Rainbow Dash’s left wing burned with agony as she climbed. Her home floated high above her. It usually seemed like a short trip, but she was beginning to doubt she could make it before her wing gave out. Her body trembled with effort. She wasn’t weak! She could do this!
Then she could lie down, rest her wing, and nopony would know she’d strained it screwing around doing laps around the Whitetail Woods.
The weather was turning bad. Rain spattered her coat, quickly building to a heavy, soaking downpour. Nothing she couldn’t deal with, right? But as the water soaked her fur and feathers, she got heavier and heavier. Soon her wing gave way, and she was falling.
But before she even had time to fully appreciate how ironic-slash-stupid it was for one of the greatest living fliers in Equestria to die from flying in the rain, something strong but soft caught her from behind. She squawked as whatever it was pulled on her, lifting her skyward, pulling her in jerking, unsteady flaps towards her home. She looked up to see wide yellow wings spread over her.
✭☆✭☆✭☆✭
They landed in a sodden, feathery heap on Rainbow’s front porch. Fluttershy rolled off of her, gasping, too exhausted to speak. Rainbow pushed herself to her hooves and tried to fold her wing, only for stabbing pain to stop her.
“Oh, mother of buck!” yelped Rainbow.
“Rainbow Danger Dash,” hissed Fluttershy, pushing herself to her hooves, mane drooping wetly. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“You saved me. I got it,” said Rainbow. “I’m grateful, but, hey, it’s over now, right? Wanna come in and have a cider?”
“Flying in a rainstorm with a hurt wing! What were you thinking?” hissed Fluttershy, closing on her with rage in her eyes. Rainbow sensed a Stare coming, and tried to avoid eye contact.
“Hey, hey, how was I to know it was gonna rain? I mean, freak weather, am I right?” she said, backing past the Equestrian Weather Service planning whiteboard hung in her front foyer. It had a little raincloud drawn on the box for today, and a note in Rainbow’s illegible mouth-writing.
“You could have been killed!” said Fluttershy. “What were you thinking!”
“I can handle a little sprained wing. It's fine,” said Rainbow Dash, looking at the ceiling to evade Fluttershy’s glare. “I mean, everypony has accidents right? It’s just lucky you were nearby… um… hanging around flying at high altitudes in bad weather?” That didn’t sound much like Fluttershy.
“A little bird told me where to find you,” said Fluttershy.
“I knew small town rumors spread fast, but I didn’t think they were that efficient,” said Rainbow Dash.
“No, a little bird literally told me,” said Fluttershy, ducking her head. She seemed to have given up on the Stare. Instead, she circled around behind Rainbow, nudging her on the flanks to shepherd her to the bathroom.
Rainbow glared over her shoulder at Fluttershy. “You have your animals spy on me?”
Fluttershy looked up, making eye contact. Her eyebrows snapped down. “Because you’re always doing things like this!” said Fluttershy, eyes glowing with protective rage. “You take risks, you don’t take proper care of yourself, and then you’re too proud to ask for help when something goes wrong! You need to be protected from yourself! Now get to the bathroom. I need to look at your wing, but first, we need to get you dry so you don’t catch a chill!”
Rainbow ducked her head and whimpered. “Yes, ma’am.”
✭☆✭☆✭☆✭
Fluttershy draped the towel over Rainbow’s right side and lower back, avoiding the wing that hung down pathetically at her left side. Rainbow shivered as her hooves rubbed the fluffy fabric into her coat, soaking up water. She shivered as Fluttershy rand the towel down her right wing. She shuddered when she wrapped it around her tail and pulled it down the length, sloughing off water.
Rainbow Dash winced preemptively as Fluttershy came around to her other side.
“Don’t worry, you big baby,” said Fluttershy, “I’m not going to hurt you. Does it hurt when I touch it?”
“No,” whimpered Rainbow Dash. “Only when I try to move it.”
“So it’s probably not broken,” said Fluttershy, running the towel lightly over Rainbow’s feathers. “I’ll split it, and we’ll put some ice on it.”
“How would I have broken my wing just flying? I don’t even understand how I pulled a muscle just flying. I wasn’t even going that fast!”
Fluttershy left the room. She could be heard outside, digging through the first aid kit she made sure to keep at Rainbow’s place. “You’re getting older, Rainbow. You have to be more careful with your body.”
“I’m twenty-three!” protested Rainbow Dash.
“You’re not a teenager any more. Did you warm up before you went flying?”
“Sure I did. A little,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Mmm-hmmm.” Fluttershy came back into the bathroom carrying splints and bandages. “Sure you did.”
✭☆✭☆✭☆✭
Soon afterward, Rainbow was lying on her bed, left wing splinted and spread out across the mattress. Fluttershy was fussing around in the kitchen feeding Tank. Rainbow breathed slowly, listening to the rain outside, focusing on the pain in her wing and trying not to panic. She’d been hurt worse. She sure had. Yep. If she just kept reminding herself that, she might not freak out.
