Emerald was running as fast as she could through the dense fog. Everywhere she turned just brought her to more unknown scenery. Rain attacked her face with every step. Hopeless, she turned and began to run back where she came. The grassy plane seamed to stretch on forever as Emerald fought the temptation to fall down and give up.
The loud noise of wind violently blowing made Emerald skid to a stop. She desperately looked all around her for whatever was causing the noise. Every direction she would turn would offer her the same dissatisfying results. Before long, the filly was surrounded by four tornados. Emerald looked all around for a way out but to no avail. Dead ends surrounded her. Emerald stood frozen as she hoped so hard for a way out.
Her heart felt as though it stopped as she looked to the sky to see a cloud with the silhouette of a mare standing on it, looking down at Emerald with glowing, threatening eyes. It was at that moment Emerald could not tell what danger scared her more. She did not know why the dark mare was there, but she wished hard that the mare would just disappear.
It never did.
Her body fell limp with her courage. The figure above her began to laugh at the filly’s helplessness. Emerald got closer to the ground. She looked around frantically for a way out. She was now more desperate than she ever was before.
Out of nowhere, her body began to feel relaxed. She looked around her as the weather cleared almost instantly. Emerald grabbed the strength to look up to the demonic mare, only to find a bright blue sky replace its presence. She could see for miles on all sides of her. Beautiful rivers and trees surrounded her as birds began chirping a song in unison.
Emerald began to smile as her eyes looked out toward the horizon to meet a breath taking rainbow that spread all of the way across the sky.
Consciousness reached the older pony first. Her large eyes slowly emerged from behind their concealing curtain. Rainbow scanned the now brightly lit room, scratching her exposed belly with her hoof with a yawn. Her attention quickly turned to the filly that was sharing her bed. The child had an unpleasant frown on her face and was grabbing Rainbow’s blanket close with both hooves.
‘Must be having a bad dream’ Rainbow thought to herself. If Emerald was not making so much noise last night, she would still be asleep on the couch downstairs. Rainbow really felt bad for the filly. Not only was the young pony unexpectedly thrown into a scenario straight out of a horror story, but this child’s separation from her home was all Rainbow’s fault. She owes it to the little filly to do whatever she could for her; Starting with this nightmare.
Rainbow slowly and calmly placed a hoof on Emerald’s side and began soothingly moving in a circular motion. Emerald’s once tense body almost instantly relaxed. Rainbow silently laughed at the adorable smile that Emerald’s mouth created. Rainbow took her hoof off and god out of bed, finding it incredibly easier now that Rainbow knew she did not have any weather work today.
She left the door open as she descended down the stairs. She looked around in the kitchen for anything the two could share for breakfast. Rainbow’s thoughts quickly stopped as she heard what sounded like a pony landing on her cloud porch outside the front door. A visitor? It would have to be a pegasus to get up here. Well, a pegasus or Pinkie Pie somehow. Rainbow waited a little bit for more sounds. Only silence followed the previous landing. Rainbow went to the door and opened it, curious of its contents. Outside was a yellow pegasus with long pink hair that covered one of her eyes. She jumped a little at the opening door.
“Hey Flutters, what are you doing here?” Rainbow asked, surprised to find the timid pony on her porch.
“Oh, hey Rainbow Dash.” She said in her normal, soft voice. She can often be very quiet and shy, however, she was comfortable with all her friends. “Ummm, I was woundering…” She trailed off, getting quieter with every syllable.
“Yeah?” Rainbow said, trying to get Fluttershy to the point.
“If you don’t mind, of course…” The yellow pony continued. Rainbow raised her eyebrow. “You don’t have to if you don’t wa-.”
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow’s voice echoed through the house. Fluttershy jumped again at the random rise in volume.
“Oh, sorry. I just. I need some help.” Fluttershy got out.
“Wittttth?” Rainbow asked, losing her patience
“it’s nothing too big, really,” Fluttershy began “It’s just that, the ani-.” Fluttershy stopped. “Oh, you have company. You’re busy. I’ll just leave you alone.” Rainbow looked extremely confused. She followed Fluttershy’s gaze toward her stairs. Emerald stood there with a curious look upon the new pegasus at the door.
