As the sky darkened, and the late stages of the day were dominated by the storm above, the rain soaked forest became even darker. The many trees were now bathed in pitch blackness, with only the occasional flash of lightning to partially illuminate the twisting branches and the shapes they were casting in shadow.
Amid the constant water dripping down to the forest floor through the canopy of trees, Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt had somehow found shelter for themselves. The pair had quite literally holed up inside of the hollowed out trunk of a tree. Although the hole they entered through was cramped, the space on the inside was surprisingly big enough to fit both of them with some room to move around, which wasn’t as surprising when the massive size of the tree itself was considered.
Blue Bolt stared out of the hole in the tree at the rain falling outside. The storm overhead was much tamer than the last storm they had encountered, but even if it weren’t, their wooden haven was safe from the rain and wind.
“Ugh… I feel like I’m melting in here,” Rainbow Dash groaned from behind him, causing the stallion to turn around.
Rainbow was currently lying on her back, with her head resting on the back of the tree. She looked like she was immensely uncomfortable from her fever, and her injury couldn’t have been helping matters any.
“I wouldn’t worry about that. Once night rolls around, I’m sure it will be plenty cold,” Blue Bolt said, already feeling the heat from the day vanishing amid the rain.
“Yeah… I wish we could somehow have a fire going,” Rainbow Dash sighed. She never imagined that she would miss the dingy cave they had slept in previously, but here she was, crammed into a hole in a tree and hiding from wolf and wilderness alike.
“You and me both,” Blue Bolt offered a hollow chuckle at the notion of making a fire. “Unfortunately, even if we weren’t in such a tiny space made entirely out of wood, I doubt that we could find any dry firewood now,”
The pair remained silent for a while, letting their exhausted bodies rest while listening to the pouring rain and booming thunder. They had a long night ahead of them, but they hoped they would at least be safe where they were.
After a while, Rainbow Dash was starting to get even more miserable. Her stomach twinged with pain at the slightest touch or rub against the bandage around it, her legs were still weak from her sickness, and to top it all off, she felt like she was burning up inside.
“Ooof… this seriously sucks,” Rainbow whined in a pitiful tone. She let her head thump against the wood of the tree, not caring whether or not her mane would have splinters in it.
Glancing back to the sickly mare, Blue Bolt frowned sadly, feeling helpless and unable to do anything to make his companion feel better. He looked out of the hole in the tree and out into the forest. Everything was soaking wet out there, even the plants. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.
Rainbow Dash looked up as she heard the stallion moving. She was surprised to see that he was actually climbing out of the tree and onto the forest floor.
“Blue, what are you doing?” She asked in a mildly concerned tone.
Blue Bolt grunted as he struggled to get free of the small opening.
“Hold on a second,” He replied without halting his progress. Finally, he made it out and landed on the ground with a wet and doubtlessly cold splash into the mud below.
Rainbow listened as the sound of the stallion’s hooves splashing in the already flooded ground traveled off to the side. She tilted her head curiously as the noises stopped, followed by some plants rustling. After another moment, the splashing returned and started approaching the tree again. Soon enough, Blue Bolt huffed as he jumped back up to the opening and started climbing back into the tree.
“Are you out of your mind or something?” Rainbow Dash asked as she watched the stallion climbing back in. “It’s soaking wet out there! You’re going to catch your death from cold.” She frowned as she saw that his fur and hair were now dripping with water. Strangely enough, he had a large leaf from a plant rolled up and clutched in his mouth.
Blue Bolt ignored the cyan pony’s chiding and the soaked state he was in as he walked up to her and sat down. He took the rolled up leaf out of his mouth and placed it on her forehead while gently pushing her back to a resting position.
“Here, keep that on your forehead. It should help you keep cool,” He explained softly.
Rainbow Dash was surprised to feel how cold the leaf was. It was still sopping wet from outside, so it was probably the best way to help keep her temperature down given their situation.
“Blue… you didn’t have to do that,” She said, lowering her expression sadly.
Blue Bolt smiled in accomplishment while brushing his soaked hair out of his face. “Well, there’s nothing else to do. I might as well make myself useful… heh...” He chuckled nervously as Rainbow stared at him with an unimpressed expression of concern. “A… a… Achoo!” He turned away as a sneeze abruptly escaped him.
“I told you… Now you’re going to be the sick one,” Rainbow Dash frowned while her companion sniffled and rubbed his shoulders.
“I’ll be fine; it’s just a little water,” Blue insisted, making an effort to stop shivering. “Besides, the only reason you’re so out of it right now is because you tried to keep that timberwolf away from me. I owe you this much at least,” He explained somberly.
“Blue…” Rainbow Dash looked at the stallion sympathetically. She sighed and shook her head as he moved off to the side to dry off away from her. While her companion was settling in and waiting for his fur to dry off, Rainbow watched him while resting herself.
She couldn’t believe that he was still sticking his neck out for her after all this time, much like he had done when his wing got paralyzed. She always admired his courage. The way he stood up for others was actually part of the reason that Rainbow started to have feelings for him. In the end, she was never sure what she expected the big dance to turn out to be, or what sort of relationship she was planning on having with the stallion, but she could still fondly remember how close she had gotten with him.
*A few years ago*
As the school day was ending, Rainbow Dash waited out by the flying course for her friends to meet her. Ever since she and Fluttershy had started helping Blue Bolt with his recovery, the flying course had become their unofficial meeting spot.
Soon enough, she heard the flapping of wings off to the side. She turned her head, only to see Blue Bolt hovering down to her near the set of clouds that attached to the school itself. His form was a bit shaky, and he wasn’t going very fast, but seeing him airborne at all was a vast improvement from when they started.
“You’re late,” Rainbow Dash said playfully while walking over to meet with the stallion as he landed.
Blue Bolt scoffed and shook his head with a smirk. “Hey, be thankful I got here at all. I’m still getting used to flying again,"
“So is it true that you made it to school by yourself today?” Rainbow Dash asked with an eager expression.
“Yeah, I did,” Blue replied happily. “My dad still came with me to make sure I didn’t drop out of the sky… but I made it here with no help,” He looked to his wing and smiled slightly.
Rainbow Dash softly punched the stallion on the shoulder. “See? I always said you would bounce back, now didn’t I?”
“Yeah, yeah…” Blue Bolt rolled his eyes lightheartedly. “I suppose I owe you some thanks for helping me along… you and Fluttershy,” He said in a more sincere tone.
“Where is she anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking around for any sign of the yellow pegasus.
“Uh… I think she stayed behind to help clean up a little mishap in the weather lab. Some kid got a little bit out of control with the raincloud demonstration,” Blue Bolt explained with a slight chuckle.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow before chuckling as well at the mental image forming of the event. “Wow… it’s too bad I missed the show,” She let her shoulders sink before sitting down to get comfortable while she talked with the stallion.
After a few minutes of conversation, Blue Bolt turned to her with a curious expression. “So, has anyone asked you to the big dance yet?”
The sudden question made Rainbow Dash look up in surprise. She paused uncomfortably, trying her best to not appear awkward in front of the stallion.
“Umm… no, actually I was thinking of asking someone to go instead of waiting around,”
“Really?” Blue raised an intrigued eyebrow. “So, who are you asking?”
Rainbow Dash felt a twinge of embarrassment welling up inside of her as she locked eyes with the stallion. She swallowed uncomfortably and shrugged her shoulders, returning a casual expression to her face.
“I’m… not sure yet. I don’t even know if anyone is salvageable at this school,”
“Heh… well, you be sure and let me know if you find anyone worthy enough,” Blue Bolt smirked.
Rainbow Dash looked down and fiddled her hooves together awkwardly, struggling to get the words she intended to say out. “Umm… actually, Blue I was wondering if-”
“Hey, guys!”
A familiar voice called from off to the side, cutting the cyan mare short. The pair looked over and spotted Fluttershy hovering in the air over by the front of the school building.
