AN: Since the first chapter was basically a rehash of events, I have posted the second! Please note this story is rated T. While this story is not inherently violent or bloody, it does involve a few injuries along the way that get described.

Once again: I do not own My Little Pony.

Chapter 2: Balloon Trip

"Wait a minute," Twilight shook her head, "Are you telling me Fluttershy is...gone?"

"Well, yeah," Cherry Berry replied with a roll of her eyes, "You know, it's funny. Fluttershy was supposed to keep us ponies entertained and happy, but she really was terrible at her job. I just really don't get it. Why would somepony get a cutie mark with something they couldn't do? I mean, does that even happen? She was supposed to be some sort of party pony but couldn't even throw a party if her life depended on it. This is really for the best. It was giving Ponyville a bad name. Good riddance I say!"

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash flew right up to Cherry Berry, a harsh glare marring her face, "That's my friend you are talking about there!"

"Rainbow! Not now!" Twilight tried to rope in her headstrong friend. Looking at the ballooning pony, her gaze gaining a frenzied look, she asked, "Can you tell us which way she went?"

"Well, I did warn her that with all the crazy weather we were having, it was risky to fly," Cherry Berry provided, tapping her face in contemplation, "But wasn't weather your job..." she said, pointing at Rainbow Dash, but then looked over at Rarity in confusion, "So why were you doing it?"

"Maybe later darling!" Rarity replied in a rushed voice, trying to wave her on, "Which direction now, sil vous plait?"

"Well, while she said Cloudsdale, the balloon headed towards the East. You know, the complete opposite direction. She assured me she had flown in one before I let her go, so I didn't think much of it at the time. I thought that maybe she was trying to swing out and away from the storm."

With a huff she looked back at the group before her, "Why do you care so much, anyways? It got her out of town."

"Why I ought'a!" Rainbow started to wind up, getting ready to fly forward and punch the earth pony.

"Rainbow!" Applejack yelled, stopping the pegasus in her place, "Not! Now! We need to find Fluttershy."

Cherry Berry gave Rainbow a strange look before she looked at the others, "Is this all or am I good to go now."

"That's all," Rarity frowned at the uncaring attitude of the pony. Cherry Berry just shrugged and walked off, leaving the group alone.

"What now sugarcube?" Applejack asked, turning the groups attention to Twilight. Twilight stood frozen on the spot, unable to move. Her eyes gazed around unseeing as she desperately tried to figure out what to do.

"This...this is all my fault," Twilight whispered, a tears threatening to fall.

"Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked softly.

"This is all my fault," Twilight looked up at her friends in fear and worry, "What have I done! This is all-all my fault!"

"Come on now, sugarcube," Applejack said reassuringly, pulling the unicorn into a hug, "I'm sure that this isn't all your fault."

"No! You don't get it!" Twilight cried out, falling to the ground, "I was the one that did this to all of you! This is all my fault!"

"Now, now sweetie," Rarity provided, eyes moving across the group in confusion to see if anypony else understood. The uncertain shrugs and confused looks met her gaze. With a sigh, she continued, "How about we go back to your place and we can talk about it. Crying out here in the dirt will do no good for your coat."

Twilight offered a soft chuckle that sounded more like a hiccup, "Okay."

Fluttershy cried out as another gust pushed the balloon further east, further and further over the Everfree Forest and away from any destination of value. While originally she wanted to head to Couldsdale, to return to her childhood home and find some acceptance, like she remembered from her childhood, she soon realized that with this cutie mark perhaps being in public was not the best choice.

It was so strange.

Her memories of the past were of her entertaining groups ponies, and they all seemed to love it! But today, it was like she had never done it before in her life. She walked out to entertain, but no jokes came to mind. Her legs shook and her heart raced. Her mind went blank, and in her rush, she tried to do whatever was possible to make them laugh!

She tried her jokes...

"Why did the cow cross the road? To get to the udder side!"

"Where do Orcas perform music? In orca-stras!"

"What's not right? Left!"

...with no laughter.

She tried the crazy glasses with the silly nose and moustache.

She tried making balloon animals!

She tried singing silly songs!

She tried dancing!

And all she ever got was those bored looks from everypony. Those dead eyes that spoke volumes of what they really thought. Those glaring, judging eyes that bore into her form from every direction.

And it hurt. Every. Time.

