//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: End of Loyalty // by SteffaniStar //------------------------------// The party finished late at night, and Luna was slowly lowing the moon, allowing few peeks of Celestia's sun to peek behind the hills. Rainbow had to admit that this was the best party ever. Well, every Pinkie's party is the best party. She was very tired, but before she went to bed, she packed some of her things in her saddlebag, "cleaned" the mess in the room, throwing away all useless papers and bags and whatever things that were just blocking the way. It was very weird of her to do that, but she decided to dedicate the next day to something very important, so she won't have any free time. She collapsed on a cloud bed and fell into a deep, resting dream. Around noon, Pinkie invited all her friends to Sugarcube Corner to hang out and have fun, as usual. Pinkie prepared nice drinks and cupcakes and set the table with the new, balloon themed cover she bought earlier. And, of course, she decorated the whole place. The first one to show up was Applejack. She didn't have much chores to do so she was early. "Hey Pinkie!" Applejack said, opening the door and looking around. "Hey Applejack! So glad you could make it!" Pinkie immiediately jumped to her. "Wow, this place looks absolutely wonderful! You decorated it this morning?" "Of course! Everything has to be perfect for my bestest friends!" "Great party last night, Rainbow sure had a lot of fun" Just as Pinkie was handling AJ the plate with cupcakes, Twilight and Rarity came in. "Hey everypony! Wow, Pinkie, this place looks great!" Twilight said as she was amazed by the decorations. "Luckily, I didn't have any special orders today, I'm so happy to be here. I wouldn't like to miss it!" Rarity places her hoof on Pinkie and smiled kindly. "Are Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash coming? I would really like them to come so all of my best bestest friends would be here!" Pinkie was jumping around, screaming of happiness. "Fluttershy will come but I'm not so sure about Rainbow. After that party last night, I bet she still isn't up yet" Twilight explained. "It's okay! I forgive her! I'm so glad she had a fun time last night! I wish we could party every day! Now, feel free to have some cupcakes!" Pinkie said, holding up the plate with delicious cupcakes with colorful icing. As they were enjoying themselves, the door opened wide and Fluttershy came in. She was a bit tired and started apologizing. "I'm so sorry I'm late! Angel Bunny ran away again in the woods and I couldn't find him! I was so worried. It looked like he was chasing a shadow, he has been acting very weird last few days" Fluttershy explained with a worried voice. "It's okay Fluttershy, but have you seen Rainbow Dash? I bet she's still sleeping" Twilight said, laughing a bit. "I haven't seen her since the last night, I'm starting to worry" Rarity said, looking at Twilight. "Actually, she just passed me. I saw her as I was flying over here, but she was weird. She had saddlebags, she was worried when she saw me. She looked like she was in a hurry, but she was flying slower than me. When I asked her where she was going, she just turned her head and left" Fluttershy explained. "What? What is happening to her?" Applejack looked at Twilight. "I don't know, but we need to figure this out. Everypony, we'll have to follow her, but be careful. If she doesn't want to tell us, we'll have to find out by ourselves!" Twilight said, rushing through the door. "WAIT!!!" Pinkie yelled, as she was stuffing half of the cupcakes in her mouth and the rest in her mane. They were rushing towards her house, hoping she isn't too far away, but they saw her flying in the opposite direction. "Where is she going?" they were thinking, but none of them could come up with a reasonable explanation. Rainbow didn't notice them, which was also very strange. She could spot the tiniest details from a mile away, but now, she wasn't paying attention. "She is flying to Canterlot! But why would she..." Rarity suddenly noticed, but was soon interupted by Applejack. "It would be easier for her to just take the train, why would she fly?" Twilight was trying to figure out and solve this mysterious situation, but she couldn't quite fit all in. Why would Rainbow fly to Canterlot? What was she going to do there? Unless it was a Wonderbolts show, but she was on a break. Maybe it was some emergency Wonderbolts meeting? But the Princess would sure tell us. Wait, why would she tell anypony besides Dash, she's the Wonderbolt now. We don't have secrets... well, except Rainbow Dash!-the thoughts were racing through her mind. She was trying to solve a puzzle, but she failed everytime. Then she remembered... "She's not flying to Canterlot. She's flying to Cloudsdale!" Twilight said to them. "Why would you think that? Why would ever she go there?" Rarity was confused. "Oh, I don't know. Her home is there, her family, the Wonderbolts, her old friends maybe? But, sure, WHY would she go there?" AJ angrily responded to Rarity. When they left Ponyville, they had to stop. They hid behing the large bush, peeking through. Rainbow Dash landed. She didn't looked tired, but she was breathing heavily. She then mumbled something to herself, but the rest of the mane 6 couldn't hear it. "Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay!" Fluttershy squeaked. "Be quiet, we don't want her to spot us, but she looks fine" Twilight comforted Fluttershy. Pinkie placed her hoof on her mouth, because she had to keep herself from shouting. Rarity was also holding her, hoping she wouldn't give them away, but it happened. Pinkie couldn't hold it much longer. She then screamed, almost at the top of her lungs. "DASHIE, ARE YOU OKAY?!" Pinkie! Shhh! We have to make sure she..." Twilight and the rest immediately turned to her, but it was too late. Second after, they heard Rainbow's raspy shocked voice and she turned and looked them. "Pinkie?"