Fluttershy had finally calmed, and together we waited in the lounge. The sounds of the hospital surrounded me, and I couldn’t help but remember my own stay in one shortly after my last tour. I wasn’t losing my shit, not yet, but I didn’t want to keep thinking about the hospital, my original stay, or anything to really do with it.

It was then that the video phone hanging on the wall of the waiting room went off. I looked up to see one of the few other occupants answer it, his face looked surprised, and then he looked around the room, “Fluttershy? Is there a Ms. Fluttershy here? There is a call for you from a person named Pinkie Pie.”

Fluttershy walked toward the phone, and I watched as she nearly went to tears as she talked to the hyperactive pink mare. The discussion, of which I only got half of, was somber and muted, but only from Shy’s end. I was still worried that Rainbow Dash might have permanent injuries, but withstanding the knowledge or skill of a seasoned surgeon, I couldn’t tell. My mind kept replaying the sickening “crack” of bones as Dash landed on the sidewalk. I thought it a pure miracle she didn’t die then and there.

Fluttershy returned to me, her face still puffy from shed tears but a small smile gracing her features.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said, “Rainbow Dash has taken worse tumbles and crashes than this. Even though I still wonder why she couldn’t fly so well…”

I wanted to reply that it was a mystery to me, but then I recalled the first few hours that Flutters and I had. She was on her hooves all that day, and even into the next. It was only after a week of staying with me that she began to float with her wings. It was such a regular occurrence in the brownstone that I hadn’t given it much thought.

“Maybe she wasn’t supposed to be here,” I muttered, which garnered Shy’s attention, “I mean, you weren’t floating around the brownstone until a week after you arrived in town. Maybe- Maybe Dash was supposed to be elsewhere, with another human, and she-”

I felt a pair of furry arms grasp me, stopping the panic attack that was inbound. Shy’s tears were still moist upon her cheeks; they joined mine as the wetworks started. We stayed in that embrace for an hour, maybe more, before Dr. Fine returned. He was haggard looking, his face a deep ruddy color, and his scrubs were far worse for wear. I had begun to fear the worst.

“Well, we did all we could” the doctor started, “the extensive damage to her spine is the worst of it. Even with all the finest medical equipment we have on hand, we could completely repair the trauma. There’s an orthopedist and a neurologist in there to see what they can do, but from everything I’ve seen, it’s likely she’ll never walk again.”

Shy gasped, and I knew why. Even in the end of the series, Dash’s one true passion was flight. Take that away, and the prism maned stunt mare was just as much an Earth pony as Applejack or Pinkie Pie. The idea of a crippled Pegasus was inconceivable but there’s no way that anything living could survive a fall from the height of the Empire State Building; Dash did live after that fall, though. So a grounded Pegasus was certainly a card on the table.

“Can we see her, Doctor?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Dr. Fine answered, “Ms. Dash is under a lot of sedation. Furthermore, the orthopedist and neurologist need time to determine the extent of her spinal injuries. It’s likely a few of her vertebrae will need to be fused to insure she heals properly. In any case, it will be a few days before anyone, or anypony, can see her.”

“I understand,” Flutters said morosely, “is- is she in any pain?”

“I don’t believe she is,” the doctor replied, “part of the surgeries she just endured were to install pain blockers on her spinal cord. On top of the sedatives and painkillers she’s under now, she shouldn’t be feeling a blessed thing. Even so, a nurse will be on watch for her round the clock.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” I said, “without you, it’s very certain she’d be dead by now.”

“Don’t thank me until after you get the bill,” Dr. Fine joked, “you might not be so thankful then.”

I gave the duty nurse my number to call if any change were to happen to Dash. Shy was subdued on the cab ride back home. This was supposed to be a fun filled day, and instead it turned into a harrowing night. I don’t think either of us got much sleep after…

Time: 14:45 hours (2:15 PM EDT), Friday, June, 24th, 2058
Location: 800 Poly Place, Brooklyn, New York
Place: Group Therapy Room
Session Conductor: Dr. Vanessa Ozbourne, PhD., Psychotherapy

“That sounds-” Dr. Ozbourne started, but she left the sentence dangling, overcome with emotion. Ark couldn’t blame her.

“Did- did Rainbow Dash die?” Another soldier in the room asked.

“She didn’t,” Ark said, “she lived. For a while after her accident, she was bed ridden and miserable. I’m getting ahead of myself, though.”

Rachel then asked, “So, what happened then?”

