//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Alone // Story: Hope in the Storm: Part Two // by PegasYs //------------------------------//         What have I done...         Seriously, what the hell did I just do?         I flew only a couple more feet before I instantly regretted my decision to go alone. I faltered momentarily, and was almost tempted to turn back around. I bit my lip and shook my head. No turning back now, Rainbow. I stayed on course, heading straight toward the slowly escalating mountainside.         With each pump of my wings, my body was filled with mixed feeling. The simple act of flying always filled me with adrenalin and lust for the sky. With each foot of ground I made towards my destination, anxiety crept its insidious way into my thoughts. It left quite a bittersweet aftertaste in my mouth.         The image of my father, older and greyer than I knew him, creeped into my mind as I neared the cliff’s edge. It seemed strange to me that a face that had taken care of me and loved me my whole life could now represent the sums of all my resentment and failures that I refused to accept these past three years. I thought of Aero, and how he had snapped at me. I had been taken aback by his outburst, but it filled me with some sort of satisfaction to note that somewhere inside the shell my best friend had become, was the colt I shared my childhood with.         I couldn’t keep myself from chuckling at the idea of foal Aero, clad in the pitch black armor of the Storm Scouts and barking orders to ponies that were three times his size. Despite what he and my father had done recently, that seemed to lighten my mood slightly.         I was just below the capital of Equestria. I found a nice little outcropping with some grass growing on it, and decided to take a short little break before making the final climb the rest of the way to the top. Landing with a precise thud on the ground, I bucked off my saddlebags in front of me and stretched my wings and legs. I walked over to my bag and unbuttoned it to reveal a sandwich and a cupcake that Pinkie Pie had snatched from Sugar Cube Corner. I wasn’t too terribly hungry, so I took to anxiously chewing on the cupcake whilst looking out over the forests that lead to Ponyville.         The cupcake was doing a really good job of keeping my mind set on eating a cupcake. I chomped it down happily, almost completely unaware of where I had to be in less than three hours. As soon as it was gone, I gazed upward back to my original destination.         I sighed heavily as the anxiety began to creep back into my mind. I suppose I should get going. I’ll just be taking off now. Three. Two. One. … And here I go.         ... Ugh!         I dug my hoof into the ground, groaning in frustration. Just as I did so, I spotted a pond on another outcropping not too far away.         I know, I should get a drink before I go! That’ll definitely clear my mind!         I flew over to the pond more enthusiastically than I had ever flown to water before, and began slowly lapping at the clear blue liquid, sloshing it in my mouth and contemplating each swig, giving each taste a moment to sink in.         Focus, Rainbow. You need to get going, you need to show everypony that you’re not afraid to own up to what you’ve done.         But, this water is so tasty.         Seriously? Just get going already.         I looked up to Canterlot, and realized that all I was doing was stalling. I heaved a heavy breath and flew back to my belongings on the other island, and began the steady climb back up the dusty wall.         ---         This... probably would have been easier to bear with some company.         I was panting heavily as I drew nearer and nearer to my destination. My heart pounded against my chest with a rhythmic thud, and I was sweating profusely. I had flown farther than this in my sleep, and I had become more winded than a filly who spent all day flying for the first time.         If I had just gone on the train... We wouldn’t have made it on time. But if we had left yesterday, we could have been here, and my friends would have been able to keep me in good spirits the whole time.           Dammit, Fluttershy even offered to come with me! She would have been so sweet, and I feel like she is the one I could open up to the most. What if she had come?         I can’t keep saying “what if.” I’m here now, and I told myself I could do it on my own. I know I can do it on my own. I’m Rainbow Dash! I don’t need anypony! I’m...         I’m here already.         The pearly white entrance to Canterlot stood before me, adorned with several royal guards and tourists. I gulped, suddenly feeling really small with all their eyes on me. I really need to get it together.  