Twilight hummed to herself, happily bouncing her flank in a little dance as she levitated one book after another into its proper place on the library shelves. It was a glorious morning in Ponyville filled with life and light and promise. Of course this meant Twilight was taking full advantage of the beautiful day by shutting herself in the library and spending the morning shelving. But at least the windows were open to let in the invigorating fresh air and warm sunlight.
It was through one of the higher windows that her visitor arrived that day. A speeding ball of rainbow-tinted pony blasted through the open window and bounced around the library like a pinball before landing in a jumble of books that she had managed to unseat. “Heh. Good morning, Twilight,” the pegasus smiled up at her apologetically.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight hurried over to her. “Are you alright? That was a pretty bad crash even for you!”
“Nah, I'm fine. I'm used to taking spills. Comes with the territory.” Dash rose to her hooves and immediately doubled over, clutching her stomach in pain. “Gah! Celestia dammit, not now!”
“I knew it,” Twilight said, concern seeping into her voice. “You are hurt. Let's get you to the hospital so they can check you out.”
“It's alright, Twilight,” Dash insisted. “That's nothing. It's been doing that for a few weeks now.”
Twilight was aghast. “You've been having stomach pains for weeks and you never let anypony know? What are you thinking?!”
“It's nothing, I swear! They always go away after a few seconds. See? It's almost gone now. I can barely feel it anymore. I'm fine... although they have been getting worse lately.”
Twilight scrutinized her friend's face. “Dash, there's something you're not telling me. Why did you come over today?”
“I'm sure it's nothing,” Dash said hurriedly, clearly trying to hide her own concerns and failing miserably. “I mean it never lasts long. And it doesn't really hurt all that bad.” Another crippling stab of pain hit her, causing her to collapse onto the library floor. “Okay fine!” she shouted through gritted teeth. “It's bad! I admit it! It hurts like Tartarus!”
Twilight helped Dash to her hooves again and supported her while the pain subsided. “That's not all,” Dash admitted solemnly. “This morning I... I coughed up blood.”
Dash didn't have any time to prepare. Her only warning was a panicked gasp before her vision went white and she and Twilight were suddenly standing outside Ponyville hospital. Dash stumbled a little, her vision was sour and she couldn't get the taste of purple out of her mouth. She shook her head, trying to get all of her senses back in line. “What was that all about?!”
“Sorry, Dash,” Twilight said hurriedly. “But if you're coughing up blood and having abdominal pains we need to get you checked out. I had to get you to the hospital immediately. Let's get you checked in.”
Rainbow Dash recoiled at the suggestion. “No! Not the hospital! I hate that place. It's so sterile and clean. There's no life to it. I can't stand being trapped in there. It smells like medicine and boredom. Please don't make me go in there. Just take me back to the library and you can look me over. I know you've read like a ton of medical books. You can patch me up.”
“I'm sorry Dash, but I don't have the knowledge or the tools I'd need for that. We need a doctor and that means we've got to get you admitted.”
Dash sighed, a miserable look on her face. “Yeah, I thought you'd say that... Alright. I'll go.”
Rainbow Dash laid in her bed, surrounded by her friends. All the ponies in the room seeing her weak and helpless didn't set well with her. If she was going to have a crowd of ponies staring at her, she wanted to be doing something awesome for them to see. Not sitting in a bed convulsing in pain and spitting up blood. Maybe if she said “Ta-da!” with a big flourish next time she almost hacked up a lung it would seem more impressive.
When the nurse came in, the room went silent. If anything, the quiet atmosphere of anticipation was even worse than the staring. They all looked intently at the nurse, waiting for her prognosis.
Nurse Redheart pushed her way through the ponies crowded into the small room and spoke directly to Dash, looking over the clipboard in her hooves as she did so. “Rainbow Dash, I have your test results back. Should I escort your friends out so we can go over them in private?”