Her mind wandered in frustration and fear. Wasn't this what she was destined to be? The greatest party pony on the planet that brought laughter to all? Didn't she have memories of performing on stage with songs that were thought up within minutes? Didn't she remember learning what parties were and throwing them for everypony she could find?

They all laughed then! She could hear it in her memories! She could hear it in her mind even now! They had laughed and laughed and laughed! So why did they not laugh now?!

It had been while she was thinking about this that the winds had changed. Instead of heading towards the northwest like she should have, she began to drift to the east, slowly heading closer and closer to the Everfree Forest. It wasn't until she heard a loud crash that she had finally been brought back to reality.

Fluttershy jumped when she first heard it. Looking cautiously over the edge of the balloon, she noticed Rainbow Dash's cottage was not far below. The house itself, much to her surprise, was practically bleeding animals and critters of all types. Even a bear was fighting to get out through a window much too small for its size, it's face and pudgy arms flailing about as it roared its discontent to the world.

Funny, Fluttershy thought, I always thought Rainbow was good with animals. Why were they all locked inside?

As she watched the animals, that little voice of warning was screaming inside her head. She couldn't figure it out. Why would seeing Rainbow's cottage be so bad? She was only flying above the cottage heading towards Cloudsdale...which was on the opposite side of Ponyville.

Her gut dropped as she suddenly realized what flying over this particular residence meant. She wasn't going back home or to old friends or to new towns with new opportunities. No, this meant that she was drifting closer and closer to the Everfree Forest. Closer and closer to what had to be certain doom.

Jumping into action she desperately tried to steer the balloon, but a cloud from the nearby weather anomalies in Ponyville seemed to just keep pushing them along with it's gusty breeze. Just thinking of the forest made her begin to shake, her fear taking over, freezing her wings to her body before she could even get out a thought of getting out of the balloon and pushing the cloud away. Why was this cloud even following her to begin with! She thought they weren't needing rain again til Wednesday! But no matter what she thought about the weather, here she was, stuck in a the balloon with this cloud that refused to go anywhere else, even with her pleading.

And push on the cloud did, gathering more power with each new cloud it hit. Soon the sky was filled with the fluffy things, making the world around her rain, causing the winds to intensify, and generally looking more and more threatening by the minute, til finally it had become a full fledged storm. So now here she found herself, cold and wet from the rain, holding on to the balloon for dear life as the storm of collected clouds pushed her further and further over the forest with a frightening intensity.

Fluttershy had tried calling for help, but it was to no avail. No pony ever traveled into the Everfree unless they were in huge groups with enough defences to hold off the terrors that had a tendency to lay within it, or if they had a deathwish. Only one pony, or, well, zebra she guessed, was brave enough to live within the forest. But even the brave Zecora didn't live too deep inside of said forest, keeping to the calmer outskirts, protecting her house with a variety of plants and traps that would keep many of the nastier beasts away.

Lightening struck from a nearby cloud, breaking Fluttershy's thoughts, making her dive to the floor of the basket. As she covered her ears at the loud crashes she felt like screaming! What was she doing? She had no idea how to fly a balloon! Let alone how to safely navigate through a storm!

The wind blew harshly, rocking the basket of the balloon precariously back and forth. Fluttershy whimpered at each tilt, thinking of the sharp rocks that lay below. No. She couldn't think of this right now. She needed to concentrate and-

Fluttershy stopped all thought of how she could rescue herself when she noticed the rough mountains that loomed ahead. With a squeak of terror, she tried to steer the balloon away from the mountain's rocky sides and sharp cliffs. Yet try as she may, the balloon stubbornly remained on course, too trapped in the raging storm to be steered away. Fluttershy could only watch in terror as she headed straight for the rocky face of the mountains.

With a crash, the balloon bounced off of the side of the mountain almost making Fluttershy fall free of the basket. The frightened pegasus rushed forward to try and grab onto anything that would keep her in place as the basket bounced a few more times into the rocks before settling onto one side.

Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy looked out over the edge. All around her the winds kept pushing harder, dragging the fragile basket across the rocky face. A mighty gust from the side began to spin the balloon across the surface of the mountain, tearing off the carefully made decorations as it went, the basket creaking and snapping in protest as it pulled across the rocks. Ropes started to snap as they were pulled over the rough faces of the stones. She tried her best to stay still all around the rapidly failing vessel, yet she found herself being tossed side to side in the chaos.

