Until the day of his death, no pony can be sure of his courage
- Jean Anouilh, earth pony -
Chaos, pain, sadness, regret.
A chaotic symphony of torture and agony accompanied Fluttershy as she abruptly returned to the world of the living as her soul, emotions and memories brutally reintegrated her body.
The sounds were too loud for her sensitive ears, immediately causing her a horrible migraine. An incessant pulsation in the inside of her head. A pounding that split her skull in two while her brain suffered an incessant mental rape of twisted and violent images depicting a horrible blood-covered timberwolf.
When she tried to open her eyes, the blinding light caused her an intense pain that pierced her skull, forcing her to close her eyelids to temporarily take refuge in the darkness of her mind.
She tasted blood in her mouth. Her throat was dry. She needed water, fast.
Aggressive smells of antiseptic made her feel nauseous, soon the taste of blood was replaced by bile, threatening to escape from the corner of her lips.
The sheet, placed on her sore and delicate body, seemed to weigh tons on her chest. Her lungs were already struggling to accumulate an adequate supply of oxygen. She was about to faint suffocated.
Her cheeks were wet… the position she was in, the pain in her left flank and wing… insufferable.
She tried to change position, a sharp pain made her scream with desperation. She immediately abandoned the fight, more wounded than ever.
A generous soul released the strands of her hair to apply a cold water compress to her burning forehead.
Fluttershy was overwhelmed by the soothing feeling of freshness. A few drops of cold, pleasant water ran down her feverish face. She let herself be comforted by the softness of the compress, letting it apply a balm to her wounds.
After a few minutes, the migraine subsided very slightly, allowing her to concentrate on her environment and the horrible noises around her. Repetitive and aggressive sounds, strident alarms of all kinds resonating in her brain as she struggled to fight the pain.
“Her vital signs are stable. Miss, keep the compress on her forehead while she wakes up, she will need it.”
Fluttershy vaguely recognized that voice, she had heard it on rare occasions.
“I'm afraid that if things continue this way, she will soon be short on painkillers and the pain will come back, stronger than ever.”
As the migraine faded, little by little, Fluttershy ventured to open her eyes. They flickered for a short while until she got used to the artificial light of the place.
She was in a hospital bed.
She was connected to machines that made high pitched noises in rhythm with the weak beats of her heart. A strong smell of disinfectant and antiseptic hovered in the air… a morbid scent that gave her chills.
Fluttershy recognized nurse Redheart, a little further in the room. The mare who had spoken a few moments earlier.
With an exemplary discipline, she was examining the almost empty IV pouch of painkillers, the end of which was stuck in Fluttershy's front leg.
A second pony, a unicorn, was present a few hooves away from Fluttershy. This unicorn, a reassuring vision in this uncomfortable universe, was holding the compress on the pegasus’s forehead.
It was none other than one of Fluttershy’s very good friends. A unicorn with purple hair and white coat, blurry yet recognizable among thousands.
“Ra...rity?”
As soon as she heard that weak whisper, Rarity threw the compress on the bedside table and hugged her with infinite tenderness. Fluttershy noticed the way Rarity paid particular attention not to touch any of the bruises scattered over her body.
How much blood had she lost under those dark marks? How much more would pour out, if her wounds were to reopen?
“Fluttershy, my dear Fluttershy, we… we were so afraid for you!” Rarity wept without worrying about the tears running down her face as she affectionately brushed her friend's pink hair. “Celestia be praised, you are finally awake.”
“I… I had to… came back. Ra... Rarity... I need... water... tru... ly thirsty.”
Rarity was too happy to satisfy that request. She needed to focus on a simple task that would allow her to forget the hours of anxiety that preceded Fluttershy's awakening.
“Be careful, Fluttershy. Please, avoid moving as much as possible, if not at all... and... and do not drink too fast. You have lost an enormous amount of blood ... Be very cautious, dear. You are in a very weak state...”
Rarity floated close a cup of water and, while Fluttershy was quenching her thirst, she gave her some basic care to ease her poor friend's pain a little. She wasn’t a nurse, but she applied to the best of her knowledge.
