Rainbow Dash’s house was very high up. Ten, maybe fifteen thousand feet in the air. And Fluttershy was rocketed down from that tremendous height.
The ground was a far ways away, but Fluttershy could tell her impending fate was close at hand. She tried to flick her wings open, but she felt a burning sting in her body, and one wing was nearly useless without a second, equal wing. Her mind began to race, which made everything seem slow into a blurry tunnel of dreary colors. This gave her time to think.
“What’s wrong with Rainbow Dash?! She’s not just depressed, she’s insane! She wanted to kill me! I could have stopped her. I could’ve put an end to her pain. But I just ran. She was right. I am a coward. I’m worthless.” Fluttershy thought. She saw the ground rushing toward her, and trying to fly off again. Her wing singed with pain, and she snapped it back. “I can’t fly. Not without it hurting like this. Am I just going to die?” Despair and failure spread through her mind like wildfire. “Would the world would be better without a coward like me...”
A tear dripped fro Fluttershy’s eye, which accelerated downward, like another drop of rain. She shut her eyes and readied for her mind to stop.
But Fluttershy felt something rush by her, and she did in fact jerk to a stop. Fluttershy opened her eyes. She was still in the sky, descending at a much slower speed with something tugging on her waist. She looked, and saw a rope wrapped around her waist. She then looked up, seeing the rope lead her to a hot air balloon. Twilight’s balloon. The rope was being held by both Applejack and Rarity who struggled to keep Fluttershy in their grip.
“Gotcha!” Applejack smiled, holding the rope in one hand and keeping her hat in place with the other. Rarity clenched her teeth, pulling Fluttershy into the balloon. The extra weight of another person made the balloon slowly sink back down to the ground.
“Are you alright, Fluttershy? What happened up there?” She asked.
Fluttershy rubbed her eyes. “It’s horrible! Rainbow Dash tried to kill me!” She cried.
Applejack and Rarity were shocked. “SHE WHAT!? Rainbow would never do that, not even at her lowest!” Applejack said.
Fluttershy grabbed her wing to show them the burn. “Look at me! She tried to kill me with a burning poker!” She shrieked, which was a very startling thing to hear.
The other two were stunned. Rarity covered her hands with her mouth and nearly had a tear come to her eye. “She’s a monster! We have to do something before it gets worse!” Rarity whimpered.
Applejack sighed. “Girls... we need Twilight back.” she said. Fluttershy looked up to her.
“You really think that’ll help?” she asked.
“Remember when Discord made us turn against each other? Twilight was the only one able to bring us back to our old selves.” Applejack replied. “Besides, we have to try something.”
Rarity sighed half-heartedly, and leaned against the edge of the balloon’s basket. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t gotten drunk, poor Rainbow never would’ve seen us.” She said.
Applejack put her hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “It was mah fault too, sugarcube. Ah got just as drunk as you, y’know.”
“That’s not going to be enough. Rainbow Dash hates us.” Rarity replied.
“But we’re her friends. What good would we be if we abandoned the Element of Loyalty?” Applejack said.
Fluttershy rubbed her eyes. “You’re right. We’ll get help as soon as we can.”
“Then we’re gonna have to get a hold of Spike. He’ll understand.” Applejack said. The balloon then hit the ground, and a familiar face greeted them. Pinkie Pie stood on the ground, with her bandages still on her face.
“Heya guys! How’d it go?” she asked, optimistic.
“Not so good. We have to get Twilight down here immediately!” Rarity replied, before noticing the gauze over Pinkie’s face. “Um, are you sure you shouldn’t be resting? After your... injury?”
“Nope. Nurse Redheart said I’ll be fine. I suppose I can take these off now.” Pinkie said, and began unwinding the bandages. The blood had been fully cleaned up, and all that remained was a faint scar under Pinkie’s eye.
“It’s good to see you’re recovering, Pinkie. I might need a little rest, too.” Fluttershy said softly, grasping her burnt wing gently, walking toward Twilight’s tree library.
As Applejack helped Rarity out of the balloon, she sighed. “Rarity... Ah gotta tell you something.” She said, a little urgently.
“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked, her hand finding its way into Applejack’s.
Applejack slipped it out. “That’s just it. Ah know what ah said earlier, and you know how ah feel...”
“I feel the same way. I thought we... had something.”
“We did. But if it’s driving Rainbow mad and putting our friends in danger, then ah can’t risk it.” Applejack said, half-heartedly.
“But Rainbow doesn’t have to know! We could just hide everything from her.”
“Ah can’t. You know ah’m a horrible lair.” She said, nodding.
Rarity sighed. “I understand. I can leave this. For you.” She said.
“Cheer up, sugarcube. We gotta get Rainbow Dash back.” Applejack said, pulling Rarity into a quick hug. “Now, lets get outta this rain. Don’t wanna catch somethin’ nasty.”
Rarity nodded, and the two ran to catch up with Pinkie and Fluttershy.
The group gathered in the Books and Branches Library. Soaking wet, they avoided touching any books as to make sure they didn’t get to moist and tear.
“Hey, Spike? You home?” Pinkie shouted up the stairs. A loud THUD signaled the someone was upstairs. Soon, a young boy stepped down the stairs.
“What is it? I was busy.” He said. He then let out a low belch and small crystalline pebbles popped between his lips.
“Right. Busy. Listen, we need you to write a letter. To Twilight.” Applejack said. Spike picked up a nearby quill and scroll, ready to write.
“Dear Prin-” Applejack began, but she was cut off. The door flung open, with Rainbow Dash standing there. White knuckles, bloodshot eyes, and a merciless glint in her eyes.