A week later...
*Beep, Beep, Beep*
"Nrgh... Shut... Up..." Trying to slam the alarm clock off, she accidentally hit her hoof onto the nightstand's edge. "OW!"
Up and awake, rid of any sleep she previously had, slammed the alarm with her good hoof, finally silencing the small menace to her slumber. "Stupid alarm."
Letting a loud yawn escape, she stretched her forelegs before jumping off the bed and stretched her back until she heard a satisfying pop. "That's... Ahh, better..."
Looking around the room, her eyes eventually stopped by the pile of boxes that arrive last night, in the corner of the room. "That's gonna take my whole weekend to sort that out..." Rainbow mumbled, making her way out of her room to the bathroom.
Once she finished her morning routine, she made her way to the kitchen where her mother was just starting to eat her breakfast. "Morning, mom."
"Good morning, Dashie. How was your sleep?" Windy asked as she served Rainbow a bowl of cereal and milk.
"Eh, good I guess." Rainbow shrugged as she started eating. Though, she frowned upon realizing something was missing. "Where's dad?"
"Well, he started working today for the weather factory. Their shifts start really early." Windy answered, glancing at the front door, a hint of dissatisfaction in her expression.
"Wait. I thought he was working for that building company. Why is he on the weather factory?" Rainbow asked, cereal momentarily forgotten.
"They... Done some budget cuts last month, and one of these cuts was laying off a few dozen workers. Your father had been searching for a new job since then."
"Oh... Is that why we couldn't afford to go to that Wonderbolt show in Fillydelphia?" Rainbow asked.
Windy nodded as she finished her toasts and put her plate into the sink. "I've been thinking about taking that job offer at the library, but..."
"But... What?"
"Well, you'd arrive from school and neither me nor your father would be home." Windy said, cleaning the dishes.
"I can take care of myself, and I can just hangout with my friends too." Rainbow replied, taking a spoonful of the cereal.
"You sure? Alright. I'll just going to make sure everything is in order before I go then." Windy replied.
Putting her spoon to the side, Rainbow tilted her bowl and chugged all the cereal and milk. "Okay, I'm done. See ya later, mom!" She exclaimed as she ran back to her room, returning moments after with her goggles on her head.
"Bye, Rainbow. Have fun in school!"
"Pfft. As if that was possible." Rainbow murmured as she put the goggles on and flew up.
Rainbow made sure she took her sweet time to reach the school, doing loops, sharp turns as high in the sky as she was allowed to.
"Rainbow!"
Looking down from one of her loops, she noticed Fluttershy at the school's entrance waving to get her attention. "Oh, I'm here already."
Right at the end of her loop, she quickly dived until almost cloud level, to which she broke her fall by opening her wings and giving a single strong flap, perfectly landing by Fluttershy's side. "Sup, Shy!"
"Hi, Rainbow... Have you seen Cloudkicker and Derpy on your way here? They haven't showed up yet." Fluttershy asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Nope, didn't see them... Why you looking at me like that?" Rainbow asked.
"The last time Cloudkicker was late, she was fighting with the bullies. And I haven't seen them show up either." Fluttershy replied.
"Really? After all that stuff, she's still-"
"Hey, girls! How's is it going?" Cloudkicker suddenly flew in, greeting them.
"There you are! We're about to go looking for ya. Where's Derpy?" Rainbow asked, earning a puzzled expression from Cloudkicker.
"What'cha mean 'where is she'? Derpy isn't here?" Cloudkicker asked, frowning.
"No. Maybe she got sick..?" Fluttershy suggested.
"No, that can't be. I passed by her house earlier and her parents told me she already left for school." Cloudkicker replied.
"Well, that can't be go-"
"You sure you're okay? You still look ready to puke." They suddenly heard Score nearby.
"Just-" Hoops started but blocked his mouth with a hoof, gulping. "-Bleh. Just fine..."
"It's so crazy, though. His bone was just... Out. Never saw that before." Score said, somewhat stunned.
"Don't remind me of that!" Hoops scrutinized him, almost throwing up again.
"What you think those morons are talking about?" Rainbow whispered as they watched from around the corner.
"Seems like one of them got hurt." Fluttershy replied.
"Serves them right!" Cloudkicker exclaimed, before they saw both bullies turn towards them. "Guess they heard me." She said, earning a groan from Rainbow.
"What do you want? Is it not enough to get Dumb-Bell in the hospital already?!" Score shouted.
"What?" Rainbow blurted out in surprise.
"You friend broke Dumb-Bell's wing so bad that-!" Hoops couldn't finish his sentence as he ran inside the school looking for either a trashcan or the restroom.
Before Score could go after Hoops, Cloudkicker blocked his path. "What the heck was he talking about?"
Score started sweating as he noticed Rainbow also closing. "Uh, look. I'm not looking for a fight, okay?"
"And I'm not looking to stay in detention again, so start talking. What Derpy has to do with Dumb-Dumb's broken wing?" Cloudkicker asked.
