MISSED CALLS
A ONESHOT BY PANDORABOXABLE
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
“At the tone, please record your message. When yo-BEEP.”
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
“At the tone, ple-BEEP.”
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
Rainbow Dash turned her attention away from the phone sitting on her bed, her eyes dull. She fluttered her wings silently to become more comfortable, but after a few seconds decided that the position she was in was fine. Her wings lay on her sides, limp.
The bags under her fuschia eyes rose for a moment as she sniffed, drawing congestion back into her body. The phone beeped and fell silent. Rainbow picked up the phone and then immediately hung up, pressing the green “redial” button instead. That same, familiar tone emanated from the speaker.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
“At the tone, please record yo-BEEP.”
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the pho-BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.”
Rainbow slowly turned her head at the disturbance, the “incoming call” light was flashing on and off. She made no movement to pick up the receiver, instead letting it go straight to voicemail.
“Hey, Rainbow, it’s your boss… you haven’t come into work at all this week. Is everything okay?” There was silence for a couple moments. Rainbow wanted to pick up the receiver but her muscles remained slack. “Well… alright, I guess you’re not home. That’s… uh… okay. Just, please call me back once you get this? The company is… well… I’ll talk to you later. CLICK.”
Silence filled the room once again, an insufferable, containing silence that crushed Rainbow’s ambitions, her needs. She slowly pushed herself up and away from the bed, watching as the cloudfoam slowly returned the indent she had made in the covers from hours upon hours on end to its normal, uniform position. She stumbled slightly as her back hooves made contact with the floor and swayed. Without the energy or willpower to catch herself, she fell over sideways, sprawling out on the clouds beneath her. She sighed and lay still. Her pet tortoise slowly sauntered into the room, looking sadly at the pegasus before continuing on towards the kitchen. She averted her eyes from his, guilt coming over her.
Two hours later, there was no discernible change in her position. Night had begun to fall, the colors of Princess Twilight’s magic spreading out over the heavens would have been beautiful nearly any other time. But not tonight. Rainbow’s stomach rumbled again, remembering her basic bodily functions. She managed to roll onto her belly and remain there while slowly crawling her way towards the kitchen. The foreboding shadows cast by the setting sun covered nearly everything, and only a patch of remaining light filtered through a small window, hitting the kitchen island and illuminating a sleeping Tank, his propeller whirring away, his food bowl empty. Another pang of guilt rushed through Rainbow, and she managed to convince herself to stand up on all fours.
She opened the fridge with an unpreened wing, the feathers sticking all over the place and making her look neglected. In reality, she was neglecting herself. Her sadness, her suffering all combined to make the past week as excruciating as possible for her. But she could not find any of her previous spunk, her willpower, her loyalty to continue caring for herself. Tank could have died from dehydration a few days earlier if it wasn’t for Princess Twilight’s telephone call which pulled her out of her solemn stupor for long enough to notice the parched tortoise nudging her hoof. He had been there for four hours.
The fridge was nearly empty, save for a rotting bottle of milk and a bowl of fruit. Rainbow tentatively reached out to grasp at an apple, rolling it around the bowl before lifting it out and setting it on the kitchen island beside Tank. She bit into it, splitting it into two halves before placing one half in her pet’s bowl and finishing the other half for herself. She was hungry, yet she didn’t feel like eating. She was thirsty, yet she didn’t feel like drinking. She was wanting, but her willpower did not come. She was alone, yet her friends were there to add companionship. If she could let them in, she would.
Rainbow returned to her bed, slipping back under the covers next to the telephone. She sighed and pressed in the old, familiar numbers. At this point it was only muscle memory keeping them burned into her mind. She would never admit it, but she was afraid she would lose the only remaining artifact she owned of her friend. She reached out a hoof and grasped an old, yellowed newspaper on her bedside table, pulling it over to her, beginning to read the front page article.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy-”
“Breaking news:”
“I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now-”
“Eight dead in freak Cloudsdale explosion-”
“but if you could leave a message-”
“Wounded total in the forties-”
“I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
“Element of Kindness-”
“Thank you…”
“Confirmed in casualty reports.”
“BEEP.”
“Attempts to resuscitate, unsuccessful.”
Rainbow let the message recording play. She didn’t have the strength to turn it off. The lonely silence surrounded her again as her “message” began to record, the faint static sound of the telephone her only companion. She would have wept if her eyes were not dry. There had been enough of that.
“Rainbow Dash?” The sudden sound of a voice at her door didn’t even make the pegasus flinch. She stayed on her bed, eyes half-lidded, oblivious to the world around her.
“Rainbow Dash… it’s us… your friends?” Rarity.
“Are you there?” Applejack.
“Can you please answer the door? Please?” Pinkie Pie.
“Rainbow, at least let us know you’re in there. Please, Rainbow. It’s been a week. You can’t stay in there forever.” Twilight.
There was no response from Rainbow other than the slow, steady rise and fall of her chest as her lungs prolonged her life span for another excruciating minute. She blinked, but did not turn around. She didn’t even shout. She didn’t even speak. She didn’t even whisper.
“Rainbow… Rainbow, we’re coming in…” Twilight said through the cloud door. Rainbow could hear the rattling of a handle, but she knew she had locked it days ago. Mumbling came from the other side, unintelligible to Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, a shockwave ran through the floor and up her spine, causing her skin to bristle on end. Her eyes opened slightly, but her position didn’t change.
Another shockwave and she could tell the door was off, dissipating into the cloud layer below. She ruffled her wings and tapped the “redial” button with her hoof again, starting the message over.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
She could hear searching sounds coming from the other rooms of her house, things being moved around, ponies opening doors and shutting them again, Pinkie desperately asking Tank where she was even though he did not stir. She knew he wouldn’t.
Again.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
Again.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
Again.
“Girls, she’s in here…” Rarity spoke from behind Rainbow Dash.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
A sob came from behind the pegasus. Another.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
Hooves wrapped around her body, a face pressed against her side. Wetness stained the back of her unruly coat, unwashed since last week.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
Tapping sounds on a telephone outside.
“Hello, 911? My friend needs help…” Twilight was calling.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
She tapped it again.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
“No more, please, Dashie, stop…” the pleading sounds from Pinkie Pie were wind in Rainbow’s ears.
She tapped it again, oblivious to anything around her.
“H-hello, you’ve reached Fluttershy. I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you could leave a message I will get back as soon as possible. Thank you…”
“Please… Dashie… wake up… please… stop…”
