//------------------------------//
// Unlikely Allies 
// Story: Sky Blossom 
// by SnoringDragonProductions 
//------------------------------//

      Sky Blossom walked slowly towards the cloud. Her eyes were glued onto it with a fierce determination that burned like fire. Gritting her teeth, she flapped her pitiful wings and attempted to take flight. Her wings began to sting as she continued to flap them harder and harder. Her breathing grew ragged and her limbs felt sore. Closing her eyes, Sky Blossom continued her futile attempt at flight. Sweat beaded down her forehead. 
‘Come on, come on, come on!’ She thought fiercely as she felt herself rise slightly off of the ground. It was short lived however, and she was soon panting and laying on top of it. Her mane clung to her forehead as she laid on the hard ground. 
Muttering to herself, the tired pegasus swore that she was going to surprise the lazy, rainbow maned  lump on the cloud by landing next to her if it was the last thing she was going to do. After hours of fruitless searching in Ponyville, she had finally found the pony she was looking for. It was not going to be a waste. Her eyes hardened as she forced herself to stand. Taking a few deep breaths to still the tornado in her stomach, she tried to flap again. Her wings seemed to cry out in protest but she ignored their desperate pleas. Tears trickled down her face as she felt herself rise again. She was in the air longer, but still ended up on the ground. 
“Come on Sky Blossom.” She whispered angrily as she brushed the dust off of her body. 
Trying again, she rose a little further. Her wings threatened to lock to her sides but she tensed them and forced them to stay spread out. The sudden tension in her wings caused her to cry out in shock. Clamping her mouth shut, her blue eyes gazed fearfully at the cloud. But the sleeping pegasus seemed to have not noticed her outburst. Sighing, she continued to flap. Her tail felt heavier than a boulder and threatened to pull her down. Swishing it, she tried to use it as momentum to hurl herself farther upwards. Keeping her eyes glued to the cloud, she did not dare look down and see how high up she was. 
‘Just a little further.’ She thought as she continued to move upwards. 
Without warning, her wings gave out and caused her to fall. Gasping in terror, she barely had time to scream before she hit the ground. She shakily stood up and looked at herself. Nothing ached besides her throbbing wings and she was covered in very little dirt. Rolling her eyes with disappointment, Sky Blossom realized that the impact had been very small. She had only been a foot in the air. Not even close to the cloud. 
“A foot. I flew… a foot.” Sky Blossom said in a dull voice. Sucking in air, she held it in her mouth for a few moments before letting it all out in one big whoosh. Satisfied with holding in her blood-curdling scream, the frustrated pegasus glared at the cloud. It seemed to be mocking her.
Her pupils shrank to tiny pinpricks. Shaking with anger, Sky Blossom breathed in deeply before letting out all of her frustration. “STOP MOCKING ME!” 
“Woah, woah, woah tiger. Calm down.” A raspy voice said from the top of the cloud. 
“I’ll calm down when you come down.” Sky Blossom said in a shaky voice. 
Rainbow Dash’s head peeked over the edge of the cloud. Sky Blossom’s breathing grew harder and harder as she saw the smug expression on her face. The grinning pegasus gave Sky Blossom an examination with her eyes before nodding her head. The yellow pegasus was dirty, aching, and upset. If there was ever an opportune time for her to mess with her… it was now. Leaping from the edge of the cloud, she did a couple of flips in the air before speeding down to the ground. Stopping just before she made impact, Rainbow Dash landed as gently as a feather. Grinning even wider, she raised an eyebrow.
“What do you want?” She asked smugly.
“I want you to tell me the truth.” Sky Blossom said with a shaking voice. Forgetting her motto that it was always better when she did not speak, Sky Blossom thrust her face into Rainbow Dash’s. “Everyone has been telling me not to speak to the voice. Twilight just called me to her castle to talk about it personally.”
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and pushed Sky Blossom away with a hoof. “Seems like she has the right idea. Maybe now you’ll listen.” 
“Depends.” Sky Blossom said as she narrowed her eyes at Rainbow Dash. Her words seemed to drip with venom. 
“On what?” Rainbow Dash with a suspicious look.
“On what you say.” Sky Blossom responded. “Tell me, did the voice really betray all of you?” 
Rainbow Dash’s eyes hardened. “Yes. Several times and I don’t doubt he would do it again.”
Sky Blossom tried to keep the disappointment out of her eyes. “Is he really a monster?”
Rainbow Dash looked straight into Sky Blossom’s eyes. Her voice did not waver as she spoke. “Yes. He is a monster.” Flicking her tail with irritation at having to answer the smaller pony’s questions, she decided to ask one of her own. “Why do you want to talk to him?”
Blushing from the unexpected question, Sky Blossom looked down at the ground. She shuffled in place for a few moments. Swallowing, she looked at Rainbow Dash. All of her anger had evaporated and left her as scared as she usually was. “I-I-I… um…”
“You what?” Rainbow Dash said with a glare that caused Sky Blossom to shake. 