“Oh, no problem Flutters.” Rainbow said, looking back at the little filly. “If you need any help from me, you might have to wait a little. I have to take this little filly back to Cloudsdale.”
“Cloudsdale?” Fluttershy squeaked. “Who is this?”
“It’s…. a long story.” Rainbow said, flinching at the memory of her mistake. “She fell off of the clouds during that heavy rain yesterday. I found her lost just outside Ponyville. Come on over here Emerald.” Rainbow motioned with her head in Fluttershy’s direction. Emerald tensed up at the idea of meeting another strange pony. At least this one was a pegasus just like her, however.
“It’s ok, Emerald.” The yellow mare said in her angelically soft voice. Emerald walked closer to the two mares at the door way. “My name is Fluttershy.” She began as the child got closer. “You fell off of Cloudsdale? That must have been very scary. That actually happened to me too when I was your age, maybe a little older.” Emerald looked up at Fluttershy with a new admiration. Being able to relate with Fluttershy really helped the filly feel a little more comfortable.
“You did?” Emerald got out.
“Yep, but I am actually happy that happened. If I had not have fallen, then I might have never realized the talent I have with animals.” Fluttershy stopped immediately after that sentence. “Uh-oh, I need to get back! The storm flooded out a lot of the animal’s homes, so I have to fly over and make sure none cave in and all of the critters are okay!” Emerald’s attention was sparked as if from a match
“Is that what you needed help with?” Rainbow asked before Fluttershy turned around and spread her wings.”
“Yeah it was.” Fluttershy said. “Goodbye Rainbow and Emerald. I hope you get back to Cloudsdale safely. Fluttershy had just begun to fly away as a spastic Emerald was jumping up and down in front of Rainbow Dash.
“What are you doing?” Emerald said in a drastically different voice than her normal high pitch tone. “Birdies are in trouble!”
“Huh? What’s got you so worked up? Fluttershy said nothing about birds.” Rainbow said in reaction to the random outburst.
“Yes she did!” Emerald shouted immediately. “She said that her animals were in trouble! You need to go help the birdies!” Rainbow caught on. She has lived in Cloudsdale her entire life. She does not know about the other animals that inhabit the earth. “Please go help them Rainbow Dash!” Emerald reverted from anger to sincerity in one breath. “It’s not their faults that they are in trouble! They could be lost, all alone, away from their nests! Please Rainbow Dash.” Her emerald eyes began to swell up with tears.
“Fluttershy can take care of it.” Rainbow said, trying to ignore the enchanting spell of the little filly. “It’s her job anyway, she’s got it.”
“She needed your help!” Emerald snapped. Fluttershy did make it sound like this was very important. “Please Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow looked to the ground, wondering what she got herself into.
“Fine, but I don’t know how long this is going to take.” Emerald quickly realized she won, and acted like it too. Rainbow and Emerald stepped outside and closed the door behind them. Emerald got on Rainbow’s back as she took off to the sky.
It did not take the two very long to catch up to Fluttershy because of Rainbow’s unrivaled speed. Emerald had more time to truly appreciate the wonder of being airborne under the light of the sun. She looked around in awe as all the buildings and ponies under her looked like small grains of salt. She admired the beautiful spectrum of colors that Rainbow Dash left behind. Emerald couldn’t help but beam the biggest smile that she has ever had. She even let out a few little chuckles of laughter. It was not long before she found her small wings flapping. She took in the sights of the grassy hills that surrounded the small town. On her left side, she got a good glimpse of a ginormous assortment of trees with little teeny tiny red dots on them. In front of her was even more trees set up in a very congested way. It almost looked like a pony could not fit in between the trees. Emerald got a very strange feeling from those trees and decided that they looked nowhere near as inviting as the red-dot-trees on her other side.
