--The Way Back Home--

“Wasn’t that race awesome, Flutters?” Dash asked as she pulled up to a stop-sign, easing her old clunker car in for a slow stop. She took one last huff of a completely diminished cigarette and tossed it out onto the road. A car passed by the intersection, blinding headlights illuminated the roadway behind them. It sped up, and soon was gone, long lost in the darkness the forest provided.

“Did you see how Soarin’ clipped that green car and how he spun? Man that was cool!” she motioned her hands up and hit them into each other, signifying the spin with her finger. She double checked no cars were coming and peeled off to the right, heading towards her hometown.

“Yeah, It was um, pretty cool.” Fluttershy turned to Dash and gave the most forced smile she could. To her, Equestrian Touring racing was definitely not fun. Watching heavily modified cars ring themselves around a closed circuit over and over was less interesting to her than picking ticks off of a dog, and much louder as well. “I hope he was alright.”

Rainbow ripped her eyesight from the road and to her friend. “Pretty cool?” Try the best thing I may have ever seen!” She settled back into her seat and redirected her attention back to the road. “And don’t worry about the drivers. They have like, two-something-million pounds of padding in those cars, as well as roll cages for when they flip.”

“Ahh, I see.” Fluttershy smiled but shifted her legs uneasily and bit her lip. If she ever had anything to complain about when it came to Rainbow, it was her driving; or the lack of attention she puts into driving rather. The mere second that she hadn’t been looking at the road almost gave her a heart attack.

Still, getting asked to go out and do something with Rainbow more made up for it.

It was a Sunday night, and Rainbow Dash was driving Fluttershy back to her cottage. They were heading home from a race starring the Wonderbolts; Dash’s favorite team. They had won that night. Seeing Spitfire cross the line first sent Rainbow into a frenzy of Shouts and obnoxious hand motions, drawing more attention to them than Fluttershy would ever want.

It was a loud sport, and was filled with angry drunks and whiny children. The truth was, Fluttershy hated the races, everything about them made her sick. She would never go on her own, probably wouldn’t with her own parents either.

But she was there with Dash. The one ‘best friend’ she had that she wished to be more. When she met her, they immediately hit it off as the best of pals, but Fluttershy quickly found that being ‘best friends’ with Dash wasn’t enough. She quickly started to see her in a whole new light. She no longer saw her as “just a pretty friend” but rather as a sexy and fun girl that she wanted to go out with. Really bad.

She knew that with being a lesbian and only having women friends this problem would arise eventually; but it seemed to happen all too quickly, and it scared her.

“I know its late, but you wanna’ swing by the corner store to grab a snack?” Dash asked. She rolled down her window and hung one arm loosely out, and pointed over to a road slightly off in the distance. “I know of a diner-bar-thing down that way actually, we could hang’ there for a while. Only if you want to though.”

“Oh, um, sure Rainbow, just please don’t drink. I don’t want you to be arrested.”

“Pshaww fine. It wouldn’t matter though, I can still drive like an expert when I get tipsy. Rainbow held her head up high like she was soon to receive and award for excellent drunk driving. Another car passed, its taillights lingering in the rearview mirror.

“Does that mean you’ve tried it?” Fluttershy questioned. She hated that thought, It wasn’t ‘foolish and silly’ to drunk drive, it was stupid and irrational. It almost got her mad to think that Rainbow bragged about it. Almost.

“Um,” Rainbow snapped her hand into the car and started to scratch the back of her head, “no…”

“Don’t lie, um, please.”

“Alright, maybe one time, with Applejack. And only because we were in a bad area and the people around looked, well, bad. I thought it would be better to leave, and I didn’t want to leave the car.

“Oh… Please don’t do that anymore, It’s silly.”

“I know this Flutters, and have since the third grade.”

“I know its just…”

“Do you think I wanted to? I got scared and bailed Jeesh, you act like my mom sometimes.”

“Sorry.” Fluttershy squeaked out, long since having shrunk down into the seat in shame. “Why do I ruin things?” She thought. It was childish to cry over something like this but that didn’t stop a tear or two from forming in the corner of her eyes. “Stupid.”

“Hey,” Dash brought her free arm around and squeezed her shoulder, “I’m sorry I got a little snappy, I just can’t stand dwelling on mistakes I’ve made when I can ignore them, you know this.” She sighed and pulled her arm back, “I won’t drink, alright?”

