Chapters “Fire!!” yelled Rainbow Dash, before crashing. She coughed out dust, as she searched for… “Fluttershy!!” The yellow mare eeped, as Rainbow grabbed her shoulders. “There’s a-- ” She stopped midway, coughing out some dust.
“Rai-Rainbow Dash… umm… are you alright?”
“Hah! I’m fine, Fluttershy!” She frowned. “The fire! Oh no, oh no, oh no. We gotta dash, Fluttershy. There’s a fire in the Everfree, near your place!! And the weather-pegasi don’t have enough water!” Fluttershy shivered lightly.
“A fi-fi-fire-KYAAA!!!!” Fluttershy dropped her groceries as Rainbow Dash snatched her hoof, and flew into the air. The coarse wind blew through her mane. Shaken, but safe, they were soon standing before her cottage. The sky was shrouded with thick smoke.
Fluttershy galloped towards her home, able to hear her animal friends’ screams. Small critters were pouring from their trees, and larger creatures were pouring from the forest. “Oh no.” A few more animals ran by, completely ignoring Fluttershy’s pleas. Several minutes trickled by, until several weather-ponies had ordered her to evacuate the premises. Fluttershy wiped her teary eyes, and then nodded weakly.
Rainbow Dash flew up behind Fluttershy. “Shy, you can bunk with me.” She gave a small hug. “It’ll be awesome!! And I’m sure everything will be fine!!!” She grinned. “Maybe, I can finally convince you to live in the clouds, like a real Pegasus!” Rainbow did a heroic-looking pose.
“I don’t know Rainbow… umm… I wouldn’t want to impose on you. Ma-maybe… I should just wait aroun-“
“Rainbow,” she frowned a tinsy-bit, noticing the cloud-house. “You should not-”
“Geez, are you still on that? I told you!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“Oh. Okay. If you are absolutely sure… But… umm… If I overstay my welcome, please feel free to kick me out at any time.” Fluttershy nodded, satisfied in her reply. She quickly trotted up the puffy cloud stairs, casting one last glance to the dark smoke in the distance.
Fluttershy looked around the house nervously, all the cloud things made her remember flight school in Cloudsdale. “Fluttershy! What are you doing? Get over here!” Rainbow Dash called from upstairs.
“Oh I’m sorry Rainbow.” Fluttershy quickly ran up the puffy cloud stairs. Rainbow Dash was waiting at the top.
“C’mon Fluttershy, your room is this way.” Fluttershy thought about once more protesting about her stay in Rainbow Dash’s home but by this point she knew arguing with rainbow was a useless waste of energy, she simply followed her. Rainbow stopped abruptly in the middle of the cloud hallway and Fluttershy bumped into her rump with a quiet squeak. Rainbow chuckled, “here is your room Fluttershy, I uhm gotta go check on the clouds and uhm the weather… be back soon! Make yourself at home!” Rainbow dashed away. Fluttershy didn’t think much of it, it happened often enough, it seemed like Rainbow Dash was always in a hurry.
Fluttershy entered her new room and stared at a cloud window and saw smoke from afar, she sighed and looked at the floor sadly. What will happen to her animal friends? What about Angel! Fluttershy had kept this thoughts lingering in her mind since she heard about the fire from Dash and it was really taking its toll on her emotions. She got on her new bed and started to drift off to sleep, she was stressed from a long day and decided to sleep so she would not have to think about the troubling thoughts that plagued her.
Suddenly there was a crash heard from the downstairs and the sound of Rainbow Dash yelling at something. Fluttershy shot out of bed, the sun was gone, it was day when she had fallen asleep. Fluttershy rushed out her door, nearly running into Rainbow Dash who was running towards Fluttershy’s door “AH! Fluttershy! Don’t come downstairs, I uhm, Just-just stay put alright?” Rainbow Dash pushed Fluttershy back into her room and shut the door. Fluttershy’s face was confused to say the least. She sat on her rump and waited while she listened to the noises downstairs.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had a huge surprise for Fluttershy; Rainbow had gone back to Fluttershy’s cottage, after sneaking over the fire ponies. It was hard work evading the fire pegasus who were carrying rain clouds to the site of the fire. Rainbow Dahs had to be extra careful, if they caught her they would kick her out of the airspace and Rainbow Dash couldn’t complete the surprise she had planned to Fluttershy. Both of the trips went smoothly however and she had successfully retrieved Angel and a few of Fluttershy’s more important belongings. After going the two trips she brought all of the things she had taken to Twilight Sparkle’s library. Rainbow Dash explained everything to Twilight from the very beginning, starting from the fire to how she had retrieved Fluttershy’s things. “Rainbow Dash that’s very nice of you to let Fluttershy stay with you until her house is safe from that fire, but you never told me why you brought everything to me.”