Under her tears, Rarity could not help but sketch a trembling smile, full of sincere joy at her friend's miraculous awakening. She had feared the worst that, fortunately, had not happened. As she carefully held Fluttershy's head with one of her legs she took great care to ensure that the pegasus did not choke on a sip.
For her part Redheart, who was evaluating her patient’s state, called Nurse Tenderheart and asked her to fetch Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Back at her patient's bedside, Redheart, under the watchful eye of Rarity, started performing a long series of preventive manipulations with Fluttershy. She was aiming to determine the possible consequences of Fluttershy’s misadventure in the forest.
While waiting for Twilight, Rarity explained to Fluttershy how the long, anxious night, that she and their other friends had experienced, had unfolded.
_________________________
“Oh! Oh! Ohhhhhh! My Pinkie sense is going craaaaazy!”
It had begun with a simple sentence pronounced by Pinkie, overwhelmed at the thought of welcoming her closest friends in the comfort of her home, for a nice and sweet evening.
She had thought of everything. Fruits, muffins, candy, cupcakes and also balloons and streamers to achieve the bestest of all house parties.
But more importantly, her friends were there.
Well, almost all of them. Fluttershy and Rainbow were probably on their way. They wouldn’t miss the party. They promised to be there.
It was at that moment that her Pinkie sense started tingling.
“Twitchy tail, twitchy tail, numby hooves, another twitchy tail and... Oh! flappy ear!” experimented Pinkie with obvious pleasure.
Applejack, Rarity and Twilight approached with curiosity, while keeping a "safe" distance from Pinkie and the chaotic consequences that her Pinkie sense had the tendencies to bring on them.
Boring!!!
Pinkie despised "security". Pinkie loved "chaos".
She was always excited by every surprise that her Pinkie sense foretold her because it brought the "extra" out of "extraordinary". Otherwise she would be stuck in an infinite loop of "ordinary" and that very idea was just so silly.
The fundamental laws of the universe were such a pain to apply that Pinkie had long made the vow to never be bound or limited by them.
She was free of this world restraints and her Pinkie sense was just one of the many gifts she received following her vow.
That other ponies would not do the same was beyond Pinkie’s understanding.
But enough of that. She had to focus on the vision, the reaction of every part of her body. She felt excitement growing. She began imagining all the possibilities.
I hope it’s going to be...
Please let it be a genormous chimichanga!
Oh! Hi voice-in-my-head-me! Didn’t see you there!
Of course, silly! Hahaha! I don’t have a body. You can’t see me!
You’re right! That is silly, Hahaha!
Hey girls! Whatcha’re up to you two?
Oh! Pinkimpossible the third! It's been so long! How are you?
Pinkimpossible the third was the surname Pinkie gave to the third voice in her head after Twilight said that it was physically, irrefutably, and all-sorts-of-word-that-ended-by-ly, impossible to have more than one consciousness.
Pinkimpossible the third was then the first of a succession of three hundred and fifty-seven Pinkimpossible.
I’m good! I’ve been exploring a little since Twilight tried to catch me with that thing!
Oh yeah! the thing!
Hahaha yeah! Typical Twilight, she does the craziest stuff sometimes. But hey! Enough of that! My Pinkie sense has been tingling for a while. Our friends are dying to know what I’m sensing.
They look pretty lively to me!
Even with her friend moving very slowly, bounded to the physical limitations of time and space, Pinkie could tell they were all alive and well. But still, every millisecond was of importance and she would hate herself to let them wait one more second.
And don’t worry about finding the meaning all by yourself, I brought some backup. Right girls?
Pinkie’s head resonated at the shout of a thousand other Pinkies. Not all of them named after Pinkimpossible’s legacy. Together they started exploring all the possible ending and possibilities foretold by her Pinkie sense.
“That should mean...” began Pinkie.
The final answer soon appeared in her brain and the smile on her face, blooming a short while earlier, dried up instantly. Her hair became stiff as a result of an intense emotion of sadness.
“Oooooh... But... why would they do that? They are my friends... so... why?” Pinkie whispered, almost for herself.
Twilight gently called Pinkie’s attention.