Fluttershy pulled herself up and smiled, wiping the semi-formed tears away with her sweater sleeve. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Rainbow turned onto the road and they soon pulled up to the roadside bar. A small but friendly looking place that fit perfectly into a nature-built clearing in the trees. She stopped the car and yanked the worn key out of the ignition, once they had both gotten out, Rainbow locked the car again and they headed into the diner.

“What a crap time to have pasta.” Dash slumped down into her seat and hastily jammed her key back into the ignition. “Eleven-thirty makes for a very awkward time for garlic and salt. Damn key.” With one final twist the car kind-of-almost jumped to life, the engine sputtering and backfiring. “Damn car.”

Fluttershy giggled at her friend and nodded. “Thats why I got salad, there’s always time for salad. And I’m sure the car is trying very hard for you.”

Rainbow chuckled, “I guess there’s always time for sardines and vomit as well.” She made a motion towards her mouth and gagged. “Salad is gross, and it bores me.” She looked back through the rear window and pulled out of the crowded parking lot. “I still can’t believe we weren’t the only ones there.”

“It is a bar as well isn’t it? Most people drink later.”

“Ahh, duh, good point.” Rainbow stepped on the gas with decent force. It took plentiful effort to get the ancient vehicle moving. Once they were up to speed rainbow yet again rolled her window down and let the air blast her in the face. “Roll down your window, Shy; It’s hot.”

“But its December.” Fluttershy looked at Rainbow, and how she was all wrapped up in a track jacket and a sweatshirt. “Why didn’t you take the jacket off if you were hot.”

“Ohh I see, you want me to strip instead. I gotcha now.” Dash gave a sly smile and wiggled her eyebrows, she laughed harder than she had all night when she caught sight of the explosion of red that blanketed Fluttershy’s face. “Hahaha”

Fluttershy on the other hand was in battle with every thought in every way. “Does she know I’m gay? Who told her? No! don’t imagine that, not now. Why are you laughing at me?” Every thought that Fluttershy went through brought her self consciousness up more and seemed to be shoving her lower into the seat. “I-uh, no, I was, no I…”

“Hahahahaha, relax Flutters, I’m just messing with you. You gotta’ start taking jokes better if you want to… Hey!”

“Get off the damn road” A truck withholding a very profound and angry man overtook them. The driver of the truck was shouting out of the window and holding his arm back, giving Rainbow the finger. “Whats wrong with you women drivers.” He obviously made no effort to withhold anything he was thinking and it was clear to both Rainbow and Fluttershy he was trying to bother them. He punched the gas and his engine revved, they went speeding off ahead.

Rainbow leaned out the window and shouted ahead. “You best hope that truck drives fast and has a lot of gas, if I catch up I’ll beat you with your own arm!” She punched the gas and the gar jutted forward, albeit slightly. “I know you don’t have much to give, but I need you to give it all.”

If Fluttershy had a heart attack before, she wouldn’t know what to call this. “Rainbow, please slow down, please. Please!” She gripped the bar above her head and a part of the center console, her eyes were wider than dinner plates and the unsung hero of a car woke up and blasted ahead.

“That fat asshole.” “No Fluttershy, not today; I’m going to make that failed human being learn how to behave." Her clunky old car roared onwards, she hit ninety-five before she started to catch up. She felt proud for a while, but the truck driver started to really put his weight on the gas because he soon rapidly began to pull away again, the much newer vehicle despite its size proved to be far too much for the aging car to handle.

“Damn, damn, shit, damn…” Rainbow let loose a belt of endless curses as when she saw the truck turn a corner more than fifty yards ahead of them. She knew the chase was over, and she knew that once again her car had failed to do anything other than moving forward. She knew she took a chance and that she had, most definitely, scared Fluttershy into cardiac arrest. She knew how dissapointing of a friend she was at that moment.

She slowed the car down to a measly thirty-seven, just over the back-roads speed limit. She sulked her head down and turned to her know teary eyed friend.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have…”

“Rainbow look out!” Fluttershy had her head held forward, eyes peeled open.

“wha?”

“Look Out!” By the time Rainbow had brought her head up it was too late. She had careened into the oncoming lane, and there was an oncoming car ahead, seemingly unaware of their presence. She slammed the horn in and jerked the wheel to the left without thinking. This brought her car into a sideways position, passenger facing towards the oncoming vehicle. They had slammed on their brakes, albeit too late, their cars collided with nearly thirty miles per hour between the two.

