The Art Of Falling

by Fire-Dash

Rating: teen
Tags: Derpy Hooves, Sad, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 7672

Derpy has wanted nothing more all her life than to be normal. When news of a new spell designed to increase intelligence begins to spread, Derpy is chosen for the experiment. With the support of her new friend Rainbow, she undergoes the procedure.

When Rainbow ends up stuck in a hospital bed after flying through an unschedualed, violent storm, she gets to know the mare in the bed next to hers. A light grey pegasus named Derpy. A pony who tries so hard to learn, so hard to understand the world but has difficulty remembering and processing new skills. A pony who's wanted nothing more all her life than to be smart, accepted, normal.

When news of a new experimental spell said to increase intelligence begins to spread, Derpy is the first to jump at the idea. Rainbow does everything in her power to help her friend, and with some encouragement from Twilight, the wall-eyed mare is chosen for the experiment.

Published 2013-03-10 14:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-18 01:42:52 UTC

Entertainment

Rainbow's Journal

May 2nd

Alright, continuing where I left off.

So last night, just as I was starting to write down what happened, the nurse came by. I wasn't really paying attention but I think she said something like, “is it okay if we open up the curtain here? Your roommate doesn't like closed spaces.”

I still had a pencil in my mouth (my hooves weren't really up to the task), so all I could do was grunt. I guess she took that to mean, “go ahead.”

The curtain was thrown open and the nurse walked over to the pony in the other bed. At a glance, I could see it was a mare, light grey coat with a blond mane. I wouldn't have paid her any attention if I hadn't realized that I knew that mare. She was the mail carrier. The one who was always screwing up ponies' letters, getting names wrong, and flying in the wrong direction. I knew she wasn't like other ponies, but I guess I always assumed she could learn if she tried. I've gotten pretty impatient with her before. Sometimes she helps with banners for town meetings or celebrations, and I'm usually stuck with her. She could never just do something. You had to show her a thousand times and supervise to make sure nopony ended up hurt.

When the nurse left, the mare turned her gaze to me (well, half of it. She has a wall-eye and can't really control where it goes). “Hi, Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed in a kind of muffled voice, as though she were trying to speak under water. I put down the pencil and turned to look at her. It seemed she'd gotten pretty beat-up in the storm as well. She had a dislocated shoulder, broken hip and a fractured wing. She wasn't quite as bad as me, but I'm pretty sure she hadn't smashed into the ground at the speed of sound.

After a moment of just staring, I figured I should probably say something back. “Hey,” I muttered, still examining her. “Did you, um... did you fall?” Stupid question, I know. But it felt too awkward to leave the conversation at “hey”.

She tilted her head. “I had to get all the letters done or Boss would be mad.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So you tried to deliver them in the storm?”

She nodded. “Yup! And I only lost one. Boss will be very happy with me and he won't fire me like he said.”

“Why would he fire you?” I asked, getting a little impatient. I really just wanted to start writing.

She frowned, looking down. “He says I'm too dumb to do the job. That he might have to 'drop me'. I thought that meant he'd have to drop me from the sky, so I told him I could fly pretty good and I prob'ly wouldn't fall, but he said 'no'. He said that meant 'fire' and 'fire' didn't have anything to do with real fire. It meant I'd have to stop. An' he wouldn't pay me anymore.”

“Ah,” was all I said.

“I try really hard to learn,” she continued, ignorant of my disinterest. “I know all the letters in the alphabet but I can't write so good. That's why teachers always got so mad at me.”

Now that sparked my interest. “Wait. You wanted to learn? Why didn't your parents help?” I know it sounds awful, but I really thought she just never paid attention. We went to the same elementary school and I remember she was always doodling on her papers, folding them up, humming or muttering to anypony who'd listen (and some who wouldn't). One time she was even caught eating pencil shavings from her sharpener. I mean, I was never the best student, but at least I paid enough attention to pass. And my dad was always giving me lectures and tutoring me on the things I didn't understand. I thought Derpy just never tried.

Her forehead wrinkled and she looked off to the side, like it was a real effort to just remember. She muttered a few things about how her father tried but she couldn't remember why it wasn't working. I didn't know how to respond so I just murmured “I'm sorry” and gave her a sympathetic look. What else was there to do?

“Why are you sorry?” she asked me. “I've got lots of friends! I'm really lucky.”

We didn't talk after that but it did get me thinking. I started wondering about what kind of pony Derpy really was. I mean, I hardly know her. Maybe I was too quick to judge. Maybe.

