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// Chapter 4: Trapped alone 
// Story: Fall of the Rainbow 
// by sigges15 
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Chapter 4: Trapped alone

The pure speed of the sonic rainboom had cleared her mind for a minute and she noticed that she had travelled almost half the distance between Canterlot and Ponyville. She felt the raindrops hit her and it felt nice on her body. Suddenly a bright flash appeared in front of her eyes and everything got dark. 

Her body fell toward the forest below. The lightning strike had knocked her unconscious and burnt some of her body. The treetops got closer and closer. Lucky for Rainbow Dash, the leaves were thick and managed to slow her body enough to not kill her. She still hit the ground pretty hard, breaking one of her legs. 

After a few minutes, Rainbow woke up and felt the pain in her entire body. She looked around with her blurred vision and found herself in a small clearing in the woods. The feeling of blood caught her attention and she looked down, seeing her bloody forelegs. They had cuts all over them from the leaves and branches. She looked behind her and what she saw horrified her. Her left wing, both back legs and her tail had been burnt badly. She tried to stand up but was meet with pains from her front leg. Rainbow Dash could feel that it was broken and she avoided putting weight on it. She managed to stand up and she looked around. The part of forest she had crashed in was very thick and the trees stood tall. The rain was falling more than before and the lightning struck more and more. Rainbow saw the rain and lightning, but she couldn't hear it. She was deaf temporary. Her hearing started to return and she heard thunder all around her. 

"Fluttershy!" She shouted, but nothing was heard. "Anypony?!"

The only sound that returned to her was the rain hitting the leaves above and the thunder. The flashes lit the forest up but it got dark almost immediately.
She knew which way it was to Ponyville, but it was impossible to navigate at the moment. She didn't know which way was north or south. The sun was completely blocked from the ground. The only thing above her was the storm. The wind started to increase and the trees began to sway. Rainbow heard cracking from a few trees around her and knew it wasn't that safe where she was. She quickly looked around for any sort of cover from the storm.

Rainbow Dash saw a small hole in the side of a cliff behind a bush. Rainbow Dash decided that it would be good enough for the moment and walked to it. She wasn't used to walking with only three legs. She struggled against the wind and managed to get to the hole. The hole was just a bit bigger than her and she crawled inside. It was just in time, as one of the trees fell down where she stood before. The tree cracked when it hit the ground and splinters flew away in the wind. Rainbow crawled quickly inside the hole and covered most of the entrance with the bush. The wind blew stronger than before and a bright flash appeared close to Rainbow and she saw a tree split in half. The tree was burnt and she didn't feel very safe in her spot, but it was the most safe place to be in this storm at the moment. She laid closer to the wall and looked out as the rain kept falling.
Rainbow Dash started to feel lonely and wanted one of her friends there with her. She had never been this scared over a bit of weather before and she shook each time the lightning struck. The thunder brought pain to her mind each time the sky was lit up. She started to think about her friends, Fluttershy to be exact.
'My best friend loves me...' The thought scared her a bit. 'Why does she love me?' She remembered the conversation between them at the hotel. 'Why did I do that to her?' She felt guilty for making Fluttershy cry. The guilt built up inside her and the pain in her body got worse. A few tears ran down her cheeks.

The lightning struck really close to her and she wasn't prepared for what happen next. The cracking noise worried her and suddenly a big tree fell in front of the entrance, blocking her only way out. Rainbow Dash started to panic and tried to push the tree away. The pain from her leg was draining her on strength. The tree wouldn't move and she felt hopeless. She tried to push again with both fear, pain and determination. The same result as before. She was stuck. The tree was blocking almost everything of the entrance, except a small part at the top. It was to small to crawl through. She laid down with tears in her eyes. 'Is this how it must end?' was the only thought in her head. She looked through the opening and saw the thunder storm outside, no sign of ending soon. She felt hopeless.

