A/N: Hey, everypony. Not exactly my first fanfiction, but the first one I've posted here. It's not really edited, so let me know if you see any errors. It's kinda short, but it was really just something that randomly popped into my head. Tell me what you think of it.

Rainbow Dash looked up as the door to the small cloud apartment opened.

"Where'd you go?" She asked, though she suspected she would not get an answer.

"Somewhere," came the reply. Well, not a straight answer, at least. Dash narrowed her eyes at the griffon.

"Gilda, come on. Where have you been?" She was getting irritated now. This had happened nearly every day this week, nearly every day last week, nearly every day of every week for the past three months.

"I was out," she snapped. "Lay off, Dash. Geez." The blue pony gritted her teeth, everything in her screaming at her to yell, to push for more answers. The logical side of her made a rare appearance, though, and told her she wouldn't get anymore information from her girlfriend.

"Fine. Whatever." She turned away, going back to doing the minimum amount of homework required to pass her classes. She didn't care for good grades. All she needed was a C to get her through school. After that, she would spend all her time training to be a Wonderbolt. Two months ago, her dreams of the future would include Gilda living with her in a big house. Now, she didn't believe in that.

Gilda walked right past her without another glance, heading into the small kitchen area. She rummaged around in the fridge for a while, before calling out to Dash to make supper. Once again, the rainbow-maned pony gritted her teeth, but complied.

Dash was a decent cook, having learned from her father. It used to be that when she cooked, she couldn't help but think of him. It had always hurt so much that she avoided cooking when she could. That was before she moved in with Gilda. Now, she had to do all the cooking, so she learned to block out all the painful memories.

Her father had been a strong, proud stallion. He'd been sky-blue, his coat blending into the sky when he flew. His mane stood out, though, being red and yellow. He was fast, the fastest pony in the weather factory. He made deliveries to Cloudsdale's weather zone. Dash remembered him telling her about all the little towns and villages, and even a city or two, that he had visited. There was one that he spoke of with particular fondness, a little village named Ponyville. "The kind of town where everypony knows everypony," he'd say. "Such a tight-knit community. Best apples in Equestria, too." He'd add the last bit with a wink and a smile, and Rainbow would laugh. "It sounds like a great place, dad."

Then he'd sigh and smile and nod and say, "It sure is, Dashie. I bet you'd like it there. Plenty of wide-open spaces to practice your flying." And then Rainbow Dash would get excited and beg him to let her visit. He'd sadly shake his head and say she had to stay here, finish school, flight camp, all that stuff. "I'll take you there someday, Dashie. I promise."

He'd never kept that promise. The fire had made sure of that.

Dash shook her head as the memories flooded her, putting up her mental blocks. She didn't want to think about this right now.

So Rainbow finished making supper, even cooking up a bit of meat for Gilda, even though the smell nauseated her. And, of course, Gilda didn't even bother to thank her. Dash sighed. What had happened to their relationship?

In the beginning, it had been great. Dash and Gilda had been in love. They'd share little affectionate nuzzles, public displays of affection. Gilda had brough spontaneous gifts. Not lame, cheezy stuff like flowers and chocolate, but cool stuff. A pair of flight goggles. A book on aerodynamics (which, though Dash hated reading, greatly improved her flight). A pair of Wonderbolts pajamas, which she wore to bed every night.

Then they'd moved in together. Things changed, so suddenly that Dash didn't notice it until it had already happened. Gilda no longer cared to be affectionate. There were no more gifts. The griffon would go off at odd hours and come back some time later, offering no explanation. It frustrated Rainbow to no end, but she couldn't bring herself to end it. She was still in love with Gilda, though she was becoming fairly certain the griffon no longer felt the same way.

Dash slept on the couch most nights now. She couldn't bear to sleep in the same bed as the griffon. Not that Gilda minded at all. It only made Dash hurt worse, though.

"No." Gilda snapped around, glaring at the defiant blue pony. "What?"

"You heard me, Gilda. I'm not your personal chef. Make your own damn food." Rainbow stuck her chin out, daring Gilda to argue.

And argue she did. "I don't care what you said! You're going to go in there and make some bucking supper!" Everything was breaking down and Dash knew it. She knew she couldn't do this anymore. It was time to end this suffering. And she would do it maturely and with dignity.

"Make me!"

"Why you little..." Gilda struck out at the rainbow-maned pony, who dodged easily, but stared at the fist in shock. That was the last straw. There would be no more of this.

"That's it! I'm done! I'm done being your bucking slave, done putting up with you! I'm gon!" With that, Dash walked to the door, pausing at the threshold.

"Come find me when you've changed." Her tone was cold, but she couldn't care less. She slammed the door behind her and took to the air.

Suddenly, she faced a whole new problem. Where could a nearly (but not quite) grown orphan, who had not finished school, possibly go in an uncaring city like Cloudsdale? This place wasn't like the wonderland her father always described. Ponies here saw an orphan and were disgusted. They didn't care to help the homeless.

Then it occurred to her. Ponyville. Of course she could go there! The way her father described it, everypony there was so nice! Surely they would give her a place to stay? Even if it was the orphanage, it would be a home.

With that plan in mind, Rainbow Dash flew away from Cloudsdale.

A/N: Oddly enough, I'm one of those people who loves Gilda. Dunno why she had to be the bad guy here. I doubt I'll continue this, but I'm thinking about writing a story about Rainbow Dash's past. you know, how she lost her parents, how she met Gilda, where Fluttershy fits in, all that stuff. I've already got a good idea of what both her parents look like.