“Well, Shy and I spent a rather restless night at home. The next morning, both of us were sleep deprived and nervous. Neither of us were fit for company. Then again, Pinkie Pie was never one to take no for an answer…”

Pinkie Pie’s Perspective
Location: Ark and Fluttershy’s Brownstone

I smiled at my little cupcakes as we made our way up the door. Andy was still scratching his head as to why we were here, but he had learned to not ask, but instead to go with the flow. I explained that I had a doozy of a combo, and then I called Fluttershy, and she was all sad, and she told me what happened, and I said that we’d be out, and she said not to worry, but it’s not a worry, it’s a friend being a friend, so I had Andy get us tickets out here.

Luckily Paul was able to get us tickets on a bullet train, that’s such a weird name for a train, but it was really fast, and we made it practically overnight.

“Sweetheart, are you sure they’re fit for company?”

I smiled at Andy. He’s a good stallion, but he likes to think with his head more than his heart, and my heart was telling me to check on Fluttershy. I walked up to the door, which Andy looked confused about how we were able to get past the very front door of the building, but again, he accepted it. Smiling, I readied myself, knocked on the door, and waited.

I heard noises behind it, and then I saw a camera overhead turn toward us. It was glowing a soft red, and I knew that it was a thingie like Igor that was watching us.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I’m here to see Fluttershy, would you get her please?”

“How did you manage to get past the front door? It is unavailable to any that are not residents of this building.”

“Trust me when I say that you’re better off not trying to figure it out.”

I smiled at Andy’s answer. ‘Cause sometimes you just gotta believe in things, even if you can’t explain them.

“I… One moment please.”

A few seconds later and the door opened. I could see my friend, her face was tear stained, she looked upset, and I quickly wrapped my arms around her.

“It’s okay, Auntie Pinkie is here.”

She sniffed a little, “I’m still two years older than you.”

“I know silly, oh, I had Andy book a hotel just in case you and Ark are trying to make each other feel better.”

“Ummm… Pinkie, we’re just friends.”

I looked at her and grinned, “Silly! That’s right, that happens later! Duh!”

She looked confused, but after a moment she invited us into their home. I smiled, and I smelled something, or the lack of something.

“Fluttershy, when did you eat last?”

She shrugged her shoulders, and I shook my head, “Andy, would you take the foals to the living room, that’s okay right Fluttershy?” I asked and she nodded in approval, “Good, to the living room, and maybe read them that story about that mean old Grinch who became a big softie? Thanks! I’m going to make everypony something!”

Fluttershy’s Perspective
Location: Brownstone Kitchen

I tried to tell Pinkie that she didn’t have to do this, but she shook her head and led me to my, well Ark’s and mine, kitchen. Like everypony else that lived in Ponyville, I didn’t ask questions when it came to Pinkie Pie. I watched as she began to gather a few things, potatoes, elbow noodles, tomato sauce, garlic, some pickled herring that I didn’t even know we had, and a few sticks of butter that I know we didn’t have all together. She began humming happily as she further chopped up the pickled herring, threw it into a frying pan with the butter, and began cooking it. Then she boiled water, added the noodles, and while that was happening she cleaned the potatoes, diced them up, and put them into another pot.

I had eaten Pinkie’s cakes, cupcakes, and sweets before, but I never knew that she could actually cook.

“Pinkie, where did you learn this?”

She smiled at me, “Oh, another time, another place, when I danced at Lucky’s tavern for bits.”

That confused me beyond all understanding. Pinkie never danced at Lucky’s…. I decided not to ask, after all I knew that Pinkie seemed to know things that nopony else did, and I didn’t want to focus on that. Instead I tried to help, but instead she just wanted me to talk.

“I… Pinkie what do you want me to talk about?”

She looked at me, and it wasn’t the smiling face of the hyperactive mare that I lived around in Ponyville. Her smile was a sad one, but it was there, welcoming, understanding, and wanting me to tell her everything. I sniffed, knowing that I had barely touched on everything.

“I… Pinkie… I keep thinking that it’s my fault. I know that’s silly, but I felt like I should have been there for Rainbow. She always protected me from bullies, and always helped me, and I wasn’t there to keep her from getting hurt.”

Pinkie stopped, letting, whatever it was that she was cooking, stew for a little before she hugged me tightly.

“Silly, it’s not your fault. Rainbow just tried to fly before she was able to connect with this world. I mean I couldn’t start popping out of cupboards on my first day. Nopearooni, that was a few days later, and then after I kissed Andy everything was back!” She giggled and a bright smile reappeared on her face as she looked at me, “Rainbow didn’t know that, and she’s used to being a Wonderbolt. I felt a combo when she got here, I knew it was her, but Igor couldn’t get me in touch with anypony.”

