Blown Away

When Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes, everything was still dark. “Rainbow Dash? Are you there? I can’t see!” she called, flailing with her hooves. Her foreleg brushed against something soft.

“Hang on, Egghead, try not to move. And calm down… you’re not blind. The sun set and the sky just clouded over. We’re on the ground now, so you can’t roll off and fall again,” Rainbow Dash could be heard from her left.

“Will I be okay?” Twilight asked. She didn’t feel any major injuries, aside from some minor aches and pains.

“Hold on for a bit, I’ll get us some moonlight. I didn’t really have time to see how bad it was when I was rushing to catch you,” Rainbow said. A couple seconds later, Twilight could hear some distant thudding noises as the sky cleared up. The moonlight revealed a dark black scorch mark on Twilight’s left side.

“Wow, that’s a nasty burn. Well, you aren’t bleeding, so that’s good,” Rainbow said, returning. “Can you stand up?” Twilight slowly stood with wobbly feet and nodded. “Good, can you spread your wings for me?” Twilight flapped her wings a couple of times. “Well, then. I guess you’re okay. I’m not going to put you through anything else tonight after what you’ve been through. Why don’t you let me fly you home, just in case anything acts up?”

“Thanks, Rainbow,” Twilight said, “that would help a lot.” She took off and began slowly flying her way back as Rainbow Dash rushed ahead of her.

“Take it easy now,” Rainbow Dash said, keeping a close eye on Twilight’s wobbly flight pattern as they made their way slowly across the sky. “Maybe we should walk.”

“No I’m fine, besides if there’s something wrong with my wing, better we find it out here than on the Dragon Course again,” Twilight said. Her burn throbbed against the chilly night air.

A full hour later, they reached Twilight’s library. “You’ll be okay for the rest of the night, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. “And can you make sure you treat that burn? And…cover it up?”

“Don’t worry about it, I have Spike here. I’ll get plenty of rest and see you tomorrow,” Twilight smiled tiredly. “Why are you acting like this, anyway?”

Rainbow Dash shifted her weight back and forth uncomfortably. “Two things: One, which is probably the most important, we’re not supposed to… use the courses. Because ponies might get hurt… and that just happened, so please make sure you cover it up.”

Twilight nodded. “Unauthorized training… Probably should’ve guessed. Oh well, don’t worry, I’ve had to cover up worse. What’s the other thing?”

“It’s kind of a long story and you need some rest,” Rainbow Dash said, avoiding Twilight’s gaze and beginning to take off. Twilight stopped her by standing on her tail. “Oh fine… But if you tell anypony else… I swear…”

“My lips are sealed,” Twilight said. “Now let’s hear it.”

“Earlier today, when I put you on the Dragon Course,” Rainbow said. “I thought for sure that you could do it. I really did. And with each obstacle you passed, I felt more and more certain that I was right. I was all ready to celebrate with you when you would have passed, too.” She brought out a cupcake from her bag. “And then…” Rainbow Dash blinked noticeably for some reason, averting her gaze, “when you got hit… I couldn’t help but think it was all because of me.”

“Well, in a way, it was kind of…” Twilight trailed off. “Rainbow, are you crying?”

“Do you have any idea how horrible it feels to know that you hurt one of your friends? What if it had crippled you? Killed you? It would have been entirely my fault. I never should have put you in there,” Rainbow blubbered. Twilight patted her friend on the shoulder with a wing.

“It was your fault… but I forgive you,” Twilight said, “and I was the one who was struck by lightning, so stop beating yourself up.” She wrapped Rainbow Dash up in a full wing hug, being careful not to touch her scorch mark. “You know, despite being almost killed, I actually feel pretty lucky.”

Rainbow Dash stopped sobbing for a moment. “Lucky?”

“I have a friend like you who believes in me, takes risks for me, and saves my life on a regular basis,” Twilight smiled. “You really are the Element of Loyalty.”

The praise seemed to heal Rainbow Dash’s pride a little and she stood up straighter, backing out of the hug. “Yeah, well… remember to get your injury treated,” she said, flying off into the night sky.

“Deep down, she’s just a big softie,” Twilight said, turning her head back into the library, “okay, she’s gone, you can come out and help me now.”

Spike came rushing out with a first aid kit. “Thank god, who knows what she would’ve done to me if I walked in on her crying?” He tended to Twilight’s side. Twilight barely had time to grit her teeth as Spike spread what felt like liquid fire all over her burn.

“It’s some of Zecora’s medicine,” he explained. “She gave it to me in case anything ever happened. I guess this qualifies as ‘anything’.” As the burning sensation faded, the pain dulled to a gentle numbness. “And here, I guess you’ll need this.” Spike brought out a book on disguise magic.

“What would I do without you, Spike?” Twilight said, as she found the spell she needed and charged up her horn. The burn mark quickly faded until it was no longer distinguishable from the rest of her coat.

“Moan in pain on the floor as you applied foul-smelling medicine to yourself and looked for a specific book in an entire library?” Spike suggested, heading upstairs, presumably to sleep.

“Yes, thank you, Spike,” Twilight responded, rolling her eyes and heading up after him. She would enjoy this well-deserved rest.