Well, I've got plenty of time to get to know her now. Seeing on how we're both stuck in the hospital together.

I have to go now. Breakfast just rolled in. Derpy's still asleep, but I'm sure she'll be up soon. I guess I could try talking to her again later.

* * *

Well, today was pretty uneventful. Twilight came to visit for a bit but couldn't stay long. She said Celestia needed her for something but she didn't tell me what it was. She did give me a Daring Do book to read, though. The newest one just came out. Daring Do and The Legend of The Dawn Stone. (Could the title be any longer?) It looks pretty interesting. New quest, lots of action, new characters, conflicts, etc. After Twilight left, I was reading the excerpt on the back when Derpy asked a very sudden question.

“Are you a good reader?”

I blinked, looking up. “Huh?”

“Can you read good?” she asked again, eyes bright.

I shrugged. “I guess so. I never used to like it, though. I thought it was just for eggheads and bookworms. But ever since Twilight introduced me to Daring Do, I've been hooked.” I paused. “Can you read well?”

Derpy frowned and looked away. “I know a few words but the longer sent'nces are hard. An' big words just look like jumbly letters. But I can read the easy books. The ones with pictures.”

“Oh,” I said, absently flipping through a few pages. “This book doesn't have pictures.” She was still staring at it, though. She had such a longing in her eyes. I had to give her a chance. “But, um, would you like to see it anyway?”

She beamed, nodding vigorously. “Oh, yes, please!”

I leaned over the bed as far as I could, balancing against the guardrail on my stomach. I managed to toss the book over with my right foreleg, the one that had been dislocated and didn't have a cast. The book flew over to the small table beside her bed, knocking over a glass of orange juice and plopping down in a pile of scrambled eggs (apparently, she likes breakfast for dinner, and won't eat anything other than muffins in the morning. The nurses didn't argue). I cringed. Okay, so throwing hard objects while you're in pain: not a good idea.

Luckily, Derpy managed to salvage the book before any of the eggs or juice got into the pages. She wiped the cover off on her sheets and opened to a random page. Tilting her head so her focused eye was closer to the paper, she squinted, following the lines with her hoof and mouthing some of the words. She seemed to have at least some idea of what was written there, though it looked like her problem had a lot to do with vision as well.

“This book is hard,” she groaned, flopping back down in her bed. “You must be really smart.”

I shrugged. I'm not normally one to deny a compliment—any compliment, but I didn't really know what to say to that. “Um... I dunno,” I mumbled, searching my mind for a topic to switch over to. I'm not bad with meeting new ponies, but Derpy was different. I mean, I'd met her before, I just hadn't actually tried to have a conversation with her. I guess she seemed pretty happy. I don't think anything I could have said would've upset her. Problem was, I didn't have the slightest idea what we could even talk about. She wouldn't have read anything more than foals' books, she doesn't have a weather job and I doubted she could race. So what? I was sure we had nothing in common. That is, until she asked a very surprising question.

“Do you like the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash?”

I blinked. “What?”

She tilted her head, her wonky, amber eyes open wider than anything. “The Wonderbolts! They fly really high an' really fast and look really, really cool!” As she was speaking, she made swooping motions with her forelegs, miming upward climbs and deep dives, spirals, loops and whirls. She was so enthusiastic, it almost got me excited too.

“Of course I know who they are. In fact, I'm trying to become one.” I gave her a questioning look. “I didn't know you liked them.”

She nodded rapidly and smiled, bearing more teeth than pony-possible. “I looove the Wonderbolts! I like to watch when they go around in all those twisty-loops. An' the circles. An' the big, scary dives—“

“Nose-dives?” I asked with a grin. I'm the best at nose-dives. I practised forever to get it right, and twice I nearly smashed right into the ground. But I kept at it, never giving up, and now I can pull up from a direct drop two inches from the ground without straining my wings. I will be a Wonderbolt. “You should watch me sometime. I'm awesome at nose-dives.” Of course, I'm still stuck in this bed for Celestia-knows-how-long, so I can't do much now.

Derpy did a little bounce on her mattress, wincing slightly at the pain in her hip. Her eyes were wide as ever and her lips were still drawn back in that impossible grin. “I've seen you!” she exclaimed, seeming way too excited over the matter. Everypony's seen me. All you have to do is look up. “You make all the pretty colours in the sky!” Her under-watery tones made her run-together, excited words sound muffled and unclear. I'm pretty sure I got what she said, though.