She brought me over to the stove, showing me what she was cooking, “I couldn’t get ahold of anypony because we all have families, and we’ve got lives that take us in different places, but when Rainbow needed you, really needed you, you were there. Just like I’m here, and like how Rarity is going to call to make sure that you’re okay, and like how Twilight is going ask if you need help, and of course like how AJ is going to offer you a place to stay out at the farm if you need it while Rainbow recoops.”

She grinned, “Because when it matters the most we’re friends that are family to each other. And nothing can break that apart. Well, except for a really bad boat ride with two of your best friends that act like total jerks when actually you’re just trying to make everypony happy, but that was like a really long time ago.”

I felt better listening to her, and then I heard Tolstoy announce that I had a call from Rarity. I looked at Pinkie who was currently cooking, grinning, and nodded for me to answer it.

Ark’s Perspective
Location: Brownstone Living Room

Walking into the living room I was greeted with the sight of a man I knew only from the wedding I attended with Fluttershy, and there with him were two children that looked like satyrs. I felt a little off about having guests in the house, especially when I knew nothing about it, but I could see that he wasn’t in his element either. Taking a moment I sat down across from him. I noticed that one of the little tikes was sleeping by his side, but the other one was eyeing me from where she sat on his lap.

It was strange, but her face seemed to have several of her mother’s features, just in more human context. She didn’t look afraid, but instead she looked interested, as though she was trying to figure me out. Slowly, she got up, walked toward me, but stayed just far enough away to be out of my reach. She was a tiny thing, and I looked at the man that had to be her father.

“How old is she?”

He smiled at her, “They’re both barely a year and a half old. I’m sorry we’ve dropped in almost unannounced, but Pinkie believed that she was needed here.”

I looked toward the kitchen and I could see Fluttershy starting to smile a little. Having company in the house was a pain, but having Fluttershy smile and seemingly happy was worth it.

“How bad is she?”

I looked toward him. He looked worried, honestly worried.

“I am not sure. The doctors did not cover everything with us, but they did say it was likely she would most likely never walk again.”

He shook his head, “That’s going to hit her hard. I don’t want to sound callous about it, but it really is going to hit her hard. Do you and Fluttershy have a plan for when she’s released?”

I could tell how this was going. He was implying, gently implying, that if we wanted they would take Rainbow Dash. I glanced toward the kitchen and saw Pinkie Pie, happily making dinner. I remembered how Rainbow Dash had acted in the show, and I knew that she was often proud and arrogant. For a moment I considered the thought of telling him that if he had room it would be fine. But, I dismissed that. I knew that Fluttershy would want to help Rainbow Dash recover, and besides, I figured that having Pinkie Pie as a nursemaid would drive Rainbow up the wall.

"Nah, I think we got this" I replied, "besides, how long do you think Dash would put up with Pinkie as nurse maid?"

He nodded, looked toward the kitchen, and then relaxed, “I’m glad. Don’t get me wrong in the slightest. I wouldn’t mind having another house mate, but I don’t want to see Pinkie getting spread too thin. It’s been a little difficult since one of our newest house guests arrived.”

I looked at him a bit confused, and he carefully pulled out a rollout tablet from his pocket. He gently unrolled it, pressed the side, and it came to life. I watched as he navigated to the pictures, and there standing with himself, Pinkie Pie, and their two children, or foals, was none other than Filthy Rich.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me," I blurt, "when did he turn up?”

He looked at me, seemingly not bothered by the fact that I was surprised. Then again I thought of the mare he was married to and it occurred to me that it was likely that nothing surprised him anymore.

“He appeared about a month and a half ago. He was wandering around the neighborhood, and Pinkie recognized him before I did. We offered him a place to stay, and currently he’s working for an organic grocery store a couple of blocks from us. To be honest I’m a little surprised, but apparently he’s already made it to Department Manager. I suppose that he really was a good business stallion,” he turned off the tablet, gently re-rolled it, and placed it back into his pocket.

His daughter, who had stayed just far enough from me, crept a little closer. Finally she touched my cyberpros, gently feeling the hardened plastics and metals that made up the artificial limbs.

I smiled as the filly when her hand jumped back from the cool titanium.

"♪Hoist the flag, hold the line, lessons learned, now lost to time.
Now we sing of you, forsaken pawns of War. ♫" I sang softly.

She smiled at me, and her mouth opened. I expected to hear cute baby talk, but instead there was a sweet little singing voice coming from her.

“♫Yo ho, haul together hoist the colours high heave ho, thieves and beggars never shall we die.♪”

I watched her father grin. She hushed after a moment, and then she moved closer to me.