Score scoffed. "She crashed onto Dumb-Bell while we were flying and both of them fell through the roof of a house. Next thing we saw was they getting rushed to the hospital. We followed until Hoops saw Dumb-Bell's..." He shook a little. "Saw his exposed wing and he started vomiting, then I just dragged him here."
Without warning, Cloudkicker pinned him against the wall. "Ow! What you-"
"I swear if I find out that any of you hurt Derpy... You will wish to never have been born!" Cloudkicker threatened, before throwing him onto the floor and taking flight.
"Clouds! The heck you going?!" Rainbow asked.
"To the hospital. Where else?" Cloudkicker replied as she dashed towards the hospital.
The school bell finally rang, signaling the start of the first period.
"S-should we go after Clouds or-?"
"I'm going after her. You go to class, just in case they were lying." Rainbow said as she pulled down her goggles and flew after Cloudkicker.
"Gosh, I hope Derpy's alright..." Fluttershy whispered, before noticing Hoops by a trashcan at the end of the hallway.
"For your information, I wasn't lying." Score said, walking by her towards Hoops. "And it was your friend's fault."
"T-that can't be true..." Fluttershy replied.
Score glared at her for a moment before shaking his head and walk away. "You believing me or not doesn't change the fact that it's the truth."
Fluttershy watched him escorted Hoops towards the nurse's office, conflicted. Derpy couldn't possibly be responsible for that... Right?
*Yawnn* "I really need some coffee..." A pegasus from behind a reception desk mumbled, about to call her colleague when a filly bursted through the entrance's doors, closely following by a second one. "What the-"
"Our friend! Which room's is she?!" Cloudkicker frantically asked.
"Wha- Aren't you kids supposed to be on school?"
"We just want to see our friend for a moment, we'll be out of your hair after that. Promise!" Rainbow replied.
"Hmm... Alright. What is your friend's name?"
"Derpy." Both Clouds and Rainbow answered at the same time.
"...There's no 'Derpys' in this hospital. Either you give me a real name or you leave before I call security." The receptionist said, hoof already hovering near the interfone.
"Wait. Derpy isn't, uh, Derpy's name?" Rainbow whispered, really confused.
"Crap! I got so used to call her by that nickname I forgot her real name." Cloudkicker whispered back.
"Are you kidding me? How you-!?" Rainbow asked, dumbfounded.
"Ahem!"
"Uh, come on. You have to seen a kid being brought here, right? We just want to know if she's okay." Cloudkicker asked, hoping the receptionist's patience won't ran out.
"We had in fact two kids rushed in today. You gotta be more specific."
"Grey fur, blonde mane? Bubbles for a cutie mark." Rainbow specified, stopping Cloudkicker before she could say anything that would piss off the receptionist.
"Grr... You're lucky I still remember the name of that kid." The receptionist replied as she begrudgingly looked down her desk and started searching files. "Oh, that girl. Right. I'm sorry but I cannot answer your question nor can I let you visit her right now. You'll have to leave."
"What? But what abou-"
"I legally cannot answer you, only a family member can know, which they have been informed already. Now either you leave or you wait for security to escort you out."
Before Cloudkicker could try anything crazy, Rainbow grabbed her and dragged her outside, put out of sight for the receptionist. "What was that for?!"
"I have an idea. If they aren't gonna tell us how is she or what room she's in, we are gonna have to find out ourselves." Rainbow pointed to the roof of a building across the street.
"Okay... I don't get it, though." Cloudkicker replied, following Rainbow up there.
Rainbow stood at the edge, lowering her goggles and focusing onto the hospital windows. "Good freaking luck seeing anything from here, Dash."
"These goggles aren't just for show." Rainbow replied, slowly going through the windows one by one. "Spike got it enchanted with zoom and stuff."
"You mean your dragon friend? Damn, I gotta find one for me too if they can get you cool stuff like that!"
*chuckles* "Good luck with that. He's one of a kind... Wait, I think I saw her!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"What! Where? How's she? Can you tell?" Cloudkicker asked, worried.
"I just saw her passing by a door for a second. She was on a hospital stretcher I think, with a lot of nurses and a doctor..." Rainbow pulled her goggles up and looked at Cloudkicker, worried. "She had a bloodied bandage covering her face, Clouds."
Cloudkicker gasped at first, before she started growling. "Those... ARGH!" She shouted in anger, punching a small nearby cloud away.
"Hey, turn it down! Will ya?!" Rainbow looked down from the roof, relieved that she hasn't brought attention to them, yet.
"They will pay for that..." Cloudkicker growled, just out of earshot for Rainbow to hear.
"Okay... I think is better if we go back to school now before someone see us." Rainbow said, taking off from the roof.
"Screw school! What about Derpy?" Cloudkicker asked, frowning at Rainbow.
"She wasn't being rushed to any room that has windows, so we can't really see what's happening. The best we can do right now is wait 'till tomorrow to check if she's transferred to one of those rooms." Rainbow replied.