“What is it Pinkie? Tell us, what’s wrong?”
“It's about Fluttershy... and Rainbow. They broke their pinkie promise Twilight… They're not coming...at all... and I don't know why...”
A sad Pinkie Pie was a rare sight for everypony.
It wasn’t the first time her friends saw her sad, frowny, or even tearing up. They were her friends, of course they had been together through good and bad times.
Twilight especially thought that her good friend Pinkie Pie was, at times, overly emotive and susceptible.
She used to dislike ponies like that. They were noisy, meddling… a distraction foremost. Not that she knew well since she did her best to avoid distractions. Even after discovering the true meaning of friendship and realizing that she had behaved as a technical party pooper, she still considered Pinkie Pie to be over the top at times.
She had regretted this many times afterward. With time and patience, she had learned that Pinkie was one of the sharpest friends she had ever encountered. And, with a lot MORE patience, she had learned one crucial, empirical truth.
Never doubt the Pinkie sense.
Putting her book down, she quickly analyzed the situation as her friend was about to break down in tears right in front of her.
It didn’t make much sense to her. Usually, Rainbow and Fluttershy were… or at least Rainbow was capable and resourceful. Very little would put her in danger if not her recklessness, but…
Where were they, even? She needed the full picture to think properly.
Just that last name popped one more useful fact in her head.
That word scared her a little. It was a scary word. The images attached to it and applied to her friends situation especially. But fear didn’t help her think properly. It wouldn’t help. So she told herself that they had all ventured into the forest so many times and nothing too serious had ever happened.
In fact, she had grown into believing that going there was nothing more than a trot in the park at that point.
…
There still was a chance, though.
Conclusion: screw thinking she was worried!
No, don’t “screw thinking” Twilight. Thinking is useful and served you well. Just think right.
In this case, think worried.
What do you do when you have a missing friend and you’re growing worried with every second?
First, reassure your friends.
“Pinkie!”
Twilight stood up and approached her friends. They all wore mildly concerned faces, while Pinkie was trying to hold back her tears.
Yes, a rescue party could reassure everypony but she had to speak reassuringly.
“Are you sure Dash and Shy aren’t coming?”
Pinkie shook her head.
“I see… well, I’m sure they’re just being late.” She turned around and raised her voice. “But just to be sure, I think we should go to look after them. I know that they were supposed to go into Everfree Forest so that’ll be the first place we look.”
“Well, whaddaya waiting for?” shouted Applejack. “Ah know Everfree Forest like the back of my hoof!”
“Ok. Pinkie and I will first go to Fluttershy’s cottage in case they already came back. I hope we find them there and have a good laugh about it. Rarity, if any of us finds something, we’ll fire a flare towards the sky...”
_________________________
After splitting into two separate groups, each heading towards one of the Everfree forest clearings at Twilight's suggestion, it was Applejack and Rarity's group, after a few hours, who made the sad discovery.
“Sweet Celestia, what happened here?” Rarity asked, horrified. “Applejack look at the wounds on Rainbow... and the bruises on Fluttershy. They both must have suffered so, so much... I... How could this happened?”
“Timberwolf happened,” Applejack replied after smelling the air. “Rarity, call Twilight, they need help.”
Rarity was no longer listening, her gaze shifting between the two unconscious bodies, she was stumbling over the many pieces of wood debris, staring at her friend’s wounds, looking at them with a haggard look.
“Look at Fluttershy's wing, and those bruises... She… she must have a dozen of broken bones! And... and Rainbow... don't even get me started on Rainbow.”
“Rarity! Would you please buck up and call Twilight, now! We need to save them!”
“Absolutely horrid... I... I wouldn't even... Wait... did you say something?” Rarity asked, turning back to Applejack, looking absent-minded.
“Just call Twilight would ya?” snapped Applejack. Then she continued with a softer voice. “Look, Rarity, ah'm also worried about the gals but the best way to be helpful to them is to act fast.”
Applejack's speech finally managed to get Rarity out of her morbid torpor.
“Of... of course... Sorry... Applejack. I will call Twilight right away.”
