> Caring for Emerald
>  by AzureWing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Finding Emerald
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Where… where am I?”
The small filly attempted to lift herself off of the cold, wet ground. Although her body ached with pain, she was able to sit up straight. Rain rushed off of her yellow coat, but was quickly replaced by more. She squinted to take in her surroundings through the fog. Rocks. Sand. Grass. Hills. No signs of life were visible in any direction.
“He- Help!” She screamed as she started to panic. She began to flap her tiny wings as hard as she could from her sitting position. Rain bounced off of her feathers, and mud was splashed around by her under developed wings. No matter how hard she tried, the little pegasus could not lift herself off of the ground.   
“Anypony! Pl-please!” She got out, starting to sob uncontrollably. She fell limp, back into the hole her body made only seconds before. She covered her emerald eyes with her hooves as she shed more tears. Never has she felt more alone. Never has she wanted so badly to be in the safe, warm comfort that was her house. Hope was completely lost. The young pegasus lay in the field with absolutely no idea as to what to do next.




The sun crept into the rather large bedroom and replaced the darkness of the night. As the light illuminated the bed in the center, the covers rustled around. A head slowly popped out from the blankets. The messy mane stuck vertically as the owner adjusted to sit up.
Mondays. I hate Mondays. She thought to herself as her eyes scanned around her room. Two posters depicting the Wounderbolts were hung on opposite sides of the room, both resting above a separate piece of furniture. The bed lay with the headboard against the wall providing space on both sides to step out. The foot of the bed pointed straight towards the door. The pegasus turned her head to the nightstand on her left that held a small calendar with her work schedule for the weather patrol. A doozy of a downpour was planned for today. That’s going to be tedious. Her body started to sink back into her bed slowly. She began to wish, just like every morning, that she could just stay in that bed for the whole day. She did not want to go to work. She would rather just sleep a few more hours and go out flying around for a bit. Some ponies call it being lazy. Rainbow Dash called it prioritizing.
The cyan pony stretched her hooves out and let out a monstrous yawn. One hoof over the other, she fought to get out of the enticing bed. She felt the soft cloud floor underneath her hooves and began to stretch out her wings. She relaxed for a moment in order to take in her room again, to think back on how long and boring it was to mold the cloud foundation around her house. Over all it was worth it, but it took forever! The cloud structure used a type of magic to support the furniture within the room. Presumably the same magic that pegasus ponies possess that allow them to stand on clouds; something that could not be done by unicorns or earth ponies without the use of a spell. Rainbow grabbed a chunk of cloud from the walls and used the water to fix her multicolored mane. She likes to keep it a little messy anyway.
Rainbow left her house and winced as the unfiltered morning light blasted into her eyes. She let them adjust as she held a hoof over her head for shade. She peered out over Ponyville and surveyed the land. As much as she loved Cloudsdale, Ponyville will always hold a special place in her heart.  She stood for a few more moments on her cloud porch that levitated a good distance from the grassy plane underneath the house.
“HEYYYY RAINBOW DASH!” A high pitch voice called from the ground. Rainbow jumped slightly from the unexpected greeting. She poked her head out over the edge of the porch to find a small pink dot on the ground with a rather large mega horn pointed directly up at the floating shelter.
“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow couldn't help but let out a tiny chuckle at the spontaneous pony on the floor. “You’re so random! Are you trying to wake up the town!?” A smile escaped the cyan pony’s lips as she began to glide down slowly to Pinkie.
“No silly!” Pinkie Pie sang as she bounced in the air. “Just you Dashie!” Who knows what Pinkie Pie could possibly want so early in the morning? Pinkie jumped and hugged Rainbow, weighing her all the way to the ground as she got closer. They both laughed as they picked themselves up. Pinkie’s gravity defying hair bounced back and forth and she balanced herself on all fours.
“What’s up Pinkie?” Rainbow asked.
“I have some super-duper wonderfully amazing pranks planned for today and I came by to see if you wanna have some fun too!” Pinkie shot out in one breath, like a water faucet on full blast.
“That sounds so totally awesome! Rainbow exclaimed.  “I…..I don’t know if I could make it though. The weather patrol scheduled a doozy of a down pour and that could take forever.” Rainbow said. Truth be told, any other day the answer would have been yes. Lately, however, her boss has been getting on her about doing poor jobs and taking too many breaks. Rainbow is afraid that one more screw up could mean getting fired. 
“Awwww. Bummer.” The pink pony’s mood drastically changed. She frowned and looked down at the ground for a few seconds before returning to her originally excited self. “Well, if you change your mind, I’ll be at Sugar Cube Corner preparing all of my pranks! See ya later Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie said as she began to turn around a bounce away like she normally does.
“Wait Pinkie!” Dash finally got out after a few seconds of thinking.
“Yes Dashie?” Pinkie froze in midair and turned around to catch Rainbow’s eye.
“I’ll be a little late, but count me in!” Rainbow exclaimed.




“Make sure to pay extra attention! It’s important that those clouds get separated into the right locations.” The weather organizer shouted at his small team of ponies as they gathered, standing in a perfectly straight line. “We all know what would happen if too many clouds occupy a very congested area! Isn’t that right, Rainbow Dash?” The tall grey stallion stopped at the end of the line where Rainbow was standing, drifting off inside her own imagination.
“Oh wait, what about being congested? You should really see a doctor about that, Psyrin sir.” Rainbow Dash said, looking her boss right in his blue eyes.
“Did you even hear a word I said?” The pegasus pony asked, rolling his eyes. He was mirroring Rainbow as he stood. His intention was to get as “into her face” as possible in order to make his point. 
“Yes I did sir!” Rainbow spoke quickly; she could hear the rest of the pegasi on her team chuckle. Psyrin’s head dropped and faced the floor with a disappointed look stuck on his face.
“Alright then, you all know the quadrants that you are all accountable for.” Psyrin said, addressing the whole team now. They all straightened up as his attention turned to them from Rainbow. “You all may take off when ready.” The team began to flap their wings as they all became airborne in unison. “All of you except for Ms. Dash here.”
Rainbow stopped flapping and slowly returned to the grassy ground. She looked up to see the other ponies take off at admittedly fast speeds. Well, fast for them of course. Nothing compared to Rainbow. If she were to seriously take off in this grass field with no obstructions, she could reach amazing speeds. 
“Rainbow.” Psyrin said in his deep voice, throwing Rainbow off of her train of thought. Her eyes met his again immediately. “You are very important to this team, and I would hate more than anything to have to fire you, but this has got to stop.”
“I’m not following sir.” Rainbow said, playing confused.
“Being late all of the time, only half finishing your work, daydreaming when I am giving instructions, the list goes on.” He said sternly. “You’re good at what you do, you just need to stop being lazy.” He got out as he turned around. “Your job depends on it.” He finished as he walked away. 
“Yes sir.” Rainbow said, defeated. She can’t really afford to lose this job. She turned and looked up to the sky again. A few ponies were already preparing the blanket of clouds over the town. Rainbow took off and watched as the ponies got bigger and bigger. It only took a few seconds of hard flapping to get to their level. She scanned around for the opening that would be her area to prepare. 
“You’ve got the boarder, Dash.” A voice called out about the dark clouds. It did not take long for Dash to find where the voice came from.
“Oh, okay. Thanks Blossomforth!” Rainbow called out to the pinkish gray mare dragging a cloud from one place to another. Blossomforth gave a small wave in response as Dash flew to her post. It was a lot farther out then a lot of the other ponies. In fact, they were all completely hard to see. 
Rainbow got to work on grabbing the clouds in the surrounding area to make the boarder. As she worked, she couldn't stop thinking about what possible wild ideas Pinkie has in store for her victims. Dash quickly grew eager to get her job done and over with. Clearing the skies? That’s easy. Setting up a cloud cover for heavy rain? That takes control and patience. Rainbow shot a glance back towards the direction of her coworkers. Still couldn’t really see any of them.
“Maybe no one will notice…..” Rainbow began thinking aloud. “If I use a more… creative…. tactic.” Rainbow spared no time in her plan. She began to fly in a large circle around her clouds. As she picked up speed, the clouds started to spread out and cover her designated ground on the outskirts of Ponyville. Rainbow’s mind flashed back to Diamond Dust and how she endangered her friends using the same strategy. Dash, however, was positive that no ponies would be out this far. She was also pretty content with the fact that she had absolute and full control of the small, slow moving tornado. Rainbow’s plan seemed to be working quite well. The clouds were clumping up and keeping the area congested, but nopony lives there anyway. Content with her work, Dash began to slow the speed of the wind. After a few seconds of fighting the wind's current, she exited the vortex and hovered for a bit as she watched the wind she created start to die down,
“This is taking too long, I am sure it is fine.” Rainbow said aloud, tired of waiting for the tornado to stop. “It’s not going anywhere.” With that, Rainbow was off. It would not take long to get to sugar cube corner from here.





The defeated filly moved her hooves from in front of her eyes. She could not tell exactly how long it has been, but it felt like she has been laying in this grass field forever. Her sobbing came to a slow stop as she decided to stand.
“I’m never going to get back home if I stay here.” The yellow filly concluded as she looked around. “But… Which way do I go?” She started doing slow circles, stepping in a certain direction just to decide she could not see anything and change directions. This went on for a few seconds. “If I go the wrong way, I could end up even more lost than I am already.” Her emerald eyes began tearing up again. She felt so hopeless. If only she would have been more careful. If only she had reacted faster, she would not be here. “SOMEPONYYY!” She yelled at the very top of her lungs. The small pony was so desperate to be heard. She reached up a hoof and wiped the tears from her eyes, which did not really matter, as the rain just made her vision blurry anyway. She looked up and started squinting. Off in the distance, high in the sky, she felt she could almost make out a figure. 
“He-hello! Over here! Help me!” She started screaming to the figure. She considered for a millisecond that the figure could just be a figment of her imagination. That thought, however, was quickly displaced by the chance that she could finally get out of this storm and to safety. 




“RAINBOW DASH!” A thunderous voice boomed over the sound of the falling rain outside. The sound made all occupants inside Sugar Cube Corner jump. Mrs. Cake poked her head out of the kitchen to see what was going on, and Mr. Cake found himself taking shelter behind the counter with his eyes exposed. Both Rainbow and Pinkie Pie, who were sitting at a table, jolted up and faced the newcomer to the shop. Rainbow felt as though she was staring death in the eyes as Psyrin stepped into the store, soaking wet. “I am sorry about the intrusion Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” The grey pony said directly to the Cakes who both relaxed a bit as they recognized the creator of the voice. “Rainbow. Swift Breeze told me he saw you come here earlier.” He said sternly, turning all of his attention to Dash; who was shaking as if she had just seen a ghost. “Outside. Now.” Rainbow galloped outside quickly.
“Is everything okay, boss?” Rainbow asked, trying to hide her worry. She winced a little bit as she stepped out into the cold rain. Psyrin closed the door before he started to speak.
“Any reason the northern Ponyville team had to take a break to stop a tornado?” He asked. Rainbow knew from the very first second that this was going to be rhetorical.
“Sir.” Rainbow began, keeping as calm as possible. “I completed my work by using a tornado to spread out the clouds over my assigned area.” She got out.
“You are very lucky that no one got hurt, Rainbow.” He said, putting his hoof to his face. “You can’t keep pulling things like this!” He said, pointing the hoof at Rainbow now. “We JUST had a conversation about this!”
“I am sorry sir, I won’t do it again.” Rainbow said, trying her best to not loose her temper. No pony got hurt. The job got done. She saw no problem.
“I need you to go back to your location and even out the clouds. You remember what happened the first time you let the clouds get congested, right?” Psyrin asked.
“Yes sir. Fog.”





Rainbow looked left and right through the fog. She could absolutely swear she heard somepony through the sound of the rain. Rainbow hovered in the air for a little bit and strained her ears to listen. 
“He-hello! Over here! Help me!” Rainbow faintly heard. She tried her best to pinpoint the direction of the desperate screams. Dash took off and made circles, following the strange screaming. Finally, Rainbow found the outline of a young filly waving her front hooves in the fog. Rainbow Flew as fast as she could towards the silhouette. Before long she was able to make out more details of the pony. She was a Yellow filly with a short messy, dark-green mane. She wore a lime green hair band in her mane that complimented the single dash of lime green she had streaking through her tail. On her left foreleg, she wore a white elastic wristband that one would often wear while working out that covered a little under half of her foreleg. She was completely drenched and shaking all over. As Dash got closer, the filly began galloping toward her. She jumped and hugged Rainbow Dash as tight as possible and cried into her cyan colored coat. Rainbow touched ground to hug and comfort the scared little filly.
“What are you doing out her all alone?” Rainbow asked, disconnecting herself from the pony.
“I fell- a- a- an- and – Im s-care-d.” She tried to get out in between sobs. “A-a-a-nd,  and, I w-w-ant to g-o h-o-me and I don- don’t kn-n-now where.”
“Sh sh sh, it’s okay. Just tell me where you live and I will take you there, okay?” Rainbow Dash hushed the child. 
“I- I uh, I liv-e in C-lo-uds dale.” The filly got out before jumping into Rainbow Dash again.
‘What should I do?’ Rainbow thought to herself. ‘It is much too dangerous for me to try and lug this kid all the way to Clouds Dale in this weather.’ Rainbow looked down at the poor kid burying her face in her chest.
“Alright kid, It’s too dangerous for you to go back home right now, so I am going to take you to Ponyville until this storm is over, okay?’ The filly nodded in response, and Rainbow put the small child on her back before taking off toward town.
	