Fluttershy’s door was the door that got hit, her head snapped every which way as she got compressed by bending metal and a violently inflating air bag. She was lucky the car was old and made out of tougher materials, or the nearly three-thousand pound mass that collided with her would have brought certain death. She was knocked unconscious upon impact. Rainbow was slammed up against her door and window, she remembered to let her body go loose as to allow for free movement.

The car did not flip luckily, but was pushed rather onto the side of the road, with the other car coming to a rolling stop next to it. The flying debris had settled, dust and dirt filled the air making breathing difficult for someone even of perfect health. Wires in her car’s horn had grounded themselves out and that left the horn blaring endlessly. Rainbow put her head down and felt herself wavering in and out of consciousness, She could not see properly at first and certainly couldn’t hear correctly.

What she certainly didn’t expect was someone opening her door and dragging her out, laying her flat on the pavement. She heard distant voices but was still way too disoriented to make out what they were actually saying. When her vision cleared somewhat, she looked up to find a man -most likely the one from the other car- on the phone, craning his head to the side and rubbing his neck. “Good, he’s calling an ambulance.”

She looked around more, and saw her car sitting, mangled in the dirt, with the other vehicle not far from it. She saw debris in the road, and a stream of antifreeze pool onto the grass, seeping into the earth like water to a sponge. What she didn’t see was Fluttershy.

“Urgh.” She mumbled, pushing over into a push-up like position. She struggled upwards, but eventually got to her feet; adrenaline was kicking in and she felt most of her aches and pains die down.

“You’re awake, good. I need you to…” The man had advanced onto Rainbow, he held out his arm to help her along but she brushed him off.

“Wheres my friend?” Rainbow was not about to play games for once. She did not have a joke prepared for the situation, nor did she want one. “Where is she?”

“S-she’s still in the car, I called the fire department. They’ll need to, uh, pry the door open. I-uh, checked her breathing and pulse, she is alive.”

Rainbow didn’t reply rather took off in a quick jog to her car. Despite possible injuries she put all her effort into making it to Fluttershy. This was her own fault, and she couldn’t let Fluttershy suffer any more than she had to over it. She opened the drivers door and crawled in, she found Fluttershy in a heap, entangled in metal and with glass cutting down her arm. She pried the glass out and checked to make sure she was indeed, still breathing.

“She looks so bad.” Rainbow had begun to cry. After a long string of keeping in her emotions, she could no longer hold them. She had quite possibly, if help didn’t get here soon, caused the death of one of her best friends. Even worse, the person who least deserved it, out of anybody. “the fuck is wrong with me?”

“I don’t know if you can hear me Shy, b-but it’s going to be all right. Help is on the way, we’re going to get you to a hospital, o.k.” She laid her head onto the unconscious girls shoulder and let more tears flow, It was no longer a trickle but a torrent. “You hear that, we’re going to get help… I’m so sorry.”

Rainbow paced back and forth in the hospitals waiting room, and had been doing so for the past three hours. She and Fluttershy’s four best friends had long since shown up after Rainbow had called them all. The hospital only allowed them as far as the waiting room, and even that was a hassle to ask for. She had filled them in on exactly what happened,and got more than a few scowls for it. Luckily, they gave in when they saw how truly upset she was, although, Rainbow didn’t feel as if she deserved any form of pity.

She had been checked out with a minor concussion, a broken ring finger on her right hand, and a fractured rib. She was told however that Fluttershy was not so lucky. The doctors said she had broken ribs, one her elbow joints had shattered, and she had internal bleeding.

“I caused her to have internal bleeding. Internal. Bleeding. I need to be shot for this.” she thought. The doctors had thankfully told her that they could replace her elbow joint, “Bless all modern medical science.” and that they could repair her damaged organs, for they were not completely destroyed, just some had received a few lacerations. The ribs were going to be set and steadied, and she was most likely going to recover, in fact, if all surgery went as planned, she only had to stay in the hospital for the rest of the night and tomorrow.

It made no difference to Rainbow, because deep down she knew she was liable for holding the “worlds worst person” ribbon. She had hurt her friend, and she hurt her, because she got too angry to think correctly; something Fluttershy had always warned her about.

“Ya know ya’ll can stop pacing, right?” A voice shook Rainbow from her thoughts.

“Yes darling, we've all been worried sick, but you've been at that for hours, please just sit down will you?” another, but more, “high class” voice pierced her eardrums.

“Nah, I’m all set, thanks Rarity." Rainbow scowled at her friend. “If you can’t see how worried I am, you don’t use your eyes correctly.”

