//------------------------------// // Prologue and Exit: Rainbow Dash // Story: Enter: Fluttershy // by Kirbster //------------------------------// Alone. That's what I was. All alone. Alone with six pets and more self-hatred than I have ever been able to handle. Tear after tear rolled down my face with no sign of stopping, as had been the case for at least an entire week. The more I wept, the more I hated my own weakness. The more I hated my own weakness, the worse I felt for myself, and the more I wept. It was a cruel cycle that showed no signs of stopping. You see, life became meaningless slowly, as all my friends went off on their own matters one by one. Rainbow Dash went off with the Wonderbolts, her dream, fulfilled. It's great that she had the chance to do such a thing, but that's one-fifth of a void created in my soul. Applejack was called off on a family business trip. Two-fifths. Rarity got discovered as a fashion designer and is now neck-deep in clients. She's off in Canterlot. Three-fifths. Pinkie Pie now plans high-class parties for the wealthy, a much more busy job than you might think. How she matured enough to handle such a thing is beyond me. Four-fifths. Twilight went off to teach magic in Canterlot, her calling, her devotion. Complete. The only thing they each left with me was their pets. “It's all you're good for, Fluttershy,” they may as well have said. “I mean, you may not have dreams and aspirations and great talent like the rest of us, but at least you can look after our pets while we're living the dreams you can't.” They'd be right. I have no talent that matters to anyone, I don't know of anypony looking for a "professional pet sitter." Rainbow Dash is going to get famous with the Wonderbolts. Rarity is going to give the world of fashion something to think about. Applejack is doing whatever she does with her extended family (I can only imagine it being loosely related to apples). Pinkie Pie is going to bring smiles to people everywhere with her parties. And Twilight is assisting the Princess herself at her magical school. Where does that leave me? Just their stupid Ponyville acquaintance who can take care of their stupid pets while they're off doing what they do best. They're not alone. Rainbow Dash is with the Wonderbolts. Applejack is with her family. Rarity already has a name in Canterlot, so she likely knows people. Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie, she'll find friends wherever she goes. And Twilight is with the Princess and Spike. I am. I don't speak to anyone else in Ponyville, just them. And now they're gone. I can't fill the friendless void with animals like I used to. Now that I've actually experienced how friendship feels, I can't replace it with anything else. I don't want to demonize my dear friends, so let me just show you how each of the events happened. Let's start with Rainbow Dash, as she was the first to go: “OMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOMYGOSHOMYGOSH” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew through the air, at nearly break-neck speeds. With this strange fit of infantile delight, this pegasus pony's weather duties were going unchecked. The importance of Rainbow Dash's duties didn't exist to her, at the moment, there was too much pent up excitement within her. Twilight Sparkle, becoming gnawed past her breaking point, leaned her head out of her tree house and shouted “Rainbow Dash! Can you please quiet down?! I'm behind on my studies and I really gotta hit the books!” “I can't!” hollered the rainbow pegasus, still enthusiastic beyond control. She continued to scream her fit of OMYGOSH's as she flew throughout the air some more. “Could you at least fly away from my library?” Twilight groaned, not being subtle in the least with her bad mood. “Sure thing!” Rainbow Dash said in between OMYGOSH's and flew off in a random direction. The location she let it all out didn't matter to her. Her journey left her somewhere in the general area of Sugarcube corner. Pinkie Pie, curious as to what the commotion was and why she wasn't a part of it, wandered out of the bakery, with flour-covered hooves and a face splattered with batter, and stared up at the pegasus pony. “Heya, Dash!” called the pink earth pony. “Hey Pinkie!” called back Rainbow Dash inbetween her fangirlish squeals. “What's all the hub-bub?” Pinkie said, innocently. Rainbow Dash then lowered herself to the ground, panting excessively. “T-the Wonderbolts...” she said, before stopping to catch her breath. “The Wonderbolts!” Pinkie hollered, matching Rainbow Dash's earlier enthusiasm. “The Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dash called back, as it was all she could think of saying at the moment. Pinkie called the same thing back, and the cycle repeated itself for what seemed like forever, until Pinkie finally interjected with “What about them?” turning her head to the side. “The Wonderbolts... they... they...” fangirl squeal “they... they...” another one, this process repeating itself for awhile as well. “What'd they do?” asked the confused earth pony. “Oh no wait! Lemme guess! I love guessing games!” Pinkie then put her hoof to her chin in a standard thinking-man position, getting a fair amount of flour in the general area of her mouth. Dash was still hyperventilating and trying to continue with her explanation.