Putting Her Dreams Aside

Fluttershy carefully put together an arrangement of fresh lettuce, grape tomatoes, and cucumber slices in a white bowl, trying to replicate the picture as best she could. The dish was for Angel Bunny, and although she had already convinced him to eat his food whether it met his standards or not, the yellow pegasus always tried to make her favorite companion happy.

Once she was finished, Fluttershy laid the bowl down on the floor. Angel had already gotten himself a pair of silverware and was ready to chow down. Unfortunately, he took one look at his food and wasn't immediately satisfied. He gave Fluttershy his trademark look of disappointment, but Fluttershy was quick to respond with her own displeased look, giving him the stare. Angel immediately obliged and started eating his breakfast, to which Fluttershy smiled happily.

All of a sudden, the yellow mare heard a knock at her front door. This caused some of her other animal friends to make some noise, but she was quick to silence them. "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine," she said to her critters, calmly. This put a stop to their loud chatter, and they continued eating along with Angel.

Fluttershy opened her front door and noticed Soarin standing in front of her. He had a worried look on his face, which made Fluttershy grow concerned. "Hello, Soarin," she said, "Is everything alright?"

"I don't know," the stallion replied, "Have you seen Rainbow Dash? She hasn't shown up for practice."

"Oh dear! I would never expect Dash to miss something she loved so much. Anyway, no. I haven't seen her at all today. Sorry."

"Great..."

"Did you check her house?"

"Yeah, but there was no response after I knocked on the door. I figured she was out."

"Why don't you check with all my other friends? I'll go and see if Dash is actually at her house. Okay?"

"Sounds good," Soarin finished, sounding a bit relieved, "Thanks, Fluttershy."

"Anytime, Soarin," Fluttershy finished, smiling. She then closed and locked her door as she and Soarin took off in opposite directions.

Fluttershy landed on Rainbow Dash's doorstep a few minutes later. Initially, she heard nothing, so she knocked on the door like Soarin had done earlier. She got nothing in return, so she remained quiet, hoping to hear something. Luckily, her patience paid off, as she heard a faint, but audible, moan of displeasure coming from inside. The yellow mare quickly opened the door and went inside, closing it behind her. She had no idea why Dash would leave her door unlocked, but she brushed it off as the sound she had heard earlier flowed through her ear canals. This time, it definitely sounded like something was wrong.

Fluttershy quickly went upstairs and toward Rainbow's bedroom, but she was stopped in her tracks by that sound again. It was coming from the bathroom, and by the way it sounded, it wasn't something that the pegasus liked to hear.

She slowly eased the door to the bathroom open, only to find Dash hunched over the toilet bowl, crying. "Dash?" Fluttershy finally asked.

Rainbow turned around and saw her friend standing behind her. "Oh," she began, "Hey, Flu...BLEEEAAAGH!" Rainbow blurted out as she turned back to the toilet, more of the sickly green liquid forcing itself out of her mouth. The sight and sound of her friend vomiting made Fluttershy cringe. "Ugh..." Rainbow continued, "H-Help..."

"Oh, Dash! How long has this been happening? Have you taken your temperature yet?" Fluttershy asked as she searched for a thermometer.

"Since about 7, and no, I haven't," Rainbow replied, drained of happiness and energy. She kept her head over the toilet, waiting for the inevitable whenever it decided to come again, which, unfortunately, happened to be right now. "BLEEEEAAAAGGHHH!!"

"Here, Dash. Lie down on these towels," Fluttershy said, having just laid a towel on the floor while a folded one served as a makeshift pillow. "Let's take your temperature."

Rainbow did as she was told, lying on her back as she groaned in discomfort. As she lay her head on the folded towel, she opened her mouth and raised her tongue so Fluttershy could insert the thermometer. Once it was in, the yellow pegasus flushed the toilet, and then she grabbed another towel and laid it over Dash's body. "Do you feel sick at all Dash?" she asked, "Well, other than to your stomach?"

"Mm-Mm," Dash mumbled, shaking her head slightly.

