Of Love and Loyalty

by Brian Jacko

A New Problem Arises

"Twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine........thirty!" Rainbow Dash counted aloud as she did her rehabilitation repetitions for her wings.

"Very well done Rainbow Dash," the therapist cheered as she finished her last repetition. "I think it's about time that you can go home. You are certainly strong enough now. Congratulations!" The therapist made a mark next to her final exercise for the day.

Rainbow Dash zipped out of the office and flew back home. She loved the feeling of being free again as the wind blew her colorful mane all around. She began to practice all of her moves again, but this time with a little more care and caution in mind. She probably wouldn't bother to attempt a sonic rainboom for a while. She had been out of action for a little too long for that and needed to practice on some more basic moves first. She practiced for a few days until she had enough confidence to go back to work with the Wonderbolts. She performed well for the first few weeks with them, but she realized that her energy level was slowly dropping. It wasn't long before she realized that she was struggling to keep up with the team in their daring tricks and Rainbow Dash always seemed to finish in last place every time, during a Wonderbolts race. This wasn't anything like her. She had never been so lethargic and in pain before. She figured that her muscles were most likely still weak from being sedentary for so long while in the hospital. Weeks later, she could no longer perform with the Wonderbolts. She was very ill and stayed in bed for most of the day. She got a letter in the mail.

It was from Spitfire. It read; Dear Rainbow Dash, we can no longer have you as a part of the Wonderbolts team. You have been out of action for too long and we need you to retire from the team. I'm very sorry. Yours Truly, Spitfire.

"They want me to quit the team?" she wondered to herself. She looked across the room at her Wonderbolt suit just sitting there on top of her desk. A tear had formed from the corner of her eye. She didn't know what hurt more. Looking at the suit and knowing that she won't be able to perform with the Wonderbolts any longer, or the thought of sending it back because it also brought memories of sorrow and regret due to what happened with Rapidfire. She sighed aloud as she packed the suit back into a box and left it on the front porch for Derpy to return.

At least she still had her side job of clearing out the clouds and helping the other pegasus ponies with the storms and weather. Rainbow Dash stretched her wings, as she prepared to fly up into the sky to round up and clear all the clouds away. She took off and started clearing each cloud away, one by one, until the fatigue and pain kicked in. Her whole body suffered a dull ache and she could barely keep her eyes open. She couldn't keep up any longer. "Well, I guess it won't be such a big deal if I take a little nap for a few moments," she mumbled to herself. She found a rogue cloud over to the west and landed on it. She put her head down and drifted off to sleep. She awoke many hours later.

There were clouds all over the skies.

She panicked as she raced to clear each one. She did the best she could do, but now she was too tired. There were still a few stray clouds scattered across the skies, but she figured it wouldn't be a big deal.

The next few days passed and the same thing would happen. She would clear a few clouds and get extremely tired. She napped more and more, missing many clouds that flew by her.

After a week went by, she barely had any energy to do her job at all. She found herself sleeping more than working.

One fateful day, she fell asleep before she even began to do her job. She lay on a cloud peacefully.

Several hours later she was awakened by a booming voice followed by a great bright light that shined in her eyes. "Rainbow Dash!" the voice called out. "You are in very big trouble."

Rainbow Dash looked to the left and then to the right in fear. She then looked up at the sky and saw Princess Celestia standing on a cloud above her. She immediately bowed down to the Princess. "What is wrong Princess Celestia? What did I do wrong?"

The Princess looked very angry at Rainbow Dash. "I have been monitoring you very closely, all week, Rainbow Dash. You've fallen asleep and let too many stray clouds in. The clouds covered up the sky and the crops did not get their proper sunshine over at Sweet Apple Acres. Most of the crops have withered away and died. There won't be enough food for every pony tomorrow."

Rainbow Dash blinked and thought to herself, "I normally only sleep for a half hour and I had more than enough rest last night. This just doesn’t make sense to me." She remained speechless in front of the Princess.

The Princess continued, "I normally don't mind when you take a nap or go off to practice your tricks for a while, but this is just absurd what you have done. I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I'm forced to have to find some pony else to clear the clouds. I left you with a great responsibility and you have broken my trust." The Princess flew off into the skies.

Rainbow Dash just sat there on her cloud, completely stunned and dazed after what had just happened. She flew off to her home and did the one thing in the world that brought her peace and comfort. She slept.

"I'll show the Princess that I'm still the greatest flier in all of Ponyville. Today I'm going to clear the skies faster than I ever did before!" Rainbow Dash flew over to Sweet Apple Acres as fast as she could. Upon arriving, she realized that the skies were already cleared except for two small stray clouds next to each other. She noticed two pegasus ponies relaxing in them.

One of them looked over and noticed Rainbow Dash and said, "Oh, well hey, look! If it isn't our old friend, Rainbow Crash! Ahahaha!"

The other looked over as well. "Yeah! Haha! How ya doin' Rainbow Crash? I think it's pretty funny to not only get kicked out of the Wonderbolts, but to lose your job clearing out the clouds as well, huh? I knew you weren't capable of handling much."

"Not these guys," Rainbow Dash muttered.

These ponies were some of the biggest jerks she's met in Junior Speedsters.

"I can't believe that the Princess would let these guys have my job. I'll show them who's boss!" She flapped her wings in defiance as she called out to the two arrogant pegasus ponies. "You guys think you’re pretty tough, huh? How about we have another race and settle this once and for all?"

The two pegasus ponies spoke in unison, "Oh, you're on, Rainbow Crash. Hahaha!"

"Come on Rainbow Dash, you can beat these guys easily," she whispered to herself. She got into ready position as a young pegasus held a black and white checkered flag in her mouth.

The pegasus waved the flag in the air, signaling to get ready. She then lowered her head quickly and the race was on.

Rainbow Dash started just a few feet behind the other pegasus ponies. She thrust her wings with all her might and passed one of them. When they got to the first turn in the course, she lost her momentum and the other pegasus passed her. She finished the first lap and became very tired. She was out of breath. She couldn’t even finish the last two laps. She lost all her strength and crash landed into a pile of nearby clouds.

The two pegasus ponies raced passed her laughing.

As she watched them cross the finish line, her heart sank. She couldn't even get back up to finish the race. She lost the race. She hated losing. Especially to these ungrateful bullies.

From a distance, they hurled insults at her with mocking laughter.

Rainbow Dash simply flew away defeated and ashamed. She was no longer the fastest flier in Ponyville.

Comments

[Mystic Glow]

Uh....Rainbow would never do this/ She's a winner!

[Enchanted Tails]

6974553 I agree and Princess Celestia would give he another chance, this chapter doesn't meek a lot a sense

[TwibraFlattercordlover]

The princess isn't in charge of the weather...And there are other weatherponies who woulda cleared the sky. Those ponies also don't live in ponyville AND if the crops died it's ALL of the weather team's fault!