzing, she raced to the door, throwing it open, a large grin on her face. Her smile dropped when she saw that it was a stranger.
“Hello”, the pegasus said kindly. “Are your parents home?”
Dash shook her head.
The pegasus was taken a little aback. “Oh. Well, I’m a scout for the Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. I was wondering if you’d like to enroll for this summer.”
“One moment, please”, Rainbow whispered. She trotted into the room that she had shared with her sisters. Opening a drawer, she found the ribbons that Daydream had so loved to wear. With hooves quick as the lightning that had taken her sisters, she wove it into her mane. Then she joined the scout at the door. “Yes, please.”
The pegasus smiled. “Great! I’m Cloud Dancer by the way. Are you ready to go?”
Rainbow Dash took one last look at the now deserted house. Taking a deep breath, she unfurled her wings. “Yes.”