"Grr... You go, I'll stay here." Cloudkicker said, sitting down.
"Really? Come on, I doubt your parents are gonna like this if they find out you're missing school." Rainbow flew in front of her.
"What they don't know, won't hurt them. Or are you gonna snitch on me?" Cloudkicker asked, glaring at her.
"No, but someone might if they recognize you."
"I don't care. If I see any of those idiots right now, I'll definitely get in detention... Or worse." Cloudkicker replied.
Rainbow sighed heavily, annoyed at her friend's stubbornness. "Alright, fine! Here." She took her goggles off and carefully handed them to Clouds. "You leave even a scratch on them and I swear I'll make you eat dirt from down below, got it?"
"Pfft. You wished you could do that." Cloudkicker put the goggles on, and stared at the hospital for a solid minute before groaning. "How do you 'zoom' with these?"
"Just focus down on what you want to see." Rainbow replied, taking off again when she heard Clouds surprised 'Oh.' "Just try to not go cross eyed, okay? See ya tomorrow?"
"Unless you coming here, you're not gonna see me tomorrow." Clouds replied, holding the goggles as if they were binoculars.
Rainbow rolled her eyes as she flew back towards the school as fast as she could, hoping the teacher won't mind if she missed only the first period.
The next day
"Anything new?" Rainbow asked, landing by Cloudkicker's side.
"Derpy's room is at that window." Cloudkicker answered, pointing to one of the top floor windows while handing Rainbow back her goggles.
"Hmm... I don't- Oh, there she is! I can see her parents too." Rainbow said.
"Yeah. They've just arrived. Seems like they are finally allowing visits." Cloudkicker replied.
"You think they gonna let us see her this time?" Rainbow asked.
"Already tried. Only family members allowed for now." Cloudkicker answered, kicking dust away in frustration.
"You tried sneaking in?" Rainbow asked as she saw the doctor escort both parents out before he closed the door.
"No, there's always somepony in the room with Derpy. The only time there's no one is at night, but Derpy definitely asleep during that." Cloudkicker replied, earning a concerned look from Rainbow. "What?"
"How... You know there's no one at night...? You didn't stay here 'till night, right?"
"No, I didn't... All night at least." Clouds replied.
"What th- You parents didn't ground you or anything?!"
"Pfft. They did. But it's not like I care at this point." Clouds replied.
"You gotta stop this, Clouds. That's gonna come back to bite you if you're not careful." Rainbow said, pulling up her goggles.
"I don't need nor did I ask for your advice, Dash. So what's going on in the room?" Clouds asked.
"They just left the room. You wanna go check if Derpy is awake or- Aaand you already left." Rainbow groaned as she saw Cloudkicker quickly flying towards Derpy's window. "Goddammit, Clouds!"
*sigh* "This bandages are so itchy..." Derpy complained as she resisted the urge to scratch the bandages over her eyes, which were completely blocking her view.
Her ears pinned up when she heard the window being open. "Mom, you back already?"
"Derpy! It's me." Cloudkicker whispered as hurried to her side.
"Clouds? What you doing here?!" Derpy whispered back.
"I snuck in, but nevermind that. How are you? What the heck happened yesterday?"
"I... Was practicing my flight." Derpy answered.
"Why? You were never really into flight like Rainbow or me..." Cloudkicker asked, puzzled.
"I... Wanted to prove them wrong... That I could fly fast, just like them, I even signed up for that race in a couple months, but... I got distracted and crashed into one of the bullies..." Derpy answered, looking down. "Hurt my eyes really bad..."
"Oh, Derpy. You don't need to prove those idiots anything!" Cloudkicker replied, staring at the bandages for a moment. "How bad is it?"
"They itchy pretty bad." Derpy replied. "And I can't even scratch it!"
"I'm sorry to hear that. But I meant your eyes. How badly... hurt are they...?" Clouds asked, reluctantly.
Derpy sighed. "The doctor said I won't be able to see like before anymore..."
*gasp* "You mean...?"
"He said something about permanent damage on my left eye, something ripped apart, can't remember what exactly... And that my eye was gonna look weird from now on..." Derpy sniffed.
She could feel Cloudkicker hugging her. "I'm so sorry, Derpy."
"And that's not even the worst."
"W-what you mean...?" Clouds asked, pulling away as she looked at Derpy.
"M-my parents are... *sniff* Are going to move away with me."
"What?!" Cloudkicker exclaimed. "N-no. They can't-! You can't... No..."
"I-I'm sorry, Clouds. I tried talking with them but they won't listen to me." Derpy said as she heard Clouds softly crying. "Clouds... I-"
"No! I-I... ARGH!" Derpy jumped at Clouds sudden burst before feeling a strong gust of wind hit her.
"Clouds! Wait!" Derpy shouted, which immediately got her room's door to suddenly open and the doctor walk in. "Ekk!"
"What's going on? Why are you shouting 'clouds'?" He asked.
