Betrayal
Rainbow Dash smiled to herself as she flew through Cloudsdale. The place was superior to Ponyville. Everypony here had wings. It was loads better for an aerial genius such as herself to be around her own kind.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow spun around to see a grey mare flying sloppily towards her. Her eyes flashed with surprise as her wings suddenly cramped up. As she plummeted down to the layer of clouds, Rainbow Dash winced. Derpy Hooves was never very coordinated, but this was just weird.
"Uh, hi, Derpy," Rainbow said tentatively. Derpy got to her hooves and shook off a patch of white fluff that had attached itself to her face. To Rainbow's surprise, a face formed on the piece of cloud and it blew a raspberry at the two mares. It then jumped onto Derpy's head and took the form of a cap. This time, Derpy did not even bother to get it off. The face disappeared and the cloud became unanimated again.
"You're flying," Derpy commented, her voice tinged with disbelief. "We need you, Rainbow Dash!" The cap shapeshifted into a sombrero.
"I can understand why you would want me," Rainbow Dash said, striking a winning pose. "But why would you need me?" She stared warily at the grey mare.
"Nopony's wings work anymore," Derpy stated, pointing to a number of pegasi who were flying erratically. One of them crashed into a pillar and fell, dazed, onto the clouds.
"Nopony in Cloudsdale, that is. Where were you all this time?" This time, it was Spitfire who spoke. The feisty mare looked uncharacteristically gloomy as she walked up from behind Derpy and Rainbow Dash. She was not wearing her Wonderbolts getup.
"Just here and there," Rainbow replied dismissively. The truth was that she had trouble finding Cloudsdale. She had thought she had located it, but apparently it was one of Discord's tricks.
"We can't clear Ponyville's skies. We thought that it would be the least our pegasi could do: keep Discord's control over the weather at bay. It looks like you're the only one here unaffected," Spitfire remarked. Her eyes studied Rainbow Dash expectantly.
"That's Ponyville's problem, not mine," Rainbow replied immediately. Spitfire's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"You're not going to help them?" Derpy asked plaintively.
"Why should I? They're doomed!"
Spitfire's face grew extremely serious. "So are we; none of us can leave Cloudsdale. Food doesn't grow up here, you know, and even the cotton candy clouds are hard to reach without us risking our lives."
"I'm sure you'll sort it out," Rainbow said, turning away. If I stay here, I'll never be able to fly again!
"You're going to leave us to suffer?" Spitfire was enraged. "All you have to do is bring us food! You won't even-"
"I'm sure there are plenty of pegasi in Ponyville that you can ask for help," Rainbow Dash said drily. "Since you're so fond of them." She ignored Spitfire's angry words and Derpy's pleading as she flew away from the place she once called home. Rainbow was not exactly sure where she would go; pretty much every option seemed unfavourable. She eventually decided on settling down on a pink cloud at the edge of Ponyville, and near the Everfree Forest, as she did not really know any other places well enough to stay there. At least she was away from most of the chaos.