> That Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few minutes of fighting the wind with her wings, Rainbow Dash finally saw the familiar tree structure. The filly on her back was clinging on as tight as she can for fear of falling off. Rainbow gently landed on the cold, puddle infested ground in front of the tree. She raised a hoof and knocked on the door of the library. It then swung open, revealing a small baby dragon.
“Hey Rainbow Dash! What are you doing out in the rain?” The dragon asked, opening the door wider to allow entry for the cyan pegasus.
“Is Twilight here, Spike?” Rainbow asked, ignoring Spike’s question as she walked inside.
“Yeah, she’s upsta-.” He stopped short as his attention shifted to the shivering filly on Rainbow’s back. “Who is that?” He asked as he fought the wind to get the door shut.
“Rainbow!” A muffled voice emanated from up the library’s stairs. At the top stood Twilight, who began coming down when she heard the knocking on her door. She was using her magic to levitate a towel with her. Rainbow tried to shake some of the rain water off of her, but stopped for fear that the child on her back would fall off. The small pegasus’s head poked up from the comfort of Rainbow’s back as she began to look around the foreign room. Her large emerald eyes stopped on the purple unicorn that was trotting down the stairs with a floating towel. She continued to stare at the levitating object with the purple aura.
“Alright squirt, this is your stop.” Rainbow said, addressing the weight on her back. At this, the scared filly held onto Rainbow tighter. 
“Here, use this.” Twilight said, floating the towel on Rainbow’s head. “Oh, hello there.” She said, finally noticing the unrecognized face in the room. “Who are you?” The scared filly grabbed on even tighter after hearing this question, finally making Rainbow flinch.
“Oww, ok, you’ve gotta quit it.” Rainbow said, moving her wings frantically. The yellow coated filly slid off due to of all the movement. She quickly got up and began getting close to Rainbow. Rainbow took the towel off of her own head and wrapped it around the scared filly. The other two watched in silence as the young pony’s dark green mane was rubbed dry. Satisfied with her work, Rainbow then turned her attention on herself and began drying her coat and mane. “I found this one on the outskirts of Ponyville. She said she lives in Cloudsdale. I would have taken her back home, but flying her all the way to Cloudsdale would be far too dangerous. I’ve gotta wait until this storm is over.”
“She was out all alone!?” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.
“Yep.” Rainbow said, turning her attention back to the little filly. 
“What were you doing out there alone?” Twilight followed up. She stayed as unresponsive as ever at the mare’s attempts of getting an answer.
“It’s okay, don’t be afraid, she’s just an egg head.” Rainbow said jokingly. Twilight shot her a disapproving glance. 
“hehehee.” The little pony laughed. Rainbow blushed, as honestly it was never that funny of a joke; just a word to tease Twilight. The filly looked up at Rainbow.
“What is your name?” Rainbow asked, softening her voice. A short silence followed the question.
“I’m… I’m Emerald.” The filly squeaked. Her high pitch, childish voice echoed though the room. 
“Hello Emerald. My name is-.” Twilight began but quickly cut herself off as she noticed Emerald get behind Rainbow Dash, almost as if Emerald was hiding from Twilight. Rainbow sidestepped and faced Emerald as Twilight was.
“Something wrong, Emerald?” Rainbow asked. Emerald backed up a little bit and kept her eyes fixed on Twilight.
“There is nothing to be afraid of. I am not going to hurt you.” The purple pony said, confused. “I am Twilight Sparkle, and this is my Library.”
“Where are your wings, and why do you have a cone on your head?” Emerald asked, looking directly up at Twilight.
“Emerald…” Twilight began as she put two and two together. “Do you know what unicorns are?”
“Un-ic-orns?” The young filly questioned, looking directly up at Rainbow Dash this time, as if expecting an answer out of her.
“Oh, brother.” Spike said, finally breaking his silence with a face-claw. He began to step away from the three ponies near the front door so he could continue cleaning the library. He grabbed a duster and continued on the book shelves. 
“You seriously don’t know?!” Rainbow asked, flabbergasted. The filly began to tense up as if she really did something wrong in not knowing. Dash calmed down and softened her voice to comfort Emerald. “Unicorns are like us, except they don’t fly. They use their horns to do magic.”
“They are like us?” Emerald repeated, trying to comprehend the complex subject.
“You were never taught about unicorns or earth ponies in Cloudsdale?” Twilight asked. Emerald shook her head ‘no’ in response.
“I’m Rainbow Dash. Don’t worry, Twi here is a good friend, you will have nothing to worry about as you stay here tonight.” Rainbow said to comfort the pony.
“Tonight?” Twilight questioned. “It’s only about 5 pm, I thought you said you were taking her back when the storm was over?”
“It will be way too dark when this doozy is over.” Rainbow informed. “I thought that you of all ponies wouldn’t mind watching after this little one until then.” At this, Emerald looked up at Rainbow with a disapproving stare. Rainbow tried her best to ignore the adorable face.
“Well, I guess if that’s what has to happen, then it would be my pleasure.” Twilight said. “Are you hungry Emerald? Would you like something to eat?” The little pegasus’s eyes lit up immediately at the mention of eating. She quickly nodded her head at the offer. “Rainbow,” Twilight began, “you should stay too. She seems to be more comfortable around you.”
“Well…” Rainbow started, finally remembering her prior schemes with Pinkie Pie. “I actually was hanging out with Pinkie before I found Emerald. We had some….plans.” Emerald’s face pulled a complete 180 as she looked up at Rainbow Dash. Her sad look broke Rainbow’s heart, as it looked as though Rainbow just kicked a puppy.
“Oh, well, if that is what you want to do. Then I am sure I can handle this little one until you get back. All I wanted to do was organize my books today, but that can wait.” Twilight said, turning around to go to the kitchen. “Come on Emerald, how about a nice salad?” She said over her shoulder.
Emerald did not move. She continued staring at Rainbow Dash with her hurt puppy dog face. Rainbow slowly began to inch to the door. With every small step, Emerald countered the step with one of her own. Rainbow quickly realized the situation she was in. She rationalized that Pinkie would most likely not be doing any of the pranks they planned today due to the weather. She might as well stay until Emerald falls asleep. Rainbow still had a few questions that Emerald should be able to answer.
“Make me a bowl too Twi!” Rainbow shouted to the pony in the kitchen. Emerald’s mood once again flipped, and was back to excited. Rainbow began walking to the kitchen and heard quiet hoof steps behind her. There was a square table in the center of the kitchen that Rainbow and Emerald sat down at. Twilight was levitating ingredients left and right in what could only be described as a symphony of instruments as every item was being used in perfect time. Tomatoes were being tossed around as olives, peppers, and onions were being added to the creation. Rainbow sat back and relaxed in her chair.
“Glad you decided to stay.” Twilight said, not taking her eyes off of her work. Rainbow decided now would be as good a time as ever to question the filly sitting at the table with her.
“So, Emerald. How did you get to the outskirts of Ponyville?” Rainbow asked. Emerald was completely blown away by the magic act that it took her a few seconds to comprehend Rainbows question.
“I.. I don’t actually know for sure.” She began, looking down at the table as if she could see it all vividly take place on it. “I was just standing next to a cloud, when all of the sudden, I felt the wind get faster and faster. I was swept off and was falling before I even had time to react.” Her eyes began tearing up as she got the last few words out.
“That must have been very scary.” Twilight said, as she began setting up the table for her and her guests. Emerald nodded and used a hoof to wipe the small tear away.
“You mean that you were actually all of the way up in Cloudsdale and you fell off?!” Rainbow asked, surprised. Cloudsdale is very high up and a filly that can’t fly has a very small chance of making the landing alive. Her thoughts flew back to Fluttershy. How her best friend from Cloudsdale made the same fall, but was barely saved by butterflies.
“I was able to spread my wings out and glide down.” Emerald showed her wings and spread them out as much as she could. They were still very small and neither of the two mares could tell if they were honestly spread out all of the way. “The ground still hurt though.”
“You’re not hurt at all from that?” Rainbow asked, concerned.
“It hurt at first, but I felt better after I rested for a little bit.” Emerald said, sinking down lower in her chair as she talked.
“How long were you out there before Rainbow found you?” Twilight asked, just finishing her cooking.
“I don’t really know.” Emerald confessed. She did not care to talk much anymore as a bowl filled with food was put on the table in front of her. The three ponies began to chow down. Rainbow and Emerald both were swallowing their food in single gulps. Emerald’s appetite mirrored Rainbow’s in almost every way. Twilight took her sweet time, which compared to the other ponies, looked like she was eating in slow motion. Twilight laughed, as she expected this behavior from Rainbow, but not from a filly. Emerald could not be any older than Applejack’s little sister, Applebloom. In fact, she might be just a little younger than Applebloom. Twilight was thrown out of her train of mind as the two pegasi in front of her finished their meal and loudly stretched back in their chair. 
“That was delicious.” Emerald squeaked. “Thank you Mrs. Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight chuckled at the unnecessary formality. 
“You can just call me Twilight, Emerald.” Twilight looked at Rainbow, expecting some kind of thanks.
“You got any more, Twi?” Dash asked, putting a hoof over her stomach like she was still hungry.
“Yeah, got any more Twi?” Emerald asked imitated. Twilight and Rainbow stared at her in surprise. Rainbow had to admit that the imitation was flattering and pretty adorable. Twilight however was surprised at the random break in character. Emerald held her bowl towards Twilight with a large, childlike grin on her face. A chuckle escaped the purple unicorn’s lips.
“Sorry you two, that’s all I made.” Rainbow and Emerald both looked down in disappointment. Not much was said as Twilight finished the rest of her dinner. The three ponies sat at the table for a little longer, listening to the rain outside. Emerald started bouncing back and forth, humming an unknown melody. The water soaks off of the tree as thunder booms outside.
“So Emerald,” Rainbow began, “what are you wearing on your left forehoof?” Rainbow asked, taking notice of her white wrist band. This question seamed to freeze the filly in her tracks. She stared at Rainbow for a few silent seconds. Twilight noticed this awkward silence.
“My mom’s wristband.” She answered, monotone. The grown mares were shocked by the complete change in Emerald. The life in her emerald eyes was completely replaced by a wave of seriousness. “She tells me to wear it.”
“Oh, your mother must be worried sick about you.” Twilight responded. “She does not even know where you are.”
“She’s alright.” Emerald said, completely devoid of emotion.
“Don’t worry, tomorrow you will be back with your moth-,” Rainbow began but was cut off shortly.
“What was that purple animal I saw here earlier?” Emerald asked, completely ignoring Rainbow.
“Purple animal?” Twilight questioned. “Oh, Spike? He’s a baby dragon.”
“A baby dragon?” Emerald questioned. Her childlike wonder over took her gloomy mood.
“Yes,” Twilight started, happy to have the interest of the filly again. “I was with him from the moment he hatched. He has been like a little brother to me and he helps me out with my studies.”
“Studies?”
“Twi’s an egg head. She studies magic for Princess Celestia.” Rainbow answered.
“Woooow, that sounds so cool.” Emerald said. Twilight blushed at the compliment.
“What do you like to do?” Twilight asked the filly, taking notice that she did not have a cutie mark.
“I don’t have any talents or anything that I know of.” Emerald started. “But I really like to play with clouds. That’s what I was doing before the tornado blew me off of Cloudsdale.” Rainbow froze with a sudden realization.
“It was a tornado that made you fall?” Twilight questioned with a worried expression.
“Yeah, I have never seen one so close to Cloudsdale before, and it really took me by supprise.” Emerald said.
“How fast was it moving? Did it break any of the Cloudsdale? Is everyone else ok?” Rainbow shot out, almost like Pinkie Pie would.
“It was… pretty fast.” Emerald got out, overwhelmed by the random outburst of questions. “I am sorry, I don’t know anything else.”
“You had to of seen something!” Rainbow said, raising her voice and placing both hooves down on the table. “Where did it come from? Do you know how it got there?”
“Rainbow!” Twilight said sternly, cutting off her rapid questions. Rainbow looked at Emerald, who was closing her hooves around her body and looking down on the table. Her head was shaking a little bit, and her right hoof was covering the white wrist band that was on her other hoof. Rainbow got her hooves off of the table. She didn’t intend to scare the child. 
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight repeated, giving a serious look. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Twilight, can I talk to you in the other room?” Rainbow asked, calming down a little. Twilight let out a heavy breath as she removed herself from the table. Both mares left Emerald sitting at the table in her scared and confused state. The two left the kitchen and made for the main room of the library. Twilight turned to confront Dash once they were out of earshot.
“So what was that all about?” She shot.
“It’s about that tornado.” Rainbow started
“What about the tornado.” Twilight questioned.
“Tornados don’t naturally form that close to Cloudsdale.” Rainbow started.
“Are you calling Emerald a liar?” Twilight said, tensing up.
“You don’t see tornados in Cloudsdale often because of the altitude.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight inquired. “Rarity, Apple Jack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and I were hit by a twister when we went to visit you at the Wounderbolt academy.”
“Yes, because Diamond Dust and I made that twister. A pegasus would have had to make the tornado.” Dash continued.
“Okay, so an irresponsible pony made the tornado. What are you getting at?” Twilight questioned, getting slightly irritated by this back and forth. Twilight stared at Rainbow as she waited for an explanation. Rainbow’s head fell until she was facing the floor. 
“I had weather duty today.” Rainbow began, her voice sounding hurt. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she finally began to put the pieces together.
“Rainbow…..did you…did you make that tornado?”
Silence.
“I’m that irresponsible pony.” Rainbow finally got out. Twilight’s mouth dropped. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds.
“I thought you learned your lesson at the Wounderbolt academy.” Twilight lectured. “You could have hurt more ponies, you almost KILLED Emerald. Why would you think such a thing would be a good idea?”
“I just wanted to get my job done earlier.” Rainbow snapped, attempting to defend herself. “I made the tornado to spread out the clouds. It was small when I made it, and I positioned it on the outskirts of Ponyville. There was absolutely no way it could have hurt anyone here. I couldn’t have even guessed that it would end up catching speed and dragging itself all of the way to Cloudsdale.”
“Why would you leave something like that unattended?!” Twilight asked.
“I was going to hang out with Pinkie.” Rainbow was very ashamed of her answer. Twilight could tell by her tone that Rainbow felt remorse.
“Are you going to tell Emerald?” Twilight asked.
“No. She doesn’t need to know.” Rainbow said immediately. At this, a loud crack was heard in the direction of the kitchen. Rainbow and Twilight turned their heads, afraid to see the little filly eavesdropping on their conversation. They instead found the source of the noise to be a small purple dragon at the top of the stares who was watching the entire spectacle. Spike stared for a few seconds before speaking.
“You really should tell her.” With that he disappeared up stairs. Rainbow motioned to Twilight to fallow her back to the kitchen. Upon reaching the kitchen, they saw that Emerald was out of her seat.  The two mares were greeted by the child’s two large, sad looking eyes. They slowly approached the girl.
“Am I…” She started as she began to shake. “Am I in trouble?” Rainbow and Twilight were both taken back by this question. They both fought inside their minds for a few seconds to find the right thing to say.
“You’re not in trouble.” Rainbow Dash finally got out. “Why would you think that?” Emerald looked between the adults for a few seconds before realizing that neither of them was going to scold her.
“I thought you were mad at me.” She said in an innocent voice as she looked directly at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow’s heart felt as if it broke from the weight of her words. This child was adorable. Rainbow felt as though she could never forgive herself for what she did to the poor little filly.
“No one is mad at you Emerald.” Twilight said, putting on a very motherly voice.
“Okay, good.” She said, letting out a huge yawn. The contagious yawn affected Rainbow as she looked above the kitchen counter for the time. 9:26. It was definitely getting pretty late for this filly, and Rainbow felt a little tired herself.
“I think it’s time for me to go. The storm should be clearing up a little bit so a flight home should be a piece of cake.” Rainbow said, stretching out her wings. Emerald copied Rainbow by stretching out her wings the same way, but this time she let out an even bigger yawn then before. 
“Okay, what time are you going to come by to pick up and take Emerald home?” Twilight asked, finally catching up to the time herself.
“I’ll most likely be here aro-.”
“You’re not staying?” Emerald said, putting on a pouty face again.
“I am going to go to my house now, Emerald.” Rainbow said, bending down a little bit to get closer to her level.
“I wanna go with you, Rainbow Dash.” The cute little filly said, putting on more of a puppy dog face. It killed Rainbow to try and fight it’s hypnotic spell.
“It’s ok Emerald,” Twilight intervened, “you can stay here with me and spike. Wont that be fun?”
“I wanna go with Rainbow Dash!” She repeated. Rainbow looked at Twilight for a few seconds with a look that seemed to say ‘I don’t know what to do here.’
“She’s attached to you Rainbow.” Twilight said, referring to her almost like a new dog. Rainbow looked back at the little kid.
“Fine.” She said, defeated. “But I need my beauty sleep, so don’t keep me up all night.” Emerald took victory in the first word and was too excited to hear the rest. The two bid Twilight a good night and thanked her for her generous hospitality. Before they left, Twilight wished Rainbow luck and said to let her know if she needs anything. Emerald and Rainbow walked out at felt the raindrops hit their faces immediately. Rainbow was correct, the storm has died down a little bit. Emerald got on Rainbow’s back as she took off to the sky. The moonlight lit up the entire town, and Emerald was baffled by how different it was from Cloudsdale. They passed a plethora of tall buildings and houses on the way to the open field that Rainbow’s house was parked above. Emerald let out a small sigh of relief as Rainbow landed on the familiar cloud floor. Emerald slid off of Rainbow’s back as she was let into the cloud home. Emerald was shortly thrown a towel, which she used to quickly dry herself off. 
Rainbow’s house was a two story, floating paradise for the filly. She had missed the wonderful feeling cloud beneath her hooves. Rainbow’s front door led straight into the kitchen, which was just as standard as Twilight’s. Her kitchen is directly connected to a living room that essentially acts as a central hub to the other rooms of the house. There are three different directions (not including the front door) that hold different rooms. Across from the front door is the stairs to the master bedroom, and a bathroom. Taking a left upon entering the house leads to a downstairs bathroom. Taking a right leads straight to the laundry room.
“I guess you can sleep on the couch.” Rainbow said to the filly as she got blankets out. Emerald laid on the couch in the living room and was quickly grabbed and held by sleep’s embrace. Rainbow tiredly walked up the stairs to her room. She got into bed and closed her eyes.
Rainbow was then awoken a few hours later by very loud sounds coming from downstairs. She was up quickly and rushed to the origin of sounds. It did not take long to find the mysterious sounds were coming from Emerald on the couch. She was breathing heavily and letting out short, loud gasps. Rainbow stood for a few seconds and played with her options on how to handle this. She sleepily shook Emerald awake. Emerald’s eyes opened to reveal that they were watering the entire time. She looked up at Rainbow and quickly got out of bed and threw herself onto the cyan pony. Rainbow stood in shock with what just happened. Without saying a word, she lifted the small crying pony and carried her upstairs and tucked her in the big bed. Rainbow got in next to her and started falling asleep.
“Tomorrow morning I’ll take the little tyke home and everything will be just fine.” She thought to herself.