"Erm... Did I? I just, uh, really miss seeing clouds...?" Derpy replied, laughing nervously.
"Hm." The doctor looked around the room before he left, mumbling 'kids these days' as he closed the door on his way out.
"Phew. That was close..." Derpy sighed in relief momentarily before she remembered Cloudkicker's sudden exit.
"Sup, Derpy. You good?"
"Ekk!" Derpy almost jumped from Rainbow's sudden appearance. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry! I thought you heard me getting in." Rainbow apologized.
"Did... Did you hear what we..."
"Yeah. Sorry 'bout that too. Wish I could do something about that..." Rainbow lamented.
"Rainbow... Can you make sure Clouds is okay? I don't think she is..." Derpy asked.
"Course I can. But what about you? Do you know where you're moving? Or when?" Rainbow asked.
She shook her head. "They're just waiting the doctor to allow me for the transfer to another hospital. I don't know where, and it could happen anytime." Derpy answered, rubbing her left foreleg.
Rainbow sighed. "Well, that sucks. But even when you move away, know that you still have friends here, okay? ...I'll go get Cloudkicker here to say goodbye before somepony comes in. Be right back!"
Just as Rainbow Dash left, she heard the door open again. "Sweety, we have good news!" Her mother said.
"The doctor finally authorized your transfer, this afternoon we'll be leave this city for good."
"What! W-why so soon?" Derpy asked.
"This city has never been kind to you, why you look so reluctant, sweety?"
"I just don't want to leave my friends behind." Derpy answered.
"Well, look at the bright side. You'll have the chance of making more friends where we going. We heard that it's a very friendly town." Her father replied.
"Can't I at least say goodbye to them..?" Derpy asked.
"Hm. But I thought you already did?" Her father asked.
"Huh?"
"Your friend left some feathers behind."
"Oh. Well we didn't exactly say goodbye... And Fluttershy didn't even get the chance to talk with me!"
"Well, we'll be only moving in the afternoon. Plenty of time for your friends to sneak in and say their goodbyes. Just keep it quiet, we can't stop the doctor from kicking them out if he sees them."
"O-okay..."
Rainbow landed back on the same roof they were spying from, finding Clouds above kicking all the clouds nearby into nothingness. "Cloudkicker! What you doing?"
"Leave me alone, Dash!" Clouds replied, flying higher.
Rainbow groaned as she gave chase. "Come on, Clouds! Stop this! We don't know whe-!"
Suddenly Rainbow crashed through a cloud, getting stuck halfway throught it, trapping her wings to her sides. Cloudkicker slowly decended to her eye level, glaring at her. "I told you to leave me alone! Don't follow me, for your own good." She threated Rainbow before kicking the cloud back to the roof, where it immediately dissipated releasing her.
"Woah!" Rainbow immediately jumped back to her hoofs as she hit the floor. "Clouds, you're so annoying!" Rainbow shouted in frustation as she looked around, not able to see where she flew to. "Great, now what..." Thinking for some moments she decide to return back to the hospital room.
"Rainbow, did you get Clouds?" She asked.
"Sorry, but she won't listen to me. I have no idea where she went." Rainbow answered.
Derpy sighed. "It's okay. I..."
"Look I'll try searching for her again, maybe I can knock some sense on her this time. Hopefully this won't take 'till night."
"No, just forget about. I... Just make sure she doesn't do something bad. I've known her long enough to know she does really bad decisions when she's angry." Derpy said.
Why am I not surprised? Rainbow thought as she walked to the window. "Well, here's to hoping I find her until afternoon."
"Rainbow, wait!" Derpy called her back.
"What?" Rainbow looked back, confused.
"I really wish I'm wrong about this but... I have a feeling she went back to school..."
"Why would she-" Rainbow widened her eyes in realization. "You have to be kidding me."
A crowd of students and a couple of teachers watched in stun as the authorities escorted one of their own out.
"Get off me!" An slighty bruised Cloudkicker shouted as she struggled against the pegasi officers who were dragging her out of school.
"Quiet! You are already in serious trouble kid, so I suggest you shut it!" The first officer replied as he turned to his partner. "Get the wing cuffs, I'm tired of getting swatted by those."
"Sure, just make sure to hold her tight. The brat still looks ready to kill." The partner replied as she passed by two paramedics who were carrying in a medical stretcher the unconscious beaten body of Hoops while a third one was talking and treating a shaking Score, who currently had a bandage wrapped around his now half left ear, right eye swallowed up and a bloody nose.
"Who would've thought she was capable of that." One student with brilliant gamboge coat and blue mane and tail said.
"Pfft. I'm not surprised, Flash. Those bullies got what they deserved." A second one with light gold coat and light cyan mane and tail jumped in.
"Nah, that was too much in my opinion. Rain, you think they're sending her to juvie?" A third with light pink coat and blue violet mane and tail joined in aswell.
"Obviously!" Raindrops replied.