“I need you to help this rabbit walk on the cloud tops like you guys did when you came to the best young flyers competition in Cloudsdale. Fluttershy really likes him and she’d feel better if he was with her right buddy?” Angel just crossed his little furry arms in a small fit. Rainbow rolled her eyes “don’t be so dramatic. I also need you to make this stuff I got be able to stay on the clouds.” Twilight giggled softly and turned around and started to look through her books
“of course I can help you Dash.” She finally found the book and magically lifted it from the bookcase onto the table and opened it to the correct page. “Aha! Here it is. Come here Angel.” Twilight patted the spot of the table besides the tome. Angel jumped up on the table, his little bunny arms still folded over each other. Twilight’s horn started to glow and the light engulfed Angel and at once it was gone. Angel looked at his paws in confusion, he didn’t feel any different. After using the magic on Angel, Twilight focus on the random things that Rainbow Dash had taken from Fluttershy’s home, a book flew out of the shelves.
“Making objects be able to float on the cloud tops is actually a simple spell.” Her horn glowed brighter as the objects that Rainbow Dash had gotten also were engulfed with light.
“You better get going guys, tell Fluttershy I said hi.”
“Yeah whatever Twilight, can you watch the rabbit though, I can’t carry him and all the stuff that I got for Fluttershy at the same time. I need to get the stuff over to my house, and then I’ll come back over and get it.” Angel glared at Rainbow Dash “erm…him”
“Of course, we will get to know each other better; I read a few books about being nice to animals so Fluttershy and I would have more topics to talk to each other about. Take your time now.” Twilight waved as Rainbow shot off into the sky. The trip went over fine. Rainbow Dash put all the stuff down went to check on Fluttershy. She walked up the stairs and down the hallways as slow and quietly as she could and opened Fluttershy’s door to find her sleeping.
“Yes!” She whispered ecstatically as she left her home once again to go get Angel. Rainbow knocked back on Twilights door. Twilight opened it and grabbed Rainbow Dash
“Dash! Thank Celestia you are here! That bunny is nothing but trouble!” Rainbow looked around the library to find books thrown all about the place.
Back in Fluttershy’s room she waited patiently and very confused. After a few minutes she looked out the window and sighed again. After a few more minutes Rainbow Dash barged through the door without even think of knocking “Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Come downstairs hurry!” Rainbow Dash was bouncing like Pinkie Pie from excitement the only difference between the two ponies was Rainbow Dash’s wings were sticking straight out. Fluttershy’s mind was now nearly completely off her cottage and on what Rainbow Dash’s surprise was. Rainbow took off downstairs leaving Fluttershy standing completely confused in her room. She slowly walked out of the room and headed downstairs, her head filled with the possibility was what Rainbow Dash wanted to show her. Fluttershy slowly walked downstairs to find many of her things badly feng shui’d around the living room and kitchen. Rainbow Dash flew in front of Fluttershy with her arms spread open “Ta-da!” Fluttershy’s eyes grew large,
“Oh-oh my Rainbow Dash,” she smiled, “but you didn’t have to go through all of this trouble just for me.” She flew around the room moving things around to fit her cottage’s decor style to try and replicate the atmosphere of a calmer setting. “Oh Rainbow Dash, this was so kind of you. Fluttershy sighed deeply in direct contrast to her cheerful tone.
“Fluttershy…” A crash was heard in another room. Rainbow Dash growled, knowing it was Angel, she stopped and suddenly remembered that Fluttershy had not yet seen Angel! That was the best part of her surprise! “Hey, uhm Fluttershy can you go see what’s in the kitchen?” Rainbow Dash smiled suspiciously. Fluttershy didn’t seem to notice and walked into the kitchen. There was a short silence, then a quiet, yet excited scream that only Fluttershy could be the source of was heard. Fluttershy darted back into the living room and tackle hugged Rainbow Dash to the floor.
“Oh Rainbow Dash this was the nicest thing you have ever done for me, I was so worried about him!” Angel was squeezed between the two pegasus.
