Farewell

Rainbow Dash was winning. She smiled to herself,  “no surprise there” she thought as she sped along the racetrack. The athletic cyan Pegasus was on the second to last lap of the 42km race, having already completed 18 laps and being an impressive 500 metres ahead of her second place rival Thunder Lane. Although the pace was getting to her, her breathing coming in shallow gasps and the lactic acid building in her tired muscles Rainbow refused to slow down. She had trained for this, sacrificed too much for this moment and as Celestia was her witness she was going to win!

Turning the last corner Rainbow gracefully dipped her left wing slightly so as to better take it at speed she exited, the marker ahead confirming she was 2.5km from the finish line. Straightening up she saw the VIP box in the crowd, Rainbow knew the dignitaries there, Princess Celestia, her sister Princess Luna and of course her closest friends. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie were all cheering her onwards. Hungrily her eyes sought out the one girl Rainbow cared for most. Fluttershy. At that instant Rainbow saw her, a vision in the box, the normally shy and reserved yellow skinned girl with the pastel pink hair was transformed as she wildly cheered Rainbow on. Spurred by the sight of her lover, Rainbow knew she had to pour it on on the last straight. 2km to go. She pushed harder, stretching her arms in front of her, straightening her fingers and flattening her ears to her head. Angling her wings just so, she pointed her primary feathers backwards searching for that extra speed. It was working. Rainbow could instinctively feel the air lose pressure around her, beginning to cone around her outstretched fingers and over her arms and back. Static electricity sparked along her length and Rainbow knew she was close. Her muscles screamed in defiance, threatening to seize up but still she pushed, flapping her powerful blue wings ever harder. 1.5km to and she had it in the bag. Now was the time. With a final superhuman effort she felt herself go that little bit extra, then it happened.

With 1km to go Rainbow Dash hit the speed of sound. She felt it happen. The sonic rainboom exploded behind her in a cascade of colour. The crowd was going nuts, they always did when Rainbow performed her signature trick. It was so spectacular it never got old or tired. It was unnecessary to do it, but this race was all about impressing the Wonderbolts, particularly their captain, Spitfire. The first three across the line won the priviledge of trying out for the Wonderbolts Elite Flying team, and Rainbow Dash was nothing if not above a little showing off. At this speed she’d be across the line in under three seconds. 1st place was hers, Rainbow had done it!

In that instant she knew something was very wrong. She was flying way too fast to make the wide upcoming corner. Flaring her wings out to their fullest Rainbow tried every aerodynamic trick she knew to arrest her speed. It was working, she was slowing but not enough. Then came the pain, deep lancing pain in her lungs made her cough and lose breath, her world was going dark at the edges, bolts of bright light flashed across her retinas disorienting her. In a panic she dipped both wings in a frantic attempt to further slow down, but Equestria’s self proclaimed best flier misjudged the manoeuvre and a split second later she was out of control, spinning towards the ground at half the speed of sound. At 150km/second Rainbow Dash impacted the ground. Unconsciousness claimed her as she saw Fluttershy speeding towards her prone form, yellow wings beating to get her to Rainbow as fast as she could, tears streaming from her eyes and worry all over her face. The disbelieving gasps of the crowd fell away as Fluttershy found Rainbow, kneeling beside her lover in the dirt of the racetrack as emergency medical staff from the university attended them, trying to remove Fluttershy so she could be treated. Fluttershy wasn’t going anywhere however, her hand entwined in Rainbow’s own as she was loaded on to the stretcher.

Rainbow was out but far from unaware, Pegasus senses were more attuned than those of other girls at the university. She could still hear and feel the noises around her. Chief amongst her feelings was a truly AWESOME amount of pain, coming from everywhere at once. She’d had spills and accidents before but nothing like this. She knew this was bad, very bad. A spasm in her right wing told her she’d broken it, along with her left leg and right arm. It worried her that she couldn’t feel her left wing, there was a heavy weight of “something” hanging limp and useless at her left flank but it certainly didn't feel like her wing. Then she felt a touch, a soft touch of caring fingers running through her multi coloured hair, down her face and coming to rest briefly on the hard leather collar around her neck. The collar. She’d worn it every day of the past two years, since she’d first gotten together with Fluttershy. It was her mark, a symbol that Rainbow belonged to Shy. Mind, body and soul Rainbow was Fluttershy's. That was exactly the way Dash liked it. At first the collar was a game, a way to stop her losing control when she was intimate with Shy. Now though Rainbow wore it as a badge of honour, even having it engraved with Fluttershy's name in pink lettering for her birthday last year. Shy had loved that. Their relationship had long since stopped being news, their more unusual dynamic being accepted on the university campus. Everyone knew Fluttershy was in charge, that she “wore the trousers” as it were, and that Dash was submissive to her, at times even being her pet. That’s just how it was, and nobody could deny they weren't happy.

Rainbow could hear voices now, no doubt a crowd had grown around her and the paramedics.

“Her wing…………..look at her wing” Blossom Forth

“Which one? They’re both fucked” Thunder Lane

“Thunder Lane stop, you know she can hear you!” Cloud Kicker

“Holy shit, how’s she even alive?” Flitter

“How can they bend that way?” Blossom Forth

“Fuck!!” Lightning Dust

“My god she’s bleeding, look at the blood!” Scootaloo

“I can see bones! Shit!” Flitter

“Gonna hurl!” Thunder Lane

Then among the cacophony of mingled voices came a soft almost inaudible voice that carried such a hard edge that silenced them all instantly.

“Everybody BACK OFF! Leave her alone to be treated, um please”.

It felt good to Rainbow to hear herself defended, at the same time she could hear the teachers attempting to disperse the crowd do the paramedics could get her in the ambulance. She could feel bandages being wrapped around her, she could feel needles injecting into her, administering the pain killers and muscle relaxants removing her remaining senses and fully anaesthetising her. The last thing Rainbow felt was a single tear impacting her closed eyes, the last thing she heard was a very quiet “I love you Dashie”.