Sitting before Fluttershy on the table rested a picture of a dark blue feather. She looked down at it with confusion streaming across her face, not knowing what this feather had to do with her Dashie. Her eyes glanced back up towards the doctor, the need to see Dash burning deep in Fluttershy's eyes.
“Well, uhm, I don't know what this is,” she told him. “What does this have to do with Dash?”
“This, ma'am, is a Soul Feather. More specifically, her father's Soul Feather.”
Fluttershy let out a small gasp. Dash had never told her anything about her father, except for the fact that he had only been there for a small part of her life when she was a filly. The one thing she had always remembered, as Dash had told her, was the stories.
“But she didn't know her father very well,” she told to him skeptically, scared about venturing into Dash's personal affairs.
“Well, for whatever reason, she was carrying it. She had it tied under her wings, presumably to keep it safe.”
Fluttershy glanced back at the picture, her mind trying to wrap itself around why she had her father's feather. It wasn't like Dash, even from the deeper side of her that she did know, to keep something like this to herself. A tear formed in the corner of her eye, somewhat distraught over the fact that she had kept something like this to herself. She brought a hoof up to her face, wiping the tear away. After all the things they had gone through together, she thought she knew everything about Dash. It just turned out that her past ran deeper than she had imagined. What if it wasn't that she kept the secret from her, but rather she refused to let her father play a part in her life once again?
“Miss Fluttershy, now if you would please follow me,” the doctor called to her with a hoof motion out of the room.
They walked through the sterile hallways, some doors left wide open and others locked shut. Some of the ponies that Fluttershy saw took all of her willpower to keep her from attempting to help the ponies groaning in pain.
“Its OK,” she mumbled to herself, closing her eyes for a moment. “The doctors here are helping them...”
“You say something?” the doctor said, turning his head back to Fluttershy.
“Oh, uh... no...” she told him quietly, following his every step.
The image was burnt into her retinas, the serene blue of the feather sitting heavily on her mind. It was just so blue... it was almost as if it had been freshly plucked. But she knew that Dash hadn't been anywhere in a matter of weeks, she had been by her side for most of that time. What if the old tales about the feather was right and they were actually a passage to the soul, and they actually held the equivalent magic of that pegasus? That could explain why it had stayed blue over time, because judging by how long it has been since she had mentioned her father, it had to be at least a minimum of ten years old.
The brown colt stopped abruptly in front of Fluttershy, and being lost in thought, she ran directly into his flank and nearly toppled the both of them. She let out a small squeal, smiling as they both regained their balance. He shot a glare back at her, insinuating that she needed to be more careful about what she did.
“This, is her room,” he told Fluttershy, her face lighting up like a Christmas tree. “But, please try and keep calm in here. She may not be feeling too well. And even if she says she is, be careful around her, her body is still extremely fragile.”
Fluttershy took a step forward towards the room, but as soon as her hoof crossed the threshold, a splitting headache rang through her mind. Her eyes clenched shut in reflex, unaccustomed to the severity of the headache. She stood there, the pain growing worse by each second, her head feeling as if it would burst like a melon below a hoof.
“Fluttershy?” she heard Dash call to her, the voice slightly rasped.
Her head darted upwards, looking towards Dash's voice. There she lay, wrapped heavily in sterile white bandages, and IV's slowly dripping their cocktails of medicine into her body. The slow and steady beep of the heart monitor echoed in the room. Next to Rainbow's bed was a few beautifully upholstered wooden framed chairs, a dark blue pony sitting in the chair next to Rainbow Dash. Her mind raced back to the moments before with the picture; the mental color matching that of the colt who sat next to her lover.
“R-Rainbow?” Fluttershy mumbled out, overjoyed to see that she was alright. “Who is that sitting in the chair?” she asked.
The doctor glanced at her with an eyebrow raised. “Miss Fluttershy, there is nopony in here but us.”