“Y-yeah Fluttershy, no problem.” Rainbow Dash played it cool but was blushing, she made sure Fluttershy didn’t see her cyan cheeks turn slightly red. She let go and hummed softly to herself as she returned to cleaning, Fluttershy was full of new energy. She still thought about how her other animal friends were still in danger, but her mind was much more at ease knowing that Angel was safe and sound, then it suddenly came to her, how in Equestria was Angel walking on the clouds? She turned to Rainbow Dash; her face gave it all away. Rainbow Dash knew exactly what she was thinking, “what, are you surprised at something?” She said sarcastically.
“Well, yes, how’d you get Angel to stay up on the clouds without falling?” Rainbow Dash smirked,
“I got Twilight to use her magic, like the time when everypony came to Cloudsdale as I won the best young flyer’s competition!”
“Wait, that spell only lasted twenty-four hours, does that mean I have to go take Angel to Twilight every day or else he will fall?” Fluttershy had a terrified look in her eyes from the very thought of Angel being in danger.
“Nah,” Rainbow Dash merely shook off the worry. “Twilight said that since Angel is so much smaller than us ponies, the spell will work for much longer.” Rainbow Dash, evilly smirked at Angel, “so he’s got an entire week before worrying about falling off the clouds. Even then your house will probably be fine, the fire ponies have a good team of weather pegasus of their side, and the rain will be useful in that fire.” She scratched behind her head, “though we might go without rain for a little while longer.”
“Oh, that’s such a relief.” Fluttershy stopped and thought about her words, “I-I mean the week thing with Angel and my house….Not the rain…” She looked at Angel, “I don’t know what I’d do without him.” Fluttershy smiled at Angel as he scratched behind his ear, then looked up at Rainbow Dash with the same expression, Rainbow Dash blushed and looked slightly away.
“So Fluttershy, it is getting late we should probably get some shut eye right?” Fluttershy nodded,
“yes I think that is a wonderful idea.” It was a cool summer night and the long day had ended.
The sun rose on the beautiful eastern sky of Equestria. Fluttershy’s eyes opened gently as the light of the new day
Rainbow Dash was spread across her bed messily with the cloud blanket half on the bed and half on the floor. She sat up, her hair extremely messy. Rainbow Dash threw the blanket off of her and onto a random spot on the floor and headed out her own door. She stopped and smelled the air. Was someone cooking? Oh right, she had forgotten about Fluttershy. She smiled knowing that she wouldn’t have to make her own breakfast this morning. She trotted downstairs and into the kitchen “hey Fluttershy whatcha mak-,” Rainbow Dash looked around, where was Fluttershy? Rainbow Dash sat down and saw the oatmeal on the table with the note. Rainbow Picked up the note and read it.
Dear Rainbow Dash,
I really hope you enjoy your oatmeal that I made for you. In case you were wondering it is apple cinnamon. I have gone to spend time with all the little animals that have become homeless from the big nasty fire. If you need me I will be at the entrance to Ponyville that is near my own home.
Love, Fluttershy
Rainbow Dash stared at the ‘Love, Fluttershy’ part for a moment then shook her head and stuffed her face into the oatmeal. It was cold. “AH! Fluttershy! When did you make this, at the break of dawn!?” She sighed, and started to eat it anyway. It was much better than anything she’d make herself anyway. A loud knock was heard on the door. Rainbow’s face popped out of the oatmeal bowl with oatmeal covering her face. She went to answer the door. A large male pegasus was standing at her door with a red fire pony hat on,
“uhm, does miss Rainbow Dash live here.” Rainbow Dash smiled,
“that would be none other than me.” She smirked as she pointed to herself. The fire pony laughed quietly. Rainbow Dash looked confused, she looked into a mirror that was hung by the door and saw the oatmeal all over her face and her bedhead still full force. Her eyes got large and she quickly straightened her hair up with her hoof and wiped the oatmeal off her face. She looked back at the fire pony and restated “I am Rainbow Dash.” The fire pony nodded and got straight to business.
“Are you the pony that did the sonic rainboom at the Cloudsdale best young flyers competition?” Rainbow Dash smiled,
“what’s it to you? Looking for an autograph?” The fire pony was not amused and had a straight face on.
