//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: Charity and Devotion 
// by FrostyDawn 
//------------------------------//

	Time is a funny thing, especially when lost at sea. With no clocks or calendars, every day seems to stretch on indefinitely. On the other hand, it's easy to loose track of time when days blur into weeks, and into months. Niether Rarity nor Rainbow Dash could keep track after the fifth or sixth day, solely because they simply lost the will to care. The sun had beamed overhead for a few days, making them sweaty and dehydrated. The only clouds in the sky were simply white streaks, and hardly kept the light from shining through.

Rarity's body was much thinner, her muscles thin and tender with a lack of fat.  Her hips and waistline shrunk, too. Rarity's hair lost its curl, and her eyes half drooped as she struggled to stay awake.

Rainbow on the other hand, was faring a little better. She was not as thin as Rarity, since she had taken advantage of her edible raft, despite Rarity's intents not too.

However, one day, in the blistering sun, Rarity felt the agonizing hunger grasp her to the full extent.

"Rainbow Dash..." She said weakly. "The hunger... it's too much."

"Then eat something... you have too." Rainbow replied.

"I can't. I'll put us both at risk. It's just too late." Rarity muttered, her muscle slightly twitching.

"No. You can't! I won't let you!" Rainbow Dash cried, leaning in toward Rarity, who lightly grasped her hand with her last ounce of strength.

"Rainbow Dash..." Rarity whispered. "I love you... so much. So much it hurts."

Rarity shut her eyes slowly as her hand loosened its hold.

“No. No no no no no no NO!” Rainbow Dash cried, placing her hands on Rarity's shoulders to get a response, but Rarity stopped moving. Rainbow Dash slowly eased up on her, and the reality sank in. She lay her head on Rarity’s body, sobbing uncontrollably. “It should’ve been me. Why did I have to let her die?” She asked aloud.

Rainbow Dash wiped the tears from her eyes, and sat back up. Deep down, Dash resisted the thought of herself dying in place of Rarity. If she died before Rarity, she would feel the same grief Dash currently felt. “But she’s dead.” Rainbow thought. “Now she won’t feel this sadness.” Rainbow lifted Rarity’s lifeless head, and brought her own lips to it. Rarity’s lips were cold and dry not the same warm, soft feeling she gave Rainbow earlier. The feeling of Rarity was just gone from them. No soul, no emotion. Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky, as a painful memory surfaced.

<><><><><><><><>

“Dad? What happened to Mom?” A young girl asked her father as the two drifted through the sky.

The older man next to her had hair striped with multiple colors and cut short, just like the girl. He wore a blue jacket over a white shirt, and worn jeans. His face gathered a serious, solemn tone as his daughter asked that question.

“Rainbow Dash, you’re eight years old. I’ve already told you your mother is gone. She’s left.” He said. His voice was deep, but inviting.

“But where did she go? Where did she leave to?” The young Rainbow Dash asked again.

Her father sat down on a large puff of clouds, and Rainbow sat beside him. He let out a heavy sigh, and looked up at the sky. “The short answer is, I don’t know for sure. But there are a lot of places she could be.”

“Like what?”

“Well, some would say she’s someone else. Reborn into a completely different person. She could still exist, into a new shape.”

Rainbow Dash felt herself fill with disbelief.

“Or, she might just disappear completely. Just vanishing from our world without a trace.” Her dad continued.

Rainbow didn’t like that reply any more than the first one.

“Or... she’s somewhere where she’s happy. A place on the other side of the sun, watching down on both of us.” Rainbow’s father said, this time with hope.

Rainbow Dash felt her heart tingle at seeing her father’s face. “I want her to come back. I miss her.” She said, her voice wavering.

“I do too, Rainbow, but she can’t come back. Wherever she is, she’s staying.” Her dad said.

Rainbow looked down at the ground below, and up toward the sky. “Then I hope that place behind the sun is real. I want to go there, and see Mom again.”

Rainbow’s father put her arms around his daughter as she did the same. “I want to see her too, Dashie. But we’ll have to wait. There are still things to do here.”

<><><><><><><>

Rainbow Dash blinked her watering eyes as the flashback echoed through her troubled mind.

“That’s it. I can’t do anything here. Nothing’s gonna help me.” Dash thought, looking down at Rarity’s still body. “But there’s only one thing left to do.”

Rainbow Dash took a deep sigh, and flung her wings out. She took to the sky, rising higher and higher, until the boat became a mere speck of brown against a vast blue backdrop. Rainbow Dash was high above the clouds, the sun still beaming over the nearly cloudless atmosphere. The air was starting to become thinner, and Rainbow’s heartbeat quickened. 

“Don’t worry, Rarity. I’m coming. I’ll see you on the other side of the sun.” She thought, as her speed slowed, and Rainbow’s wings folded in midair.

Her ascension stopped suddenly, and she arced backward. Rainbow Dash plummeted head first downward, and she closed her eyes.

The clear sky became a blue blur until she passed the clouds, becoming streaks of dull colors. It wasn’t long before Rainbow Dash smashed down into the water, next to the boat. The impact from such a high speed knocked the air out of her lungs, making room for the water.

What followed was a cold silence.