_________________________
Pinkie was in mourning. After that night, nothing would be the same as before, she knew it, she felt it. Sadder and sadder, she followed Twilight through the wood.
She didn’t even feel relief when she saw a flare going high in the sky, meaning that Applejack and Rarity had found Fluttershy and Rainbow or, at least, found something of interest.
She could just not give into the same optimism that took hold of Twilight as they galloped in the flare’s direction.
_________________________
When Pinkie and Twilight arrived at the chaotic site of the carnage, they were struck by the unfortunate sight of the two pegasuses littering the ground, wounded and unconscious.
Without delay, the two survivors were hoisted on stretchers magically created by Twilight with the wooden debris scattered across the plain, testifying the violence of the clash. Once the survivors were well installed, the order to depart was given.
The four ponies rushed towards the hospital in Ponyville with their unconscious friends safely tied on the stretchers.
_________________________
The group of ponies entered the medical center late at night.
Redheart and her team, witnessing the gravity of the horrible situation, hurried to help them. With unparalleled expertise, the nurse quickly and accurately diagnosed the major problems of her new patients.
Fluttershy was diagnosed with massive internal bleeding in her flank and was urgently treated in a different room than Rainbow, who suffered from several serious external injuries.
Two urgent cases for a short night.
Twilight, despite her reluctance to leave her friends' bedside, was sent to complete the reports inside an office with a nurse. Applejack and Pinkie promised to stay at Rainbow's side who was in a very sorry state. Rarity had chosen to stay at Fluttershy’s side.
In the early hours of the morning, when Celestia's first rays of sunlight began to bathe the room in reddish light, like a cruel irony of life to remind everyone about the recent drama, Redheart's team managed, after several hours of anxiety, to stabilize Fluttershy's precarious state by stopping the internal bleeding in her flank and wing.
All that was left to do was hope that Fluttershy would resist fatigue and emerge from her comatose state.
_________________________
Celestia be praised, it’s what she did
Rarity’s heart was overflowing with gratitude.
Despite her obvious fatigue, She took upon her to comfort her friend. Using her magic, she picked up the cold water compress once again and began to wipe Fluttershy's feverish face until Twilight’s arrival.
It was all Rarity could do to ease her friend’s suffering.
_________________________
Twilight was drained of her energy. She had been reading the same document over and over without ever retaining any information.
Her eyes were glassy and she was constantly yawning, the first signs of a day that had already been long. She threw her head back and closed her eyes for a short moment of respite.
“Hum... Princess Twilight... sorry to bother you…”
Twilight allowed herself a tiny sigh. Her little break was over. In front of her stood a nurse who was very embarrassed about having to disturb the princess's rest.
“Please, no need to be sorry Tenderheart. Anything new?”
The nurse nodded her head positively.
“Miss Fluttershy is awake, princess.”
“Thank you Tenderheart. I'll go in a few minutes.”
She smiled. She had to. It was just enough to reassure the nurse. This way, she would turn around and let her recollect herself. So she did, and Twilight had her few minutes.
She needed those few minutes.
She was supposed to be happy. It was supposed to be good news. Of course. But what kind of good news is Hey, one of your friends might live through this horrible night?
She sunk her muzzle into her hooves. She felt her moist eyes burning against her skull.
Fluttershy had just woken up… just a few minutes…
She took a little longer than necessary to collect her few notes. Unable to delay her departure any longer, she stood up and asked Tenderheart to guide her to Fluttershy's room.
She had bad news to tell Fluttershy.
_________________________
Joining Rarity to stand by her right side, Twilight took a good look at Fluttershy for a moment. She wondered how to deal with the painful subjects she had to inform her about.
Exhausted by this long night, her emotions about to burst… she couldn’t hold back a sigh of relief and a few tears. Fluttershy was suffering but she was very much alive, slowly emerging from her horrible experience thanks to the good care she was given.
Part of her wanted to hug her friend… but she had a job to do. Twilight used her magic to organize her notes, feather up, ready to write new pieces of information.
“I’m so relieved to see you awake, Fluttershy. Do… do you know where you are?”
“At the hospital,” Fluttershy breathed, tired.
“Yes, yes you are.”
