Flitter did not know when she had stopped breathing.
It was as if the whole world stopped for her at that very moment—and it might as well did, if she had heard correctly. She hoped to the Goddess above that she had not, but she had to be sure. Regaining her breath, but just barely, Flitter whispered, “What?”
It was barely audible, yet it echoed through the still air, a single, simple word laced with the dread and forlorn hope of the pony that uttered it.
Rainbow Dash sighed, not out of exasperation, but something more akin to weariness. For the first time in her career, she cursed being captain of Ponyille’s weather captain. Situations like this… Though they were historically few and far between in Ponyville, when they did happen it was up to nopony else but the captain to sort out the mess. She knew such responsibility came with the job, contrary to what some of the more ignorant folk around might think, but that did not mean she ever wished she had to fulfill it. Moreover, she had never thought that something like this would ever happen in the first place, not under her watch.
But it did anyway, and Rainbow Dash felt that much worse for it.
After what had happened, standing on the doorstep of the quaint, homey cottage on Ponyville’s outskirts to deliver her message to a certain pony on the other side of the door, under a sky of ashen gloom and against a backdrop of brilliant reds and oranges—a constant reminder that the Running of the Leaves was fast approaching—was something she had never planned on doing.
Yet there she was.
She wished she could be anywhere else in the world but there at that moment.
Rainbow Dash shivered, though she doubted it was from the sudden, chilly, autumnal breeze that sang its way through the treetops. Her task… Her message… The first time she recited her words, it was as if an icicle had speared her through the gut, the coldness clawing at her from the inside out—but now she would have to repeat herself. Damn it all…
Licking her dry lips with a parched tongue, once more she silently prayed for strength and began heavily, “Flitter… There was… an accident at the weather factory. A malfunction with the storm machine. The clouds got too unstable, and…” She swallowed thickly. “Cloudchaser… Cloudchaser was too close and got caught in the lightning. It took a while, but we managed to clear away the clouds and shut down the machine… but the lightning was way stronger than it should’ve been… The machine must’ve done something to it; I don’t know what. We called for medical help as soon as we could, but…” Briefly averting her gaze, Rainbow Dash grit her teeth before forging on and finishing what had been started, once more bravely looking straight into the wide eyes of the pony before her. “It was too late. Cloudchaser… She’s dead… She died on the way to the hospital… I… I’m so, so sorry, Flitter.” Despite her best efforts, she did not succeed in hiding the weakness in her raspy voice as she said those words, now forever branded into Flitter’s mind, red-hot and screaming.
Cloudchaser’s… dead?
Two words. Just two words that Flitter thought—hoped—she would never hear being said together in her lifetime. Yet here they were, muttered into existence, the first unforgiving drops of reality beginning to seep its way into her rationale, a pit that had formed in her stomach the first time Rainbow Dash delivered the news starting to grow larger.
But no. Flitter would have none of that. Something else inside her being refused to give in, and she loudly breathed in a single breath before saying her piece.
“You’re lying.”
Rainbow Dash blinked, clearly surprised at her reaction. “Wha…?”
“This is some sort of prank, isn’t it?” Flitter snapped, something akin to confidence tinging her words, though for some reason bitter on her tongue. But in her mind it made sense: the Element of Loyalty’s notoriety as a local prankster was almost as legendary as her feats of aerial prowess. “It’s not funny, Rainbow Dash.” She looked sternly at her target, clearly shaken, pale raspberry eyes boring into cerise ones. “I know you can be incredibly daring—incredibly stupid—at times, but this… you just went too far. How dare you? How could you make a joke like this, huh?”
Rainbow Dash said nothing, left speechless as the disgust and accusation in Flitter’s voice shredded apart what little remained of her poise and professionalism.
“Well?”
Rainbow Dash remained frozen for a good five seconds before replying uneasily, her usual bravado nowhere to be found: “…Flitter? I’m… I’m not joking. I know I like to pull a good prank every now and then—” She could not help but pause for a moment at the vicious scowl directed at her, a stark contrast to her normally quiet and gentle demeanor. “But not this. This is serious. I’m being completely serious here.” She tried to paint a look of grim determination on her face, but what she said next was almost like desperate pleading, her scratchy voice cracking with emotion. “Your sister… Cloudchaser… She’s gone, Flitter. She’s… She’s gone.”
The scowl did not leave Flitter’s face, though it felt strained and unsure upon her hearing the distraught tone behind her broken words. Her expression slowly reverted back into something resembling neutrality as she also took in Rainbow Dash’s appearance. The mare was hunched over, her shoulders sagging, legs struggling to hide the apprehension in her knees. Absolutely none of her characteristic pride or élan was present in her posture. Similarly, her face bore an expression of genuine distress: her jaw quivered as she worked to take in shuddering breaths, while the forelock of her wild, prismatic mane hung miserably over large, sad eyes as she looked beseechingly back at her. Looking closely, Flitter could have sworn she even saw the beginnings of small tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
For a moment, a single, fleeting moment, Flitter felt inclined to believe Rainbow Dash…
Cloudchaser’s dead…
That she was right, that something terrible had happened to her sister…
Cloudchaser’s dead
That she was gone forever…
CLOUDCHASER’S DEAD
Her sister… Her twin sister, her other half…
Gone forever…
In that moment, the pit in her stomach widened exponentially, its gaping maw now threatening to consume her whole. Flitter lowered her head, her long, pale opal mane falling over her eyes, and after a while finally gave her response:
“Leave.”
