This chapter has been modified from its original state to include more content for your reading pleasure. Earlier comments may be referring to the previous release and do not necessarily apply to this version of the chapter.
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Knock Knock Knock
Fluttershy slowly cracked opened her eyes, having heard an unfamiliar sound inside her dream world. I sounded almost like somepony knocking at the door.
Knock Knock
There it was again, except that she was no longer asleep, and there actually was somepony attempting to get into her cottage. She looked out her window, expecting to see sunlight, indicating that it was morning and one of her friends probably wanted her help, but instead all she saw was darkness. It was still the middle of the night, and there was somepony knocking at her door.
‘Oh no oh no oh no no no! It’s a burglar, or a kidnapper, or a pirate, or a criminal, or a plumber. Wait, why would it be a plumber? But still, what should I do, what to do?’
She was snapped out of her panic when she was kicked by a small white bunny that had hopped up on the bed beside her.
“Angel! That wasn’t very nice. What did you do that for?”
The pet held up a piece of wood and started rapping his paw against it, imitating the knocking downstairs.
“Yes, I know there’s somepony at the door, or something, but they might be dangerous.”
Angel facepawed and tried a different charade. This time, he propped the wood up and stepped back. He ran at it and mowed it down with his shoulder, as if he were breaking down the door. He then shook his head, and resumed knocking on the faux door.
“Oh!” Fluttershy said, realization hitting her like a rabbit breaking down a piece of wood, “If they were dangerous, they would break down the door, not knock.”
The pegasus still didn’t know who it was, but with her fear slightly reduced, she decided she should at least take a look. She got out of her bed and made her way downstairs, leaving the lights off as she went so as not to give any indication that she was awake. The visitor still might be dangerous, even if they were knocking. I could be a trick. Every creak that her stairs made seemed a hundred times louder than it should have, and Fluttershy felt that whoever may be outside would be sure to hear it. Eventually, she reached her living room and made her way to the window beside the door. Pulling the curtains aside and looking out revealed a dark shape standing on the opposite side of her door, its tail swishing back and forth as the pony stood there. The visitor raised their hoof again and knocked, the sound eerily amplified by the surrounding silence. It was impossible to tell who it was in this lighting, so she would have to actually open the door.
Fluttershy lit a lantern in the middle of the room before unlocking the bolt on her front door. She cracked the wooden panel to let some light shine on the pony outside her house, and was able to catch a glimpse of a rainbow colored tail moving side to side in the night air. Breathing a sigh of relief, Fluttershy opened the door the rest of the way to reveal Rainbow Dash standing there, shivering from the chill and just…standing there. She didn’t appear to realize that the door had been opened, for she simply continued to stare past Fluttershy and into the cottage, as if the door were still there. She confirmed this theory when she raised her hoof to knock again, and was about to give Fluttershy a nasty bruise when the yellow pegasus let out an involuntary “eep” in fear of being treated as a door, instead of the usual doormat.
Snapping out of her daze, Rainbow spoke first. “Oh, hey Fluttershy. Sorry, didn’t realize you had opened the door.”
“Oh..it’s okay I guess…so,ummm…why are you here in the middle of the night? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Well, sorta, could I come in real quick? It’s kind of chilly out here.”
“Oh, yes, come in. Can I get you some tea?”
Fluttershy stepped aside to let her friend in, and was surprised at what she saw. Once Rainbow was in the full light of her lantern, it could be seen how tired she actually looked. Her mane was a mess, more than it usually was, and her eyes were even more magenta than usual. Her coat was covered in patches of dirt with small cuts and scrapes showing through. Dash was no longer shivering from the cold, but she continued to fidget, tapping her hooves on the hardwood floor beneath her. A few of the indoor animals had already been woken by the sound and were glaring at the late night intruder with distaste.
To fix the problem, Fluttershy pulled a rug over beside the blue pegasus and then very gently nudged her onto it. The carpet muffled the tapping considerably, but of course, Rainbow Dash stopped the tapping as soon as she was on the rug.
“Oops, sorry, didn’t realize I was doing that.”
Fluttershy didn’t respond, but instead got to work cleaning and tending to the cuts on Dash’s wings and body.
“What were you doing to get all these cuts…if it’s not a secret that is?”
“Well, I haven’t been able to sleep for the past few nights, bad dreams and all, so I thought I’d do a bit of late flying. Thought it might relieve some stress, or at least make me more tired. All I’m going to say about that idea is, darkness, high speed, and dark colored trees do not go very well together.”
The caregiver nodded her head, having expected something along those lines. She trotted into the kitchen to re-dampen her sponge that she was using to clean the wounds.