Rainbow Dash smiled as she saw her yellow friend. “Look who finally caught up,” She got up and walked forward before taking off into the air. She flew over as Fluttershy came closer to her as well, until they finally met in the middle.
“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner,” Fluttershy said, a slight expression of regret on her face. “And, I’m sorry to say it, but I need to head home,”
“Don’t sweat it,” Rainbow Dash replied, hiding a bit of a disappointed frown. As her thoughts shifted elsewhere, she perked up slightly. “Oh! Before I forget, did you grab that thing I asked for?” She asked curiously
Fluttershy glanced behind her while deep in thought. “Umm… I think so,” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a small bag. “I didn’t look inside, but if you don’t mind me asking, what’s in it?” She said, already handing the package off to her friend.
Rainbow Dash smirked while taking the bag. She glanced behind her briefly, spotting the stallion still standing where she left him. Finally, she turned back to Fluttershy and held open the bag for her to see into.
As she saw the contents of the bag, a surprised expression fell over the yellow mare. “Oh my gosh… is that what I think it is?” She asked eagerly.
“You bet it is,” Rainbow nodded. “I was planning on giving it to Blue… just as a reminder for him to look before he leaps,”
Fluttershy chuckled slightly before lowering her expression. “Well, I would love to be there when you give it to him, but unfortunately I really need to go. Sorry,” She frowned in disappointment.
“That’s alright,” Rainbow Dash assured. “I’ll just tell Blue that this is from both of us,” She glanced behind her, already anticipating the stallion’s reaction.
After saying goodbye to the yellow mare, Rainbow Dash flew back over to find the stallion near the side of the school building. He seemed to be deep in thought, and his expression was a bit sour.
“Hey Blue, what’s up?” She asked curiously, noting the troubled look on his face.
“Oh…” Blue Bolt took a moment to shift his expression to something a bit less somber. “Uh… nothing, I was just going over my grades in my head,” He explained.
Rainbow Dash cringed to herself. “I can sympathize…”
Blue Bolt looked down uncomfortably before looking back to his friend. “So, where did Fluttershy run off to?”
“She had to go home,” Rainbow Dash explained. She couldn’t stop a smirk from building on her face as she held up the bag the yellow mare had given her and reached inside. “But… not before she gave me this to give to you. Surprise!” She exclaimed cheerfully while holding out the object inside for the stallion to see.
Blue Bolt raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise as he saw what the cyan pony was holding. It was a small and sleek black sleeve about the size of a folded up pegasus wing.
“Oh wow, is that… my first cast?” He asked with a slight smile building on his face.
“It sure is,” Rainbow Dash said, shoving the object into the stallion’s hooves. “I know one of the nurses down at the hospital, and I managed to call in a favor to get this back for you. I know you probably won’t need it anymore, but me and Flutters thought it might be nice for you to have… so you can look at it and think back to how stupid you used to be in school,” She punched him on the shoulder playfully as he was still staring at the cast in his hooves.
Much to Rainbow’s surprise, Blue Bolt flashed a brief frown as he looked down at the sleeve. He quickly adopted a better expression, only managing to keep a neutral face at best as he looked up at his friend.
“Rainbow Dash… I… I don’t know what to say. Thank you… both of you,” He said in a genuine tone.
“Aww, don’t get all sappy on me now,” Rainbow Dash jested. She glanced behind her pensively before looking back to him with a more excited expression. “So, now that you’re airborne again, why don’t we see if you can make it through the course?” She asked curiously. “I’ll take it easy on you, don’t worry.”
The color nearly drained from Blue Bolt’s face as he heard the mare’s suggestion. He took a few steps back and darted his head to the side, struggling to think of something to say.
“Uh… no, no… Sorry, but I can’t today. My… I umm… I promised my dad I would help him with something back home,”
Rainbow Dash tilted her head in confusion. “Blue… come on, I’m sure your dad wouldn’t mind. It is to help with your recovery after all,” She said in a softer tone.
The stallion kept backing to the side despite Rainbow’s attempts at persuasion. “No, I really can’t. I’m sorry… I’ve uh… I’ve got to go!” He exclaimed suddenly while trotting away toward the front of the school.
Rainbow Dash watched the stallion leaving with a confused and mildly concerned expression. “Was it something I said?” She wondered out loud while looking down sadly.
Despite how many happy memories she might have had of the stallion, not all of her memories of him were pleasant.
In the weeks leading up to the school dance, Rainbow Dash noticed her friend growing more and more distant towards her. Whenever she tried talking to him, he would simply frown and look for the easiest way to leave her. Even Fluttershy found the stallion’s smile vanishing whenever she tried approaching him.
Finally, the big day arrived. School went by at a slow crawl, even slower than usual for Rainbow Dash. She spent every period thinking about the stallion. Was he avoiding her because he could tell that she was trying to ask him out? Maybe he was freaked out by the thought of having a deeper relationship with her than a simple friendship, not that she could blame him. The thought was certainly troubling her to no end. She wasn’t even sure why she wanted to ask him out, but she knew that she couldn’t just let the opportunity pass her by. After all, it wasn’t like her to not take action.
Rainbow Dash walked through the hallways of the school, having spent some time outside clearing her head. The dance was only just getting started, so many ponies were still scattered around the school. Still, she could hear music playing softly from the gymnasium.
Come on, Rainbow… you can do this… She thought to herself, more nervous than she thought she would feel.
He’s just a stallion… he’s your friend for pony’s sake. Just ask him out… I mean, what’s the worst he can say? No? She laughed slightly as she realized how worked up she was getting.
Suddenly, she stopped walking as she saw something up ahead. Sure enough, it was Blue Bolt. He was standing outside of one of the entrances to the gymnasium, leaning up against the wall and looking down with a downcast expression. Rainbow Dash was almost relieved to see him. Finding the stallion was made a fairly difficult task after he started avoiding her and Fluttershy. But now, he was just standing in front of her, ripe for the taking. All she had to do was say a few words and everything would be fine.
Rainbow Dash hesitantly walked over to the stallion. She shook herself awake and took in a deep breath to calm herself before putting on the best confident expression she could muster and strolling the rest of the way over.
Blue Bolt looked up as he heard hoofsteps approaching. He lowered his already glum expression as he saw the cyan mare walking up to him.
“Hey, Blue Bolt…” Rainbow Dash greeted. “I uh… I know it’s a little late to ask, but…” She chuckled awkwardly as she struggled to find the right way to say what she was meaning to. “I was wondering if… Well, I wanted to say…” She sighed and shook her head before adopting a somber expression. “Blue… will you go to the dance with me?” She asked, smiling slightly and waiting for a response.
Blue Bolt looked the mare in the eyes, his own holding a palpable sense of discomfort. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Finally, he took in a breath and looked down.
“No…”
The stallion’s response hung in the air for a moment before truly smacking Rainbow Dash in the face. “W...what?” She muttered in a dumbfounded and slightly saddened tone. “Umm… ok… Did someone else already ask you?” She said, trying her best to not look as disappointed as she felt.
Blue Bolt shook his head. “No, it’s nothing like that. I just…” He sighed sadly and turned away from her. “Rainbow Dash… I don’t think we should be friends anymore. Matter of fact… I think we shouldn’t see each other… anymore,” He rubbed his foreleg uncomfortably.
“What…?” Rainbow Dash shook her head in utter confusion. “Blue… what are you saying? Why can’t we be friends anymore?” She searched his eyes for any sign that he was just joking with her, but he just kept avoiding her gaze with a shameful and sad look on his face.
“I… I had a talk with my family, and we are moving out of Cloudsdale in a few days,” Blue explained hesitantly. “It’s… probably for the best anyway,”
Rainbow Dash stared at him, her jaw practically on the floor. She could feel a buildup of emotions working their way to the surface, despite her attempts at keeping them at bay.
“W-wh… what?” She looked down for a moment before darting her trembling eyes back to the stallion. “Blue, I… I don’t understand. Did I do something wrong? Just tell me what I did so we can work this out!” She stepped toward him and tried to put a hoof on his shoulder, only to have him back away from her.