Keeping her feather within reach, Twilight gave her a smile of encouragement and then continued with her questions. In less than five minutes, Twilight asked her enough questions to be sure that Fluttershy's memory wasn’t altered.
Much to her relief, her answers held up well. It was likely that her brain hadn’t suffered any lasting damage.
Twilight then shifted her questions toward a particular subject. She took care not to rush the bedridden friend. She was getting at the sensitive part of her interrogation and feared her reaction.
“Fluttershy, I'm sorry to bring this up but can you tell me what are your last memories?”
A big timberwolf in a clearing, and a huge trunk flying straight towards her.
A very blurry vision of Rainbow Dash waking her up and then falling to the ground beside her, exhausted, unconscious.
The monstrous wolf that leaned towards them to eat them. The same wolf fleeing away in the end.
She also had the impression, or rather the conviction, of having had a strange dream…
“Rainbow and I were looking for... plants... in the forest. We found the place... but a timberwolf attacked us,” Fluttershy cried, tears rushing down her grief-stricken face. “I was so afraid. Ra... Rarity... Twilight... I had to use it. I had to use the "stare". I didn't want to... I really didn't... but he... he was going to devour us. He... he...”
“Enough with that dear, it’s over now, you are safe. You must save your strength.” Rarity intervined.
While Twilight hastened to transcribe each painful word, Rarity took care of comforting Fluttershy, drying the tears on the pegasus face with compassion and ignoring the tears that flowed on her own cheeks.
At that moment, upon seeing her friend devastated by sadness, Rarity promised herself to help Fluttershy recover from this tragedy and bring back joy into her life no matter how long it would take.
Twilight nodded her head as soon as she was done with her task. Fluttershy's testimony and the information Rainbow had given her earlier in the night were consistent and complementary. Thanks to her notes, Twilight now had a good idea of the horrible evening that her two friends had been through.
“Fluttershy, I’m so sorry...” Twilight whispered in such a weak voice that neither Rarity nor Fluttershy heard her.
Twilight sighed, ready to tell Fluttershy the first bad news.
Let’s start with the one that will hurt the less, she thought.
“Fluttershy, can you… are you currently able to look at your left wing?”
She could, and she did.
Fluttershy, in stunned silence, watched her twisted wing. The nurses had replaced the broken bones as best they could, but some parts would remain scarred for life, bumpy or cicatrized. Her wing was really in a bad state. Covered with bandages from the base of the flank up to the center, her wing exhibited, at the tip, ruffled feathers that would never regain their former luster.
“Fluttershy...” Twilight began.
But Fluttershy wasn't listening anymore.
She remembered.
It was her fault that she had suffered so much. If she had been able to rise only three meters up, everything would have been different.
But she hadn’t succeeded. She had failed, in a very lamentable way.
What a beautiful pegasus I am, unable to fly to save my own skin... she thought.
The sound of a throat clearing brought her back to reality. Twilight was trying to talk to her.
“Fluttershy, the nurse has informed us that there’s a high probability you’ll never be able to fly again. I’m so sorry... Your wing has suffered severe damage, multiple fractures that have destabilized its bone structure. The nurses have inserted some metal rods in the places where your bones had received too much damage to repair over time.”
Fluttershy tried to get the bad news positively. She never really used her wings for her daily activities, except on rare occasions. She thought it was a small price to pay for still being alive even though the idea of never flying around the sky with some of her feathered animals again saddened her a little.
When Rarity saw Fluttershy's disappointed face, she felt sadness piercing her heart.
“There’s still a probability that you can make it,” Rarity tried to encourage her. “With a little luck, my dear, it’s very much possible that your wing will heal well enough to let you fly again.”
“Not as fast, however, as that time when you helped to create a tornado for Spitfire,” added Twilight. “You will never attain this flying speed or else you will be at risk to break the link between your bones once again. But Rarity does have a point, it’s not impossible for you to fly again one day.”
Her friends’ optimism gave Fluttershy a feeling of hope and put a faint smile on her face.
“I will be able to live without flying if I need to. Better be my wing than Rainbow's... By the way where is she?” Fluttershy suddenly worried, looking at the other beds in the room, all empty. “Is she okay?”
