//------------------------------// // Part 1, Chapter 2 // Story: Mare of Steel // by iowaforever //------------------------------// Chapter 2 Rainbow Dash did not show up on time for the Pony Pet Play Date. At first, the other five thought she was just running late and saw no reason for concern, but as time wore on and the cyan Pegasus did not show up, the others got nervous. After a quick conversation on what to do, they decided to send Fluttershy up to her house to check if she was home. Fluttershy landed near the entrance to the cloud home, her butter yellow hooves sinking slightly into the clouds. She looked around for any sign of her friend, but the house seemed empty. “Um, hello? Is anypony home?” there was no answer, and Fluttershy started shuffling her hooves “Rainbow Dash, you missed our Pony Pet Play Date, and everypony was wondering where you were...” still no answer “You still like us, don’t you?... I mean, of course you do, but maybe we said something... Did I say something? Because whatever I said I’m sorry I made you mad... u-unless you’re not mad, and maybe you’re just tired or something... I could come back later if you’d like.” there was still no answer, so Fluttershy had to think harder. “Um, the Wonderbolts stopped by my house today; they wanted to talk to you about something.” Fluttershy gave the best smile she could in her attempt to sound sincere. The smile slowly faded when there was no sign of her rainbow-maned friend. No answer... But Rainbow Dash would never miss a chance at meeting the Wonderbolts, even if I did lie... a little. Fluttershy pawed at the clouds a little, small wisps of vapor floating up in her face. “I-I really don’t want to do this, but... Rainbow Dash! You’re making everypony nervous by not showing up and if you don’t come here this instant I’ll... I’ll... I’ll do some kind of prank that even you wouldn’t consider funny!” There was some shuffling behind the door and it slowly opened “Thank you. You had me so worried that I thought you’d-” Waiting at the door was not Rainbow Dash, but Tank, the tortoise hovering at eye level with Fluttershy. The Pegasus frowned. “Tank? Is something wrong? Where’s Rainbow Dash?” The tortoise buzzed down the hall, Fluttershy following quietly behind him. When he stopped, Fluttershy looked to where he had stopped and gasped. Rainbow Dash was lying on the ground, her head resting in a pool of vomit. Most of the color had drained out of her coat and mane, and she was breathing in ragged gasps. Sporadic spasms would shake her body, punctuated by bouts of dry heaving. “Oh my goodness! Rainbow Dash, are you alright?” Fluttershy flew over to her stricken friend and turned Rainbow Dash to face her. “Fl... Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash said weakly. “Yes, I’m here. What happened to you?” Rainbow Dash coughed a few times before pointing behind Fluttershy. “R...rock...” she said. Fluttershy looked and saw a rock sitting against the wall. She thought she saw it glow green for a second, but she could not be sure. “This rock did this to you?” Fluttershy left Rainbow Dash for a moment to inspect the rock. She was no geologist, so she could not tell if there was anything unusual about the rock. She stepped closer to pick it up when two hooves grabbed her leg. “NO! D-Don’t touch it!” Rainbow Dash tried to pull Fluttershy away, but she started dry heaving again and collapsed. “Oh, you look awful. I need to get you to the hospital right away.” Fluttershy scooped her friend up in her hooves and made her way towards the door. She was not an exceptionally strong flier, but she would be able to get Rainbow Dash to the ground where somepony else could help. “Please don’t die, Rainbow Dash. I couldn’t live with myself if you died.” ............... “Well, I’d have to say that this is one of the strangest cases I’ve ever seen.” Ponyville’s doctor said to the five mares in the waiting room. “I-is she going to be alright?” Fluttershy asked. “She's weak right now, but we have her hooked up to a couple IVs and she seems to be responding well." the doctor gave a slight smile. "If we’re lucky, she should be out of here in a day or two.” “Oh, thank goodness.” “But what’s wrong with her?” Twilight asked. “That’s where things get a little more complicated." The doctor's smile faded as he pulled out a clipboard. "We did a number of tests and we found that there’s a spike in radiation in her body, so I initially wrote it off as some form of radiation poisoning.” “That’s treatable, right?” “Well, yes, but she would have had to receive a lethal dose of radiation in order for it to affect her so quickly and violently.” “L-lethal?" Fluttershy gasped again. "So she is going to die?” “No. Normally she would have died before you brought her through the door, but as I said she is recovering much faster than anypony her age should." the doctor tucked away his clipboard before continuing. "My guess is that the radiation came from some other source and we might be dealing with something else completely different.” “But she was perfectly fine last night.” Twilight said. “Maybe it was something she ate.” Pinkie Pie offered. “She did eat a lot of cupcakes and sandwiches last night.” “I don’t think overeating is our culprit here." the doctor said after a pause. "You five know Rainbow Dash better than I do; has she ever had any trouble with substance abuse or drinking?” “Well, she