Rainbow After Rain

Rainbow after Rain

Chapter 1

It was a typical evening for Rainbow Dash, as she practiced well into the afternoon, hoping to perfect a dazzling new trick for the Wonderbolts. Unfortunately, it was a less than typical evening for Ponyville, with storm clouds darkening the sky further as Celestia’s sun slipped below the horizon. In the usual fashion of the cyan pegasus, Rainbow Dash had thrown caution to the wind, or rather... storm. For a long while, the storm had slipped Rainbow’s mind. That is, until the rain came pouring down as she sped through the sky.

“Oh no! Did I forget to read the weather schedule again?” The mare sighed in annoyance. “I can be such a foal sometimes, I MAKE that schedule.” Rainbow slapped her hoof to her face. “Oh well,” she thought “I better hurry up. Practice can wait, I’ve gotta find a way out of this storm!”

Rainbow sped off, in the direction she hoped her house was in. Water streamed down her face as she sped forward. Her vision blurred, and only worsened as the wind fought against her. Rain poured out from the swelled storm clouds, giving no indication of slowing down. Normally, Rainbow was fond of the wind whipping her mane back as she flew. Not this time, this was different.

Several minutes of fighting the rain proved to be in vain, the pegasus had no idea where she was. “Why didn’t I read that bucking schedule?” Rainbow asked herself, read to give up. “You know what?” Rainbow shouted, with only the gloomy sky to listen, “I’m not letting this beat me. I’m the best flier to come out of Cloudsdale! No storm is beating Rainbow Dash!” Full of vigor, Dash found herself beating her wings twice as fast. The pegasus cut through the air, wind splitting against her wings.

