Hearts Aflutter - Chapter 3
Darkest Hour
Wind screamed in her ears – or was that Flutteshy?
The grass rushed past below them, growing ever closer. She held the other pegasus close, trying to shield the yellow mare from the impact with her own body, but a sudden roll put Fluttershy between Rainbow Dash and the ground instead.
The screaming was her own – with mere meters between them and their impending doom, there was no time, nothing she could do but watch in horror as they crashed into the ground, the fragile yellow pegasus taking most of the impact.
They dug a huge swath through the field’s long grass, bouncing with a dull thud, cushioned only slightly by the thick vegetation. When she finally stopped moving, the only thing she felt was pain.
No, not pain – utter, mind-numbing agony. The excruciating pain blotted out nearly every thought she had, leaving nothing but misery. She cried, her body aching all over from the impact, but nowhere more than her head. It felt like somepony had smashed it with a rock.
She hoped her friends could find her – she didn’t think she had it in her to move.
Friends?
Fluttershy! Rainbow suddenly found herself filled with strength. What do I mean I can’t move?
She threw herself to her hooves, toppling down onto her side. She managed to stand on the second attempt and searched frantically for her friend, the torturous pain from seconds ago suddenly easy to push aside. She was no wuss. There was nothing more important than Fluttershy – no simple pain would keep them apart.
Where is she? Where is she?!
She saw a yellow form some way away and galloped towards it, not stopping to wonder why her stride was lopsided, why each step on her left hindleg shot pain straight through her – she meant nothing at all. Fluttershy was everything.
She reached her best friend’s body, pushing away the grass to see not just yellow and pink, but red. No...
White, serrated daggers of bone protruded from her wings and torso, leaking blood everywhere. No!
She wasn’t moving. NO!
Rainbow got on her knees in the dust, putting her ear close to the mare’s mouth. Her best friend exhaled, quietly, softly, shuddering as the air escaped her lips – she was still alive!
You can’t do anything to save her yourself. “Hold on Fluttershy!”
You need to get help, or Fluttershy will die. “Just hold on!”
Dash began to gallop towards Ponyville, stretching her wings and flapping them – she didn’t care that she couldn’t get off the ground, that one wing was flopping in a way that wings shouldn’t. She brushed those thoughts off, simply pressing on at full speed towards the town.
“Somepony help! Get the Nurse!” A pony began shouting, but Rainbow didn’t listen.
Just keep moving, keep moving. You’re in town now.
“Someone, help!” Pony shapes came towards her from the houses around her – a vague muttering reached her ears, and some far more urgent shouts.
Tell them. “Fluttershy’s hurt! At my practice field! Go!”
Blackness seeped into the edges of her vision – she began to feel lightheaded, cold. “Now!” she screamed.
Then she toppled over, landing on her side. The blackness covered everything.
---
Complete chaos consumed the citizens of Ponyville, every single available hoof galloping towards Rainbow’s field to search for Fluttershy. Some feared they would not reach her in time.
“Is she over there?” shouted somepony urgently.
“Come on, everypony! We need to find her!” Applejack shouted, but her voice was lost in the chaos.
Everything was a blur, a pandemonium of ponies searching for Fluttershy with frenzied speed and energy.
“Everypony, get down!” Twilight shouted, her voice carrying far over the fields, augmented by her magic. Everypony dropped to the ground moments before a magical scythe swept across the grass, slicing it as low to the ground as she dared. “Any pegasi, get up there and look for yellow!” she ordered urgently.
Soon there was a shout, and the paramedics, Twilight and Applejack converged on the location, gasping at the sight of their friend.
“Move! Move!” shouted Nurse Redheart, amidst directing the emergency ponies. “She’s still alive! Get her onto that stretcher – and make sure somepony’s holding her neck and spine – we don’t know the extent of the damage!”
Applejack and Twilight galloped alongside her as they carried her to the paramedic’s wagon, unable to tear themselves away. There had to be something they could still do to help.
“Hold on there, Fluttershy. Y’all gonna get through this, y’hear?!” Applejack said, trying to comfort her as much as possible.
“Rainbow...” she whimpered, her voice almost nonexistent. “I... lo...”
“Rainbow Dash isn’t here, Fluttershy,” Twilight said sadly, a tear rolling slowly down her face. “You have to hold on, ok? Hold on, until you can tell her yourself.”