Dash shook her head. “No, that's alright. Whatever it is, my friends deserve to hear it. And I think I need them with me right now.”
Redheart nodded and took a deep breath. “I'm afraid the results don't look good. You have an aggressive viral infection that is causing the soft tissue in your body to degrade. Your stomach and lungs are in advanced stages of decay and soon your heart will be affected as well. I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but it's too advanced. If you had come to us sooner we may have been able to do more but at this point... I'm afraid it's terminal.”
Rainbow Dash thought she suddenly went deaf. The silence in the room was sudden and absolute. For a moment she could swear the nurse's last word echoed in the confined space a few times.
Twilight was the one who broke the spell of silence that single word had cast. “Terminal? You mean it's too late? She's going to...”
Redheart nodded solemnly. “I'm afraid so. The degradation has been hastened by her active lifestyle. As long as she takes it easy and doesn't strain herself I'd estimate she has a month. Six weeks on the outside. If she leaves and continues exerting herself, it's possible she won't survive the week.”
“W-What's that mean, nurse?” Dash asked shakily. “I've gotta stay cooped up in here until I finally kick? Oh Celestia... I'm going to die...”
“We can make you as comfortable as possible. Unfortunately that's all we're going to be able to do. I wish there was some way we could stop it but...”
“Yeah. I get it.” Dash shuddered. “I guess I just never thought it would be disease that got me. I mean I knew I was going to die eventually in that back-of-your-head kinda way but it just seemed so far off. And I thought it would be some stupid stunt that went wrong. This isn't fair. I never even got the chance to beat it. It just snuck up on me.”
Fluttershy approached the bed, tears streaming down her face. She hugged her friend's neck. “I'm so sorry, Dash. I wish there was something we could do. I'm not even sure what to say... I'm so sorry.”
There was a polite rapping at the door. Applejack, who was nearest the door, opened it a crack to peek outside. Then once she had determined the identity of their unexpected guest she opened the door fully to allow a distinctive striped mare into the room.
Zecora walked in and nodded in greeting to those present. “I have heard, my friends, of Rainbow Dash's plight. Fear not. We may still set this right. The disease that besets her is vicious, this is true. But there may be hope in a very special brew.”
The ponies in the room immediately latched on to this new ray of hope, talking excitedly and asking a flurry of questions. Zecora raised a hoof and slowly the room returned to silence to allow her to continue. “Do not yet get too excited. There is one thing we'll need to see this righted. The conjure I speak of is a powerful mix and for Dash I think it will prove just the fix, but it requires an ingredient not sold in town. If I am to save her I need cockatrice down. But I will need to place an order for what is needed. My own reserve is woefully depleted.” Zecora's head drooped slightly as she admitted to not having what she needed. “But if you five brave ponies were to go find a cockatrice in Everfree you could--”
“NO!” Rainbow Dash shouted from her bed, surprising everypony in the room including herself with her forceful objection. She carried on regardless. “I absolutely forbid it! There is no way I'm going to allow any of you to put yourselves in danger on my account. I'm not going to my grave knowing that there are five statues that used to be my friends standing in Everfree somewhere. Those things are dangerous and I'm not letting you do it.”
“Rainbow Dash, calm down,” Redheart said, speaking in that calming yet stern voice that only nurses seem to be able to achieve. “If you keep this up you're going to make your condition even worse. I'll be forced to sedate you.”
“I don't care!” came the predictable reply. “Zecora's talking about my friends traipsing off into the forest and facing down a dangerous creature just to get some stupid feathers!”
This time Twilight spoke up, trying to emulate the tone Redheart had so perfectly mastered. “Nopony has decided on anything, Dash. It's just an option. There's no hurry. You've got a month for us to get the potion. We don't have to rush into anything. Let's just take some time to think this over and I'm confident we can find a solution that doesn't put anypony in danger.”
Zecora nodded. “This is true. There is much time. I think this plan sounds sublime.”
