> The Long Way Home
>  by MADMatt7777
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Long Way Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Thanks again Zecora, I don't know what I would have done without this medicine for Angel," Fluttershy said with a smile as she put the potion in her saddle bag. "He has been feeling awfully sick and I tried everything I could think of." 
She really had tried everything. When Angel first started to feel bad she brewed up some herbal tea for him, but he refused to drink it.  He had refused everything she tried to give him, but now that she had medicine that would make him feel better, he would have to take it.
"It was my pleasure, Fluttershy. Angel will begin to feel alive. Best you begin to fly, for night will soon arrive.” said Zecora in that sing-song way she usually spoke.
It was always odd the way Zecora talked. Fluttershy had often wondered if all zebras spoke like that, yet it would be considered rude to ask, so she usually kept that to herself. Fluttershy looked at the door and shuddered. She had walked over here when the sun was still up since Zecora's house was in the middle of the Everfree forest. Now that the sun was going down, there was no telling how dangerous the walk back would be.
"Well, I guess I’ll be going home now, I hope you have a good night," and with that, Fluttershy walked out the door, leaving the zebra standing in the middle of the room with a concerned look on her face.
I better take that shortcut, the less time I’m out here the better, Fluttershy thought. As the sun went down, the wind began to pick up and drowned out the sound of her own hoof steps. That’s odd, why is it so windy? I don't recall the weather team scheduling a storm. The sun was completely down by now, and clouds completely covered the sky. The faint glow of the moon through the clouds was all that illuminated her path.  The air was cold and it pierced through her coat and mane like spear. Flutterhy's pace picked up from a walk to a trot and then to a full on sprint.
CRACK!  Fluttershy stopped in the middle of a dead sprint and nearly toppled over as a bolt of lightning struck a tree, sending it crashing to the ground, almost on top of her. In a flurry of panic she made a right turn and started her sprint again dropping her saddle bag onto the ground. She had no idea where she was running and frankly she didn’t care. Anywhere would be better than here right now. Her mind raced with questions as she ran. What will happen if I disappear? Will my friends come and look for me? Who will take care of my forest friends if I’m gone? Oh what was it that Pinkie told us to do when we are scared? 
The wind soon died down so Fluttershy dropped her pace to a trot and continued to walk down the dirt path she was on. She had never seen this part of the forest before, since she rarely ever went more than a hundred yards into it. 
“Why has the storm stopped?” She said to no pony in particular. “I should probably try to get home now before it picks back up.” In truth, she wasn’t the only pony who didn’t know what was going on.
*  *  *
Back in Ponyville, every pony was abuzz with worry. The weather team had no idea how such a storm was made, but every pony knew it wasn’t their fault; the Everfree forest had always had its own, special kind of magic. Every member of Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie team were out trying to calm the storm but to no avail. Rainbow Dash, who had been leader of Bravo team, paced back and forth in Twilight’s library. She knew that her team needed her but something wasn’t right. In the background Twilight rummaged through a chest looking for some kind of science thingy. Rainbow Dash had volunteered to help Twilight clean up the library; she still didn’t remember why she did such a thing. Maybe it was because all of her other friends were away at the time.
“Hey Twi, why am I the only pony who volunteered to help you clean?” Rainbow inquired. “I mean, I’m not the neatest pony in Ponyville, but still.”
Twilight poked her head out of the chest and looked at Rainbow. “Well, you weren’t the first pony I asked. Applejack is in Appaloosa helping Braeburn, Rarity is making a dress for some elite pony in Canterlot, Fluttershy went to see Zecora about one of her animals, and don’t even ask about Pinkie Pie.” Twilight had made it about half way through her sentence before she went back to digging.
“Wait, did you say Fluttershy went to see Zecora?”
“Yeah, Why?”
“That Storm is directly over where Zecora lives.”
“So?” Twilight poked her head out of the box again, only this time she had a book sitting squarely on her head. She quickly shook it off and looked at Rainbow Dash who was looking out a window in the direction of Zecora’s house.
