The air crackled around the diving pegasus. Her wings were pumping as lactic acids burned in her muscles, threatening to seize them. Her forelegs were stretched in front of her to form an aerodynamic point in the air as she raced towards the ground. A white cone of pure energy was fizzing and crackling around her as little sparks shot out and soared independently through the air. The cone started flashing as the membrane wore thin and the light form started to stretch into an elongated form. The skin started flashing different colors of the rainbow and soon the prismatic mane and tail were flowing as one with the light. The ground approached at alarming speed and at the last possible moment she shot up, bouncing on the shield of energy.
That was all it took.
The rainbow cone didn't leave, she hadn't enough force. Her trajectory sent her flying high into the sky, pushing through clouds and scattering colored drops of clear liquid that reflected the rainbow's light. Another cloud and then it flung her backwards, sending her sailing through the air. The rainbow membrane snapped back with such a force that the burning white hot blast of energy struck her like lightning. Blinded by the pain of the moment, the cyan pegasus started falling, her left wing unable to flap. The details of the ground rushed forwards and she closed her eyes, waiting for the ground to meet her.
~~~
Rainbow Dash woke up with a yelp. Her rose eyes swivelled around and she realized she was in her bed, in her house. Her heart was racing, she felt like she really had been falling and she let her heart settle before she caught her breath, realizing she had been holding it. She looked behind her and saw the horrible reminder of that day, the day when her life changed for better or for worse.
Her right wing was flared proudly, the soft blue feathers slightly moist with a cold sweat. It was muscular and toned from years worth of flight practice and Sonic Rainbooms. She sighed wistfully when her eyes locked with the left one. The left wing had been burned clean off by that rainbow skin, leaving a scarred stump where the proud appendage had once rested. The charred deformation on her back was the cruel reminder she would never fly again, that her cutie mark was useless. Never again would she soar in the skies, showing off her skills and be the best young flyer in all of Equestria. She would never join the Wonderbolts or realize her dreams. The dreams she had worked so hard for, the ones she had dedicated her life to.
All that hard work, all that dedication, the sweat and the tears and the injuries were a dull ache in her heart. The trophies that had once sent a spark of pride through her now filled her with sorrow as they sat, dull and lifeless and collecting dust. The ribbons she had won were now just pieces of fabric that were dead to her, never to send that rejuvenating tingle through her lithe body again.
Now she got up and looked out the window, looking at the endless stretch of blue sky. Her rose irises dilated and tears pooled around her eyelashes. She saw the pegasi moving the puffy white clouds around and soaring through the skies, free as birds and performing tricks. These ponies had once been shoved to the side as she performed her screaming feats, but now they could do whatever the hell they pleased without fear of being shown up by Rainbow Dash.
Now the toned mare stood and her body quivered in rage. She turned around, unable to bear looking at the sky. She shut her eyes tight and tensed her muscles as the memories came back to her head, memories she cursed and memories that burned with a vengeance in her heart and mind, flickering about like cruel snakes.
Something stopped her before she hit the ground. Rainbow Dash cracked one eye open and took in her surroundings, which were slightly blurry from the tears of agony. Warmth was spreading across one side of her body and she turned her head, pops and cracks sounded and she took in the unicorn mare who had caught her. The ivory coat and her shock of electric and deep blue mane were the only thing she could make out sides the red irises.
"V-Vinyl?"
And then the world went dark.
Rainbow Dash locked her jaw together. The fury in her mind was frothing and she leaned on her forelegs harder. Her rear lifted, her back legs tucked in and she unleashed a mighty buck. The fragile glass of the window had a few remaining moments of being intact before the force of a speeding train hit it, shattering it to pieces. The fragments whisked across the crippled pegasus, leaving shallow cuts on her. Some rather sharp shards tore painfully across her haunches and she stormed away from the window, feeling the familiar feeling of warmth drip onto her inner thighs.
She heard her door open and she turned away, sitting down on her rump. The sound of glass cracking and splintering under hooves came to her ears as the unicorn sat down beside her. A hoof slung across her shoulder in comfort and she turned her head away, calming slightly.
"You should've let me die."
"I would never let anypony die."
Rainbow sighed and the tears started falling. She looked back at her stump for a wing and they fell harder, faster. She looked back at the mare she shared houses with. "Why did this have to happen?" She asked, her voice was nasal with dry mucus and thick with suffering. "How can I ever realize my dreams now?" She looked back at the ground and watched the millions of mini reflection in the glass, each piece was broken with her broken form in it, tears splashing and waving on the mirrored remains.
Vinyl Scratch let her friend cry. Tears were falling from her fire ruby eyes too as they trickled lazily around her alabaster cheeks and she wrapped her other foreleg around her friend. "Rainbow Dash you are an amazing mare and I know that you will make this work. You've just gotta pull through it." She soothed, rubbing one hoof down the distressed mare's back. The memories penetrated her mind's barrier and she hugged the pegasus tighter. "It's gonna be alright."