Time passed, lightning lit the forest and the rain kept falling. Rainbow was still trapped behind the tree and had no means of escape. The lightning kept hitting close to her and for every strike, the forest lit up. The pain in her body and mind got worse for every moment that passed. Another strike hit just outside her prison. A loud sound was heard outside and the tree blocking the entrance moved. It moved just enough for Rainbow Dash to escape. She crawled forward and looked out. Another tree had fallen and moved the other one. She quickly crawled out and tried to stand up. The wind was stronger than before and it was hard for Rainbow to stand. She looked around for something else to hide under. Nothing at the area was safe enough to hide from the weather. Her only option was to try finding another place to wait out the weather somewhere else. But the weather cause to much difficulties. The rain started to sting against her burnt wing and legs but she tried to blocked the pain. She took cover next to a rock to block the wind. Rainbow Dash felt tired and her wing and legs ached badly as she laid down. 'I will only cause you pain...' Her own word was true. She had cause Fluttershy pain by leaving her. What is she going to do? She had hurt her friend and herself. Her eyes got heavier and she slowly fell asleep. "Fluttershy..." Rainbow cried out before she fell asleep.

Meanwhile

Fluttershy had arrived in Ponyville before the storm hit. She was staying at Twilight's house, since she wouldn't make it home before the storm. Fluttershy sat next to the window on the top floor and stared outside toward the Everfree Forest. Twilight walked up to her and looked outside. She put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.

"It's going to be okay Fluttershy."

"H-how can you say that?" Fluttershy's voice was low and it had both fear and sorrow in it.

Twilight felt ashamed when the crying pegasus looked at her. She didn't know what to say and tried to think about an answer.

"I'm sure Rainbow's alive and trying to get back." 

Fluttershy tuned back to the window and continued the staring and crying. Twilight heard her friend sob and walked away. Fluttershy put a hoof on the window and whispered Rainbow Dash's name. The window felt cold and she pulled her hoof back, still crying. The lightning struck the ground over and over. For every time the lighting struck, a small squeak of pain came from Fluttershy. The thunder brought back memories from when her friend left her. She looked away from the window and laid down on the floor. She put her head between her hooves and the tears kept coming. A small puddle formed under her. Twilight entered the room with a small meal for her crying friend. She put it down in front of Fluttershy and stepped back. 

"Here Fluttershy, I brought you something to eat."

"Please Twilight... I-I want t-to be alone." Fluttershy was still hiding her face.

"Fluttershy, you have to eat something. You haven't eaten anything since we left Canterlot."

"I want to be alone!" Fluttershy's muffled voice was barely heard.

"I am not leaving before you eat Fluttershy." 

A small pause came upon them and Twilight looked at her friend with a sad look.

"Look Fluttershy, I know how you feel, but you..." Twilight was cut off by her friend.

"How can you ever know how I feel Twilight?" Fluttershy was looking at Twilight with an angry and sad look.

"I...I...I'm sorry Fluttershy."

"You will never know how I feel." Fluttershy was standing up and had an angry expression on her face. She slowly walked toward Twilight. "Have you ever lost someone you loved? You will never feel the pain I'm in right now."

Twilight had never seen Fluttershy this angry and she crouched down when Fluttershy came close. Her wings was fully extended and Twilight was scared of what would happen next. Fluttershy shouted angry.

"What is it Twilight? Are you scared of little shy, harmless Fluttershy?"

"Please Fluttershy... I didn't mean..." Fluttershy cut her of again.

"Didn't mean what? You didn't mean for Rainbow Dash to crash to her death? For all you know, Rainbow Dash is dead and I will never see her again! I that what you didn't mean to happen?" Her voice was louder and Twilight was lying down on the floor.

"I'm sorry Fluttershy... I'm so sorry..."

"Ooh, you're sorry?! You have nothing to be sorry about. I am the one who lost my love! My one and only love!" Fluttershy was shouting at the purple unicorn.

"Fluttershy, please stop. You're scaring me." Twilight's voice was quiet and weak of fear.

"You're scared? How do think I feel? Why don't you just leave me alone Twilight!" Fluttershy said as she slammed a hoof into the ground. "Just leave me alone!!"

"Fluttershy... please let me..."

"LEAVE. ME. ALONE!!" Fluttershy's scream was filled with anger and hatred.

Twilight nodded and slowly crawled out of the room. She had never been scared of Fluttershy like this. What happened to her, when did she become like this? Twilight closed the door behind her and left Fluttershy alone. 
Fluttershy was still angry and looked at the food Twilight had brought her. She quickly came back to her normal self. What had she done? She had made her love leave and caused her friend to fear her. She laid down and started to cry. "Why is this happening to me?" She cried out and laid her head between her hooves and let the tears flow. "Rainbow Dash..." Fluttershy cried out, looking out the window.


End of chapter 4