Rainbow Dash recoiled. The word was spoken, not screamed or cried or anything of the sort. There was no grief or hysteria behind it; it was merely spoken, low in volume and lacking any emotion, yet it carried far more force than anything Rainbow Dash had ever faced before.
“Wh—“
“Leave, Rainbow Dash. Go away. You’re not welcome here.”
“F-Flitter!”
“You may be my boss, Rainbow Dash, but that doesn’t mean I’m all right with you ruining my day off like this. Now if you’ll excuse me, Cloudchaser and I have got plans for later tonight after she gets h-home… ”
Failing to overcome her shock and unable to think of something else to say, Rainbow Dash barely registered the heavy wooden door almost slamming against her muzzle.
She did, however, notice the sudden tremulousness in Flitter’s voice, the way it cracked at the very end, as if something from deep within had finally managed to break through a chink in her armor and wiped away a thin veneer that coated the vitriol in her words…
Flitter braced herself against the door, her frame shaking and mind racing as she fought to regain control of the unusual slip in her composure. Refusing to acknowledge the wobbling in her knees or the slight stinging in her eyes, with some effort she managed to straighten herself and had some success in quelling the raging storm within her. She fumed as she stepped away and entered the modest living room of the cozy cottage, not bothering to look at the numerous pictures—precious memories throughout the years—of herself and her sister on a nearby table. Hooves clopping staccato against the aged wooden floor, she muttered lowly to herself, “S-Stupid Rainbow Dash… Doesn’t know what she’s t-talking about… B-Better leave me and my day off alone n-now…”
She laid down on the single plush sofa, sighing in contentment as she sank into its cushiony embrace, ruffling her wings slightly and snuggling for a bit before she reached over and retrieved from the nearby coffee table the Daring Do novel she had been reading.
Before I was so rudely interrupted, thought Flitter crossly, allowing a small frown to mar her delicate features. She opened the book back to the page where she had left off and resumed her reading, only somewhat successful at pointedly ignoring the incessant knocking and hollering at the front door.
Rainbow Dash finally gave up and flew away perhaps ten minutes later, her rainbow contrail—strangely appearing somewhat lackluster, for once—standing out against the gray clouds and disappearing soon afterwards as Flitter watched warily through a nearby window. Immensely grateful for the reprieve, Flitter settled back and was now finally able to enjoy the rest of her book in undisturbed solitude, eager to spend the rest of her day off without any more unwanted visitors. Reading was a pastime she had always enjoyed (as opposed to her more spunky and outgoing twin sister, who preferred spending her time flying and practicing tricks in her free time); it was nice and quiet, with only her thoughts to keep her company as slightly tired but still enraptured eyes hungrily devoured the words on the well-worn pages while the hour ticked away.
It was peaceful, and everything was as it should be.
…
Although…
In the dull silence of her home, broken only by the occasional turning of a page, Flitter could not help but think that, for some reason, everything felt a little bit… empty as she patiently waited for Cloudchaser to arrive back from work. In the middle of a particularly exciting scene, Flitter stole an anxious glance at the front door, expecting it to burst open.
When nothing happened, she hurriedly turned away and resumed reading. What am I doing? Cloudchaser isn’t gonna be home for a few more hours anyway. Just gotta wait until then. From then on, Flitter made a conscious attempt to focus on the book… but for some reason, her eyes kept wanting to look at that door. And try as she might to suppress it, something stirred in her stomach once again while Rainbow Dash’s words—those two words—from earlier echoed through her head.
Cloudchaser’s…
Suddenly the prospect of reading no longer looked as promising as before.
After a few more minutes of half-hearted reading, Flitter eventually found herself completely unable to focus on her story, the gnawing feeling in her gut and the message Rainbow Dash had brought her earlier distracting her too much.
Cloudch…
Her entire frame trembling, she simply stared at the pages as she began to take in choked, shallow breaths. She hardly noticed the strange blurring in her vision as the words and passages before her degenerated into nothing more than unintelligible smears, and she had to make an endeavor to hear the sound of something wet dripping on the pages.
Roughly shoving the book and its tear-stained pages away from her and to the floor with a muffled clatter, Flitter buried her head in her forelegs, curling up and sniffling quietly as she weakly—desperately—kept her ears high and alert for that assuaging yet elusive sound of the front door opening.
As minutes turned to hours, and as the late afternoon gave way to dusk and dusk gave way to nightfall, Flitter heard nothing but the sound of her lonely sobs.
Cloudchaser…
Where are you…?
Please…
Please come home…