Blue Bolt remained silent for a moment as he looked at the cyan mare. He could see that her eyes were on the verge of watering, though she was trying her best to keep a calm exterior.
“I’m sorry, but… I think this is goodbye.” He said softly.
Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung open, her jaw quivering as she raced to find something, anything to say to change the stallion’s mind. Before she could think of something, he turned and started walking away.
“B-Blue, wait!” She called and reached after him, only to have him keep his course without so much as turning to look at her. He made it all the way to the end of the hallway as she stayed standing there, staring ahead with wide eyes. Finally, he turned the corner, looked back to her one last time, and walked out of sight. Rainbow felt a few stray tears building in her eyes, and soon enough they were falling to the floor.
“Please… don’t go…” She muttered to nothing but thin air, letting her outstretched foreleg droop to the floor.
The music in the next room got louder, and the sounds of other ponies’ laughing and cheering could be heard, indicating that the dance had started. Somehow, however, the cyan mare didn’t want to attend anymore.
Rainbow Dash felt a twinge of the familiar sadness she experienced when she watched the stallion walk out of her life. The soft sound of rain and thunder drew her out of her mind, leaving her sitting in a darkened hole in the middle of a forest, just as she remembered. Somehow, she wished that this whole mess was just part of a dream, and that she would wake up safe and sound in her bed.
Hearing movement off to the side, the cyan mare looked over, spotting her blue companion leaning up against the opposite side of the tree. He seemed just as gloomy as her, although he looked like he was holding onto some form of hope. He had tried to lighten the mood and keep her spirits high ever since they had gotten trapped in the forest. For some reason, he was still being friendly with her despite what had happened back at school. He even kept the cast she had given him as a keepsake, though she paid little attention to it when she first saw him back in Ponyville. Nothing about the stallion’s behavior made sense to her. Why was he trying so hard to make amends? Was it purely because of the friendship they once had?
“Blue… can I ask you something?” Rainbow spoke up softly, breaking the silence in the air.
Blue Bolt looked over, seeing the cyan pony looking back with a saddened expression on her face. “Of course… what is it?” He got up and moved closer to her.
Rainbow Dash trailed her eyes downward before settling her gaze onto her friend. “I know that I said we shouldn’t talk about the past… I just…” She sighed and ran a hoof down her face uncomfortably. Blue Bolt remained silent as she continued. “I just want to know one thing… Why did you leave?”
“Rainbow…” Blue Bolt lowered his expression briefly before setting his mouth in a grim line. “Please don’t ask me that,” He pleaded.
“Why?” Rainbow sat up slightly, ignoring her discomfort. “Blue, I deserve to know… I don’t want to make light of our friendship, but after everything I’ve done for you, you can tell me at least that much,”
Blue sighed and shook his head. “You’re right… you do deserve to know, but I’m not telling you. You can ask as many times as you want... but the answer will still be no,” He explained adamantly.
Rainbow Dash stared at the stallion in disbelief for a moment. She could tell that he was being serious, but she couldn’t fathom why. “What are you trying so hard to hide?” She asked, though it looked like she wasn’t going to get a response.
Blue Bolt remained silent as he got up. He looked at Rainbow Dash with a torn expression, seemingly contemplating something, before he walked back over to his original spot on the other side of the tree.
Rainbow Dash frowned as she saw how her friend’s attitude seemed to change so drastically. She looked down in thought, her eyes softening as a question popped into her mind.
“Was it because of me?” She looked up, waiting for an answer.
Blue Bolt hesitated for a moment before turning around again. “Stop talking, Rainbow Dash…” He said quietly.
Rainbow Dash narrowed her expression. “Blue Bolt… did you leave, because of me?” She asked again, more deliberately. At this point, she wasn’t angry, she just wanted answers.
The stallion’s eyes searched around his companion’s face, softening as he saw so many painful memories bubbling up to the surface. He knew that she would just keep asking, and that she would probably make things worse for herself if he didn’t speak. Finally, he lowered his eyes and sighed.
“Yes…” He spoke softly.
Hearing the word she was dreading actually leaving the stallion’s mouth made Rainbow Dash recoil back in shock. She desperately looked at him, hoping to see some sign that he was lying, only to find nothing but gloom and regret on his face. Much to her own surprise, she felt a few tears welling up in her eyes.
“O-ok…” Rainbow Dash nodded. She sniffled quietly, doing her best to wipe her eyes without letting him see. “So, that’s it then…? That’s why you came to Ponyville... You wanted to apologize and try to make things better after all these years. Am I wrong?” She asked.
Blue Bolt simply remained silent, looking back to her with a somber expression.
She looked to the side, clenching her eyes and shaking her head to rid herself of her troubling thoughts. “No… that’s ok. I don’t know what else I was expecting,”
“Rainbow Dash…” Blue Bolt walked over and reached a foreleg out to her, only to have it swatted away.
“I’m fine… I’m f-fine.” Rainbow insisted. “I… I think I’m going to sleep now. Please... just stay over there,” She laid back down and turned to face the wooden wall before curling up.
Blue Bolt watched the cyan pegasus as she tried to get to sleep. Although she probably didn’t mean for him to hear, he could tell that she was crying a little bit. He looked down sadly and closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” He whispered to himself.
With his companion wanting nothing to do with him, the stallion slowly walked to the opposite wall and laid down as well. He wanted to say so much, but she had made it clear that she didn’t want his apologies. Besides, she needed to rest anyway due to her illness.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come here after all… He thought to himself while staring at the ceiling.
After a few more minutes of stealing glances over to his sullen friend, Blue decided to at least try and get some sleep. Somehow, however, he knew that it was going to be a long night.
Fluttershy slowly drifted awake, finding herself staring at the ceiling of her cottage bedroom. The light in the room was still dim, but it seemed to indicate that the sun was rising.
As she slowly sat up and rested her head on her hooves, her thoughts immediately drifted to her missing friends. All she could think about for the past two days was where they were, and what had happened to them.
With her thoughts still lingering on the gloomy subject, she sighed and got out of bed. If anything, she couldn’t just stay in bed and mope around all day, even if she couldn’t do anything to help find the missing pegasi.
Fluttershy groggily made her way downstairs and did her morning chores before deflating onto her couch. After failing yet again to make a successful search of the forest out in the countryside, the yellow mare was feeling much more defeated and pessimistic than usual.
Suddenly, a series of knocks at her front door snapped the pegasus out of her gloomy self reflection. As she looked over toward the door, she could see that the sky outside was barely even turning orange from the freshly risen sun.
“It’s still so early… who could that be?” She thought out loud. Realizing that her question wasn’t going to answer itself, she got up from the couch and walked over to answer the door.
Fluttershy slowly opened the door a crack and poked her head through the seam to see who her mystery visitor was. Much to her surprise, she saw a familiar orange pegasus standing outside.
“Sunspot?”
The orange pony smiled slightly as she saw the drowsy mare. “Morning, Fluttershy,” She greeted in a friendly manner.
“Good morning…” Fluttershy replied, though she still had a confused expression on her face. “Umm… Sunspot, not that I’m not glad to see you or anything, but what are you doing here?” She asked curiously.
“Isn’t it obvious…? I’m here to get you so we can go search for Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt,” Sunspot adopted a more determined expression. She waited for Fluttershy to join her outside so they could head off for the forest, but, strangely enough, the yellow mare frowned slightly upon mention of her intentions.
“Sunspot… I just don’t know what we could do at this point,” Fluttershy shrugged gloomily.
“Huh…?” Sunspot raised her eyes in surprise and confusion. “What are you saying, Fluttershy?” She asked, softening her expression as she saw how defeated the pegasus looked.
“Everything we try just gets shot down. If we go back out there, who’s to say another freak storm won’t show up? There’s been one every day since Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt got lost. And even if we decided to ignore the storm and search on foot, the forest is apparently full of timberwolves and Celestia knows what else,” Fluttershy shook her head sadly before looking down and drooping her ears. “I just… I just don’t know how we’re going to find them… if we even can,”
Sunspot frowned slightly as she watched Fluttershy wallowing in her own despairing thoughts. She rested a hoof on the gloomy pony’s shoulder and flashed a reassuring smile.
