//------------------------------// // 2. Wilting Flower // Story: Scarlet Desire // by Sea Gnash //------------------------------// ~✩~ Chapter 2 ~✩~ --- ~✩~ Wilting Flower ~✩~ ---------- Pinkie Pie bounced along the main path through Ponyville while humming a happy tune. The pink pastry box tied with a nice yellow ribbon balanced on her back somehow stayed where it was despite the not-so-careful nature of her movements. She had heard from Twilight and Rarity that Fluttershy was feeling sick, so she just had to stop by for a visit now that she was done with her work for the Cakes. Luckily, she was able to get on the road by just after noon, plenty of time for Fluttershy to still be awake. Even if Fluttershy didn't have enough energy to party like the others said, everypony always had enough in them to be cheered up by a nice cookie or cupcake. What if Fluttershy's asleep when I get there? Oh, it would be rude to wake her up, and that's not how you start off a funariffic visit to cheer up a sick friend! she thought to herself, she stopped her bouncing in the middle of the cobblestone path leading out of town and towards Fluttershy's cottage. A hoof came to her muzzle in a much more intense bout of ponderance that what was perhaps necessary. Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, however, she noticed an earth pony with a white coat approaching her place on the path with a parasol held in one of her forelegs to shield herself from the summer's harsh sun. Once the older mare grew closer, she soon recognized her as the newest pony to town. This surprise encounter completely distracted her from her previous worries. She bounded her way over to Scarlet Rose with a big smile. “Good afternoon, Miss Rose! What brings you all the way out here? Exploring the town? Taking in the sights?” “Please, dear, Scarlet is just fine,” Scarlet replied with an amused chuckle. A frown soon replaced her smile, however. “I was paying that sweet Fluttershy a visit. Once I heard what happened yesterday, I simply had to go apologize for asking her to work so hard for me. If I knew she was so overworked, I would have insisted she go home.” “Okay, Scarlet!” chirped Pinkie in just as cheery of a tone as ever. “and I'm sure we can get her back on her hooves in no time! I'm bringing over some treats for her right now to help cheer her up and I'm pretty sure the others said they were going to visit her, too!” Scarlet took a few steps around the bouncing pony in front of her to continue on her way. “With such lovely friends like you all, I can trust she's in good hooves. I should be off for now, however. I'm afraid the summer heat doesn't agree with me.” Pinkie stopped her bouncing once again just so she could wipe some sweat off her brow in an over-dramatic fashion. “Tell me about it! I like winter so much more since we get to play out in the snow all day!” “Yes, well, I'll have to look forward to my first winter here, then,” Scarlet chuckled. “I'll be out of your hair now so you can visit sweet Fluttershy. Goodbye, dear.” Pinkie waved an enthusiastic hoof goodbye before turning to bound down the path once again. If Fluttershy just had a visitor, then she must still be awake! At that, she picked up her pace in hopes of catching her friend before she could get the chance to fall asleep and miss the chance to be cheered up even more. Once she arrived at her destination, Pinkie blinked. Though all of Fluttershy's animal friends were where they should be, it was much quieter than normal, but that was probably just the animals trying to be polite. She gave the door a few quick knocks and waited while her happy humming returned. After a few moments, the door opened up for her. She blinked a few times when there wasn't any sign of Fluttershy and pushed her way inside rather than waiting to be welcomed. A little kick to one of her legs pulled her attention downward to an annoyed white rabbit looking back up at her. “Oh, hey Angel! Thanks for letting me in!” she chirped once again, not minding the constant glare coming from Angel Bunny. As far as she could assume, he was probably just all grouchy that Fluttershy being sick meant he couldn't get all the attention he wanted. Despite not visiting the cottage often, Pinkie knew exactly how to get to Fluttershy's room thanks to a little help from her natural intuition. She gave the door a few swift knocks before pressing her ear against it. Fluttershy was quiet on a good day, so Celestia only knew just how hard she would be able to hear at that moment. She couldn't quite make out what was said, but a hint of Fluttershy's voice did manage to make it through the door, prompting her to speak up. “Hey, Fluttershy! It's