“Did they...” Pinkie started before being interrupted with: “They accepted me! OMYGOSHOMYGOSH! I'm IN the Wonderbolts! Can you believe it?!” which came from none other than Rainbow Dash. After giving the last sentence a second of thought, Rainbow Dash jumped up and down in a manner not unfamiliar to Pinkie. Pinkie jumped identically to her pegasus pal for a notable amount of time, before coming to a crashing realization. “I'd love to bounce with ya Dash, but the Cakes have a really big order they need my help with. Sorry!” Pinkie said before bouncing back into Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash returned to the skies, continuing her OMYGOSH craze until she could no more. “Okay...” she said, after practically hours of OMYGOSH “I've gotta tell everypony about this! They'll be so happy for me!” Rainbow Dash then called together her group of friends in a standard meeting. Pacing back and forth in front of them for awhile, letting the tension rise, before finally speaking. “Hey guys,” she used to break the ice, “there's some very important news I've got to tell you all,” she started, before being interrupted by Pinkie Pie. “Oh! I think I know what it is~” she said in a sing-song voice, pushing her head in what seemed to be an impossible distance forward and tilting it ever so slightly to the left. “Right... anyway, you know the...” Rainbow Dash began, clearing her throat before moving on to avoid any moments “Wonderbolts...” “Yeah” said the rest of Rainbow Dash's group of friends, trying to match the dramatic tension that Rainbow Dash seemed as if she was trying to put forth. “Well, you see, they...” Rainbow Dash began, stopping periodically. Whether it was to add a sense of “suspense” or to resist going into fits of OMYGOSH's was difficult to discern by the rest of the group, “they accepted me as one of their own. I am now a Wonderbolt.” The hugest of huge grins then ran across Rainbow Dash's face as she said the last line. The title felt too nice to comprehend. “Awwwwww! That was your news?!” cried Pinkie Pie, lowering her head as she tilted it to the side. “I thought you were gonna tell us all about how you defeated the alien menace that's been attacking Cloudsdale!” she yelped, raising her hoof high in the air, raising her head and fixing her posture so she stood taller than normal. This garnered many confused stares from the rest of the group. “That's great!” rang out Twilight's voice, ignoring what Pinkie Pie had just bellowed. “Sorry I yelled at you earlier.”, she said, in a somewhat hushed manner. “No prob,” the pegasus pony responded with. “But won't yuh hafta move away? The Wonderbolts don't exactly operate outtuh Ponyville, ya know.”, said Applejack, inquisitively. “Oh... I hadn't thought about that...” said Rainbow Dash, an army of sadness now invading her living land of make-believe. “Don't worry about that,” said Rarity, “you can always write to us little Ponyville folk." “Yeah, but then I won't get to see you guys,” Rainbow Dash said, still trying to fight off the army of sadness, lowering her head as her internal arguing reached a climax. “This is the Wonderbolts, darling. You can't let this opportunity pass you by. There won't be any more like it,” chimed in the white unicorn once again, walking closer to Rainbow Dash and lifting her head from its lowered state. “I know... but...” Rainbow Dash said, lowering her head once again. “Look, we may be far apart, but we'll always be friends,” said the purple unicorn, walking over to Rainbow Dash and putting one leg over her shoulder, “And like Rarity said, you could always write to us.” "I guess you guys are right," Rainbow Dash said, taking this as the initiative to close the debate box, lifting her head to its original position. After a short pause, “Okay, I guess it's settled then. And when we're not practicing or doing anything, I could always come down and see you guys,” she continued, her voice having an odd mix of sentimentalism and enthusiasm. This sparked something in Pinkie Pie, who bounced into the middle of all the ponies and pulled them all close to start a group hug, smiling unimaginably wide. Rainbow Dash, with luggage in hoof and enough enthusiasm to put Pinkie Pie to shame, then flew off to live her dream with the Wonderbolts. The only thing she left was her pet turtle, Tank, which now made residence within Fluttershy's cottage. And, gone, as quick as the wind. Figures that the loyal one would be the first to go. Credit where credit is due, I suppose, she seemed the most hesitant about leaving up there with Pinkie Pie, but she showed no signs of sadness when she did. She just left, without any other word than the ones we shared in that meeting... Does she think of us now? I guess there isn't an us anymore. Does she know that? I don't know if anyone's told her that everyone else has split up to. Maybe if I did, she'd kick back into "loyal" mode and speed back to Ponyville. I doubt it. She's too busy being a Wonderbolt. Too busy being a part of the best flying group known to ponykind. I'm sure she loves it. I don't. I don't mean to be unsupportive. My friend is a Wonderbolt, her dream, the most wonderful thing that can happen to her. That's great and wonderful and any other word that means higher amounts of good for her, but not for me. Do I sound selfish? Yes. Am I just saying how I feel? Yes. I don't blame Rainbow Dash. She's got the talent and the ambition, the confidence and the presence, she's got what it takes to live her dream. I wish with all of my heart and all of my soul and all of my mind to have any of that. Have talent, have ambition, have confidence, have presence, have a dream. I have none of it. I've received a single letter from her in the month or so that she's been away. Here are its contents in full: Hey Fluttershy Being a Wonderbolt is AWESOME! Your Pal, Rainbow Dash. Not exactly what you'd want to receive from your friend, now off somewhere else, is it? Maybe I should be grateful she sent anything at all, she is a Wonderbolt after all. One of the best fliers in Equestria. The big blue skies above marvel at her displays of sheer speed and athleticism. The crowds watch in awe as she performs daring dives, striking spins, and thrilling tricks. Creating a marvelous display that everypony wants to see. Who wants to see what I do? Nopony, that's who. And she got there because of her ambition. Ambition. Just one of the many things I lack.