To Hell and Back

by CanterlotGuardian

Safe and Sound (pre-edit version)

“Okay,” Twilight said. “Everyone stand back for now.” They all got a safe distance away, as per her request. Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. Pink light appeared on her horn, as was customary when Twilight was using her magic. She appeared to be having a hard time of it, but still she pressed on.

A minute later, her horn flashed bright white, then faded back down to its normal color, and Twilight collapsed onto the floor. All the other ponies rushed around her, concerned for their friend.

“Twilight?” Rarity asked. “Are you okay?” A groan was all she got in response.

“Give her a minute,” Applejack said. “She said it would take a lot out of her.”

They all busied themselves with other things while Twilight rested up for the time being. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash put back the orange books they had gotten down- minus the one that Rarity needed to cast her own spell- while Applejack and Rarity tidied up as best they could upstairs. When they were all done with their tasks, they reconvened in Twilight's study. There, they saw Twilight with her eyes open, a thin smile across her face.

“Did it work?” Pinkie asked expectantly.

Twilight nodded. “I know where she is now.” They all cheered; this was the best news they'd heard all night.

“So where is she?” Applejack asked.

“In the cave... where that smog-breathing dragon was staying. She must have flown up there to escape the storm.” Every word Twilight spoke came out pained and belabored.

“All the way up there?” Rarity asked. “Last time, it took her all we had just to get her there, and now she goes there willingly?”

“Well, Rarity, think about it,” answered Rainbow Dash. “It wasn't the heights that scared her the first time around- it was the dragon. She's a pegasus, you know; no pegasus has ever been scared of heights. Besides, she's probably really scared, and fear can drive you to do things that you wouldn't normally do...”

Rarity recognized the truthfulness of Dash's words, and so fell silent.

“Now that we know where she is,” Applejack chimed in, “we need to go get her.” She turned to Rarity. “That's where you come in, sugarcube. It's your turn.”

Rarity stepped up and motioned for them all to form a half-circle in front of her. Once they were positioned, she began the spell. They could all feel it begin to take effect, and once she finished, they all smiled and applauded her- minus, of course, Twilight Sparkle, who had gone to her bed and laid down.

“Good job, Rarity!” Pinkie said with a big smile.

“Not bad...” admitted Rainbow Dash.

“Now,” Applejack said, stepping forward. It seemed she was becoming the leader of this expedition, and no one wished to take that from her. “Let's go find ourselves a Fluttershy!”

------------------------------------

They all stepped out into the driving rain a few minutes later. As was typical for Storm Day, the streets were empty, though this circumstance was a bit more extraordinary. They couldn't hear Vinyl's music playing anymore, thought they assumed it was because it was now the wee hours of the morning, and everyone had gone to sleep after the party ended. All the better for them, Rainbow Dash thought; no prying eyes to question their actions and motives.

As they had expected, Rarity's spell had worked like a charm. A faint white glow could be seen surrounding their bodies and the torrential downpour did not affect them at all.

They were about to set out when a small voice came from behind them: “Rainbow Dash! Pinkie They turned. Standing in the rain was little Dinky Doo.

“Dinky?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “What are you doing out here?!”

“Where are you going?” she asked in response.

“Out to look for... someone.”

Dinky's eyes lit up. “You're looking for my mommy, too?”

It took Rainbow Dash a minute for that to register. “Wait... so Derpy's out there, too?”

Dinky nodded. “She was on a mail delivery to Cloudsdale... I guess she didn't make it back in time.”

“Okay, Dinky...” Rainbow sighed. “We'll keep an eye out for Derpy while we're out. Now go back inside!” Dinky ran off and into her house, shutting the door and locking it behind her.

Rainbow looked at the group. “Two rescue missions...?”

“We're already going out to look for Fluttershy,” Applejack answered. “It couldn't hurt for us to look for Ditzy Doo along the way, as well.”

With that settled, they finally set out along the path that would lead them to the cave.

------------------------------------

It took them until close to dawn to reach the mountain. With renewed determination, though definitely weary-worn, they pressed on up the treacherous mountain path. Soon, they found, they were halfway to the cave. They were about to continue, when Rainbow Dash held out a hoof, signaling for everyone to stop, which they did.

“What is it?” Rarity whispered.

“There's something up ahead... It's flying kind of erratically.”

“Is it Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked.

Rainbow braced herself against the driving rain and squinted. “No... It's the wrong coloration.” Suddenly, she smiled. “Hey...! It's Derpy!” They all ran ahead. Sure enough, Derpy was flying in front of them, upside-down.

“Derpy!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Why are you flying upside-down?”

Derpy looked at her a bit askance. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“Because... most pegasi fly right-side up.”