me, Pinkie Pie! I wanted to come and say hello!” Another quiet few words came through in response. Rather than try to continue the conversation through the door, she simply opened it to find a disheveled and barely awake Fluttershy laying in bed with her blankets pulled right up to her chin. The sight put a sliver of worry into Pinkie, but she easily kept her smile as she cantered inside in place of her usual bounces. “So, I heard you were feeling all sick, so I made you some treats to help cheer you up! I know getting a gift always helps me feel better!” Pinkie said in her usual quickened pace while plucking the box off her back and holding it out towards the bed. Rather than take the box, Fluttershy quietly stared at it. Her slightly dulled eyes traced along the shape of the yellow ribbon that made the whole package match her colors perfectly. A quiet lull hung in the room for a few ticks of a nearby clock before the box was instead set on the bedside table. “Oh, right, let me open it for you,” stated Pinkie with a momentary feeling of awkward unease from the obvious mistake. Inside the box sat a dozen cupcakes, all perfectly frosted in the colors reminiscent of the two of them and their friends. Fluttershy turned her head just enough to see the sweets in the box and Pinkie thought she could see the slightest hint of a smile come to her face even if the blanket made it hard to see. Pinkie carefully took a cupcake with rainbow frosting from the box and held it out for Fluttershy. “Here, let's get some yummy treats in you! You need to eat to keep your strength up and get better! I colored them after all of us, so they can remind you of us even while you're all stuck in bed!” Fluttershy stared at the cupcake for a long few seconds before welling up what had to be all of her strength just to sit up in bed, even while using the headboard to support her back. She gingerly took the cupcake with trembling hooves and took a bite, though it was more akin to a little nibble. Pinkie watched the scene before her with the worry draining away to leave a more genuine smile. “I hope you like it. I made sure to make them angel food cake, your favorite!” Fluttershy pulled her head away from the cupcake, a little dollop of frosting on the end of her nose. “Thank you, Pinkie Pie.” Though her voice was no louder than a whisper and shook enough to make it sound like those four simple words were as heavy as boulders, they were still able to be understood. Pinkie's smile grew wider. “Yes! I knew Pinkie Pie's special 'pick-me-up cupcakes' would do the trick! Oop, I mean, you're welcome!” A weak little giggle escaped Fluttershy's lips, though she didn't speak any more. Instead, she turned to keep nibbling on the treat held in her hooves. “Hey! If you want, we can play that game you really like to help pass the time! I can move your piece for you,” offered Pinkie with a hopeful smile that only grew wider once she got a shaky nod in response. * * * Rainbow Dash sped through the air with a grin plastered onto her face. Nothing felt better than the wind in your mane! She didn't have time to waste on taking a simple joy ride, though. It was her turn to check up on Fluttershy that afternoon, and after what Pinkie Pie had said after her visit yesterday, things just had to start looking up. Ponies only stayed sick for a little while, anyway. Fluttershy's cottage just came into view and coaxed Rainbow into beating her wings harder to get there quicker. Rather than use the door, she swooped right down to the window she knew belonged to Fluttershy's bedroom. She was so used to climbing through it every cider season, she had its location memorized. Without bothering to knock, she pulled the window open and let herself inside. “Hey, Fluttershy! Wanted to come in and say hey. Maybe get you out of that bed a trot around a bit. Twilight says it's good to move around if you can.” Rainbow paused her post-flight stretching as her eyes fell onto the bed housing her foalhood friend. Immediately standing back up straight, she rushed for the bed. Though Fluttershy's eyes eventually made their way over to look at her, the pale state of her face and the dim look in those very same eyes made Rainbow's heart sink. “Whoa, Fluttershy! You're really not looking okay. Here, let me get you some water or something!” She didn't wait for a response before racing away through the doorway still left open from Pinkie's visit. While she was in the kitchen fumbling with a glass, she ignored the kicking of a little foot into one of her hind legs. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as much as she could and tried again, this time successfully getting water into the glass rather than all over her forelegs. Her eyes caught a glimpse of Angel climbing onto the counter and stomping in rapid succession in an attempt at getting her attention. The little rabbit picked up a fork that was used the night before for the dinner Applejack had volunteered to bring over and started biting at it. Rainbow quickly turned away from Angel after turning the water off. “I'll feed you later! Fluttershy needs me a whole lot more right now!” Without looking back despite the sound of the fork colliding with the counter top, she nearly flew herself up the stairs in order to get back to Fluttershy as quickly as she could. She gingerly slipped one forehoof under Fluttershy's back to help sit her up, the other bringing the glass of water up to her yellow muzzle. “Alright, Fluttershy, drink up. You need to stay hydrated. Once you drink all of this, I'll go get a doctor and everypony else. You'll be okay!” Fluttershy's eyes weakly turned up to look at Rainbow's, the usual vibrant blue-green nearly faded away entirely to a sickly gray. Rainbow pulled the glass away from Fluttershy's mouth only to see it was still just as full as it had been when she first started trying to get her to drink some. Moisture started to form in the corners of Rainbow's eyes as she tried again, her gaze never leaving Fluttershy's. “Come one, please! You, you need to – please...” She allowed her words to trail off as she pulled the glass back again. She nearly went in for a third attempt, but she instead let the glass fall free from her hoof and shatter against the wooden floor. She stared deeper into Fluttershy's eyes, but where her friend had been making as much effort as she could to keep sight on her, those gray-green eyes remained still. “Fluttershy? C'mon, Fluttershy, stop messing around!” Rainbow nearly ordered as tears rolled down her cheeks without any holding back. She gave Fluttershy a few nudges before carefully laying her down to check her over. “This isn't funny!” Rainbow placed a shaking hoof to Fluttershy's neck like she had been taught in the basic first aid course given to her after finishing her Wonderbolt training. No pulse. She checked again as more of her tears fell to mix with the water spilled by her hind hooves and once again got nothing. She stumbled backwards, left rear hoof slipping on the floor and sending her back into the wall behind her hard enough to knock the air out of her lungs. Every fiber of her being wanted to scream in that moment, but all she could do was gasp and struggle for breath while the fur of her cheeks grew matted with her tears. “No...no, no, no. No!” she managed to stammer out while staring at the motionless figure of her oldest friend in the bed just a couple feet away. “I promised I would protect you from anything! I – the hospital! I'll get a doctor and they'll be able to save you!” Rainbow scrambled to get back onto her hooves, slipping once more on the wet floor and receiving a cut from one of the many pieces of glass scattered about. With a successful second try and a bleeding right foreleg, she forced herself out of the window she had come in through and blasted herself through the air nearly at the speed to perform a Sonic Rainboom. * * * “Come on! Run faster! You said there's a chance you can still save her, right?” Rainbow Dash nearly yelled at the pair of ponies hauling a medical cart from the town's hospital. “Why does she have to live so far from town?” The four other ponies racing behind the cart didn't utter any words while galloping. Pinkie Pie and Rarity both allowed their scared tears fall from their eyes without resistance, though the black streaks of Rarity's mascara made hers much more obvious while running, Twilight furiously flipped page after page in a book that supposedly held some form of healing magic and Applejack looked more like she was ready to fight off whatever spirit was making its way over to take Fluttershy from them. Rainbow flew down to Pinkie, lowering her head closer to her with a mix of sorrow and rage welling up in her in that moment. “I thought you said she was doing alright!” “Don't scream at me! She was!” Pinkie squeezed her eyes closed just to get away from the ones glaring daggers at her. “Don't you go yelling at her now, Rainbow Dash!” barked Applejack. “I was there just last night and while she wasn't looking exactly good, she didn't look nearly that bad! No pony could have predicted something like this would happen just overnight!” Once at Fluttershy's cottage, Rainbow sped past the medics and burst through the front door first while never once touching the ground. If it had taken longer than a moment for the two earth ponies to unbuckle themselves from the cart, she