“I… thought he was my friend.” Sky Blossom said quietly.
Rainbow Dash snickered as she replied. “He’s not. He is not your friend.”
Suddenly, Sky Blossom remembered another question she had been planning to ask. Taking a deep breath, she raised her light eyes and looked right into Rainbow Dash’s burning ones. Before her jolt of bravery could desert her, she spoke. “Does he have any friends?” 
Rainbow Dash seemed to hesitate for a moment. Her eyes dulled as if she was remembering something. When the memory ended she shook her head and looked Sky Blossom right in the eye. “No.” 
“Alright.” Sky Blossom said with a scrutinizing look. She could tell the Rainbow Dash was hiding something. The pony was not standing with the same dominance she had been a few minutes earlier. Something had changed, but Sky Blossom did not know what. Sighing, she closed her eyes. “I won’t talk to the voice anymore.” 
“Good.” Rainbow Dash said in a subdued voice. Turning around, she gave Sky Blossom one last, hard gaze before sprinting into the sky. A stream of rainbow trailed behind her before it faded away as well. 
Sky Blossom stared at the ground. She felt a shiver down her spine. Without even knowing why, she raised her head and stared in front of her. After a few seconds, a sound seemed to come from the direction she was looking at. Before she could stop herself, her mouth formed a small smile. Her eyes glittered without her knowing.
“That certainly was interesting.” A voice said with a chuckle.
“Tell me about it.” Sky Blossom responded with the smile still on her face.
“You honesty don’t believe a word she said, do you?” The voice said with a sing song tone.
Sky Blossom’s smile faded as she realized what she was about to do. “I… I think I do.”
“What?” He said in surprise. Laughing awkwardly, he continued talking. “You can’t be serious. They obviously don’t understand me or why we talk!”
Sky Blossom’s eyes were hard as she tried to see the voice. She knew that it was crazy to think that if she focused hard enough she could, be she still tried. “They all tried to warn me. They seem to know more about you than I even do.” Closing her eyes when she was still greeted by the empty air, her voice began to tremble. “You won’t even let me see you. I don’t even know why we talk. You complain about how dependent I am on you, but you seem to be the one who wants to keep talking with me! So tell me, WHY DO WE TALK?”
“We talk because…” The voice trailed off as if he was thinking. “You don’t want them to know where you come from and I help you keep it a secret.”
Sighing, Sky Blossom opened her eyes and looked in front of her again. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “That’s what I thought. Well, I don’t need your help anymore.”
Turning around, Sky Blossom forced herself to keep walking even when the voice called out to her. She began to walk faster and faster until she was moving at a trot. Then her trot turned into a gallop as she fled from the voice. Chest heaving, heart pounding, and eyes burning, she ran all the way to Rarity’s boutique. Sky Blossom stood outside of the door for a few minutes. Her stomach felt like a million butterflies were swarming inside of her while her mind felt like a nest of bees was buzzing around inside of it. She no longer could count on the voice to help her keep her cover. She would need to make a life for herself in the strange land of Equestria. At least, until she could find a way to leave it. Shaking her head, she opened the door and stepping into the boutique. 
“Well, this could be a problem.” Discord said as he laid down on the grassy hill where he had been talking with Sky Blossom only a few minutes earlier. She had said that she was no longer going to speak to him. He thought for a few minutes before materializing a cotton candy cloud to munch on. He always got his best ideas when he was full of sugar.
“She already has all the information she needs to stay in Equestria without causing any fuss. Now I can just focus on having fun.” Discord said with glee. Twirling around in the sky, he made several large marshmallows appear and dance around him. Jumping off of them, Discord snapped his fingers and made them disappear. Things were going just fine. 
Sky Blossom looked around the room to make sure she was alone. It seemed like Rarity had gone somewhere. Smiling with relief, Sky Blossom raced to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror and shuddered. Her mane was an absolute mess. Strands of it stuck out of the top of her head and others were stuck to her face by her tears. Dirt was flecked across it as well. Sniffing, she wiped her cheeks with her hooves. It only helped smudge the dampness over the rest of her face. Turning on the sink, she splashed water across her face to get rid of the saltiness. Brushing a hoof over her eyes, she gave a weak smile to her reflection. It looked faker than a vampire’s suntan. 
“I’m a mess. A bit mess.” She said with a moan as she rested her head on the sink. Sniffling, she thought about what she needed to do next. Things were going to cost money and Sky Blossom did not think that she would be able to survive for long unless she had some. 
Steeling her resolve, she raised her head and looked at herself in the mirror again. Placing a hoof on it, she fought the tremble that forced to rack her body as she gazed on her pony form. “I will make it somehow. I don’t need the voice. I’ll do this… on… my… own.”
Quickly cleaning herself, she left the bathroom and went into the room where Rarity made her dresses. A freshly made line of dresses were folded and resting on a chair. She smiled as her eyes admired them for a few moments. Her hoof caressed the fabric as she thought.  
The first thing she needed to do was…