“Good,” Redheart said. “Because visiting hours are up and my patient needs her rest. Come on, everypony. If you don't have a nursing degree or a terminal illness, it's time for you to go.”
Rainbow Dash got chills as her friends approached her bed one by one and said goodbye. It seemed so final. Like this was her funeral and they were all saying their final farewells. Each pony who came over to her and said goodbye drove the knife a little deeper into her heart. But she put on a brave face and chuckled to hide the agony and fear that was filling her heart. By the time Fluttershy got to her and threw her front hooves around Dash's neck, openly weeping, the pressure was too much and her facade shattered. Rainbow Dash embraced the other pegasi, her own tears dripping onto Fluttershy's mane as she pressed her head to Dash's chest, listening to her heart beating. Dash lost track of how long they sat there crying in each other's arms. She only knew that it was all that mattered anymore. Having her friends close by.
They were snapped back to reality by Redheart clearing her throat. “Sorry to interrupt but visiting hours are over and I get the impression if I hadn't you two would have been like that for the entire month.”
Fluttershy nodded and parted from her friend, allowing Zecora, the last pony in the room who had not bid her farewell, to do so. Then her guests were ushered out the door by the nurse. Rainbow Dash watched them leave in single file, biting her lip to keep from crying again. As Fluttershy was leaving the room, Dash couldn't keep quiet anymore.
“Nurse Redheart?” Dash asked. “I need to talk to Fluttershy privately. Could she stay for just a little longer please?”
Redheart looked up at the clock, then to Dash, and finally at Fluttershy who had turned to look at Dash when she heard the request. “Well...” Redheart pondered for a moment. “It's against hospital policy but this is a small town and I know you both pretty well... I don't suppose it would cause any harm really. But just ten minutes. Not a moment more. Just don't do anything strenuous. Dash needs her rest.”
Fluttershy agreed to the stipulations and pulled up a seat next to the hospital bed. “Are you okay, Rainbow Dash? What did you want to talk to me about?”
Dash tried to swallow the lump in her throat to allow her to speak but it remained stubbornly lodged in place. She tried to speak around it and her voice cracked horribly yet she pushed on in spite of it. This needed to be said. “Fluttershy... I've been keeping a secret from you. I need to tell you before I'm gone.”
“Oh don't talk like that, Dash. You'll be fine. We're going to get together tomorrow and work out exactly how we can get you some cockatrice down. Then Zecora can mix the potion and—”
“Don't patronize me, Fluttershy. I'm a big filly. Cockatrice down is insanely expensive for a reason. It's one of the rarest alchemical ingredients in Equestria. I know the deck is stacked against me. I just have something to get off my chest first. Could we just stop pretending for a minute?”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to object but caught herself. Then she nodded sadly. “It doesn't look good, Rainbow Dash. You're right, it is expensive. I think we could afford it if we pooled our money but it would have to be shipped in. It could take a while. We'd have to have it imported most likely... I'm not sure it would get here in time. I'm sorry, Dash. We're going to do everything we can to save you without... well doing that. But I don't know what we're going to do if you won't let us—”
“It's out of the question!” Rainbow Dash interrupted her for the second time in as many minutes. “I'm not about to let you guys get petrified chasing down feathers! I'm already a goner. How is putting you guys in danger supposed to make that better?! No. If it puts any of you in the line of fire I'd rather be six feet under. Especially if it puts you in danger...” Rainbow Dash trailed off, trying to work up the courage to get back to the point she wanted to make. “Anyway. Back to that secret of mine... It's probably pretty obvious but... Well I'm in love with you.”
For her part, Fluttershy gasped as though Dash had just told her she buried a million bits in Fluttershy's back yard. “Y—you're in love with me? Dash I—”
“You don't have to say anything, Shy. I know you're not into mares. That's cool. I see how you look at Big Mac. I just had to let you know before I... Yeah...”
The tears building in Fluttershy's eyes were threatening to burst free at any moment. “How long? I mean I never even thought that you felt that way about me.”
