//------------------------------//
// At the end of the Rainbow 
// Story: By way of Friendship 
// by Prisoner 24601 
//------------------------------//

	Rainbow Dash pulled up from the ground just in time, a huge streak of Rainbows trailing behind her. With the other two colts down, the race was already hers, but she wanted good measure, so she continued zigzaging, freefalling, and other flight manuvers. But finally, she decided that it was time to end it, so she rocketed back up and blew through the finish line. She landed, and the other fillies and colts gathered around her, slapping her on the back and congradulating her. She liked fame. It fit her well.
She returned home to the huge cloud house that her parents had left her. Simply the sight of the house sometimes filled Rainbow with grief, as it was the only thing left to remember her parents by.

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 It was a warm October day. Usually the weather was gloomy and cold this time of year, but the weather facility gave them a break. Rainbow was still just a little filly learning to fly. That day, her mother, Stratoshpere Dash, and her father, Jetstream Dash, were teaching her how to take off. They had tried and tried, and at the best case scenario, Rainbow hovered for a few moments.
Eventually, after a few hours, clouds started spotting the sky. Rainbow's parents were to caught up with teaching their daughter how to fly that they didn't notice. Then, once the sky was grey as far as the eye could see, they looked back towards the sun, to see stormclouds coming from the distance Jetstream tried to walk toward the edge, but his wing snagged under a root, pinning him to the ground. Stratosphere tried to help him, she wouldn't leave him behind. Rainbow came over to try and help, but as they started pulling, a bolt of lightning struck the fluffy surface behind them, and the small cloud they were on started floating away from the mainland. Her mther looked at Rainbow and said, "Rainbow, you have to go. I'll get your father out, and we'll meet you back at the house."
But Rainbow wouldn't budge. She insisted that she wouldn't leave them behind, but with tears in her eyes, Startosphere grabbed Rainbow, and tossed her over the gap, and onto the clouds away. If only she could fly she would go back, but now, with thunder and lightning all around, Rainbow Dash had no choice but to sit there and watch as the small tuft of cloud with her parents on it drifted into the fog.
Rainbow waited...and waited...and waited...but there was no sign of her parents. Even after the storm had passed and Rainbow had gone home, her parents never showed up. She returned to the sight everyday, eating very little, for almost three months, until one day, there was a strong wind, and a little tuft of cloud with a root sticking up came back to the mainland. Rainbow jumped with joy as she stepped on it in the fog. She couldn't see anything, until she tripped over the root. She looked at it, and saw a tuft of dark blue feathers, the same shade of blue as her father's coat. Her smile and her happiness dissappeared as she had a revelation.
She glumly walked home, especting hopefully to see her parents waiting to surprise her. But they didn't. They never did. Rainbow accepted her forst fear, and realised that her parents were gone, swept away by the storm, most likely. So she inherited the house from her parents, and the next thing you know, she was the star student in flight school. She figured that even if her parents were gone, if she had learned to fly, she could've saved them. Or at least have been lost with them. So she resolved to being the greatest flyer in all Equestria to make up for it, to which her Sonic Rainboom was evidence.
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But Rainbow cast such memories aside as she walked in. He little filly legs made small thumping sounds on the cloud floor, and she plopped herself down on the couch to watch TV. But before she could find the remote, there was a knock on the door. She got up, and thought for a moment about opening it. But she put her suspiscions to rest and opened it, to see hoops, the colt she'd just beaten in a race. But he didn't seem mad. He seemed really happy! he just said, "That was awesome!" She was dumbfounded by this bully complimenting her. Especially after she'd just beaten him in a race. But he continued, "Hey, do you think you could teach me that trick?"
Rainbow contemplated this, then said, "Ah, what the hay. Sure."
*****
Fame like this was unending, and it was a truly rare occasion when Rainbow got any time at all alone. So one day, at about 2 in the morning, when no one was knocking on her door, she snuck out. She hated fame now that she couldn't do anything alone, so she resolved to flee to Ponyville, to get away from it all. She stuck her head through the street, for it to come out underneath Cloudsdale. She scanned the surrounding area, and rested her eyes on Ponyville. That was her goal. so she took off in a gallop to the nearest dropoff, but it was closed by a fence. She resolved to simply fly over the fence and down to ground.
She sped down, faster than a speeding bullet, and pulled up just in time to be sent through Equestria's Whitetail Woods. she narrowly dodged trees and branches as she sped to her destination. But finally she broke through the treeline, and ran smack into a wall.
As she regained consciousness, she looked up. She was in a barn, that since she ran into it at nearly four hundred miles-per-hour, had a gaping hole in one of the walls. The barn itself was filled with decorative Stagecoaches, each of them covered in a red velvet. She would be in awe of the coaches, except she never worried herself with public transportation, given that she has wings. The sun had come up, and was shining directly in her eyes through the wall. Rainbow heard a creaking noise, and turned to see the two large double doors opening.
On the other side of the doors was a stallion. She couldn't make out anything but a sillhouette, seeing as how the sun was casting glare upon her. As he stepped into the darkness of the barn, and Rainbow did the same, she could see more details. He was an Earth pony, wearing a modest Woodcutter's shirt with woodchips all over it, and a tan coat. He had a twig in his mouth, and a straw hat protected his face from the sun. He chuckled, and said in a kind, farmers voice, "Pretty quick there, aren't ya, judging by that hole you blew in my barn." He gestured his hoof to the third of the wooden wall that was shattered with the filly's impact. He chuckled again, then added, "Well, no harm done. Would you mind telling me why your down here, so far from your old cloud city?"
Rainbow dusted herself of splinters and dust, and said, "Well, you see... My name is Rainbow Dash, and I performed the first ever Sonic Rainboom. You probably saw the huge explosion a few days ago. Anyway, after that, I got a whole lot of attention, and I couldn't get anything done by myself. So I came to Ponyville."
The stallion chuckled a third time, and said, "Well, you're the second little filly I've found running away from home to Ponyville. Nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash. I'm Sawdust." Sawdust extended a hoof, and Rainbow hesitated before shaking it. Then he added, "Well, as you can see, I've got a few Stagecoaches. Need a ride?"
Rainbow hastily accepted the ride. She preffered flying wherever she needed to go, but this was an act of the Earth Pony's hospitality, and it was only common courtesy that she accept. After all, it was the least she could do, considering the whole business with the wall and all.
Sawdust drove from his farm into Ponyville. He expected Rainbow Dash to be incredibly talkative like that other filly. What was her name? Pink Pie, or something along those lines. But he was surprised when Rainbow didn't say a word until they arrived. Sawdust looked in the Stagecoach, and said, "Well, we're here."
Rainbow looked out the window, and was in awe of the town. There were ponies everywhere, tossing balls, playing tag, dashing from stall to stall with exitement in little pink blurs. It was like every foal in the world came here. For once since her parents left, she truly felt like she belonged here. So she said, "Thanks, Sawdust." Then rocketed out of the carriage and into the bustling town of Ponyville.