//------------------------------//
// Conclusion 
// Story: A Very Bad Thing 
// by SilentWanderer 
//------------------------------//

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.