Rarity threw up her hands and lowered her voice down a couple decibels. “Only trying to help, dear.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Rainbow paced across the room a few more times before sighing and giving up her angry act. She threw herself onto one of the stone-hard plastic chairs that lined the room. “I, just… Can’t believe I did something so foolish. "

"It was a mistake, dear, but one that we can all eventually forgive." Rarity sighed, pulling out some tissues and wiping her wet eyes, smudging her beloved eyeliner in the process. "By Celestia, I hope she's doing alright. Poor thing is probably scared out of her wits right now."

"Ah think she'll still be unconscious Rare. Or they'll 'av put her on some drugs or somethin'." Applejack yawned out, leaning back in the seat and putting her hat over her eyes.

"I know that Applejack, I'm just..." She paused momentarily and rested her head in her hands, slowly beginning to weep. "I'm just so worried, I can't fathom loosing one of you."

Applejack pulled her hat off her head and shuffled to the seat next to the fashionista, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. It wasn't before long that Rainbow noticed the farmer was shedding her own tears. Something she had never seen for the few years she had known the hardy girl.

"Aww, please not you too Applejack. I can't deal with all of you crying at once." Rainbow turned away from the sorrowful sight and began performing some breathing exercises her old coaches insisted would always calm her down. In and out Dash, In and out.

Her coaches were liars.

"Hey, Dashie?" Rainbow turned to her head to her friend sitting a few seats to her right.

"Yes, Pinkie?"

"Promise me, all of us, that you'll be careful with her from now on. I know you feel the most comfortable with her, she's been your friend for years," Pinkie wiped her running eyes with her sleeves, "But that's no reason to get reckless, especially not with her, Dashie."

Rainbow looked at the floor solemnly as a few tears slid off her cheeks and onto the aging tiles below her feet. How could I let this happen? She nodded her head, unable to produce much more than a croak for a response. She was not a very pretty crier. She gave the room a few more solid sweeps, noting everything from the pristine magazines that got updated monthly to the lonesome dying plants set in between rows of chairs. Anything to get her mind to wander a little bit.

It wasn't long before she noticed that one of her few good friends hadn't made a peep. No input, no questions, and almost undoubtedly no crying. Twilight was not crying, no, but she was certainly not happy.

Rainbows gaze held for a few seconds before Twilight picked up her head to match her gaze. Her eyes bore nothing but anger. Rainbow looked away immediately, completely unable to hold contact with the icy gaze that she was presented with. The night was beginning to fill with first times for her. First time I saw Applejack cry, first time Twilight has truly scared me, and certainly the first time I've almost killed one of my friends. She sighed and threw herself, once again, onto the chairs behind her.

Rainbow stretched herself out across five of the chairs, using them as a makeshift bed. Her jacket was ripped down the back and she could no longer wear it, so she used it as a pillow to rest her head instead. Another fifteen minutes passed by without a single word spoken. She sat there and twiddled her fingers, humming sad songs in hopes the time would go by faster.

She began to notice how sweaty, dirty, and just gross she felt physically. Almost like you would after a grueling two hour workout. Every bit of energy she had left was spent trying to hold tears in, or trying to not fall asleep in case the surgery ended.

“Alright, Sorry girls, I have to go; I have library work in the morning. Please tell me the verdict when she gets out.” Twilight's voice broke Rainbow out of her trance.

“Bailing already Twilight?” Rainbow slurred and rolled over, facing the wall rather than her friend.

“You know, Rainbow, I would appreciate it if you didn’t act selfish right now. I have to go, I’m not just ‘Bailing’ as you say. You know I would stay, for Fluttershy’s sake, if I could.”

“Selfish!” Rainbow yelled but before she continued, she slumped again, and breathed out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, “Oh, why do I bother. I’ll tell you what happens after I see her.”

"Mhmm.” Twilight walked over to a now sleeping Pinkie Pie, her wild pink hair plastered over her dreaming face. She shook her shoulder, the girl snapping awake and let out a little yawn. “Pinkie, I know you don’t want to leave Fluttershy, but we need to get going.”

“Aww why, I should be here for her.” Pinkie's sleepy smiles dissipated and a frown took it’s place.

“Well, I’m your ride home, so…”

“Sorry for interrupting ya’ll, but ah got room in the truck if she wansta stay longer. I don’ need ta leave yet.”

“You sure Applejack? I can bring her home if you need me to. It would Be easier on gas”

“Ah wouldn’t’ve offered if I couldn’t bring her ho..uep.” Pinkie threw herself at Applejack, and hugged her with a inhumanly strong force. Applejack coughed and gagged, and squeezed out a plea for air before Pinkie let her go.

