//------------------------------//
// Making Up For Lost Time 
// Story: The Long Lost Rainbow 
// by Ribe_FireRain 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash flew up towards her cloud palace with Rainbow Strike in her hooves, and to her surprise, he was lighter than she'd expect him to be. 

As she reached the porch of her house, she set Strike's hooves on the floor and let him go, landing next to him with a smile on her face. 'Well, here we are. You can crash at my place for a while, if you want, or at least until that wing heals up.'

Strike looked at her with a smile of his own. 'Thanks for the help of getting me up here, Rainbow. Sorry you had to do that. But I promise I'll tell you everything about what happened as soon as we get back home to mum and dad. I doubt they'd recognize me at all after all this time.'

'It's alright. We'll see them tomorrow and explain it all, you I mean.' She opened the dark blue doors to her palace and let him inside. The walls were a soft blue tone that looked just as much like Rainbow Strikes coat, just a bit lighter.
The floor was made from layers of soft cloud, made especially for cloud houses, after all, it was a cloud palace.

'Oh, Celestia...how do you afford a place such as this, sis?' Rainbow Strike asked quietly as he took in the beautiful surroundings of his sister's house. 'It's just so beautiful...'

Rainbow smiled back at him. 'Work, Strike. Work. I'm on cloud busting duty and weather duty. I organize the teams in Ponyville and since I'm the fastest, I'm in charge of pretty much anything around here Pegasus wise.'

'You know, for a little sister you aren't doing bad for yourself. That's a huge accomplishment.'

He saw Rainbow blush a hue of light red at his comment. 'Thanks, Strike. That's sweet.'
She motioned for him to sit down on the couch next to her as she sat herself down, waiting for him. In a few seconds, Rainbow Strike was beside her.

'Strike? If its not too much trouble...Where was you all our lives?' She faced Rainbow Strike, who was surprisingly crying.
'Strike? What's wrong? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.' Rainbow placed her hoof around his neck and hugged him to try and comfort him, in hopes he would calm down.

'Rainbow...I...No. I can't...but I have too...its just..I've only known you for like half and hour and I'm already about to tell you the truth of why I....ran away.' He wiped the stream of tears running down his eyes and cheeks away and looked at Rainbow with sore eyes.

'It was when I was 11.... I was at school and just about every time I was there, I got bullied a lot, and I mean a lot. When I was leaving to go back home, one of the hundreds of stallions who bullied me came up to me and started a brawl with me with a few of his other friends.' 

'No, I can't do this...' He cried again, trying not to think about what happened that day. Rainbow stroked his mane, running her cyan hoof through it's silkyness. She quietly spoke to him in a whisper. 'It's okay, Strike. It can't of been that bad.'

But none the less, he continued his story, despite his crying.

'Reluctantly, I managed to knock down one of the 3 friends out cold, but minutes later, the one who started it smashed in my nose with his hoof, breaking it and blood poured everywhere. The pain was so strong it made me fall down into the 2nd friend's arms.'

'He held me while the other one threw punches at my face, making me bleed and become bruised until my skin was blackened from the oncoming blows. The only thing I remember is getting knocked out as some other fillies and colts cheered him on,but eventually left me,leaving blood running down my torn face and lips, until mum and dad found me.'

'I woke up in hospital the next morning, with mum and dad at my side. it was just so horrible what they told me...'

Rainbow nudged his side. 'Strike? What did they tell you..?' 

'They...they told me that after I got knocked out, the one who assaulted me attacked one of my other friends, the one I was closest to....and he...he....he....killed him..'

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped longer than ponily possible as she took in what Rainbow Strike had told her, who was now in a crying mess.

'They killed your friend?! How?! Why?!' She could feel herself wanting to cry inside over sympathy for her long lost brother.

'The same they did to me...just that when he was awake, he snapped both his wings and headbutted his jaw, breaking it so he couldn't scream when he threw him off of the edge of the cloud. It was the horriblest thing I've ever had to hear in my entire life...I wish it was me who they killed, not him! I could barely stand up for myself, but now, when I see that retch again, I swear I'm going to do what he did!'

Strike's tears began to boil as he felt the anger from that day reignite inside of him. 'It ALL MY FAULT!!'

'Even after all of that, it still carried on. I was in hospital for weeks that seemed like months and when I did get back in school for once, it endlessly got to me, everyday, every living second and hour was a living hell for me to even bear, and so one night, I left a note on my desk in my bedroom 13 years ago, like I said and put some of my valuables in my saddle bag and took off from my window in the middle of the night, going to wherever I could start anew, but unfortunately, I found some town full of crime and poverty that I soon became part of in a gang.'

Rainbow Dash began to look worried about his past and its affect on him at this moment. She hugged him slightly tighter as he tried to resist and stroke his mane. 'Strike! Please, please calm down! They can't hurt you anymore! They're gone!'

Strike broke away from her grasp, pushing her chest away with his hoof and looking her dead in the eyes. 'You don't understand, Rainbow. You just don't. They only took me on because of my relentless speed and stealth abilities. It seemed to fit me for a theft-type criminal. Because of that, I ended up getting tons of bits for what I took and that one certain mare and me met at a bar and eventually got together. Of course until Whipper murdered her.'

Rainbow Strike kept his gaze on Rainbow Dash's now frightened eyes. He knew what that look was, and he knew it all too well to know it was a bad thing. She had gotten the wrong impression of him or has she?

'Rainbow...seriously, please stop that. You asked me about it so I told you.' Strike looked worried and sad as he eyed his sister who at this point couldn't think of what to say.

'I-I-I-Is this true...?' She quietly asked, stuttering as she tried to find her voice.

'Every little bit.' 

'Oh, Celestia...look, I may not of known you long, but we gotta do something about this. All I wanna do is help you now that I know what happened to you.'

'Sis, I wish I could do something about it, but believe me, I just can't. There is no going back from what I've done and there never will be.'