//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: A Lost Friend // by Sirius Starshine //------------------------------// A Lost Friend Chapter One         It was another beautiful day in Cloudsdale.  The sun was shining, it was warm, and there was only a very light breeze.  The weather pegasi wanted to make sure that the conditions were ideal for today’s flying lessons.  There were many pegasi standing in line in front of the obstacle course today.  They were all very young and none of them have even received their cutie marks yet.  One pegasus in particular was extremely eager to have her run on the course.  This one was a filly with a cyan coat with a rainbow mane and tail, and fierce pink eyes.  Her name was Rainbow Dash.  She had been looking forward to today for a while now; she always hated to be stuck in a classroom while the boring teacher went on and on about the theory and dynamics of flying, she just wanted to get out and actually fly.  This was her class’s first practical lesson in flying, and she couldn’t wait to take to the air and see what she was capable of.  The line kept on moving forward, slowly.         “Too slowly,” Rainbow Dash thought to herself.  “Come oooonn, can’t this line go any faster?”  she whined, flapping her wings in anticipation.         “What’s wrong Rainbow Crash?” taunted a young colt behind her, “can’t wait to embarrass yourself in front of everyone?”         Rainbow Dash turned around and glared at the two colts standing behind her.  One was brown with a dark grey mane, and the other was black with a light grey mane.         “I told you to stop calling me that!  And just you watch, I’m gonna finish this course in record time!” she said angrily.         “Yeah right,” the black colt shot back, “I bet you don’t even make it to the finish line Rainbow CRASH!” he replied with a mean grin on his face.         “Rainbow Dash, you’re up next,” said the black and white instructor pegasus.         “Prepare to be amazed,” Dash shot back at the two colts as she ran up to the starting platform.  She then got her first good look at the obstacle course.  It was a short, simple course set up for the young pegasi.  The course was only a few feet above the clouds, and all the objects on the course were made of clouds as well.  It started with a simple four post slalom drill, followed by two large round clouds perpendicular to the course that they had to go between and around them in a figure eight pattern.  Then they had to touch another cloud pillar on the other side of them, and come back through the course in the opposite direction.         “Alright Rainbow Dash, are you ready?” asked the instructor now holding her silver whistle in her hoof.         “I was born ready!” Dash said with a fierce grin on her face.  She then crouched down and spread her wings, readying herself to leap into the air when the instructor blew her whistle.         “Okay then, on your mark, get set, TWEEEEEEE!” The instructor blew on her whistle, and Rainbow Dash took off like a flash.          She shot forward onto the course, confident she would complete it with no problem.  She weaved between the first three cloud pillars with no problem, but on the fourth one she clipped her hind leg on the pillar which caused her to lose control and slam into one of the large clouds.  She quickly pulled herself off the cloud, berating herself, and continued around the clouds in the figure eight pattern.  When she made it though the obstacle she flew around the last cloud pillar and brushed it with her foreleg and continued back around the two large clouds.  When she exited the obstacle the second time however, she turned too sharp and caught her wing on the edge of the cloud causing her to lose her balance again.  She shakily proceeded back though the slalom still trying to regain her balance, but couldn’t stabilize before the end of the course.  She wasn’t able to bank hard enough around the last cloud pillar and ended up going through it.  Her balance now completely gone she started to tumble through the air.         “Whoa, whoa, not good, not good, look ooouut!” she yelled as she kept tumbling through the air until she crashed into the instructor.         Both were completely dazed but Rainbow Dash recovered almost immediately.  She stood up and shook her head.  She then looked around and saw what happened and started apologizing to the instructor.         “Oh my gosh are you okay?  I’m really, really sorry I didn’t mean to run into you,” Dash said to the instructor very quickly with an apologetic look on her face and blushing from embarrassment.         “I’m okay” replied the instructor still completely dazed.         “Hahaha!  Wow Rainbow Crash you took out the instructor and half the course!” the brown colt jeered at her.         “Yeah hahaha” laughed the black colt, “that was the worst flying I’ve ever seen, Rainbow Crash!  And you wanna be part of the Wonderbolts?  Hahahaha!”         “I said don’t call me that!” Dash yelled back, tears starting to fill her eyes.         The two colts then started to chant the nickname they’ve given her.  First it was just them but then the rest of the class started joining in until they were all chanting the name that she hated so much         “Rainbow Crash, Rainbow Crash, Rainbow Crash!” they all chanted         “STOP IT! STOP CALLING ME THAT!” she yelled at them, tears now streaming down her face.  But they didn’t stop.  They just kept chanting and chanting.  Rainbow couldn’t take it anymore and she ran off crying, more embarrassed and ashamed than she’s ever been.         She ran all the way to the other side of the academy building to hide in her favorite spot on campus.  It was a rainbow fountain surrounded by soft plush clouds offering a peaceful semi-private lounging area.  She lied down and leaned against the largest cloud, and cried.  She cried and cried from sheer embarrassment and disappointment in herself.         “They’re r-right,” she sobbed to herself.  “I’m a horrible flyer; the Wonderbolts would never want somepony like me on their team.”  