Rainbow Dash waved her hoof dismissively. “Oh I don't know. It was a while back. Who even remembers? It doesn't matter, right?”
Fluttershy looked into Dash's eyes with a desperate intensity. “It matters to me, Dash. You're important to me. Your feelings are important. Please tell me.”
Rainbow Dash felt that sharp stab of remorse in her heart again. “Ever since you stood up to that dragon. That's when I started seeing you differently. That's when... I started falling in love with you.”
“Oh my... That was so long ago... You've been feeling like this ever since then?” Fluttershy looked guiltily down at her own hooves. “I feel so horrible for not noticing sooner.”
A sky-blue hoof shot out and caressed Fluttershy's cheek. It took Dash a moment to realized that she had moved on instinct to comfort the pony she loved. “Hey, none of that alright? You didn't do anything. It's my own fault for being too scared to tell you. You don't have to do anything. I just wanted you to know. I know you don't love me like that and that's fi—”
“Oh no! I do love you, Dash!” Fluttershy said hurriedly.
Dash gave her a sceptical look. “Really?”
Fluttershy nodded emphatically. “Yes - um - I'm definitely in love with you now Rainbow Dash. 'Cause you're - um - brave and strong and you fly really good so - um - yeah... And I think we should... uh... make out? That would be really fun because I want to do that. Because - um - I really find you sexually attractive.” The shy pegasus extended her wings slowly, trying to put on a show of being aroused. Then she turned back to Dash, smiling widely. “See? I am such a fillyfooler for you, Dash. I would just love to - uh - fool fillies with you... If you wouldn’t mind, that is...”
Again Dash was less than convinced. “I thought you liked stallions. Like Big Mac.”
Fluttershy’s face fell. “Well, I did - but - um - your - uh - sexiness changed my mind. I am totally on board with it now because of your - um - awesome sexiness and raw allure. You totally made me like mares now, I promise.”
“Look Fluttershy,” Dash said with a small smile, placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “I appreciate it, but--”
Fluttershy stomped in frustration. “I'm serious! I really do want to bang you! If you won't believe me I'll just have to...” She lunged at the bed, planting a kiss on her friend's lips which she held for several awkward seconds.
Rainbow Dash gently pushed Fluttershy back into her seat. “Hey, Flutters. I know what you're trying to do and I wanna thank you. Really. It means alot to me that you'd try. But you don't have to. I came to terms with the fact that you weren't interested a long time ago. You really don't have to make yourself uncomfortable just to make me happy. I'm happy just because you're my friend, alright?”
The yellow pony sniffed, a few tears running down her cheeks. “I really am sorry, Dash. I want to feel like that for you. I really do. I just... don't.”
“I know Shy,” Rainbow Dash said softly, pulling the crying mare into an embrace that she eagerly returned. “Don't sweat it. Not like I'll be around long enough to take you on a date anyway, right? We're friends and that's more than enough for me. Just do me a favor. Go live your life. Go be happy with Big Mac or whoever else catches your eye, alright?”
The daredevil felt her friend nod. They stayed like that for a while. Neither one of them was sure how long.
After a while, they broke their embrace and Fluttershy sat back in her chair.
“I’m scared, Shy,” Dash admitted. “I’m terrified of this thing. I don’t want to go and I’m terrified.”
“Everypony gets scared,” whispered Fluttershy. “I’m afraid of getting old. I know that seems silly but the idea of getting old and weak just... It’s my greatest fear.”
Dash smiled. “Yeah. I guess that’s something I’m not going to have to worry about. I don’t have to get old and feel my wings start to give out and all that. Guess that’s kinda a silver lining.”
They both turned as they heard somepony clearing their throat. Nurse Redheart was at the door, speaking softly to preserve the magic of the moment she was witnessing. “Alright, Fluttershy. I hate to break this up but it's been ten minutes. It's time for you to head home.”