“I appreciate you coming Rainbow Dash.” The yellow mare called over. “Are you just going to take Emerald back after?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s the plan.” Rainbow replied. Rainbow had to admit that Fluttershy was going faster than she usually does. She has not seen Fluttershy’s wings work this hard since all the pegasi in Ponyville were tasked with bringing the water from the local reserve up to Cloudsdale for the weather.
The three pegasi finally landed in front of a small, comfortable looking cottage. Dash touched down first, letting Emerald down off her back. Fluttershy, who was breathing a little hard, touched down only a few small moments after.
“Alright, what’s the plan?” Rainbow asked Fluttershy.
“A lot of the burrowing animals live in the hills, and when it rains hard, the water pushes the mud in the opening of the holes. This is usually fine, and the animals can dig out, however sometimes a large rock fills the holes and the critters can’t get out without unsafely burrowing another hole. They need my help to fly over and make sure that all of them are able to get out. Also, keep on the look ot for any of the younger animas who got separated from their parents during the downpour. I’ll start on the south hills and you on the north. Once we meet in the center, we will do one more quick check. It’s easy.” Fluttershy finished.
“What do you want me to do Ms. Fluttershy?” Emerald asked formally.
“How thoughtful, you want to help too?” Fluttershy asked.
“Uh-huh.. but um… why are birdies living in the dirt?” She asked, confused. “Shouldn’t they live in nests? Or are their nest’s underground here?” Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth a little bit as she realized she forgot to explain to Emerald that there were more animals than just birds. It shouldn’t be that bad, however, as there is no pony who would explain this to Emerald better than Fluttershy.
“Bird’s?” Fluttershy asked. She looked at Rainbow for a second, as if getting the information she was missing from her. Rainbow returned her look with a tiny shrug. “Emerald, have you lived in Cloudsdale all your life?” Emerald only nodded in response. “Oh. Well, Emerald, there are plenty of other animals that are not birds.”
“If they are not birds, then what are they?” Emerald asked in a skeptical manor.
“There are animals that walk on all fours, animals that live under the ground, animals that live in the trees, and even animals that live in the water!” Fluttershy answered with a steady rhythm that proved her mastery of the subject.
“Live In the water? How do they breathe? What do they eat? Are they birds that swim?” She asked with a new found curiosity.
“Yes, maybe I can show you when we are done here, okay Emerald?” Fluttershy said to the child, eager to get to work.
“Okay!” The yellow coated filly said as she jumped in the air in excitement.
“You go and help out Rainbow Dash; can you do that for me Emerald?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash felt as if she was reanimated by the mention of her name. She had let her mind wander and was snapped back into reality.
“Let’s go?” The cyan pegasus asked. Fluttershy nodded and took off in her own direction. Emerald climbed on Rainbow Dash’s back and Dash took off.
“Did you know that birds can live underwater!?” Emerald asked Rainbow Dash in a very excited manor. Rainbow could not help but laugh at her innocence. The duo closely scanned the ground for mounds of earth that would hint at life.
“That looks interesting!” Emerald shouted, pointing her hoof to the ground. Rainbow followed the hoof and found what she was pointing at.
“Good eye! Now hold on tight!” Rainbow said with a smirk on her face. With that, Rainbow fell into a nose dive straight for the ground. Emerald held on as hard as she could to fight the acceleration. Within seconds, they were on the floor. Rainbow landed only a few steps from the random clump of dirt. Emerald slid off Rainbow’s back as fast as she could and hurried to the clump of dirt with energy that only a filly could muster. She began digging.
“Owwwwwwch owie owie owch!” She let out a heart breaking scream. Rainbow jumped and rushed instinctively to the side of the hurt filly.
“What happened?!” Rainbow asked. Emerald was waving her right hoof up and down, as if she could just throw the pain out of her arm.
“I hit something hard.” She said, fighting back small tears.
“Lemme see.” Rainbow demanded. Emerald turned to the cyan pony and raised her hoof. There was a small red circle on her otherwise yellow hoof. “Oh, you’re gonna be fine. You’re not gonna need me to kiss it now, are you?” Rainbow joked.