“No, we need your help, since you are the only pony able to do the sonic rainboom, you can fly fast enough to gather enough clouds to make it rain over the forest fire in time.” Rainbow Dash sighed, and then looked up with a confident look on her face,
“of course I’ll go get your clouds, as the fastest flyer in Equestria I should help fellow ponies in need.” The fire pony rolled his eyes and gave Rainbow Dash a large harness that is used to catch a thunderstorm of clouds at once. Rainbow Dash chuckled,
“a-are you sure you are going to need that many clouds?” Judging from the size of the net that was attached and folded up behind the harness, Rainbow Dash didn’t think that she could carry all of those clouds it looked as if the fire ponies really needed the help. The fire pony nodded
“yes, we need a full fledge storm, the forest is taking heavy damage, we have almost contained the fire but we are running out of water from the drought. If you don’t hurry, the fire will reach your friend’s cottage and it will burn, and after that, all of Ponyville.” At first Rainbow Dash gulped, but then became confident “I’ll get your clouds!” She put on the harness and dashed off towards the ocean. As she was flying she became nervous, after all the entire town was resting on her shoulders.
After about an hour of Rainbow Dash flying non-stop, she had remembered what Twilight Sparkle had said during her and Applejack’s race, to pace herself. Rainbow Dash needed the energy to pull the large cloud she knew that she had to carry after finally reaching it. She had finally found a large thunderstorm that was heading in the opposite direction of Ponyville. She quickly started gathering the clouds into the harness by spinning around the cloud and letting the net that was connected to the back of the harness deploy, the net was getting progressively heavier and she was getting progressively slower. Rainbow Dash bit her lip as her muscles grew tight from the weight that she was carrying. Finally she had gathered enough clouds to put out the fire, the large net that had been attached to the harness was completely full and a large thundercloud was coming out the sides. She pulled it in the direction of Ponyville, which was a considerable distance away from where she had been able to collect these clouds. All the activity she was doing was taking its toll on her. The clouds moved slowly at a few miles per hour, she would never make it in time. Images of Fluttershy flashed into her head, Fluttershy laughing, smiling, being nervous, then finally Fluttershy crying. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and pulled harder. The clouds that were following her were slowly picking up speed. Faster and faster until she had reached a speed that she felt comfortable enough that she would make it in time. Rainbow Dash’s body fought and fought to pull the clouds. More images of the fire burning down Fluttershy’s cottage with Fluttershy sitting in front of it, Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash through her vision and lipped the words “why Rainbow Dash, why?” Rainbow Dash could never let that happen, she could never let poor Fluttershy down, she picked up even more speed. At last an image of Fluttershy’s smile from the night before lit a spark in Rainbow Dash’s heart as she flew through small clouds that were in her way an a every accelerating pace, a cone formed around Rainbow Dash.
Boom.
A rainbow explosion erupted around Rainbow Dash as she flew towards Ponyville with the power of the sonic rainboom behind her. Rainbow Dash didn’t look back, she had no time to be excited about her accomplishing yet another sonic rainboom, she had word to do. Rainbow Dash had now done the fabled sonic rainboom three times now. Once, to win a contest and earn her cutie mark. Second, to save a friend’s life. Third, to see Fluttershy’s smiling face.
It only took mere minutes to reach the Everfree forest. The fire ponies rushed out and took the clouds from her. As the rainbow that was trailing Rainbow Dash faded, so did Rainbow Dash’s vision. The trip had taken a physical toll on Rainbow Dash and her body pushed itself way past its limits, but she had made it in time, she could now let go and feel secure in the fact that she had saved Fluttershy from tears. The image of Fluttershy smiling in front of her cottage appeared in Rainbow Dash’s mind, the Fluttershy lipped out the words “Thank you Rainbow Dash, you are the greatest, I lo-.” The vision broke as Rainbow Dash fell to the forest floor right over Zecora’s hut. Rainbow Dash burst through the roof of the hut and fell into a cabinet of potions that Zecora had kept in stock.
“My oh my, what is this here? This pony has given me great fear! She has been affected by a potion curse. A potion cure she does thirst. It also appears she is greatly harmed. By a kind pony she surely has been charmed!”
Fluttershy was caring for a few animals on the outskirts of town when she saw it, the sonic rainboom’s shockwave blasting over Ponyville. Fluttershy eyes got wide, even though this was the third time she had seen it, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Wait, what could Rainbow Dash be doing that caused the sonic rainboom? The only other times she had done it wa-.
“Oh my gosh did you see that Fluttershy!?”
Pinkie Pie jumped from out of the bushes, Fluttershy squeaked in terror.
