My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Friendship from afar.

Chapter 1: Storm of the Century - part 4

“Here you are, darling,” Rarity eloquently spoke, levitating the stuff animal over to the sniffling filly. “Good as new.”

The young filly squeed in delight, wrapping her forehooves around her beloved toy. Said toy now flaunted a deep blue tuft of hair. Rarity chewed her bottom lip nervously, forcing a smile as the mother of the filly scooped her up into her hooves, smiling warmly at the alabaster mare.

“Thank you so much Miss Rarity,” she began, “for I fear I would never hear the end of it had you not rescued and *ahem* ‘fixed’ little Belles’ doll here. You truly are the most generous pony in Ponyville, but... did you really have to...”

Rarity’s cheeks went a light shade of pink at the praise. “Please my dear,” she began, waving a hoof airily in dismissal, “I couldn’t let the poor dear spend the entire trip to Canterlot is such a horrible state of despair.” The fashionata rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck, visibly wincing at the now shorter tuft of her mane. “Besides, it’ll grow back. Short manes are going to be all the rage at the Fall Fashion Show. Nothing wrong with starting early, mmm?”

As the two mares continued their conversation, Spike watched from under the depot awning, his eyes taking in the beautiful essence that was Rarity.

He’d fallen for the alabaster unicorn mare when he and Twilight first came to Ponyville over two years prior. It seemed everypony in the group of friends but Rarity knew of his crush on her, a fact that would have reached her sooner had it not been for Pinkie’s ‘Pinkie promise’. He felt it only right that he should be the one to tell her, rather than some off hoof remark by Rainbow. Even if she rejected his love, hurt him as it more than likely would, to Spike it would be sincere.

During his last birthday, his drake greed got the best of him and transformed him into a rampaging dragon. He dragon-napped Rarity, fighting everything thrown at him; a seemingly unstoppable force. Yet it was the sight fire ruby that Rarity wore upon her person he’d given his love instead of eating for his birthday gift to himself (and the subsequent kiss on the cheek he’d received as a reward for his kindness) that had brought Spike out of his monstrous ways; back into the lovable pint-sized drake that everypony knew and cared for.

Then they both were falling; the height from which he knew was fatal. The next few moments happened so fast, yet he still remembers it as if the memories were molasses, oozing slowly down his brain. His calling out to Rarity. The process of emptying his soul to the mare in front of him. Her firm, yet gentle hoof to his lips, blocking his confession. And a warm, tearful, and joyous smile that put his mind at ease. Even as the two rocketed towards the earth, he returned her smile, for he knew that she knew. No other words had to be spoken.

“Spike...”

And yet she had spoken. The angelic voice beckoning at his ear drums.

“Spike.”

Rarity spoke again, though this time her tone was more abrupt with a hint of impatience.

“SPIKE!”

“Wha?” The young drake managed to sputter out, suddenly back in reality. He now found himself nose - to -muzzle with his day dreams likeness. Only this is no day dream and it is far from happy.

“What on earth are you doing, Spike,” Rarity’s voice snipped. “You’ve been ‘zoned out’, as it were, for the past ten minutes.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Sorry. I, uh, was just thinking about y- I mean, about Twilight and the others. I hope they get back soon. This weather is getting worse.” Even as embarrassed as he was, Spike forced a smile at Rarity; his only hope was that the fashionata would buy his display and forget the words he;d almost let slip.

“Come now Spike,” Rarity eloquently spoke, “Twilight will be just fine. You shouldn’t worry your spikey little head.” She rubbed her hoof along his head spines for good measure; batting her eyelashes and smiling a cute, yet seductive smile. “But I really think there’s more to your story than you’re letting on, hmm?”

The sound of a throat clearing and hooves splashing brought the upcoming conversation to a halt. Rarity turned to look a the source of the small commotion with Spike peaking out from behind the fashionata’s coifed tail. A rather tall, burly brown stallion, wearing a blue and white striped vest and matching mane cover. He stopped just short of the pair, clearing his throat again. He seemed agitated, with his facial features relaying urgency and, almost, fear.

“Name’s Steam piston,” he began with a curt tone. “May I have a moment of your time?”
Spike exhaled in relief, earning him a strange and devious look from Rarity. She shuffled her mane, muzzle pointed high, making a mental note to have a ‘proper, lady-like discussion’ with Spike when the whole situation has been rectified. Steam piston raised an eyebrow at the brief exchange, but paid it no mind.