“I’m a little surprised. Normally Strawberry doesn’t take to new people, or ponies, so quickly. Her brother, Onyx, is a different story, and we have to be careful when we’re out shopping. Because if we take our eyes off of him he’s trying to hug everyone within a fifty foot radius,” he looked at me, “And she didn’t mean any offense. But she picks up on words and songs incredibly quickly. She heard that old song from that Pirate movie.”

“Tam net nichego plokhogo,” I admit, “I'm more a Ninja man, myself but whoever heard of a singing ninja?”

She was still looking at my cyberpros, her little eyes transfixed on them, and then she moved toward me again. This time she didn’t touch the two artificial limbs, but instead she stretched her arms toward me. It was a gesture that I’d seen a thousand times between parents and their children. I glanced toward her father, and he nodded that it was fine. I reached for her, lifted her up, and felt her little arms wrap around my neck.

She was a year and half old, but she felt stronger than that. I felt her squeeze, but not too hard, and it felt like she was trying to make things better somehow. I knew what she was trying to do, even if she couldn’t say it explicitly. She was trying to offer comfort, in the form of hugs. A sweet gesture, to be sure, but wholly unnecessary. I had long gotten over the idea that I would ever be whole again and accepted that my prosthetic legs were just as much a part of me as my hands, my eyes, or even my nose.

“Thank you, little one,” I said, returning the hug, “it’s okay though. They did their level best to kill me but they just couldn’t do it. I’ll stay alive just to spite them; my legs will be the only thing they get from me!”

The little filly’s face went from saddened to joyful upon hearing that. She never wavered though. After all that had happened in the last thirty-six hours, it was a small relief to get such a gesture, even if she wasn't of legal age. This reminded me that I needed to give Fluttershy a hug, too. The ponies, both in the series and now in real life, seem to thrive on physical tokens of affection. And judging by little Strawberry, so do their hybrid offspring.

“I wonder what it is they’re cooking in there?” Andy asked, “Smells delicious.”

“It does,” I say, taking a whiff of delectable odor, “and I think I only just now realized how hungry I am. The shock of the last while has thrown my appetite down the shitter.”

No sooner did I say that than Pinkie’s head emerged from the kitchen door, shouting, “Who’s hungry?!”
Little Strawberry let go, moved, and got off of my lap and began to head toward the kitchen where she heard, and saw, her mother. I watched as she left, and then I turned to see Andy sitting beside his son. I could see his son’s eyes opening, the crystal blue orbs looked around the room, and then a bright smile crossed his face. Much like his sister he stood up, but I knew that he hadn’t seen Pinkie.

Instead he began to head that way toward her, almost as if he just knew where she was.

“How does he know?” I asked.

Andy grinned, “So far, I’ve learned that like with his mother, it’s best not to ask.”

We made our way into the kitchen and I was greeted with the smell of goulash. It was thick, heavy, but I didn’t smell a stitch of meat. Instead I smelled roasted potatoes, a little pickled herring, which I had no idea that we even had, and then I could smell a few other things that made me think of the few pleasant memories I had of home. I made a mental note to check my stash of vodka, in the off chance that had been depleted during the cooking.

Walking toward the table I could smell the richness of the goulash. It was Hungarian Goulash, spiced just right to taste closer to traditional Russian cooking. Pinkie already began dipping it into plates, and I saw the bounty before me. Fluttershy and I had eaten at a few places, and for the most part our meals had been mostly American. When we visited Rarity… I stopped thinking about it. What had happened needed to happen. That bastard got what was coming to him.

We stayed with her, longer than either of us intended to, well until her husband returned, and we stayed that night afterward. I was worried that we might have overstayed, but the next morning I got to actually talk to her husband, to John, and for once I found someone similar to myself. A former soldier, granted John had been in the Army, Rangers granted, but still the Army, but he didn’t place blame on his wife.

He knew it wasn’t her fault, instead I felt okay about leaving. I took the first bite, and it was at that time that I realized that two sets of eyes were on me. Pinkie was looking at me, a gentle smile on her face, and her son’s was on me as well. I watched as he dug into his pocket, pulled out what looked like a tiny stuffed rabbit, and gave it to his father. Seemingly knowing what he wanted he passed the stuffed bunny toward me, and sat it down.

The little gray rabbit was designed so that it would slide onto your finger. Giving the smallest hug in the world. I looked at him, and then at Pinkie, and finally it was Pinkie put her head on her hand while she looked back at me.

“That’s my boy. The Earth Pony way is to share the burden. I feel it, my little ones feel it, and they want to help share it,” she gently nudged Fluttershy, “I’m sure that Flutters told you all about it since she’s an honorary Earth Pony.”