“I’m going to have to ask you all to leave now,” Nurse Redheart said. “There’s nothing more you can do for her.” She slammed a hoof against the side of the wagon. “Get her to the ER, now!”
The wagon took off, heading straight for Ponyville Hospital. Nurse Redheart already had somepony writing letters to Canterlot, requesting the best surgeons available, but the situation was grim.
Nothing was certain – she might not yet be saved.
All they had was hope.
---
Rainbow Dash watched through the viewing window as ponies in white worked on Fluttershy. Her own injuries were severe, but not urgent – all available ponies were doing all they could to help however they could in the operating room below.
She was covered in blood, but nearly none was her own – after a quick check-over, she was asked to wait until somepony could come and tend to her.
Where’s that other surgeon?... teleported in by now... Let’s do what we can – somepony...
She watched as the unicorn surgeons shouted orders, scrambled frantically about the room, levitating various tools, utensils, bottles and more to each other, some using magic to heal her lesser injuries or prevent the greater ones from degrading, all trying to save Fluttershy’s life. Their words blurred into each other, faded in and out of hearing, so she waited.
We need to get that lung patched... How are her wings looking?
She waited for them to say they were finished, that Fluttershy was okay. She waited for Fluttershy to be alive.
Spinal column is undamaged... not off the hook yet... damage to... –ve clusters...
It was all her fault – she’d failed. Fluttershy might die because of her – because she wasn’t strong enough to protect her. She’d put her best friend between her and the ground, and then slammed her into it at nearly the speed of sound.
She should be the one on that table. She should be the one who nearly died – might still die – to protect her friend.
...Doc, she’s waking up! Oh Celestia... Give me that sedative! It’s not... don’t we have anything stronger?!
Fluttershy began screaming in pain – horrific, guttural screams that had no place coming from the sweet, timid pegasus.
It was too much – Dash’s vision began to fade, a mixture of stress, fear and physical trauma finally overcoming her.
Sweet Luna... not working... into shock! She’s dying! ...induce a coma...
Dash lost consciousness.
---
The hospital waiting room was empty, save for four ponies, who sat together on the cushions provided at the side of the room. The bright, earthy colour scheme of the room was in stark contrast to the mood - they shivered, feeling a chill. Whether it was from the air, or shock at what had happened, couldn’t be said.
Nurse Redheart had already told them the situation – they had been forced to put Fluttershy into a coma in order to save her life. Rainbow Dash was still undergoing treatment, but her injuries were not nearly as bad.
Applejack broke the awkward silence. “Hey, Twilight, what’d Fluttershy mean, back at the field? You looked like you knew what she was trying to say.”
Twilight glanced away, towards Pinkie, who’d been silent the whole time, sitting close to the corner. She was crying softly, but hadn’t responded to any attempts at comfort. “I Pinkie Promised not to say.”
“You know, just before the... accident, both of them came to me at my Boutique,” Rarity said, trying to be as airy as she usually was. “It’s quite sad, really – the both of them are so different from one another, but they-”
Twilight glanced up angrily. “Rarity! How can you just sit there and gossip like that about our friends? We don’t even really know if they’re alright and yet you-”
“Stop fighting!” Pinkie cried, breaking into tears. “We shouldn’t be fighting...”
Rarity sighed, keeping calm. “The simple truth is this, Twilight – whatever happens, we must continue to be strong for our friends. When we go in to see Rainbow Dash, she must see her friends standing tall, making the most of the situation. We must keep up the appearance of normality.” She coughed. “In her view of me, ‘normality’ tends to make me a gossip.”
Twilight nodded understandingly, backing down.
Silence came across them again. Twilight and Rarity cast concerned glances towards Pinkie, who seemed to have gotten worse because of their disagreement - her hair was drooping heavily, threatening to straighten completely. They tried to think of ways to comfort her, but there was nothing that could really be said by any of them. Pinkie needed to see for herself that her friends would be alright, that everything would be ok again soon.
Rarity was more worried about Rainbow Dash, however – what if Fluttershy had confessed her feelings before the accident? That would entirely change the way that Rainbow would react to the situation, and not for the better. She’d never seen any sign of Rainbow liking Fluttershy the same way – come to think of it, she’d never seen the pegasus show any interest at all in such things. But a direct confession could have changed that...
