//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Encounters // Story: A Rainbow at Dawn. // by kioraid //------------------------------// A calm night air was interrupted as a flash of colors tore through the cloud in a jagged formation. Rainbow Dash was at the front of the dispersion. Why?! Why did you do that bucking idiot?! Rainbow straightened into a straight line angling upwards. Tears worked their way into her eyes. Closing them, she flew faster until the air was closing in around her. It can't catch me if I just speed up! Tears started to stream from Rainbow's closed eyes as she gained speed and altitude. The air was closing tightly around her as she pushed herself to go faster. With a final effort the air's grip on her suddenly released. Rainbow felt herself tearing away from the thing she felt trapped by. A large shock wave shook the air behind rings of rainbow colors. Rainbow tried to scream, but not a sound came out. I hate myself. I hate.... hate..... hate....... so much. Suddenly Rainbow started to hear herself crying. Slowly the sobs grew louder until another noise broke through. Air started swishing around Rainbow's ears. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself high above the clouds, and starting to come closer to them. Her tear drops flew around her, shinning in the moon's light. Twilight...augh! I can't even talk to her right now. What would I even say to her? Hey, I think I like you so I made out with Luna?! But she was you, but not you at the same time. Argh, why is this so hard. Wait, why am I thinking like this in the first place? I don’t even like well... anypony. Rainbow slowly fell into a complete free fall. As she fell her sobbing slowly stopped as her eyes flowed to look at her surroundings. Clouds soon covered her body slowly dampening her coat and mane. It...it kinda feels good...falling like this. The ground below slowly coming into view through the bottom of the clouds jolted her out of her reverie. Okay, I really need to start flying now. Rainbow moved her wings to level out but they were caught in the rushing wind. This ‘correction’ causing her to spin out of control. Come on! I have flown out of free fall countless times! Why can't I get my balance?!? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Angel, I'm going to the store do you want anything?" A butter colored pegasus with a light pink mane covering one eye, smiled towards a bunny. The bunny jumped and snatched the bag from around her back, and threw it to the ground. "No Angel I'm not staying home. I need to get some groceries." Angel kicked the pegasus three times, and pointed upwards. "Oh, yes the sky is pretty today. Okay, I will see you when I get back." Angel pulled on the mare's tail to no avail. Angel sat and seemed to ponder until he jumped onto the mare's back. "Angel, what are you do-" Before she could finish her sentence Angel grabbed her head and pointed it towards a rainbow streak in the sky. "Oh, that must be Rainbow Dash... Flying straight down." Angel seemed to pull a pair of binoculars out of nowhere, and put it over the pegasus' eyes. "That sure is an awkward flying position....Mostly because that isn't a flying position!" Angel pointed at Rainbow with a stern look on his face. "Oh what do we do? Come on Fluttershy, think of something!" Fluttershy's legs started to shake, and she fell to the ground. Tears started to flow from her eyes. Angel looked at Fluttershy and backhanded her. She looked at the bunny as he kicked at her wings. Her wings seemed to bolt to her sides as she covered her face with her hooves. "No, I can't do that! I will never make it!" Angel pushed Fluttershy's hooves from her face. A look of pure exasperation that ate away at Fluttershy’s fear. "You’re right Angel, I have to try." Fluttershy shakily stood up, and her wings shot from her sides like daggers. She closed her eyes and gulped, "Wish me luck." As soon as Fluttershy opened her eyes, she shot off into the night sky leaving a pink trail behind her. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash felt her speed increasing as she was falling. She kept flailing her wings, but they couldn't catch the wind. She looked back to the clouds, shrinking away in the distance as she fell. No! I can't do anything! Her speed increasing at an alarming rate, she plummeted toward the ground, the wind buffeting her around like a leaf in a gale, struggling to think as she tried again and again to control herself. Quickly she noticed a pink streak in the air heading towards her. What the... what is that? Oh no, it's heading straight towards me! Rainbow felt her wings finally have enough strength to catch some of the air slowing her down little by little. As quickly as the strength came, it left. Her wings went limp at her sides and she started to gain speed again. What? Is that...Flu- Rainbow's eyes opened almost as wide as they could as she saw at the tip of the streak was her butter colored friend. "Flu- Fluttershy slow down!" She...she's not slowing down! Rainbow closed her eyes, but nothing happened. She peeked one eye open to see Fluttershy falling next to her. "Really?...Really!" Fluttershy grabbed onto Rainbow. "Oh, Rainbow it was you falling I was so scared andthenangelhitmeandandand-." "Fluttershy! I don't mean