Confusion
It had been a rough day.
Rainbow Dash was annoyed. It was that day that she had become a hero. Ponyville’s only hero. But it just had to be that same day when it was taken away from her just as she was enjoying it. Mare Do Well. It had been because of her that Rainbow’s reputation had been ruined. After her first appearance, Rainbow hadn’t been able to do anything right and instead Mare Do Well steps in and gets all the attention. When she told her friends about how she felt, all they did was simply laugh at her. Rainbow had tried her best to gain her reputation back by helping out the locals with little things like crossing the street and opening a peanut butter jar, but that only succeeded in humiliating her even more.
It had involved a confusing chase throughout alleyways, with Mare Do Well appearing around each and every corner, but Rainbow had finally managed to confront and unmask Mare Do Well, only to find that it had been her friends all along. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. All five of them were behind the whole Mare Do Well act.
“I don’t understand,” Rainbow was saying, after they had all explained how the scheme had been carried out. She turned to her friends. “Why? Don’t you want me to be a hero?”
“Of course, we want you to be a hero!” Twilight replied.
“But a real hero doesn’t brag!” Applejack piped up.
Rainbow Dash turned away from her friends. So that was it. The reason behind the whole act: to get her to stop her bragging and boasting. “So,” she finally spoke after a moment of silence. “All five of you were in this whole act together.”
“That’s right, sugarcube.”
“And you ruined my reputation and humiliated me,” anger started to build up in Rainbow’s tone. “Just so you could get me to stop bragging.”
The smiles from Rainbow’s friends suddenly faded away.
“That-that wasn’t part of the-” Fluttershy started.
The blue pegasus turned to face them again, her eyes filled with rage. “Is that your idea of a friend!?” she started shouting. “To set me up and turn me into Ponyville’s laughingstock because I let all the attention get to my head!?!?”
“Rainbow, that wasn’t what we-”
Twilight faltered under Rainbow’s glare. “I see how it is,” Rainbow growled. She turned and sped off into the sky without another word. She could hear her friends yelling desperately after her but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to hear from her friends, or rather the ponies she had once called friends, anymore. The friends she knew would never attempt to plot her humiliation.
Rainbow raced blindly through the skies. She didn’t know where she was going. And she didn’t care. All she cared about was getting away from the five ponies who had betrayed her. I don’t care about them anymore, she thought to herself. Who needs to care about them? I don’t need them anymore!
She could feel the winds blowing fiercely against her; never before had she flown this fast. Not once did she stop, not once did she look back. Within mere moments, Ponyville was only a speck in the distance.
“Dash! Dashie, come back! DASHIE!” Pinkie Pie was shouting after the pegasus with a tone of panic in her voice. It was one of the rare times that Pinkie was not sounding like her happy cheerful self.
The moment Rainbow Dash had flew off, the rest of the mane five raced after her, shouting, pleading her to turn back. Fluttershy flew, but even she couldn’t catch up to Rainbow. Eventually, they all stopped at the outskirts of Ponyville, out of breath.
“Rainbow, this ain’t funny at all!” Applejack hollered at the pegasus, who was now a small speck in the distance. “Come back here!”
“She doesn’t know what she’s doing!” Twilight said rather to the rest of her friends than to Rainbow.
They stood there watching Rainbow fly away in panic and horror until they could no longer see her. There was a long and uneasy silence. Their Rainbow Dash, the one pony who was always there for them, was gone. Loyalty was gone.
Finally, Fluttershy started panicking. “This can’t be happening,” she said. “Oh Celestia, this just can’t be happening!”
“Settle down, sugarcube,” Applejack patted her on the back, even though she sounded worried herself too. “Ah’m sure we’ll be able to think of sumthin’”.
“I’ve seen Rainbow annoyed plenty of times,” Rarity began. “But I’ve never seen her act this recklessly before”.
Meanwhile, Twilight had been thinking of possible options instead of listening to what her friends were saying. She paced back and forth. “We should tell the weather team about this,” she finally said. “They’ll find her.”
Rarity looked at the purple unicorn. “Are you sure about that, darling?”
“I’m sure” she stated firmly. “Rainbow is in charge of the weather team. The pegasi there won’t stop searching for her until she is found”
“But-” Twilight turned to Rarity to listen to her response. “Don’t you think we should give her some time to herself? Let her calm down?”
Twilight turned away again. “I don’t think so, Rarity. Not this time. She’s not in her right mind right now. And like you said: you’ve never seen her act this recklessly before”. She looked back at the direction where Rainbow had flown. Nothing moved; everything was still. There was no sign of Rainbow flying back. Twilight was confident just moments before, but now even she was starting to doubt that the weather team would find Rainbow.