In less than half a second Rainbow Dash had pulled Twilight out of the box and was shaking her just feet above the ground. “Are you crazy,” she said, worry in her eyes “If you haven’t noticed, Fluttershy isn’t the bravest pony, and she could be stuck out in that storm!” She dropped Twilight and rushed to a different window which faced Fluttershy’s cottage.
“I’m sure she is fine Rainbow, Fluttershy isn’t the helpless pony you think she is. She can take care of herself.”
“I’m going to go to her cottage and make sure she got back ok.” 
Before Twilight had time to respond her door was flung open as Rainbow flew towards Fluttershy’s house, leaving her trademark rainbow trail behind her.
*  *  *
Fluttershy had been walking around for about fifteen minutes before the wind had begun to pick up again. She had no idea where she was and had made almost no progress in this brief period of time. The storm was worse now, the winds were even stronger and there was rain this time. Fluttershy didn’t mind the rain, when she was safe and cozy in her house, but out here it was different. Out here the rain was cold and it hurt when it hit her face. The only thing that the rain was good for was to hide her tears as she walked along in silence. She didn’t care about the wind or about how her mane was wet; all she cared about was the fact that she was lost and might never see her friends again. She stopped in the middle of the path she was walking down, sat down in the mud and dirt, and cried. 
“Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy shook her head, trying to get rid herself of her thoughts. It’s almost like I can hear Rainbow Dash calling my name.
“Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy looked up into the night sky and looked around. That sounds real. Could Rainbow Dash be out here looking for me?
“Fluttershy!”
That’s real! “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! I’m over here!” Fluttershy yelled into the night. She strained her ears, waiting for a response. After a minute she turned around and began to walk away crying. It wasn’t real. I’m a fool for believing it was.
“Fluttershy, there you are!”
Fluttershy stopped mid stride and turned around. There, standing in the rain, was Rainbow Dash. Joy overcame her as she began to sprint towards her friend. Her best friend. Just as she reached Rainbow, exhaustion overcame her and she crashed to the ground at Rainbow’s hooves.
*  *  *
Gah, why does this wind have to be so bucking powerful? Rainbow thought as she flew against the wind in a desperate effort to find her friend who was somewhere out in this wild weather.  I’m going have to land and look for her on hoof if I want to make any progress at all. I hope she is alright. Rainbow flew to the ground and hit it running. I have to find Fluttershy, no, I need to find her.
Rainbow had flown directly from the library to Shy’s cottage faster than she had ever flown there before. She beat on the door for what seemed like hours but no pony answered. Fearing the worst she flew into the Everfree forest to Zecora’s house. There, Zecora had told her that Fluttershy had left earlier to walk home. 
All of that took place about ten at night. It was close to 3 in the morning now and Rainbow didn’t know if she would ever find her friend. Rainbow had always been able to cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. Ever since she and Applejack had raced, she was determined to be first this year, so she trained almost constantly. Her mind began to drift off as she came around a bend, tripped, and landed face first into the ground. Staggering to her hooves she looked around making sure no pony saw that. Turning around, she found what she had tripped on. A charred tree lay in the middle of the path. It must have been struck by lightning. She thought as she walked over to it. 
“Hmm what’s this?” a blue saddle bag lay on the ground near the tree. Rainbow walked over and picked it up. It had Fluttershy’s cutie mark on it. Ever since she and her friends found out that they were the elements of harmony, Rarity had made them all saddle bags with their cutie mark on it. Oh I hope she is close. Rainbow picked up the bag and took a peek inside. Let’s see what we have here. A quill and some paper, a book about edible plants, and…a flask? Rainbow picked up the flask out of the bag. It was filled with a clear liquid and was about half full. Placing it back in the saddle bag rainbow slung it over her back. She started to run back down the muddy path. The rain started to pour and weighed the already heavy saddle bag down, causing her to run slower, but her determination to find her friend made her push through her exhaustion. 