"I find hard to believe they wouldn't send her there, Clear Skies." Flash Sentry replied as they moved away from Fluttershy's path as she ran past them. "Woah, careful!"
"Sorry!" Fluttershy apologized as she ran towards the two officers who just finished locking Cloudkicker inside the cell wagon. "Cloudkick-! Eek!"
Fluttershy jumped as Clouds hit the cell bars several times in anger. "LET ME OUT!"
"Hey, kid! Don't get near the cell, you might get hurt!" One of the officers pulled Fluttershy away.
"W-wait! She's my friend."
"I'm sorry, but your friend is out of her mind right now." The officer said as he put Fluttershy down.
"B-but what's going to happen with her?" Fluttershy asked, worried.
"I'm sorry but she's going straight to juvenile, unless a miracle occurs and those kids parents don't press charges against her but I doubt it." He answered, causing Fluttershy to gasp in horror.
"Hey, Descent. We can go now, I already dispersed to crowd for us too."
"Thanks, Dusty. You should return to class now, kid." Descent told her as they start pulling the wagon away, eventually disappearing around a corner.
"Cloudkicker..." Fluttershy murmured, too stunned to begin comprehending what had happened.
Which didn't help her not jumped yet again when Rainbow suddenly turned her around. "Eek!"
"Sorry I scared you, Shy. But did Cloudkicker come-! Ah, crap..." Rainbow stomped on the cloudy ground as she saw the paramedics ponies treating Score. "W-where is Clouds?"
"T-they... Are taking her to juvenile."
Buck! "Derpy is not gonna be happy about that."
"H-how is she?" Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow sighed. "She's... Not great. But not in danger!" She included the last part when Fluttershy started looking distressed. "But I think we should go talk with her, right now."
"But what about school?" Fluttershy asked.
"Screw it. Derpy deserves to know what happened. And say our goodbyes too, before other crap happens."
A month later, early afternoon...
Rainbow flew towards Fluttershy's house, knocking on the door impatiently. Come on, Shy. Answer the door!
After what felt like an eternity for her, the door opening but instead of revealing Fluttershy, it was her brother who answered instead.
"Oh, Rainbow Dash? What brings you here~!" Zephyr asked, leaning against the door frame.
Ugh. Not him again. Rainbow stopped herself from saying that out loud, Shy's reaction still fresh in her mind from the last time she did. "Zephyr, you know why. Can you get Fluttershy here?"
"You know you can just call me Zeph."
"Uh, no thanks. Can you get Shy here or not, dude?" Rainbow asked, already annoyed.
Zephyr huffed to the side as he went to the kitchen. "She's not home."
"What? Where is she then?" Rainbow asked, flying in after him.
"Why should I tell you? You're always so mean to me." Zephyr replied as he opened the fridge, blocking Rainbow's view of him.
You. Are. So. Annoying. Rainbow sighed internally. "Alright. I'm sorry. Can you please tell me where Fluttershy is... Ugh. Zeph?"
Instead of replying, Zephyr close the fridge with a jar of jam in his wing. Walking past her towards the cupboards, she noticed the smirk on his face.
I am gonna strangle him.
"Mom went with Fluttershy towards an animal sanctuary." Zephyr started, picking a loaf of bread. "Something about Fluttershy getting experience or something like that."
"Why wouldn't she tell me that?" Rainbow asked, more to herself than him.
"She said something about trying to be independent or something, I don't know. I didn't ask her what she meant." Zephyr replied as he started making himself some sandwiches.
Independent? What's that supposed to mean? Hm... "Do you know when they are gonna be back?"
"Nope." Zephyr replied, eating the sandwiches.
"Argh!"So useful, aren't you. "I'm going then." Rainbow said as she left the house.
"Nothing to do at home... Can't hang out with Shy now..." Rainbow sighed. "So much for a lazy day." She complained as she took flight, searching for a good spot to practice.
A month later...
"-And at the last lap we have competitors Flash Sentry in first place, Fleetfoot in second and Rainbow Dash in third! So close to each other that this might actually come down to the wire!" The commentor announced as everypony in the stand all saw three pegasi fly down the cloudy course full speed.
"Come down, Dash! You got this in the bag!" Bow shouted, helping Windy hold a big inspirational sign.
"Show them what you're made of!" Windy shouted.
"You can do it." Fluttershy cheered in her way.
Can't pass on the left, Flash will cut me off. Right is off the table too since Fleetfoot can just slow me if I try. Neither of them will let me pass above so that leaves only one way left...
"Less than a hundred meters left to the finish li- What the-? Rainbow Dash just plummeted through the clouds! What happened there?" The commentor exclaimed, confused.
"Oh, no!" Fluttershy immediately got worried.
"What happened?" Windy asked.
"Hm? Oh, that's clever." Bow chuckled, confusing both Windy and Fluttershy.
"A shame what happened but here they come! Thirty meters... Twenty meters.... Ten meters...-!"
Just before they reached five meters, Rainbow Dash burst through the clouds and crossed the finish line.