	

> Innocence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Emerald was running as fast as she could through the dense fog. Everywhere she turned just brought her to more unknown scenery. Rain attacked her face with every step. Hopeless, she turned and began to run back where she came. The grassy plane seamed to stretch on forever as Emerald fought the temptation to fall down and give up.
The loud noise of wind violently blowing made Emerald skid to a stop. She desperately looked all around her for whatever was causing the noise. Every direction she would turn would offer her the same dissatisfying results. Before long, the filly was surrounded by four tornados. Emerald looked all around for a way out but to no avail. Dead ends surrounded her. Emerald stood frozen as she hoped so hard for a way out. 
Her heart felt as though it stopped as she looked to the sky to see a cloud with the silhouette of a mare standing on it, looking down at Emerald with glowing, threatening eyes. It was at that moment Emerald could not tell what danger scared her more. She did not know why the dark mare was there, but she wished hard that the mare would just disappear.
It never did.
Her body fell limp with her courage. The figure above her began to laugh at the filly’s helplessness. Emerald got closer to the ground. She looked around frantically for a way out. She was now more desperate than she ever was before.
Out of nowhere, her body began to feel relaxed. She looked around her as the weather cleared almost instantly. Emerald grabbed the strength to look up to the demonic mare, only to find a bright blue sky replace its presence. She could see for miles on all sides of her. Beautiful rivers and trees surrounded her as birds began chirping a song in unison.
Emerald began to smile as her eyes looked out toward the horizon to meet a breath taking rainbow that spread all of the way across the sky.


Consciousness reached the older pony first. Her large eyes slowly emerged from behind their concealing curtain. Rainbow scanned the now brightly lit room, scratching her exposed belly with her hoof with a yawn. Her attention quickly turned to the filly that was sharing her bed. The child had an unpleasant frown on her face and was grabbing Rainbow’s blanket close with both hooves.
‘Must be having a bad dream’ Rainbow thought to herself. If Emerald was not making so much noise last night, she would still be asleep on the couch downstairs.  Rainbow really felt bad for the filly. Not only was the young pony unexpectedly thrown into a scenario straight out of a horror story, but this child’s separation from her home was all Rainbow’s fault. She owes it to the little filly to do whatever she could for her; Starting with this nightmare.
Rainbow slowly and calmly placed a hoof on Emerald’s side and began soothingly moving in a circular motion. Emerald’s once tense body almost instantly relaxed. Rainbow silently laughed at the adorable smile that Emerald’s mouth created. Rainbow took her hoof off and god out of bed, finding it incredibly easier now that Rainbow knew she did not have any weather work today.
She left the door open as she descended down the stairs. She looked around in the kitchen for anything the two could share for breakfast. Rainbow’s thoughts quickly stopped as she heard what sounded like a pony landing on her cloud porch outside the front door. A visitor? It would have to be a pegasus to get up here. Well, a pegasus or Pinkie Pie somehow. Rainbow waited a little bit for more sounds. Only silence followed the previous landing. Rainbow went to the door and opened it, curious of its contents. Outside was a yellow pegasus with long pink hair that covered one of her eyes. She jumped a little at the opening door.
“Hey Flutters, what are you doing here?” Rainbow asked, surprised to find the timid pony on her porch.
“Oh, hey Rainbow Dash.” She said in her normal, soft voice. She can often be very quiet and shy, however, she was comfortable with all her friends. “Ummm, I was woundering…” She trailed off, getting quieter with every syllable.
“Yeah?” Rainbow said, trying to get Fluttershy to the point.
“If you don’t mind, of course…” The yellow pony continued. Rainbow raised her eyebrow. “You don’t have to if you don’t wa-.”
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow’s voice echoed through the house. Fluttershy jumped again at the random rise in volume.
“Oh, sorry. I just. I need some help.” Fluttershy got out.
“Wittttth?” Rainbow asked, losing her patience
“it’s nothing too big, really,” Fluttershy began “It’s just that, the ani-.” Fluttershy stopped. “Oh, you have company. You’re busy. I’ll just leave you alone.” Rainbow looked extremely confused. She followed Fluttershy’s gaze toward her stairs. Emerald stood there with a curious look upon the new pegasus at the door.
“Oh, no problem Flutters.” Rainbow said, looking back at the little filly. “If you need any help from me, you might have to wait a little. I have to take this little filly back to Cloudsdale.”
“Cloudsdale?” Fluttershy squeaked. “Who is this?”
“It’s…. a long story.” Rainbow said, flinching at the memory of her mistake. “She fell off of the clouds during that heavy rain yesterday. I found her lost just outside Ponyville. Come on over here Emerald.” Rainbow motioned with her head in Fluttershy’s direction. Emerald tensed up at the idea of meeting another strange pony. At least this one was a pegasus just like her, however.
“It’s ok, Emerald.” The yellow mare said in her angelically soft voice. Emerald walked closer to the two mares at the door way. “My name is Fluttershy.” She began as the child got closer. “You fell off of Cloudsdale? That must have been very scary. That actually happened to me too when I was your age, maybe a little older.” Emerald looked up at Fluttershy with a new admiration. Being able to relate with Fluttershy really helped the filly feel a little more comfortable.   
“You did?” Emerald got out.
“Yep, but I am actually happy that happened. If I had not have fallen, then I might have never realized the talent I have with animals.” Fluttershy stopped immediately after that sentence. “Uh-oh, I need to get back! The storm flooded out a lot of the animal’s homes, so I have to fly over and make sure none cave in and all of the critters are okay!” Emerald’s attention was sparked as if from a match
“Is that what you needed help with?” Rainbow asked before Fluttershy turned around and spread her wings.”
“Yeah it was.” Fluttershy said. “Goodbye Rainbow and Emerald. I hope you get back to Cloudsdale safely. Fluttershy had just begun to fly away as a spastic Emerald was jumping up and down in front of Rainbow Dash.
“What are you doing?” Emerald said in a drastically different voice than her normal high pitch tone. “Birdies are in trouble!” 
“Huh? What’s got you so worked up? Fluttershy said nothing about birds.” Rainbow said in reaction to the random outburst.
“Yes she did!” Emerald shouted immediately. “She said that her animals were in trouble! You need to go help the birdies!” Rainbow caught on. She has lived in Cloudsdale her entire life. She does not know about the other animals that inhabit the earth. “Please go help them Rainbow Dash!” Emerald reverted from anger to sincerity in one breath. “It’s not their faults that they are in trouble! They could be lost, all alone, away from their nests! Please Rainbow Dash.” Her emerald eyes began to swell up with tears. 
“Fluttershy can take care of it.” Rainbow said, trying to ignore the enchanting spell of the little filly. “It’s her job anyway, she’s got it.”
“She needed your help!” Emerald snapped. Fluttershy did make it sound like this was very important. “Please Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow looked to the ground, wondering what she got herself into.
“Fine, but I don’t know how long this is going to take.” Emerald quickly realized she won, and acted like it too. Rainbow and Emerald stepped outside and closed the door behind them. Emerald got on Rainbow’s back as she took off to the sky. 