Like the flame of a candle that suddenly went out, the hope that was blossoming in her withered instantly when she noticed the glance that Rarity and Twilight exchanged, obviously uncomfortable.
Not getting an answer, she began to struggle to push the blanket back off her body, trying to get up. A sudden movement on her part reawakened the wounds in her wing. Wounds that pierced her and made her cry with pain and frustration as she limply fell back on the bed in a concert of moaning pain and shuddering breath, while the nearest machine screamed.
“Fluttershy! Calm down, I beg you!” Rarity exclaimed, immediately joined by Redheart. “Don’t move like this, you have broken ribs. Stay still, you will hurt yourself again!”
Rarity and Redheart quickly controlled the weak Fluttershy who, exhausted, frustrated and worried, twisted her gaze to Twilight, holding back her tears with great difficulty.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy begged in an anxious voice between two sobs. “Where... where’s Rainbow? Is... is she...”
She was unable to finish her sentence, starting crying again instead.
Twilight would have preferred to wait a little more, Fluttershy needed rest, but she didn’t have the heart to deny her the truth about her friend. Not after witnessing that scene.
Twilight sighed.
“She's... in another room, a little further down the hall, Applejack and Pinkie are there to check on her. Fluttershy... do you remember the state Rainbow was after the timberwolf's attack?”
“Rainbow was... I... She was...” stammered the pegasus between her sobs…
Fluttershy had to admit she couldn't remember it.
Her vision at that time, blurred by her tears of pain, had prevented her from really seeing Rainbow before falling back into unconsciousness in the clearing.
Have I misjudge Rainbow’s condition so badly? she couldn’t help but think.
“She's very weak, Fluttershy,” Twilight told her. “Even more than you. She fought the best she could... but...”
Twilight was reluctant to tell her the rest. She hated herself for being the bearer of such cruel news, but Fluttershy had to be made aware of it one way or another. As much as it pained her, it would be best if Fluttershy heard the news by one of her close friends and Twilight was ready to make this sacrifice.
“... she's dying, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy's heart sank into her chest. She heard the words distantly, suffocated, as if in a dream, but she refused to believe them.
It… it can’t be... Surely Twilight is wrong…
Fluttershy turned her head towards Rarity, sure that her friend would reassure her, tell her that this was all a big misunderstanding. But she only saw the sad truth in Rarity’s teary eyes.
She could almost hear Rarity saying “I’m sorry Fluttershy”.
Tortured by her whole left side, Fluttershy tore off the solute needle in her hoof, pulled out the blanket and clumsily rolled out of bed to the surprised exclamations of her friends.
She had to see Rainbow, they both had to wake up from this nightmare.
She ignored Nurse Redheart's vehement warnings to go back to bed as much as the stabbing pain that ran through her whole body, plunging her into a wave of agony.
Then, Fluttershy got help from Rarity. They walked down towards the hall with a flickering step, letting Twilight apologize to Redheart for the inconvenience caused.
Just before going into the hall, Rarity picked a clean towel from the room using her magic and wrapped it around Fluttershy's bloody leg, where the needle had been torn off. Offering her body as a crutch, they went out into the corridor.
_________________________
Rarity led Fluttershy through the hospital.
Fluttershy was leaning on her friend's side, supporting herself as best she could with her right wing over the white unicorn's body.
After a long walk that seemed like an eternity to Fluttershy, the painkillers no longer working, they finally arrived in sight of Rainbow’s room.
It was then that they met Applejack and Pinkie Pie, as they came out of the room looking down, joyless and tired.
Applejack wasn’t wearing her signature stetson on her head, she was holding it against her heart with a trembling hoof.
Pinkie, for her part, had a discomforted face. Her mane, usually puffed and bright, was hanging sadly, stiff and dark, on the side of her head.
They froze in shock as they saw Fluttershy standing in the middle of the corridor. Then tears of joy quickly came to lighten their eyes. Pinkie even sketched a smile, quite weak compared to the smiles she usually put on the faces of others.