"OH MY-! In an unbelievable turn of events, competitor Rainbow Dash bursts through the course swooping in first placeeeeee! ...Quick in Flash Sentry arrives in second place and Fleetfoot in third place!"
The entire stand goes wild, with Bow and Windy's cheering being the loudest.
"WOOO! That's what I'm talking about! First place!" Rainbow celebrated.
"I'll give it to you, wasn't expecting that." Flash Sentry said as he and Fleetfoot approached her.
"Would've never thought of that." Fleetfoot joined in.
Rainbow smirked as she lifted her goggles. "What can I say, I'm just that cool." They rolled their eyes at her as the other competitors were arriving the finish line.
"Rainbow!"
She looked to her right to see her parents and Fluttershy trotting to her. "Did you see me?! That was cool, right?"
"That was incredible!" Windy answered as Bow pulled Rainbow in a hug.
"That was quite the sight. I'm so proud of you!"
"Dad! Come on, not here!" Rainbow whined as he let go of her.
"That was pretty awesome." Fluttershy timidly added in.
Rainbow smile grew bigger as she bathed in all the attetion she was getting.
"Competitors to the position stands. Time to get your hard earned prizes and congratulations!"
"Oh! Can't wait!" Rainbow exclaimed as she ran to where all the other competitors were heading to.
A month later...
"What do you mean you can't come with us?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm sorry, Rainbow. But I have important stuff to do today." Fluttershy replied from her seat.
"What stuff? Can't you do it later? It's just for a couple hours..." Rainbow insisted.
Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm sorry... Can't you get someone else to accompany you two?"
"Who else am I going to get? Mom's at work, our two other friends are gone and I'm not just gonna call a random pony to go with us." Rainbow answered.
"Hm... Wait, what about Spike?" Fluttershy asked.
I haven't seen him in a while now... "He... He hates the Wonderbolts as much as I love them." Rainbow answered as their train came to a stop.
"Current stop: Ponyville. Make sure you're taking all your belongings with you, we do NOT take responsability for anything forgotten. Next stop is Canterlot!" The train staff warned as they passed through the cart.
Fluttershy sighed. "I still can't go with you two, Rainbow. I'm sorry." Fluttershy replied as she and her mother left the train.
"I think we should at least try Fluttershy's suggestion." Bow said.
"But what if he refuses?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, we won't know if we don't try, would we?"
“-Uh, Spike. I know you’re not a fan of them, but I earned three tickets for the Wonderbolts performance and was wondering if... You wanted to join us?” Rainbow asked, pulling one from under her wing and showing it to Spike.
Rainbow immediately noticed he hesitanting on taking the ticket. “Erm, why ask me and not one of the girls. Wasn’t Cloudkicker a fan of the Wonderbolts too?” He asked, skeptical.
Sigh. “She... Can’t go. Neither her, Derpy and Shy can...” Rainbow answered, looking to the side, a bit upset.
“Well, I'm sorry Rainbow. But I’m pretty busy right now with my studies.” He gave the ticket back to Rainbow. “...Which reminds me.” He turned to Cadance, annoyed. “Are you done with your ’quick lunch break’? You know I’m trying to finish this thing before mom’s back!” Spike said, showing a book to her.
Did they have a fight before I got here?
Cadance sighed, looking somewhat exhausted from the whole ordeal. “Spike, you’ve been solely focusing on those books, you barely leave your room nowadays! That’s not health and you know Celestia told you to specifically not do that.”
“What? Oh, come on Cadance! This is important!” Spike insisted.
“No. I’m done helping you for now, Spike. You should take some air, staying all day on that room is bad for you.” Cadance said as she put her hoof down, signaling to Spike that she wasn’t gonna change her mind.
Spike huffed, very upset. “Argh! Fine! If you’re not gonna help, then don’t! See if I care! I’ll just going to do it by myself.” He stormed off.
“Spike!” Cadance call his name but he ignored as he disappeared upstairs.
“What got into the little guy?” Bow asked, puzzled.
Cadance sighed. “He’s been obsessed with those books ever since Tia gave them to him-" Cadance sighed before she looked at Rainbow. "-I’m sorry, Rainbow. Ignore him, he’s just being a grumpy pants right now.”
“It’s fine...” Rainbow replied as she looked at the ticket with disappointment. “I guess I’ll just throw this away, since no one wants to go with us...”
Suddenly the ticket flew from Rainbow's wing towards Cadance, who grabbed it and flashed her a smile. “Well, would you mind having me tag along then?”
“Wait, you? But- Since when you are a fan of Wonderbolts?” Rainbow asked, surprised.
“I wouldn’t call myself a fan per say but I wouldn’t mind watching a performance from them. I heard the Wonderbolt’s performances are quite breathtaking.” Cadance answered.
“Then hop along, we’re almost late!” Rainbow said as she started pushing both her dad and Cadance out of the castle, earning some laughs from them.
