//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: DragonFeather // by Senyu //------------------------------// In her dream, everything was fire and pain, unlike anything she had ever known before. With pin pricked eyes, she looked on in horror as her blue coat was burned away. The flames leapt up her body and engulfed her wings, tearing her blackened feathers away to be sent spiraling skyward by the heat. Under her skin, her muscles seared from within as she spasmed involuntarily. Somewhere in the back of her mind, where her fear and self preservation were beaten and battered, but barely present through her torturous existence, she tried to place her legs beneath herself. She tried to stand and run from the fire, but the convulsions that wracked her body made it impossible to flee. It burns! She screamed, again and again she screamed as the fire consumed her. But no matter how loud her howls were, she couldn’t hear her voice over the roaring fire. The flames crept into her mouth, turning her teeth red-hot until they eventually melted. Even as the flames began to crawl down her throat and sear her insides, she continued to scream. It's too hot! It's too hot! Get me out of here! The fire engulfed her, consumed her, robbing her of what little mind and reason she had left as it burned her body away. Make it stop! Even as her flesh blackened and her nerves were seared away, the pain never stopped and never lessened. The agony only rose alongside the fire as it continued to burn inside her, reaching depths of her being that she never even knew existed. Celestia! Make it stop! Breaking past her physical form, the fire entered her inner world. Reaching this place, the flames burned with greater intensity as if they were hungry, and they erupted towards the shimmering sphere at the center of Rainbow Dash’s core. Somebody! Anybody! Please, make it stop! The flames licked the edges of her soul, blackening its white fibers with their unnatural flame. The sensation of her soul being singed summoned forth untold strength from within her, and she used it to scream louder than ever before, finally allowing her voice to rise above the cacophony of the fire, the first of many ear-shattering cries to come. It burns! Make it stop! Please! Make it- The flames did not stop, but darkness quickly overtook the dream. Even as her vision faded into nothingness, she still felt the heat of the fire. She could still feel herself burning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the stillness, a light appeared, shining through a small gap that led to a hidden space. Beneath a pile of blackened and toppled trees, a burrow had formed. The floor of this makeshift den was covered in soot, a colorless space that held no signs of life after the devastating fire. But as the sun rose higher into the sky, and a beam of light stretched across this burrow through the small opening, it touched upon something colorful, the one thing that hadn’t been reduced to an unsightly pile of gray ash. As her blue body stirred from the warmth of the light, and her polychromatic hair shimmered in its glow, Rainbow Dash groggily opened her eyes. She simply lay there at first, slowly registering where she was. She squinted at the light now shining in her eyes, and she moaned at the ache that permeated her entire body. It was because of that moan that she became aware of just how unbelievably parched her throat was. Her mouth and throat felt so dry that it was painful to even make a sound. Still sluggish from waking up in this strange place, and feeling as if her entire body had been put through the work out of her life twice in a row, Rainbow Dash tried to lift herself up. But she quickly found that she was pinned beneath a great weight. And so she lay still again, working her tired mind so as to figure out why she was here. Rainbow Dash dredged up her foggy memories, and after spending some time recalling the last few days, she suddenly snapped her eyes open in recollection. A race in the canyon. Gale, the red pegasus. The gargantuan dragon he had become, and the fire that- Rainbow Dash cried out in fear as she shielded herself from the imagined fire. The wood above her shifted from her sudden motion, causing one of the blackened branches above her to finally snap and fall. It landed in front of her, kicking up a pile of soot that she accidentally inhaled, sending her into a coughing fit. Need to… Get outta’ here. Squeezing her eyes shut while she coughed, she struggled to wiggle her way out from underneath the debris. The wood above her groaned from her movements, but aside from a few more pieces that fell, the impromptu shelter otherwise remained intact. During her crawling, her tongue passed over her teeth, and she paused