It did not take the two very long to catch up to Fluttershy because of Rainbow’s unrivaled speed. Emerald had more time to truly appreciate the wonder of being airborne under the light of the sun. She looked around in awe as all the buildings and ponies under her looked like small grains of salt. She admired the beautiful spectrum of colors that Rainbow Dash left behind. Emerald couldn’t help but beam the biggest smile that she has ever had. She even let out a few little chuckles of laughter. It was not long before she found her small wings flapping. She took in the sights of the grassy hills that surrounded the small town. On her left side, she got a good glimpse of a ginormous assortment of trees with little teeny tiny red dots on them. In front of her was even more trees set up in a very congested way. It almost looked like a pony could not fit in between the trees. Emerald got a very strange feeling from those trees and decided that they looked nowhere near as inviting as the red-dot-trees on her other side.
“I appreciate you coming Rainbow Dash.” The yellow mare called over. “Are you just going to take Emerald back after?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s the plan.” Rainbow replied. Rainbow had to admit that Fluttershy was going faster than she usually does. She has not seen Fluttershy’s wings work this hard since all the pegasi in Ponyville were tasked with bringing the water from the local reserve up to Cloudsdale for the weather.
The three pegasi finally landed in front of a small, comfortable looking cottage. Dash touched down first, letting Emerald down off her back. Fluttershy, who was breathing a little hard, touched down only a few small moments after. 
“Alright, what’s the plan?” Rainbow asked Fluttershy.
“A lot of the burrowing animals live in the hills, and when it rains hard, the water pushes the mud in the opening of the holes. This is usually fine, and the animals can dig out, however sometimes a large rock fills the holes and the critters can’t get out without unsafely burrowing another hole. They need my help to fly over and make sure that all of them are able to get out. Also, keep on the look ot for any of the younger animas who got separated from their parents during the downpour. I’ll start on the south hills and you on the north. Once we meet in the center, we will do one more quick check. It’s easy.” Fluttershy finished. 
“What do you want me to do Ms. Fluttershy?” Emerald asked formally.
“How thoughtful, you want to help too?” Fluttershy asked. 
“Uh-huh.. but um… why are birdies living in the dirt?” She asked, confused. “Shouldn’t they live in nests? Or are their nest’s underground here?” Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth a little bit as she realized she forgot to explain to Emerald that there were more animals than just birds. It shouldn’t be that bad, however, as there is no pony who would explain this to Emerald better than Fluttershy.
“Bird’s?” Fluttershy asked. She looked at Rainbow for a second, as if getting the information she was missing from her. Rainbow returned her look with a tiny shrug. “Emerald, have you lived in Cloudsdale all your life?” Emerald only nodded in response. “Oh. Well, Emerald, there are plenty of other animals that are not birds.”
“If they are not birds, then what are they?” Emerald asked in a skeptical manor.
“There are animals that walk on all fours, animals that live under the ground, animals that live in the trees, and even animals that live in the water!” Fluttershy answered with a steady rhythm that proved her mastery of the subject.
“Live In the water? How do they breathe? What do they eat? Are they birds that swim?” She asked with a new found curiosity.
“Yes, maybe I can show you when we are done here, okay Emerald?” Fluttershy said to the child, eager to get to work.
“Okay!” The yellow coated filly said as she jumped in the air in excitement.
“You go and help out Rainbow Dash; can you do that for me Emerald?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash felt as if she was reanimated by the mention of her name. She had let her mind wander and was snapped back into reality. 
“Let’s go?” The cyan pegasus asked. Fluttershy nodded and took off in her own direction. Emerald climbed on Rainbow Dash’s back and Dash took off. 
“Did you know that birds can live underwater!?” Emerald asked Rainbow Dash in a very excited manor. Rainbow could not help but laugh at her innocence. The duo closely scanned the ground for mounds of earth that would hint at life. 
“That looks interesting!” Emerald shouted, pointing her hoof to the ground. Rainbow followed the hoof and found what she was pointing at.
“Good eye! Now hold on tight!” Rainbow said with a smirk on her face. With that, Rainbow fell into a nose dive straight for the ground. Emerald held on as hard as she could to fight the acceleration. Within seconds, they were on the floor. Rainbow landed only a few steps from the random clump of dirt. Emerald slid off Rainbow’s back as fast as she could and hurried to the clump of dirt with energy that only a filly could muster. She began digging.
“Owwwwwwch owie owie owch!” She let out a heart breaking scream. Rainbow jumped and rushed instinctively to the side of the hurt filly.
“What happened?!” Rainbow asked. Emerald was waving her right hoof up and down, as if she could just throw the pain out of her arm.
“I hit something hard.” She said, fighting back small tears.
“Lemme see.” Rainbow demanded. Emerald turned to the cyan pony and raised her hoof. There was a small red circle on her otherwise yellow hoof. “Oh, you’re gonna be fine. You’re not gonna need me to kiss it now, are you?” Rainbow joked.
“Kiss it? What would that do?” Emerald asked.
“Ya know. Like your mommy or daddy would do if you got an ‘owie.’” Rainbow replied in a childish voice.
“That… That wouldn’t help…” Emerald muttered.
“Your mom or dad never did that?” Rainbow asked. Emerald shook her head. She put her hoof down as if it never got hurt. “Alright then, let’s move this rock.” Rainbow said to change the subject. Both ponies reached their hoofs into the hole and pulled out the rock. It was surprisingly big, little more than half the size of Emerald herself. She struggled as Rainbow held the bulk of the weight. They got the rock out and tossed it down the hill. Emerald got next to Rainbow Dash as they both began to step back and look at the hole. Before long, a single Badger head poked out from the hole. Emerald froze at the sight of this new creature. The little guy looked around and finally fixed his eyes on Emerald and Rainbow Dash. It waved, which the two ponies took as a ‘thank you.’ One by one, the entire badger family started coming out. Emerald let out a small ‘aww’ as the three badger babies followed their parents in single file. The third and youngest fell over as it made its way to the others. Emerald let out a tiny gasp and started to go and help out the poor animal. Rainbow stuck out a hoof and stopped her from going any farther.  The mother badger then turned around and ran to her fallen child. He reached for her mother and was swept up in her embrace. Emerald relaxed as they watched the badger family disappear over the hill.
“What kind of animal was that?” Emerald asked, looking up at Rainbow Dash.
“Those were Badgers.” She replied.
“Badgers….” She repeated. “Did you see the way that mamma badger treated the baby badger?” She asked. “They were so cute!” Rainbow smiled and crouched down to allow Emerald on her back. With that, they took off into the sky.


“I’m hungryyyy.” Emerald whined.
“I know, okay Emerald! For the millionth time, I know!” Rainbow said, putting her hooves to her ears to drown out the child’s voice. She really regretted not putting something together back at her house when she had the chance. Now Emerald is hungry, and Rainbow is paying for it.
“We have been working at this FOREVER!” Emerald complained. “We already met Fluttershy, all the animals are out. I don’t see why we have to circle again!” 
“Don’t forget whose idea this was!” Rainbow replied as she scanned the floor. If only there was something she could do to quiet this child. It was then that Rainbow’s prayers were answered. Her eyes fell upon the apple farm. She immediately angled herself down to the closest tree. Sweet Apple Acer’s south field’s bordered the hills they were surveying, conveniently. 
“Oooh, Apples!” Emerald exclaimed. Rainbow hovered next to one and grabbed two of the delectable apples from the tree. She then hovered to the ground and let Emerald down.
“Here you go, eat up.” Rainbow said, extending one of the apples to Emerald.
“But… Isn’t this steeling?” Emerald asked.
“My good friend Apple Jack is the owner of this orchard.” Rainbow started as she took a huge bite. “She won’t mind. I’ll get her back later.” Emerald did not need any more convincing as she took a huge bite of the apple herself.
“Mmmmm.” Emerald said with a smile. “Juicy!”
“Apple family apples are definitely the best in Equestria!” Rainbow told her. They both sat down on the ground to finish their meal.
“Ew.” Emerald squeaked. “It’s still a little wet from yesterday.” Rainbow looked on the floor around the trees and saw it littered with puddles and mud. Their spot was relatively dry because of the sun. They enjoyed their meal listening to the trees rustle in the subtle wind. A few birds passed by once or twice before they were done. Rainbow looked up and enjoyed the look of the sky. Her silence was broken shortly.
“Look, over there, another animal!” Emerald exclaimed happily. They had both finished their so Emerald started to make her way toward her find. 
“Emerald, we should really get back to Fluttershy’s. With this break she is most likely done before us.” Rainbow called out. Emerald continued slowly walking toward the animal she spotted. “Emerald.” No response. Rainbow got up and pursued the filly.
Before long, the image of a squirrel came into Rainbow’s view. The critter seemed to be drinking water from a puddle only 10 or so yards from the ponies. As both ponies got closer, it did nothing but lay there motionless.
“Emerald, stop!” Rainbow demanded. She only looked back at Rainbow who was only a few feet behind herself. “Emerald, Come here now.” 
“What’s wrong Rainbow Dash?” She asked. She was very confused. She walked up to Rainbow and stopped right in front of her. 
“Stay here.” She commanded the filly. Rainbow approached the thirsty squirrel, with every step confirming her fear. She stood there at hoof distance. The animal stayed there. It took no notice of the pony.
“Why isn’t it moving Rainbow Dash…..?” Emerald asked.
“I told you to stay there!” Rainbow turned to the filly and scolded her.
“Rainbow Dash, why isn’t it moving…. What’s wrong… Rainbow Dash..”
“It’s fine Emerald. Let’s go, we have to get back.”
“But… What’s wrong. Why is the animal sleeping like that. What’s wrong. Rainbow Dash. What’s wrong?”
“Emerald, we-.” Rainbow couldn’t finish the sentence. Emerald began to cry hysterically. Rainbow shot another glance at the carcass of the deceased squirrel. What happened to this poor critter? Why did Emerald have to see this? 
“What’s wrong, what… What’s wrong?!” Emerald got out in between sobs. Rainbow snapped out of her frozen trance and turned face to face to the little pony.
“Emerald, that animal…” She started. What the buck was she supposed to say? How could she possibly explain this to the child? Emerald was such an innocent filly, she did not have to see any of this.
“Emerald,” she tried again “This animal is a squirrel.” Rainbow got out. She searched all over her mind for the right thing to say. “Something bad happened. Now the Squirrel is going to sleep forever…”
“It’s… Dead?” Emerald asked. The word shot like a knife through Rainbow’s heart. The situation was so messed up.
“Yes…. The squirrel is dead.” This sentence triggered more crying from Emerald. Rainbow decided that she needed to take the filly out of here, back to the sanctuary of Fluttershy’s cottage. Rainbow grabbed Emerald’s hoof and began to walk back to where they set up lunch. Emerald followed and let her tears flow with every step. The moment they got to the clearing, Rainbow helped Emerald onto her back and took off.


