Rainbow Dash sat alone at a table outside at Sugar Cube Corner, staring at the sky. It wasn't the first time she'd done that in the five days since she left Miles' world, and chances are it wouldn't be the last. She looked to the piece of royal blue cloth he'd given her. She smiled. He never did say what the "S" stood for, did he? Not that guessing now would change anything, but she still couldn't help but wonder. Was there more besides what a letter meant on a shirt that they could have said? Her greatest regret was letting him stop her from telling him how much she cared. That she loved him. A single tear ran down her cheek as she thought about that. "Well it's too late now." She thought about how he was doing right now and if he was taking it as hard as she was. She couldn't stop thinking about that half-cocked and wily grin of his.
"Breaks your heart seein' her like that, don't it?" Applejack broke the silence a few tables away from where their friend was sitting. None of them felt right about what they did to Miles or Rainbow Dash. AJ herself felt the worst about it. Rainbow Dash was her best friend and, even though they didn't always agree, she deserved a happy ending as much as any of them did. "I just... I just can't get over that goodbye and how it left her."
"I know what you mean, AJ," Twilight Sparkle agreed with her cowgirl friend. "But what was I supposed to do? We couldn't leave her there. I mean, she doesn't even exist there." She looked down sadly. "Miles did the right thing, regardless of how much it broke her heart. He did what he had to do."
"So what happened?" Spike asked from next to Rarity. They'd almost completely forgotten he was there and that he wasn't filled in on what happened with Rainbow Dash and her trip to another world. "Nopony ever tells me anything."
Pinkie Pie was the one who answered, allowing the mood get to her and resulting in a more sedated response. "Rainbow went into somepony else’s world and fell in love, but she had to leave him behind." She looked at the rainbow maned pegasus sitting alone. "He seemed like such a super-nice guy, too."
"I wonder if there was anything else they wanted to say before we left with her," Fluttershy finally gave her piece. It was a good question and everypony at that table was thinking the same thing.
"Well, no use thinking about it now, Fluttershy," Twilight practically ignored her friend, even knowing she was thinking the same thing. It seemed painfully obvious that she was trying harder than everypony else to push what happened out of her head. It was probably because she's the one who took most of the blame for taking her. Knowing that she didn't have any choice in the matter didn't make it easier. "I think it would be best if we just moved on like it didn't even happen."
"How can you be so heartless, Twilight?" Everyone was shocked to hear that come from Fluttershy's mouth. It seemed like the meek and mild mare finally found her spine. "Rainbow Dash is our friend and we've never ever seen her like this! She needs our love and support right now!"
It seemed like getting yelled at by the normally timid pegasus made Twilight feel even worse about it. "I know, Fluttershy. But we had no choice." She moved her drink back and forth, looking at a shaking red reflection of herself in the punch. "We really didn't..."
They were all shocked by the violet unicorns blunt and insensitive response, but none of them thought Fluttershy would be the one to go off like that. Even Fluttershy was angry with Twilight.
It seemed like an eternity passed at that table. None of them, except for Spike, touched their cupcakes or their punch. It was like someone had seen it fit to just silence all of them. And even as they looked at the rainbow maned pegasus, speechless in the bright and sunny Ponyville day, they all knew that they would have to move on eventually from this. But Rainbow Dash would never be the same. Not after Miles.
That's when Twilight Sparkle noticed something rather peculiar about her fellow unicorn friend, Rarity. "Rarity? Why are you smiling?" She almost asked that with a sense of malice in her tone.
She seemed genuinely shocked that her violet friend asked that. "Twilight! I am doing no such thing!" She was a terrible liar. "I was merely reflecting upon the joy that Rainbow Dash felt while with the young human, Miles!" She was keeping her best poker face, but even somepony as elegant as Rarity couldn't wear it right. "A mare does not simply find love like that." Twilight Sparkle squinted at her friend. "Rarity... what did you do?" She just looked away, though, as she was unable to answer for two reasons. One was because she didn't want to, and two was because Princess Celestia had decided to visit them from out of nowhere.
"Hello, girls!" She announced with her usual jovial demeanor. All of them tried to put on a happier face, but they all failed extravagantly. Which alerted the princess that something was off. "What's the matter, my dears?"
Twilight sighed and began to explain what happened. Everything from the gauntlet to the goodbye. "And we all just feel terrible about it, Princess."
She nodded, as if she could possibly understand the ace flyers plight and pain. "I see. That is very sad. Oh!" Suddenly, she turned to Rarity. "Rarity, I looked into that problem you asked me to address a few days ago. I had to pull some strings, but it should be fine now. Thank you for telling me." Then, as if she could turn her remorse and joy off and on like a switch, she left. "Goodbye, girls! Happy Thursday!"
Perplexed, bewildered, and flabbergasted, five of Rainbow Dash's friends looked at Rarity with their mouths agape, practically begging her to tell them what happened. "Yes?"
"Rarity, why was the princess just here?" AJ asked. That's when the fasionista developed an ear to ear grin.
"Dear Applejack," the pristine white mare started with the utmost faith in her words. "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."
Rainbow Dash was never one for brooding or wallowing in self-pity. She'd always thought it was for the weak, but now? Now she just wanted feel it all and take it all in. She wanted to slow down and take things slowly for now. That's when something happened that set her off. Somepony decided it would be fun to block her light while she was feeling sorry for herself. It was bad enough she had to leave Miles behind, but now there was some jerk blocking her sun. "Hey pal! You wanna move it?"
"Sorry, I didn’t know I was disturbing you," she turned to see an unfamiliar orange pegasus standing behind her. "You mind if I sit here?"
Rainbow Dash sighed. She really did mind, but she figured that she could use some fresh company. "Go right ahead."
As she went back to staring at the royal blue cloth, the colt's attention was caught. "What's that?" Rainbow Dash didn't want to talk about it. "If you don't mind my asking."
"I kind of do mind," she wanted to blow this guy off, but there was nothing particularly off-putting about him. "It was a gift from a friend I had to say goodbye too."
"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean too-"
"Forget it," she almost spat those last words at him with acid. "What did you want, anyway?"
"I wanna answer your question." Question? Rainbow Dash didn't ask him anything. "If that's alright with you, that is."
"What are you talking about? I didn't ask you anything." This guy was really starting to bug her now. First he blocked her light, then he started prying into her personal life like he knew her. Like he was one of her friends. She felt her blood boil as this guy kept digging deeper into her business.
Then he gave an all-knowing grin. “The 'S' on the shirt?" Rainbow Dash's head perked up almost by reflex. "It stands for 'super'." The sky blue mare’s heart started beating faster and faster as everything, from the voice to the wily twinkle in his eyes, started to finally register. Exactly one tear trailed down the ace flyers right cheek. "I told you not to say goodbye."
(now would be a good time to YouTube the song "So Caught up in you")
The End