Suddenly, something didn’t feel right to Dash. Her wings were sagging, and she once again felt the gale force winds tossing her aside. Rainbow's eyelids drifted shut, the wings by her side numb and finally slowing to a stop.

~~~~~~~~~

“Oh... m-my,” the timid pegasus whispered, “T-t-that’s a large s-storm...” Fluttershy squeaked out of fear. Of course, the timid mare was afraid of a lot of things. Dragons, namely. Fluttershy glanced back at her under-used wings, with a worried look. Fighting back memories of tumbling off of Cloudsdale, Fluttershy ventured out of her cottage.

The yellow pegasus fought back the apprehension she felt welling up in her. “I know you’re scared Fluttershy, but your birds need you right now. They must much more scared than you are, drenched and windswept.” Fluttershy managed to put on a brave face, if only for her animal’s sake.  After slow progress, her nose was soon met with the scent of wet bark. “O-okay, Fluttershy. You can do this. Just a quick flight up to the tree top to get your birds. Nothing to worry about. You’ve done this a million times before.” Finally working up her courage, Fluttershy unfurled her wings, ready to take off. Before should could, she was welcomed by booming thunder, and a bright flash of lightning immediately after. Fluttershy yelped, burying her face in her soaked mane, and sinking to the ground. Thoughts drifting back to her birds, the mare lifted herself up, once again steeling herself. Suddenly, she heard another crash. Except, this time, there wasn’t any lighting. The yellow pegasus glimpsed a cyan feather, being tossed about in the raging wind. Fluttershy dragged her vision up to the tree, seeing a familiar wing jutting out from the wreckage. Fluttershy gasped. “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness.” Not even giving herself time for another thought, Fluttershy took off.

The storm raged against her with all gale force winds, but Fluttershy didn't care. She grabbed hold of the limp Rainbow Dash, as well her birds. The birds tucked safely into her soaked mane, Fluttershy once again brought her attention back to her friend. Fluttershy found herself unable to lift her friend, her weakness once again betraying her.

Fluttershy pushed herself up, her eyes reflecting her resolve, doubt fading as quickly as it had appeared. She would not let Rainbow Dash be hurt. Using every ounce of strength the yellow pegasus could summon, Fluttershy heaved, and lifted Rainbow Dash. Flapping with all her might, Fluttershy reached her cottage. She would have sighed with relief, if the storm wasn’t still raging. Dash was safe.

~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash slowly lifted her eyelids. A sharp pain pierced her head, wings laid limp at her side. She felt like she had come between an Apple-Bucking Applejack and her orchard. Rainbow attempted a laugh, but was stopped by another surge of head pains. For the first time she realized where she was, or rather... where she wasn’t. For one thing, it definitely was not her cloud home. What confused Rainbow the most was a lack of doctor and nurse ponies, and the definite lack of hospital around her. Rainbow fought back tears. Thoughts of injury flooded her mind, fear accompanying them. Rainbow Dash quickly attempted to snap out of it, glancing at the room surrounding her. She laid in fairly tiny bed, the plush mattress making her long for a cloud. There was a mish-mash of furniture around the room, but not a speck of dust. Everything seemed to have it's own special place among the dark wood flooring and deep green walls. It expelled Rainbow's longing for the sky, if only for a moment.

A large growl came from the stomach of the injured pony, shattering the momentary tranquility. Rainbow rolled over, slowly sliding out of the bed onto the floor. Hooves pressed to the floor, Rainbow supported herself, albeit shakily. The pegasus looked around again, so make sure there wasn't somepony else among the clutter. She shrugged, and slowly made her way to a narrow staircase. Making her way down the stairs, the nose of the starved pony breathed in the scent of fresh flowers, as well as the accompanying aroma of a recently cooked breakfast. The scent of food giving Rainbow a momentary reprise from her injuries, she briskly walked over to the source of the aroma.

Rainbow didn’t expect to find a certain yellow pegasus around the corner. Fluttershy squeaked, startled.

“O-oh!” Fluttershy said after a brief period of silence, still a bit startled, “Rainbow, you’re up! I was just going to wake you for breakfast! Are you sure you should be walking? Did you sleep we—“ Fluttershy's words practically flew out her mouth as she remembered the state of her friend.

Rainbow interrupted her, before Fluttershy got too carried away. “I’m fine, Fluttershy. Well, mostly, anyway. It’s nothing too serious, but… erm… I can’t exactly fly very well right at this moment.” The pegasus blushed, embarrassed to admit her injuries to anypony else. She quickly recovered, trying to save face, “I’m sure I’ll be fine Fluttershy, I’ll be pulling off Rainbooms by then end of the week.”

Fluttershy sighed in relief. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay, Rainbow. You had me very worried last night.” Fluttershy ended her sentence quietly, not enjoying the thought of an injured Rainbow Dash.

The thoughts of the injured pegasus began to wander, but soon abruptly blurting out, “You said something about food, Fluttershy?”

“Oh! Yes, I’d almost forgotten! Sit down at the table over there, I’ll serve you breakfast in just a moment.” Fluttershy quickly moved to the stove, scrambled eggs still sizzling in the pan. Fluttershy picked up the pan with her teeth, and quickly brought it to Rainbow. The large cooking instrument jammed between Fluttershy's teeth didn't help much, but Fluttershy mumbled out a, “Helph yourseph, Rainbow.”

