Rainbow was in her house hours later doing a very rare thing for her. She was crying, not just a few tears. She was full-out wailing. Then again, it's not every day that ponies you once considered as close as family stab you in the back, so she felt justified in being a little girly right now.
Eventually she cried herself out and her hunger had her head to the kitchen for some food. She chose a reheated cheese pizza and some soda pop, and she sat down and ate while she thought of what to do next. First off, she couldn't stay in Ponyville anymore. Her reputation was shot and she couldn't stand the sight of her ex-friends. She'd have to quit her job as weather manager here, but where to go? She could go to Cloudsdale, but they have plenty there with her skills in weather management. She'd have to go to the office tomorrow and see if any towns or cities have an opening for a weather pony. Before she could think further. she heard a knock on her door.
“Who is it?” she asked not expecting anypony.
“It's Twilight.” Twilight! Rainbow figured she must have used her cloud walking spell with her teleport abilities to get to her front door. “Rainbow, I just want to talk.”
“Oh, NOW you want to talk! You know for an egghead you are pretty stupid to think talking now after what you did to me is going to solve anything.”
“Rainbow, PLEASE!” Twilight asked tearfully.
“No! Nothing you can say can undo your actions against me. I value loyalty above all else. That's why I was the Element of Loyalty. But you and the others betrayed me. So I owe you nothing. Go away.”
"Rain--" Twilight tried again, and Rainbow's patience was gone.
“GO AWAY!” With a flash of purple, Twilight was gone. Rainbow felt tired, both physically and emotionally. She cleaned up and went to her bed. On the floor by her cloud bed was Tank. She stroked his shell and smiled. “Hey, Bud. At least you're loyal. I don't care if it was Fluttershy who gave you to me. You never wavered from me, so I won't abandon or betray you.” With that she lay down on her bed, still stroking the shell as she fell asleep. She dreamed of a world where Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity were her friends instead of backstabbers.
* * * * * *
The sun woke her up the next morning. She yawned and saw Tank and stroked his shell before getting up. She had a lot to do today. She took out food for Tank before having breakfast. Waffles tasted good but couldn't lift her spirit the way they used to. After a bland breakfast she cleaned up a bit before heading out for Town Hall.
Town Hall served as the center for most of Ponyville's government activities. She walked into the weather section and went to the filing cabinet. There, she grabbed the papers showing openings for weather ponies all throughout Equestria. She spent an hour looking through them all before she found one she liked: Mareapolis. It was a growing city to the northeast of Ponyville and settled next to a major river. They had an opening for a mare of her skills, and it wasn't too far away. Dragging her house, she could get there in three days or so. Its main industries were farming and factory work. Yeah, this would work, Rainbow thought. She then went over the roster of the local weather ponies and double-checked the records of some. With that done, she went to the mayor's office. She let the mayor's secretary know she was there to see the mayor and took a seat.
Ten minutes later, the mayor let her in. It was a small but cozy room filled with forms and file cabinets with a desk and two chairs. The mayor gestured to the chairs.
“Good morning, Miss Dash. Please have a seat and tell me what brings you here today.”
“Thank you, Miss Mayor. I've come to say I'm resigning from my position as Ponyville's Weather Manager, effective immediately. I also suggest that Raindrops replace me as Weather Manager. Her style is different than mine, but she knows her stuff and knows Ponyville.”
“May I ask why you are resigning? Your job performance has been done well, if not by the book. I certainly have no complaints on your job performance.”
“Because I'm leaving Ponyville. I have no future here, now, after everything. You and the townsfolk threw me under the carriage when Mare Do Well showed up. I can't stay because of that, so I'm heading to Mareapolis to apply for a job there.”
“Miss Dash, I'm sorry if my actions hurt you. Are you sure you need to do this? You can take a week off to think about it.”
“No, I'm sure. I appreciate the offer, but I can't live in this town anymore.”
“Very well. I'll send a letter of recommendation to them. For what it's worth, I'm sorry it came to this.”
“So am I.”
* * * * * *
Rainbow Dash was shopping to get supplies before the move. She bought carrots, some baking goods, a loaf of bread, and various other vegetables and fruit when she heard a familiar buzzing. It didn't take Rainbow long to see Scootaloo on her scooter, and the little filly saw her.
“Rainbow Dash!” The orange pegasus cheered and came over.
“Hey, Squirt, I've got something important to tell you. Let's go somewhere private.”
“Sure thing, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow lead them to a private area of the park.
“Okay, Squirt, here's the awful truth. I'm leaving Ponyville.” Squirt looked like Rainbow just said she was Nightmare Moon.
“What? Why?”
“Because I can't stand being here anymore. I discovered the truth about Mare Do Well, and it's not pretty. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all created Mare Do Well to 'teach me a lesson', not to save ponies. That was just a perk. Because of them, my reputation in Ponyville is ruined, and I can't stay in a town with those traitors anymore. So, I'm leaving as soon as I have all the supplies I need. I was going to find you before that, but you found me instead.” Rainbow was interrupted when Scootaloo jumped on her and hugged her.
“I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash. I'm so sorry I cheered for Mare Do Well and not you.” Scootaloo said while crying. Rainbow couldn't stop the tears she now had, as well. Scootaloo was so much like her, she was almost a sister. She hugged the filly.
“It's okay, Squirt, you're young, and it seemed like Mare Do Well was doing a good thing. I don't blame you.” It took a few minutes for Scootaloo to calm down.
“That's it. I won't be friends with Sweetie Belle or Applebloom anymore. Not after what their sisters have done.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I may hate their sisters for what they did, but those two are blameless. Don't end your friendship that way. I pray dearly to Celestia that your bonds of friendship don't meet the same fate as mine. Scoots, loyalty is a hard thing to gain but is easily lost. Take that, above all, to heart.” Scootaloo nodded and hugged Rainbow again.
“I'm gonna miss you, Rainbow Dash.”
“I'm gonna miss you too, Squirt. You remind me of myself when I was your age. I promise on my loyalty that I'll keep in touch.” Scootaloo nodded again, and after a few minutes, they broke apart, and Rainbow waved a farewell as she flew away.
She was home again a few minutes later. She unpacked her food and supplies before grabbing a rope specially designed to assist a pegasus in moving a cloud house. She wrapped it around the house before tying it around her barrel. After making sure it was secure, she started moving in the direction of Mareapolis, not once looking back at Ponyville as the sun began to set.