…and then something grabs you from behind!
You struggle weakly, feeling bone grind against bone in more than a few places, but then yellow wings wrap around your body, and you stop, shivering, confused.
A space-suited body drifts around into your vision, and then a pretty white mare is looking at you. She looks very worried. Stop looking sad, pretty mare… She taps at something on her foreleg, then holds it against yours, a soft glow enveloping them both.
And then letters and numbers start flickering at the edges of your vision. The crack in your helmet closes up, and suddenly you can breathe a little easier…and a little more. Your radio cuts in.
"Dash? Can you hear me? Say something, please." She's crying.
You swallow, your throat feeling like it's full of razorblades, but you manage to croak out, "Rares." Your eyes start to drift shut again.
"She shouldn't sleep, Rarity. Not yet."
"Alright." She pulls an injector out of a pocket, and attaches it to a port on the neck of your suit. You feel something tingle, and then the world sharpens.
"Oy!" You blink, then swallow again. "Mmmf…good stuff."
She smiles weakly. "I want to hug you, but Fluttershy's readings say you're basically one big bruise."
"Thought…counts." You try to smile…maybe you succeeded.
Then, the world goes white. Rarity is blocking the direct light, but your eyes reflexively clamp shut despite that. When you open them, you can see through your belatedly darkened faceplate that her eyes are closed as well. She opens them, and then cranes her neck to look over her shoulder, before moving out of the way.
On the planet's horizon is a fountain of light. You can see a shockwave traveling through the atmosphere, and violent aurora snaking around the impact site. You squint at it for a while, before remarking, "…Oopsie."
Rarity just sighs, and gets a bit closer to your side, gently holding you. "We always see such interesting things when we travel, Dashie."
"Mmm…" you muse, "then I blow them up."
She snorts. "Not all of them," she adds, looking off into the distance, away from the giant explosion.
You raise an eyebrow, but then Fluttershy gently touches your shoulder. "You'll be fine, Rainbow. Nothing even needs to be set."
Turning to look at her, you nod. "Thanks, Flutters. And thanks for coming to get me."
She smiles and nods, looking only a little strained. "It's not so bad out here, once you get used to it."
Rarity attaches a tether line to your suit, then starts the dive reel retracting. As you drift back to the Frond, you rotate slightly, and suddenly you think you know what she was looking at. In the distance, converging together and burning to a higher orbit, are seven points of blue light.
They glitter, like diamonds.