I nodded. “Yep, that's me. Just your friendly neighbourhood Rainbow Dash, always willing to please a crowd.” I tried to sit up and give a little bow but all I managed was a sort of awkward sweeping motion with my hoof and a jerk forward. Well, close enough.

She gave another bounce and laughed. She's got this spontaneous, loud, kind of foalish laugh. I'll admit, I was taken aback by it at first, but I got used to it after a while. She laughs a lot. And I mean a lot. Even at things that don't really seem that funny. Like a bad pun or an obvious punchline. It's like every joke is new to her.

We talked for hours. Her topics were pretty random (even more random than Pinkie, I swear), but the conversations were entertaining, at least. Derpy's probably the last pony in the world I'd expect to strike up an interesting conversation with, but she's actually kinda cool. I mean, she likes the Wonderbolts. How could anypony who likes the Wonderbolts not be cool?

Well, at any rate, she's the only one here I have to talk to, besides the boring nurses. I've got my book, my journal and Derpy to keep me sane for a while. And I guess that's not so bad. For now, at least.

Concept Writing

Rainbow's Journal

May 3rd

I can't stop thinking about those black gaps in the sky. Like gaping holes, giant mouths trying to swallow me up. What could they have been? I've never seen anything like that before. I don't know of any kind of weather that would've caused it and it's not like the sky really was falling. I mean, that's not possible, right? It's just air up there. Nothing that could actually drop. What was it?

Twilight seems pretty worried about it too. She came by again today and stayed a little longer to go over what I wrote about that day. She had this really tired, really worried look on her face, and she didn't speak for a long time. Bags were starting to form under her eyes and her mane was sticking up all over the place. “Are you okay?” I asked, wincing as I tried to sit up. My ribs still hurt like heck and there's some pretty nasty-looking bruises all over my chest. My back was sore and my head was killing me. I felt awful.

Twilight sighed. “Yes, I'm alright.” She looked up from the page. “Are you?”

“Besides being bored out of my mind?” I attempted a laugh but quickly gave up. “Yeah, I'm fine.”

“Good.” She turned her attention back to the paper and didn't look up again. I was starting to feel a little awkward just sitting there so I shifted my position, glancing at Derpy in the other bed. She was asleep again, lying on her back with her mouth open. Celestia, can that mare ever snore.

I adjusted my sheets a couple times and looked around the room. We've only got one window in here and it's next to Derpy's bed. All I have is a lamp. I know it's only been two days, but I really miss the outside. I want to run. I want to fly. I hate being stuck in here.

But most of all, I want to find out what happened. Could it happen again? Was it an accident? Something more? I don't know. Celestia must want to know as well, seeing on how overworked Twilight looked. She seemed really concerned with what I wrote but I don't know why. She was being so secretive. It really bothered me. If she knows something, why couldn't she tell me? Doesn't she trust me? Maybe she just needs to be sure before she says anything. She must be pretty stressed out.

“Twilight?” I asked after a while. “Is everything okay? I mean, is Ponyville in any trouble?”

She bowed her head, sighing softly. “I don't know.” A pause. “I'm sorry, Rainbow, but I have to go. I'll be back tomorrow, I promise. I'm too busy to stay much longer. Celestia really wants me to figure this out.”

I nodded. “I know, Twilight. Good luck.”

She closed the book and gave it back to me. “Thanks. I'll need it.”

“Hey, wait,” I called, just as she was heading for the door. “Why haven't the others come to see me yet?”

“They're all busy doing repairs. The storm really tore things up. Applejack had to fix that barn again and clean up all the broken trees. Fluttershy has a lot of injured animals to deal with, Rarity lost half her outfits when a gust of wind blew down her door, and Pinkie's been trying hard to help the town cheer up.”

I sighed. “Right. Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope you find out what you need.”

Twilight managed a slight smile. “Get well soon, Rainbow. I know it really sucks being stuck here.”

“You don't know the half of it,” I replied, slouching down in the bed.

After she left, I opened up the Daring Do book and read a couple pages while I waited for Derpy to wake up. The book started off with Daring narrowly escaping an attack from a mysterious stallion who was after the artifact she had just discovered. She managed to hide out in a cave for a while as he searched for her, and that's about as far as I got before Derpy stole my attention.

“Good story?” she asked with a yawn.

I nodded. “So far, yeah. Haven't read that much, though.”

“Oh, okay.” She leaned forward and tilted her head, looking around my section of the room. “Hey, what's that other book?”

“Other book?” I asked, glancing up at her.

“The blue one. The one you write in.”