It has always been her dream to one day become a member of the Wonderbolts, the best flyers in all of Equestria, but with her horrible flight today she didn’t think she was good enough to ever be considered to join them.          She kept crying until she heard the sound of hooves trotting on the clouds nearby.  She didn’t want anypony to see her right now so she dug herself into the cloud she was leaning against, but she had been crying so hard that she kept hiccupping every couple of seconds.         “Hello?  Is anypony there?”  She heard a young colt say.  “Hello?  Huh, must be hearing things.”         Rainbow waited for a few minutes to make sure that the colt had left before she decided to come back out of the cloud she was hiding in.  She cautiously stuck her head out first, her puffy, bloodshot eyes questing for signs of any other pony around.  When she didn’t see anyone she slowly pulled herself out of the cloud, still sniffling, she went to lie back down.         “I was wondering how long you were going to stay in there,” said the voice from earlier.  Rainbow jumped in surprise and turned to the source of the voice.  It was a young colt, only maybe a year older than her.  His coat was a shade of light green, his mane and tale a much deeper shade of green.  The cutie mark on his flank was a gold colored crescent moon with a gold star inside the crescent with two more on the other side of the moon.  He was lying on top of the cloud she had been hiding in.  There was a warm smile on his muzzle and concern in his deep gold eyes.         “W-wh-who are you?” Rainbow asked nervously, taking a step back.         “I’m ........  …..,” he said, she didn’t hear what his name was, but understood what he said.  He stepped off the cloud so they were on almost the same level, he being a little taller.  “It’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?”         “Rainbow Cra- Dash, Rainbow Dash,” she replied embarrassed at her slip up.         “Well Rainbow Dash” the colt said with a slight emphasis on Dash, “Why are you here all alone and so upset?”  He asked still with a concerned look on his face.         “I-I’m not upset, I’m fine, great even!” She said trying to show her usual bravado.  However, the colt just gave her a dubious look.  She tried to shake it off by staring back but his stare was better.  “Sniff, well, I crashed during my turn on the obstacle course today.”         “That’s not so bad, everyone crashes sometimes.” The colt said.         “It’s not just that, I also destroyed half the course and knocked out the teacher when I crashed, and, sniff, all the other ponies started making fun of me, even my friends, and” her voice broke, and tears started running down her face again as all of the emotion from earlier came rushing back and enveloped her.         “Hey it’s okay shhhh, don’t worry it’s okay,” the colt went up and embraced her when she started crying again.  She didn’t care she just cried into his shoulder sobbing every couple seconds.  She eventually started to calm down again, and that’s when she heard it.  He was singing to her.  It was a calming song and the words helped her relax and made her feel a little better.         “…. … ……. ……..,” he finished the song.  Again she didn’t hear what he was saying but she understood it.  “You okay?” the colt asked.         “Yeah, I feel better now, thank you”         “Hey, Rainbow Crash! We were wondering where you ran off to!”  A young colt’s voice rang out across the yard.         Upon hearing the voice Rainbow Dash stiffened and gasped, “oh no, it’s them.”  She gasped again as she felt the green colt pull away from her and face the approaching group of pegasi.         “Hey, are you the pegasi who were making fun of her earlier?!” the green colt demanded, anger evident on his face and stance.         The group of pegasi was taken aback by the sudden aggressiveness that the colt showed, but they recovered quickly and continued walking up to the fountain.  They stopped once they were only a few feet from Rainbow and the colt.  Only then did they respond to the colt helping Rainbow.         “What’s it to you huh? This is none of your business so get out of here.” The brown pegasus said to the green one.         The green pegasus glared at the brown pegasus for a second then started talking, his voice full of anger and contempt at the pegasi in front of him. “I’m making it my business.  I think it’s wrong to make fun of somepony for any reason.  It makes you nothing but a pretentious jerk that gets their kicks out of making some other pony feel bad about themselves just to boost your ego,” he then started walking side to side looking into every ponies’ eyes as he passed them.  “That goes double for you who pretend to be a pony’s friend, but when they get shown in a bad light you ditch them so as not to be shown in the same light.”  He spat on the clouds next to his hooves, “you disgust me the most.  A true friend is loyal, and sticks by their friends through thick and thin, and supports them no matter what.  That’s what it means to be a friend.” Upon hearing the word “loyal” Rainbow Dash suddenly felt stronger, more confident, like something inside her had, not awakened, but stirred.  It also made her realize that the ponies facing her were not worth the tears she shed earlier.  The only ponies that mattered were the ones who were willing to be her friend, true friends, and she would never leave them and always be there to help them, just like …….. ….. was there for her right now.  She then wiped the remnants of her tears off with her front leg and walked up and stood next to her friend.  When he saw her walk up he looked at her and flashed a quick, fierce grin to her, then turned back to the other pegasi still standing in front of them. “Well, if we’re all done here then you should all be on your way,” he said to the bullies. The brown bully pegasus was seething with anger, it was evident that nopony had ever talked to him like that before.  