Sylvia
The skies over Fillydelphia were mostly clear that day; only a few clouds could be seen. The streets were bustling with activity; ponies hurried along, going about their usual business whether it would be opening up their shops, picking up supplies from nearby vendors or simply just taking a leisurely stroll.
Sylvia looked outside her window to observe her neighbourhood before going back to packing her saddlebags. The mornings in Fillydelphia were always so busy. The young unicorn took one last peek to make sure that all her needed materials were packed before slinging the saddlebags over her back with her telekinesis and heading downstairs.
The kitchen was empty; Sylvia’s parents had already left for work. It didn’t always happen, but sometimes her parents had to leave early and didn’t have time to take care of her. Sylvia checked her lunch bag. Her mom had packed her a hay sandwich. She tucked her lunch bag into her saddlebags, however, before heading out the door, she stared at one of the mirrors in the front hall.
Her mother had always said she was pretty. Sylvia disagreed. Her coat was a bright shade of fuchsia, contrasting with her light pink mane which hung straight down. She had no cutie mark yet. Sylvia knew she wasn’t the prettiest filly on the block; she knew because no pony ever gave her one of those stares that they would give to other ponies when they thought they were pretty. Nopony had a crush on her. She would notice if they had.
Once she was out the door, Sylvia looked around again. A fair majority of Fillydelphia was in good shape but there were still areas that were recovering from the parasprite infestation, about a year and a half ago. She remembered how the swarm had been a disaster. More than half of the city’s food supply had been lost to the parasprites and a million bits had to be spent for repair costs. If Princess Celestia had not covered for most of the damages, the city would have been lost; the citizens would have had to find a new city to settle in and Fillydelphia would have been no more.
Sylvia looked up. She had to admit: the blue sky was beautiful. Prettier than me at least, she thought to herself. She then turned her attention to the airborne pegasi. Like the rest of the ponies on the ground, the pegasi were minding their own business, flying around, getting where they need to go. There was one pegasus, however, that caught her attention. She was flying at the outskirts of Fillydelphia rather than over Fillydelphia like the other pegasi. Her coat was grey but Sylvia could tell that it wasn’t a natural kind of grey. It looked like the pegasus’s colour had been changed by some kind of spell.
Sylvia shook her head. This could just be her mind playing tricks on her. What was important at the moment was getting to school on time. She did not want to be late for class.
It had been three days since Rainbow went missing. The rest of the Mane 6, along with Spike, had gathered at Sugarcube Corner with the exception of Twilight, who was gathering information on the search for the blue pegasus. Pinkie had closed Sugarcube Corner so there were no other ponies inside except for them. Applejack, Spike, Rarity and Fluttershy sat together at one of the tables.
“Ah still can’t believe this is happening,” Applejack said, shaking her head. “Rainbow holds the element of Loyalty! She’s the last pony ah’d expect to fly off like that!”
Applejack’s friends all nodded in agreement. Spike sighed. “I miss being his ghost writer.” He didn’t have his ghost writer outfit on. Why bother, when there is nopony to write about?
“They’ll find her,” Rarity tried to assure her friends. “The weather team cares about Rainbow just as much as we do.”
Applejack turned to the white unicorn. “Rarity, it’s been three days! And the weather team isn’t exactly just a small group of ponies. They should’ve found her within the first day we told them that she was missing!” Rarity didn’t reply but simply gave her a look that asked why did you have to bring that up?
Pinkie came from the kitchen and set a tray of cupcakes at her friends’ table. She sat down with them. Applejack examined a cupcake before turning to Pinkie. “New recipe?”
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah,” and suddenly she exploded. “This one was for Dashie too!” The rest of her friends flinched at her sudden outburst. “Can you believe it!? She flies away the day I create a cupcake recipe for her!”
“Pinkie, it’s been three days,” Applejack pointed out again. But Pinkie had already stormed back into the kitchen, slamming the door behind her and shouting hysterically about the cupcake recipe and throwing a “recipe gone to waste” party.
Applejack sighed and turned back to her cupcake. She took a cautious bite. It was delicious; the texture was soft, moist and chewy. She could tell that Pinkie had put a lot of effort into baking the cupcakes. All that effort had been in vain; even though the cupcakes tasted great, Applejack didn’t feel like eating anything and just by looking at the expressions on her friends’ faces, she could tell that they shared the same feeling. Normally, Applejack and her friends always looked forward to Pinkie’s cupcakes but with Rainbow gone, nothing seemed enjoyable anymore.