They reluctantly said their goodbyes and Fluttershy left the hospital room, glancing back over her shoulder just before she went through the door. “You'll be alright Dash,” she said quietly, voice choked with the effort of restraining more tears. “You'll see. It's all going to work out just fine.” With that and a sad little smile, she was gone.
Rainbow Dash had just finished breakfast the next morning when Redheart opened the door to her room. “Rainbow Dash?” she said with a tiny smirk. “Your friends are here. They seem pretty excited.”
“Oh cool. Let them in,” Dash replied, her own spirits lifting at the thought of Fluttershy returning.
The door opened wide and her friends poured into the too-tiny room, crowding around her bed.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight practically crowed, looking extremely pleased with herself. “We found it! I sent a letter to Celestia last night and it turns out she had a bit of cockatrice down in her storerooms! She said it would be her pleasure to donate it to you! Zecora's mixing the potion now!”
Rainbow Dash smiled widely. “You mean I'm gonna live? You're not just pulling my wing, are you?”
“Oh come on, Dashie!” Pinkie shouted, reaching alarming new heights of volume as her excitement peaked. “Do you really think we'd joke about something like this?! You're gonna be CURED!”
Dash grinned at the smiling faces of all her friends arrayed around her. Then her world went crashing into a deep dark chill as she noticed something was missing.
“Where is Fluttershy?”
The four mares around her bed visually scanned the room, astonished looks on their faces.
“I went to go pick her up this morning,” Twilight said. “She wasn't at her cottage. I just assumed that Redheart had decided to let her spend the night.”
Dash felt a clammy, icy-cold hand of pure panic grip her heart. Before anypony could stop her, she leapt out from under her blankets and launched herself at the room's single window, smashing it to pieces as she reoriented herself towards the forest.
Her wings felt like they were churning up a hurricane in her wake as she blazed across Ponyville, desperate to ensure that she expended every drop of effort at her disposal to reach her dearest friend in time. If there was absolutely any chance that she could arrive before the unthinkable happened, she wouldn't miss her opportunity due to lack of effort.
She shot straight past Fluttershy's cottage, knowing already that the mare wasn't there. Her sights were set on the forest where she knew instinctively her friend had gone.
Her premonition proved all too true. As she buzzed the canopy she spotted a familiar shape amongst the tangled roots. She dove at dangerous speeds towards the ground and pulled up just in time, her hooves coming to rest just beside the stone form of her dearest friend.
Rainbow Dash stared in disbelief at Fluttershy, frozen as she was in a posture of defiant courage, a tuft of white feathers protruding out from between her cold lips. Dash could see what had happened playing out in her head. Fluttershy approaching the cockatrice, crawling along in a low stalking posture. The dangerous creature completely unaware of her presence behind it. Fluttershy lunging and ripping loose a tuft of down and then accepting her fate as the enraged animal turned on her, draining the vitality out of her and leaving lifeless stone in its place.
Dash fell to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably at the selfless sacrifice of the mare who could not return her love but had given her life in return. “Why didn't you listen to me, Fluttershy? Why would you do this to me? I... I can't live without you. You make my life so much better!” She wrapped her front legs around that of the statue, wailing and weeping and trying her hardest to will the stone to life once more.
Twilight and the other elements stood at the edge of the forest, waiting for Rainbow Dash to return and give them news of what had happened to Fluttershy. Each of them silently yet fervently hoping and wishing for the best outcome.
“There she is!” Pinkie shouted, pointing into the thick woods. “It's Rainbow Dash! And she's carrying somepony!”
Twilight ran into the forest towards the direction Pinkie pointed out to assist her two friends. She reached Rainbow Dash and skittered to a halt, taking in the scene of the pegasus struggling to carry the heavy stone form of Fluttershy. Twilight gasped as Rainbow Dash stumbled and fought to take each step, tears streaming down her face which was contorted in determination. Twilight rushed over to Dash, trying to lift the statue with her magic.