“Kiss it? What would that do?” Emerald asked.
“Ya know. Like your mommy or daddy would do if you got an ‘owie.’” Rainbow replied in a childish voice.
“That… That wouldn’t help…” Emerald muttered.
“Your mom or dad never did that?” Rainbow asked. Emerald shook her head. She put her hoof down as if it never got hurt. “Alright then, let’s move this rock.” Rainbow said to change the subject. Both ponies reached their hoofs into the hole and pulled out the rock. It was surprisingly big, little more than half the size of Emerald herself. She struggled as Rainbow held the bulk of the weight. They got the rock out and tossed it down the hill. Emerald got next to Rainbow Dash as they both began to step back and look at the hole. Before long, a single Badger head poked out from the hole. Emerald froze at the sight of this new creature. The little guy looked around and finally fixed his eyes on Emerald and Rainbow Dash. It waved, which the two ponies took as a ‘thank you.’ One by one, the entire badger family started coming out. Emerald let out a small ‘aww’ as the three badger babies followed their parents in single file. The third and youngest fell over as it made its way to the others. Emerald let out a tiny gasp and started to go and help out the poor animal. Rainbow stuck out a hoof and stopped her from going any farther. The mother badger then turned around and ran to her fallen child. He reached for her mother and was swept up in her embrace. Emerald relaxed as they watched the badger family disappear over the hill.
“What kind of animal was that?” Emerald asked, looking up at Rainbow Dash.
“Those were Badgers.” She replied.
“Badgers….” She repeated. “Did you see the way that mamma badger treated the baby badger?” She asked. “They were so cute!” Rainbow smiled and crouched down to allow Emerald on her back. With that, they took off into the sky.
“I’m hungryyyy.” Emerald whined.
“I know, okay Emerald! For the millionth time, I know!” Rainbow said, putting her hooves to her ears to drown out the child’s voice. She really regretted not putting something together back at her house when she had the chance. Now Emerald is hungry, and Rainbow is paying for it.
“We have been working at this FOREVER!” Emerald complained. “We already met Fluttershy, all the animals are out. I don’t see why we have to circle again!”
“Don’t forget whose idea this was!” Rainbow replied as she scanned the floor. If only there was something she could do to quiet this child. It was then that Rainbow’s prayers were answered. Her eyes fell upon the apple farm. She immediately angled herself down to the closest tree. Sweet Apple Acer’s south field’s bordered the hills they were surveying, conveniently.
“Oooh, Apples!” Emerald exclaimed. Rainbow hovered next to one and grabbed two of the delectable apples from the tree. She then hovered to the ground and let Emerald down.
“Here you go, eat up.” Rainbow said, extending one of the apples to Emerald.
“But… Isn’t this steeling?” Emerald asked.
“My good friend Apple Jack is the owner of this orchard.” Rainbow started as she took a huge bite. “She won’t mind. I’ll get her back later.” Emerald did not need any more convincing as she took a huge bite of the apple herself.
“Mmmmm.” Emerald said with a smile. “Juicy!”
“Apple family apples are definitely the best in Equestria!” Rainbow told her. They both sat down on the ground to finish their meal.
“Ew.” Emerald squeaked. “It’s still a little wet from yesterday.” Rainbow looked on the floor around the trees and saw it littered with puddles and mud. Their spot was relatively dry because of the sun. They enjoyed their meal listening to the trees rustle in the subtle wind. A few birds passed by once or twice before they were done. Rainbow looked up and enjoyed the look of the sky. Her silence was broken shortly.
“Look, over there, another animal!” Emerald exclaimed happily. They had both finished their so Emerald started to make her way toward her find.
“Emerald, we should really get back to Fluttershy’s. With this break she is most likely done before us.” Rainbow called out. Emerald continued slowly walking toward the animal she spotted. “Emerald.” No response. Rainbow got up and pursued the filly.
Before long, the image of a squirrel came into Rainbow’s view. The critter seemed to be drinking water from a puddle only 10 or so yards from the ponies. As both ponies got closer, it did nothing but lay there motionless.