to explore a strange feeling. Examining her teeth more closely with her tongue, she whimpered at discovering how finely tipped some of the points had become. Great, being stuck under here wasn’t enough, but my teeth are broken, too? But after a moment’s consideration, she figured broken teeth were the least of her worries. She’d ask Twilight for a spell for it later—provided that a tooth-fixing spell even existed in the first place—and instead focus on her immediate concern. Crawling her way out from beneath the pile of burned trees, Rainbow Dash heaved herself forward, and with a final grunt, she pushed her way through the small, shining opening. Rainbow Dash’s head popped out, and she took in a lungful of fresh air. She could still smell the scent of the burned forest, but it was much cleaner than the burrow she had been trapped in. After hauling herself the rest of the way out, Rainbow Dash collapsed to the ground, sending a small cloud of ash into the air. She was covered in the stuff, each cough reminded her of how sore her body was, and she couldn’t stop licking the roof of her mouth in her desire for water. But she was alive. Somehow, she was alive. However, as she looked around, she saw that nothing else was. The morning sun was well above the horizon, and its light revealed a swath of destroyed forest around Rainbow Dash. The once mighty and green trees of the Everfree were reduced to nothing but charred husks, all of them still smoldering, most of them already fallen, their charred remains releasing tufts of cinders in the cold morning air. Wisps of smoke from the burned forest floor trailed upwards, rising from piles of blackened objects that Rainbow Dash didn’t have the heart to identify. Her chest tightened at the grisly sight of the bodies that were once the inhabitants of the forest, and she lurched forward, throwing up what little was in her stomach. Her stomach bile tasted more acidic and awful than usual, but she couldn’t help but remorsely appreciate that something had wetted her throat. After emptying her stomach, Rainbow Dash fell onto her haunches and squeezed her now tearful eyes shut. Why did any of this happen? Why am I… How am I here? She inhaled sharply, and she began to shudder. Wrapping her hooves and wings around herself, she formed a ball of safety, desperate to shield herself from the ruin that surrounded her. But before she could begin to cry, she paused in confusion at the sensation of something poking her chest, and the odd feelings in her wings. Opening her eyes, she looked down at her wings still wrapped around her, and she shrieked at what she saw. What were once her familiar and feathered appendages, were now a pair of unsightly blue scaled limbs. Her feathers had been replaced with a tough leather similar in appearance to that of a bat, filling the space between long thin digits that she could now flex. Her wing forearms that had been cloaked in fur and feathers were now completely covered in armored scales. And at the apex of each wing was a single ivory claw, the very thing that had been poking her. She quickly unwrapped the wings from herself like they were the hands of a giant creature holding her from behind. With panicked breaths, Rainbow Dash frantically crawled away, looking over her shoulder at the attached monstrosities as if they would grab her at any moment. But, eventually, she stopped, and she dared to stay still for a moment so as to look at the wings more carefully. She swallowed a lump in her throat between heavy breaths. She tentatively flexed what was now her right wing, and it responded to her will. She moved her left wing, and she stared in disbelief as it rose at her command. She then gave them a test flap, and when she did, her eyes teared up at how it felt to catch the wind with her new wings. This is wrong. Despite her control over them, she felt more powerless than she had beneath the pile of trees. Rainbow Dash began to shake her head as tears flowed down her cheeks. She extended both of her wings out, and she gasped at the stretching sensation of her leathery wing membrane. This feels so wrong. With a shaking hoof, Rainbow Dash reached out to touch the edge of her wings, still terrified of them despite the fact that they responded just as well as her feathered ones. She hesitantly rubbed her hoof over the surface of her blue scales, but then pulled her hoof back. “No…” Rainbow Dash quietly said aloud. While the sensation of touching her scales was unpleasant enough, it was the sensation of feeling her hoof through her scales that was the most unnerving. This can’t be happening. This isn’t real. Rainbow Dash found herself breathing more frantically as panic set in, and with it, she became more aware of the smell of the