Memories

Another day has passed since The Doctor and his assistant, Derpy Hooves had promised that they were going to save Rainbow Dash from the brink of death. Another day of agonising waiting for Fluttershy and her friends. However, the prospect of seeing the mare alive was growing slimmer and slimmer every day. The two even started to get more and more frantic as everything they did seemed to mount to no success.

It was during a calming and quiet night sky that the worst news actually came.

Fluttershy was at home, tidying up after her animal friends. Of course, her mind was nowhere near her humble abode. In fact, it rarely ever was ever since Rainbow Dash was admitted into the hospital. It was always stuck on the condition of her dear friend that she cared for, memories or not. Of course, nopony actually minded anymore. It was a known fact that her emotions on this topic were very muddled. After all, her old self had admitted to like her foalhood friend just a day or so before she lost her memories. After that, everything just go so messed up.

Just as she was getting done, she heard a low whirring noise come from the outside of her home. It sounded like a machine being used, which was a strange thing to hear here on Equestria. It was known that the country was not really one to boast of their technological advancements. But hey, who needs computers when you could fly and levitate objects at will?

She considered going outside to check out the noise, but her overly-bashful self stopped her from doing so. What if it was a monster from the Everfree Forest (She wasn’t good at using the Stare yet)? What if it was a thief (Fat chance of that)? Worse, what if it was a robot made to look like Rainbow Dash made by a deranged scientist Twilight from an alternate universe who goes around destroying everything while shouting “Crush, kill, destroy, swag”?

Wow, timid-shy sure had a wild imagination.

Locking the doors for good measure, Fluttershy decided that the cause of the mysterious noise was a mystery for another day, probably tomorrow. She barely made it past the living room when somepony knocked on the door. Okay, it can’t be a monster, robber or robot. They never knock, and that’s just rude.

“Fluttershy…” A voice called out from the outside, one which all the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were accustomed to

Fluttershy slowly unlocked the door and looked at the stallion standing on her doorstep. He had so many bags under his eyes, even his bags had bags. His mane was untidy and dirty as he wiped the sweat from his face. He seemed to have been crying too, his bloodshot eyes were proof of that. He sighed loudly as he fixed his stare on the butter yellow Pegasus.

“No…” Fluttershy whispered as the sudden realisation of what the Doctor was going to say came into her mind “No, no, no, no, no!”

“I’m sorry…” said the Doctor “I’m just so sorry, I’ve tried everything I could but I can’t save her!” he slammed his head against the wall as his voice started faltering “Nopony deserves to die, I understand! Not her, not anypony! She was supposed to have a long life ahead of her and I was supposed to have saved her life, but I can’t”

More and more sobs escaped from the Doctor’s mouth as he kept on muttering apologies to the mare. Fluttershy was in shock. No, Rainbow Dash’s fate was sealed when she had flown in to save the timid Pegasus from death. If Fluttershy could have read Rainbow Dash’s mind, she would have heard how much Rainbow wanted Fluttershy to live instead of herself, and how her last act would be one of loyalty, true to her element. Loyalty to her friend and loved one.

The Doctor straightened up as he tried to gather his composure. Looking at the aghast Pegasus, the Doctor couldn’t bear to look weak. Somepony needed to be strong, and he was sure that Fluttershy was nowhere near able to keep on a brave face. He placed a knowing hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and hugged her tightly.

“Derpy is at the hospital, she knows you’d want to see her for a last time before we… send her on her way…” The Doctor whispered to Fluttershy’s ear “We’ll keep her there until tomorrow, long enough for the other Elements to come as well”

A whimpering noise could be heard escaping Fluttershy’s mouth. Warm tears streaked down from her eyes. She can’t believe it. None of it. After all this time, after all the trouble they had gone through, Rainbow Dash didn’t make it. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair! However, deep inside, Fluttershy knew that her whimpers are met to deaf ears. Nopony could bring back the dead, not even the royal Alicorn sisters. Even Discord, who was known to make impossible thing happen just for the fun of it, wasn’t able to revive dead friends or enemies.