“I was just following you work on my ninja skills when boom! And kapow! Sonic rainboom! I wonder what Rainbow Dash could be doing? I wonder if she is in danger.” Pinkie Pie stopped talking and gasped “oh no we gotta help her!”
Pinkie rushed off in the opposite direction. Fluttershy stared at Pinkie Pie as she bounced off quickly. She hadn’t gotten a word out, what a crazy pony, however crazy she was Pinkie Pie was right, what was she going to do? Fluttershy frantically looked around for the trail of rainbow. She sat and waited, hoping for something to appear on the horizon in the direction the initial blast had come from. After around ten minutes, a small rainbow was soaring towards her with a large thundercloud following it. “Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy stated amazed that Rainbow Dash had such power to carry such a thing. The Rainbow faded over the Everfree forest and a small blue dot was easily seen falling. Fluttershy gasped and ran towards the forest. The same fire pony that was guarding near her house was standing in Fluttershy’s way.
“Miss, I cannot allow you to go through here right now, the fires are still going and it is very dangerous.” Fluttershy bit her lip and looked around, trying to think of a way to get past the large pony. She looked at the pony and realized that he was an earth pony.
“I-I’m sorry m-my friend is in danger and I have to go!” Fluttershy took off and flew over the fire pony’s head.
“Hey!” The fire pony yelled at Fluttershy as he started to chase her “get back here I can’t allow you to go through!” A pegasus walked up to the fire pony and they started to talk to each other. The talk was inaudible to Fluttershy, she stopped knowing that she could not out fly anypony, Fluttershy was probably the slowest flyer in Equestria. The fire pegasus looked up at Fluttershy and back at the other earth fire pony. The earth nodded and waved at Fluttershy,
“it is okay you can go through I have reports that we have gotten the rain on the fire that we desperately needed which is thanks to your friend, it is safe now. Once you find her you can bring her back to your little home too!” The fire pony started to walk in the direction of the fire. Fluttershy smiled knowing that she wasn’t in any trouble and she could go help Rainbow Dash without any conflict. ‘First things first.’ Fluttershy thought to herself. She flew home to her cottage and picked up basic first aid supplies such as bandages and alcohol. After getting those items and putting them into her saddlebag, she headed out of her door. There was no time to appreciate her home, which would have to be saved another time. Fluttershy ran head first into the Everfree forest. She kept running until after a few minutes of running she realized exactly what she was doing. Fluttershy’s knees caved in and she started to shake. The image of the sonic rainboom flashed into her eyes, then the image of the cyan dot falling into the center of the forest. She stopped and realized that Rainbow Dash had fallen near where Zecora lived. Fluttershy knew the location of Zecora’s hut from above because she had to consult the zebra many times in the past; sometimes she delivered special herbs that Fluttershy grew in her garden. Fluttershy flew up into the air and flew straight to Zecora’s hut. The hole in the roof was visible from the sky. Fluttershy quickly flew down and knocked on Zecora’s door, the zebra quickly answered.
Everything was dark, nothing could be heard. Suddenly a mysterious voice broke the silence,
“we are losing her!” It yelled, the voice was calm, but at the same time it was panicked. The voice faded back into the darkness. Silence once more prevailed. The darkness was again pushed out, a blur of yellow and pink was all that could be seen. The blur returned to into the darkness until it was once more shattered by the sound of sobbing, the voice that was crying sounded familiar; Rainbow Dash couldn’t quite put her hoof on it however. As the darkness once more returned, this time it came with comfort. She felt relaxed without a care in the world. A light opened in the distance, it was warm and inviting. A smile came across her unconscious face. She started to walk towards it slowly. The sobbing could be heard in the silence again. Rainbow Dash turned around, there was Fluttershy crying right behind her. Rainbow Dash stared at her confused,
“Fluttershy why are you crying?” Fluttershy did not answer, she simply continued to cry. Rainbow Dash stood completely still for what seemed like hours for her. The light that was now behind her got brighter and warmer, it started to pull her in. As she got closer to the light, it made out as a glorious white gate which was gilded in gold. Rainbow Dash looked back at Fluttershy as she was being pulled into the light, her crying getting quieter as she gained more distance away from it. Right as Rainbow Dash was about to give into the light, a faint sound was heard from Fluttershy,
“Rainbow Dash, you can’t leave me, you just can’t!” The crying continued. Rainbow Dash looked at where the ground would be in the endless void. “Rainbow Dash,” she felt a pressure on her chest, “before you go, I want you to know,” Fluttershy paused to cry enough to let more of her sentence out, “I love you Rainbow Dash!”