She only stop pushing then when they all got to the stadium where the events was happening, where she trotted ahead. It seemed as the event had already started as the was no line to the entrance, only a security guard by the gate.
"I'll have to stop you right there. Entry to the stadium has been closed ten minutes ago." The guard told Rainbow.
"Wha- But we have the tickets!"
"Sorry, but rules are rules." The guard said as Bow and Cadance finally reached Rainbow.
"What is the problem here?" Bow asked, puzzled to why hes stopped Rainbow.
"Entry's been closed for ten minutes now. We're not accept anymore tickets."
"Let me handle this." Cadance stepped in and walked to the guards face. "Do you know who I am?"
The guard widened his eyes when he finally saw her. "P-Princess?! I-I am terribly sorry, I didn't realize they were with you." He immediately pulled the chain blocking the way towards him. "P-Please, enjoy the show." He said, sweating bricks as they passed the gate.
"That was so cool, Cadance! You should've seen his face." Rainbow said, chuckling.
"Heh. Don't worry, Rainbow. I'm not letting anything ruin this for you." Cadance replied, flashing a smile to Rainbow.
Four months later...
"This sucks..." Rainbow complained as she laid her head on the table.
"Hm? You didn't like the ice cream?" Fluttershy asked, lowering her ice cream.
"No, the ice-cream is fine. It's just that..." Rainbow sighed.
"Is this still about me graduating?" Fluttershy asked. "You only have two more years, Rainbow-"
"Three. I failed a few grades..." Rainbow groaned, covering her eyes.
"Right." Fluttershy sighed, before looking at the clock of the cafe. "Oh, it's almost time for my internship."
"Ergh..." Rainbow watched as Fluttershy dropped a few bits - enough for both their ice creams - on the table.
"I have to go now. See you later, Rainbow?"
"Eh." Rainbow replied as Fluttershy took flight and left. "Back to being bored out of my mind... At least I still got my ice cream...?"
Rainbow looked over the table when she failed to grab the ice cream with her wing, finally noticing that both her ice cream and the bits Fluttershy left were gone. "Wha-? Where did it go?" Looking around, she barely got the glance of a brow tail disappearing around a corner of the street.
Frowning, she immediately went to investigate, only to be surprised to see a griffin casually flying down the street. Worse, she had Rainbow's ice-cream in one talon while she held the bits in the other. "HEY! THAT"S MINE!" Rainbow shouted.
The griffin jumped slightly and turned around just enough to see Rainbow, before she flashed a smirk and bolted down the street. "Oh, no. You don't!" Rainbow downed her goggles and flew after the griffin.
To say that Rainbow was struggling to catch up was an understatement. Everytime Rainbow managed to shorten the distance between them, the griffin would suddenly make multiple sharp turns or they would simply go through the thick cloudy walls of buildings and gain big distance as Rainbow's wings would struggle to go through them each time.
The griffin sudddenly turned around to face Rainbow while flying backwards. "Why won't you just give up already!" She shouted in frustration.
"Give my stuff back, thief!" Rainbow shouted back.
"Fine, choke on it!" The griffin replied, throwing the ice cream at Rainbow's face.
Thanks to her goggles, she quickly wiped it away just in time to see a massive cloud building approaching from behind the griffin. "Hey, watch out!"
"Pfft, please. As if I'm falling for tha-" She didn't get to finish as she flew right through the cloud wall.
Rainbow immediately stopped just before hitting the wall, but after hearing a muffled clank sound she climbed through the hole the griffin made and landed on a catwalk. "Can't say I didn't warn you."
"Ngrh... My head..." Holding her head, she slowly sit up and looked at Rainbow. "The heck I even hit...?"
"That pipe." Rainbow replied, pointing to the dented pipe that was currently dumping strange dirty multicolored liquid down.
"Uh... What is that?" The griffin asked.
"Don't know but I don't think it was supposed to be like that... Help me fix your mess before someone gets here." Rainbow flew up above the pipe, pulling it into place while the griffin pushed it from below.
After a lot of effort to move the heavy pipe, they managed to somewhat fix the pipe, but failed to notice the droplet coming off the junction of the pipe they just reconnected.
Although, before could check on the griffin, she noticed her sneaking through the hole. Oh no, you don't!
Just as she jumped off the hole, she flew away - or tried to - before something hit her and held her wings closed, causing her to faceplant on the cloudy floor. She didn't need to look up to know what happened. "Alright, alright. I give up! Take your stupid bits back."
"Finally." Rainbow replied, taking the bits back. "Where the heck did you come from, anyway?"
"What is this? You humiliate me and just expect us to be buddies now?" The griffin asked with a hint of venom in her tone, getting up and dusting herself.
"Well, you did steal my ice cream and bits, and I'm just asking a question. Never tried to befriend you - and never would - for that matter." Rainbow replied in the same tone.
"Pfft, right." She said as she started walking away.
Rainbow frowned as she flew ahead and block the griffin's path. "Can you answer the question? You own me that much."