Vinyl heard the explosion and she looked up. The ghostly rainbow cone was soaring above her head and to her amazement, it flinched back, straightened out and then went shooting in the opposite way. Amazement turned to horror when a familiar cyan pegasus with a prismatic mane came into her sight and the hued arrow shot to her side. The mare was sent spinning and for a brief moment the DJ clung to the hope that the energy had missed her, but one look at a black spot on the mare's side and the smoke trail was all she needed to know. Her hooves hit the ground harder than before and she pounded in the direction of the shooting form, her horn lighting up.
Dust, grass and hunks of dirt were sent flying as Vinyl Scratch skidded to a halt, rubbing her hooves raw. The fallen pegasus was heading right for her like a speeding bullet. Her horn had an electric blue aura fizzing and sparking around it and she felt the impact before she saw it as her eyes screwed shut and her jaw clenched. Her horn was blasting with excruciating pain as she felt the weight collide with her magical cloud. She was being pushed back, her hooves carving ruts in the dirt. She panted with the effort of holding the weight, feeling her magic fade.
The cloud faltered and shot back into Vinyl's horn, blasting her with unbearable pain. Unable to contain it, she let out a scream of pure agony before Rainbow Dash collided with her and she fell onto her back. Her horn was sparking and fizzing. She looked at the mare on top of her and cried out for help. Her horn sparked and then she flopped back, her eyes closing from exhaustion and pain.
Vinyl lifted a hoof to her horn, feeling the cracks along the smooth bone surface. She put her hoof back down and nuzzled her friend in a soothing way. "I promise I'll help you through it Rainbow Dash. I'll always be here for you." She said, giving a genuine smile to the cyan mare.
Rainbow Dash sighed and looked at the ground. "It's been three months since that day Vinyl. I haven't seen any of my friends since, nothing's ever going to be the same and nothing will ever get better. I have no idea where I'm going to go with my life anymore. There's no point!" Her voice cut off with a howl and she reared up, bringing her front hooves down on the floor. She shattered giant chunks of glass and left imprints on the wooden floor with cracks trailing from them.
The beeping of the heart monitor roused the pegasus. Her rose eyes opened and dilated as she took in her surroundings.
A sterile white room greeted her. She was lying in a hard bed with a smothering blanket on her. The thick material pressed her down and in her weak state she couldn't find the strength to buck it off. She turned her head and looked at the heart monitor with in fascination, the green line had jagged spikes and each one sent another shrill beep echoing in her ears.
The mare felt lighter than she had before. Her left side felt elevated and indeed her right side felt much heavier. She looked to see what was wrong but where the strange sensation was there was only the thick murky green of the blanket. She struggled and managed to shift the suffocating material and it fell to the floor with a thump. She looked over at her left side. Her uneasiness spiked and she turned, eyes widening and pupils shrinking as emotions claimed her troubled mind as she slowly looked to the spot.
Rainbow Dash saw it.
Rainbow Dash screamed.
Rainbow turned around and ran out of the room, tears pouring down her face. Her haunches stung and her single wing beat furiously. She crashed through the door and it swung before colliding painfully into her flank, but she ignored it. She ran until she was at the Ponyville Dam and looked at the frothing water below her. Her tears fell and were lost in the torrent and only then did she realize that the sun had been masked by clouds and the wind was gushing. There would be no rain, for the feathers on her wing weren't lifting like an angry mammal bristling its fur.
The wind storm flew around Dash and she saw her multicolored mane flitting about in front of her face, the green, blue and purple locks ragged at the tips as it was whipped around and tossed in the shrieking gale. She looked up at Ponyville, the wind was whistling through the trees and it shot clouds down to earth, scattering a pale fog throughout the landscape. It wreathed around the lone mare and her tears left small holes in the mist as she stood at the edge of the dam, looking out at the horizon.
The pegasus struggled against the grip of the doctors and nurses trying to hold her down. She bucked and writhed as fear and anger coursed through her veins and pumped adrenaline into her system. Her heart raced and the blood going through her circulatory system went faster than ever before as she fought to free herself. "Where is it? Where's my bucking wing!?" She hollered, tears of fear rolling down her face as she punched a nurse clean in the jaw.
Doctor Stable looked at her, sadness in his eyes. "Your wing is gone Rainbow Dash. When that pure amount of energy hit you it obliterated where it hit and that spot was your left wing. By the time you were brought here your wing had disintegrated." He said calmly, turning his head away as he prepared for the rage.
The silence that ensued was almost suffocating. The sounds of the bed creaking died and he chanced a glance at the pegasus. His heart twisted when he saw the look on her face.