Fluttershy’s voice had power behind it. Rainbow Dash’s pupils got dilated and sudden determination entered into her bosom. She turned around, facing away from the door of light as started to walk away from it, struggling to take every step. She clenched her teeth and pushed harder than she ever had before. As she got closer and closer to Fluttershy flashes of reality came to her. The first one was of nurse Redheart walking away from her shaking her head, the background too blurry to make out. Another Flashed, Fluttershy was gasping. Another, the nurse was running back towards her. The last one flashed to her right as she reached out and touched the imaginary Fluttershy. The flash was of nurse Redheart nodding to Fluttershy, her face beaming as she left the room, Fluttershy walking over to Rainbow Dash and nuzzling her forehead with her own. Warmth like none other entered Rainbow’s chest as she fell back asleep.
All was quiet, not a sound was heard. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes slowly and saw a wooden roof above her. She was slowly becoming aware of her surroundings; a soft feeling was underneath her, a bed? No, that was impossible, not a few seconds ago she was falling back to the ground after over-exhausting herself. Where was she, this place seemed so familiar but she could not put her hoof on it. Rainbow Dash slowly turned her head, and saw out of a window that was located to her left. Outside the window was the Everfree forest, it finally dawned on her that she was inside of Fluttershy’s cottage. Did that mean that she had done it? Had she saved Fluttershy’s cottage and the entire town with it? Was she a hero? As Rainbow Dash got more and more aware she started to feel more and more pain erupt from inside of her. She cringed as the pain got more and more intense. She attempted to lay on her side to alleviate the pain, as she turned the pain suddenly got intense on the side she shift, she quickly returned to lying on her back, the sharp pain that had presented itself quickly disappeared. It was clear that Rainbow Dash wasn’t going anywhere. She groaned from her suffering.
Fluttershy casually walked into the room and saw that Rainbow Dash had awakened. She dropped the oatmeal that she had prepared for Rainbow Dash; she had planned to leave it by her bed. Fluttershy quickly ran to Rainbow Dash’s side
“Rainbow Dash! You’re awake, are you okay? You took a nasty fall, what were you thinking? I was absolutely worried. Do you need me to clean your bandages?” Rainbow Dash looked down at herself as if she didn’t know before looking that she had bandages on, it was fairly hard to miss. Rainbow Dash had barely survived the fall she had taken. Nurse Redheart had performed a miracle with Rainbow Dash; she had worked on Rainbow Dash for hours on end. Pegasus have brittle bones just like birds, to help them fly faster. Rainbow Dash had broken almost every bone in her body after falling that great distance, not to mention the severe internal bleeding that she had gone through, her survival was a miracle. Little did anypony know that is was Fluttershy that had saved Rainbow Dash. After the successful operation nurse Redheart also taught Fluttershy to wrap new bandages around ponies. Fluttershy didn’t learn much new, it was basically the same as helping her little animal friends, but she had eagerly listened anyway. Rainbow Dash in an eager yet in a hurt raspy voice asked,
“Fluttershy, d-did I save your cottage, did I save Ponyville?” Fluttershy smiled, she had been told everything by the fire ponies.
“Yes you did Rainbow Dash; the whole town is talking about your heroism. Twilight wrote about it in one of her letters to the princess and she is going to come present a medal to you once you feel better.” Fluttershy had a calm, sweet smile on that physically said, ‘thank you Rainbow Dash, you’re a hero, the greatest ever!’ Rainbow Dash chuckled,
“I am pretty awesome, the greatest flier in Equestria.” She coughed a little. Fluttershy smiled as she caringly looked down on Rainbow Dash. A familiar emotion filled Rainbow Dash’s chest as she looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, it was so warm and comforting.