"I gave your bits back. I own you nothing."
"You threw MY ice cream on my face, remember?"
"Ugh, fine. Came from Griffinstone, happy?"
"That place is pretty far, why you're in Cloudsdale?"
"Stupid interchange program..." The griffin replied, glaring at her. "Can I go now?"
"Interchange? You mean you gonna study on our flight school?" Rainbow asked.
"I guess? Why do you care?" The griffin asked, annoyed.
"You're not gonna be stealing stuff from there too, are you?" Rainbow asked, looking suspiciously at her.
The griffin rolled her eyes. "Not worth the trouble if those pegasi are half as annoying as you are."
Rainbow growled. "You try anything funny, you done for. Got it?"
"Pfft. Sure, rainbow girl." She replied as she flew away.
"What a prick... Not gonna bother helping next time." Rainbow murmured as she made her way back to the cafe to pay for her and Shy's ice cream.
Two months later...
"Who you think is going down first, Misty?" A dark grey pegasus asks his nearby friend as their class watched Gilda and Rainbow wrestle with their coach close by, whistle in wing, waiting for either one of them to give in.
"I'd wager Rainbow is going down. But seriously, Thunderlane. Did you see the size of that griffin's wings?" Misty Fly asked.
"Nah, Gilda is 100% gonna lose this. She barely listens to the coachs explanations." A third pegasus joins in.
"Hey, Soarin. Thought you weren't coming today, what took you so long?" Thunderlane asked.
"Sorry, I missed my alarm. Oh, look!" Soarin exclaimed as he pointed back to Rainbow and Gilda, just in time to see Rainbow managing to knock Gilda over, finally ending the match. "Ha! I was right."
"Damn, didn't see that coming." Misty replied as they noticed the coach having to separate the two as they started arguing. "Are they fighting again?"
"Why are you surprised? Gilda likes to get on everyone's nerves. I'm just curious why the bullies haven't gotten to her." Thunderlane said.
"Honestly, that's for the best. Either she would end up joining them or getting them injured." Soarin replied.
"-I've had enough of you fighting! You two are going to the principal's office." The coach said, pushing both of them in opposite directions.
"Oh, great. See what you did?" Gilda said.
"ME? You're the one hurting because you lost." Rainbow replied.
"YOU CHEATED!" Gilda shouted.
"I DIDN'T!" Rainbow shouted back.
"ENOUGH!" The coach shouted, shuting up both of them and dragging them back into the school's building.
The principal sighed as he watched Rainbow and Gilda being dragged into his office, rubbing his temple in annoyance. "What happened this time?"
"Fighting. Again." The coach answered.
"Of course." The principal replied, watching the coach leave the room. "Normally I would just be giving detention to you two and be done with it. But it's been clear for a while that's not gonna cut it. So I called in a specialist to assist."
Right as he said that, a beige unicorn entered the room. "Principal Ink Gust?"
"Ah, right on time mrs. Polish."
"I take these two are the troublemakers you talked over the letter?"
"Yes. Their incessant fights are getting out of hoof quite fast. We don't want another incident to happen."
"Very well." As the unicorn said that, she casted a spell that enveloped both Rainbow and Gilda. "Done."
"Uh... What's supposed to be happening?" Rainbow asked, puzzled.
"Was that supposed to stop me from wanting to punch her face? 'Cuz it didn't work." Gilda said.
"The spell is not supposed change your emotions or opinions of each other, but rather monitor you two through out magic tracked by this little thing here." Mrs. Polish said, pulling from her sweater's pocket a small crystal. "You two need to learn to work together harmonisly - or just tolerate each other enough to not want to strangle the other, your choice on which one - otherwise it's expelling for you-" She said, pointing to Rainbow. "-And your interchange's end. Understood?" Earning a nod from both of them, she continued.
"So, this is how it works. At any given moment inside the school grounds, if either of you gets three meters or more in distance, the crystal lights up yellow. If you harm the other, the crystal flashes red." Mrs. Polish explained, putting the crystal on the principal's desk. "This punishment shall last until Mr. Gust decides you two have finallly learned to cooperate. I shall handle the situation back to you now Mr. Gust." She said as she left the office.
"You two can go now. Just keep in mind, if this thing flashes even if for one second, you done for." The principal said as they left the office.
Rainbow stood quiet, taking in the situation. Just what I freaking needed. I hate this school.
"Great job. Now we stuck together because of you." Gilda said, immediately knocking Rainbow off her thoughts.
"How's this MY fault? You're the sore loser that keeps pissing me off!"
"I won't lost if you didn't cheat!"
Their bickering immediately stopped when the office's door opened, the principal looking at them unimpressed. "I guess you two just don't want to finish school."
"A-actually, we're just heading out. Isn't that right, Gilda?" Rainbow said, elbowing her. They all noticed a red flash come from inside the office that the principal decided to ignore.
Not wanting to piss off the principal anymore, they headed back to their class. But not without bickering through out the entire trip back.