“Cheer up, Fluttershy… I happen to know for a fact that we won’t need to worry about any freak storms anymore,”
Fluttershy looked up in surprise. “Huh…?”
“Glitterball and I spent the night over at the library; And while I wasn’t much help, I hear Glitter and Twilight stayed up practically all night looking for an explanation about the weather acting so weird,” Sunspot explained.
“Did they find anything?” Fluttershy asked, a hint of intrigue and excitement welling up within her.
Sunspot nodded. “They sure did. After a while of hitting dead ends, they got in contact with Princess Luna and got her to get in contact with Tom. According to him, weather in the human world acted a lot like the storms you encountered did; Powerful at times, and unpredictable as hay,”
Fluttershy tilted her head with a confused expression as she listened to the explanation given. “But… that still doesn’t make sense. Weather hasn’t acted like that since pegasi started controlling it,”
“Twilight thought that too,” Sunspot added. “Apparently, Tom said that the shockwave of energy that happened back when Raven Feather tried taking over Canterlot might be the reason the weather stopped acting predictably. It’s also the reason why there are timberwolves outside of the Everfree. With so many new paranormal creatures roaming around the darker portions of the world, you can bet that there are some nasty things out in the Everfree… and you can bet that they are nasty enough to scare away a timberwolf or two,”
Fluttershy cringed slightly and glanced off to the side toward the aforementioned forest. Still, the thought of some kind of terrifying monster living so close to her home was overshadowed by another, much less terrifying, thought.
“So, did you guys come up with a way to stop the weather from acting up?” She asked, managing a bit of an excited smile.
“Well, I didn’t… but they did,” Sunspot explained. “Twilight and Princess Luna did some back and forth research with what they learned from Tom. They found a spell that can be used to regulate unruly weather patterns, and they’re hoping that it will neutralize any energies that might be messing with the weather. They should be done with it by the time you come with us to go look for the others,”
“Us…?” Fluttershy parroted in a confused tone.
In response, Sunspot backed up a step, revealing the area behind her. Waiting a few feet away from the cottage was a group of three or four pegasi from town, who all waved at the yellow mare as she noticed them.
“Did you really think I would come alone?” Sunspot asked with a smirk. “So how about it, Fluttershy, are you ready to go find Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt?”
Fluttershy let a warm smile build as she looked around at all of the ponies willing to help with rescuing her friends. Any feelings of despair or gloom seemed to melt away and be replaced with hope and determination.
“Ok… let’s go bring them home.” She nodded, adopting a serious expression.
Rainbow Dash awoke to the chirping of birds and the sound of the trees softly swaying in the breeze outside. She immediately noticed that she was shivering. It was cold, much colder than she remembered it being last night.
As she struggled to keep her teeth from chattering, she looked up and saw sunlight painting the area outside in pleasant colors. Apparently it was still early enough that the warmth from the sun hadn’t overcome the cold from the night and the rainfall.
Much to her surprise, she didn’t feel feverish at all. In fact, her body moved around much easier than it had since she got sick. Whatever infection had been plaguing her seemed to be on its way out of her system.
Hearing noise off to the side, Rainbow looked over and saw her companion stirring as well. The stallion groaned as he moved from his cramped sleeping position. He took a moment to stretch before looking around and settling his eyes on the cyan pony.
“Morning…” Rainbow Dash greeted, though she wasn’t as cheerful as she could have been.
“Morning,” Blue replied with equal energy while getting up. “Are you feeling any better?” He asked curiously, turning his attention to her health.
Rainbow smiled slightly. “Yeah actually… I’m feeling pretty good all things considered,” She reported with a pleased tone.
Blue Bolt walked over and gently felt her forehead, smiling slightly at the result. “Your fever is definitely gone… I guess all you needed was some rest,” He chuckled. The smile on his face faded as his thoughts turned to their discussion last night.
Perhaps noticing the gloom coming off of her companion, Rainbow Dash adopted a somber expression as well. Still, she turned her attention to the world outside and slowly got up.
“Thank Celestia that storm passed over. Now maybe we can get out of this place,” She said.
“I hear you there,” Blue nodded in agreement while joining the pegasus by the mouth of their makeshift shelter.
Rainbow Dash turned to the stallion, taking a moment to frown as she thought back to last night. “Blue… I think we can both agree that getting out of this forest is the most important thing we could be doing right now. But once we make it back home, I think maybe we should go our separate ways… at least for a little while,” She suggested uncomfortably.
Blue Bolt hesitated for a moment, but eventually he nodded slowly. “Ok,”
Now that their team was at least relatively back on track, the pair climbed out of their temporary tree home and planted their hooves onto solid, if a little moist, ground. Once they were out, they could immediately feel a bit of wind chill despite the thick covering of trees. After taking a moment to adjust to the temperature, they picked a direction and started walking.
“So, what’s the plan?” Blue Bolt asked curiously as he walked alongside his survival buddy.
Rainbow Dash gave the question some thought before sighing. “Well… basically everything we’ve tried has been derailed in one way or another. We have no clue where we are in relation to anything, and without our wings, we have a snowball’s chance in Tartarus at figuring out the best direction to go,”
Blue narrowed his eyes slightly. “So… basically you’re saying we’re bucked?”
“Ye of little faith,” Rainbow Dash smirked confidently. “Lucky for us, I’ve got a surefire plan that will get us out of here in no time,”
“Mind sharing your plan with the class?” Blue Bolt asked curiously.
Rainbow stopped walking for a moment and faced her companion. “Blue, if I know the others half as well as I think I do, I know that they would stop at nothing to find us. They have probably been looking for us since we crashed in this place. All we have to do is find a way to let them know where we are,” She explained, sure that her reasoning was sound.
Blue Bolt nodded in revelation. “Right… that’s brilliant!” His enthusiasm faded slightly as he thought about the logistics of such a plan. “But how are we going to give them a signal in this place? All we have is a bunch of sticks and plants,”
While her companion was thinking hard about what to do, Rainbow Dash simply let him come to his own conclusion. She looked at him suggestively, motioning with her hoof for him to keep going with his train of thought. Finally, he caught on to what she was insinuating.
“Oh! Right, we can make a fire to show them where we are!”
“Bingo,” Rainbow smirked before turning and starting to walk again. “But if we’re even going to have a shot at making a fire, we need to find a clearing so they can actually see the smoke,” She said.
“What about the river?” Blue asked, turning his head toward what he hoped was the direction they came from.
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Nah… that wouldn’t work. Even if we could make it back there, finding dry wood would be impossible. Not to mention the fact that those two timberwolves will probably still be looking for us around that area,”
Blue Bolt cringed as he pictured another run in with the wooden beasts. “I didn’t know that timberwolves held grudges,”
“Knowing our luck, we probably ran into the only two in all of Equestria that do,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and shook her head at their misfortune.
Blue Bolt sighed and shook his head as well. He quickly adopted a more serious expression and turned his attention ahead. “Well if we’re going to find a clearing, we should get moving. I do not want to spend another night out here,” He stated.
With me, you mean… Rainbow Dash frowned slightly as gloomier thoughts found their way into her mind. She shook her head to rid herself of such troubling things before steeling herself for the journey ahead.
“I’m right there with you on that,” She nodded.
The pair spent the better part of an hour walking through the thicket of trees in search of a clearing. As the minutes ticked by, and the endless forest went on and on, their spirits were starting to dwindle.
Although they had mostly recovered from their injuries and bouts of weakness, walking for so long in the cold was starting to get to the ponies. They couldn’t wait for things to warm up in the afternoon so they could stop shivering. Although, they hoped that they would be out of the forest by the time noon rolled around, even if it would be a pipedream at this point.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash noticed something off to the right. Flitting her eyes eagerly through the distant trees, her face lit up as she saw more sunlight than usual shining down onto the forest floor.