I bit my lip. I knew she was probably going to ask sometime but I still didn't want to answer. I sighed. Well, it wasn't like she'd care anyway. I'm pretty sure she thinks everything I do is awesome. At least, that's how she makes it seem. Still, I wasn't sure admitting I keep a personal journal would be good for my reputation. I'm not known for being very “in-touch” with my feelings and I'd like to keep it that way. Better for intimidation in competitions when your opponent thinks you're stone. “It's, um, well.... It's my journal,” I sighed, looking away. “I know that sounds lame but Twilight gave it to me and I didn't wanna hurt her feelings or anthi—”

“That's really cool!” Derpy exclaimed, cutting me off. “You read and write? Do you write stories?”

I blinked, studying her. “Uh, no, I really just write about my day. And, like, thoughts and stuff.” A really intelligent answer, I know. I think I deserve applause for that one.

“Oh. That's neat!” She glanced over at my journal again. “Can I see?”

“No!” I cried and grabbed the book, shoving it under my pillow. Derpy jumped, then shrunk down into her sheets. Okay, so I was being a little dramatic. “I mean, no. It's kinda... personal,” I corrected myself. I knew she probably wasn't going to go around telling ponies about my inner-most thoughts, and the request was completely innocent, but I really didn't want anypony knowing about this. Besides Twilight, of course. But she was different. She was the one who encouraged me to write in the first place.

Derpy paused, then sat up again. “Can you teach me?” she asked, eyes practically bulging out of her head.

“Teach you...?” Then I understood. “Oh, you mean teach you how to write in a journal.”

She nodded, a giant smile spreading across her face.

“Uh, well....” I really didn't want to go over journal writing with her. I know it's an easy concept but I felt like I'd be explaining it forever. I'm not really all that patient. But it was just so hard to say no to her. She leaned forward, good eye focused solely on me. She wasn't even blinking. I could practically feel the excitement, the anticipation radiating off of her. It was amazing how much this seemed to mean to her. I sighed. “Okay. Fine. I'll show you how.”

“Really?” she gasped, practically glowing with joy. “Thank you!”

When the nurse came by to check on us, I asked her if she could get us a pad of paper and a pencil. The best she could do was a black pen and a pad of mustard-yellow paper with the words “PONYVILLE HOSPITAL” printed in bold at the top. Derpy didn't care. She would have been happy with a sticky note and a chunk of charcoal.

I told her that all she had to do was write the date at the top, then write down whatever she felt like. Thoughts, dreams, feelings, anything at all. After a couple minutes of watching her write one big run-on sentence, I figured I should probably tell her about simple grammar before she got started.

It took two hours for her to get paragraphs down. Two hours. She didn't understand indenting and I was tired of explaining it, so I told her to just put a space between every new topic. At least that would make it look better. She managed to pick that up eventually and her writing looked a lot less jumbled for it. I wrote down the spelling for all the months in the year at the back so she'd have the dates right. I also wrote down my name because she wanted to make sure she got it right when she mentioned me.

By five PM, when dinner rolled in, she was writing up a storm. The nurse had to ask her three times to put it down and eat something. Derpy hadn't even noticed the cart, she was transfixed on the paper, tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth and forehead wrinkled in concentration. Well, at least she seemed happy.

When the nurse finally got her interested in the pancakes at the side of her bed, Derpy devoured them in seconds. I swirled my spoon around in my soup absently, watching her. I was fascinated with how happy she was just writing in a journal. Well, not just the writing. I think it was the fact that I showed her how. I guess I'm not the only one who'd lost patience with her before. From what she's told me, her boss is a real jerk. I know it's annoying when he has to keep repeating himself to her but he doesn't have to be mean about it. It's not her fault when she doesn't get something. She wants to learn. It just takes her a while.

I have to respect Derpy. Nopony's ever been able to change my opinion about something faster. Only took her two days to convince me she's more than she leads on. Pretty impressive.

I managed to stomach a bit of my dinner, something I'm pretty sure was meant to be a sort of vegetable soup but ended up being flavourless broth and floating chunks of plastic. Needless to say, I lost my appetite.

I watched Derpy scribble words in her makeshift journal for a while before I picked up my own. I never really thought of this thing as being important to me but I guess it kinda is. I'm writing a lot more now than I used to and I even helped another pony to write as well. Jeez, I'm becoming Twilight. I swear, by tomorrow I'll have a horn and purple mane to prove it.

Well, that's about all there was for today. I did have a weird dream, though, but I don't really remember it. Something about falling... something chasing me, I think. I don't know. It was strange. If I have another, I'll write it down. But it's probably nothing. Dream are just weird sometimes.