The tears were thick and flowing. They left damp spots on the bed below the pillow. Her pupils were small magenta pinpricks in her glassy eyes and her face had the most heart breaking expression of pain, horror and defeat in it. Her jaw hung open and the last few moments of silence were abruptly ended by a terrible shriek.
Rainbow Dash started fighting again. Her hooves struck twice as fast, her blows were twice as hard and her yelling twice as loud. She eventually felt a sharp pain in her right foreleg as a needle was inserted into her flesh. The medicine shot around with her blood and she slumped, losing consciousness.
Vinyl Scratch was running through the wind storm, trying to find her friend. "Rainbow Dash!" She cried. Her red irises searched desperately for the prismatic mane, the cyan coat or the one winged pegasus. There was nothing to be found of the mare and she stumbled, falling into the mud. "Rainbow!" She wailed. She gathered her hooves beanth her and pushed off in a leap, continuing her search.
"Rainbow Dash hold on!"
The ivory unicorn was racing through the Everfree Forest, the injured pegasus on her back. Black flakes were being whipped by the tail wind into her face and past her, lost in the trees. She was at a full sprint.
"Hold on!"
Vinyl turned a corner and saw the Ponville dam. Her hooves skidded on the ground and she pelted towards it, seeing a smudge of cyan with pastel around it. As she got closer to the smudge details showed up, a faint white mark with a jagged rainbow, a single wing and magenta eyes. "Rainbow!" She cried, relief shone for just a few moments in her eyes.
The cyan head turned to her, eyes full of unbelievable pain. The form was right on the edge of the dam and as Vinyl pelted forward, the head turned back and the mare turned downwards. Vinyl came to a screeching halt right next to the vanishing tail.
Rainbow Dash fell.
Vinyl's hoof struck a rock and twisted painfully. She fell with a cry and felt the weight on her back roll off. She struggled to her hooves, holding a front one off the ground and blood started seeping through her alabaster fur. She limped over to Rainbow Dash and tried to get her onto her back, but she couldn't. Her head was pounding, her horn was burning and now her leg was throbbing and swelling at the hoof.
"Somepony help!" She cried.
Nothing answered her.
Vinyl limped back to Rainbow Dash and firmly planted herself on the ground. Her front leg buckled slightly and shook violently, but she ignored it. She nudged her head under Rainbow and rolled her onto her back before setting off, grim determination in her eyes.
"Don't worry Rainbow. A sprained ankle isn't gonna stop me from saving you."
Rainbow Dash fell through the sky, her wing clamped by her side. The deformity on her side jutted out, making a white cone around it as she went against the wind.
The water neared her and she closed her eyes.
"My name is Rainbow Dash."
The frothing white loomed in waves, catching her and sweeping her to the side.
"I lost my left wing three months ago."
She lifted her head and looked at Ponyville one last time.
"My life wasn't worth living anymore."
The water struck her and her head snapped back with the force. There was a muffled crack! and then Rainbow sank, never to wake again.
~~~
Vinyl pelted down and leaped into the water. She swam strongly against the waves and found her friend sinking. She grabbed her around the middle and kicked strongly, fighting the looming darkness at the bottom of the water. It curled around her hindlegs like dark tendrils, reaching hungrily for her to drag her down into nothingness.
The DJ pulled her friend out and placed her on the bank. She clambered out and shook her fur, trying to dry herself. She staggered over to the crippled pegasus and very nearly collapsed as the tears started mixing with her drenched face.
Rainbow Dash's head lolled at an angle that nopony could ever do. Her neck was broken and she could see the ragged spikes of the broken bone tearing through the flesh.
Vinyl lost her control and started crying. She crumpled to the ground and nuzzled the cold corpse. begging for her friend to wake up. "Please Rainbow please wake up! Don't do this to me!" She begged. Memories of the first time she ever met her friend were breaking through her mind's barrier, chipping at it like a pickaxe.
Vinyl played her small DJ set. The filly was excited, her mother had introduced her to her friend and now she was going to meet her mom's friend's daughter. Something caught her eye, a rainbow was approaching her. It was high in the sky and she started pumping the music, banging her head to the beat.
The mare sat up and cried as she waited for her friend to get up. "Come on Dash, we can go back home. We can remember the day I first met you and we can forget all this ever happened. You've just gotta wake up." She said, trying to force a smile on her face.
The rainbow suddenly shot from the sky and started heading straight for Vinyl. The young filly screamed and backed away as fast as she could, but the small form collided with her. She was sent flying backwards and opened her eyes to see a small cyan filly sitting on her chest. "Hi!" The rainbow maned pegasus greeted, magenta irises twinkling. "Wow this stuff is so cool! My name's Rainbow Dash, what's yours?" She asked, looking at her DJ set.
Vinyl scooped up the body in her forelegs and rocked back and forth, hugging it and crying her eyes out as the wind drove around her. "Remember that Rainbow? You crashed into me and saw all my stuff? Just wake up and we'll relive it buddy."