Fluttershy looked back to Rainbow Dash, who had a smile plastered upon her face. Not speaking, but merely moving her lips, she mouthed the words 'Dad'.
Fluttershy looked on towards him, Rainbow's father giving her a small nod and a smile cracking across his lips. His hair gleamed in the light, the silver glowing beautifully and coming together perfectly with his dark blue coat.
“Doc, can I please have a minute with Rainbow Dash?” She asked with an exuberant amount sweetness in her voice.
“Well, I do need to do some tests first, but –”
“I asked for some time alone with her,” Fluttershy scolded back with a demeaning look in her eyes.
The doctor curled back in a mild fright before speaking. “Well, uh, they can wait til' later...” he said to her, rushing out the door.
Now that they were alone, Fluttershy let a small sigh escape her lungs and break the silence that entrapped the room. The silence set in once again, Fluttershy sitting back onto her haunches and hiding behind her flowing pink mane. The smile that Rainbow had on her face began to disappear as sobs began to come from Fluttershy, becoming louder and louder. Small tears began to form in Rainbow's eyes, tears of worry about Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked, giving a slight cough to clear mucus in her throat. “Is there something wrong?”
“Why...” Fluttershy whispered under her sobs, “Why...”
“What do you mean, 'why'?” Rainbow asked, her voice soaked with worry.
“You know what... Why haven't you ever told me about him?!” she yelled at Dash, pointing towards her father, who still sat calmly in his chair. “I thought that you trusted me...”
“But I do Fluttershy... It's just... complicated...”
“I thought you were loyal...” Fluttershy told her coldly, standing and turning towards the door. Rainbow's jaw dropped at the painful insult, her eyes welling up.
“Wait,” a deep voice called, Fluttershy turning with a confused look plastered on her face. “I'm not really here, if that makes any sense to you. I haven't been here for years, but I have. Many years ago, before leaving to serve the Royal Guard, I left Dash with my own Soul Feather. That is why I am here, the power of her love and yours, into the piece of my soul I had left with her. She believed that I hadn't left, even though everything told her that I did. Ever since then, it has been hard for her to talk about me.
“But now, I am here and I wish to let you know of the effect you have had on her. You made her the mare she is today; the loyal mare she always will be. You were there for her when I couldn't and I do thank you for that. It pains me to see you both looking the other way, when the signs of your love are so clear. Take what you can, while it is still here. Love while you can, while they are still in your life.”
The silver haired colt stood from out of his chair, walking over to Fluttershy. She stood there in awe, expecting him to be just some hallucination that her mind had made. But he was really there, and he was walking closer to her. He came closer, eventually stopping just in front of her face.
“You may not understand everything in life, but always believe, and never stop,” he said to her with a smile, continuing on his way.
The moment of contact between his body and that of Fluttershy's induced a massive splitting headache for Fluttershy, sending her to the cold floor clutching her skull. The pain only lasted for a brief moment before it went away as soon as it had come. She stood back onto all four hooves, looking up towards the mare she cared so much for. Why did she just say those cruel things to her... was it the stress? She didn't know, but she felt absolutely terrible for what she had said.
“R-Rainbow?” she asked, “I'm sorry... That was really mean of –”
“No,” Rainbow interrupted, “I should be sorry. You have always been there for me, and I have acted like the secret of my dad was too much for you. I just... didn't know how to talk about it...” she told her, breaking down into sobs and placing her face between her cold hooves.
Fluttershy walked over to Rainbow's bedside, staring down on her with a warm, caring smile. She took Rainbow's head in one hoof before speaking to her. “Don't be, I should have understood you Dashie. You are the one I love, and after all, we all have secrets. I love you, Rainbow Dash, and I always will no matter what happens.”
Fluttershy gingerly pressed her lips against Rainbow Dash's, the two engaging in a warming kiss through each others embrace. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, pulling away and placing a loving kiss on Fluttershy's forehead.
“Our love will always keep us together...” she spoke with a sweet tone, a smile held on her lips.