Anyway, that's all for now. Hopefully tomorrow will be more interesting.

Friends

PONYVILLE HOSPITAL

Derpy's Jurnal Journal

May 4

Today Rainbows frend Twilight came by an talkd to her for a long time. She sed she wantd to hear more about the storm but Rainbow didnt no anything else. So Twilight talkd about other things. She sed Rainbows other frends were all feeling better an that the town was happier but I stoppd listening then. Its not nice to listen to other ponys conversashuns.

They talkd so long I guess I fell asleep. The mare who brings in the food woke me up an told me it was lunch time. I lookd over at Rainbow to see if Twilight was still there but she wasnt. Rainbow was reading her book. She reads a lot. Shes really good at it. I like it when she shows me the pages cuz I can kinda understand sum of the words. But I have to reread them a lot an the long sentnces are hard.

Rainbow didnt talk as much today cuz she was really intrested in the book. She sed its really good an hard to put down. I want to read it too. She sed maybe after shes done I can try. I like it when she talks to me. She's very nice an I think she mite even want to be my frend.

She showd me how to rite more things. Like where periods go an how to spell sum words. I keep forgetting tho. Its really hard to remember everything. She sed that if I dont no a word I shud sound it out. It helps a lot but Im still not a very good speller. The rules are really hard and confusing. So I just sound things out. Rainbow sed thats good enuf for now.

I really like riting but its hard to rite as much as Rainbow does. She rites lots of words an paragrafs an she has good grammer. I wish I new how to rite as good as her.

I love having Rainbow here. I dont have to be lonely. I get lonely alot sumtimes but I have lots of frends. They just dont visit me much cuz there busy. Im lucky to have frends. Sumtimes ponies get mad at me cuz I dont remember things so good an I get mixd up alot. I think if I was normal Id have lots more frends who visit me all the time. Doctors say Im not normal. They say Im dum cuz theres a problm with my brane. Well they dont say Im dumb but thats what they mean. They use bigger words.

But Rainbow doesnt mind. I think she wants to help me. Maybe if she keeps helping I can be smart like other ponies an then they wont get mad at me an theyll all like me.

Im going to stop riting for now. I cant think of anything else to say an the mare with the food trays just came in. I got sum toste. It looks very good.

Bye for now.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow's Journal

May 4th

Twilight was asking a lot of questions today. Far more than I could answer. I had to explain to her three times that I already wrote down all I knew. There was nothing else to tell. She just sighed and closed her eyes. She looked awful. I don't think she's slept a wink since the storm. Her eyes were sunken and bloodshot, her mane was what Rarity would call “a disaster”, and she was speaking so frantically, so urgently, I barely understood her. I'm getting really worried. I don't know what's going on but whatever it is, it's big. I hope she's okay. I told her to get some rest but she just shook her head. “No time,” she said quickly, then changed the subject.

She told me about the others and how the town's doing and everything, but I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking, trying to figure this out. Based on the way Twilight was acting, I'm starting to wonder if this was more than just an accident. But she won't tell me anything! Is something wrong with the weather? With Ponyville? What in Celestia's name is going on?

I don't really feel much like writing right now. I don't want anything to be wrong. I just need a distraction or something. I read a lot after Twilight left, trying to keep my mind off things. I feel so useless being stuck in here. I did help Derpy with her writing but that's about the only productive thing I managed today. It's so boring here. I just want to get out and do something. I want to help Twilight. I want her to be okay. I want all my friends to be okay. That's the whole reason I'm stuck here in the first place! How can anypony expect the freaking Element of Loyalty to just sit on her flank all day doing nothing when one of her friends might be in trouble? Twilight looked like she was about ready to collapse! I can't let her go on like that.

Something's wrong and I don't know what it is or how to fix it. I need something to do. I'm tired of just sitting here. I need to get out.

* * *

Can't sleep. I don't know what time it is but I know it's late. I tried waking Derpy up but she's out cold. I doubt even an earthquake could rouse that mare.

I asked the nurse today how long I'd be stuck here and she said they needed to watch me for at least a week. I know I can't fly but I can at least limp. Why can't they just let me go?

I like talking to Derpy but I miss my friends. If they're too busy to see me, I want to be able to go to them. I don't want to be trapped in here for a full week with nothing to do but read and write. I read so much today I'm already halfway through the book. What do I do when I'm done?