I stood as straight as I could and walked slowly through the gates, setting eyes on my birthplace for the first time in quite a while.         The giant clock in the middle of town chimed the half hour, telling me I had thirty minutes to arrive at my intended destination. My heart jumped in my throat with the loud bell, the anxiety I had been feeling reaching a peak. And worse yet, the large white building that was the center of weather for all of Equestria was in sight, no more than four blocks away from the street corner I had scurried to in a bout of panic. If I had ever been close to hyperventilating, it would have been the moment that bell struck half past eleven.         I marched down the street, trying to pep talk myself inside my own head. My head wasn’t really doing me any favors.         Before I had known quite exactly what I had done, I was standing in front of the main entrance to the Storm Scouts headquarters. I stared at the double glass doors for several seconds, a bead of sweat forming on my forehead as I contemplated pushing it open.         “Need help with that, Miss?” a stoic voice called from behind.         I screamed. I literally just screamed.         I froze in spot, not daring to look over my shoulder. The dusty red pony walked around my side and pulled the door open with his teeth. “I think it’s easier if you try to push or pull the door instead of just staring at it, Miss Dash.”         Aero was staring directly at me, ushering me through the with a nudge of his head. I stood up tall and looked at him indignantly.         “Don’t you think I know that?”         “Well, you seemed confused, so I thought I would lend a helping hoof,” he said with a smirk.         “Well, thanks, but I can handle myself.” I trotted through the door, practically having a mental panic attack.         “Well, you’ve obviously made that abundantly clear.”         I stopped in my tracks and sighed. “Look, I... I didn’t come here to be lectured, I didn’t even come here for the sake of my weather team or to listen to you be an ass to me.” Aero cantered up to me and took to a brisk walk by my side. I picked up my pace slightly, heading toward the conference hall. “Well, that rules out pretty much everything that you could have possibly come here for. Why are you here, then?” “I have my reasons, Aero.” His eyes met mine for a split second before I turned to look where I was heading. He laughed. Aero just laughed. “So, you’re looking for closure with daddy, then.” I came to the door of the conference room and stopped. “You know what, Aero? I’m almost starting to wish you were a robot again.” He moved to speak, but stopped. “Leave me alone, okay?” I opened the door and walked through, grabbing the handle with my tail and slamming it in his face. --- The room was dimmed, a huge projector stood in the middle of two large groups of pegasi, all of them chatting with one another quietly. The light on the white screen flickered occasionally, giving the room an intimidating aura. There were no windows. The clock on the far wall read that the meeting was to start any minute now. I remember coming in this room as a filly on bring your foal to work day, sitting through some boring lectures while my father tried to keep me entertained by handing me a pamphlet and a pencil for me to draw on. I chuckled nervously, remembering that I used to hate being cooped up in this room when I was young. All I ever wanted to do as a filly was fly, not draw on a stupid piece of paper while some old pony talked about clouds for two hours. As I was thinking about this, the overhead lights began to dim even further, casting silence on the crowd. The area in the front of the room was illuminated as seven pegasi filed their way from a side door and into the center of the stage. Amongst them were the six Storm Scouts, their black field armor absent from their bodies, and in the middle of them all stood an advanced blue stallion whose face made me wish I hadn’t eaten that cupcake. It was my father, Valiantwing. “Welcome,” he began with a frail but projecting voice, “Thank you all for coming to our first formal meeting for the preparations for the Storm of the Century. I’m sure some of the vets in the room would like to know why we called this meeting of the head mares, as it has not been done in the past. Well, the idea was recommended to me by the current captain of the Storm Scouts, The Wayward Scout himself.” Aero nodded curtly before a small flurry of hoofstomps filled the room. He gave a salute to Valiantwing before returning to his statuesque position at his side. So, this whole thing was his idea. “My first and only order of business is for you all to rest up. I expect to see you all at the training session with the rest of your teams in the coming week. Everything you will need to know will be answered then. For now, please, enjoy yourselves and prepare. If you have any questions, see Scout. Please do not disturb me in my office.  