“Oh, no.” Fluttershy said. “That’s terrible news.”
“Yeah. Emerald has not said a word since.” Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Emerald were walking side by side up the road to Fluttershy’s cottage. They met at the bottom of the hill and walked all the way up the road. As they got closer to the house, Rainbow looked at Emerald to see if her mood has changed at all. She was still completely down. Her crying stopped, but nothing could help her out of the dumps.
“Oh, there you are darling!” A voice called in the distance. Rainbow and Fluttershy immediately looked up for the owner of the voice. Emerald looked around too, but with much less an idea on who it was. At Fluttershy’s door stood a very pretty mare with long, curly purple hair. The diamonds on her flank seamed to twinkle off of the perfectly groomed coat. She excitedly met the three of them half way as they walked over Fluttershy’s bridge.
“Hi Rarity!” Fluttershy called out. “What brings you here?” 
“Hello Fluttershy, and Rainbow.” Rarity said, she stopped as her eyes fell upon the depressed filly. “Who might this be?” She asked.
“This is Emerald, I am going to take her back to Cloudsdale soon.” Rainbow said.
“Oh,” Rarity started “Is she a friend of yours?” 
“Long story.” Rainbow started, tired of repeating herself. “She fell off of Cloudsdale and now I am going to bring her back.”
“Poor darling.” Rarity said. Her attention turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I came to see if you had any more of those treats that Opal simply can’t get enough of.”
“Of course Rarity, come on in.” Fluttershy said.
“Emerald, I want you to go in a sit down for a little bit.” Rainbow said.



“It seam this young one has been through it all!” Rarity exclaimed. They all stood in Fluttershy’s living room as Fluttershy gathered Opal’s snacks.
“Yeah, but she’s tough.” Rainbow said, still trying to turn her mood. “She will be alight!” This seemed to work a little as Emerald let a small smile go.
“I think you’re right Rainbow, just look at her.” Rarity said, inching closer to Emerald. “You can’t be sad when you look as beautiful as this at such a young age!” Emerald liked this unicorn. At first she confused Rarity with Twilight Sparkle, but she was quickly corrected by her own observations. Emerald looked up and found the eyes of the nice mares. 
“That’s better.” Rainbow Dash said.
“Here you go Rarity!” Fluttershy said as she put a small box of the treats on her kitchen table.
“Thank you, darling.” Rarity said.
“Who is Opal?” Emerald finally asked.
“And it talks!” Rainbow said jokingly.
“Dear, Opal is my cat.” Rarity told Emerald.
“Oh, is that an animal?” She asked Fluttershy.
“Hehe, yes it is Emerald.” She replied.
“Emerald, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you wear that wrist band around your hoof?” Rarity asked. “I can replace it with something a little more, flashy, if you want.”
Emerald got quiet again.
“My mom tells me to.” She said, moving her right hoof over the white wrist band. The three mares looked at each other.
“Darling, would your mother be okay with me switching it wi-.”
“NO!” Emerald said immediately. “My mom told me that I can’t ever take it off for anyone. 
Silence followed this sentence. 
Rainbow approached Emerald on the kitchen chair. “Emerald, can you please come with me into the living room?” Emerald looked into the dark pink eyes of Rainbow Dash, who was approaching as calmly as possible. Emerald agreed and got up to fallow Rainbow. Emerald sat on a couch and Rainbow stood in front of her on Emerald’s level.
“Can you please tell me why your mom said that?” Rainbow asked.
“She told me I can never tell anypony.” Emerald replied, covering the wrist band even more.
“Emerald.” Rainbow started. “I absolutely promise that it is okay to tell me. There is nothing to be afraid of.” Emerald looked unconvinced. “Do you mind if I take it off?” Emerald shook her head no.
“She told me not to.” Emerald repeated.
“You can trust me Emerald. I promise you won’t be hurt.” Rainbow said. She put her hoofs on Emeralds wrist band and slowly began to slide it off. Emerald tried to resist at first, but eventually gave in. Rainbow Dash gasped at what was under the wrist band. Two large black and blue hoof marks covered her hoof.
“Emerald. Who did this to you?” Rainbow asked, holding back her emotions. Emerald started tearing up a little.
“I told my mommy a lie.” She said monotone. “My mommy told me to do all the chores at home. I told her I finished them all, but she found out that I forgot to dust a few of her picture frames.” Emerald looked down at the hoof prints. “She just wanted to make sure I did not forget again.” Rainbow was disgusted. How could somepony lay a hoof on this poor filly? What would  drive a pony so mad that they would hurt such a sweet child. Quickly Rainbow realized that she was in no position to know what to do.
“You are not going back to your mom, Emerald.” Rainbow Dash got out.
“What!?” Emerald shouted.
“You are not ever going to go back to your mom Emerald.” Dash said.
“I have to! She’s my mom!” Emerald replied.
“I said no! I am not bringing you back to somepony who is going to hurt you!”
“She just does it when I do bad!” Emerald shouted. “She wants me to grow up and be perfect, just like her!” 
“I can’t believe what I am hearing.” Rainbow said. “Wait here, I need to talk to Fluttershy and Rarity about this. You are absolutely not going back to that pony!” Rainbow shouted as she left the room.


“Well, the decision has been made.” Rainbow said after about thirty or so minutes of debate. “We can’t let her go back to that pony.”
“I guess we will just find somewhere for her to stay, somepony to take care of her.” Fluttershy said.
“I absolutely agree.” Rarity added. “I’ll go bring her in here, and we will tell her what is going to happen.” Rarity left the room with a slow but determined walk.
“That poor poor filly.” Fluttershy got out. “She must be so scared.”
“I know.” Rainbow said.
“GIRLS!” Rainbow and Fluttershy heard Rarity shout. They quickly galloped into the living room to see what was up. Rarity was facing the two other mares who were both looking around the room.
They found the couch empty, the door wide open, and absolutely no trace of Emerald.

> Lost: The Begining
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Sir, that’s going to be 40 bits.”
“40!?” The bulky stallion exclaimed in disbelief. “That’s outrageous!”
“If you and your family want to ride this train, then I need 40 bits, simple as that.” The conductor stated with an annoyed look on his face. There was a long line of other ponies, impatiently waiting to board the train behind the enraged father. The sun represented mid-day as it stood perfectly in the center of the sky. The brown train car reflected light into the faces of the ponies waiting to board. 
“This is ridiculous! 40 bits is defiantly more than it cost to get my family here in the first place!” The red stallion argued as he motioned his hoof towards a purple mare and four small fillies.
The conductor sighed, leaning against the inside wall of the train. “Will you be entering the train or not?”
“I should be forcefully entering something else of yours-.” 
“THORN!” the disgusted purple mare snapped as she used her wing to slap the unsuspecting stallion’s face. His poofy, cloud like mane  bounced as he moved his attention to his wife, who had a cold enough stare painted on her face to freeze a volcano. His height seamed to shrink a little bit as he realized the defeat at his wife’s expense. “We will pay, that shouldn’t be a problem. Right hun?” she shot.  Thorn said nothing, but used his unicorn magic to float four 10 bit pieces to the colt who was struggling to stop himself from bursting in laughter. Thorn’s children however, had no problem giggling at the scene that just transpired. The family made their way into the train car and found a few seats together. Five of the Six sat down as the smallest filly made her way further to the back of the car. None of the family took notice of the migrating child at all.
“I can’t believe it was 40 bits.” The father muttered.
“I don’t want to hear anything out of you for the rest of the ride home.” The mother shot. She flipped her long, light blue mane to face away from her seat neighbor.
“They must have raised the price.” Thorn continued, paying no attention to his greatly displeased wife. “It used to only be 10 bits for adults, and 5 bits for kids.” He said as he shot a glance over his left shoulder across the aisle to his three children who were all taking up a row only meant for two. “It should have only cost 35 bits….” He trailed off as his wife rested her head on the window.
The rest of the passengers slowly filled up the train cars. No one even noticed the pegasus with the emerald eyes standing in aisle. All alone. 


Two ponys galloped quickly through Ponyville. Every step made loud clops that would easily get the attention of the passing ponies who would glance in curiosity at the charging duo. They expertly dogged oncoming traffic, evaded obstructions, and cut through several property lines to reach their destination. Spectators would be treated to a purple and pink blur if they did not focus hard enough. The runners were both breathing heavily as neither were used to too much exercise, however their will power pushed both of them to continue galloping. It was not too long before the end of their journey came into sight. They both fixed their eyes on the thousands of apples that represented their finish line. The two picked up speed simultaneously, still remaining side by side. They could make out a red barn that casted a shade that covered a large area in front of it. Both a white and orange dot emerged from the absence of light in front of the barn. At the realization of the charging ponies, the orange and white dots decided to run themselves and meet the other two half way. They all joined together at the opening of the gate that welcomed ponies to Sweet Apple Acers. 
“Good, huf, You’re both here.” Twilight pushed, still trying to catch her breath. “I ran and got Pinkie as soon as you told me the news.” Twilight said to Rarity. The pink party pony, while not as out of breath as Twilight, was gasping for air.
“Yeah, so what’s this about Dash’s filly?” Apple Jack asked, fixing her signature hat.
“WHAT!? Twilight, you didn’t tell me that Dash had a filly!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Come to think of it, Rainbow did not tell me either… Are you all trying to hide this from me?”
“Wha- Pinkie! Rainbow Dash does not have a filly!” Twilight responded.
“Rainbow Dash has been in charge of a filly for a little bit now due to unfortunate circumstances.” Rarity chimed in.
“Aaaand now the filly is lost?” Apple jack asked, raising an eyebrow to the situation overall. At this, Rarity dropped her head and stared at the ground.
“It… It was not actually her fault.” Rarity got out, which greatly caught the attention of the other ponies. “Both Fluttershy and I were there and none of us heard her leave.”
“What exactly happened?” Twilight asked. The ponies waited eagerly for the tale to be told. 
“You see.” Rarity started, but was stopped by a blur of random colors. This announced the air arrival of Rainbow Dash, who was breathing harder than she usually does after flying. The others kept their eyes on the new comer as Rainbow straightened up after her landing. Her eyes finally were visible to her friends, who all recognized the worry in them immediately. Even Pinkie was ready to take this situation serious for her friend.
“Any luck darling?” Rarity asked, breaking the moment of silence. Rarity knew the answer before the cyan pegasus could form the words.
“No… not yet.” Rainbow muttered. “I flew all over Ponyville over and over again, but she was nowhere to be found.”
“It’s okay, you tried your best.” Twilight started as she approached Rainbow, placing a comforting hoof on her back. “Maybe Fluttershy had better luck.”
“Maybe.” Rainbow doubted it, but it was not entirely impossible.
“It’s okay sugarcube,” Apple Jack started, “hows about you just take a few seconds to tell us what the hey happened.”
“Well…” Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. “I did something I shouldn’t have while working. This caused Emerald to fall off of Cloudsdale. Thankfully I found her on the outskirts of Ponyville.” Pinkie started tearing up at this moment. Surprisingly, this random act sort of lightened up the mood since none of the story was too sad yet. “I would have taken her back to Cloudsdale, but that was the time of the huge storm and this made it too dangerous for me to take the kid back. She stayed at my house and I intended to take her back the next day….but.” Rainbow Dash stopped. She could feel the emotions boil inside her. She felt just as she did when she learned the cruel truth behind the rather energetic and happy filly.
“That’s when we found out something dreadful.” Rarity took over, noticing Rainbow’s pain. “You see, Emerald wore an……interesting band on her fore hoof. I asked her if she wanted me to make her something nicer but she refused. She said that her mother demeaned she kept that band on.” Rarity stopped for a second, piecing together how she was going to word the rest of the story.
“That band.” Twilight said to herself loud enough for the rest of the ponies to hear. “I remember it…” She thought hard to remember the reaction Emerald gave both her and Rainbow Dash when they inquired about it. “She had a very odd reaction when it came to it.”
“There were scars and bruises under it.” Rainbow Dash coldy stated. “Her mother beats her.” The sentence seamed to linger in the air around the mares. They all waited for whatever would happen next, as they let the seriousness of the situation sink in. “That’s why I did not take her back home. Rarity, Fluttershy, and I talked in a different room about our options. When we were done…. she was gone.” 
“That’s just aweful.” Pinkie got out, still dropping tears.
“If I…” Rainbow started, letting tears of her own surface. “If I would have just taken her home to Cloudsdale, none of this would have happened. She would be safe.”
“You can’t go blaming yourself Dash.” Apple Jack cut in.
“But I told her I couldn’t go home to her own mother. Her MOTHER. You of all ponies should understand.” Rainbow’s voice began escalating. Apple Jack was caught off guard by the statement.
“I… I guess.” Apple Jack got out.
“Apple Jack!” Twilight gasped. “You can’t be serious!”
“If I lost Applebloom, I don’t know what I would do.” AJ shot out. “I know she’s only my sis, but I am sure Emerald’s mother feels the same way.” Rainbow let out more tears, giving a few quick breaths.
“This is different Apple Jack! Emeralds mother HURTS her. Such a mare deserves no interaction from their filly.” Rarity snapped, looking directly at Apple Jack. AJ took a few seconds to absorb the situation even more.
“Now because of me, the filly is alone in Celestia knows where!” Rainbow almost shouted.
“Rainbow Dash!” A voice called from the sky. Before Rainbow could look up to locate the origin of the voice, a pink haired mare landed quickly next to the five other ponies. “You know that’s not true!” Fluttershy scolded in a tone that failed to fit her personality.
“Shy, you can’t tell me what I do and do not know.” Rainbow said, getting frustrated. The other ponies were surprised with how the timid pony was acting. 
“For once, Rainbow Dash, you were taking responsibility. You cared for that little filly in the short amount of time you were watching her. Now that you are having difficulty, you are just beating yourself up?” Silence filled the air. “That’s not the Rainbow Dash I’ve known since childhood! Helped me through so much growing up and now when you have the perfect opportunity to prove all those hollow words, I find you here crying like….like me!” 
“I never said I was giving up!” Rainbow said. “I just wish I would have taken that filly back earlier. This all would have never happened! See? I am taking responsibility!” 
“No.” Fluttershy said, getting closer to Rainbow’s face. “You did not do anything wrong in not taking her back! You’re making excuses. The only thing that went wrong is that we all failed to keep an eye on her. Admit it; you don’t want her going back to that woman. You just won’t act up to the responsibility of watching that filly.”
“I think that’s enough Fluttershy.” Twilight spoke up, still afraid to get in the middle of the debate.
“I looked up to Rainbow Dash. All my life, I have looked up to Rainbow Dash. Now that I see her acting like me, It hurts.” Fluttershy got out, returning to her normal, soft voice. Rainbow looked at Fluttershy. How could Rainbow have had such an impact on her? Fluttershy was older than Rainbow in all. They would always hang out when the two lived in Cloudsdale. Often times Rainbow would get bullies off Fluttershy’s back and Fluttershy would help Rainbow Dash in school. Above all they were best friends.
“Dashie.” Pinkie said in a high pitch, innocent voice.
“Yeah Pinkie.”
“It’s time to find this filly.” She said very seriously. Rainbow looked at the pink pony. Pinkie Pie’s tears stopped a little bit ago. She now had a determined smile across her face.
“She ran away to get back to her mama, huh?” Apple Jack chimed. “Ain’t no way we can let that little filly get hurt anymore. Family is about love and comfort. Not fear and pain.” 
“How should we go about finding the little angel?” Rarity said, determination in her voice.
“You ready Rainbow?” Twilight asked, a spark in her eye. Rainbow looked at all her friends with the dumbest smile she has ever worn. 
“What do you say, Dash?” Fluttershy asked.
“I say,” Dash started, as she opened her fore hoofs, “that we should be able to find Emerald in ten seconds flat!” The six friends all came in for a group hug, smiles on all their faces.



