Rainbow Dash stood at the top of the snow covered wooden ramp she had built for this stunt, with the sled under her right forehoof. Twilight asked the rainbow maned Pegasus, “are you sure you want to do this? After all you did hurt your wing last week, when you crashed into that tree.”
“I'm sure, Twilight. This is my last chance before tomorrow's blizzard.” Rainbow Dash was slightly annoyed by the reminder.
This can only end well, the purple unicorn sarcastically thought. “Okay, so what's the plan again?”
I'm gonna sled down this ramp, launching off the end with more speed than I could launch myself with, then do some amazing stunts that are sure to impress the Wonderbolts,” Rainbow said, reminding herself of what happened when she asked Applejack to help out with a different contraption. That ended with the poor Pegasus slamming into Twilight's balcony. She looked down, past the ramp, and saw a pink shape moving about on a lake a few dozen yards out. Pinkie was off enjoying some ice skating before the blizzard, while Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy waited for Rainbow to launch herself into history from a dozen yards downwind. Twilight was there to save Dash if something went wrong with the ramp, which had been built in a day by Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and wasn't the sturdiest thing in the world.
“Alright, here goes,” Dash said, as she pushed the sled down the slope and hopped on. She slid down, her cheeks being pushed back by the onrushing air. She launched off the ramp and started flapping her wings as hard as she could, preparing for her first stunt, when disaster struck.
Pinkie was enjoying herself on the ice, while watching Rainbow launching off her crazy contraption, right up until she realized that the Pegasus was heading right for her, and she out of the way of the wayward pegasus.
Rainbow saw she was going to collide with Pinkie, so she filled her lungs with air, in case she broke through the ice, and braced for impact.
Dash collided with Pinkie's side and slammed them both through the ice. Rainbow, disoriented but otherwise unharmed (slamming into things all her life toughened her up for this sort of thing) looked around and tried to find a hole to swim to. The first thing she spotted was a motionless Pinkie Pie, which caused her to panic. She bit down on the mane of the pink pony, and went back to looking for a hole. She spotted one, and swam for it.
Her head burst out of the water, with Pinkie's pink mane in her mouth. Running on pure adrenaline, and with Pinkie in tow, she scampered to the shore and called for help. Her friends quickly rushed over to the soaked Pegasus, and her cargo.
Fluttershy could immediately see that Pinkie needed help, and Rainbow Dash, who's wing was obviously in pain, and who was obviously freezing after her dunking was in no position to render much needed aid. She rushed over to the earth pony and did what she could to help her friend. “We need to get her to the hospital,” Rarity said.
“I know. Help me get her on my back.”
“Why d'you want to take her? Ah could get her there lickey-split, you know,” Applejack said.
“I can fly her there faster than you could run her, just do it,” Fluttershy said, knowing her speed in emergencies, and this certainly was an emergency. Pinkie's breathing was shallow, and she was soaked with freezing water, Her eye opened and she tried to say something, but it just came out as a gurgle
At this point, Twilight arrived. “Oh Celestia, what happened?”
“I'll explain later,” said Rainbow Dash. “Right now we need to get Pinkie to the hospital.”
“And Rainbow to somewhere warm. Put Pinkie on my back, and I'll fly her there,” Fluttershy said.
“Why you?” Asked Twilight.
“It'll be faster if I fly her to the hospital, than if someone runs her down there and we don't have time to argue,” Fluttershy said, getting more anxious.
“Alright, don't let us down, for Pinkie's sake,” Twilight said as she telekinetically loaded the pink pony onto Fluttershy's back.
“My cottage is nearby, Rainbow, you can hunker down there.”
“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said, but Fluttershy was already off.
Pinkie, laying on Fluttershy's back was quite the load, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She raced toward the hospital with frightening speed. When Pinkie tried to raise her head, Fluttershy said, “Just hold still. I promise everything will be okay.” Pinkie tried to say something, but it came out as a small gurgle, disheartening the worried Pegasus.
Flying low and avoiding snowbanks that would have slowed down a running pony, even one like Applejack, Fluttershy begged that her friend would make it. Driven by sheer determination, she refused to stop, even as buildings and ponies whizzed by, much too close for comfort and her wings started to hurt from the effort of flying fast and carrying Pinkie. She was forced to slow down when Pinkie started slipping off her back, but she refused to stop until she was at the hospital.
When they arrived at the hospital, the nurses unloaded Pinkie from Fluttershy's back, while she explained what happened. They then took Pinkie somewhere deep in the hospital, and told Fluttershy that someone would be out to tell when she could see her friend. She sat down in one of the many chairs, and absentmindedly picked up one of the magazines. A half hour later, the others arrived, minus Rainbow Dash. Twilight asked, “Any word?”
“Not yet. Oh, I hope she's okay.”
“Me too.”
“Did Rainbow Dash make it to my cottage?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yes, she's warming up by the fire.”
“Oh, thank goodness. Did she say why she crashed into Pinkie?”
“Her wing cramped, and she couldn't avoid Pinkie.”
“Oh my.”
“Fortunately, she doesn't seem to be injured, aside from the effects of swimmng in freezing water,” Twilight said
“Thank goodness,” Fluttershy said before trying to focus on her magazine. Unfortunarely, her worry about what happened to her friend kept her from focusing on the words in front of her face.
Finally, after another twenty agonizing minutes, they were shown into Pinkie's room. Twilight asked the doctor what was wrong with the earth pony, and he said, “She had three broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a concussion, some slight internal bleeding in her throat, which is why she was garling, and mild hypothermia. Fortunately your friend got her here in a nick of time, otherwise she might not have made it.
Pinkie said weakly “Fluttershy?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. What you did? It means a lot to me.”
“I would do it for anypony.”
“I know, and it's good to see you guys, but where's Rainbow Dash?”
“She went to my cottage to warm up, after saving you from that frozen lake. She should be here in a few hours.” Despite knowing about the broken ribs, she couldn't resist hugging her friend.
Pinkie grimaced in pain, but hugged her friend back, saying weakly, “You know what this calls for? A party!”
“A few days of bed rest should come first, don't you think?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, you're right, but, when I'm better, we'll have a party.”
“Of course.”
The End