Vinyl smiled and put her purple glasses on. "My name's Vinyl Scratch. Nice to meet you Rainbow Dash."
The alabaster unicorn flung her head up. Her eyes shut tight, her mouth opened wide and the tears rolled down her face. Lightning flashed, the thunder exploded across Ponyville and the clouds let loose their loads. The rain poured down and soaked the unicorn, but her scream could still be heard. The scream ripped up through her belly and burned through her lungs, it made her mouth so wide it felt like her skin was tearing. It was a mournful, agony filled note that sent the mare into another breakdown. It echoed around her like mocking jays and mocked her as she crumpled to the ground, no will to get out of the driving rain. The howl hit her ears again and she cried out with a more powerful burst of sound, wanting her friend to wake up,
"RAINBOW!"
Vinyl Scratch cried out as she neared her crippled friend. "Rainbow please!" She begged. She saw the horrible anguish and misery in Dash's eyes and she put on a burst of speed. Her eyes widened in horror and she saw Rainbow Dash tip downwards, about to fall. She reached the edge just as the cyan mare fell and her body froze in terror at the falling pegasus.
Rainbow Dash felt the water near and lifted her head, ready for the impact. Tears flew upwards, defying gravity as she cried. She stole a glance down at the rapidly approaching torrent of death and darkness before closing her eyes and giving a sigh. "Goodbye..." She whispered and waited for her neck to snap when the water hit.
It never came.
Vinyl's horn was glowing brightly with her magical aura. She was crying out in agony, but her magic had caught the fallen legend and was slowly lifting her back up. Vinyl was just about to lift her above the edge of the dam, but there was a loud crack and Rainbow fell, the but a quick alabaster hoof snagged her front leg. Rainbow was pulled onto the dam and she collapsed there, saying nothing.
Vinyl was gasping for breath, tears of pain going down her face. Her horn had a huge crack down the middle, running blood down her face. The ivory DJ turned to look at Rainbow Dash, red eyes full of pain. "I would never let you die..." She cried before flinging herself at the one winged pegasus, crying her eyes out and getting her blood all over the blue coat.
Rainbow slung her hooves around her friend's shoulders, adding her own tears to the mix of red and clear. "I never visited my friends... I isolated myself so that I wouldn't face the shame. I betrayed my title of the Element of Loyalty and I abandoned my friends. I only spoke to you after that accident... I couldn't bear the thought of losing my wing." She sobbed, hanging her head in shame. "I hate it when ponies try to talk to me, unless it's you. I lost my flight and they try to comfort me. They have no idea what it's like!" She wailed, twin streams going down her face.
Vinyl pushed her friend to where she could look into her eyes. Magenta met red as Vinyl cried. "I never told you this... But when I caught you it broke my horn. I was never supposed use magic again and if I did, it would just hurt me more. So I gave it up. But when you fell, I couldn't just let you commit suicide. You're my best friend!" She choked, looking down and then looking back up at Rainbow with pain in her eyes. "I couldn't stand to see you in so much pain, so I never but any more burden on you. But I need you to see that right now, you're not alone." She begged, her eyes full of a silent plea.
Dash cried harder. "You should've just let me die Vinyl. You gave up magic just for me! I'm useless without my left wing and now I've injured you. Just throw me off the dam and let me die!" She whispered, ending it in a shriek. She put her hooves to her face and cried, wrenching free from her friend's grasp to let her tears run dry. She felt the hooves clasp her again and she turned to give a stinging retort, but was silenced.
Vinyl leaned in and pressed her lips against Rainbow's, pulling her in close with a hug. Eyelashes brushed again her face and she breathed in the scent of rain.
Rainbow's eyes flew wide but then fluttered close as she was pulled closer and soon they were embraced by hooves and mouth. She slowly opened her mouth and felt Vinyl's do the same as their tongues poked into each other's mouths, exploring. She shuddered in pleasure and pulled the mare closer, wrapping her one wing around half of the beautiful unicorn, wrapping her in wet warmth.
The two eventually pulled away, looking at each other with new eyes. Vinyl was struck by an idea and smiled. "I could teach you how to dj if you want. You could join me, we could call you DJ RAINB0W. DJ RAINB0W and DJ P0N-3." She suggested.
Rainbow Dash, for the first time in three months, smiled. "Anything you want marefriend." She whispered, pulling her into another embrace.
~~~
A/N: Yes I realize Vinyl could've caught Rainbow in the original story. The reason I put her catching here was because in the original I realized that she would've done it, so in this one I changed it around so that she didn't freeze in terror. I left too many questions unanswered. Why did Rainbow leave her friends? Answered here. I also added a pinch of romance to it, so for all you VinylxRainbow shippers, here ya go.