“No!” Rainbow Dash snapped at her. “I'll carry her. No magic. This is mine. This is something I have to do.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. “Alright, Dash. I'll let you carry her home. Zecora should have the potion ready. We can go to her cottage afterward and--”
“Tell her to dump it out,” Dash said bitterly.
“What?! But it's all prepared and she's already put in the cockatrice down. You want her to dump it out now?”
“Yes.” Rainbow Dash said in a tone that brokered no arguments. “Fluttershy sacrificed herself for these stupid feathers so these are the feathers we're going to use to save my bucking life. I don't care if I have to pull double shifts for the rest of my life to pay Celestia back but we're using these feathers.”
Twilight was about to object further but Dash cut her a vicious glare, daring her to argue the point any further. Twilight nodded and sighed. “I'm sure Celestia will understand. We'll use the down Fluttershy got. And don't worry. I'll be looking for a way to bring Fluttershy back.”
In the dimming light of late evening, a single mare climbed the stairs outside town. Her light blue coat was as brilliant as ever though her distinctive rainbow mane had long ago been supplanted with gray. She laboriously mounted each and every step, her old joints creaking and groaning in protest. She would have liked to fly up to the shrine but her wings had failed her a few decades ago so now her weekly treks were all on hoof.
Finally she crested the steps and was greeted with the sight of a beautiful statue of a beautiful mare, her face set in an expression of defiance and courage. The elderly Rainbow Dash allowed a little smile to touch her lips at the sight of her old friend and lost love.
“Hey Shy,” she said in almost a whisper. “Sorry I'm late today. It was a pretty busy day. Twinkle spent all day quizzing me. You remember Twinkle Shine, right? I told you about her. Twilight's filly? The one who took over her research on bringing you back after she died? That mare is absolutely crazy but if anything she's even more beautiful and brilliant than her mom. Keeps saying how close Twilight was.”
Rainbow Dash sniffed loudly, tears forming in her eyes. “Wouldn't that be something? Finally getting you outta that rock after all these years? And even if she can’t find something, well you never have to worry about growing old and frail like me. You’ll be young and beautiful and... and perfect forever. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about today. Y'see I've been thinking about what it would be like for you once you're free again. About what kind of life you'll have. And I just wanted to let you know so it didn't come as a shock... When you get out I'm not going to be around. I've lived a good long time and my old bones have had enough. My body's calling it quits.”
Tears began to patter on the rock at Dash's hooves as she struggled to continue. “So yeah. Looks like you're the last element of harmony left. Hope you'll come visit me from time to time. I'd really like to hear all about how your life turns out. I don't have any foals of my own for you to visit with. Never had the heart to try dating after... you left. Just me... Just me and you.”
She shook her head, trying to regain the carefree swagger of her youth. “Well I guess that's about it. I hope you don't mind if I go ahead and take a little nap here.”
Dash approached the statue of Fluttershy and lay down at her hooves. She sighed a deep contented sigh and closed her eyes for the last time just as the sun dipped out of sight over the horizon.
Down in Ponyville while Rainbow Dash was saying her final goodbyes to Fluttershy, Twinkle Shine was hard at work in her inherited lab. She added the last compound to the chemical bath that sat on her workbench. The solution fizzed and boiled as Twinkle funneled her will through her horn, adding the energy that would bind the potion together. The young scientist held her breath. This was it. It would work. She was sure of it.
Twinkle took a small stone feather from her desk and dipped it carefully into the bubbling brew. She swirled it about for a few seconds and then extracted a soft, perfectly shaped butter-yellow feather.
“Eureka.”
Author's Note
Just a little fic I wrote to hold my readers over while I finish the next chapter of Fun with Changelings. This was actually a challenge fic. My proofreaders were telling me they thought I didn't have it in me to write a tragedy. To be honest I didn't think I had it in me either. I hope I managed to prove them wrong.