For Rainbow’s sake, she hoped Fluttershy hadn’t succeeded, hadn’t managed to tell the pegasus her feelings. It was too soon to tell, but...
Rarity knew firsthand the pain of survivor’s guilt fuelled by love.
She had to make sure it didn’t come to that. She would not allow Rainbow Dash to take it upon herself.
Finally, Nurse Redheart came down the hallway, beckoning them to follow her. They walked in silence towards the ward Rainbow and Fluttershy were staying in, but the quiet bothered Applejack.
“How’s Fluttershy?” she asked, with a small glance towards Pinkie.
“I’m sorry, girls, but it’s still too soon to tell,” Redheart replied. “She’s in intensive care, and until her condition stabilises she will that way.” They reached the room as she finished speaking. A curtain hung in between the two beds in the room - two machines could be heard beeping, one for each of the pegasi inhabiting the room.
“I’ll take my leave- I’m sure you all want some time alone,” Redheart said, beginning to exit the room.
Rarity thanked her for her hard work. “Oh, and do give our thanks to all of the good doctors who worked on Fluttershy?”
“Of course. And please, watch Rainbow closely – we believe she may have a concussion. Please remember that I am only moments away at any time.” She nodded, then trotted back up the hallway.
Rainbow had been cleaned up and tended to, her wing relocated and her leg placed in a cast, while her lesser injuries, mostly cuts, scrapes and other such smaller wounds, had been bandaged or simply healed by magical means.
Rainbow sat up for her friends, who all enveloped her in a hug. Pinkie looked particularly glad to see her.
“Are you okay, Dashie? And how’s Fluttershy, really?” Pinkie whispered, her forehooves locked around the pegasus’ neck.
“...I’m fine,” Dash breathed. The others backed off, giving her some space to breathe. She continued, saying, “Fluttershy’s... alive.”
It was all that could be said right now.
“That’s some o’ the best news I’ve heard all day,” Applejack said, trying to be cheerful.
Dash glared. “Yeah?” she replied slowly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I guess you’re right. Let’s celebrate! She’s alive!”
“Don’t be like that, Rainbow,” the earth pony replied, a little hurt. “You know that’s not what I meant, and twistin’ it all ‘round like that just ain’t fair.”
“Stop,” Pinkie whispered, but she went unnoticed.
“Fair? What about this is fair? If any of this was fair, it would be me on that hospital bed!”
“Stop fighting...” Pinkie said, but she went ignored again.
“Applejack is right, darling,” Rarity said. “Such rudeness has no place in situations like these. And you must face facts – it isn’t you.”
Her words just seemed to increase the pegasus’ anger. “Are you saying I’m wrong? Redheart just said exactly the same thing,” Dash growled. “But you’re both wrong. It was my fault.”
“That isn’t-” Twilight tried to say, but she was quickly interrupted.
“Please, stop fighting!” Pinkie sobbed, her voice shaking from the crying. “Even if she’s asleep, Fluttershy can still hear you! You’re making her sad!”
Rainbow’s eyes narrowed, and wincing in pain, she got up from the bed and tore the curtain away.
---
Rainbow had dreamed of screams.
Just like Fluttershy had, tied down to the operating table - thrashing, screaming.
“Why, Rainbow Dash?” she’d screamed. “Why did you do this to me?”
“I’m so sorry,” Rainbow had cried.
The screaming had turned feral, terrifying. “It’s your fault! Why couldn’t you protect me?”
Then Dash was too. Screaming.
Her sudden awakening had startled the Nurse, who, once she recovered, said a whole pile of medical horseapple, and then said her friends were waiting to see her.
A few moments later, they all came in, and none of them except Pinkie even seemed to care that Fluttershy was hurt.
How could they? How could they just stand there and not give a damn about Fluttershy?
But the worst part was that they didn’t think it was her fault. How could it not be her fault, when Fluttershy herself had said so?
And then she’d opened the curtain. She saw her best friend, just... lying there. Covered in bandages and plaster, her wings splayed out sideways. The bandages shifted slightly as Fluttershy breathed – shallow breaths, without much substance. Tubes ran from various places into a contraption by the bedside, which beeped incessantly.
It was an abomination. She shouldn’t be there. She shouldn’t be there, connected to a life support machine which kept her heart beating, kept her alive.
She shouldn’t be there.
Rainbow hated it - her best friend was clinging to life by a pony-made thread, and she’d gotten off almost completely unscathed.