Fate was a cruel mistress.

“Do you want to see her?” The Doctor asked, to which he felt Fluttershy’s head nod in approval “Well, follow me. I know a shortcut”

Fluttershy’s eyes remained shut as The Doctor brought her along. She was trying so hard to hid her tears, that she was relying on the kind stallion to make sure that she doesn’t bump into anything or fall. The mare thought that The Doctor was going to head to town but was fairly surprised when she realised that he was bringing her to the back of her own cottage. This struck Fluttershy as strange. Not only was it the exact opposite of Ponyville, but it was headed for the Everfree Forest. She wanted to open her eyes, but fear of more tears falling stopped her.

They trotted on for a few more seconds until The Doctor stopped her. She heard the distinct sound of a door opening, and The Doctor invited her in. Invite her where? No, The Doctor was too kind to actually take advantage of the depressed Pegasus. She decided to trot on and suddenly realised that her hooves were now stepping on metal.

Now, Fluttershy finally decided to open her eyes. What she saw made her gasp in awe and confusion. She was surrounded in a bronze coloured metallic room with lights and contraptions hanging around everywhere and corridors leading to other sections. In the middle was what seemed to be a hexagon table with a tube in the middle that ascended to the ceiling. Dials and knobs and other strange levers were scattered around the table in what seemed to be a random manner. By the table, fiddling with the levers, was a blue mare with a darker blue and white mane that Fluttershy met a few times in Ponyville.

“This doesn’t look like the Everfree Forest…” Fluttershy whispered

“It’s a long story, really” The Doctor said as he headed to the blue Unicorn mare “Okay, Romana. We’re ready to go”

“Are you sure about this?” the mare, Romana, asked

“Relax, it’s going to be fine. You trust Fluttershy, right?”

“Who doesn’t?”

Romana? Well, that was strange. Fluttershy had remembered that she was called Colgate. She noticed the same hourglass Cutie Marks adorning both their flanks and wondered what was going on. Still, despite all the wonderful things happening, Fluttershy’s mid was still lingering about the thought of Rainbow Dash lying dead in the hospital.

There was also something about the way that The Doctor spoke with Romana and held her that struck Fluttershy’s heart like she was being attacked with poisoned arrows. Love. The same emotion that Fluttershy was too busy contemplating when thinking of Rainbow Dash. That was it. The Doctor and Romana were in love. Fluttershy thought that was strange, since he hung out more with Derpy. She realised that maybe they were more like close friends than lovers.

The two ponies pressed a few more buttons and the mysterious whirring noise started again. Fluttershy realised that whatever place she was in, this was the cause of the noise. After a second or two, the sound diminished and The Doctor opened the door. He allowed Fluttershy to leave.

Stepping out, Fluttershy gasped. She was in a large janitor room over at Ponyville Hospital. How did she get here from her cottage at the edge of the Everfree Forest? She looked back and saw The Doctor and Romana leave what seemed to be a big blue box with the words Pony Box at the top. The Doctor locked the doors and trotted out, followed behind by Romana. Fluttershy didn’t want to get left behind, so she quickly followed suit.

The hospital looked very different at night. The white walls were dark an foreboding, as if it knew of the death of the Element of Loyalty. Only half the lights were on, so it also left the place darker. Usually Fluttershy would be cowering in fear at the sight of the creepy place, but was too busy thinking of Rainbow Dash to actually weep in a corner. If anything, she wanted to see the mare more than ever, despite knowing that this is the last time she might be able to see the cyan Pegasus.

They turned a few more corners and traversed a few corridors before Fluttershy realised that she knew the area. They were getting close to Rainbow Dash’s room where The Doctor worked on the dying mare day in and day out. After passing a few more rooms, they met Derpy.