“Ow! That stings. What are you doing anyways? Giving me a sponge bath?”
“No, I’m cleaning the dirt and blood off the cuts so that I can get some bandages on them. That way they won’t get infected and you won’t get sick. You should have known not to fly near trees in the dark.”
“I didn’t see them! I just wanted to do something instead of just lying there doing nothing.”
“You mentioned bad dreams? Do you mind telling me what they’re about?”
“Honestly, I’d rather not; it’s sort of…personal.”
After saying that, the tapping of the hooves started again, apparently indicating that whatever these nightmares were about was enough to cause Dash to be nervous. Fluttershy couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Dash so nervous, if ever. The athlete always seemed to be on top of things, always knowing what to do. It was odd seeing her in such a state.
‘I want to help, but if she won’t tell me what’s wrong, I can’t really know what to do. I won’t press though; she can tell me what’s wrong in her own time.’
“There is something I did want to ask you though,” Rainbow said, perking up considerably as she remembered her reason for coming. “You think you could come with me to Cloudsdale? I need to ummm, get some stuff that I left with my parents.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think I would be much help with that sort of thing. You go on without me. My animals need me anyway.”
“Come on Fluttershy! I don’t want to go alone, that would be boring. I don’t think it’s anything big anyways, so you could still help.”
“But my animals…and I’d only slow you down.”
Having finished cleaning and bandaging her friend, Fluttershy put her first aid kit away and sat down on the floor across the rug from the visiting pegasus. Rainbow appeared to be thinking, probably about how badly she would be slowed down if Fluttershy were to go. She’d realize it would take way too long with such a burden, and then she’d withdraw the offer, leaving Fluttershy to stay at home.
‘It’s for the best. I would slow her down and just be an annoyance to her, just like with the dragon, or with the tornado. I always slow her down.’
“I know! I bet Twilight would be willing to take care of your animals for you. She knows enough about them from all those books she reads, so she’d know what to do. I don’t mind taking a while either. Like I said, it’s boring flying alone.”
“Well, I guess that could work, but are you absolutely sure you want me to come along?”
“Hey, if I didn’t, would I have come by and asked you?”
“I guess not, well then, I guess I will go with you. Thank you for asking.” Fluttershy smiled, both from the fact that her friend was willing to hang out with her, and that Dash seemed to be feeling a lot better than before.
“No problem. I guess I better get going, it’s sorta late.”
“Yes, I guess it is. Would you like some tea before you go though?”
Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash agreed. Usually when she visited, she never stayed for tea, always having something else she needed or wanted to be doing. As she set about fixing the beverage, the host thought about what could possibly be wrong with her best friend.
‘This is just weird. Who shows up at…three in the morning to ask a pony to accompany them on a trip? I don’t even think she realizes how late it actually is. Maybe she’s drunk? I don’t think it’s a salt addiction; she probably wouldn’t be able to stand in that case. It would help if she’d tell me what the dreams were of; they seem to be a major part of all of it.”
She finished making the tea and carried it out, only to find that Dash had actually left. Fluttershy didn’t blame her though; she did seem really out of it and probably needed some sleep. Speaking of sleep, the yawn that escaped her mouth reminded her just how late it actually was, and she decided that she should get back to bed. She put the tea into her icebox, figuring that she could have some cold tea in the morning, and then put out the lights before heading back upstairs.
Once in bed, the yellow pegasus didn’t have too much trouble falling asleep, only occasionally worrying about if Rainbow was going to be alright. It occurred to her that she had never asked when the trip actually was. She may be able to get her pets taken care of, but Rarity would never forgive her if she didn’t show up to the spa on Saturday.
‘I’ll have to ask her tomorrow if I see her.’
With that, she slipped back into her dreamland, and resumed her adventures with Angel. It was so much fun being a bunny!
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Rainbow Dash staggered into her bedroom, somehow tired from the short flight back to her house from…
‘Where was I again? I think…practice field! That’s it! I was at my practice field, and I crashed and then…how did I get these bandages? I guess maybe I went to the hospital…and they must have knocked me out or something, but why? Did I injure myself that badly? Well, at least I know I can fly; just hope the bill isn’t too much. No more nighttime flying in that field. Boy, I am tired. Oh look, bed.’
Dash collapsed onto her bed, and instantly started to fall asleep, her body trying to catch up on the lost sleep over the past week. She had the strangest feeling that she was supposed to get tea, but that was absurd, she didn’t drink tea.
‘Oh well, must just be the drugs from the hospital.’