does drink, but only on special occasions.” Applejack said. “‘Sides, the girl can hardly keep it down for longer than five minutes.” “Also, wouldn’t you have tested her for alcohol poisoning when we brought her in?” Rarity asked. “That test is still processing. Now, when you found her was there any indication of what might have caused this?” “Um, well,” Fluttershy said. “She wanted me to stay away from this little rock in her house.” the doctor seemed surprised at this. “A rock? In a cloud house?” he asked. “I think they’re strong enough to hold small rocks." Fluttershy shuffled her hooves for a moment. "I wanted to pick it up, but she told me not to and then I brought her here.” “If possible, could you bring that rock by so I can have a better look at it? I’ll send one of my orderlies with a hazardous material container if you’d like.” “Oh, that would be nice.” “But rocks don’t just make ponies sick,” Twilight said quickly. “There are a few, but they’d never work this fast.” “Believe me we’re all as confused about this as you are,” the doctor replied. “What’s even more unusual is that it happened to Rainbow Dash, of all ponies.” “What’s so weird about that?” Rarity asked, one eyebrow raised. “Besides her accident last spring, this is the second time she’s actually checked in to a hospital in her entire life." the doctor pulled out another sheet, Rainbow's medical records from the looks of things. "She’s never broken any other bones, never gotten sick, never had any issues with her senses, never had any rashes, concussions, burns, deep cuts. You name it, she hasn’t had it.” “She’s only lived in Ponyville for a few years," Twilight said. "what about her time in Cloudsdale?” “I’ve already cross referenced my records with Cloudsdale’s. It’s the same thing; Rainbow Dash has only been admitted to any hospital once in her lifetime. Either she’s obsessive over staying healthy, extremely lucky, or there’s more factors that I’m not aware of.” There was a pause while the ponies collected their thoughts. “Can we go see her?” Fluttershy asked “I mean, if that’s okay with you...” “Visiting hours are over, but I’ll let you check in with her for a few minutes.” ................. The first thing Rainbow Dash was aware of was that she was lying in a bed. It was stiff, and the sheets smelled funny, but it was a bed nonetheless. If she had her way, she would have remained immobile for as long as possible, but her nerves would not allow that and forced her awake. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes. “She’s wakin’ up.” a voice said. Rainbow Dash blinked and saw her friends circling her, all of them looking at her with concern. “Hey guys...” Rainbow Dash said, her voice raspy from lack of water. “Oh Rainbow Dash, we were so worried you weren’t going to get better.” Fluttershy said. “You are feeling better, right, darling?” Rarity asked, leaning in a little closer. Rainbow Dash coughed a little. “Not really..." Rainbow replied. "I feel really weak right now.” “The doctors said you’d recover in a day or two.” Twilight said. “That’s nice..." there was a pause before Rainbow spoke again. "You guys’ll come visit me if I have to stay here longer, right?” “Of course we will." Twilight gave Rainbow Dash a smile. "We’re your friends, and friends never abandon one another.” “And when you do get out, I’m going to throw a massive ‘Rainbow Dash-isn’t-going-to-die’ party and invite as many ponies in Equestria as possible!” Pinkie Pie chirped. “Maybe I’ll even get the princesses to come, and then everypony will have lots of fun and you’ll be there and we’ll all be happy and stuff!” “Thanks... I’d like that.” Rainbow Dash shifted a little before continuing. “Hey, if it’s okay with you guys I’d like to get some sleep. Can we talk more when I’m feeling better?” “Of course.” the others began to leave before Twilight spoke again. “Rainbow Dash, do you remember anything that happened last night?” Rainbow mulled over the question for a moment. “A little. Why?” “The doctors were having a little trouble trying to diagnose what was wrong with you." Twilight replied. "If you can remember what happened that might help them treat you.” “Okay..." Rainbow sat up straighter before continuing. "Well, I came home and fed Tank, and when I went into my room I found this rock sitting on my bed. I thought it was some kind of meteor and wanted to keep it for later, but when I picked it up... I got sick.” “Just like that?” Twilight asked, one eyebrow raised. “I think so.” there was a pause. “I’ll tell that to the doctors, and I’ll try to find out what kinds of elemental combinations could make a pony sick.” “Guess that egghead stuff is useful after all.” Rainbow Dash started laughing a little before coughing again “Ah... it hurts to laugh.” “Just rest for now. We’ll come check up on you tomorrow.” Rainbow Dash nodded and rolled over in her bed. Her body was still weak, but her mind was alight with different questions. Did I do something wrong? Was I not supposed to pick the meteor up? Maybe I should have used tongs... Yeah, that’s what they do with weird space objects in Spike’s comic books... I think I need to read some more of those sometime. Rainbow Dash pulled the sheets of her bed a little closer and allowed herself to drift off into sleep. Unbeknownst to her, a certain rock continued to glow a bright green as it was brought to Ponyville’s hospital.