would have yelled at them further, but they were luckily in the home soon enough for her to lead them up the stairs without needing to worry about blowing out her vocal chords more than they already were. “She's right in here! You need to hurry!” Rainbow commanded, gesturing with her forelegs. “Oh my, hello everypony. What's going on?” The voice hit Rainbow like a sledgehammer to the back of the head and nearly made her fall from her place near the ceiling. She hurried to look into the room along with the rest of her friends as the medics made their way inside. Fluttershy was seated on the stool in front of the little vanity in the far side of her room, hair brush still in the middle of a stroke through her mane. “We were called here for an emergency resuscitation,” answered the male of the two medics. “Is there anypony else who lives in this home other than you, ma'am?” Fluttershy held a hoof up to her mouth in shock. “Oh dear, no. It's just me here. Well, me and my animals and they're all perfectly fine. I've been sick for the past couple days, but I've been feeling a lot better today.” “Well, if there isn't actually anypony here who needs our assistance, we'll show ourselves out,” stated the female medic who then turned to Rainbow with an icy glare. “Next time, don't call us unless you actually need our assistance. Expect a bill in your mail tomorrow.” Rainbow gaped. She didn't pay attention to a word that had been said to her as she slowly lowered herself down to the floor next to Fluttershy's bed. She nearly stumbled away upon remembering the broken glass, but there wasn't a single shard to be found, the cut along her foreleg still yet to be treated the only evidence of its existence. “What? But, I – How?” Rainbow struggled to get any words out while her brain did flips inside her skull to try and figure out just what she was seeing in front of her. “Rainbow Dash! How could you lie about something like that? Honestly! We were scared senseless!” Rarity bore an expression angrier than Rainbow had ever seen on her, enough to make her take a few steps back. Applejack filled the empty space next to Rarity. Though Rainbow was used to having Applejack angry with her, the feeling that came off her felt deeper than anything before. “We know you like playing pranks and practical jokes on us, Rainbow, but this is a new low! You know how much we've been fretting and fussing over Fluttershy this whole time!” Rainbow backed up further, only stopping when her flank pressed against the bedside table and still mostly full box of cupcakes on top of it. “This wasn't a joke! I swear! I came here to check on her and she – I don't even want to think about it!” Fluttershy shrank back against her vanity with a frown, using her mane as a shield to hide from the anger on the opposite side of the room. “Oh, please don't fight. Did I do something wrong?” Twilight's horn flared to life with her pinkish magic corona, pulling Rarity and Applejack away from Rainbow and towards herself. “No, you didn't do anything wrong, Fluttershy, and we're glad to see that you're getting better so quickly. I'm sure all of this has just been some sort of massive misunderstanding.” “Misunderstanding? You heard what she was screaming at us, darling!” retorted Rarity, throwing a hoof in Rainbow's direction. Twilight took in a deep breath while holding a hoof to her chest, dropping the hoof as she let the breath back out. “Yes, I did, and I'm going to have a talk with her about that later. Right now, can we just not rip our friend to pieces?” Pinkie bounced her way over to the vanity to give Fluttershy a hug, though seemed to only go at half of her usual strength to be safe. “Yeah! I'm really angry at Dashie, too, but the more important thing right now is that Fluttershy is looking a lot better! Though you feel a little cold. Maybe you should be in the blankets some more?” Applejack shot one last glare to Rainbow that made her flinch back before turning her attention away to Fluttershy instead. “You're right, both of y'all. It's good to see you getting some of your buck back in ya, Fluttershy.” “Pinkie Pie, think you can keep Fluttershy company for today?” asked Twilight with a gentle smile. “We shouldn't crowd her while she's still not completely better.” Pinkie gave a salute with one hoof while clinging to Fluttershy with the other. Twilight gave a nod of approval before gesturing to the other three with her head to lead the way back out. “As for the rest of us, we're going to have a little chat. We'll be at the castle if you two need anything.” The sound of the two remaining in the room confirming they understood came just before Rarity closed the bedroom door behind their group.