I’m not making any progress just running around in the mud like this I should really - Whoa whoa whoa what was that. Rainbow skidded to a stop and turned around to look at the ground. Although it was raining a set of hoof prints were clearly visible in the mud. They are still visible, that means they are fresh, which means that Fluttershy is really close! 
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow yelled as loud as she possibly could but she wasn’t sure it was loud enough. The high winds drowned out almost everything.
“Fluttershy!” Oh please, Fluttershy, answer me, maybe I need to get higher. Mustering up her strength Rainbow flew roughly twenty feet into the air.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow fought to stay in the air as the wind continued to blow. Her mane swirling around her face as she strained to listen.
“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash! I’m over here!” it was the faintest whisper on the wind but it was enough for Rainbow Dash. She flew back down to the ground and ran, she ran faster than she had ever run before. Busting through a bush, Rainbow found herself in a clearing. Walking away from her was a rather soaked looking mare.
“Fluttershy, there you are!” That soaked mare that had, only moments ago, been walking away turned around and looked Rainbow straight in the eyes. Her eyes were filled with hope as she began running right at Rainbow. Yet something was wrong as she got near she began to fall and landed right in front of Rainbow. 
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow screamed as she knelt down to check on her friend. “Fluttershy are you ok?” Scooping her friend up in her hooves, Rainbow looked around. On the cliff side was a small cave that looked big enough for two ponies. Looking down at her friend she realized, Fluttershy isn’t strong enough to fly up there in these winds. I’m going to have to carry her. Picking her friend up in her hooves Rainbow began to fly towards the cave. It was slow going, the winds constantly fighting her and having to carry twice her weight in pony, but nevertheless she made it. Laying Fluttershy on the cave floor, Rainbow put her hoof against her friends head. She was cold, really cold.
I need to warm her up somehow thoughts raced through her mind about what to do and then everything became calm. She did know what to do. Curling up next to Fluttershy, she wrapped her warm, feathery wings around her friend in a last ditch effort to help her best friend. The winds howled non-stop that night, but somehow she managed to fall asleep with the pony she cared for most about right next to her.
*  *  *
“Ugh” Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked around, although she did not recognize where she was. Lying there, curled up into a ball, she untangled her limbs and sat up. She was soaked to the bone although she was out of the rain. The ground was rock hard and cold yet something was warm and soft and it was curled up next to her.  Looking over her shoulder she found Rainbow Dash, looking at her with those vermilion eyes of hers. 
“Hey sleepy head.” Rainbow said as she folded her wings and sat up. “You’re lucky I found you, it was really bad last night.”
“Thanks” Blushing, Fluttershy turned away to hide her rosy cheeks from her friend.
Concerned about her friend, Rainbow Dash sat up, stretched her wings, and turned to her friend. “Fluttershy, is everything ok? You were out there for a long time last night. If you want to talk abo-” The rest of the sentence faded away as Fluttershy’s lips pressed against Rainbow’s in a kiss. Pulling away, Fluttershy’s entire face turned a deep shade of crimson as Rainbow looked at her.
“Rainbow Dash, you came and rescued me. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did.” 	
“Fluttershy, I care about you more than in any pony else in this entire world. I would do anything for you.” Embracing her in a hug Rainbow felt warm tears on her shoulder. After the long hug they pulled away. Looking into each other’s eyes, Rainbow reached up and wiped away a tear. “C’mon, let’s go home.”
Stepping to the mouth of the cave the world outside came into focus. The sun shone brightly in the sky and not a single cloud was in sight. From the mouth of the cave the Everfree forest looked peaceful and serene. After some convincing and a little pushing, Rainbow finally got Fluttershy down the cliff and onto flat ground. 
“Oh, wait!” Rainbow Dash took off into the air back to the cave leaving Fluttershy in a clearing alone. Less than thirty seconds later Rainbow was back, carrying a saddle bag in her mouth. “I found this last night. Looks important.”
Fluttershy nuzzled rainbow on the neck “It is, thank you” turning around, Fluttershy felt a soft wing wrap around her. Taking a half step closer she wrapped her own wing around Rainbow. “Can we, um, take the long way home?”