Time crept by slowly as Emerald used all her strength to stay upright. She found comfort in looking out the windows and seeing the scenery all around the fast train. She had learned about the train system in school. She however never thought in her wildest of dreams that she would ever ride it. In fact, she never thought that she would ever touch her hooves to the ground. She never wanted to. 
“Excuse me, do you want a seat?” 
Emerald kept her eyes fixed out of a window. She noticed grand grasslands, tall mountains, and vast forests. She stared at a waterfall in the distance and lost herself in thought. Emerald could only recall the rainbow factory as the closest thing she has ever seen to a waterfall. It was so much more beautiful than she imagined by just hearing the word. She would do anything to be able to see one up close. Maybe even…swim in one. Was that possible?
“Excuse me, little miss?”
Emerald decided it would be best to ask her mommy about the water falls. Mommy will know. She always knows. Mommy is always there to tell Emerald when she has done something wrong. She wishes she was not wrong so often, and that she could do something right. Maybe mommy wouldn’t get so mad. Emerald made a mental note to be home before it got too dark. Mommy will be very upset if Luna’s moon is in the sky before Emerald gets there. Mommy needs her sleep.
“Miss?”
The feminine voice finally became audible to Emerald. The hoof in Emeralds eyesight did not hurt either.
“Oh, um, yes mam?” Emerald squeaked, jolting back a little from the shock. Emerald laid her eyes on the mare who questioned her. She was a purple adult pony. Emerald was immediately confused as she looked closer at this mare. She did not have wings or a cone on her head. Is she deformed? Emerald used to have a friend that was deformed in school. He had one small wing on one side and one normal sized wing on the other side.   
“I was just wondering if you wanted to take my seat, you’ve been standing in the aisle for some time now.” The purple pony gave a very comforting smile as Emerald thought about her next action.
“Ummm, I don’t have any bits.” Emerald finally said to the nice pony. The mare took a few seconds before letting out a little laugh. Emerald immediately blushed, afraid she answered wrong.
“Is this your first time on a train?” The pony asked. Emerald only nodded for her answer. “You don’t need to pay for a seat if you are already here.” Her green eyes were very enticing to the little filly. She immediately liked this pony.
“But,” Emerald began, “The family in front of me had to pay 40 bits just to get on!” The older pony chuckled again.
“They might have had a big family then. Go ahead, take my seat.” She said with a smile as she got up. “My stop is next anyway.” Emerald returned the smile of her new friend as she took the seat. She sat for a few seconds, relived to be off her hooves. The older pony stretched out her body and yawned. Her tail and mane swayed back and forth with her actions.
“It’s really comfy.” Emerald said, with a childish giggle.
“Good to hear.” The older pony said. “Are you on the train alone?”
“Yeah. I am going home!” The little pony announced in a gleeful tone.
“Oh, well that’s very nice, I bet your family is going to be happy. My name is Cheerilee, what’s your name?”
“I’m Emerald!”
“Emerald huh? That’s a cute name.”
“I like your name too, miss Cheerilee.” Cheerilee couldn’t help but laugh.
“You sound like my students.” She said with a smile.
“Students?” Emerald questioned. “Are you a teacher?”
“Yes I am, Emerald.” At this, Emerald got a good look at Cheerilee’s cutie mark. She saw three sunflowers with very happy faces on them. Wouldn’t that make her a gardener?
“Miss Cheerilee? Can I ask you a question?” Emerald asked, looking back at the grown mare’s face.
“Of course Emerald, what is it?” Cheerilee replied in her teacher voice.
“Umm... Are you deformed?” Emerald asked innocently. Cheerilee was completely taken back by the random question. She did a quick check of her body to see how someone might perceive her as deformed in any way. After passing her own test she thought for a moment on how she was going to answer this question.”
“I am not deformed.” She said with a monotone voice. “However did you come to that conclusion?”
“Are... are you a pegasus or unicorn?” Emerald questioned. Cheerilee let out another chuckle.
“Silly, I am nether. I am an earth pony.”
“Earth pony?”
“You don’t know what an earth pony is?” Emerald responded by shaking her head ‘no.’ Cheerilee took a deep breath before answering. “Equestria is made up of three different kinds of ponies; unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Earth ponies can’t fly or use magic, however, the way we are built we have typically more strength, stamina, and speed than the other races. Of course there are thousands of exceptions to this, but because earth ponies have a history of more laborious work and field dutys, we have adapted to perform these tasks more efficiently.”
“Oh. So which race is the best?” Emerald asked.
“Silly filly, there is no ‘Best’ race. In fact, ponies have been able to live peacefully and prosperously because of all the cooperation between the three races.” Emerald was amazed at this new information. She couldn’t believe there was so much she had left to learn.
“Thank you, Miss Cheerilee.” Emerald said with another bright smile.
“It’s no problem at all, Emerald.” As Cheerilee got that sentence out, the train began to slow down. The two ponies looked outside to see a wooden train stop. Many ponies stoop waiting for the giant train to screech to a complete stop before crowding the doorway. Many ponies in different seats got up and made their way to the exit. Family’s stuck close together as unicorns used their magic to lift luggage through the aisle. The new passengers were quickly replacing the old ones right in front of Emerald’s eyes. Cheerilee bid farewell as she joined the chaos of the other passengers. Emerald stuck close to the window as she waited for the train to start again.



“It’s getting late.” The farm pony remarked as she wiped a beat of sweat off her forehead. Her multicolored partner followed her lead and wiped her own brow. 
“It’s about time to meet the other girls at Sugar Cube corner.” Rainbow Dash said. “If we are lucky, one of them has a lead.”
“Day’s not necessarily over yet.” Apple Jack replied. “We got time.” The duo began trotting in the direction on Sugar Cube Corner. They had spent a few hours around the area that Rainbow and Emerald both used to search for the burrowing creatures that morning. Rainbow spent time on the ground with AJ and in the air during the search. Many times other animals would take the form of Emerald from a distance, but never to any avail. 
“AJ?” Rainbow began mid trot.
“What’s up RD?” Apple Jack replied.
“Thanks for helping me as much as you have.” Rainbow got out. There is no way Rainbow was about to find Emerald all on her own.  
“I did what all of our friends did.” AJ started. “Because we know that you would do the same for us in a heartbeat.” She was right. There is nothing that Rainbow wouldn’t do for her friends. She just wanted to make sure that Apple Jack understood her appreciation. After a few minutes they arrived at the Shop and let themselves in. Mr. Cake was making the most noise by beating a concoction of what Rainbow could only guess is cake batter. Mrs. Cake had the babies, Pound and Pumpkin Cake, in separate high chairs, feeding them a concoction that looked worse than the raw cake batter. Rainbow and Apple Jack spotted Fluttershy and Rarity at one of the tables set up for costumers to the right of the door.
“Good after noon Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” AJ said as the two mares stepped through the store.
“Hi Mr. and Ms. C.” Rainbow called out herself.
“Oooh well hello there Rainbow and AJ. Any Luck with the search at all?” Mrs. Cake asked, genuinely eager to hear any news at all.
“Not yet, but all is not lost until the sore rooster crows.” AJ replied with a little bit of forced enthusiasm.
“That’s rather unfortunate. I don’t know WHAT I would do if one of these rascals got lost like that.” Mrs. Cake said with a little sadness in her voice. She must be imagining the scenario very vividly in her mind.
“Rainbow, you’re not gonna have your boss barge in a scare us half to death again, are you?” Mr. Cake teased. Rainbow forgot that she had work tomorrow. She might have to take the day off if they don’t end up finding Emerald today. Psyrin, her boss, would be PISSED.
“Haha,” Rainbow forced, “Not today.” The four friends joined together at the table and failed to say a word for a minute or so.
“Im gussing you two had about as much luck as we did.” Apple Jack finally said, breaking the scilence.
“We looked all over the boarder of the town, and asked many ponies, but we couldn’t find anything.” Rarity said, looking down in failure.
“We even asked the hot air balloon pony if she made any trips to Cloudsdale but it turns out she did not have ANY costumers today.” Fluttershy added.
“We did not find much, ourselves.” AJ said, disappointed to hear the failure of the other ponies. A few seconds later brought the sound of the bell attached to the door as Pinkie Pie bounced in closely followed by Twilight Sparkle.
“No luck?” Twilight asked as she got closer to the table. The seated ponies all shook their heads in unison.
“That’s not good.” Pinkie said. Her bouncy pink mane seamed to deflate a little at this info.”
“We looked up and down Ponyville. Not one trace of her. It’s almost like she never existed at all.” Twilight stated. The six friends were all quickly lost in deep thought. 
“We just have to look harder!” Rainbow Dash declared.
“Yeah! She’s gotta be somewhere, she can’t be Nowhere. That’s very impossible!” Pinkie said.
“Well, Captian Obvious, you are right about that!” AJ said with a little laugh in her words.
“Let’s switch up the teams and explore every possibility!” Twilight declared. No pony was going to give up. They were going to find this filly.



Emerald continued spacing out of the window during her ride. The train has not made any stops since Cheerilee got off, but it has been a few hours for sure. At least, that’s how it felt to Emerald. Suddenly, Emerald felt the rest of the seat next to her get lower as she turned to find a grey stallion take the seat for himself. Emerald opened her mouth to talk, but was quickly silenced faster than she could get the words out.
“I hope you don’t mind that I sit here next to you for the rest of the train ride, little filly.” The Stallion said, looking directly at Emerald as he talked. 
“I, I guess not.” She got out; she was completely shocked with the random company.
“Good, good,” Is all he said as he sunk down lower in the seat. Emerald let out a breath as she continued to look outside of the window. “So, I heard you tell that pretty Mare that you were alone on this trip, am I right?” He asked with a smile.
“Yeah, that’s true.” Emerald replied, keeping her gaze out of the window. Momma told her never to lie.
“Then do you have folks waiting for you in Las Pegasus?” She large stallion asked.
“No, my mom lives in Cloudsdale.” Emerald replied.”
“Perfect.”

