//------------------------------// // Renewal // Story: With These Wings // by xara //------------------------------// The path meandered downwards towards Ponyville, and the pegasus trod along it. Despite what Luna had said, something had been stolen from Rainbow Dash that day. Something she had never felt before was rising up to etch itself upon her face, to tie down her wings, to drag her hooves, and to make her lower her head. It was regret - for not spending more time with Scootaloo, for not learning more, for feeling as if she had failed the filly, and knowing she might never see the little one again. Luna's words rang true but at the same time felt hollow. Stories. What is that supposed to mean? The town came into view, but Dash halted at the edge of it. So now what? Where would she go? What would she do? She wondered if Celestia had spoken to Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle. Dash knew she would have to speak with Scootaloo's friends, but she couldn't face that. Not yet. Who else? Cheerilee. The schoolteacher knew the the children well enough. Dash thought about the orphanage, and the old mare who ran it. She wondered what Ms. Weaving had said or done when she found out the filly was being taken away. Dash couldn't think of anyone else close to the girl. Stories. She knew campfire stories. Is that what Luna meant? They had scared Rainbow Dash long ago and had done the same for Scootaloo, and admitting that to each other had brought them closer. But... what was she supposed to do with that knowledge? Hang around town and shout the story of the Headless Horse or the Olden Pony to passerby? Good idea, becoming the town crazy. What else was there? She didn't know many stories besides the series that Twilight had gotten her hooked on. Daring Do. She thought of Scootaloo knocking the first book off of Dash's hoof in anger. She stood up and crossed into town. The search ended and the missing filly found, if not returned, the ponies of Ponyville had returned to their normal activity. As she passed by them, most spared her a glance with varying emotions, but all chose to leave her be. Her hooves thumped against cobble and dirt. Glass from the hospital windows reflected the afternoon sun's rays into blinding spots as she approached the place and pushed through the entrance. The nurse at the front desk looked at her. "I left one of my books in the room," she said simply. The nurse waved her through. Dash went through the second set of doors, back into the long hallway. She could see the Doctor down at the end, conversing with another member of the staff. She saw him take notice, his eyes shifting away from the conversation, which lulled, but he seemed to understand her loss and with the raising of a hoof drew the nurse and himself into one of the offices. Dash pushed against the last door, the one to room 3. Scootaloo's former bed had been made; the sheets changed and tucked down with a sharp crispness to the folds. The window had been latched again, and the privacy curtain drawn halfway shut. That wasn't the spot she had to go to, though. The book had flown far in the filly's fury, sliding under the other bed. For some reason, the curtain there had also been drawn closed. Suddenly nervous, Dash decided it had probably been occupied. She tried to walk softly across the floor, though she could not entirely stop the thick and sturdy soles from resounding. She drew aside the curtain, wincing as the metallic rings atop the guiding pole screeched in protest. It was occupied. A tiny shape; it appeared to be an Earth pony, not much older than a foal. She had a coppery brownish coat and a curly, lightly-greened mane. On one leg was a small wrapping from which came a short tube connected to what she guessed was an IV drip. The foal didn't seem to have woken from the noise, so Dash knelt to peer under the bed. There it was - scrunched up against a corner far underneath, a short, slightly cleaner path through the dust showing the path it had taken, although it looked almost as if the book had moved back and forth already. Maybe it had been disturbed by the nurses. She had to lay down flat and stretch her leg to its limit, but was able to nudge a corner and pull the old adventure novel back towards her. Clang. She muffled an exhalation of breath as she misjudged the edge of the bed's frame and banged against it coming back up. The book lay half-exposed, and Dash stared straight into the wide open eyes of the foal. The child's pale green eyes looked completely awake, not as if she had just been disturbed at all. "What are you doing?" the foal's voice piped cheerfully. "I... uh... dropped this book here earlier," said the pegasus. "What were you sick with? Was this your bed? I just got here today," the foal announced. "I wasn't sick, I was visiting a... a friend." "I have the flu!" Spoken in a tone of pride. "They have to put flu-ids in me and make me rest. Isn't that funny, flu and flu-ids going together?" Carefully pronouncing the illness. "Your hair is funny, you know," the foal spoke primly, "With so many colors." Dash gave the child a bit of a smile, though she saw little humor in any of it. "Yeah, you're right, it is. Well... bye." She picked up the book, grasping it in her muzzle, backing away from the bed before turning to the door. For some reason she paused, though, and took the book atop a hoof while