Cautious about the recent bandages around Fluttershy's wing and flank, Applejack and Pinkie took turns hugging her. They were all so relieved to see each other again, to the point of tears.
After a while, the three friends wiped their eyes.
“Fluttershy, sugarcube, we're so happy to see you, we were so afraid that... that you...”
“We were afraid that you would be late to your "get better soon" party,” Pinkie sadly interrupted. “That would have been a terrible surprise...”
Then, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity agreed to leave Fluttershy alone with Rainbow. They both deserved this moment of intimacy. Perhaps the last of all.
As she arrived at the door, Fluttershy, anxious, breathed to calm herself.
A simple wooden door separated her from her friend, but it might as well be said that it was made of the heaviest lead so much the prospect of opening it and discovering the dark truth hidden on the other side exhausted Fluttershy.
“Be strong, sugarcube,” Applejack whispered as her friend passed by. “Be strong, for her...”
Before pushing the door, Fluttershy turned her head towards her friends. She would have liked to see an encouraging smile on their faces, but she only saw sorrow and helplessness.
“Thank you, Rarity, to have brought me here... I could never have done it by myself. Thanks to all of you who came rescuing us Rainbow and I. And... and thank Twilight on my... No... On our... behalf when she will come back.”
And she crossed, towards darkness and suffering.
_________________________
A shiver ran down Fluttershy's spine when she painfully, clumsily, entered the room. She could feel the shadow of death prowling around the room. The curtains had been drawn to prevent the sun from lighting up the chamber. And everything was shadow except for one place in the room, lit by a pale light.
As in her own room, further away, only one bed was occupied. Two nurses, Sweetheart and Snowheart, appeared and disappeared in the shadows surrounding the bed, taking care of their patient's health, a pegasus covered with bandages, asleep... or dead.
The bandages were stained with dried blood. Worse, in some places the blood was still oozing, fresh and sticky. So much red on this poor pegasus with a light blue coat, like the sky.
Too much red... and so little blue... Fluttershy painfully thought.
Tears rushed down Fluttershy’s face as she approached the bed as gently as possible, each step towards her poor friend tearing her heart more and more. She wanted to scream and cry to get rid of the pain of this unjust situation that had cost Rainbow and herself so much.
As if she had felt her friend's presence, Rainbow opened her tired eyes and gave out a beautiful smile, overflowing with the tenderness and affection they felt for each other.
It was too much for Fluttershy. She burst into tears, flowing in a stream over her face as she took refuge in the arms that her friend was holding out towards her. Disregarding their wounds, they embraced each other with love, ignoring the two nurses who, embarrassed, decided to wait a little further away and erased themselves in the shadows.
“Shy... I’m so happy to see you,” Rainbow whispered as she stroked her friend's hair. “I was worried for you, you know.”
Fluttershy was unable to speak. She clung to Rainbow, silently thanking Celestia, Luna and the whole sky for still being alive, Rainbow and her.
“But I can see that your wing is in worse shape than I thought...” Rainbow sighed as she saw the irreparable damages that were disfiguring her friend's wing.
“Rainbow..., I... I would break my other wing if... if it could heal you,” Fluttershy began in a broken voice, interspersed with tears. “I am so sorry... If you are in this state, it is only because of me... If only I had managed to fly away, in the clearing... If I wasn't such a coward... I... I regret so much to have gone there.”
Crying even more, Fluttershy laid her head on her friend's chest. Her tears mixed with the blood on Rainbow's bandages creating a sticky liquid substance in which the two bathed, squeezed together.
“I'm sorry... Rainbow. I'm so sorry,”
“It's not your fault, Shy. I was happy to go there with you, truly I was. Don't worry, I don't hold it against you. Not at all.”
Nodding to the nurses, Rainbow asked them for a moment alone with Fluttershy. They agreed and then, after showing Fluttershy the location of the emergency care button, they went out into the hall to explain the situation to their friends waiting on the other side.
Once alone with Fluttershy, Rainbow allowed herself a resigned sigh. The air was heavy and, more and more, she was having trouble breathing. She took a deep breath. She had to be brave, even for this last time.