“Look over there!” She pointed out with an excited smile. The stallion followed her outstretched foreleg until he was looking at what must have been the answer to their prayers.
Up ahead, there seemed to be a clearing in the trees in a roughly circular shape. They couldn’t tell how big the clearing was from where they were, but it was a sight for sore eyes nevertheless.
“Yes...!” Blue Bolt chuckled triumphantly alongside his companion. With their energy renewed, the pair sprinted toward the clearing in a silent race to get there as fast as possible.
Somehow, Rainbow Dash made it to the clearing first. She burst out from the trees and onto a grassy floor. The intense glare of the sun overhead forced her to shield her eyes for a moment. Still, she was smiling as she looked up into the sky.
Hearing her companion slowing to a stop behind her, she turned and saw the stallion looking around with a similarly stunned expression. Neither of them thought they would be so happy to just see a clear blue sky above their heads.
“This looks perfect!” Blue stated, still taking in the sights around him.
Rainbow Dash managed to contain her giddy smile for a moment. “Yeah… now we just need to make a fire big enough to be visible from the air,” She said while looking around for any loose pieces of wood. Her excitement quickly diminished as she realized that the storm from last night had pretty much ruined most of the wood from the trees. “Something tells me this might take a while.”
“Aww, don’t be so negative,” Blue Bolt chimed in. “I found wood after the last storm passed through. I’m sure there are tons of nooks and crannies where the water didn’t reach. All we need to do is look around for a bit,” He said confidently.
“I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic,” Rainbow clarified. “Still, I hope you’re right. Come on, we should split up and search around. Don’t wander too far away from the clearing, and meet me back here in ten minutes. We’ll go from there,” She explained.
Blue Bolt nodded in agreement. “Alright… just be sure to yell if you get in trouble,”
“And since when have I gotten into trouble?” Rainbow Dash scoffed while walking toward one edge of the clearing.
She could hear the stallion chuckling behind her as he went another direction. She only hoped that they would be able to find enough firewood to make a fire that would last long enough to be discovered by her friends, and she really hoped that her assumption that they would be searching for her was correct.
Meanwhile, while the two ponies were searching for firewood, another group was busy searching for them.
Out in the countryside outside of Ponyville, Fluttershy, Sunspot, and their fellow search party members were walking at a brisk pace toward the distant forest.
Fluttershy looked around, smiling slightly as she saw that they were making good progress. Without slowing their pace down to take in the surroundings, and without taking any detours, making it to the forest would take much less time than it did when she was hiking with her friends.
“We should be there in about half an hour…” Sunspot said while looking behind her to update the others on their location. “If I’m remembering the path correctly that is,” She muttered to herself, though Fluttershy was close enough to her to overhear.
“We’re going the right way,” Fluttershy assured. She turned her attention ahead, lowering her expression as she noticed many clouds on the horizon. “I just hope Twilight and the others get done with that spell before we get there,” She shrugged before shifting her eyes back to the distant horizon and moving forward.
The group marched onwards, hurrying every chance they got to reach their destination faster. Soon enough, they could start to make out the sight of the cliff in the distance, and the tops of the forest trees just barely poking their leafy heads up above the hilly terrain.
Fluttershy smiled as she laid eyes on the forest. Somehow, she was confident that their efforts would finally be successful today.
Before anyone could draw attention to their progress, a flash of movement in the sky made them dart their heads upward. Much to their surprise, they saw a wave of magical energy silently passing over them and sailing through the clouds. Almost the instant the wave passed, any clouds that were darker or more sinister looking either lightened up or dissipated completely, leaving a much clearer and pleasant looking skyline.
“That must be the spell Twilight and Glitter were working on,” Sunspot pointed out, admiring the sight of the wave as it kept zooming out into the wild blue yonder. “Look at that thing go,” She whistled.
Fluttershy briefly admired the sight as well before turning back to the distant forest. “Come on, guys… I think they’ve been waiting long enough for us to find them,” She said with a determined tone of voice. Sunspot and the others followed the yellow mare as she marched on toward their destination.
After several repeated searches for usable firewood, an hour or so must have come and gone. Rainbow Dash walked back to the clearing for her scheduled meet up with Blue Bolt, a small bundle of sticks under her foreleg. Much to her relief, she saw him carrying some sticks as well.
“Do you think this will be enough?” Blue Bolt asked curiously while dropping his bundle of wood along with the cyan mare’s.
Rainbow Dash sighed while looking at the meager pile. “It’s not going to let us roast many marshmallows, but I think it might work for a while,”
“It had better, because I didn’t see much more wood out there that isn’t soaked,” Blue stated with an uneasy expression.
The two ponies sat in the middle of the clearing and got to work. Rainbow Dash started arranging the sticks into a pile, and Blue Bolt started stripping plant fibers for use as kindling once they got their blaze started.
While they were working, Blue Bolt couldn’t help but to look at his companion with a regretful frown. He could still remember her crying last night after he undoubtedly opened up old wounds. She looked just like she did when he shot her down at the big dance back at school.
“You know, Rainbow… I meant it when I said I was sorry,” He said, looking at her with a somber expression.
Rainbow Dash briefly paused what she was doing and looked over at the stallion. “Blue, I thought we finished going over this last night,” She shook her head dismissively before returning to her work.
“I know we did,” Blue softened his voice slightly. “I know what I did was wrong… and I know that I hurt you, but-”
“Hurt me?” Rainbow interrupted, causing him to fall silent. She set the stick she was holding down and turned to him, a somber expression on her face as well. “Blue… you didn’t just hurt me, you made me feel like trash… like I was the one who did something wrong,”
Blue Bolt lowered his expression and shook his head. “Of course you didn’t do something wrong,”
“How was I supposed to know that?” Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders sadly. “You started avoiding me in class, you looked unhappy whenever I walked in the room, and then you up and leave right when I got the courage to ask you to the dance. That’s not how friends treat each other. Friends don’t just…” She looked down for a moment, struggling to find the words. “Friends don’t just leave like that.”
“Rainbow…” Blue frowned as he saw her trying her best to not let her emotions bubble to the surface.
Rainbow Dash sighed before adopting a more serious expression. “Fluttershy and I lost a friend that day… She wouldn’t stop looking sad for weeks. If you want to come back into our lives this far down the line, that’s fine… I can’t stop you from trying, but… please don’t expect me to act like everything is fine.”
She stared at him, waiting to see if he had a response. Blue Bolt opened his mouth to say something, anything to make her feel better, but he couldn’t find anything to say. Finally, he looked to the plants he was working on and sulked in his thoughts while letting the cyan mare continue working on the fire.
After they finished their respective jobs and placed all of the kindling on the newly completed pile, they got to work on starting the fire itself; Or rather, Rainbow Dash worked on the fire, while Blue Bolt simply stood back and watched her.
The cyan mare used her previous trick of spinning one stick into a bed of kindling, however, this time it seemed to be more slow going.
“Come on… work you stupid little…” She grumbled silently as nothing but faint smoke arose from the end of the stick.
“Is there a problem?” Blue Bolt asked, watching his companion work with a raised eyebrow.
“Grr…” Rainbow Dash finally sighed and stopped what she was doing for a moment. “This stick must be a little moist or something,”
“Well, keep at it. You’ll get it eventually,” Blue Bolt assured confidently. Despite her frustration, Rainbow shrugged and got back to work.
Time ticked by at a slow crawl while the cyan mare spun away at her stick. Regardless, she kept going with eager enthusiasm. The only thing keeping them from being rescued was starting this fire, so Rainbow was determined to keep working until her hooves were raw.
As Blue Bolt was looking around at the trees outside of the clearing, a noise caught his attention from off to the side. What sounded like a twig snapping came from the woods.
“What was that?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.
The stallion looked over, only to see that his companion had heard the noise as well. “It was probably just a deer or something,” He turned his attention toward the direction the noise came from and adopted a wary expression. “I’ll check it out just to be safe,” He said, starting to walk off toward the treeline.