Fluttershy laid her hoof on Dash's forehead. "Hmmm...You don't feel warm. Does your throat hurt?"

Rainbow shook her head again.

"Do you have a headache?"

...And again.

"Do you have any allergies that I don't know about?"

...And again.

"Does your tummy hurt?"

This time, Dash nodded and held her forehooves a short distance apart.

"Only a little?"

Dash nodded again, but her face cringed up immediately afterward.

"Is it hurting now?"

Dash shook her head and made a motion with her hoof that something was coming out of her mouth. Fluttershy then knew that her friend was about to throw up again.

"Oh, Dash, hold on! We're almost there!" Fluttershy said, frantically. Dash started taking deep breaths through her nose in order to prevent another episode, but it was quickly becoming more and more difficult to hold back.

Eventually, Fluttershy pulled the thermometer out of her friend's mouth, and Rainbow dove forward, emptying the contents of her stomach into the toilet once again. Once she was done, she started sobbing. "I don't know what's happening, Fluttershy!...HHHH...This has been going on all morning!"

"Well, you don't have a fever," Fluttershy continued, glancing at the thermometer, "I don't know what's happening, either. Come on, Dash. We need to get you to the hospital right now."

"I don't know if I have the energy to fly."

Fluttershy responded by sweeping Dash up in her forelegs and carrying her out of the bathroom. "Don't worry, Dashie," Fluttershy said, comfortingly, "Everything's going to be fine." She then flew out of the house, her ailing friend in tow.

"You haven't seen Rainbow Dash either?!? Aw, Celestia!" Soarin said loudly in front of Twilight, Starlight, and Spike. The stallion had already checked with Fluttershy's other friends, and he hadn't found his marefriend anywhere, nor did anypony know where she was.

"This isn't like Rainbow Dash," Twilight said.

"You're right," Starlight replied, "She's never late for anything."

"Maybe she partied too hard at the afterparty," Spike added.

"No, that was two weeks ago, Spike," Soarin said, "She's been perfectly fine ever since then. I'm mainly worried for two reasons. One, I have no idea what's happening to her, and two, I'm worried that Spitfire may demote her back to the Reserves or even kick her out of the Wonderbolts if she ditches practice without an advance notice! She's worked far too hard to have her dream ruined now!"

"I know," Twilight replied, "I can only imagine what she'd be like if she WERE to get demoted or kicked out."

"There you are, Soarin!" Fluttershy called out behind the stallion. He turned around and saw the yellow mare flying toward him, a worried look on her face.

"Fluttershy!" Soarin began, "Did you find her?"

"Yes. She's been at her house this whole time, and she's been vomiting all morning!" The other four gasped. "I couldn't figure out what was wrong, so I just dropped her off at the hospital and came to find you!"

"Is she still there?" Spike asked.

"Yes," Fluttershy continued, "Soarin, I need you to come with me. I think having you around would make Dash feel better."

"I think you're right, Fluttershy," Soarin finished. He and the yellow pegasus then started their short flight to Ponyville General Hospital, turning around temporarily to wave goodbye to the two other mares and the dragon before the trio went back inside the castle.

It wasn't long before the two pegasi landed in front of the hospital. They went inside, and Fluttershy led Soarin to where Dash's room was. Once there, they walked into the room, only to find Rainbow Dash looking very sad. "Dash?" Fluttershy said, "Soarin and I are here."

Rainbow looked up, blushing furiously upon seeing her coltfriend. "What's wrong, Dash?" Soarin asked, "Why weren't you at practice this morning?"

Rainbow was silent. The look on her face seemed to grow more and more ashamed with each passing second. Finally, the cyan mare lifted her head and said, "Fluttershy, could you give us a minute or two?"

"Sure, Dash," Fluttershy replied, turning around and walking out of the room.

Once the door had closed, Soarin walked up next Dash at her bedside. "What's going on?" he asked, "Are you sick?"

Rainbow shook her head. "S-Soarin..." she said, softly.

"What? What is it, Dash?"

"I...I..." It took her a while to muster the courage to tell her coltfriend what was happening. "I'm pregnant..."