When he spoke his voice was brimming with fury born of embarrassment. “I don’t know who you think you are but nopony, NOPONY! Talks to me like that,” he then spread his wings and readied himself to lunge at the pegasus helping Rainbow. The green pegasus, however, didn’t even flinch.  All he did was spread his legs a bit to gain a more stable balance and said.  “Come at me colt, that is, if you’re not too scared to fight me one on one like a real pegasus.” The two pegasi faced each other like that for a full minute.  Then the brown pegasus slowly folded his wings and stood upright again.  “Pfff, you’re not even worth the effort, not that it would be overly difficult to beat you in a fight, but I have better things to do with my time then to spend it with some self-righteous pony.”  He then turned around and started walking away yelling to the others around him, “come on, let’s get out of here before Rainbow Crash try’s to fly again and destroys something else!” Rainbow started to yell something back, but stopped when she felt her friend’s hoof on her shoulder.  She looked over and saw him shaking his head. “Let it go, we already won this fight, no sense in restarting it,” he said to her his smile back on his face.  “Now where do you live?  I’ll walk you home.” Rainbow returned his smile and turned to her right and said, “Right this way, come on.”  They started walking away, after a few steps she turned towards her friend, “uh, ……..?” she said, but no sound came out. “Yes?” he replied as if she heard her perfectly. “Thank you” He turned to her, still smiling, “what are friends for?” ******** “What are friends for?” mumbled Rainbow Dash into her pillow.  She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling of her room.  She had that dream again, the one about the green pegasus colt she knew when she still lived in Cloudsdale.  He was the first real friend that she ever had.  He showed her friendship back then when no pony else would.  He taught her to ignore the bullies who taunted her, and how to stand up to them when they shifted their focus to somepony else.  That’s how she met Fluttershy.  Rainbow saw them making fun of her one day, so Rainbow went over and stood up to the bullies for her, just like the green pegasus did for her.  Unfortunately she had to do it by herself. The green pegasus had left Cloudsdale only a few weeks after they had met.  She remembered that his father was in the Equestrian Air Force, and that one day the green pegasus told her that he was leaving Cloudsdale because his father was being re-assigned to another outpost.  She begged and pleaded for him not to go, that he could come live with her and her family, but neither of their parents would allow it.  On his last day in Cloudsdale they met one last time at the fountain where he first showed her friendship.  She asked him once again if he could stay, even though she knew he couldn’t.  He just smiled at her and told her that loyal friends will always meet again someday.  Then he flew away, and she hasn’t seen him since. Rainbow Dash wished that she could see him again, if only one more time.  She believed that if it wasn’t for him that she would have never learned about what it meant to be a loyal friend.  That she would have never learned how to stand up and protect her friends and consequently created the first Sonic Rainboom.  And, she believed, that she would have never learned what it meant to be a loyal friend and become the Element of Loyalty.  She wished that she could meet him just one more time so she could thank him for everything that he did for her, and for helping her to become the pony she is today, but she couldn’t remember his name, or even the song that he always sang to her when she was feeling down. She racked her brain for a few more minutes hoping that maybe she could at least remember part of his name, but to no avail.  All that would come to her was the last thing he said to her, “friends always meet each other again someday.” She then got out of bed and prepared herself for the day.  She took a shower, brushed her teeth and hair, ate breakfast, and straightened up her house a bit where the clouds were starting to drift apart again.  All the while her mind kept wandering back to the green pegasus.  She wished she could at least remember his name, but the more she tried to remember, the harder it was to think of it.  She finally got a breakthrough when she remembered that part of his name was a color when she heard a knock on her door. “Now who could that be?” she thought aloud, “Oh yeah, Fluttershy was gonna help me collect some storm clouds so that I could practice my new trick!”  She quickly rushed out her door to the pegasus waiting for her.  When she went through the door she saw her friend standing a couple feet back so that she wouldn’t be hit by the door when it opened.  When she saw her yellow friend she had a worried look on her face, but upon seeing Rainbow it changed to one of relief, then to her usual shy posture when she thought she was intruding on somepony. “Oh I’m sorry Rainbow, um, did I disturb you?  It’s just that, well, you said to meet you at the clearing outside Ponyville a while ago, and when you didn’t show up I came here to make sure you were alright,” Fluttershy said while she fidgeted nervously. “Yeah, sorry about that Fluttershy, I didn’t mean to worry you.  I just lost track of time is all.” Rainbow replied while rubbing the back of her head. “That’s okay I understand.  Did you still need my help preparing for your new trick?”  Fluttershy asked. “Yes, that would be awesome if you could still help me out!” Rainbow said enthusiastically. “Oh, of course I would be happy to, what are friends for?” Fluttershy responded. Rainbow paused for a split second, remembering her dream again, before she responded “yeah, exactly!” With that the pegasi took to the air to collect some clouds that have collected static electricity so they could create a small lightning cloud for Rainbow’s new trick.  Rainbow let her mind wander back to the green pegasus for just a second before she put all her attention back to the task at hoof, and she thought.  “Some day.”