Dash looked again at her friend, the yellow pony’s chest rising ever so slowly. She was scared – what if it fell, and didn’t rise again? What would she do? What could she do?
And yet, even as she looked, through the bandages and tubes, she could see the barest hint of a smile on Fluttershy’s face – the same one she always wore as she brushed off a small wrong she’d been dealt, a kind, forgiving smile.
Rainbow hated that smile. She deserved no forgiveness - she’d done this. Every injury Fluttershy had was her fault.
It’s your fault! Why couldn’t you protect me?
It just wasn’t fair. Why was Fluttershy the one on that bed? What had she ever done to deserve this? She was sure of it now – it hadn’t been an accident. She’d panicked. She’d done everything she could to ensure her own survival, nopony else’s. She’d put her friend in harm’s way – no.
She’d tried to kill her.
It should have been me.
---
“Get me out of here,” Rainbow whispered. It took a moment for it to register that she’d spoken – her friends were still surprised that she’d gotten up, so soon after the accident. She was standing on her broken leg like she couldn’t feel it, like it was nothing.
“Rainbow, darling, what is it? You can tell me anything,” Rarity said.
“I want to get out of here,” she replied, louder this time, the volume steadily rising. “I can't be here – you have to get me out!”
“Rainbow Dash, listen to me,” Rarity said, growing urgent. “You must understand that this is not your fault – do you hear me? You cannot-”
“Then whose bucking fault is it?!” Dash shouted. “It’s all because of me – I couldn’t stop myself in time. I couldn’t protect her!”
“You did all you could-”
Rarity was interrupted by a physical blow – Rainbow charged past them as fast as she could, limping and in pain though she was. Applejack moved in to stop her while Twilight began to call for the Nurse – Pinkie Pie began to sob once more, shying away from her friend. There was rage, pure and unadulterated, on Rainbow Dash’s face.
Rarity suspected it was all directed solely at the mare herself. She began to make her way through the tussle, trying to regain Rainbow’s attention, but her attempts at comfort were in vain.
A flailing hoof came out of the blue, striking her temple, and she dropped out cold.
She regained consciousness much later, in her bed back at Carousel Boutique. Applejack was in a chair beside her, sleeping soundly.
After what had happened in the hospital, she was left with a profound sense of guilt and sorrow.
She’d failed.
---
“It's my fault!” Rainbow cried.
“That isn’t true!” Twilight admonished. “Rainbow, that isn’t tr-”
“Shut up!” she interrupted. “It’s exactly true! I hit her with a Sonic Rainboom - that’s not something you can do by accident! I hit her, and I couldn’t protect her, and when I tried, I hurt her more!”
“It was an accide-“
“I said, shut up!” she screamed, flaring her wings. “You don’t have any idea what it’s like!”
A tear rolled slowly down Twilight’s cheek. “Rainbow Dash, she’s our friend too. We’re all going through the same thing – we need to go through it together.”
Dash stared Twilight right in the eye, a steel glint shooting daggers into the unicorn. “Going through the same thing? You didn’t nearly murder your best friend,” she growled, before shooting into the air and out the library window.
She never noticed Twilight’s tears, trailing down her face, nor the mare sliding sadly to her rump as she left.
Stupid Twilight, she growled mindlessly. How could she say that? How could possibly she try to sympathise while saying it wasn’t Dash’s fault? It wasn’t just her fault – it was a betrayal.
She bore the Element of Loyalty – her friends should be able to depend on her, should know that she’ll always be there for them. How could Twilight honestly say that it wasn’t her fault, when she’d gone against everything she stood for and nearly killed her best friend?
She should have been better.
It was raining heavily, thunder brewing and lightning preparing to strike. She flew through the storm at top speed, her coat soaking wet, her feathers shedding sheets of water. Normally risks brought adrenaline, brought a thrill... but now they just brought pain.
Look what ‘thrills’ did to Fluttershy.
She reached her house, entering and slamming the door behind her, falling to the floor crying.
Unbidden, the image of Fluttershy on the hospital bed came to her mind, and she screamed, slamming her hoof against the wall next to her. The fragile cloud gave way and Dash stared, holding her hoof in front of her.
That had felt... right.
Why did you do this to me? the Dream-Fluttershy had screamed. Fluttershy had lost everything, and might not get it back, and it was Dash’s fault.