Rainbow’s eyes lit up, “Wow! Thanks Fluttershy! This looks great!” Not keeping her stomach waiting a second longer, Dash dug in. Fluttershy looked away briefly, blushing a bit from Dash’s praise. Composing herself a bit, Fluttershy sat down , and allowed herself the eggs that were spared from the hunger of Rainbow Dash. After the pair of pegasai had finished breakfast, it was Rainbow who was the first to speak. “So… uh… what exactly happened to me anyway? Why am I here and not at a Hospital?”

“Well… I was out during the storm to get my birds out of their tree, when lightning struck. I… w-well, got scared.” Fluttershy found herself blushing after saying her last piece, Rainbow would never be scared of a little lightning. “After that, I heard another big crash, but there was no lightning. You had crashed into the tree. I was so worried; I flew up immediately to save you and my birds. It took a lot of effort, but I carried you back to my cottage. There was no way I’d make it to the hospital in that storm. You were unconscious, and I did my best. You fell backwards into the tree, so it was mostly your head and wings taking the impact.” Fluttershy looked across at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus she saw reminded her of Rainbow Dash before the Best Young Fliers competition, a Rainbow Dash filled with fear.

`Quickly moving to reassure her, Fluttershy continued, "You weren't hurt too badly. You didn't get a concussion, somehow. However... your wings were hurt a bit more than your head. I cleaned them up best I could, but you're missing quite a few feathers. A-and... um... your wings are very brusied. You won't be able to fly for a little while." Fluttershy saw the expression of her friend sink even further. "B-but don't worry Rainbow! You'll be fine in a few weeks, as long as you're careful."

Rainbow was surprised, to say the least. The biggest scaredy-pony Rainbow knew had risked her life to save her. The injured pegasus could feel her face heating up, but she wasn’t sure why. She was extremely grateful to Fluttershy, despite how scared her wounds made her.

“Wow… Thanks Fluttershy… If you hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would have happened to me. You saved my life.” Rainbow could feel her face getting hotter still. She turned back to the plate that had previously housed her breakfast, hoping there was some food she could look at, rather than blushing at her friend across the table. It was to no avail, of course. Not a morsel had escaped the confines of Rainbow’s belly.

Now it was Fluttershy’s turn to blush. “O-oh, I don’t know about that, Rainbow. I’m sure the fastest flier in Equestria could have come up with something.” As she spoke, Fluttershy’s voice filled with praise for the pegasus across her.

“I… well, maybe. But really, thank you Fluttershy. But I should probably get going, I need to head ho—Oh. Right.” Rainbow remembered the current state of her wings. Her pride hurt more than anything at that time, but she couldn’t be flying today. She wouldn't be able to fly for weeks. That much time without her sky would be an eternity.

“Oh! I had forgotten… You can’t get home if you can’t fly. We should get you down to the hospital to make sure it’s not serious!” the timid pony taking her turn to panic.

“Fluttershy... it’s fine. Like you said, it's not too serious. I don’t need to go to the hospital. But I guess I need to find somewhere to stay.” Even wounded as her pride was, it still wouldn't let Rainbow go to the hospital for something as silly as a crash.

Fluttershy eagerly jumped at the opportunity, “If you need somewhere to stay, why not here? It’ll be nice to have the company of somepony else!” Fluttershy was grinning at the opportunity, and doing a poor job at hiding it.

“Well… if it’s not too much troub---“

The yellow pony interrupted Rainbow, her reserved nature temporarily evaporating, “It’s no trouble at all! I’d love to have you here! Besides, it’d be easiest for you to not travel anywhere else!” Rainbow was a bit taken aback by Fluttershy’s eagerness. The Fluttershy she knew was, well… shy. All the same, Rainbow was glad to not have to go anywhere else to stay. One pony knowing Rainbow had goofed up and hurt herself was enough.

“Alright Fluttershy, I’ll stay with you. I should probably get some more rest… I’d like to have these injuries gone as soon as possible.”

“Good idea, Rainbow. I’ve got to go run into town for a few errands. I’m running a bit low on food for my animals. You just say here and rest up, I’ll be back in no time at all.” The pegasai said their goodbyes, and a faint click followed Fluttershy out the door. The cyan pegasus looked at the door for a few moments, half expecting her introverted friend to pop back in, as she often did. Silence filling the room, Rainbow paced back to the steps, to the now familiar bed. Rainbow slowly found her thoughts drifting to a certain yellow pegasus.

“I wonder why Fluttershy was so eager to have me stay with her... I suppose it’s just how long we’ve known each other.” Rainbow's thoughts danced around her head, this time leading her to Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. The pegasus sighed, “Man, this stinks. Being injured just gives me a bunch of time to think.” As she followed her own train of thought, it eventually came to Fluttershy once again. Images of defending her first friend from bullies flooded back to her for several moments. Frustrated with her scattered mind, Rainbow placed her head on the pillow, and decided to give in for a nap.

~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy heard the door click, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. A smile broke on Fluttershy's face, and she settled into a gleeful, bouncing trot. Humming softly to herself, Fluttershy slipped into a mood of optimism.

“Oh, I should pick up a few things for Rainbow! We’ll be keeping each other company for quite a while, so I should at least plan out some fun things to keep her occupied!” The bashful pegasus held a great deal of admiration for her bold, headstrong house guest. The happier memories of Junior Speedsters Flight Camp flooded her mind, where she first encountered Rainbow Dash.

End of Chapter 1