Rainbow Dash looked to her blue companion uneasily. “Shouldn’t I go with you?”
“No… you stay here and get the fire going. I’ll be fine,” Blue instructed after pausing to give the pegasus a reassuring smirk.
“Stay close to the clearing… and don’t get into any trouble!” Rainbow Dash called after the stallion as he left toward the trees. He waved to her to show that he heard her before disappearing into the thicket.
Rainbow sighed and stared in the direction the stallion went in for a while longer before hesitantly returning to her work. At any rate, they both needed the fire to be started if they were going to have any chance of escaping the forest.
After spinning the stick at a frustratingly fast speed, Rainbow Dash paused as she saw smoke drifting upwards. As she removed the stick and looked down, she smiled as she saw some embers inside of the bundle of kindling.
“Yes…” She cheered silently and set the stick aside. With careful diligence, she slowly kneeled down and blew onto the embers, causing them to spread. Soon enough, the beginnings of a fire were starting to burn through the pile of wood.
Some rearranging of sticks and some patient positioning of kindling later, and the cyan mare had a respectable blaze going. With how much smoke was billowing into the sky, anyone outside of the forest would be able to see where they were now.
Suddenly, the rustling of a bush nearby made Rainbow Dash’s ears perk up. She darted her head to the side, scanning her eyes around the edge of the forest to find the source of the noise. She quickly discovered a patch of thick brush that was moving slightly.
“Blue Bolt? Is that you?” She asked, a twinge of unease building inside of her as she slowly got to her feet.
The bush continued rustling, with no other noise coming from it. Rainbow Dash inched backwards in a paranoid manner, keeping her eyes fixed ahead as she did.
“You better speak up if you’re there,” She stated nervously.
Finally, a sound came to answer her, but it wasn’t the sound the cyan mare was hoping for. Instead of her companion’s voice, a deep and spine-chilling growl came from the bush as two sets of glowing green lights peered out at her.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes shifted between the two shadowed beasts as they stepped out into the light. Her heart sank in her chest, and a cold feeling of fear came over her.
“Not you two again…” She muttered nervously while slowly stepping backwards. “Why can’t I catch a break out here?”
The timberwolves stalked toward the seemingly helpless pony. They looked more angry than hungry, though she was confident that after they were done with her that they would dine on pegasus steak. Glancing behind her, Rainbow quickly realized that she was at a serious disadvantage. With how weak she still felt, she doubted that she could beat the two predators at an outright sprint.
Seeing an opportunity to strike, one of the wolves leapt forward while the mare was distracted. In a blur, it sailed through the air with its front claws reaching for her.
Hearing the wooden beast moving, Rainbow Dash turned her head just in time to see it careening towards her. She barely had time to let out a gasp and jerk her body backwards before she was tackled to the ground. Grunting in pain, she quickly shot her forelegs up and caught the massive wolf on its shoulders.
The timberwolf snapped at the pegasus beneath it with its jaws, covering her liberally with its saliva and forcing her to move her head away desperately. Unlike their previous encounter, this time there was no sheer drop-off to assist the pony.
Rainbow Dash shifted her eyes downwards and paled as she saw another pair of wooden legs moving closer. The other wolf was moving around, making its way toward her head. She was barely keeping one of the beasts at bay, and her luck had just run out.
Desperate, she groaned and used all of her strength in an attempt at pushing the first wolf off of her. Unfortunately, the beast was too massive and she was too weak. Spotting the other wolf above her, leering down and snarling at its prey, Rainbow felt a knot in her stomach as she realized that this was it. She was going to die here.
“HEY!”
Suddenly, a loud yell sounded out, followed by a hollow ‘thwack’. Rainbow Dash saw a rock bouncing off of the second timberwolf’s face and landing near her. Looking past the legs of the first wolf on top of her, she saw a familiar blue stallion standing at the edge of the clearing.
“Blue!”
Blue Bolt met eyes with the cyan mare and flashed a reassuring expression. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna help you!” He assured before turning his attention back to the two predators.
The timberwolves darted their heads to look at the newly arrived pegasus. While the first wolf kept its claws firmly planted on the pinned mare’s shoulders, the second wolf was free to move around and snarl at the newcomer.
Rainbow Dash felt a wave of panic wash over her as she saw the deadly beast moving toward her friend. “Blue, what are you doing?! Get out of here!” She yelled frantically while still struggling to keep the wolf on top of her from digging its claws into her skin.
Much to her alarm, the wolf shifted its attempts at clawing at her to using a more straightforward approach. With a brief snarl, the beast shot its open jaw forward, aiming for her neck. Rainbow Dash yelped and shot her hooves up, barely catching the timberwolf’s neck and pushing back on it.
“Dash!” Blue shouted.
Seeing his companion in danger, he rushed forward to her aid, until he was abruptly stopped by the other wolf snapping toward him and moving to the side. Before he could even try to move around the new obstacle in his path, the wolf reared up and pounced toward him, forcing him to turn tail and run.
“Hang on, I’ll be right back!” He yelled behind him as he fled into the forest, the timberwolf in hot pursuit not far behind.
Rainbow Dash stared at the shapes of her friend and the vicious predator disappearing into the trees. She didn’t have very long to dwell on her concerned thoughts as she returned her attention to her own problems.
The timberwolf was digging its claws into her shoulders for leverage, and while it was plenty painful, it didn’t seem to be drawing very much blood. The maw full of sharp teeth, however, looked like they would do more damage. Much more.
The cyan pony felt her forelegs shaking from stress. She was just barely keeping the wolf’s head away from her vital areas, but it could have been over in an instant if she let go.
“Hrk… guh… get… get off!” She barked, kicking with her back legs to no avail. The wolf was only focused on one thing, and that was sinking its teeth into her neck.
She was fighting a losing battle, and she knew it. At this point, it was a war of attrition with the odds stacked in the wolf’s favor. Desperate for an escape route, Rainbow darted her eyes around, settling them on the fire still crackling away beside her. Suddenly, as she looked up at the wooden beast, an idea popped into her head that might have been crazy enough to work.
Using all of her strength, she used one foreleg to keep pushing the wolf back while she slowly reached out with her free leg. A decently sized branch was sitting at the edge of the fire, taunting her with how close it was while still remaining just out of reach.
Ignoring the pain from the claws keeping her pinned down, she jerked ever so slightly to the side and stretched, until finally she felt her hoof fall on a small wooden object. With a mighty yell, Rainbow Dash swung her new weapon upwards, freeing the stick from the pile and shoving its burning tip into the beast’s wooden body.
The branch collided with the timberwolf, causing it to let out a shriek of pain as it jerked to try and get away. However, the damage had already been done. Rainbow Dash smirked triumphantly as she saw flickering embers sparking to life along the beast’s wooden body.
The wolf yipped and yelped painfully as it looked down at the offending areas on its body. With the smoke and fire intensifying, it jumped off the pegasus and bolted as fast as it could toward the forest, hoping to find some way to put itself out.
With one of the predators down, Rainbow Dash’s victorious smile vanished as her thoughts shifted elsewhere.
“Blue Bolt!” She gasped in a panic before getting up and rushing toward her friend, her new weapon clutched firmly in her mouth.
Her lungs were burning and her body was still a little sore from everything she had been through, but she didn’t care. All that mattered right now was reaching the stallion in time, and she would run as fast as her legs would carry her to save him.
Much to her horror, a scream of pain erupted from up ahead. The screams quickly intensified, sending a shiver down her spine and making her heart plummet. Rainbow Dash practically leapt out of the trees and into what appeared to be a smaller clearing. What she saw in front of her made her freeze in place.
The timberwolf that was chasing Blue Bolt had somehow managed to knock him on his back. Worse still, it had knocked his forelegs away and used the newly created opening to dig its teeth into the stallion’s midsection. Blood was already pouring from Blue’s stomach and down his side, but the wolf kept biting frantically at his chest and lower neck despite his screams and attempts at stopping the torturous onslaught.