burned forest. A wave of dizziness came over her, and her vision faded in and out as unconsciousness threatened to take her. But from sheer denial and grit, she powered through it, and she placed her hooves beneath herself. Gotta move, she told herself. Standing up, Rainbow Dash began to numbly walk forward, keeping her eyes locked on the path ahead and her wings fully extended so that they couldn’t touch the rest of her body. I’ve got to get to Ponyville. I've got to warn them about Gale. And then… And then Twilight can fix me. She’ll just cast a spell and- Rainbow Dash stopped as an awful thought crossed her mind. What if Gale reached Ponyville? What if he burned the town and... She couldn’t finish the thought as the image of her friends writhing in flames flashed across Rainbow Dash’s mind, and she closed her eyes tightly as she screamed at the ground. No! They can’t be! They can’t be- “Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes snapped open as she perked her ears, and she swiveled her head towards the direction of the voice. “Girls?” Rainbow Dash softly replied. She scanned the destroyed forest for any sign of movement, but all she saw was the mounds of the burned trees. Then, she heard her name called again. “Rainbow Dash!” She instinctively reached a hoof towards the voice. “H-Here… I’m here,” she hoarsely replied, but far too quietly to be heard. Rainbow Dash heard more shouts of her name. Ponies were looking for her. Tears fell from Rainbow Dash’s eyes as she walked towards the sound of the voices, slowly picking up speed and strength with each step. “Here. I’m here!” she cried. “Rainbow Dash!” She swallowed, pushing aside the pain in her throat for a moment so that she could call out with all her strength. “I’m here!” Rainbow Dash heard a stallion yell, “Miss Applejack, I think I heard something over here.” Seconds later, she saw a pegasus stallion flying above in the distance. After one sweeping glance he spotted Rainbow Dash, and then he turned around and began pointing his hoof towards her. “Over here! I found her! She’s over here!” Soon, Rainbow Dash could hear the sound of hooves snapping branches as they pounded against the ground, and she let out a cry at the sight of five ponies tearing out from behind one of the mounds of the burned forest. To Rainbow Dash’s infinite relief, she saw each of her friends running towards her alive and well. “G-Girls!” Rainbow Dash cried out, falling onto her knees at the sight of them. They redoubled their speed the moment they spotted her, calling out her name as they quickly approached. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted, having outpaced the others with ease thanks to her vampiric strength, not even pausing in the slightest as her sunhat fell from her head. “Rainbow Dash! We were so worried! We’ve been looking for you ever since-” Twilight came to a skidding halt just a few feet from Rainbow Dash, and she stared slack-jawed at the scaled wings Rainbow Dash held away from her body. The rest of the girls had similar reactions as they too came to a halt, their looks of relief turning into ones of shock. “Rainbow,” Twilight whispered. “Your wings and… and your teeth.” Rainbow Dash let out choked cry as tears welled up in her eyes, but before she could utter a single word, Twilight covered the remaining distance between them and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash. “It’s okay, we’re here. We got you.” “Twilight… Girls,” Rainbow Dash replied, immediately wrapping her hooves around Twilight’s body. The rest of the girls were there in a moment, and Rainbow Dash sheltered herself in the embrace of her friends. “Gale… He… He… Is Ponyville okay? There was so much fire and… The fire was… Is everypony else okay? I… I…” Rainbow Dash couldn’t speak any further, finally succumbing to her worry and exhaustion as she collapsed in the arms of her friends, crying to herself beneath the soothing hooves and words of her five friends. “Everypony else is okay, Sugarcube. Let’s just take care of you.” “We’re here, darling. We’re here.” “Don’t worry, Rainbow. Ponyville’s safe.” “Shhh, we’re right here, Dashie. We’ll take care of you.” “We’re here, Rainbow Dash. We got you.” Each word and touch caused Rainbow Dash to grip them all the tighter. And in the back of her mind, she made a mental effort to not let her wings touch them. She didn’t want those awful things to touch anything. And it was only after her friends reassured her that everyone else was safe and that Ponyville was okay that Rainbow Dash finally let herself fall unconscious. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sounds of a hospital machine beeping was the first thing Rainbow Dash heard, followed by the sound of her own groan as she awoke. Immediately after she made the noise, Rainbow Dash heard a chair from across the room swivel, and the next moment she felt a hoof gently touching her arm. “I’m here, Rainbow.” “Twilight?” Rainbow Dash replied. She opened her eyes and saw Twilight’s concerned face staring at her. “Wha… What’s going on?” Twilight’s look of concern deepened. “You’re in the hospital, Rainbow. We took you here right after we found you.” “Oh,” Rainbow Dash simply replied. “How long was I out for?” “Most of the day. It’s evening now” “Huh.” Waking up for the second time that day, Rainbow Dash slowly took in the sensations of lying in the hospital bed. The weight of the blankets were far comfier than the weight of the trees from this morning, and the air was nearly odorless compared to the soot-stained forest. Her body was still sore, but not as much as it had that morning. However, the longer she compared the two, the more she remembered, and she suddenly let out a gasp from the twitching of her wings tucked at her side. Practically leaping into the position, Rainbow Dash sat upright in her bed, and began to frantically push her wings away from her with her hooves. “Rainbow Dash, calm down!” Twilight said. She carefully wrestled with Rainbow Dash’s hooves, trying to pin them down into her lap and away from her wings. “But my wings! My-My wings!” Rainbow Dash replied, her voice cracking. “I know, Rainbow. I know. But you need to stop,” Twilight said sorrowfully. Twilight’s reply didn’t ease Rainbow Dash’s panic, and she only began to paw at her wings more frantically. “Rainbow, stop trying to- Look at me! Look at me!” Twilight grabbed ahold of Rainbow Dash’s head with her hooves and turned her so they were face to face. “I know!” Twilight exclaimed. “I know how you feel. You’re different and it feels wrong and, and…” Twilight inhaled as she suppressed a sniffle. “Trust me, I know what it feels like when everything about you is messed up.” Rainbow Dash breathed heavily from her panicked state, but she pushed down her anxiety just enough to keep eye contact with Twilight. “It’s a lot to take in, Rainbow. More than what you feel like you’re capable of handling right now. But you need to take it slow. Take a deep breath with me, okay?.” Rainbow Dash had brought her hooves over Twilight's, and she held onto them for dear life as she focused on Twilight’s crimson eyes and listened to her voice. “Breath with me. Take a deep breath in…” Twilight said, and Rainbow Dash found herself breathing in tune. “And out.” Rainbow Dash exhaled, and then began to sob. “Just focus on me, okay?” Twilight said. She gently reaffirmed her hold on Rainbow Dash’s head. “Breathe in… and out. Just repeat along with me. In… and out.” Rainbow Dash forced herself to focus on Twilight’s voice, and as they took deep breaths in unison, the panic inside of her began to lessen with each exhale. As if some force was drawing her anxiety away, Rainbow Dash felt calmer. Eventually, Twilight slid her hooves away. Rainbow Dash, however, refused to remove her hooves from Twilight’s, and so they rested their hooves together on the bed. “And out,” Twilight said after a few more breaths. “Are you feeling calmer now?” “Yeah,” Rainbow Dash quietly replied. “Is there anything I can get you?” Rainbow Dash reluctantly pulled a hoof away and rubbed at her throat. Aside from her wings, everything about her was intact, as if the fire hadn’t consumed her like in her dream. But her throat was still dry, and she winced at the memory of the flames pouring down her throat. “Water, please.” Twilight nodded, and quickly left. Rainbow Dash kept her eyes on the blanket as she heard Twilight fill a cup of water from the sink and returning as expediently as she had left. “Here,” Twilight said as she levitated the cup to Rainbow Dash’s lips. Rainbow Dash tilted her head back and sipped at the cup, greedily drinking from it as it soothed her throat. Rainbow Dash let out a relieved gasp. “More.” After they repeated the process a few times, Rainbow Dash sighed and leaned forward. Taking a few more deep breaths, Rainbow Dash hesitantly looked at her wings again. Despite the fact that they looked like the webbed claws of a monster, they merely hung at her side. Summoning her courage once more, she tested them. They twitched in response. Now, with her panic subsided enough, Rainbow Dash extended a hoof and tentatively felt her wings. From the smoothness of the leather-like membrane, to the scaled forearm, and to the single ivory claw each wing sported, Rainbow Dash examined every inch of her new appendages. The scales of her new limbs reached all the way past her shoulder joints where they seemingly transitioned back to her regular coat. The scales were tough, but malleable, allowing