There was a knocking sound on the door. Applejack left her seat to open it but Rarity got there first. It was Twilight. Rarity gestured for her to come inside and shut the door.
“I just got back from talking with the weather team,” Twilight told her friends when they were seated again. She sighed. “They called off the search. Clouds are piling up near Ponyville and they can’t postpone their work any longer. They told me that we need to accept that Rainbow is … gone.”
There was a long silence. The six friends shared an expression of disbelief and horror. “Ah – ah,” Applejack stammered. “Ah don’t believe this. Rainbow’s weather team said that!?”
There was a choking noise. Fluttershy, who had remained silent the entire time, had suddenly burst into tears, sobbing into her forelegs. Rarity patted her back in an attempt to comfort her. “There, there now.” She wanted to say more, to assure her friend that everything would be fine. But everything was not fine. She had just heard Rainbow’s weather team say the one thing she never thought they would say. What more could she tell her friend?
“I-I just wanted her to be a better pony!” The yellow pegasus choked between sobs.
“We all did, darling.” Rarity ran a hoof down Fluttershy’s back. “We all did. That was why we went through with the Mare Do Well act.”
Twilight watched her friends as they broke down from her bad news. Her insides squirmed. Unable to watch her friends any longer, she galloped back outside.
The streets of Ponyville were quiet that afternoon. Only a couple of ponies were on the street, some were going for a walk while others were shopping for groceries and other supplies. Twilight stared. It looked as if nopony but she and her friends had noticed that Rainbow had flown away.
She heard voices. Twilight pricked up her ears to eavesdrop. Two ponies were sitting on a park bench, enjoying the scenery. “Hey, did you hear?” one of them said the other. “Rainbow Dash is gone. A few ponies saw her fly away a few days ago.”
“Rainbow Dash?” the second pony repeated. “The pony in charge of the weather team? Wasn’t she the one who tried to get attention from opening a peanut butter jar?”
“Yeah,” the first pony nodded. “And she tried to get attention by simply mowing a lawn! Can you believe it?”
The second pony snickered. “Good riddance that she’s gone. Ponyville’s better off without her bragging and boasting.”
If Twilight’s insides were squirming inside Sugarcube Corner, they were on the verge of exploding right now. It wasn’t as if nopony noticed that Rainbow flew away. It was as if nopony cared.
“Twilight? Sugarcube?” Twilight turned to find the orange farm pony staring at her with concern. “Are you okay?”
Twilight didn’t reply immediately. She gave a heavy sigh. “Was this really a good idea, Applejack?” She asked, turning back to observe the streets again.
“Ah’m sorry?”
“This whole Mare Do Well scheme,” Twilight repeated. “Was it really a good idea?”
“We all agreed on it, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “We were trying to teach Rainbow to be humble and modest.”
“But we didn’t!” Twilight turned to Applejack looking as if she would cry any moment. “We didn’t, Applejack! All we ended up doing was make her upset!”
Applejack could not think of a reply. “We should go back inside, Twi,” she said after a while. “We’re starting to attract attention out here.” Twilight, unable to think of anything else to say, followed her back into Sugarcube Corner.
If the two mares had looked up at the sky before going back inside, however, they would have noticed a peculiar behaviour with the clouds. Dark black clouds were forming over the Everfree Forest and they were drifting very slowly towards Ponyville…
The school bell rang. Sylvia gave a sigh of relief; another long school day was over. She put her textbooks back into her saddlebags. After many classes of mathematics, sciences and Equestria’s history, the young unicorn was eager to get a breath of fresh air.
Sylvia was one of those ponies who were interested in learning more and more but even she could feel overloaded from trying to digest all the material being taught. She liked books as well. She wasn’t very obsessed over them but once in a while, it felt good to pick up something to read. But if she was obsessed over books, if there was one kind of book that she really liked, it was study guides. Sylvia collected them. She loved finding ways to learn better.
As soon as Sylvia pushed open the front doors, she was greeted by a cool but strong breeze colliding with her face. The outdoors were especially pleasant after a long day of classes. She began the trek back home.
“Sylvia!” A beige coated colt with a brown coloured mane about the same age as her came running up to her.
Sylvia recognized the colt. “Briggs!” she called back pleasantly. “How are you?”