As the basket went for one more full circle across the rocks, Fluttershy could only gasp in fear as a protrusion on the mountain rapidly rose to meet her head. Acting as fast as possible, she tossed herself into the middle of the basket. Terror stretched across her face as she noticed the jagged rock-face that would have met her face if she stayed in her spot.

And as suddenly as the balloon had begun its cartwheels across the mountainside, it came to a jarring stop, lurching the basket sideways. Fluttershy screamed as she grabbed at one of the few solid ropes left on the side farthest from the rocks, her hooves breaking through the weakened walls of the basket along the way. As lightning struck around her, she looked around to find the reason for the sudden stop.

She had been pushed into a long, pointed extrusion from the mountain that caught the envelope of the balloon, pushing the fabric dangerously close to the sharp rocks that lined the mountains edge. The basket of the balloon flailing about in the wind as it knocked harshly upon the rocks themselves.

Glancing around Fluttershy tried to think of what she could do. She could try hanging on and waiting for help, but she was certain that help would never come in time, if at all. Flying was an option, but with the winds so strong, she ran the risk of her wings being injured from the initial snap from the strong gusts. The fear of the height, not to mention the promise of pain, kept her wings from moving even if she wanted them to.

The snapping winds caught her attention, as they changed direction once more she found the basket slamming harder than ever against the rock face, making her scream in fear as she held for dear life onto her rope. With one final crash, the basket split like a melon, cracking right along the middle. Wooden bits rained supplies and her few possessions down into the abyss below. Only small portions of the once brightly decorated basket were left from where the rope once connected the basket to the whole balloon, clattering against the rocky surfaces like wind chimes as the wind howled around her.

As another gust picked up once more, the pegasus only had seconds to recognize what was happening now that the basket that acted as a barrier between her and the cliff face was gone. A sharp push to the side by the wind was all it took, cracking her right side along the rocks and leaving Fluttershy blinded by pain for a few seconds. Feeling herself swinging back and forth, she tried to collect herself once more. Smaller breezes pushed past her, threatening to slam her body once more into the rocks. With a gasp, she tried to righten the world around her, pushing her body so that her backside would not crash against the cliffs again.

Fluttershy didn't know whether to laugh to to cry. Here she was, holding onto some ropes that were as good a string off the side of a mountain, the wind pushing her around like a small philly on a swing, and all she could do was to try not to let go. She was trapped in an impossible situation that she was uncertain she could survive if she wanted to. All she could do now was hope that the next gust that blew through wouldn't cause her to let go of her only lifeline.

A loud sound of fabric tearing from above immediately interrupted all those thoughts. Looking up in horror, all she could do was watch as the once the cheerful and colorful fabric of the envelope of the balloon stretch across the rocks. Each seam pulled to near bursting as it caught in the sharp points.

"No, no! Please, no," Fluttershy begged as she watched the fabric tear in slow motion on the rocks. Her pleading went unheard as the balloon fabric suddenly ripped all the way through. A loud gush was barely heard over the storm around her as the gases that were once trapped within the envelope of the balloon rushed out, catapulting its remains as well as the small pony trapped within them out and into the free air around them.

Fluttershy screamed in fear as gravity played its part and dragged her and the collection of ropes and fabric down to the earth below. As she tumbled she tried to grab onto anything that could help or provide support, finding herself more and more tangled in the ropes that floated off the remaining. It was as though the balloon had become like that of a giant jellyfish, flying haphazardly through the atmosphere it was never meant to be in. The fabric folded and tumbled, then suddenly bubbled as it caught the winds once more, pulling Fluttershy further and further out over the looming tree tops and rocks that stood below.

Trying desperately to remove herself from the ropes as the world twisted around her, Fluttershy tried to spread her wings, only to cry out in pain. Her right wing hung limply to the side, and her left remained tangled within the ropes.

The earth below slowly began to twist up to meet her. Fluttershy let loose one last scream as she slowly reached the tree branched below. A jerk and a loud snap was the only warning before she found herself tumbling through the collecting of needles, bark, and leaves. Each piece of nature biting into her coat and stinging her flesh as she tumbled haphazardly through them with no bearings as to up or down.

It was during this tumble that Fluttershy spotted an outlying branch. She had only seconds to really recognize the large piece of tree for what it was before the whole world turned to black.