“Emerald, stop!” Rainbow demanded. She only looked back at Rainbow who was only a few feet behind herself. “Emerald, Come here now.”
“What’s wrong Rainbow Dash?” She asked. She was very confused. She walked up to Rainbow and stopped right in front of her.
“Stay here.” She commanded the filly. Rainbow approached the thirsty squirrel, with every step confirming her fear. She stood there at hoof distance. The animal stayed there. It took no notice of the pony.
“Why isn’t it moving Rainbow Dash…..?” Emerald asked.
“I told you to stay there!” Rainbow turned to the filly and scolded her.
“Rainbow Dash, why isn’t it moving…. What’s wrong… Rainbow Dash..”
“It’s fine Emerald. Let’s go, we have to get back.”
“But… What’s wrong. Why is the animal sleeping like that. What’s wrong. Rainbow Dash. What’s wrong?”
“Emerald, we-.” Rainbow couldn’t finish the sentence. Emerald began to cry hysterically. Rainbow shot another glance at the carcass of the deceased squirrel. What happened to this poor critter? Why did Emerald have to see this?
“What’s wrong, what… What’s wrong?!” Emerald got out in between sobs. Rainbow snapped out of her frozen trance and turned face to face to the little pony.
“Emerald, that animal…” She started. What the buck was she supposed to say? How could she possibly explain this to the child? Emerald was such an innocent filly, she did not have to see any of this.
“Emerald,” she tried again “This animal is a squirrel.” Rainbow got out. She searched all over her mind for the right thing to say. “Something bad happened. Now the Squirrel is going to sleep forever…”
“It’s… Dead?” Emerald asked. The word shot like a knife through Rainbow’s heart. The situation was so messed up.
“Yes…. The squirrel is dead.” This sentence triggered more crying from Emerald. Rainbow decided that she needed to take the filly out of here, back to the sanctuary of Fluttershy’s cottage. Rainbow grabbed Emerald’s hoof and began to walk back to where they set up lunch. Emerald followed and let her tears flow with every step. The moment they got to the clearing, Rainbow helped Emerald onto her back and took off.
“Oh, no.” Fluttershy said. “That’s terrible news.”
“Yeah. Emerald has not said a word since.” Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Emerald were walking side by side up the road to Fluttershy’s cottage. They met at the bottom of the hill and walked all the way up the road. As they got closer to the house, Rainbow looked at Emerald to see if her mood has changed at all. She was still completely down. Her crying stopped, but nothing could help her out of the dumps.
“Oh, there you are darling!” A voice called in the distance. Rainbow and Fluttershy immediately looked up for the owner of the voice. Emerald looked around too, but with much less an idea on who it was. At Fluttershy’s door stood a very pretty mare with long, curly purple hair. The diamonds on her flank seamed to twinkle off of the perfectly groomed coat. She excitedly met the three of them half way as they walked over Fluttershy’s bridge.
“Hi Rarity!” Fluttershy called out. “What brings you here?”
“Hello Fluttershy, and Rainbow.” Rarity said, she stopped as her eyes fell upon the depressed filly. “Who might this be?” She asked.
“This is Emerald, I am going to take her back to Cloudsdale soon.” Rainbow said.
“Oh,” Rarity started “Is she a friend of yours?”
“Long story.” Rainbow started, tired of repeating herself. “She fell off of Cloudsdale and now I am going to bring her back.”
“Poor darling.” Rarity said. Her attention turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I came to see if you had any more of those treats that Opal simply can’t get enough of.”
“Of course Rarity, come on in.” Fluttershy said.
“Emerald, I want you to go in a sit down for a little bit.” Rainbow said.
“It seam this young one has been through it all!” Rarity exclaimed. They all stood in Fluttershy’s living room as Fluttershy gathered Opal’s snacks.
“Yeah, but she’s tough.” Rainbow said, still trying to turn her mood. “She will be alight!” This seemed to work a little as Emerald let a small smile go.