Briggs had been friends with Sylvia ever since they had started school together. Briggs admired Sylvia’s insight and polite nature and Sylvia enjoyed Briggs’ courage and sense of duty. Like Sylvia, Briggs had no cutie mark as well. The two friends didn’t mind though. No ponies at school teased them about it or called them “blank flanks”. Nopony would dare. The last pony to do that got suspended for two weeks and when he was allowed back, he had extra homework for a month.
Briggs pulled something out of his saddlebags. “I wanted to give this to you.” He passed a thick, hard-cover book to Sylvia.
The young unicorn gasped when she saw the cover. Professor Hoofington’s Exam Guide Volume 2 it said. It was the one book she had been seeking for months. But every time she got to the store, the clerk had said it was out of stock. Sylvia looked back at the brown earth pony. “Briggs, y-you didn’t have to do this!”
“Yes, I did,” Briggs replied firmly. “I had to find some way to make up for losing your last study guide.”
Sylvia hugged her friend. “Thank you!” she almost cried. “Thank you so much!”
The two friends stood there in each other’s embrace for what seemed like an eternity but in reality, they let go after less than a minute. They began walking home.
“Have you seen it?” Sylvia asked, looking up again.
Briggs turned to Sylvia. “Seen what?”
Sylvia pointed. “That grey pegasus has been flying around there for the whole morning and afternoon. I don’t know any pegasi here that would stay in one spot for that long. Let alone outside of town.”
Briggs stared at the pegasus. “I wouldn’t go near her if I were you,” he said after a moment. “I’ve never seen any coats with that kind of grey.”
“Exactly,” Sylvia replied. “Something’s wrong. We should go check it out.”
“I don’t think that would be safe, Sylvia.”
Sylvia turned to her friend with a raised eyebrow. “You sound like you’re trying to convince me not to go.”
Briggs looked taken aback. “I am not! You’re allowed to do whatever you like! I’m just providing my opinion.”
Sylvia turned back to the pegasus flying in a circle at the edge of the town. Surely her parents wouldn’t mind if she came back home a little later than usual. “I think I’m going to go talk to her,” Sylvia finally said.
Briggs shrugged. “Alright, if you insist.” He looked up to see Sylvia gallop away. “Sylvia, wait!” he called, holding up a hoof. Sylvia looked back at him. “Just stay safe, okay?” Briggs said, looking concerned.
Sylvia nodded in response. “See you later, Briggs.”
Briggs also nodded. “See you later.” He watched Sylvia run off to the edge of town, before heading home.
Sylvia’s mind was racing. Something wasn’t right. Everypony could tell that it was unusual for a pegasus to be flying in circles outside of town but Sylvia knew that it went deeper than just an unusual event. Something happened, she thought. And I’m going to find out what it is.
She reached the edge of the town. From there, it was just a dirt road along grassy meadows and hills. Sylvia finally stopped running after several minutes.
The pegasus was almost directly above her now. Sylvia waved her hooves in the air. “Hey!” she shouted up at the pegasus. “Down here!”
The pegasus paused her flight to look down at the filly that shouted up at her. Sylvia could tell that the pegasus was staring at her. After a few moments, the pegasus slowly began to descend before finally landing softly, almost soundlessly in front of the young unicorn.
Her landing would have looked graceful, if the pegasus’s expression had matched. She looked sad, the look that ponies would have when they lose loved ones. Her mane and tail were identically coloured with the hues of a rainbow, yet they were dark, dull and lifeless, like her dark grey coat. Her dark pink eyes gazed down upon Sylvia with a hurt expression.
If any other pony was there, that was all they would have seen: a dull, sad, lonely pegasus. But Sylvia could see past the pegasus’s exterior. This pegasus had not always been so lonely, sad and hurt. Sylvia could tell that her dull, lifeless eyes had once shone with pride and valiancy and her mane had once shined brilliantly behind her as she soared across the skies. She had once been strong, fast and agile. She had once been amazing.
Sylvia decided to speak first. “I saw you flying around in circles since this morning. I thought you might want some company.” The pegasus raised an eyebrow. “Oh,” Sylvia let out a small giggle. “I’m sorry! My name is Sylvia,” she said, gesturing at herself with her hoof. “And you are?”
A few seconds passed before the pegasus replied. “Rainbow,” she finally said. “Rainbow Dash.” Even her voice had carried that dull, lifeless tone.
“Well!” Sylvia smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Rainbow Dash! But perhaps you could tell me why you’re out here all by yourself. Don’t you have any friends?”
“I used to,” Rainbow responded bitterly. “But they all turned against me.”
“Turned against you?” Sylvia looked confused. “What do you mean?”