“NO!” Rainbow Dash yelled as all of the color drained from her face. With rage building up inside of her, she bolted forward and charged straight at the wooden beast.
Hearing something running toward it, the timberwolf looked up, only to recoil slightly as it saw a seriously agitated pegasus sprinting at it with a burning branch in her mouth. Rainbow Dash stopped in front of the pair struggling on the ground and swiped her head across, smacking the end of the branch into the wolf.
The timberwolf shrieked in pain and raced to backpedal off of the stallion. Much like the first wolf, it ran away with its tail tucked between its legs as it realized that it was burning.
Rainbow Dash dropped the branch to the floor, barely taking time to stamp out the flames before turning her attention to her companion. As she got a good look at his newfound injuries, her eyes widened in shock.
Blue Bolt had many gashes up and down his chest and stomach, some of which looked even deeper than Rainbow’s wound from before. He was spilling blood onto the ground, staining the grass and his fur crimson red. And judging from his jittery movements, it was safe to say he was already getting weaker.
“Blue Bolt!” Rainbow Dash raced to his side and sat down. She gently picked up his head and cradled it in her lap before using her free hooves to apply pressure to one of the nastier looking gashes. “Talk to me, Blue… Say something!” She pleaded desperately.
Blue Bolt looked up at her with a pained look in his eyes. He coughed slightly and took in a shaky breath before speaking. “I-is… is my f-face ok?” He asked, managing a slight smile and a quiet chuckle.
“Oh… Blue…” Rainbow frowned as she looked up and down the stallion’s injuries. Even if he were to help her, they still wouldn’t have enough hooves between them to press down on all of the wounds. “You’re going to be fine… I’ll take care of you,” She said, half to comfort him, and half to reassure herself.
“Rainbow Dash… I… think I should t… tell you something,” Blue Bolt said, pausing a moment to catch his breath. “You were right to be upset at me back then… and even now,” He frowned slightly as he thought back to the night before.
“Upset… Me?” Rainbow Dash forced a smile. “Come on, Blue… I-I was just venting a little pent up frustration… I’m not mad at you,” She explained, though it was easy to tell that she was just trying to make him feel better. “You don’t need to tell me anything, ok? We’re cool.”
“No… you need to know,” Blue Bolt said, lowering his expression to a more somber one. “If I’m not around to tell you… you deserve to know what happened.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head sadly. “Dangit Blue, stop talking like you’re dying! I am not letting you die out in some Princess forsaken forest!” She insisted.
“Just… shut up would ya? It’s... hard enough for me to talk right now anyway,” Blue Bolt said, fighting off another fit of coughing. “Look… I didn’t exactly… Well, I didn’t break my wing when we first fell off that cliff,” He explained hesitantly.
Rainbow Dash tilted her head in confusion. “Huh…?” She looked down to his wrapped-up wing while deep in thought. The more she thought about what he was saying, the more she furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand… what are you talking about?”
“Rainbow… I don’t have a broken wing. I haven’t been able to fly since school,” Blue Bolt said somberly, much to the confusion of the cyan mare.
“What…?” Rainbow Dash pulled back slightly as she realized what he was insinuating. “But… b-but you recovered! You were flying just fine the last time I saw you. You even made it to school and back without any help!”
Blue Bolt sighed sadly and shook his head. “Do you remember the week before the dance, when you gave me the first cast I used?”
Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yeah… I do,”
“Well…” He coughed, “w-when you went over to talk to Fluttershy, I tried flying over as well. Something must have happened, because the next thing I know, my wing locked up and got all numb again, just like it did when I first injured it. No matter what I did, I couldn’t move it,” Blue explained, glancing down at the appendage regretfully.
“Is… is that why you ran off so fast?” Rainbow Dash softened her expression as she thought back to when the stallion made a very abrupt exit away from her that day.
“Y-yeah… I didn’t want you to know my wing was acting up… so I got out of there as fast as I could,” Blue Bolt said. “Thankfully, my dad still decided to show up to escort me home just in case. He took me to the hospital, and they did another scan on my wing,” He paused for a moment, a twinge of pain in his eyes that didn’t seem to be from his injuries as he continued. “As it turns out… the doctors missed a hairline fracture in my wing. According to them, the fracture most likely would have healed on its own eventually… but the news came a little late. A nerve near the base of my wing got pinched pretty badly from moving it so much… They said I would never fly again,”
While the stallion struggled through another fit of coughing, Rainbow Dash was reeling from shock at what he was telling her. “Blue… I had no idea. Why… why didn’t you tell us?” She asked, her eyes shaking sadly.
“Like I said… I didn’t want you to know. That’s why I tried to distance myself from you and Fluttershy… I even had my dad drop me off at school early and pick me up late so nobody saw that I couldn’t fly,” Blue explained.
Rainbow Dash looked down in thought, focusing on recalling the last time she saw the blue pony at school. “So… the school dance… You blowing me off like that was just because you didn’t want me finding out?” She asked with a bittersweet look of revelation on her face as she looked back to him.
Blue Bolt nodded as much as his weakened state would allow. “Every pegasus worth their feathers knows that most big events that involve dancing, also involve flying. I couldn’t just weasel my way out of explaining why I couldn’t fly at the dance… and I couldn’t bear actually explaining it. Not in front of everyone… especially not in front of you. I thought that making you think I didn’t like you anymore would have been the lesser evil… but I always regretted it,” He said in a sincere tone. Blue braced himself for another painful cough, only this one seemed to be worse than the others, a fact that was further cemented by a trickle of blood being expelled from his mouth.
Rainbow Dash felt the tears she had been fighting building up at the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had always wanted to know why the stallion left that day, but now she almost wished that her fantasies that she thought up to explain the pain away were true.
“Blue… why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you… me and Fluttershy both could have helped you!” She shook her head and clenched her eyes shut, facing away from him for a moment so he didn’t have to see her venting her emotions.
Suddenly, she felt a hoof brushing up against her cheek. As she looked down, she saw Blue Bolt frowning up at her.
“Rainbow Dash… I heard about how distraught you were at the hospital when I first pushed you out of the way of that lightning strike. You always helped me to get better… to push myself so that I would recover. I know you did all of that because you were my friend… but I also know that you needed me to be ok. You blamed yourself for me getting hurt… and I knew that if you found out that I lost my wing to that accident, that it would destroy you. I just want you to know that I never once blamed you or resented you for me not being able to fly… I only wish I could have found a way to hide the truth from you without hurting you at all,” He said regretfully, a somber expression on his pale face.
Rainbow Dash grabbed the stallion’s hoof as he weakly lowered it away from her. She squeezed it tightly in her own, struggling to keep herself from breaking down into a bout of crying. “Blue Bolt…” Rainbow sniffled loudly, taking a moment to collect herself before returning her attention to her injured companion. She placed her hooves over some of his wounds again and applied pressure. “You’re not d-dying out here…” She hiccuped, “y-you hear me? I’m not going to l-let you die!” She stated with a determined, if a little shaky, tone in her voice.
Little did the two pegasi know, while they were holding onto each other and struggling to stay together, a different group of pegasi was up in the air above the forest, struggling to find any signs of their missing friends.
Fluttershy hovered in the air, looking around feverishly and trying to spot her friends below through the thick canopy of trees. Everywhere she turned, other pony-folk from town were also searching different areas of the forest.
Through the sounds of people calling out for Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt, Fluttershy heard wings hovering closer to her. She turned and saw Sunspot coming to check up on her.
“Find anything?” The orange mare asked with a vague sense of optimism.
Fluttershy shook her head sadly. “No… nothing,”
Sunspot frowned slightly as she saw the hope practically draining from the yellow mare’s face by the passing second. “We’ll find them… If they’re still out here, we’ll find them. I can promise you that.” She rested a hoof on her friend’s shoulder reassuringly, patting it before taking off in another direction to continue searching.
Fluttershy nodded to herself slowly, though she was starting to doubt that anyone could find the missing pair. Still, she went back to looking around the ground below, desperate to keep going despite her lack of hope.