After that day Rainbow Dash’s routine was basically the same. Every day in the morning Fluttershy would come into the room and fed Rainbow Dash breakfast. After breakfast Fluttershy changed Rainbow Dash’s bandages, this was Rainbow Dash’s least favorite part of the day, it was also the most painful. In the afternoon she’d bring lunch. After lunch they’d do some simple stretches to help Rainbow Dash recover faster, it seemed everyday Rainbow Dash could move a little more without hurting herself. In the evenings she’d bring dinner. Every other day Fluttershy would give Rainbow Dash a sponge bath and clean her wounds, on these days the new bandages were put on after the bath. Then finally a bed time story and lullaby to lull Rainbow to sleep. At first Angel kept her distance from the pegasus, but after about a week, her and Angel identified with each other. Rainbow Dash learned to communicate with Angel, and at nights Angel would sleep with Rainbow Dash after Fluttershy’s story and lullaby of course. Every week, all her friends would come and visit her, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack. They told her stories what adventures that they had been on since she had been injured, that depressed Rainbow Dash slightly, but she didn’t think too much of it since they bothered to tell her all about it. They also told stories about how the massive drought was getting worse and worse. It turned out that the rain that Rainbow Dash had taken was on its way to another town that also desperately needed it. It wasn’t her fault; it was in the middle of the ocean, how was Rainbow Dash supposed to know the rain belonged to anypony? No one blamed her; they still praised her in fact for saving Ponyville altogether. The mayor had started to dip into the emergency funds and was passing out free water that had been imported from other parts of Equestria, so it wasn’t like anypony was dying of thirst. Rainbow Dash’s recovery was coming quickly considering she shouldn’t be alive after what she had been through. After about a month, she could nearly stand without crying out in pain. Fluttershy was a never ending source of encouragement for Rainbow Dash. She was the reason she woke up smiling in the morning.
One shining morning, Rainbow Dash woke up earlier than usual. The sun hadn’t risen yet; Rainbow Dash knew that meant that Fluttershy was still sleeping. She turned over on her side; this had stopped hurting a while ago, and rolled off the bed onto her feet. She cringed as her hoofs and legs took the pressure that her body had put on them. Rainbow Dash had lost a few pounds while being sick but not enough to help her stand and most of the weight lost was most likely muscle. Fluttershy had taken very good care of her and never left the house for more than around an hour. Rainbow Dash took a small step, it wasn’t that bad. She smirked as she took another. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Fluttershy’s face! Rainbow Dash stopped and gulped as she saw the stairs and Fluttershy sleeping on the couch. A fear griped her, those stairs would hurt! She might yelp in pain and wake up Fluttershy, the surprise would be ruined! She made her way back to bed. The rest of the day she played it off like nothing happened. When it came to her stretched, she fibbed on how far she could go to make Fluttershy think differently. In the mornings she got up early and practiced walking around the room, and right before the sun rose, she went back to bed. After about a week of doing this every day, Rainbow Dash was ready to confront the stairs. She woke up early like she had been doing the past week and walked, nearly painless now, to the stairs and smiled. She slowly walked down the stairs. It hurt more than she thought it would. Her practice had helped her though; she was able to make it all the way down the stairs without a peep. She walked into the kitchen and sat down at the dining table with a satisfied look on her face. She looked out the window and saw the sun start to rise. Fluttershy’s eyes opened slightly as if in sync with the sun. She walking into the kitchen and hummed while starting to cook peach flavored oatmeal. Rainbow Dash tried her hardest not to giggle,
“hey Fluttershy.” Fluttershy continued to hum and simply answered,
“Oh good morning Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy had gotten so used to Rainbow Dash living with her that she didn’t realize that something wasn’t quite right until the oatmeal was about half done. She turned her head quickly and stared at Rainbow Dash wide eyed,
“R-Rainbow Dash! How did you get there?” Rainbow Dash smirked,
“Pretty neat huh? No injury can keep me down for long!” Fluttershy examined Rainbow Dash carefully,
“A-are you sure you are feeling well enough to be walking around Rainbow Dash?”
“Does this answer your question?” Rainbow Dash got up from her chair and started to walk around the kitchen quite effortlessly. Rainbow Dash smirked and looked at Fluttershy expecting a response. Fluttershy however did not respond, she just stared, her face beaming with joy. After a few more days Rainbow Dash was able to go up and down the stairs without hurting, she offered to sleep on the couch nearly every day but Fluttershy absolutely denied her, Fluttershy insisted that she was not feeling her absolutely best yet and she needed to recover more.
A knock was heard on Fluttershy’s door. Fluttershy quickly ran to answer it. Twilight Sparkle stood at the doorway smiling,
“hello Fluttershy, is Rainbow Dash awake?” Fluttershy nodded and beckoned Twilight to come in.
“Rainbow Dash, Twilight is here to see you.” Rainbow Dash emerged from the kitchen, Rainbow Dash had barely any bandages on her now and she was able to hold her head high once more. “Rainbow Dash,” Twilight gasped, “you look fantastic!”