Wouldn't it be right to mete out the same thing as a punishment to the one who caused it all? Why should she not lose it all too?
This was nothing like anger, or guilt. This was balance.
Fluttershy lost her home, right?
She slammed her hoof again, more of the cloud wall disappearing into vapours.
And again.
And again.
And again, and again, and again, for so long that by the time she stopped, she no longer had a home either. But she didn’t care – floating in the rain, alone, in tears and homeless, she felt something close to happiness for the first time since the accident.
She’d begun her apology, finally starting to feel worthy of Fluttershy’s forgiving smile.
---
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
“What’s that sound, Gummy?” Pinkie Pie asked, the unblinking pygmy alligator stoic in his refusal to reply. He’d been like that ever since Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had had their accident, and while she was feeling sad too, Gummy seemed to have taken it to a new extreme.
“I miss her too, Gummy. Dashie, as well. She hasn’t been the same since...” she said quietly. But no, she had to be strong. Gummy needed her to be strong. Everypony else needed her to be strong too.
But the alligator merely blinked, moping silently in the corner.
“Fine, be that way. I know you’re angry about that cake, but you really shouldn’t be so pouty.”
She began to search the room for the source of the thudding, eventually pinpointing it to the corner of a wall. “That’s weird,” she said. It seemed to be coming from outside – but who would be such a super-silly-filly and go outside in rain like this, and then thud on her wall?
She looked out her window and saw a blur of multi-coloured mane. “Oh, hiya Dashie-“
Thud. Her eyes widened, seeing the pegasus rear back for another thud.
Thud. What was going on? There was a grim determination in Rainbow’s eyes, completely ignorant of the pain she must be in – or completely unfeeling of it.
Thud. “Dashie, what are you doing?” she asked, her eyes brimming with tears. Dashie, why?
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Crack.
Rainbow cried out, but merely turned around and began thudding the wall of Sugarcube Corner with her other side, smashing her side viciously against the bakery.
Pinkie Pie was outside in a flash, trying to hold Dash back – she gasped in horror as she realised that the pegasus had broken her own wing.
“Get off me, Pinkie,” Rainbow said, her voice cold, dark.
“No! I won’t let you!” Pinkie’s hooves wrapped around the pegasus’ torso, gripping tightly in an attempt to stop her from hurting herself further, but to no avail.
Thud. Pain lanced up Pinkie’s foreleg. Thud.
“Dashie, stop this right now!” she cried, then shouted for help. By now the rain had soaked her too, and the blustery winds buffeted her, sending freezing shocks through her body.
“No. It’s my fault, so now I’m saying sorry.”
Thud. “Please, Dashie, stop! None of this was your fault – you don’t have to do this, so please stop!”
Thud.
“No.”
Thud. Thud. Thud. Crack.
Pinkie cried out in pain, but kept her grip on Rainbow Dash despite her broken leg.
“This is something I just have to do.”
Pinkie wouldn’t let it be like this – she got between Dash and the wall, placing herself in harm’s way to try and protect her friend. She was far more frail than most earth ponies, but she hoped that she was strong enough for this.
No – she had to be strong enough for this.
Thump. Pinkie held in a scream.
Thump. Pinkie ignored her pain.
Thump. Pinkie would not let Rainbow down.
---
Crack!
Rainbow recoiled, holding a hoof to her cheek, which was already swelling from the heavy blow.
“What the buck is wrong with you, Rainbow Dash?” Applejack spat. “You call yourself a pony? Ah can’t believe you – you couldn’t just hurt yourself, but Pinkie too? You darn near shattered her leg, not to mention your own wing!” She growled. “What the buck is wrong with you?”
She slammed her hoof into Rainbow’s face again. Crack!
The pegasus merely stood, taking it, not looking Applejack in the eye. She sure as hay wasn’t expecting it, but this, too, was something that had to happen.
“Answer me, or so help me, I’ll...!” Applejack yelled, raising a hoof again.
“It’s for Fluttershy.”
Applejack blinked. “How d’you figure that?”
“I nearly killed her. I betrayed her. It’s all my fault, so I’m putting it all right – everything that happens to Fluttershy is going to happen to me as well.”
“This is you sayin’ you’re sorry? You don’t reckon there are better ways than ruining yourself an’ hurtin’ your friends? That sure as hay had nothin’ to do with Pinkie!”
“It’s just the way it has to be,” Rainbow said.
