I could not go back. I could not face my friends ever again.
I ran as fast as I could, as far as I could. When I could not run any more, I untied my wings, threw away the leash, and flew away.
I hid. High up in a mountain, where nopony would think of looking for me. I cried for hours, until my eyes were so dry that I could not cry any more.
As the sun began to set, I flew back. I knew I could not go back. But I wanted to look at Ponyville one last time, to fix its image in my memory forever.
From far away I watched the town. I hid in the clouds so I would not be seen.
I saw the buildings my friends lived in. Twilight's library. Carousel Boutique. Sugarcube Corner.
I pushed my cloud. In the distance, I could see Fluttershy's house. I did not go near it, afraid of being seen by her.
I pushed the cloud instead over Sweet Apple Acres. It went directly over the Cutie Mark Crusaders tree house. The three were playing in front of it. I gazed at Scootaloo. I would miss her.
I went away. I knew what I had to do.
-*-*-*-
The night was cold, but I did not care. I flew higher and higher, higher than I had ever flown.
I settled on a thin, almost transparent cloud. The stars were small dots of light above me. The houses of my friends were also small dots in the distance.
I thought of my past. The day I met each of them. The adventures we had together.
And what I had done.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let myself fall backwards off the cloud.
The wind rushed past me. That had always been my favorite sensation. But this time, I let my wings flap uselessly by my side. I was not feeling anything anymore.
-*-*-*-
I expected pain, but there was none. I expected to hit something hard, but I didn't. Instead, I felt something soft.
I was carried for a while, and carefully placed on a fluffy, dense storm cloud.
It took me several minutes to gather the courage to open my eyes.
I blinked. She tenderly looked at me.
I could not understand.
“Fluttershy?”
She smiled.
“Why?”
She landed on the cloud.
“Why did you save me? After I did that?”
She laid on the cloud by my side. I did not look at her.
“It is true that you did a very bad thing, Rainbow Dash. I do not think that I could ever forgive you.
“But that does not mean that I want to see you gone. It does not mean that any of us want to see you gone.
“I wanted to hurt you because of what you did. I wanted to humiliate you because of what you did. But when you disappeared, I discovered that I did not want to lose you. Even after that.”
We both stayed silent for a long time.
“Will you... come back to us? Even if we cannot forgive you?”
I nodded slowly, and followed her back to the ground.