Fluttershy came into the bedroom, balancing a plate of cookies and a cup of milk on her back. Tank hovered in after her, landed at the foot of the bed, and promptly fell asleep. Fluttershy passed Rainbow the milk, then set the cookies on the bed and climbed in after them.
“Milk and cookies in bed! Sweet!” said Rainbow, taking a big sip of milk through the straw.
“Be careful,” said Fluttershy, taking a cookie for herself and sliding the rest over to Rainbow. “If you finish your milk before you finish your cookies, you’re going to be sad.”
“You’ve got to ration it,” agreed Rainbow, taking another sip.
“Eat some cookies. You’ll feel better.”
Rainbow scarfed six cookies, finished her milk, then lay back carefully on the bed. “My wing’s gonna be better again soon, right?” said Rainbow.
“Yes, silly,” said Fluttershy, setting aside the cup and plate and wriggling up against Rainbow’s side. “But we need to take you down to Dr. Horse when the weather clears.” She slid her hoof across the fluff of Rainbow’s chest. Rainbow arched her back with pleasure.
“Oh no. You’re good enough at patching ponies up. I’ll be fine,” said Rainbow, wrapping a foreleg around Fluttershy’s back and pulling her against her good side. She liked the way the taller, leggier yellow mare’s body enfolded hers, making her feel safe and protected. “We don’t have to tell anypony else about this.”
“No. I’ve had emergency medical training, but I’m not a doctor. I’m not even a veterinarian. We’ve got to get you to a real doctor. When the rain clears, I’ll go find some of your Weather Service friends and they can carry you down.
“Oh. Okay,” said Rainbow, her voice cracking.
“Rainbow! What’s the matter?” said Fluttershy.
“It’s just… if you get help… everypony will know I hurt myself, and… They’ll know I’m not awesome,” said Rainbow, her voice cracking.
Fluttershy nosed at the tears running down Rainbow’s cheek. “Rainbow, Rainbow, no! You are so awesome! You’re just not perfect. Nopony’s perfect.”
“Nuh-huh. Being perfect is part of being awesome. It’s in the dictionary.” Tears squirted out of Rainbow's eyes.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “‘Awesome. Extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear. Or, informal: extremely good; excellent.’ Both describe you. Neither involves being perfect. Also, the dictionary is just something somepony wrote. It's not like its approved by Celestia herself as the exact meaning of words, so stop bringing it up as an argument for things, okay?”
“But… but I want to be perfect. I want everypony to look up to me!” wailed Rainbow, squirting tears.
Fluttershy licked Rainbow’s cheek. “Mmmm, salty pegasus tears.”
Rainbow Dash giggled. “Stop that! That tickles!”
Fluttershy gripped Rainbow’s chest with her forelegs and kept licking. “Only when you run out of delicious, delicious tears.”
Rainbow pushed her face away. “How can you even do that! It’s gross! Gross!”
Fluttershy tittered. “If you were perfect everypony would hate you, Rainbow. It’s only because you occasionally do boneheaded things that other ponies can even stand to be around your incredible awesomeness.”
“Awww,” whined Rainbow Dash. “Why do ponies gotta be like that?”
“I don’t know. I’d still love you if you were perfect. I’m awed by your glory.” She smirked. “But. Can I tell you something terrible?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Please. Tell me your darkest secret.”
“I don’t like it when you get hurt. But I like having to be your mom, sometimes. Is that bad?” Fluttershy tossed her head so her bangs fell over one eye, and smiled over at her nervously.
“Ugh. You’re not acting like my mom because you don’t worship the ground I walk on,” said Rainbow.
“I don’t know,” said Fluttershy. “We could try that later. When you’re feeling better.” She stretched, pressing her barrel languorously against Rainbow’s side. “But for now, I think it would be a good time for one of Rainbow Dash’s favorite activities.”
“Yeah?” said Rainbow, looking sidelong at Fluttershy. “What’s that?”
“A nap,” purred Fluttershy, drawing out the vowel. Outside, the thunder rumbled, shaking the cloudy walls of Rainbow’s house. Fluttershy squeaked and squeezed up against Rainbow’s side. “Also protect me from the thunder please!”
Rainbow laughed. “Don’t worry. I won’t let it get in the house."
“Okay. Good. Thunder is so rude,” said Fluttershy.
Fluttershy kicked up the blankets bunched near the foot of Rainbow’s messy bed with her hind hooves and pulled them up over both of them. She lay her head on Rainbow’s neck and closed her eyes. She flicked off the bedside lamp with one wingtip and squirmed in under the covers.
“Mmmm. Warm.” rumbled Rainbow Dash.
“I love you, Dashie,” said Fluttershy.
“I love you too, Flutterbutt,” mumbled Rainbow. She was snoring in seconds.