“Hey everyone! I think you should see this!” Another pegasus’s voice shouted from off to the side.
Fluttershy and most of the others on the search turned their heads, only to see a pink pegasus mare pointing into the distance.
Fluttershy followed the mare’s direction, until she widened her eyes at what she was seeing. Over a distant portion of the forest that hadn’t even been searched yet, a pillar of smoke was softly drifting into the sky from a clearing in the trees.
“That must be them!” Fluttershy cheered eagerly and shot off toward the smoke.
By the time she arrived in the airspace over the clearing, several of the other search party members had also flown over, including Sunspot. Fluttershy was the first among them to fly down into the clearing toward the source of the smoke. Any gloom had since left her, and she was filled with eager determination once more.
The source of the smoke was apparently a fire burning in the middle of the clearing. Fluttershy and the others gathered by the fire and examined it.
“This looks pretty new… like it was just made.” Sunspot commented as she noted how much of the wood was yet to burn.
“It must be them!” Fluttershy grinned happily. “I just knew that they weren’t gone.”
Suddenly, Sunspot perked her ears up and turned toward her rear. “Sssh… everyone be quiet for a sec.” She instructed, straining to focus on her hearing.
Much to everyone’s surprise, they started to hear the same thing the orange mare had. What sounded like a distant voice was coming from through the trees.
Fluttershy gasped as she heard the voice. “That sounds like Rainbow Dash!” She exclaimed eagerly. Without even waiting to consult her fellow search party members, she bolted off toward the trees.
“Fluttershy, wait for us!” Sunspot called after the yellow mare. She shrugged before running after the eager pony and motioning for the others to follow.
At the head of the pack, Fluttershy ran as fast as she could toward the sound of her lost friend. She weaved around trees and bushes, determined to not let anything get in her way. The sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice got closer the further she went. The cyan pony sounded distraught, which made a thick feeling of dread well up in Fluttershy’s gut.
Finally, Fluttershy burst out of the trees and into a smaller clearing. Her face lit up as she looked ahead and saw Rainbow Dash sitting in front of Blue Bolt, obscuring most of him from view.
“Blue! Dashie!” She practically squealed with joy as she finally laid eyes on the pair.
Rainbow Dash darted her head behind her with a stunned expression. She widened her eyes as she noticed the yellow mare standing there. “F-Fluttershy…?!” She stammered as the shock of the situation sank in. Finally, she smiled widely and set the stallion down before running at her friend at full steam.
Fluttershy caught the cyan pony with open forelegs and buried her face into her shoulder. She squeezed her friend tightly, as if she would just slip away again if she ever let go, but Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to mind. Finally, Fluttershy reeled her head back and looked at her friend, tears already welling up in her eyes.
“I thought I would never see you again…” She said softly, barely able to keep her emotions in check.
“You and me both…” Rainbow Dash replied with a warm smile plastered on her face.
As she looked down, Fluttershy’s smile faded as she noticed that the cyan mare’s hooves were stained red. “Is… is that blood?” She looked up with a more concerned expression. The crimson fluid looked fresh.
All at once, Rainbow Dash’s happy smile vanished as well as she thought back to the stallion behind her. “Oh my gosh… Fluttershy, Blue Bolt is hurt bad! We need to help him!” She exclaimed desperately while turning and rushing back to the stallion’s side.
Fluttershy followed her friend, her face paling as she finally got a glimpse of Blue Bolt and the shape he was in. “Oh my gosh…” She covered her mouth with a hoof to catch a gasp as she looked at the many bloody gashes on his body. “W-what happened to him?” She asked while looking to Rainbow Dash with a shocked expression.
“A timberwolf attacked him,” Rainbow Dash explained sadly before turning to the stallion. She gently picked up Blue Bolt in her forelegs again. He had a dazed look on his face, and his eyes were sluggish and unfocused.
“Blue Bolt… Fluttershy is here to rescue us! You hear that? We’re going to be ok… You’re going to be ok,” Rainbow leveled with him, hoping to keep his attention fixed on something so he didn’t just drift off to sleep and die.
Blue Bolt groaned in a mixture of pain and exhaustion. Still, he looked up and showed a bit of eagerness through his weak exterior. “F...Fluttershy…?” He looked at the cyan mare, seemingly to confirm what he thought he heard.
Fluttershy walked up and kneeled down beside Rainbow Dash. “I’m right here, Blue. We’re going to get you some help, ok?” She explained while taking ahold of one of his hooves, uncaring that it was also soaked in blood.
Suddenly, the sound of more ponies coming out of the bushes came from behind them. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash turned, only to see a group of pegasi led by Sunspot looking back at them.
“Sunspot! We need help over here! Blue Bolt is hurt bad!” Fluttershy shouted and waved to the orange mare.
Sunspot looked past the two ponies, widening her eyes as she saw the stallion on the ground. “Oh sweet Celestia... “ She quickly started trotting over to the pair with her companions following close behind.
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hesitantly backed away and let the group of ponies reach their fallen friend. They all gathered around while Sunspot and at least one other pony looked over Blue Bolt’s wounds.
“Blue Bolt? I need you to stay awake for us, ok?” Sunspot spoke in as calm and reassuring voice as she could manage. She turned to the others around her and adopted a more urgent expression. “Hey, I need some help here! Pick him up and let's go!” She exclaimed desperately.
At the heed of the orange mare, two of the other ponies gently took ahold of Blue Bolt anywhere they could and carefully started flying up.
As Sunspot and the others carried the stallion away, the rest of the search party followed them closely while still giving them some room.
Fluttershy started to take off to instinctively follow her injured friend, until she was stopped by a tug on the shoulder.
“Woah, hold on, Fluttershy! I can't fly!” Rainbow Dash explained.
Fluttershy turned to the cyan mare and raised an eyebrow before frowning. “What…? Oh my gosh, what happened to your wing?” She asked with a concerned tone of voice as she noticed the wrapping on her friend’s wing.
Rainbow Dash looked down sadly at the memory of her sailing off a cliff. “I broke it when we first fell in here,”
“What about Blue Bolt?” Fluttershy asked curiously, briefly glancing up to the distance. “Did he break his too?”
Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment before answering. “Umm… Y-yeah, he did,” She nodded. Even if she was still reeling from the stallion’s story, she figured that he should be the one to tell the yellow mare what happened.
Fluttershy lowered her expression as she pictured everything her friends must have endured out in the forest. “Ok… Don’t worry, I'll carry you,” She suggested, unfolding her wings and hovering above the cyan mare.
“You’re a real lifesaver, Flutters…” Rainbow smiled as Fluttershy wrapped both forelegs around her waist. “Ngh…” She grunted slightly as the wound on her stomach throbbed with pain.
Fluttershy quickly shifted her grip further up as she noticed her friend in pain. “Sorry… I didn’t see that you were hurt there,”
“Don’t worry about it. We have to hurry and catch up to them!” Rainbow Dash insisted. As Fluttershy nodded and pulled up, both of them lifted into the air and started ascending out of the clearing.
The cyan mare looked out at the horizon, an awestruck expression falling over her as she finally saw nothing but open countryside. With how confined and lost she had been, she never imagined that she would see such a sight again, and certainly not so soon.
Taking a brief look down at the forest below, Rainbow Dash thought back to all of the horrid experiences she had had. Still, not all of her experiences were horrible, thanks to her companion staying with her and ensuring that she didn’t let despair set in.
“Blue Bolt… you better not die,” She muttered anxiously while looking forward to the group of pegasi carrying the stallion further ahead. She couldn’t see much from how far back she was, but she could tell that the stallion was in bad straits.
Fluttershy looked down, only to see her companion staring ahead with a distraught expression. “Don’t worry… we’re going to get both of you to a hospital. You’ll be fine… and so will he,” She said in what she hoped would be a comforting tone. Still, despite her own words, Fluttershy couldn’t help but stare ahead along with Rainbow Dash, wondering if her blue friend would even make it back to Ponyville alive.