//------------------------------// // Through An Angel's Eyes // Story: Shattered Wings // by CleverlyDmented //------------------------------// There was nothing but utter darkness. Her breathing was ragged, each gasp sending pain through her entire being. She fought, trying to stay awake. In the distance, somewhere past the black haze, she could hear a familiar voice. It was so quiet, but it was definately there. The closer she listened, she began to recoginze it. "Please, Dash! Wake up! Please!!!!" Her friend was crying. She knew Fluttershy was by her. She never left her side. She screamed and screamed, tears streaming down her face as if someone had turned on a faucet. Dash wanted to comfort her. In all of their time as friends, she had never heard Fluttershy like this. It broke her heart. But it wasn't enough to ignore the pain in her entire body. Her chest was tight, and breathing became a difficult task. She lingered on the edge of reality and dream. No matter how hard she fought, she just couldn't open her eyes. She couldn't feel Fluttershy's arms around her. She couldn't see the crowd that surrounded the two of them. All that was perceptible to her was the sound of Fluttershy's voice, and the distant blare of what sounded like a siren. Suddenly, pain erupted through her entire body, and she blacked out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tears flooded Fluttershy's eyes as she sat in the waiting room of Cloudsdale General Hospital. Sometime after Dash had been escorted away, she had finally found the strength to move. Barely able to see through the tears, she noticed all of the ponies that had surrounded them. Dry eyes were scarce as the watched her. She found her way to the hospital, doing all that she could to avoid anypony else. Her mind was racing as she thought of Rainbow Dash. She couldn't lose her. She just couldn't. That's what drove her to fight the tears. But now, sitting alone in this cold waiting room, she let it all out. She curled up into one of the heavily-cusioned chairs, hiding her face in her mane, and cried. Moreso than she ever had in her entire life. More than perhaps all of the times put together. The mare she loved struggled to live just a room away, and all she could do was wait. She had never felt more useless in her life. She knew what was wrong. She had seen the snake bite on her friends leg. That's what worried her the most. Dash had gone the entire day with the venom running through her system. It was a wonder she made it to lunch. That thought sent another wave of tears. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Three hours passed, but to the lonely Pegasus, it seemed like an eternity. She still could only see darkness. She remembered waking up. Though she couldn't see or speak, she could hear perfectly now, the thick shroud of deafness now gone. But that was the least of her concerns. Along with hearing, possibly worst of all, was the fact that she could feel again. What had before seared her entire body now made her feel as if she were constantly being dipped into corrosive acid. "Dr. Wingsly, what do you make of this?" The voice was that of a young mare. She must have been a nurse, because Dash had never heard her voice before. She struggled internally, wanting nothing more than to open her eyes. She wanted to get out of this dark place. She wanted all of the pain to end. But, most of all, she wanted to see Fluttershy. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like this before. The bites on her leg are obviously that of a snake....but..." The doctor trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging in midair, and leaving Dash anxious to hear the rest. What was happening to her. Was she going to die? Celestia no, she didn't want to die. There were too many things that she hadn't gotten to experience yet. She had never fulfilled her dream of joining the Wonderbolts. She had never performed the Sonic Rainboom again. But, what saddened her more than anything else, was that she had never known true love. "But what, doctor? Is there something wrong?" The doctor sighed, setting down his clipboard. "I've never seen anything like this before. The venom's been in her system since yesterday. How she is still even alive is beyond me. But what worries me the most is the fact that I've never seen venom like this before." What??? This was horrible! How could he not know? Nonononono this could not be happening. Dash's mind zoomed from one end of the room to the other. If he didn't know anything about what was wrong, how would he ever be able to fix it? Was she doomed to die? No. She refused to accept that. She struggled harder, pain searing through her body once again. She couldn't move. She couldn't see. And now, it was growing even more difficult to breath. The pain rushed over her in waves. Fighting to stay awake, she tried her best to ignore it. "I'm afraid were going to have to transfer her to Canterlot. Maybe, just maybe, the hospital there will know something about this. But if she stays here, she has absolutely no chance." For the first time in her life, Dash was feeling absolute terror. She didn't want to die. There were so many things left unsaid, so many things that she would never be able to fix. The entire morning rushed through her mind. Slowly blacking out, she entered a deep sleep, reliving her memories through her dreams. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The day had started out horribly. Her leg throbbed in pain as she lay wide awake in her bed. The pinprick-sized marks on her leg were causing more pain than if she had dove face-first into a rock. She knew what had happened, but she was way too stubborn and too proud to act on it. The previous day, as she helped Fluttershy clean out the burrows, she had come across one that caught her eye quickly. It was smaller than the rest, and closest to the Everfree Forest. Never one to worry about things like this, Dash reached in, removing small twigs and leaves that filled in the hole. Once she was sure that everything was cleared out, she turned around, ready to head back to Fluttershy. That's when the pain hit her. She started to scream in pain, but stopped herself. She looked down at the hole to see a blood-red snake staring at her. It's eyes were a horrible ocher color, and it's gazed seemed to hypnotize her. No matter how bad she wanted to, she couldn't turn away. The snake hissed, raising it's head to go for another strike. Luckily enough, a roar came from within the Everfree Forest. The snake was distracted by it, and averted his gaze to look for the intruder. Dash, now able to move, acted, kicking the snake as hard as she could. It flew deep into the forest, hitting a distant tree with a sickening SMACK. That was when Fluttershy had called for her. Or, as close to calling as Fluttershy could get. Not wanting her friend to worry, Dash hid the pain, limping back to the cottage. Thankfully, the moon had risen. Though it provided adequate light, it wasn't enough to see the blood running down her leg. After making her plans with Fluttershy, she took off, ready to get back to her home as fast as possible. Even flight hurt as the rush of air burned her leg. She bit her lip, trying to hold back the flood of tears. This was a new pain to her. She had gotten plenty of scrapes and cuts in her time, and had even crashed hard on occasion, once breaking a rib and one of her front legs. But none of that compared to the pain that filled her at this point. When she got home, Dash skipped her usually large dinner, instead soaking in the tub. She had time to think. She knew that Fluttershy would see the bite tomorrow. How could she avoid that without having to get help? Dash was a stubborn girl. She could never accept someponies help. Every bit of her screamed in agony, but she was convinced that it would go away on it's own. After all, how bad could a snake bite be? Later that night, she decided to wrap a tight bandage around the bite. Not only would it hide it, but it would also keep pressure to stop the bleeding. Glad that she had thought of something so ingenius, she immediately weaved the story she would be going by. A simple flight accident. Knowing her, it was the most believable scenario. Happy with herself, Dash laid down, hoping the pain would go away long enough to sleep. She was wrong. She lay awake that entire night, fighting of the tears of pain. What was once just her leg burning had spread throughout her entire body. She lay wide awake, until around 7:00. She got up, doing everything she could to make herself seem presentable, then went downstairs to eat. It seemed like everything this morning sucked. She was getting angry at the smallest things. At one point, her turtle Tank had come out of his hiding spot under the couch. He tried to hug her, but Dash batted him away. "Get away, you useless turtle. I'm not in the mood for games right now." The hurt in his eyes was apparent, but she ignored it, finishing her toast. As he crawled back pitifully under the couch, she got up, limping as she walked. This day was going to draaaaag on. Finally, at around 12:00, she decided to head out to meet Fluttershy. She knew that, no matter how angry she got, she could NOT show Fluttershy. She could never forgive herself if she hurt her best friend like that. She thought about how she yelled at Tank, but shrugged it off and left. It could wait. Landing in Ponyville, Dash started walking towards Fluttershy's. Flying seemed to be agonizing, even worse so than just going by foot. As she walked, she did her best to avoid other ponies. It was bad enough that she had to hide the pain from Fluttershy all day. She mentally slapped herself for making plans, but she couldn't pass up a chance to spend a day with her. Dash smiled as she thought of her friend, ignoring the pain momentarily. Halfway to the cottage, disaster struck. While close to leaving the city limits towards the Everfree Forest, Dash was stopped by her biggest fan. Scootaloo had a big grin on her smile as she rode her scooter next to Dash. "Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash. Do you think you can show me a few new tricks later?" Dash usually tolerated the kid's constant questions. But today, her patience was non-existent. After a tirade of ideas, Dash snapped. "Look, pipsqueek, will you get lost? I'm too busy to babysit. Go play with your dorky friends and leave me alone." Dash walked on, leaving Scootaloo behind, verging on tears at her idol's lashing out. This time, Dash didn't even give her outburst a second thought. Determined to get there faster, she took off into the sky, ignoring the pain as she flew. And that's where her time with Fluttershy began. She fought through the day doing everything she could to hold herself high. She could never let Fluttershy know when she was weak. Her friends motherly actions always forced Dash to blush. And that brought her to her final regret. She had never gotten to tell Fluttershy how she felt. From the moment she had laid eyes on the yellow filly in Flight Academy, she was love-struck. But the shy filly never actually looked directly at her, so Dash didn't know how she would handle it if she found out. She didn't want to risk losing her best friend. Dash had always tried to push those feelings away, even dating Spitfire for a few weeks. But, the two were too much alike, and they both agreed that it would be way better to stay friends. No matter how hard she tried, Dash could never make these feelings go away. And now, she would never have the chance to tell her best friend how she really felt. The three words that have been stuck in her throat for years would never find their way out. "I love you." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fluttershy sat in the waiting room. 5 hours of nothing but endless waiting. Her tears had finally gone away, no more left to shed. That didn't stop her from dry-sobbing when she thought of her best friends life slipping away. Finally, the doctor came out. He held a poker face, so she couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Oh, please doctor....please tell me she's ok...." He hung his head slightly. This was the worst part of his job. He hated breaking bad news. The looks on ponies's faces had sometimes driven him to crying along with them. But it wasn't enough to make him leave. He loved saving ponies. He loved helping others, and making sure they lived long enough to enjoy life. But today, he was afraid that he just couldn't do that. "I'm afraid your friend has been badly poisoned by a snake bite. Tests show that the venom has been in her system since yesterday. The fact that she is even alive now is a miracle. There must be something important driving her to fight." Fluttershy trembled. This conversation was going exactly where she didn't want it to go. "I'm afraid that she has been poisoned beyond our help. I've never seen venom like this before. It seems that, if she wants any hope of survival, she'll have to be sent to the hospital in Canterlot. Otherwise, she'll die here." Fluttershy's heart dropped at those words. The odds were all against Dash. Fluttershy couldn't fight the wave of tears that broke through. "P-please, doctor. Y-you have to send her there now.....I can't lose her!" Fluttershy was on the absolute verge of a mental breakdown. Doctor Wingsly bowed his head. He hated to cry in front of others, especially those close to his patients. "We have already arranged for the transfer. A carriage from Canterlot is on it's way now to pick Ms. Rainbow Dash up." He paused, thinking his next words carefully. "I'm not one to spread false hope though, ma'am. The odds are greatly against her. It's a possibility that she could die on the way there." Fluttershy broke. She couldn't even find words anymore, she just looked at the doctor, tears falling like rain. "P-please! Let me ride w-with her.....please!" If Dash were going to die, there was no way Fluttershy was gonna let her be alone. She begged the doctor. "I can have it arranged. If you will follow me, I can let you see her. Though, she is still unconscious." He led the way to the small in-patient room. Closing the door behind him, he left the two alone. Fluttershy stumbled over to the bed, unable to accept the truth. "Please, Dashie. You have to make it. Please! I can't lose you...." Tears streamed down her face as she spoke. There were so many things she wanted to say, but couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. "You're strong, Dashie. Fight this. Please! For me......" She laid her head against Dash's. She sat there for what felt like an eternity. But she didn't mind. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The darkness was beginning to come into perspective again. She was coming back to awareness. The dream pounded in her head, and the sorrow of regret overflowed within her. She still couldn't move, couldn't talk. And now, her breathing was coming in short breaths. The pain was gone. She wanted to cry so badly. Her end was coming, and she knew it. Why had she been so stubborn! Why couldn't she have asked for help when she had the chance. Now, she lay still in some hospital, only able to wait for death. Then, she heard a voice. It was very close to her. Her heart swelled with joy. "You're strong, Dashie. FIght this. Please! For me...." Her voice trailed off, followed by tears. Dash wanted to speak, she wanted to console Fluttershy. "I'm here! I'm fighting! You might not know it, but I'm fighting for you, Fluttershy. Please don't give up hope!" Dash's mind raced. So close, and yet she couldn't touch her. She couldn't take her in her arms and kiss her, like she had wanted to for years. Instead, she was forced to listen to the pain in Fluttershy's voice. And it killed her. Soon, the crying stopped, replaced with strange voices. She couldn't discern them, couldn't understand the words. The shroud was coming back down, blocking her hearing. And once again, the pain returned. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fluttershy followed the crew as they carted Rainbow Dash into the special carriage. She turned to the doctor before stepping in. "Thank you so much. I can never repay you." The doctor smiled at her. "Don't thank me. Nothing makes me happier than to see love so strong. Stay by her side. She needs you now more than ever." With a farewell, he turned to go back to his post, and the carriage took off for Canterlot. Fluttershy wrapped Dash's hoof in hers, and held on tight. She wasn't letting go. Not ever again.