her full freedom of movement no matter how she twisted her wings. The membrane, a lighter shade of blue in contrast to the rest of her coat, filled the gaps between the long thin fingers she could bend and flex. It was as if she had grown a pair of gargantuan minotaur hands on her shoulders and stretched them out until they were nothing but narrow bony fingers. And the single hooked claw at the apex of her wing moved as if it were a thumb, or at least, how she imagined a moving thumb would feel. Despite the fragile appearance of the wings, she felt as if she could suspend the weight of her entire body off the claws alone. With the exception of the scales and claws, her wings strikingly resembled the wings of the bat ponies. When she had enough she brought her hoof back, but she still kept her wings extended away from her, refusing to let them touch the rest of her body. Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight. “What happened to me?” Twilight’s face remained stoic, and she magically grabbed a nearby stool for her to sit upon. “I don’t know. To be honest, I was hoping you’d be able to tell me.” “I…” Rainbow Dash replied before pausing. She swallowed as she collected her thoughts. “I… I went to the castle. AJ was selling cider. And then I went to Ghastly Gorge for some practice flying. And then… A stallion came out of nowhere. And we raced. I beat him.” Rainbow Dash’s voice became quieter as she recounted the story. “His name was Gale. He… He was one of the Shepherds. I tried to get away, but…” Rainbow Dash then vividly remembered the sight of the massive dragon chasing after her, the pain and feeling of shock when she saw her broken wings. And then, the roaring fire that- “Gaaah!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she wrapped her hooves around herself. “Rainbow! You’re safe,” Twilight said, placing her hooves on Rainbow Dash’s shoulders. “It’s alright, you’re safe.” Rainbow Dash shuddered beneath her hooves, sniffling as the vivid memory faded. Soon, she recollected herself, after a few shaky breaths, Rainbow Dash lifted her head. After wiping a tear from her eye she asked, “What… What happened after?” “You should rest, you’ve been through-” “Tell me,” Rainbow Dash urged. Her breathing was audible, and she looked like she would break down at any moment. But she locked her eyes with Twilight’s, and stared at her with a look of struggling determination. “What happened?” Twilight bit her lip, and pulled her hoof back. “Nothing terrible, thankfully.” Repositioning herself in the stool, Twilight spoke, “Everypony in Ponyville and in the Castle quickly learned about the fire in the Everfree forest. The first responders said they saw… well, a dragon flying away, but nopony mentioned a pegasus.” “It was him,” Rainbow Dash quietly replied. “The dragon was Gale…” A bewildered expression came over Twilight, and after some seconds of contemplation, she continued. “They saw Gale flying east. By the time I arrived the fire had grown strong enough to threaten the entire forest, and eventually Ponyville and the Castle. So I spent the rest of the night battling the flames with the fire crews. After we finally put it out, we began our search for you.” Twilight hung her head. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash, for how long it took for us to realize you were missing. It wasn’t until the end after no pony was able find you that we realized something must have happened. We just assumed you were already fighting the fire.” Twilight’s ears drooped. “I should have realized sooner.” Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for a moment. “No pony can blame you. Was anyone else hurt?” “Thankfully no. It took some time, but the pegasi were finally able to get enough clouds to put the fire out before it could spread to the rest of the forest.” Twilight leaned back in her stool and sighed. “Sometime during the middle of the whole event, a group of guards showed up. They told us they had been chasing Gale all the way from western Equestria. They were exhausted from their nonstop flying, and so I sent a messenger in their stead to Canterlot to relay the news. They should have informed Celestia and Luna about it by now.” “They were trying to warn us about him, huh?” Rainbow Dash replied. Twilight nodded. “Yes. It seems he’s made a few attacks in Western Equestria already, but the Everfree forest fire has been the largest attack he’s done so far.” Twilight bit her lip as she furrowed her brow. “We weren’t ready for him to show up yet. Not in the slightest.” “Are they going to catch him?” Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know. The last I heard was that he was still heading east. If I’m right, a fleet of pegasi have been deployed from Canterlot to warn the eastern cities, and if they are able to, they’ll confront him. Celestia and Luna are probably with them, too. Hopefully we’ll hear soon what happens.” “And… And what about me?” Rainbow Dash brought a hoof to her chest, looked at her extended wings, and then turned back to Twilight. “You can fix me, right?” Twilight’s ears fell, and she replied only after a few moments of silence. “I don’t think so.” “What?” Rainbow Dash leaned towards Twilight. “But you gotta! There has to be a way!” “Rainbow, please, I-” “There’s gotta be a way that you can-OW!” Rainbow Dash recoiled as she brought a hoof to her mouth. Scrunching up her nose, she used her tongue to feel the sudden sore spot in her mouth, and then the sharp point that had caused it. “They aren’t easy to get used to,” Twilight said quietly. “Fangs, I mean.” “I don’t want to get used to them!” Rainbow Dash said. She slammed her hooves onto the bed, but she was more careful now about how she gritted her teeth. “There has to be a way to fix me.” “Rainbow-” “There has to be some spell or, or, or something that can change me back! There’s no way in Equestria that I’m going to just live out my life like this and-” “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said firmly. The commanding tone of her voice caused Rainbow Dash to flinch, and she looked at Twilight angrily but quietly. Twilight inhaled sharply as she searched for the right words, but she eventually sighed and spoke softly, “If there is a way to fix you, I don’t know about it. Ruby and I examined you while you slept. We looked at every inch of your soul and-” “My soul!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you!” Twilight said with a pleading voice. She grabbed ahold of Rainbow Dash’s hooves and leaned towards her. “Rainbow, it isn’t just your physical appearance that’s been altered. Your soul has been changed, and those changes are unlike anything I or Ruby have ever seen before.” “But…” Rainbow Dash replied, desperately wracking her mind for some answer. “But you fixed the bat ponies, right? And Rarity. Isn’t this the same? Can’t we just use the Elements of Harmony?” “I’m sorry, Rainbow. But this isn’t the same, and there’s no way to remove the Elements of Harmony from the tree right now. You know we’ve already tried.” Twilight’s reaffixed her hold on Rainbow Dash’s hooves. “Listen to me. From what Ruby and I can tell, you’re stable, but changing you back is something beyond either of our capabilities. We just don’t know enough to revert you back. And even if we did, we aren’t sure if we’d even be able to do it. We can’t even remove the vampirism in our body, and undoing-” Twilight motioned to Rainbow Dash’s wings, “all of this is something entirely else. This isn’t some alteration spell, this is something that has changed you at your very core.” Rainbow Dash pulled her hooves away, suddenly feeling more unsure than she already was. “You mean… The wings and fangs might not be the only changes?” “I’m sorry, Rainbow,” Twilight softly replied. “I just don’t know. From what we can tell, you’re still you. There’s just… more to you now. And we aren't exactly sure what that means.” After staring blankly at Twilight for a few seconds, Rainbow Dash let out a soft laugh. “So… I’m different now, huh? That’s all, right? These are my wings now, and I’ve got fangs.” A smile crept on her lips as her ears drooped. “Who knows what else is going to happen. Maybe I’ll even grow some pink spots.” “Rainbow…” Rainbow Dash let out a few more laughs, but all too soon her laughter turned to sobs, and she fell back into her bed. Without care for her new fangs, Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth. “This is me now. This is how I’m going to live the rest of my life?!” “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash. I really am.” Rainbow Dash placed her foreleg over her eyes to hide the tears, but they still streamed down her cheeks. She could feel her new canines pushing against her teeth and gums, and she gnashed them all the harder. Her scaly wings quivered, and she missed the sound of ruffling feathers. “This is me, now,” Rainbow Dash said venomously, but not without a note of sadness. “I’m going to be stuck like this.” “Of course Ruby and I won’t stop searching for a way to undo it,” Twilight said. “But we can’t promise anything.” Rainbow Dash lay in her bed, trying to keep herself still so that she wouldn’t lash out at anything around herself. And in time, her limbs relaxed, but her tears did not stop. “Why did this happen?” Rainbow Dash quietly asked. “I don’t know, I wish I did.” The two of them shared the next few minutes in silence, Rainbow Dash slowly coming to terms with her new form, and Twilight lending a supporting hoof. But