“I think you’re right Rainbow, just look at her.” Rarity said, inching closer to Emerald. “You can’t be sad when you look as beautiful as this at such a young age!” Emerald liked this unicorn. At first she confused Rarity with Twilight Sparkle, but she was quickly corrected by her own observations. Emerald looked up and found the eyes of the nice mares.
“That’s better.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Here you go Rarity!” Fluttershy said as she put a small box of the treats on her kitchen table.
“Thank you, darling.” Rarity said.
“Who is Opal?” Emerald finally asked.
“And it talks!” Rainbow said jokingly.
“Dear, Opal is my cat.” Rarity told Emerald.
“Oh, is that an animal?” She asked Fluttershy.
“Hehe, yes it is Emerald.” She replied.
“Emerald, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you wear that wrist band around your hoof?” Rarity asked. “I can replace it with something a little more, flashy, if you want.”
Emerald got quiet again.
“My mom tells me to.” She said, moving her right hoof over the white wrist band. The three mares looked at each other.
“Darling, would your mother be okay with me switching it wi-.”
“NO!” Emerald said immediately. “My mom told me that I can’t ever take it off for anyone.
Silence followed this sentence.
Rainbow approached Emerald on the kitchen chair. “Emerald, can you please come with me into the living room?” Emerald looked into the dark pink eyes of Rainbow Dash, who was approaching as calmly as possible. Emerald agreed and got up to fallow Rainbow. Emerald sat on a couch and Rainbow stood in front of her on Emerald’s level.
“Can you please tell me why your mom said that?” Rainbow asked.
“She told me I can never tell anypony.” Emerald replied, covering the wrist band even more.
“Emerald.” Rainbow started. “I absolutely promise that it is okay to tell me. There is nothing to be afraid of.” Emerald looked unconvinced. “Do you mind if I take it off?” Emerald shook her head no.
“She told me not to.” Emerald repeated.
“You can trust me Emerald. I promise you won’t be hurt.” Rainbow said. She put her hoofs on Emeralds wrist band and slowly began to slide it off. Emerald tried to resist at first, but eventually gave in. Rainbow Dash gasped at what was under the wrist band. Two large black and blue hoof marks covered her hoof.
“Emerald. Who did this to you?” Rainbow asked, holding back her emotions. Emerald started tearing up a little.
“I told my mommy a lie.” She said monotone. “My mommy told me to do all the chores at home. I told her I finished them all, but she found out that I forgot to dust a few of her picture frames.” Emerald looked down at the hoof prints. “She just wanted to make sure I did not forget again.” Rainbow was disgusted. How could somepony lay a hoof on this poor filly? What would drive a pony so mad that they would hurt such a sweet child. Quickly Rainbow realized that she was in no position to know what to do.
“You are not going back to your mom, Emerald.” Rainbow Dash got out.
“What!?” Emerald shouted.
“You are not ever going to go back to your mom Emerald.” Dash said.
“I have to! She’s my mom!” Emerald replied.
“I said no! I am not bringing you back to somepony who is going to hurt you!”
“She just does it when I do bad!” Emerald shouted. “She wants me to grow up and be perfect, just like her!”
“I can’t believe what I am hearing.” Rainbow said. “Wait here, I need to talk to Fluttershy and Rarity about this. You are absolutely not going back to that pony!” Rainbow shouted as she left the room.
“Well, the decision has been made.” Rainbow said after about thirty or so minutes of debate. “We can’t let her go back to that pony.”
“I guess we will just find somewhere for her to stay, somepony to take care of her.” Fluttershy said.
“I absolutely agree.” Rarity added. “I’ll go bring her in here, and we will tell her what is going to happen.” Rarity left the room with a slow but determined walk.
“That poor poor filly.” Fluttershy got out. “She must be so scared.”
“I know.” Rainbow said.
“GIRLS!” Rainbow and Fluttershy heard Rarity shout. They quickly galloped into the living room to see what was up. Rarity was facing the two other mares who were both looking around the room.
They found the couch empty, the door wide open, and absolutely no trace of Emerald.