"Afraid not," I said, a tad mystified, "I always had it in my head that Fluttershy was a Pegasus. Though, I think some Fimfiction headcanons had Shy labeled a ‘Legasus.’ And now, I’m awful flashbacks from Teen Titans Go…”

Pinkie giggled, “She is silly, but since she lived so close to the ground all of us Earth Ponies just accepted her as an Earth Pony. And nopony bothered her shed.”

I saw Fluttershy roll her eyes.

“What about your shed?” I asked.

She sighed, looked at Pinkie, and then looked back at me.

“I don’t know how the joke got started,” she began, “But apparently somepony thought it would be funny to store their bit and bridle set in my shed. I happened to be going out there with Carrot Top to get some bird seed for the blue jays that liked to land in her yard, and there hanging from the rafters of my shed was something from 50 Shades of Neigh. Carrot Top thanked me for my time, left, and then everypony in town talked about how I had something from Flagrante Delicto’s collection out in my Shed.”

“Yeah, I never thought of you as a BDSM advocate,” I said, “I mean, it would be an interesting dynamic, what with a shy girl in the streets and dominatrix in the sheets. An intriguing juxtaposition. But, yeah, way too out of character for you.”

“Yeah, Shy is like vanilla ice cream,” Pinkie stated, “although she does have those legs for days and has a model’s figure. Maybe Cookies and Cream? Not really plain but a touch short of being really exciting-”

“Pinkie,” Andy interjected, “you better stop with the desert allusions or our foals are going to drool themselves into New Jersey.”

Sure enough, both foals were staring at their mothers, mouths agape, drool pooling on their high chairs. (And where any high chairs resided in the brownstone, I’ll never know. Like Pinkie Pie and Andy, they just- showed up out of nowhere.) Pinkie and Andy spent a few minutes dutifully cleaning up drool and wiping infant faces spotless before sitting back down again.
Then Andy asked the sixty-four thousand credit question, “So, what’s going to happen to Dash?”

“She’ll be staying here, right Ark?” Fluttershy inquired.
I nodded, adding, “the brownstone has plenty of rooms and there’s an empty one right next to Fluttershy’s that has been empty a while. I don’t think my uncle had anything in there that could be a danger, but I'll sweep it just in case. It should be big enough for the associated hospital gear that she’ll need to get along for the time being. Knowing RD, she’ll be walking again inside three months, and trying to fly the whole damn time.”

“Wait, aren’t the bedrooms for the brownstone upstairs?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah, they are,” I replied, “what of it?”

“Don’t you think it would be easier to have a room down here for Dashie?” Pinkie stated, “I mean, big, bulky hospital beds aren’t really made for ascending flights of steps.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy breathes, “Pinkie has a point, Ark. Do you really think you and I can get Rainbow and her bed upstairs?”

“Hmm,” I wondered, “good point. I guess I set that one room aside for her when she does become mobile again. In the meantime, I think there might be a room down here that might do the trick. It may be a bit of a tight squeeze, but if I can get the door of the hinge, then might help some.”

“Will you need any help with that?” Andy asked.

“Nah, I think we got it,” I answered, “if all else fails, I can ask Katya, who lives next door and is in construction, to help me out some. Between Shy, Katya, and myself, we can manage the door and any other thing to get the room ready.”

“Well, here’s hoping,” Andy said, then put at a hand for shaking. I then shook at it and finished our meal in companionable silence. Well, except for Pinkie, who did the talking for all of us. After the meal was done, and plenty of hugs were shared, Andy and Pinie took off. I never did figure out how they arrived or how they were getting home, but knowing Pinkie, it would be a wacky adventure that would make the rounds. Eventually. Fluttershy and I cleaned up the dinner plates (and miraculously, the high chairs were gone,) then had Tolstoy replay all our messages. There were plenty for Fluttershy from Applejack, Rarity, a grainy video mail from Twilight (which, if I read the header right, was someplace just outside of Stonehedge?) and then there was one for me that came at the very end, audio only.

“Privet, kuzen! Eto ya, Dmitriy! Privet, ya zavtra priyedu v gorod, nanesu nebol'shoy vizit. Okh, ty yeshche ne razgromil dom moyego ottsa, a? Ya budu na reyse iz Moskvy okolo trekh chasov, vashe vremya. Nadeyus' uvidet' vas na JFK!”*

After the message ended, Fluttershy turned to me and asked, “Who was that, Ark? And what did they say?”
“That was my cousin, Dmitri,” I told her, “he’s coming for a visit tomorrow!”

Author's Note

*Google Translate was used to make this text block. Might not be perfect Russian… likely isn't perfect Russian. What can you do?