Derpy seems happy, at least. Though I haven't seen her get any visitors at all yet. I'm starting to wonder about those “friends” she claims to have. Where are they? Why don't they visit her? I know the town's pretty busy right now but why wouldn't somepony come to make sure she's okay? I know I'd be worried if one of my friends didn't show up after that storm. Why didn't anypony come to check on her?

Well, I'm not going to leave her. She's really quite interesting once you get to know her (and figure out how to interpret her muffled way of speaking). I can't be the only one who ever gave her a chance, can I? She's so... innocent. And that's a pretty hard quality to hold onto. I like that she's managed to keep it. No matter what others say or how far down she gets pushed. Reminds me of myself, I guess. I never let anypony hold me down. I just get back up, keep going, and prove them wrong.

Still, I'd like to help her learn and all. It's just that she can't pick up on new concepts very well or remember rules and structure. Nothing seems to stick right. It just slips from her mind a second later. I wonder if there's something that could help her. I remember Twilight said before that memory spells exist. Maybe intelligence spells exist too. Maybe there's something out there that could help Derpy. Maybe that's what she meant when she said her father tried. Maybe he was looking for a spell. Maybe.... If only Twilight wasn't so overworked, then I'd ask her about it.

I'm just so tired right now. I need to stop thinking about this. It's giving me a headache. I can't get my head to shut up. It just goes on and on about the storm and flying and Derpy and my friends and everything. I just want to sleep!

I guess it's time to try again. The light from my lamp is starting to make my eyes hurt and I'm feeling pretty weary. Today was not more interesting than yesterday. Today was torture. If something doesn't happen soon, I swear I'm going to break out of here.

Unconventional Weather

Rainbow's Journal

May 1st

When I woke up this morning, the sky was falling. Bits of clouds hung and swung haphazardly in the wind. Birds and pegasai dodged this way, then that, trying to get away. The sky was a puzzle with missing pieces. Terrifying black gaps opened high above me, like rips in the sky. They spread across a grey horizon, deep black abysses swallowing up the torrent around them. I dove into the air and veered out of the way as a petrified mare tumbled down from above. The cloud I'd been resting on burst to vapour as another pony fell through it. Pegasai plummeted to the ground like changelings on pursuit of destruction, their wings locked and paralysed. Snow fell from nowhere. Hail pelted my back.

Everything was a blur. I sped across the sky, weaving around falling, too-heavy rainclouds and dodging hail. Rain splattered against my face, stinging my eyes. I banked left, then right. Twisting, turning, stopping suddenly, dropping down, lifting back up. A tree appeared in my vision below and I dove without thinking. I crashed into its branches, sending bits of twigs and leaves spraying into the air. I curled up in a ball, shivering, trying to ignore the wind that made the branches sway. The sleet that broke through the canopy. I didn't think to get up and look for better cover, I didn't even think to move deeper into the branches. I just laid there. In fact, I probably wouldn't have gotten up at all if a certain thought hadn't crossed my mind—my friends.

I took a deep breath, shifted my position, and bolted from the tree. I quickly glanced around, trying to get a bearing on where I was. I could just make out a few misty outlines ahead, blotted out by sheets of rain and hail. Buildings, I assumed. At closer inspection, I recognized the one nearest to me to be the Carousel. Thank Celestia. I started to head over when I caught Rarity's faint outline racing inside, her royal purple tail disappearing behind the door. I sighed with relief. She was safe.

One down.

I quickly spun around and bolted down the path, calling out my friends' names as loudly as I could. I tore through the air, rain splattering my face and clinging to my coat. The wind tugged at my mane, whipping it around every which-way. I didn't have time to wonder what was going on. No time to think about the black gaps in the sky above, the bi-polar weather shifts, the clouds throwing temper-tantrums in all directions. I just flew as fast as I could, as hard as I could, forcing my way through rain turned to heavy slush as it mixed with hail and snow. It settled on my back and wings, weighing me down. My movements became clumsy and stiff, I had to struggle for every flap. My wings felt like lead.

But I had to find my friends. It didn't matter if my wings broke off, I was going to find them. No matter what.

I arrived at Sugarcube Corner first, nearly ramming into a wall when I tried to turn too sharply. I recovered fast and pounded on the door, calling for Pinkie at the top of my lungs. In response, a window shutter flew open. I pushed myself off the door with my back hooves, wings held outright, catching a wind-current and riding it over. I struggled to grab a hold of the windowpane but Pinkie reached out and pulled me in before I could be torn away. I tumbled head-first into the room, slamming down on the floor. I laid there dazed, my ears ringing, head pounding, world going topsy-turvy all around me. When I finally managed to pick myself up, I watched Pinkie hammer a wooden board to the window and draw the blinds. The door had been barricaded as well, sealed shut with three long planks, several chairs and two tables propped up against it.