> Lost: The Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Where could she be?” Twilight thought allowed as her and Rainbow Dash briskly made their way through Ponyville. They kept a very competitive pace, one that Rainbow Dash herself thought to be decently fast. Dash’s eyes scanned the familiar scenery of the town. The houses passed like birds in the sky as the two found themselves closer to the edge of the northern most part of town, made obvious by the almost sudden lack of houses and abundance of wide open space that comprised of trees and grass.   The unicorn and pegasus duo took a quick second to catch their breaths before turning about face and continuing their vigilant search.
I’m never letting this filly out of my sight again. Rainbow thought to herself as she recounted all the trouble she has gone through for Emerald. As confident as Rainbow was about finding the child, she couldn’t help but fight back her worries. 
“Where would I be if I was a filly?” Twilight questioned herself loud enough for Rainbow to hear.
“School most likely.” Rainbow joked. It was not really the time to be cracking jokes, but Rainbow held on to the dry humor in order to keep herself from losing her mental battle with worry.
“Very funny Dash.” Twilight sarcastically muttered. “School’s out today, it’s a weekend.” As correct as she was with that statement, it did not help the situation at hand. The two went on for a little bit, not speaking to each other at all. They searched up and down the roads multiple times, never with satisfying results. They came across the river that cuts through Ponyville and both dipped their heads down to drink. The freezing cold water burned the back of Rainbow’s throat as she forced the liquid down. She squinted a little in pain and relaxed her face as soon as it was over. She opened her eyes and stared at her reflection in the water for a little bit. 
Emerald’s not even my filly. Rainbow thought. I never would have imagined I would care this much about some kid I barely even know. For a moment, Rainbow thought hard about what would have happened if she didn’t make Emerald fall in the first place. Rainbow’s mood drastically changed at this idea. For some reason she became….mad. Was she mad at herself for what she did to Emerald? That’s a stupid question, she’s completely angry for the pain she caused Emerald. But… Rainbow played with her thoughts for a second.
I’m…Happy I met Emerald.
Rainbow froze. She was momentarily oblivious to the world around her. What does this mean? Is she happy that Emerald fell? No, that can’t be it. If it came down to it, however, she wouldn’t change what she did. Is it bad to feel like this?
“Rainbow, are you ready, or are you frozen by your looks……again?” Twilight successfully pulled Rainbow out of the deep abyss that was her thoughts.
“Wha? No. I’m just, um, I think I, ughhh, do I have something blue on my face?” Rainbow quickly got out as she straightened up and began rubbing her face with her hooves.
“Blue?” Twilight inspected Rainbow. “You know you’re blue, right?” 
“Oh, am I? That’s weir…..” Rainbow trailed off, realizing that she’s not fooling the librarian. “So, we should hurry up and get back to the search!” Rainbow enthusiastically exclaimed, trying her best to change the subject. Rainbow immediately began moving her head around as if she was still searching.



The train speed through Equestria faster than Emerald could even compare to anything. She did not take her eyes off of the openness of the world outside for anything. The colt next to her would randomly ask her questions, but it did not annoy Emerald too much.
He’s just trying to be my friend.
She didn’t necessarily dislike the strange colt, but he did give off uncomfortable vibes every so often. Every time he would ask something, Emerald’s thoughts would fly back to Rainbow Dash. She felt so close to Rainbow Dash in the short time that they knew each other. Emerald found comfort in the thought of Rainbow coming to her rescue on that dreadful night. The way Rainbow’s warm coat felt in the cold rain was a feeling Emerald does not feel she could ever replicate. How could she have been so wrong about Rainbow Dash? Why did Rainbow Dash have to turn into a bad pony? Why would Rainbow Dash say she couldn’t see her mommy? Rainbow Dash was so nice to her throughout this horrible ordeal. Was it an act? For what?
“We’re almost at Las Pegasus, are you ready?” The colt asked with the same unnerving smile carved on his face. Emerald momentarily unglued her eyes from her window. She gave the earth pony next to her a very confused look.
“I’m going to Cloudsdale.” Emerald stated plainly.
“Oh really? Because you couldn’t be farther from Cloudsdale if you tried.” The stallion said through his grin.
“What?” Emerald questioned, genuinely confused.
“You can’t get to Cloudsdale by train.”  Emerald felt like a huge weight was just attached to her heart. Emerald quickly began looking all around her desperately for some kind of answer. “If you want to go to Cloudsdale, you better come with me.” Emerald looked into the stallion’s purple eyes. Her worried mind began working faster and faster as she ran out of options.
“You can take me home?”



The sun in the sky began falling faster than Rainbow Dash was ready for. It will be night soon, that’s going to make the search near impossible, as if it was not impossible already. Rainbow and Twilight had asked many ponies about the whereabouts of the missing filly with absolutely no luck. It would seem that the filly somehow made her way through the town alone without arousing the suspicion of a single pony. Ponyville has always been a relatively safe location for fillies, however, one as young as Emerald walking alone would still be an abnormal sight. Rainbow Dash thought through all of the bad things that could have happened to Emerald for the millionth time. Every morbid thought made Rainbow slightly cringe. She did not like thinking of these absolute worst case scenarios, but for some reason, she couldn’t help but scare the crap out of herself.
“Hey, Twilight?”
“Yes Rainbow?”
“Do you think Emerald could have left Ponyville?” Rainbow asked, her eyes completely reflecting her worry.
“It would sure seem that way.” Twilight said in a very defeated tone. “I think that all of us had this feeling, but we were just hoping it was not true.” The two ponies slowed their pace slightly as if to process the conversation farther. The park they were cutting through seamed slightly less lively then it usually is. There were a few ponies in the area, but not enough to create the noise that the two were used to.
“If she left, where would she go?” Rainbow questioned, hiding her desperation.
“We can rule out Cloudsdale.” Twilight said with confidence. “Even though that is most likely her destination, the only way she would realistically get there is the balloon and we already confirmed that it did not carry any passengers today.” 
“I just hope she didn’t end up in the Everfree forest.” Rainbow said, mentally knocking on wood. 
“I doubt it, she may be young, but the Everfree forest just plain LOOKS vicious. She’s not stupid.” This made Rainbow feel a little bit better. Twilight was right, nothings natural or inviting about that forest. 
Both ponies looked to the sky. The sun was halfway down. Rainbow thought about the other four ponies that were working so hard. Did they have any luck? Maybe one of them found some sort of lead. It’s not entirely impossible. At this point, Rainbow would accept any good luck whatsoever. 
“It’s getting real late.” Twilight started. “We should meet up with everyone else and go through our options.” Rainbow did not want to give up. If she could, she would spend all night searching until this filly was found. However, Twilight Sparkle was right. It was slowly getting dark. In not too long, it will be almost impossible to see.  Poor Emerald. All alone in the dark. The way Rainbow made her that one night. She tried her best to bury these thoughts. Rainbow and Twilight began their “walk of shame” back to the library. The six friends agreed that would be the meeting place this time, as Sugar Cube Corner would be closed. Twilight kept her head down on the walk home, where as Rainbow Dash kept her eyes scanning the road for anything that they could have missed during their rounds. Luckily, Twilight’s home was not too far away. The sun set casted a light orange hue on the buildings that created the shadows that Rainbow and Twilight walked through. They softly heard the unmistakable “whooo” of a night owl who was presumably waking up from his day time slumber to own the night. This noise had Rainbow momentarily search the skies, almost expecting to find Emerald was the origin of the noise.
Did I really just think that? I must be tired. Rainbow did not realize how tired she actually was. She had been moving around literally all day. Maybe it’s good that they are calling it quits. They will find Emerald faster with more energy.
THUD!
Rainbow felt a random pain in her neck and chest as she was examining the sky. Before she knew it, she had tripped over a heavy object and fell on her side. The shock seamed to hurt her more than the actual fall. She let out a little yelp as she hit the ground. Twilight, whose face was still fixed to the ground, jumped as she was startled by the random noise. Her face shot up quickly to locate the cause of Rainbow’s distress.
A wooden wagon seamed to shake violently back and forth, while still staying on its four wheels. The wagon stood to just below Twilight’s chin in height; however the withe was nothing too impressive, being a little bit less than two feet wide. The disproportioned wagon was quickly controlled, despite how much it was shaking. The contents moved around quite a bit, making tons of noise.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! Are you ok?” A familiar voice called from behind the wagon. Rainbow looked up to find a purplish hoof, too light to be twilight’s, extended to her. “Oh, it’s Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow accepted the hoof and rose from the ground to meet her attacker eye to eye.
“Cheerilee?!” The blue pegasus exclaimed, genuinely surprised to run into the teacher. Cheerilee gave Rainbow a warm smile.
“Are you okay Rainbow Dash?” Cheerilee questioned. “I did not see you until I felt the cart shake.” 
“I’m fine, it’s no big deal.” Rainbow said as she flapped her wings to get the dirt out of her coat.
“Hi Cheerilee!” Twilight greeted in a formal, friendly tone. Twilight calmed down after the sudden surprise and shot a smile toward her friend.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Cheerilee almost shouted. “Here you are! I went to the Library but you weren’t there.”
“I’m sorry, was there something you needed?” Twilight questioned.
“I just picked up a bunch of books from a few towns over for the school, but I seemed to grab more than I needed, so I was wondering if there was room in the Library for them.” Cheerilee said, motioning one of her hoofs over the deformed cart. Twilight peeked over the edge at the contents of the wagon. There were a few books (now in disarray because of the attack on Rainbow) that filled the wagon about half full. Or half empty. One of the two. 
“Well, I would love to check them out.” Twilight said as she searched the contents for any book she did not already recognize. There were a few that she had already seen in the library, but she couldn’t tell too well with the light fading as fast as it was.
“I’ll bring them by again tomorrow.” Cheerilee said with a smile. “I don’t want to walk home too late tonight.”
“That sounds good! Thank you, Cheerilee!” Twilight said with a hint of happiness in her voice. Twilight seamed to sound like a kid excited for their birthday the next day. 
“Okay, I’ll see you then Twilight!” Cheerilee said. “I’m sorry again Rainbow, I did not mean to hit you.” She said as she got ready to push the cart again.
“It’s all good!” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof. Cheerilee began to walk away as Twilight and Rainbow continued in their original direction.
“I might have to move a few books, but I think there will be room.” Twilight muttered to herself as they walked.
“I can see you’re excited.” Rainbow said with a chuckle. 
“Wait.” Twilight said softly to herself. Her eyes grew momentarily as she turned around immediately. “Cheerilee!!!” She called. The purple earth pony had only made it about a few building lengths away before the call.
“Yes Twilight?” The pony stooped and turned around to hear the unicorn better.
“Tomorrow won’t work! I’ll be looking for someone!” Twilight called. “Sorry!”
“Looking for someone!?” Cheerilee questioned. Even Rainbow forgot for a quick second. The whole meeting was so sudden that Emerald completely slipped her mind.
“Yeah, I’m looking for a lost filly!” Twilight called back.