“I do, too!” Derpy answered. “Just not when it's raining. Flying like this keeps the rain out of my eyes.” It made sense, oddly enough.

“Ditzy!” said Applejack. “Dinky is really worried about you!”

“I'm headed home right now, though! I took what I thought was a shortcut, that turned out to be not so short...” She shook the rain from her drenched body.

Rarity stepped up and touched her horn to Derpy's flank. Her horn glowed briefly then died

“What did you-” Derpy started to say, when she stopped in mid-sentence. “Hey... I'm dry now!”

Rarity nodded. “And you won't be getting wet the rest of the way home, either.”

Derpy smiled. “Thanks! Bye, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy flew off in the direction of Ponyville, calling out one last thing under her shoulder: “Hey, your friend is still in that cave up ahead!”

Rainbow Dash heard her. “Derpy says Fluttershy is still in the cave. Let's go!”

They charged ahead full-speed, and made it up to the cave with a quickness. Stepping in, they walked forward tenuously, the night sky with its storms robbing them of precious natural light. Rarity's horn flared as she cast a light spell, and the cave became fully illuminated. Rarity saw her first.

“Fluttershy!” she said excitedly, charging in with everypony else in tow. They reached her in a
matter of seconds, and Applejack began looking her over.

“She looks to be mostly fine,” Applejack said, “but she's very weak and very wet. She could get really sick if we don't do something soon.”

Rarity performed her spell one last time, touching Fluttershy's forehead with her horn. The remainder of the water on Fluttershy's body wicked itself away, and she was dried off and warded almost immediately. Rainbow Dash hoisted her onto her back and began to carry her back down the mountain, the others following closely behind.

------------------------------------

The following day, morning broke, and the skies were cloudless and sunny. This time, Rainbow Dash had been sure to do her duty to escort the now-dry storm clouds back to Cloudsdale. Rainbowshine and the others had taken them off Dash's hands, allowing her to speed back to Ponyville. She was going so fast, she almost made a sonic rainboom again as she went.

When she returned to Twilight's house, she was greeted by Applejack and Twilight, who was feeling much refreshed now that sleep had allowed her magical energies to regenerate.

“She's awake,” Applejack said, “and she wants to see you.”

Rainbow Dash smiled and flew in. Fluttershy was in Twilight's bed, buried up to her neck in warm blankets. When she saw Rainbow Dash, she lit up.

“You're here...” she said with her characteristic softness. “Please don't be mad at me...”

“Mad?” Dash asked with a hint of incredulity. “How could I be mad? I'm just happy to see you alive and well.”

“But... I caused so much trouble for you all... If only I'd come back on time-”

Rainbow shushed her. “It's ok, really. You need to rest. I'll be back later to check on you.”

Fluttershy almost bolted out of the bed. “No, please...!” she squeaked. “Come on, stay here with me... You were the one who wanted me to do that for you yesterday... Can you do that now for me?”

There was no way Rainbow Dash could ever refuse a request like that, especially not in the state that Fluttershy was in just then. She smiled. “Okay, fine...” She trotted around to the other side of the bed and got under the covers. She looked around to see that no one else was in the room, and when she confirmed this, she snuggled up close to Fluttershy.

“You know,” Dash said, “I still need to help you confess your love to that other pony-”

Fluttershy shook her head, cutting Rainbow Dash off. “Not anymore... I had some time to think it out and I feel like I need to do it on my own.”

Rainbow Dash was quite impressed. “Can you at least tell me who he is?” she asked.

In response, Fluttershy kissed Dash and nuzzled up close to her.

“It's a she... Silly.”

Comments

[Flying-Claw]

Daaaaw !

Nice Chapters.

[Gammer14]

It could have been a little longer and possibly more adventurous then it was. Just seems Iike you solve all the worlds problems with magic and random lucky coincidences in this case, but it was still a good story none the less

[SolidFire]

I really liked this story. I feel like it could have been a bit more drawn out, but it was still really nice. I look forward to reading more from you in the future. Keep up the great writing!

[Rainbow87dash]

2546432 not much, check out this pic

fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/129/b/7/sleeping_dashie_by_sh2otingstar-d4z137j.png

[Smylie369963]

Very good story!

[SolidFire]

3236379
Is that a good thing?

~SolidFire

[One Big Macintosh]

it was a nice story, but Dash was a little bit out of character ya know, when she realized that shy was out there,instead of just starting to crying she would just go out into the storm to look for her, that is something more like her i think, still good story and a nice ending jejeje

[HyperBlossom7]

It was pretty good, but just a couple things.
1. It would have been a lot faster if Rarity had just used the spell on Rainbow Dash so she could zoom up to the cave in seconds.
2. You could have made it more romantic by just having Rainbow Dash go rescue her, and have a special moment between the two ponies

But other than that it was great :D!