Behind me, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were struggling to comfort their wailing foals while trapped customers asked stupid questions like, “when will the storm end?” and, “do you think it was a pegasus that caused all this?”

No, the sky just decided to throw a hissy fit for no reason, all on its own. It does things like that all the time, duh.

I hate stupid questions. Who else could control the weather? It had to be a pegasus, or maybe a really freakishly powerful unicorn or something.

But at the time, I wasn't really thinking about that. I was a lot more preoccupied with the whereabouts of my other friends. “Pinkie!” I called when I found my voice. “Do you know where the others are? Are they safe?”

She tilted her head, wrinkling her forehead in thought. “Oh!” she exclaimed, giving a little jump. “Twilight said she had to study something really-really important this weekend so she wasn't going to be able to party with me. I bet she's still at the library. She never moves when she has to study something serious like that.”

I nodded. She was right. When Twilight had to study, she had to study. That was that. Nothing would get her out of that library. “Okay,” I said, satisfied with that answer. “What about Applejack and Fluttershy?”

Pinkie hesitated. “Um, well I know Fluttershy's at her cottage. I saw her this morning. She said she had to stay home and take care of Angel because he's sick.”

I let out a long, shaky breath. Four were safe. I was starting to calm down then. My heart finally stopped pounding, my legs stopped wobbling. “And Applejack?” I asked, leaning forward. Dear Celestia, you have no idea how much I wanted her to be safe. I just wanted to relax knowing my friends would be okay.

Pinkie didn't answer for a long time. Then, finally, she shook her head. “I don't know. I didn't see her today.”

And then it was a blur. I remember heading for the window and tearing off the board. I felt Pinkie grab me from behind. There was kicking and yelling and crying and other ponies joining in and I was doing everything in my power to get away. I had to find Applejack. I had to make absolutely sure that all of my friends were safe. I know Pinkie was just worried I'd get hurt but I wasn't thinking of that then, all I was thinking about was that I had to get to Sweet Apple Acres. I had to make sure AJ didn't get pinned under a tree or struck by lightening or something horrible like that. I wasn't thinking about whether going back out into the storm was a good idea or not. I just didn't care.

At some point, I felt Pinkie's grip loosen and I didn't hesitate to take the opportunity. I threw the window open and bolted outside. I was drenched instantly but I didn't let it slow me down. I flapped my wings as hard as I could and burst through clouds, dodging hail and avoiding powerful wind-currents. I wasn't thinking at that point. Just fly, fly, fly! Faster, faster, faster!

I banked left—then right, dropped down, rose up, zigzagged and whirled, struggling to follow the path. I kept getting blown in the wrong direction, spun around and even flipped upside-down. I was at the mercy of the wind. Nothing I could do was going to be powerful enough to get me to that farm—

Unless....

Now, everypony's had a stupid-crazy idea before, right? An absolutely insane idea that you'd never dream of under normal circumstances. The kind of idea that only ever seems logical at the time and never, ever, ever again. Well, I had one of those this morning. All I was thinking was how much I needed to get to Applejack. Nothing else mattered.

So I rose up into the air, straight through the rain and sleet and hail. Up, up, up until I couldn't do it anymore. The wind was warning me with growls and roars but I wasn't listening. I gave the ground one last glance before I dove, flapping as hard as I could. Rain slapped at my face and hail stung like giant wasps. But I couldn't stop then. I could feel the friction start to build, that invisible wall separating me from the barrier. I flew harder, slicing through the wind, hooves outstretched, trying to get through and—

BOOM! I broke through and tore past the angry air. Everything was zooming by so fast I lost track of where I was. I kept going straight, holding the speed for as long as I could. My body was going numb. I could feel a strange tingling in my limbs. I couldn't see where I was going. Everything was so confusing and blurry. My head ached, my face was numb. A flash of fiery pain blazed through my wings.

I don't remember what happened next very well. I think I—well, I'm pretty sure I lost control. Trees were rising up out of nowhere. Everything was spiraling around me. Rain fell backwards into the sky. Colours blended, vision blurred, the ground launched itself at at me and—

Nothing.