looking back. The foal still laid there, staring at her. "What's your name, kid?" "Penny," she piped. Dash turned and left. ~ ~ ~ She took up her pensive walk again after she exited the hospital. Her hooves led her to the Golden Oak library which served as Twilight's home. She knocked, and the purple-maned pony soon magicked it open. "Rainbow Dash," she acknowledged. Behind her, Rarity and Applejack appeared to have been talking, but had stopped at the interruption. "Bringing back your book," was all that Dash mumbled with the bound pages in her mouth.. Twilight clearly wanted to say something, but just indicated the few inches of space along a shelf lined with titles extorting the adventures of Daring Do. The book slid into place at the front of the line. It was Applejack who approached the pegasus then. She didn't speak, but touched cheek to cheek with her friend, lifting a hoof to wrap behind Dash's neck, giving her a big squeeze. Dash closed her eyes and laid her head beside Applejack's light hair. "Need a place t'stay," she added. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other, surprised, wondering about Dash's Cloudsdale home. Rarity drew closer, adding her own hoof to Rainbow's mane. "Of course, dear. I'll have a guest bed placed in my thinking room. Stay as long as you wish." When the pegasus had left, the others sat down on the floor. "Will she be okay, Twi?" asked Applejack. "I hope so, Applejack. Celestia said we should give Rainbow time. She has to work things out. All we can do is be here for her when she needs us." "What about the Elements?" said a hopeful Rarity. "Or the memory spell you used on us before?" "She is one of the Elements, I don't think we can use them on her like that. And she hasn't forgotten her friendships, she's just... working out how she thinks about things. You know she is strong... it just needs time." ~ ~ ~ Dash stopped flying. No longer did she soar through the sky, zip along above the ground, or kick up from below to bowl people over in a laughing gust of wind. Everywhere she went, her hooves took her with the same slow plodding she had begun on the way down from Winsome Falls. She had a message delivered to the Wonderbolts Academy, announcing her withdrawal from the program. Even when Spitfire herself showed up (delayed by doing so at Cloudsdale at first) to demand an explanation, Dash would only shake her head and apologize, refusing to elaborate until the frustrated flier left. Dash's Cloudsdale home she sold, offering some of the money at first to Rarity, who gently refused, then to Cloudsdale to make up for leaving her weather duties. She wouldn't leave the ground. Most days she left Rarity's house in the morning, leaving the fashion designer to sigh and wipe away little tears before turning to her works of fabric. Dash walked to the park most of the time, just to sit beside the little lakes and gaze at water and grass and trees. Even Pinkie Pie realized that silliness and craziness wouldn't help, but brought sandwiches and cupcakes to the pegasus whenever Dash spent lunchtimes out there. Some days she sat across the street from the hospital, or the orphanage. Never really talking to anypony, though she would give short answers to questions. Most of them being "No thanks." Stories. She couldn't forget Luna's words. Days blurred, weeks passed. Her wings stayed pressed to her sides. It was outside the hospital she sat again one day when some ponies walked up the path. "Hey, it's the silly-haired girl! It's me, Penny!" The foal happily waved from between the escort of her parents. "I got a stone in my hoof!" Dash half-raised a hoof in response, but Penny had already been swept inside. A few hours later, the two pony parents came back out, less their foal. Rainbow had agonized during this time, but came to a snap in her head and stood to approach them. "Is she staying the night?" "Yes," they answered, "Just to keep an eye out for infection." Stories, she thought. "Do you mind if I could... read to her?" The two ponies glanced at each other, but saw nothing amiss with the request, and acceded. "Please do, Rainbow Dash." She hurried to Twilight's library. Her friend was not home, so Dash just entered the mostly-public ground floor herself. She looked at the shelves and shelves of books, finding the one which contained the dozen or more Daring Do adventures. Although she hesitated, looking at the first one, Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone. Not that one, she thought, that's for Scoots. Instead, Dash grabbed the second book, Daring Do and the Altar of Misfortune. Once again, she entered the hospital, explaining the received permission to the desk nurse, and, as fate would have it, ended up in room 3. The copper-coated foal was happily sipping from a cup. "Hi!" she exclaimed in glee, followed by a brief spasm of choking as she apparently inhaled a little bit of the hay drink. "Careful, kid," said Dash. "Penny! I'm Penny. You never told me your name." Accusing look, but tinged with mischief. "I'm Rainbow Dash. I talked to your parents... I had this idea that you might like hearing a story, but they told me you don't like hearing about adventures or big ol' heroes." "Not true! Not true!" objected the little one. "I love stories!" "Oh? Well... I did bring one with me, just in case..." "Tell me!" said Penny, flinging herself back against the mass of pillows