Thank you.” A soft murmur fell over the crowd as he walked silently out of the room. Even Aero and the other scouts looked confused. I stood there, blank-faced, staring at where the stallion I had dreaded seeing for the past three years had been standing. “What was that about?” “I came all the way from Phillydelphia for this...” “Who does he think he is leaving us hanging like that?” “No.” Even in the din of quiet voices, my voice cut over them like a knife, the one syllable casting silence over the entire room. Aero was staring straight at me, looking... apologetic? He bit his lip and furrowed his brow. He wasn’t supposed to just walk out. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I was supposed to triumphantly face my father and tell him the truth about my life, show him I wasn’t immature and that I could help myself. Without thinking, I bolted down to the front of the room and plunged through the door my father had walked through. I followed the hallway down to its end, flying through the corridor to where I knew his office resided. Flaring out my wings to come to a screeching halt, I gazed at the heavy wooden door with his name and title inscribed on the little plaque in the center. Anger and determination taking control of me, I grabbed the handle to find that the door was already open. This isn’t right. Shakily, I pulled open the door to peer inside, only to find the interior complete void of anypony, much less Valiantwing. I took a step inside and sat down on the floor, staving off the tears as fond memories of this office began to fill my mind. This room had been my home away from home since I was almost too little to fly, and whenever Valiantwing told me he would be in his office, he meant it. “I can tell you where to find him, if you want.” I turned silently to watch Aero approach me from behind. I wiped a stray tear from my cheek. “What part about ‘leave me alone’ don’t you understand?” He sat down quite a ways behind me. I turned my head away from him and stared at the carpet. “That wasn’t supposed to happen, Rainbow.” I perked my ears and flicked my tail, annoyed. “What do you mean?” He sighed and stood, walking over to me and sitting down by my side at an awkward distance. He scooted around on his haunches to face me and stared off in the distance. I shot him a glance and he folded his ears back on his head and flicked his tail. I barked at him. “Out with it!” “I planned this whole thing for you,” he whispered. “I put our father in charge. He wasn’t supposed to walk out like that.” I was beyond shocked. “Why?” “I want this to be over, Rainbow,” he said sternly. “I’ve been in the middle of a torn family for far too long, and it’s slowly killing me. You and your parents took me in when I had nopony else, and now I seem to be the only one who’s trying to keep the family that isn’t even mine from falling apart altogether. “I thought if I could get you both in the same room together, at least one of you would talk to the other, or scream at each other. I dunno, I just wanted you two to stop being foals and work this out.” He scooted a little closer to me. I backed away, prompting a sigh from Aero. “You’ve grown, Rainbow. You have. Now, one of you has to swallow your pride and just fix this hell that we’ve all been living through for three years. I see Dad getting older every day; he’s beyond stressed, Rainbow. I’m trying to be the child he wants back, but he’s too stubborn to admit it: He wants his daughter back. He... doesn’t love me like he loved you.” He was sobbing now, softly, but it was definitely happening. “I love him like a father. He loves me, but as nothing more than his successor. It hurts me to see you grow up, and not be a part of it. It doesn’t matter what you’ve accomplished, you’ve become strong and independent, even if you haven’t achieved your dream.” I was growing more and more angry with each word he uttered. I turned away and bit my tongue, trying to hold back all the things I was thinking, but didn’t want to say. I heard the scuttling of hooves behind me and felt the rush of air around me as the sensation of downy feathers enveloped my torso. I shrugged him off and stood up, backing away and flaring my wings. “Why does it seem like everypony in this fucking family is trying to use me to get what they want except for Mom!?” I screamed. “Rainbow, no, that’s not— “All you want is for your precious little family to be back to the way it was, ‘cause you can’t handle the fact that I don’t need you, or Dad, or anypony.” “No! listen to me— “Leave. Me. Alone.” I seethed, tears beginning to sting my eyes. I ran out of the door.