“Oh yeah? So what’ll you do if she doesn’t make it? Just fly up nice an’ high, an’ then stop flappin’?”
“I was wondering the best way to do that, actually,” Rainbow said mockingly. “Thanks for the idea.”
Crack! Applejack’s hoof hit her again and she dropped to the floor of the barn. “Ah can’t believe you.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh yeah, well guess what? That don’t matter one big shiny horseapple, ‘cuz Ah sure as hay understand that you’re doin’ is wrong. Apologisin’s all fine and dandy. Makin’ it up to your friend is alright, understandable even, though it is an accident – but this ain’t right. Imagine what Fluttershy’d think? What would she do if she knew you’d been hurtin’ yourself so bad – or worse, that you’re plannin’ to die if she does?” Applejack roared furiously. “Ah reckon she’d be right there behind you, holdin’ you still so Ah can beat ya easier.”
“I nearly killed her, when I should have been able to protect her. She should have been able to trust me, to depend on me.”
“Shut your mouth right now. Depend on you? Trust you? What about us, Rainbow Dash?” she motioned with a hoof back towards Ponyville. “What about us? You think this is about protectin’ your friends? Then just what made you keep goin’ when she tried to stop you? What in our Princesses’ names made you bust yourself up like that, bust Pinkie up the same, and abandon everything? Y’all got loyalties to other things than Fluttershy, and that’s the honest truth. If this is about loyalty, then why's Pinkie Pie in the hospital? What, you tryin' ta put her in a coma too?"
Rainbow looked up with death in her eyes, and Applejack realised her mistake. "I didn't mean that," she said. "I swear-"
"SHUT UP!" Rainbow screamed, launching herself at the earth pony.
Applejack knew she'd brought this one on - she took every punch Rainbow threw, letting the mare take it out on her. At least she was strong enough to take it.
Eventually, she finally stopped Rainbow, grabbing her torso and throwing her to the ground, pinning her to the floor until she finally stopped struggling.
"Look at you, Rainbow Dash. Look at what you're doin' to us all - it ain't right. It ain't the way to make things right, either."
“Well what can I do then? How else am I supposed to make it up to her? Everything is my fault!”
“I still think that’s a lie, but since you seem so tied to that idea - you do whatever you can to live how you always have. That’s the pony she’s friends with.” Applejack lifted Dash to her hooves. “You honour her by movin’ on, not making everything right.”
“I can’t just move on that easily.”
“Who said it was gonna be easy?” Applejack replied. “But you still gotta do it. An’ I think for this one, you gotta figure out how yourself.”
Rainbow sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“You’re damn right I am! To think, you even – wait, what?”
“I’m sorry. And thanks.”
Applejack grinned wildly. “For beatin’ your flank? Heh, never had nopony thank me before.” She looked Dash dead in the eye and continued steadily. “Y’all ever go pullin’ something like this again, ya can expect a whole lot more o’ th’ same, y'hear?”
“Oh yeah. Looking forward to it.” Trust Applejack to get her on the right track again, she thought. But now she had a new problem – she couldn’t fly, and she’d destroyed her house. And she still felt that she had to make it up to Fluttershy...
“Y’all got a place to stay? Don’t think I didn’t see you doin’ alla that to your house, neither.”
Rainbow had an idea.
“Yeah... Yeah, I’ve got a place to stay.”
“Well, good.” Crack!
“What the buck, AJ?! I said I’m sorry!”
Applejack laughed. “That was for Rarity, after you did the same to her in the hospital.”
---
“I miss you,” she whispered. She could have sworn Fluttershy’s ever-present smile grew larger – she longed for the day when that smile would be real, when she could look into those blue eyes and see her friend gazing back, all hurts forgiven.
“All hurts forgiven,” she repeated, a tear escaping her eye.
Rainbow looked out at the window at the sunset. It was a similar sunset to the one they’d shared all those weeks ago, above the clouds. A tear escaped her eye as they shared this one, everything completely different.
She fell asleep, as they had before so long ago, in a happier time.
A/N - Come to the dark side - we have cookies.
You may have noticed, this story doesn't have a dark tag. This is as bad as it will ever get.
On a happier note - Congratulations (and thanks!) on (for) reading this far! If you haven't yet, please comment and rate. Occasionally a good comment will inspire me to greater things, and ratings are nice.
- Midnight Specter