“Yes darling?” Rarity questioned, oozing out the upper crust tone of the Canterlot elite. “What is it I can assist you with?” Spike simply rolled his eyes, sticking his foreclaw to his mouth to imitate gaging.

“This will be the last train leaving Ponyville.” Steam piston uttered with an almost grim finality. “Is everypony accounted for?”

“Yes,” Spike interjected, “except for Twilight and the others. I really didn’t think it would take them this long to get back.”

“Would you two mind looking at something for a moment,” Steam piston asked, leading the two towards the final train car. He stopped and pointed a hoof at the ground. “Tell me, what do you see here?”

Rarity and Spike both followed the pointed hoof, gazing at the mud and pooling water. Nothing seemed out of the sort at first, but as Rarity turned to speak, she noticed the steel rail, or lack there of, was missing by about a foot or so. Spike noticed, too, scratching the back of his head in bewilderment.

“What is Celestia’s name...”

“Time is of the essence here,” the grizzled engineer spoke in a downtrodden tone. “The depot was not designed to handle this much water at one time. I’m afraid we might have to leave-“

”NO!” Spike bellowed, tackling the stallion to the ground, startling both the engineer and Rarity. Much as she wanted to see the young drake pummel on the stallion for even requesting that her friends be left behind, she knew now was not the time, nor did it really help the situation at hoof. A light blue sheen of arcanokinetic energy enveloped Spike, levitating him back quickly. Steam piston lunged back onto his hooves, ready to smite the dragon for, what he thought, was an unprovoked attack. The removal of said target along with the vicious state the unicorn was casting upon him changed his immediate course of action.

“As disappointed as I am in the drake’s behavior, (justified as it may be), I simply cannot condone abandoning my friends as such. We have, and still are, working to help as much as our hooves will allow and yet you have the gall to even suggest-“

”I’m sorry, lady Rarity, but if the tracks sink any deeper, this whole train and it occupants will all be for naught.” He sighed, pausing momentarily. “However, I will not just ‘abandon’ your friends to the wraths of nature.” He reached into his vest pocket, withdrawing an old-fashioned wound watch. With a simple click of his hoof it popped open, revealing a well worn and stained watch face. “I can give thirty minutes and then we must depart; with friends or without.” With a flick of his hoof, he placed it back into the pocket.

All Rarity could do was watch as the Steam piston slogged his way through the ankle high water as he checked all the cables and connections between the cars. Even as Spike’s struggles tugged at her magic holding him aloft beside her, only one thought crossed her mind.

“Thirty minutes.”

*

“You monster!! How could you do this to your own daughter!!” The thought screamed at her.
Dash ran her hooves through her mane and back down across her eyes; stress, anger, and exhaustion evident upon her face. She shifted uncomfortably in the chair’s harsh cushion, her irritation level still at max. Rainbow always had a mean streak in her; years of bullying in Cloudsdale’s flight school, but had learned to control it by channeling it into other directions. She looked down at her hooves, seeing them shaking uncontrollably; her anger building to a hilt once again. She drew her lids down tightly and ground her teeth together.
“Damn you, Cloudbuster! How could you do this to me?!”

(10 minutes earlier)

“...and that’s when I screamed for help,” Dash spilled out; her vision blurry from the tears that refused to stop, despite her best mental rebuking.

The whole situation with the storm and Cloudkicker had been disastrous on a life altering level. Here she was, a top-of-her-game pegusi mare, the fastest flier in all of Equestria. A future Wonderbolt mare, even. Paired with a fresh-from-basics rookie weather member; hot blooded, reckless, but smart. (A little like herself. Actually, a lot like herself’) Now her weather partner lay in a hospital unit, barely clinging to life.

Rainbow swore at herself inwardly, chastising her very soul for everything. She’d been the young mare’s role model. She’d told her she could do anything. And now, waiting here in this hospital, she’d be the one responsible for Cloudkicker’s death. If Celestia would allow it, she’d change positions with her in a heartbeat. It was only a matter of time until the doctor confided her status to Rainbow. Then, as painful as it all would be, she’d have to find Cloudkicker’s parents and explain, in gut-wrenching agony and guilt, why their daughter wouldn’t be coming home.