Rainbow raised Fluttershy's head to wipe the tears and blood off her best friend’s cheeks.
“Shy, You’ve been an awesome friend.” Rainbow began painfully. “I was happy to get to know you and I know I can give you Tank back with my absolute trust... Keep being kind, Shy, Equestria needs that. I wish you nothing but happiness. And know that I'll always be with you...”
Rainbow put a weak, trembling hoof on Fluttershy’s chest.
“… somewhere in here.”
Upon hearing these words, Fluttershy felt a shiver running down her spine. Rainbow's words became cold, distant. It was a final farewell, and Fluttershy didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to believe that her friend was dying.
“Rainbow? What are you... You can't die Rainbow! Don't do this to me!” Fluttershy strangled as she felt Rainbow's body gradually relaxing as her eyes quietly closed. “Rainbow... no! You... you can't die now... Stay with us, remember your life, you want to become a wonderbolt... It's your biggest dream... do not give up yet!”
Fluttershy heard Rainbow produced a small chuckle, so weak, so pathetic, so different from her usual cocky laugh.
“You know Shy... my last wish... in Everfree Forest... it wasn't to become a wonderbolt... I didn't even think about that. My wish was to see you... alive, one more time. You were my last wish Shy... and now that you are here with me, I can go in peace.”
Rainbow's confession had moved her and destroyed her. Fluttershy was unable to speak, the pain compressed her throat and her tears ran down her friend's chest as she listened silently, broken, to the last weak words of her first true friend.
Rainbow's heart rate decreased.
Fluttershy stretched her arm towards the emergency button but Rainbow, drawing from her last ounce of strength, raised her hoof to stop her.
Then as Fluttershy plunged her tearful eyes into Rainbow's, strangely alert, she saw that her friend had started crying too. It had never happened before and Fluttershy, more than ever, saw Rainbow's weakness.
“Don't do it, please,” begged Rainbow. “If you do that... They will get you out of here. I'm so scared Shy. I... I don't want to go... I don't want to die... alone... without a friend... without you. Please stay with me until the end Shy, I beg you!”
“Rainbow...” Fluttershy whispered sadly as she gently hugged her. “Please don't go. Fight it! You are strong, you’ll overcome this.”
“No Shy, it's too late for that... I’m so tired... I fought to have the chance to say goodbye to you. But look at me… I’m a mess. I know it and you do too… But it was worth it, I did it Shy! You’re alive and I get to see you one last time… I got to tell you how much important you were to me, how much I loved you. I just have one last thing to ask of you. Don’t forget me Shy... because I’ll wait for you... wherever I’ll go...”
Weakly pushing her back, Rainbow made a final effort to reach one of her feathers with her teeth, which she tore off and then offered it to Fluttershy, who instantly understood the symbolic nature of this gesture. A promise from her dearest friend.
“I promise I'll wait for you, Shy... Loyalty's speaking...” Rainbow concluded with a smile as she hugged Fluttershy again.
Then her last forces abandoned her. Her arms gradually released their embrace around Fluttershy to fall back on the bed, inert. Her eyes closed gently as she engraved Fluttershy's image in her memory before her long journey through eternity. She breathed her last breath with a peaceful heart in Fluttershy's arms.
She went to confront death, calmly, ready to join Luna’s realm of eternal dreams.
Fluttershy, defeated by sadness, laid her head on the body of the blue pegasus, her ear on Rainbow's chest. She listened to the last beating of her friend's heart. A weak beat, another one, then another one, and finally...
Silence.
Death, the fateful end.
“Rain...Rainbow... do...don't leave me,” Fluttershy begged in a broken, pathetic, moaning and sobbing voice, hugging Rainbow as tight as possible despite the stabbing pain in her wing. “I beg you... don't leave me alone... I love you too... come back to me, please... I need you so much... Don't leave me...”
Exhausted and devastated, her emotions crushed what remained of her energy. She fell asleep crying over her friend's still warm body, praying to Celestia and Luna to die as well and join her.
She never pushed the emergency button.
She wanted to stay there, holding her best friend in her arms for as long as possible. One last time, a whole eternity.
“Rainbow, don't leave me...”