until she sat half upright. "Well, if you insist," said Dash, pulling a small stool over from a far corner to sit her flank on, before pulling aside the book's cover and turning to the first page of the story. "Daring Do, her brimmed hat pulled down on her head, shading her eyes, entered the cantina as music blared from within. She was meeting the pony that had hired her to recover the ancient statuette, but she expected trouble..." She read to the foal all afternoon, the child's eyes widening, blinking, closing in amazement as the depiction of the adventure filled her thoughts. Dash took only a few moments now and then to wet her throat from the sink, the speaking having dried her out. Supper for the patient arrived, and Dash continued the story as Penny nibbled and slurped her meal away. Late in the eve, the story concluded, and the foal applauded with ferocity, banging her front hooves together in a salute. Dash smiled at the child. "Thanks for putting up with an old pony like me," she said, shutting the book. Penny didn't let her go so easy as that. Her high-pitched voice piped again and again and she came up with one more question after another for Dash, asking about adventures, Rainbow Dash, Ponyville, and everything else that popped into her mind. Dash learned how the little pony liked to catch frogs from the creek, giggling at their green skin that matched the color of her mane before plopping them back into the running water. Dash told her how pegasus ponies can walk on clouds and kick them apart, or even pull them together. The foal wondered how far away dragons normally live, and why do they fly so far? Dash spoke about the juicy crispness of Apple family cider in the fall. Finally, the girl's eyelids dropped, and she abandoned a remark mid-sentence to drift off to sleep. Rainbow Dash rose quietly and with a measure of tenderness brought the bedsheets up to Penny's chin. Another day in the park, and Dash sat looking out over the water. Suddenly, a clod of dirt struck her mane, and she looked around, startled. A little foal giggled from behind a tree, and Dash recognized the bedside friend. "What are you doing here, my little pony?" she asked. "Another story!" came the pleading reply. Dash walked with the child to the library. They sat on the cushions there, Twilight Sparkle smiling at them whenever she passed through the room, and the two read Daring Do's third adventure. A few weeks later, a slightly older filly asked to join the reading. " 'S my sister, Nickel," said the copper foal. Stories. The three of them shared adventures, hopes, and dreams. They read at the library, at the park, lying in the grass under the trees lining the roads. Penny insisted on acting out one of her favorite scenes, and Rainbow Dash asked a beaming Rarity for some costumes. They enacted their little play at the town stage. Some of Penny's friends had come - they all wanted to watch. "We're starting school together next year," said Penny. They all joined the reading group. Weeks later, when Ms. Weaving asked Dash to have one of her story sessions at the orphanage, the pegasus could not help but agree. Foals, fillies, and colts watched and listened with rapt attention as words came to them. They held every session there, after that, except when Ms. Weaving allowed all the children to visit the park under careful supervision. Pinkie Pie helped, often - the Cake twins were young, but somehow the stories kept them calm and attentive. Months went by, and every week Dash shared with them a new adventure. But finally, the final book had been read, and Dash stood in front of the long shelf, staring. Look to your stories, came the memory. She pulled down the very first book, the one she had skipped, and headed out. Two dozen children sat under the trees of the park as Dash later finished the end of the book. "The cunning Ahuizotl cackled, holding up the sapphire statue with the hand at the end of his tail. 'With Daring Do out of the way, the world will suffer mightily at my hands. I am victorious!' Suddenly, the brave Daring Do swept past him holding onto a vine, snatching away the statue and landing on an outcropping of rock!" From behind her, Dash heard a soft woosh and the landing of hooves, but she turned to the last page. She froze, unable to continue. Someone had written on the back inside cover. Dash moved her eyes across it again and again, but a rising clamor from the children at the story's interruption urged her to complete the reading. " 'What? Nooo! Curse you, Daring Do!' shouted the wicked Ahuizotl. Daring Do escaped with the sun setting over the jungle behind her. And so, with Ahuizotl defeated, and the sapphire statue secured...the world was safe and sound once again, thanks to Daring Do!" She looked once more at the added inscription. The hoofbeats sounded behind her again, closer, and she could sense a presence. I love you Rainbow Dash. She turned. Princess Luna moved to the side to reveal a saffron-coated filly...with one wing. "I read it anyway, after you left," Scootaloo said sheepishly. The two embraced. Rainbow Dash felt her heart soar, all the joy within rising until she felt so full of energy she thought she would explode. Her wings, for so long held at her side, unfurled the bright blue feathers and the pair rocketed away from the ground, giggling together. Rainbow Dash sped until the air finally surrendered. BOOM.