The next thing I remember is waking up here in the hospital, my friends looking over me. The storm is over. Apparently, it ended just a few minutes after I crashed (I still stand by my actions, though, as crazy-stupid as they were. I was trying to make sure my friends were safe. I'd say that's worth a few broken bones). Applejack said she found me in the orchard when she went out to survey the damage. She said I was lying crumpled in the mud, half-dead with my limbs twisted in cringe-worthy positions. After a moment of panic, she had Big Mac help her get me to the hospital. After they assured her I was going to be fine, she raced to get the others.

None of them were hurt. Thank Celestia, they weren't hurt.

I managed to break both wings, fracture my left foreleg, dislocate the right one and crack my back hoof. I also have a mild concussion and a couple broken ribs but other than that, I'm okay. My memory's fine as far as I know so that's a plus.

“What in Celestia's name were you thinkin'?” Applejack cried when I finished telling them what happened. Pinkie shifted her hooves uneasily and I bit my lip.

“I, um... well, I needed to see if you were okay,” I said simply.

“Ah was fine,” she informed me. “Ya didn't have t' go riskin' yer life t' find that out. All ya had t' do was wait a few cotton-pickin' minutes.” (At least, that's what it sounded like she said. I'm pretty sure I got it right, but when AJ's angry it can be a little harder to understand her.)

I rolled my eyes. “Well I know you're fine now, but I didn't know it then. I freaked out, okay? Give me a break. The sky was falling.”

She didn't try to argue after that.

“You're okay, right, Dashie?” Pinkie asked after a moment's silence. She stepped up closer to the head of my bed.

“I'm fine, Pinkie," I said, "don't worry.”

She reached out suddenly, leaning over and giving me the most spine-crushing hug I've ever received. “I told you not to go out!”

“I—erk! I know, P-Pink-eee—“ I managed to choke out before she loosened her grip. “I didn't think that would happen.”

“It's okay, Dashie,” she said, letting go of me. “Just don't do that again! I thought you... I thought....”

I sighed. “I know, I know. Jeez. I won't do it again.”

“Um, Rainbow,” it was Twilight talking then. She looked concerned but it wasn't just for me. She seemed... preoccupied with something.

I sat up, wincing when I put too much weight on my broken foreleg. I met her eyes. “Yeah?”

“Did you happen to see who started that storm? I need to make a report to Celestia about what happened.”

I shook my head. I had no idea. I still have no idea. Of course it had to have been a pegasus but who could cause all that so suddenly? Who would want to? It's pretty hard to just screw up that badly. The controls for cloud-making and producing storms and all that are pretty straight-forward. The only way to make something like that happen would be to do it on purpose. “Nope. Didn't see a thing. I was sleeping when it started.”

She sighed. “Well, I'm really glad you're okay. If you hear anything, could you tell me?”

I nodded. “Of course, Twilight. You can count on me.” But right then thinking was not something I wanted to be doing. My head was pounding like crazy.

After plenty of hugs and more reassurance from the doctors that I was okay, the others finally left. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but all I wanted to do then was rest.

I'd have to wait for that, though, because Twilight stayed behind. She trotted up to my pillow and held out a book. One I recognized instantly. “I know you don't want the others knowing you have this, but I thought it might come in handy. Sometimes it helps to recall events when you write them down.”

It was my journal and Twilight is the only other pony in the world who knows I have it. Of course, that's only because she gave it to me in the first place. For my birthday one year. I don't know why I started writing in it. I guess it just helped sometimes when I needed to get something off my chest or if I had a weird dream or something. My writing's gotten better, too. Twilight gave me tips and taught me some words. Hey, if reading wasn't as bad as I thought it was, why should writing be? It's kind of calming sometimes. Though I'm still not letting anypony else know about it.

“Actually, I really do want to write down what happened today,” I told her, taking the book. “I don't think anything like this has ever happened before. At least, not in my lifetime.”

She nodded. “It could help me too. I just can't understand why anypony would want to start something like that. What would it accomplish?”

“Chaos?” I suggested, then I laughed. “Maybe it was Discord.”

Twilight shook her head. “Discord likes to make himself known when he does things like that. And besides, he's on Celestia's side now... for the most part.”

I shook my head. “Then I don't know."

Twilight sighed, looking exhausted. “I'll keep thinking. I'll come back and visit you tomorrow, I promise. Try to get some rest, alright?”

“I'm planning on it,” I told her, leaning back against my pillow.

She smiled and headed for the door, closing it softly behind her.

I didn't sleep then, though. I had to make sure I got everything written down before I forgot it. But now I'm going to sleep. My head is throbbing.

There is one more thing that happened, though, but I'll write about it in the morning. For now, I need rest.