eventually, after having dried Rainbow Dash’s tears, Twilight politely cleared her throat. “The girls are outside. They’ve been waiting for you to wake up ever since we brought you here.” Looking up from her lying position, Rainbow Dash gave a small smile. But that smile quickly turned into a frown. “What are they going to think when they see me like this? I mean, they already did, but-” “Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. Standing up from her stool and magically placing it aside, Twilight gave Rainbow Dash an understanding smile. “When I first came back to Ponyville, right after I regained my memories, I was so worried about other ponies seeing me.” “Really?” “Really,” Twilight said, still smiling as she nodded. “I was terrified of what they would think about me. I was afraid that they would only see me as a monster. But the worst part was that I actually believed I was a monster, and that I was too dangerous to be near anypony. I was so worried about what I might do if I had lost control that I almost didn’t come back to Ponyville.” “But you did,” Rainbow Dash said, though she phrased her reply more as a question rather than a statement. “Yes, I did,” Twilight said. She sighed happily. “Coming back was the best decision I could have made. I don’t know what might have happened if I didn’t come home to you all. Eventually, I trusted that you all would be able to see past what I had become.” Twilight motioned to the door. “You’re still our Rainbow Dash. Nothing is going to change that, and we’re going to help you through this every step of the way, just like how all of you helped me.” Rainbow Dash let out a shuddered breath, and quickly wiped a fresh tear from her eye. After spending a few more moments to collect herself, she nodded. Twilight nodded in reply, and then crossed the room to open the door. She poked her head out, spoke in a hushed voice, and then stepped aside to let the rest of the girls in. “Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie shouted, being the first one through the door and crossing the room so quickly that even Twilight did a double take. “How are you feeling? Are you okay? Can I get you a cupcake?” Rainbow Dash chuckled and gently batted Pinkie Pie’s intrusive face away from hers. “I’m as good as I can be. Give me some breathing space, will ya?” “Sorry,” Pinkie Pie replied before continuing to speak her next sentences with one breath. “How are your wings? Twilight told me not to ask about the wings, so she’s probably glaring at me right now. So now I’m double-sorry. But how are your wings? Can you feel them? Do they feel funny now or the same?” “Pinkie!” Rarity said, frowning at Pinkie Pie as she followed behind Fluttershy and Applejack who also made their way to the bedside. “She just woke up from her awful ordeal. We don’t want to rush her through her recovery.” After giving an exasperated sigh, Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash. “How are you feeling, dear?” “Okay, I guess,” Rainbow Dash replied. “We were so worried for you, Dashie,” Fluttershy said. “Is there anything we can get for you?” “More water, please?” Fluttershy sweetly nodded, and then left to refill Rainbow Dash’s cup. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Applejack said. “You have no idea how worried we were when we heard about the fire and the dragon. Ah was… Ah was scared about what’d we find after we stopped the fire, after we realized no pony had seen ya.” Fluttershy returned with the cup of water, and gave it to Rainbow Dash who took it with an appreciative nod. Fluttershy spoke, “I’m just so glad that you’re alright. I mean, you’re not alright, but you’re alive and-and if you had been hurt or-” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Relax, Flutters, I’m here.” She then let out a disheartened laugh. “Just… Not like I was before.” “Regardless of how you are here,” Twilight interjected. “We’re just glad you are here.” Twilight took Rainbow Dash’s hoof in hers, and then she looked to the rest of their friends. “We’re going to do everything we can to help you through this, right girls?” After receiving supporting nods, Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. “It won’t be easy for you, but we’re here, Rainbow. It’s not going to be like what I went through. You’re going to have us right by your side. You aren’t alone in this.” Pinkie Pie tilted her head. “But if Ruby was with you, doesn’t that mean you weren’t alone either and-” “Pinkie Pie, shush,” Twilight said. “But now that you mention it, Ruby wanted to express her concerns as well. She’s going to do everything she can to help you through this. We all are.” Rainbow Dash gave them a solemn smile. “Thanks, girls. I think… I think I’m gonna need it.”