“She’s over here” said the wall-eyed mare as she nodded to a door “Come on, follow me”

Fluttershy started following before she realised that the two others had stayed behind. Looking back, she realised that the two of them were hanging their heads in… what, shame? Sadness? Fluttershy didn’t know, but thought better of asking them.

Following Derpy to the door that she pointed to, Fluttershy braced for the worst. She expected to see Rainbow Dash, pale and lifeless with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and blood flowing from some wounds. She had expected to be too shocked to actually cry when looking at the mare.

She was wrong.

Rainbow Dash was still on the bed that she had become accustomed to seeing after days of continuously coming over to this room. She just stood there, still and silent as if she was asleep. There were no wounds to be seen, and the only addition to her seemed to be a wire that connected to a monitor standing next to her. Her white mane and tail was still unkempt and difficult to groom, but Fluttershy thought that it looked better that way.

Seeing the form of her friend, tears started to form in her eyes once more. She couldn’t help it. Looking at her seemed to trigger so many feelings from Fluttershy that she was on the verge of a total breakdown. She placed her head on Rainbow’s chest and bawled as loudly as she ever had. She half-expected Rainbow Dash to suddenly place a hoof on her mane and tell her to stop being such a baby, but she knew that would never happen. The only thing of Rainbow Dash that remained with her was the cyan feather that the Pegasus had given her still perched behind her ear, and the little memory she still has of them. Fluttershy cursed herself for not spending more time with Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy loved Rainbow Dash, she was positive of that now. No matter what she might say to herself, she is in love with her foalhood friend which she has no memory of, and now that friend is dead. She never even got the chance to tell this to Rainbow Dash one more time, as her limp body was now as lifeless as a rag doll.

Minutes must have passed as Fluttershy still sat there, her tears have long since dried up. Perhaps she only wanted to be there with her friend, to fell the cold lifeless body of the pony she would have had a future with if only things didn’t get so out of hand. It was after these few minutes that she felt a hoof on her shoulder. Turning around, Fluttershy saw the face of Romana looking back at her.

“The Doctor won’t approve of this, but I think you should get a chance to see her alive one last time, at least to keep for your memories” Romana said calmly

She asked for Fluttershy to follow her to which it took a few moments for her to actually do so. She didn’t want to leave Rainbow Dash all there by her lonesome, but she thought that maybe Romana had something in mind. A video, or maybe a letter left by Rainbow Dash, perhaps?

Instead, Romana led her back to the big blue box that was stashed away in the janitor room. She unlocked the door and trotted in, Fluttershy following closely behind. The Unicorn pressed a few more buttons and pulled lever which seemed to have activated the machine. The whirring sound started and died, meaning that they must have travelled somewhere else again.

“Go on, have a look around” Romana said as she opened the door which revealed… sunlight?

Fluttershy warily stepped out, but was suddenly stopped by Romana once more. She levitated a sort of string necklace with a key at the end and gave it to Fluttershy. When that was done, she allowed her to leave.

“Perception filter” she explained “To make sure that nopony sees you”

After a loud gulp, Fluttershy stepped outside. She had expected to be somewhere else, but she didn’t expect to be here. She was back on Cloudsdale, but this was sort of strange. The Cloudsdale she knew had been destroyed by the rainbow tidal wave, taking down many other ponies’ lives in its wake. Right now, it was safe and sound… and it was bright out.

Pegasi were flying about as Fluttershy started to trot on the cloud lanes. She saw the weather factory and felt a deep stab at her chest. She remembered the event of the factory exploding in a multi-coloured mess, and turned away. No, she didn’t want to remember any of that. At least not now.

After a few more minutes of walking around, Fluttershy considered returning to Romana. She could not find Rainbow Dash anywhere, and thought that maybe she was at the wrong place. She had just turned when a rainbow and cyan coloured blur zoomed past her, followed closely behind by a larger pink and blue blur.