“Euuhg.” Rainbow covered her ears with her jacket and arm. “Everyone is too loud, this is ridiculous.” Despite her previous efforts, she closed her eyes and tried to block out her friends voices. It took a long while, but she eventually drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Rainbow was awoken by a gentle push on the shoulder and a blaring voice, which by was most likely just normal speak just amplified by morning grogginess.

“Sit up please, I need to speak with you.” Rainbow sat up and stretched, pressing her back into the chair, yawning the sleepiness away. When her eyes adjusted she was greeted by one of the head doctors sitting in a chair placed in front of her. “That's creepy.”

“haha, sup doc.” She smiled but stopped when she saw how cold his expression got, “Sorry.”

“It’s alright, but I need to speak with you about your friend.”

“Is she alright! She better be alright!” Rainbow raised herself, preparing to fight this doctor if Fluttershy had not pulled through.

“She did pull through yes, and with no complications. She’s sleeping right now, and may be for the remainder of the morning. She's on some very heavy medications as well, and she will be for her time in our care. However, her hospital bill, even covered by insurance will be astronomical If she stays hospitalized, and with modern medicine, we do have the ability to send her home later today. However, not without a caretaker. That arm will be useless for a long while, and she will be in too much pain to move for a few days, and will be bed ridden. Do you know of any family she has that will comply and be able to divert their time to her?”

“YES! She’s alright. Yes, yes, yes.” Wonderful and awful thoughts flooded Rainbows thoughts as she took in what the doctor had said. It was great that she would be fine, granted, it would take effort to recover; but that was fine. The problem was, she did not know any family that would take her in. Her Mom and Dad have been too sickly to take care of themselves, and she had no siblings. She wasn’t sure about aunts and uncles.

“Um, no I don’t, but” -time to repay her- “If she agrees, can I-uh, take care of her. I feel like I need to do something to make this all up to her.”

The doctor paused, for a moment he looked concerned, as if he was seriously doubting Rainbows “caregiver” abilities, but he relented, and softened his expression.

“Sure, as long as you’re over 18 and don’t have a criminal record, she can sign her self out under your name for protection. At that point, she will almost be considered to be a ‘minor’ and everything that happens to her will be your responsibility.

“Thanks, that's awesome doc,” Rainbow leaned over and gave him a firm handshake. “but I have to ask, you say it like you’ll be signing her life away, why?”

The doctor sighed. “Because I practically am. She was already deemed unable to see to her own needs; she would not survive alone in her home. So if you agree to take her, it will be your sole responsibility to help her on through this. If something happens, It will be put on you. Luckily, that chance is very small and she will most likely be fine through this. Do you still agree to take her.”

Rainbow sat their jaw agape, “So if I take this, I’ll be her life support, in a way?”

“Exactly.”

“That's a rough way to put it.”

It didn’t take her much thought; it was what she needed to do, at least to feel a little better morally. “I’ll still do it, just give the rundown on what she’ll need.”

“O.k.” The doctor nodded and stood up, motioning his hand for Rainbow to follow him.

Pills, Pills, and even more pills. Antibiotics, steroids, Analgesics, etc. Anything that Fluttershy could take, she was told to take; even if it wasn’t necessarily needed. She was informed that none of the pain medication she was going to be able to take would be nearly as potent as what Fluttershy was taking at the moment, so she would be practically painless for the first day only. Rainbow grabbed a piece of notepaper from a notebook she found at the front desk and began to jot down when she was going to need to take her pills.

She was still barred off from seeing Fluttershy, much to her disdain. They said that it was “unhealthy” for her to be around in-case she woke up unexpectedly and in pain, which was understandable. The doctor from earlier turned out to be the lead surgeon on Fluttershy’s job, and was supposedly damned good at his job, and it was just luck that he was on job then, for his shift had actually ended an hour before they had shown up.

Rainbow felt blessed and terrified at the same time. Fluttershy was supposed to wake up soon, as it was mid afternoon; she dreaded what she was going to say the face she had hurt so much. Yet she knew that she could make it better eventually, or at least bring peace between them. She prayed that she could revive their friendship. Even with Fluttershy’s unusual ability to forgive; she doubted this was going to get looked over.

“Alright,” she sighed, “Now I play, the waiting game.”

Against everything Rainbows tough exterior showed, she was terrified.

Author's Note

climbed into bed, thought of this.

Came home from school. Created it.

Oh the effort; please blast me with criticism and show me any mistakes I dun' made.