“...C.P.R.?” the mare sitting next to her in the waiting hall asked, snapping Dash back to reality.

“H-huh?”

“Did you give her C.P.R.?”

“Of course I did,” Dash stated matter-o-factly.. She just stared confused at her old teacher for a moment, unsure why Cloudbuster would ask such a question. C.P.R. was a required course of all Pegusi who were in weather training. During extreme storms, such as was effecting Equestria at the time, if a team member(or anypony for that matter) was unconscious, administering life saving tactics were a must since the fliers were normally right on the scene. It didn’t happen often, thankfully, but the appropriate techniques were there. “Why are you asking me, anyways? You’re the lead of your flight team. It’s standard procedure.”

“Don’t you dare lecture me, Dash,” Cloudbuster hissed angrily, causing Dash to tense in reflex. “I know the safety guidelines by heart. Don’t treat me like some foal straight out of basics.”

Red flags started popping left and right in Rainbows’ brain at the sudden angry outburst from her former teacher. This wasn’t normal for Cloudbuster at all. She was acting strange, almost as if she’d done something wrong. Dash immediately tried to head this train off before it left the station. “Don’t ruffle my feathers!” She quipped, rising up to meet the altercation head on. “You’re the one who asked me about proper protocol! I feel horrible as it is without you adding to it!”

“You should feel horrible!” Cloudbuster spat, poking her hoof forcefully into Dash’s barrel. “Because of you I might lose my-“

”Ahem, if you to ladies are quite finished,” came a stern yet professional voice. Dash quickly swatted away the hoof jabbed at her chest; both mares glaring at each other as they turned to face the interruption. This whole confrontation was far from over as far as Dash was concerned, but the update on Cloudkicker’s condition superceded any quarrel the two mares had, for now. It was then both mares took notice of the white-coated stallion standing before them. He cleared his throat again before continuing. “The name is Dr.-“

”I don’t care what your name is or who you are,” Cloudbuster snarled, pushing her way past Rainbow to channel her anger towards the stallion before her. “Just tell me how my d- I mean, how Cloudkicker is recovering.”

“Well...there was tremendous strain on her flight muscles and spinal chord, not to mention the trauma to her central nervous system from the lightning strike itself.” Dash could only listen; horrified as the doctor spoke more and more about the injuries that her partner had acquired. Cloudbuster shrank away as the spoken words pounded into her skull with undying fury. Just as she was about to break, the news came. “However, she is a strong fighter,” the doctor’s gaze shifted over to Dash. “Had your Pegusi friend here not given saved her from the fall, let alone administer C.P.R.... Let’s just say you owe her your daughter’s life.”

Dash’s eyes went wide and her jaw nearly hit the floor. “D-daughter?” Was all she could manage to force her vocal chords to produce. The look on the doctors face was nothing less than surprise, almost as if the maternal relationship between the two weather ponies was common knowledge. It all made sense now: all the red flags, the forgetfulness , the undeserved anger, the guilt laden chastising. Cloudbuster’s ears fell flat against her mane as she slowly turned to face her. Her mouth was moving; surely uttering words of apologies and praises of thankfulness, but Dash didn’t hear them. She couldn’t hear the raging storm outside, the patter of hooves on the tile floor, the audio calls for the nurses over the p.a. Nothing. Dash closed her eyes tightly, clenching her teeth at the sheer audacity of her friend. Not only had she kept her daughter a secret from her, she was fully willing to let Dash bear the brunt of her death as well. She felt a creeping shudder that worked its way from her hooves all the way to the wisps of her rainbow colored tail. It was anger - no -it was pure unadulterated rage twisting and turning at her emotions, pulling and stretching until *snap*. Rainbow’s eyes flew open, moisture gathering in their corners as she glared at the mare in front of her. Rainbow Dash saw red.

She wasn’t aware of how much time had passed or even when the color faded from her vision. She did, however, find herself on standing forcefully on her rear legs; her front pair being held firmly by a pair of burly stallion orderlies. Dash also became aware of slight movement a few inches in front of her. Looking down slightly, she saw Cloudbuster; her hoof on the left side of her cheek. Dash could see the blackness beginning to show around her left eye as well as a thin trickle of blood trailing lightly down from the corner of her mouth. Dash felt the anger welling up inside her again and roared angrily at the injured mare upon the floor:

“You monster!! How could you do this to your own daughter!!”