She turned to see where both of these blurs were headed, and saw what seemed to be a gran school floating nearby. Extending her wings, Fluttershy started to make haste and glided over to it. When she landed, she could see many fillies and colts, all of them Pegasi, trotting and flying around. She looked some more and finally noticed Rainbow Dash with a pink Pegasus sporting blue lightning bolts as her Cutie Mark. The two seemed to have so much in common, and it took a while to register that this Rainbow Dash was just a filly.

“Now be good, Rainbow Dash” the adult mare said with a motherly tone “I don’t wanna see an letters coming home saying ‘Dear Firefly, your daughter has been doing bad things and is going to be sent home on probation’, you got that?”

“Fine, fine” the young Rainbow Dash grumbled as the two trotted into the school with some bags, probably Rainbow Dash’s belongings.

When Fluttershy trotted in after them, she can’t help but think that this place seemed familiar. It was as if she had been here before, but couldn’t quite place a hoof on it. Of course, with her terrible memory and amnesia, she must have forgotten about it as she did with everything else. She passed by several ponies, but they all paid her no care. Perhaps the perception filter really did work.

She stopped in front of a door that was left ajar by the mother-daughter duo and peeked inside. She could see two well-made beds and cupboards, but Rainbow’s items were already starting to make one of them look messy. They both unpacked as they talked animatedly. She waited for the second pony who shared the room to appear, but whoever it was, he or she never came.

“So, who’s my roommate again?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked at her mother

“Somepony named Fluttershy” her mother replied with a warm smile

“Fluttershy? Aww, she sounds lame”

“Now don’t go talking bad of other ponies before you meet them, you got that?”

“Yes, mom…”

Fluttershy stood at the mouth of the door with her mouth agape. She was Rainbow Dash’s roommate, so that must mean that they were in flight school! She vaguely remembered Rainbow Dash talking about this when she had finished her operation and promptly kicked her out of the room.

She stood there, watching the two talked as they got Rainbow’s things ready. After they were done, they headed out to grab a snack before Firefly had to go back home. Fluttershy followed from behind as they entered the cafeteria, where a scene was starting.

“Eep!” a voice squeaked as a butter yellow filly was pushed to the ground by some colts

“Hah! Looks like Clutzershy’s still here!” the bully laughed “What’s wrong? You sucked so hard you had to start the year again?”

Another wave of shock overcame Fluttershy as the scene played out. She was looking at herself, back when she was a filly and was still in flight school. She realised just how pathetic she looked with her face hidden behind her mane and her long lanky legs. She was a coward back then, too. Quietly, she asked herself just what Rainbow Dash saw in her.

The bullies kept on making fun of the young Fluttershy, so much that they never saw the blue blur that slammed right into one of them. When they got back up, the steaming face of a tiny blue Pegasus stared back at them with cute anger.

“You leave her alone, you bullies!” Rainbow Dash shouted aloud “You guys are just a bunch of jerks, and I better not see you bullying anypony ever again, you hear?!”

“Pfft, and who are you, small fry?” the bully teased

“I’m Rainbow, Rainbow Dash. And you better not forget it!”

“Right, see you around, Rainbow Crash!”

As the bullies all laughed and joked amongst themselves while leaving the cafeteria, Rainbow Dash flew back to the fallen Pegasus who was being tended to by Firefly. She helped her up and gave a wide grin, one which the younger Fluttershy timidly returned.

“Hi, I’m Rainbow Dash. What’s your name?”

“Fluttershy…” whispered the yellow filly

“Well, Fluttershy” Firefly chimed in “I think you two are going to be good friends!”

As Fluttershy watched the scene, a tear rolled down her cheek and a smile was formed on her face. She would never let go of this memory, not once and not ever.

Close your eyes to the darkened sky

We're here together you and I

I'll hold you when you're scared of the thunder

I'll always protect you, I'll never leave

I'll watch you grow into who you're meant to be

With you I'll watch the world in wonder