“This is the last stop for the night. We ask that you watch your step as you make your way off the train, and we hope that you have a safe night!” An enthusiastic voice called from the front of the train very loudly. Emerald couldn’t help but ignore everything going on inside the train. The outside was significantly more entertaining. Emerald has been staring at the brightly lit town since the moment she could see the small glowing speck in the distance. Never before has she seen anything so fascinating. Huge billboards held pictures in the sky, as the tall buildings completely crushed anything Emerald could imagine. Thousands and thousands of ponies bustled in different directions on the ground as the sky was littered with different pegasus ponies all seaming to be going in absolutely different directions. Emerald’s favorite part was the lights. Every building, billboard, carriage, street lamp, and even the fountains that burst water high into the air all were made up of complete rainbows of different lights. Emerald could see the lights create a spectrum of different colors on the window next to her seat. Her eyes bounced from left to right as she absorbed the atmosphere. For the first time on her trip, she felt completely excited. She felt like a load of worry and loneliness was left behind. She had made it to a place that never gets dark.
“Are you just going to stare outside that window all night?” The gray colt asked with a small hint of annoyance in his voice. Emerald momentarily disconnected her eyes from the mesmerizing city to look back at the stallion. His short, dark blue mane seamed to stay perfectly still as he kept his gaze on her.  Emerald did not realize how long she had been sitting there while the train was stopped. She shot a glance around the train and noticed that significantly more than half of the other ponies had already left the train. She hopped on her feet and got into the aisle next to the colt. She motioned with his head for her to lead the way out. Emerald was really excited to see the town from the roads. She took off in a pace that her escort was not ready for. 
“40 bits, that’s just donkey shi-owowowowowww.” Emerald over heard as she passed the ponies on the train. The moment Emerald stepped out of the train; she was frozen in awe at the world in front of her. She had full range to move her head around and take in more of the scenery. Emerald felt a sudden shove from behind as the stallion stepped into her original spot.
“Don’t block the exit.” He demanded. Emerald stumbled for a step or two, but she was ultimately able to keep her balance. She turned around to face the colt, who just sighed and started walking toward the city. “Stay close to me. We don’t want you getting lost.”
Emerald obeyed obediently. It didn’t take a scholar to see that a filly could get lost in the hoof traffic easier than a baby beaver could get caught in a river’s current. Emerald made sure to stay close as she walked in-between the monstrous buildings. Occasionally, she would physically brush another pony or two in the crowded streets. Noise played a big part in the atmosphere as she heard hundreds of conversations at one time, making a single one too hard to understand in less she really concentrated. Ponies of all kinds of races and colors and sized occupied the entire town. Emerald was slightly intimidated to be surrounded by so many ponies; however, her new obsession with the lights and beautiful colors greatly comforted her. Her claustrophobic situation was made better throughout the entire walk. Emerald would make sure to check her distance between her and her escort every so often so she did not get lost.
Lost.
Emerald’s mind raced back to how lost she felt after her terrible fall. She had a quick vision of the rain and the darkness that made her feel so stranded. The fog and storm that made her feel so alone. This is something that she never ever wants to feel again.
“We are almost there.” Emerald faintly heard the big pony in front of her call back. Almost where? Cloudsdale? In all the excitement, Emerald forgot to get the details of how she was supposed to get home from her guide. She never even got his name. She took a long look at the colt and analyzed him. His cutie mark was a singular mug that failed to show the contents. His grey coat was a little messy and greatly complimented his dark blue mane and tail that looked even messier. 
“Where are we going?” Emerald finally asked.
“Here.” The stallion said as they fought their way through a crowd of strangers to reach the door of a smaller, dimly lit building. It was a place that blended into the scenery and did not stand out in any way. It was nowhere near as tall as the other buildings, and had no colored lights on it at all. There was a dimly lit sign connected to the roof of the rectangular shaped building. There were only a few small windows on the face of the bare building. The wooden door creaked as the earth pony pushed it open with his hoof. He held the door as Emerald walked inside. The inside was a little bit more impressive, but noting too extremely special. Emerald recognized that this was some sort of restaurant. There were a few circular tables that spread across the floor on the right side of the room. On the left side was open space that led to a counter type area that had tall chairs positioned at the area. On the other side of the counter was an impressive amount of different bottles and glassed that were all filled with different kinds of liquids. Next to the shelves were stacks of wooden barrels that stood upright by a large wooden stopper. Small light bulbs hung from the ceiling and kept the restaurant lit, if only a little. The entire interior had a smooth wooden finish. Emerald noticed a door behind the counter but couldn’t see where it led. The grey pony stepped inside behind Emerald and closed the door behind them.
“Why are we at a restaurant?” Emerald asked.
“This is my bar.” The pony started as he began drawing the velvet curtains over the four windows that faced the street.
“Bar?” Emerald questioned, confused.
“It’s a restaurant for older ponies.” He said.
“Where are the customers?” Emerald asked, turning around to check if she missed anyone.
“The bar is closed today,” he began, “Had to visit my family so I closed the place.”
“But, why are we here?” Emerald asked.
“We are going to stay here for a while.” The stallion said with a small chuckle, closing the last window.
“You said you were going to take me home…”
“Yeeeeeeah, you’re not going home.” He said, as he locked the door. 


“A lost filly?” Cheerilee called back, her nurturing teacher instincts kicking in. “Who?”
“She’s a little pegasus from out of town.” Rainbow called back.
“Wait, did she have a yellow coat?!” Cheerilee called back. Rainbow’s heart began racing. Before she even knew what she was doing, her wings closed the gap between her and Cheerilee. The school teacher was startled by the sudden approach of Rainbow Dash. She jumped slightly, but regained her composure almost as instantly.
“You’ve seen a filly with a yellow coat?!” Rainbow belated out. This is not exactly what Rainbow meant to ask, but her excitement got the best of her. Within a few seconds, Twilight teleported next to the two conversing ponies. Cheerilee was slightly caught off guard.
“Yes, I came across and yellow pegasus filly earlier today. She had a dark green mane and tail with a light green hair band and streak. She also wore a white wrist band on her left forehoof.”
“THAT’S EMERALD!” Both Rainbow and Twilight shouted in unison.
“Yes, that’s right, she said her name was Emerald.” Cheerilee told them, happy to remember the details. Rainbow’s heart felt as if it were dancing. 
“Where is she?!” Rainbow asked. 
“Oh… I met her on the train.”
The train. Emerald made it on the train.
“Which train, where was she going, did you see her get off!?” Rainbow asked quickly. “Was… was she okay?” Cheerilee noticed the change in tone.
“If you don’t mind me asking, who is this little filly? Cousen?” Cheerilee asked curiously.
“No.” Rainbow started. “She’s my responsibility. I’m the reason she was on that train.” Cheerilee looked Rainbow in the eyes for a few seconds before replying.
“She was on the train to Las Pegasus. I know she got off there because that was the last stop.” Cheerilee finally said, recounting the details on the spot.
“She went all the way to Las Pegasus!?” Twilight exclaimed with worry in her voice.
“Yeah, she said she was visiting family.” The earth pony said.
“Her mom lives in Cloudsdale, but she did not say anything about any other family anywhere else.” Rainbow said. Rainbow did not think it would be important to ask Emerald a question like that. Proves her wrong.
“Hmm, well if you are telling me that she is alone in Las Pegasus then we could have a MAJOR problem on our hoofs.” Twilight said.
“Yes, that is not a safe place for a little filly to be alone, especially this late at night.” Cheerilee said, understanding the seriousness of the situation. Rainbow took a few seconds to think through her options. Finding Emerald would be almost impossible in a large town like Las Pegasus, but since she knows for sure that Emerald is there, she has no time to waste.
“Twilight, you go back to the library and tell the others. Try to see anyone wants to get on the next train to Las Pegasus to help me. There should be a night train leaving soon. I am going to fly there as fast as I can.” Rainbow commanded, already getting her wings prepared for takeoff.
“Wait Rainbow Dash!” Twilight used her magic to keep Rainbow grounded by putting her in a purple aura. “Las Pegasus is way too far for you to safety fly there. You should come back to the library so we can all get on the train.”
“Twilight, Emerald is alone in that big town, I’ve gotta help her.” Rainbow snapped at her friend.
“You’re not going to be much help to anyone if you’re dead Rainbow Dash!” Twilight almost screamed at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow began fighting the magical grip as hard as she could. Cheerilee backed up a little bit, as to not get between the two ponies.
“Let go Twilight!” Rainbow shouted. 
“If you really want to help Emerald Rainbow Dash, you need to cooperate!” Twilight scolded.
“I can get there just fine Twilight!” Rainbow started. “I’ve been flying all my life. It’s my passion! Now that I can do it for something I care about, I should take the chance!” Twilight sighed in frustration at this.
“I am not letting you go until you agree to come back to the library and plan this out!” Twilight bit back. 
“Any more time planning and we might never find Emerald. Time is running out!” Rainbow lashed.
“So it’s best that we use the time we have wisely!” Twilight replied, losing her patience.  Rainbow struggled as much as she could but eventually gave up. 
“Fine Twilight. You win.” The defeated pegasus said, dropping her head.
“Good.” Was all the unicorn said as her horn’s light disappeared with the light around Rainbow Dash. “Thank you for all your help, Cheerilee.” 
“No problem.” The purple pony said. “If you need absolutely anything, just let me know.” With that, they parted ways. Rainbow Dash dragged her hoofs as they made their way back. 
Emerald could be in trouble right now. As sure as I am walking, she could be in trouble. Rainbow repeated this in her mind over and over again. She couldn’t stand doing nothing.
“By this time, the others are sure to be back at the library.” Twilight said as she led the way. “If we are lucky then all of them will be able to come and help our search in Las Pegasus.” Twilight’s head dipped down a bit as she began thinking allowed. “Where would she have gone in a town that big? Asking ponies would be relatively pointless since there’s just too many of them. I guess Rainbow and Fluttershy can do fly overs while the rest of us check the hotels and gambling areas. What do you think Rainbow Dash, is that a good idea?” Twilight’s head lifted up as she turned to face Rainbow, only to find that no pony was there. Twilight squinted in the darkness to see a very faint trail of rainbow, quickly flying away.



“I, I don’t understand.” Emerald said, slowly backing away. 
“Let’s just say,” The stallion started as he began advancing slowly on Emerald, “You won’t be going home.”
“But, you said that you would take me home.” Emerald said, increasing her speed slightly. “You, you said that….you said you would take me home. That’s what you said…” Emerald couldn’t hide her feelings any longer. Any façade she had that projected a stronger or more fearless version of herself was gone. Tears started flowing to her eyes as she gathered all her strength.  In one sudden moment, she quickly attempted to launch herself at the door, flapping her wings as if they would help propel herself to her destination.
Snap!
Emerald felt her body force her three feet to her left side. Her body slammed forcefully into a table that fell over due to the projectile. Emerald screamed in pain as her body hit the floor. A hoof was immediately shoved into her mouth as she was effectively silenced.
“I see you can’t fly yet.” The earth pony laughed. “It wasn’t hard to use my hoofs to hit you away from the door.” Emerald tried her best to scream with the hoof in her mouth. She produced a large array of different sounds; none of them however were audible from the outside at all. Emerald struggled to get herself off the ground by spastically moving her hoofs and wings. Emerald has never felt this scared before. 
“Shshshshhhh. It’s going to be okay.” The colt started, holding an evil look in his eyes. “As long as you do everything I say. Everything will turn out just fine.” He remained on top of her until she calmed down. Emerald decided that fighting back at this point would be useless anyway. The Stallion completely overpowered her. Emerald was completely pinned down. The stallion slowly removed his hoof.
“What *sob* what do you want from me?” Emerald asked mid cry. She had absolutely no idea why she was where she was in the first place. Her teacher told her to always be careful because of these ponies called kidnappers, but whenever she would tell her momma about them, mamma would just laugh. Momma had her get medication every week very late at night. Emerald was always scared of the dark, and she never liked getting the medication. Whenever she told Momma about the kidnappers who steal fillies away at night time, Momma would say that kidnappers only steal stupid fillies. Was Emerald a stupid filly?
“This is what’s going to happen. You see that door behind the bar?” Emerald moved her head to see what door he was talking about. “We are going to go into that dark room and you are going to do whatever I tell you to do.” Emerald’s curiosity sparked immediately as she studied the door. It was very plain. There was no way to see through it as it was just a normal wooden door with a handle and a keyhole. What was back there?
“When can I go home?” Emerald asked, still letting tears fall down her eyes.  
“In a few seconds, Ill introduces you to your new room.”



The door at the library flew open as four ponies jumped at the sudden noise.
“Good heavens!” Rarity exclaimed at the arrival. “Whatever was that for, Twilight?”
“Emerald is in Las Pegasus!” Was all the purple pegasus at the door could get out in between breaths. She stood for a second to try and regain her posture, but was momentarily crippled by the absence of oxygen.
“Las Pegasus!?” The four shouted in unison at the surprising news.
“How in blazes did a little filly get herself all the way to Las Pegasus!?” Apple Jack asked, confused.
“She,” Twilight started, stopping momentarily to catch her breath, “She got on the train.”
“The train? That’s just awful!” Fluttershy exclaimed.
“Twilight, where’s Dashie?” Pinkie asked, noticing that Rainbow was nowhere to be seen.
“She’s on her way to Las Pegasus right now.” Twilight replied.
“How is she ‘on her way’ exactly?” Apple Jack questioned. Twilight hesitated a few seconds before telling. 
“She, uh, is flying there right now.” Twilight said in a defeated voice. The other four ponies were completely shocked to hear this news.
“If Rainbow flies all the way to Las Pegasus, she overexert herself and end up getting hurt!” Fluttershy said in a concerned voice.
“Let’s go! We need to get to the train, and fast!” Twilight commanded. The others agreed and they all followed Twilights lead and galloped behind her.



Rainbow flapped her wings as fast as she could. She kept feeling that at any moment she would release another Sonic Rainboom. Trees passed so fast below her that they only looked like dark shadows. Rainbow Dash kept determined as she thought about Emerald. She was going to find Emerald this time. This time, Emerald’s coming home with her. Safely.