Rainbow sighed in hesitation. Then she began telling Sylvia what happened that very day. She told her about how she became a hero only to have Mare Do Well snatch that position away from her. She told her about how she felt humiliated when she attempted to get attention by completing minor tasks. She told her about how Mare Do Well had been her friends all along.
“So that was it,” Rainbow finished. “They set me up. All because they didn’t like my bragging.”
Sylvia sat deep in thought for a moment. “I’m sure they didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” she finally said.
Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, that makes perfect sense, kid,” she said sarcastically. “They don’t mean to hurt my feelings, yet they laugh at me! Totally understandable!”
Sylvia fell silent again. She picked out her words carefully, trying to find the best thought to reply with. “I used to be in your shoes, you know,” she said after a while.
Rainbow, who had been looking away while Sylvia was thinking, turned back to her. “Really?”
Sylvia nodded. “My friend, Briggs, used one of my study guides once, without telling me. He took my favourite one for an upcoming test and he-” Sylvia hesitated. “He lost it. I never found that study guide again.”
“You were upset, weren’t you?”
Sylvia nodded again. “I was. I loved my study guides. I couldn’t believe that Briggs would do something so foolish.” Sylvia paused for a moment. “But eventually, I forgave him.”
Rainbow gave the filly a confused look. “Why?”
Sylvia shrugged. “He was my best friend and pretty much my only friend. If I had stayed angry at him, I would have nopony to talk to. I would be lonely, like you.” She paused again. “Sometimes, you need to let things go and move on.”
“But they humiliated me! And-”
Sylvia held up a hoof to silence Rainbow. “Nopony is perfect, Rainbow,” she explained gently. “Anypony can make mistakes, even the best and closest friends. You can be angry at your friends all you like, you can say that they’re horrible for hurting you all you like but look at yourself now.” She gestured at the pegasus. “You don’t have any more friends. You’re alone.”
As Sylvia spoke, Rainbow felt a sensation surge through her, washing away her bitter feelings. Sylvia’s words were soft and gentle, yet they pierced through her exterior of bitterness and hatred like an arrow and touched her heart. Rainbow suddenly found herself reminiscing her moments with her friends. Persuading a dragon to leave Ponyville. Helping out with Winter Wrap up. Performing a Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Flyer competition while rescuing Rarity. The memories flooded through her mind almost like they did with Twilight’s memory spell.
Rainbow’s body glowed. Her coat gradually changed from its dull grey back to its sky blue colour. Her mane and tail brightened until it was shining as brightly as the sun. Her clouded eyes became clear and strong. Sylvia smiled as she watched Rainbow’s transformation. She was finally looking at Rainbow Dash, not some lonely pegasus.
Rainbow held her breath, hardly believing how narrow-minded she had been. Only moments ago, she didn’t care about having friends. Now she would give anything to be back in Ponyville, helping out Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres or eating one of Pinkie’s cupcakes.
“Sylvia…” Rainbow was at a loss for words. “I don’t know what to say, I-I-”
“Rainbow.” Sylvia raised a hoof, a warm smile on her face. Her tone did not change for the next few words: “Shut up. You should head back to Ponyville. Your friends probably miss you.”
Rainbow found her determination again the moment Sylvia had finished speaking. Yet, it was as if Sylvia had handed it to her on a silver platter. The pegasus jumped into the air, her wings opening and springing into action but instead of flying away, she hovered. “Um…” Rainbow looked uncertain. “Which way is Ponyville?”
If Sylvia was uncertain as well, she didn’t show it. She looked around for a moment before pointing in the direction of the dirt road, leading away from Fillydelphia. “You might want to start heading in that direction.”
Rainbow glanced at the direction that Sylvia had pointed in, and then turned back to her. “I won’t forget what you did for me, Sylvia.” Rainbow smiled at her. “Thank you.” She turned and soared away.
Rainbow shot through the sky like a bullet. She knew what had to be done. Her friends had hurt her but that wasn’t worth throwing them away. She was Loyalty. She would stick with her friends no matter what quarrels arose between them.
Yet, it seemed like something was missing. Rainbow felt incomplete. She couldn’t understand why; she was ready to return to her friends, to accept their apologies, yet she still felt like she hadn’t made a full recovery. Where was that spark that Rainbow always felt when she learned something new? Why was it missing?
Sylvia watched as the blue pegasus as she flew away. Within moments, Rainbow was a mere speck in the horizon. Sylvia smiled. “Go get ’em, Rainbow,” she whispered. She turned and trotted back home.
Author's note: In case any of you are wondering, yes the grey pegasus I described is discorded Rainbow Dash