“Yeah, yeah I’ve heard, so what’s up Twilight?” Rainbow Dash walked over and stood next to Fluttershy.
“I heard you were feeling good enough to accept that medal from the princess now, so how about it?” Rainbow Dash pondered.
“Yeah I bet I could do that, I walk around outside with Fluttershy now, so it’d be a piece of cake!”
“Great so I’ll contact the princess right away!” Twilight smiled and trotted out the door. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash worriedly,
“Rainbow Dash, are you sure about this?” Rainbow Dash nodded,
“Of course I’m sure; I can probably even run now! I mean my wings still don’t work but I don’t need them to get a medal.” Fluttershy bit her lip when she heard about Rainbow Dash’s wings. Rainbow Dash got suspicious, “hey, come to think of it we’ve never worked on my wings getting better, is there something you’re not telling me Fluttershy?” Fluttershy kicked at the ground,
“N-no, of course not, why would I keep something from you?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.
“Fluttershy, I know when you’re lying to me.” Fluttershy sighed.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. When you crashed into Zecora’s hut, you accidently got a cursed potion on you. Zecora told me that the curse keeps you from doing the thing you love most. Which I guess is flying.” Fluttershy looked at the ground sadly.
“O-oh is that it?” Rainbow Dash played it off, “that’s no big deal, and all we have to do is get a cure right?” Fluttershy looked increasingly nervous. “Gah what now?”
“Well, Zecora brought the potion from where she is from. I started to grow the fruit she needs to make more, but if we don’t get some rain soon the plant will die.” Rainbow Dash did a facehoof. Fluttershy looked at the ground again, feeling bad for not being good enough to grow the plant in such a dry time.
“Awe Fluttershy it is alright. We can just grow it when the drought is over, I can handle not being able to fly…” Rainbow Dash trailed off realizing that she might have to walk everywhere for who knows how long.
A few days later the time had come for Rainbow Dash to come before the princess and receive her medal for bravery. The entire town showed up to see Rainbow Dash and the princess, most of the ponies had visited Rainbow Dash and couldn’t wait to see her now that she was feeling better. The mayor stood alone on the stage, “fillies and gentlecolts,” She announced, “today we are honoring a unique pegasus that has saved Ponyville and the Everfree forest from certain doom. Our princess Celestia has come from Canterlot to honor our own Rainbow Dash herself.” She continued her speech for a few more minutes until she finally got off the stage and the curtains were moved to reveal Rainbow Dash and the princess.
“Rainbow Dash,” the princess announced softly, “you have looked a very difficult trial in the eyes and took on the challenge of saving the entire town of Ponyville yourself. You sacrificed nearly your life for your friends and towns people. For this outstanding act of loyalty and bravery, I commend you and ask you take this medal to show ponies forever the outstanding thing you have accomplished. I hereby award you, a medal deserving of your greatness, the rainbow of bravery.” Rainbow Dash bowed as the princess put the medal around Rainbow Dash’s neck. The medal was shaped the same as Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark, she looked surprised.
“Princess, this medal, is this…”
“Yes my faithful follower, I have created a new award just for you and it will be given to other ponies that show the ultimate acts of bravery and loyalty to their friends.” Rainbow Dash’s smile had never been bigger. She looked out into the audience and saw Fluttershy standing in the back, her smile warmed Rainbow Dash’s heart.
Later that night at Fluttershy’s cottage, Rainbow Dash felt invincible like there was nothing she could not do. The medal she had gotten early hung high on the cottage wall. It was getting late, so before Fluttershy had the chance Rainbow Dash laid on the couch so that Fluttershy would have to take the bed. Fluttershy walked up to Rainbow Dash,
“no, no Rainbow Dash, go upstairs to the bed.” Rainbow Dash just shook her head and didn’t move. Fluttershy continued to protest, but Rainbow Dash stopped answered her or making any reaction to her at all. Fluttershy finally gave up; she was exhausted from the day of excitement. She walked up stairs and laid in her bed and drifted off to sleep.
Rainbow Dash woke up in the middle of the night and heard the sound of thunder. She looked out of a window, there was no rain, and the cloud that made the noise was most likely far away. She snuck upstairs and while blushing got into the bed with Fluttershy. Fluttershy turned and saw Rainbow Dash. They looked each other in the eyes for what felt like forever.
The sound of rain was heard outside the same time a pony in a small cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville spoke the words
“I love you.”