to ruin you rant or anything, but we are still falling. Pretty fast too." Rainbow felt Fluttershy's grip suddenly get tighter, and her heart seemed to skip a beat. "Rainbow fly!" "Uhhhh... I can't." "WHAT?!" Rainbow looked below them, the ground now encompassing her entire view. Panic slowly setting in as she turned to her friend. "Uh Fluttershy? I suggest you start flapping those or we'll die... like really quickly." A sudden jolt went through Rainbow's body at a sudden slow in her inertia. "Oh, no Rainbow! I'mnotagoodflyerandandandohno!" Rainbow felt the feeling of falling evolve into flying. "Fluttershy you're doing it! You’re flying!" "Huh, what? I- I am?" Rainbow looked at Fluttershy who had her eyes tightly closed. As soon she opened her eyes they plummeted about five feet until Fluttershy caught wind under her wings again. "Fluttershy, control yourself!" "Bu- but, but we're going to fall!" "Not if you actually fly." THUD. Fluttershy's vision was hazed as she looked around. Trees towered over her and she had a cushion of impacted dirt beneath her. "Rainbow?" Fluttershy slowly stood up but fell back down through an intense pain in her front right leg. "Flu-tt-shy." Fluttershy's ears perked at the sound. She looked around the area, but couldn't find her friend. "Rainbow! Rainbow where are you?" She waited for a moment but nopony answered. She started to limp over to where she thought the noise originated. She limped almost fifteen feet from where she had crashed when she immediately fell back on her haunches. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "R-Rainbow?" Blood covered cyan feathers were scattered across that ground. Rainbow's body was curled around a tree's base with blood dripping from her mouth. Tears fell to the ground as she started to crawl closer to her friend. A shaky whisper was all she could manage. "Rainbow can you hear me?" Fluttershy finally reached her friend's body. She was able turn Rainbow on her back. Fluttershy felt her heart nearly jump out of her when she saw Rainbow had her eyes open with a trail of blood running from a cut on her forehead. Rainbow’s eyes looked down as if she was trying to see something. Fluttershy traced were Rainbow was looking. Rainbow's hooves covered a portion of her mid side torso. Everything in Fluttershy's mind went against what she felt her hoof moving towards. As Fluttershy carefully moved one of Rainbow's hoofs away, shivers went down her spine. A small piece of branch had impaled Rainbow and had gone through both sides of the torso. "Hold on Rainbow we are not so far from my cottage. First we will get there then I will call the doctor." Rainbow couldn't even move her head in acknowledgement, but her eyes looked up at Fluttershy as her vision dimmed until her eyes closed and darkness ensued. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time seemed to drag on as Twilight made the slow walk back to her home. As she approached the door it swung open with Spike standing in the doorway grinning. "So, how did it go?" Twilight walked inside barely even acknowledging the dragon greeting her. “How did what go?" "Oh come on you were out for over an hour and a half. Something had to have held you up." Spike closed the door behind her and walked over to where Twilight had just laid herself on the couch. "Spike, the reason I was so late getting back is because Rainbow and Luna are idiots." "And however did you come up with that assumption?" Twilight threw her head down in exhaustion. "Trust me, It isn't an assumption." Spike started up the staircase. "Okay don't tell me, I don't care. I'm going to bed, there is some food in the kitchen if you're hungry." Twilight closed her eyes. "Mhmm" As time passed Twilight felt herself going in and out of sleep but she couldn't shake the feeling of unrest. She peeked one eye open and looked over to the kitchen. Maybe I am hungry. As Twilight started to drag herself away from the couch her hoof hit something unfamiliar and soon her face hit the floor. "Oww!" Twilight looked over to what she had slipped on discovering a book lying on the floor. What? I don't remember owning this book. As she picked it up realization flowed seamlessly into her mind. Oh, this is Luna's 'novel'. What is in this anyways? Twilight flipped the book over to its back and glanced at the summary. "A collaboration of short stories written by the fans of the popular shows, Filly Titans, Powerpuff Foals , My Little Equestrian Girls, and much more... That, truly sounds awful." Twilight laid the book down on the couch and walked over to the kitchen. On the table was a simple dandelion sandwich. Twilight used her horn to put the sandwich on a plate and levitated it towards her new found spot on the couch. A yawn escaped her as she turned off the light to the kitchen and sat next to her meal and Luna's book. "I wonder what's the big deal with this boo- err I mean novel, anyways?" Twilight opened the book and turned to "My Little Equestrian Girls" section. "Well I've never heard of this before so it can't be to scaring." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy raced from one side of her house to the other carrying gauze, washcloths, and bottles of medicine, transporting them to the bedside of Rainbow Dash. "There. I have gotten materials to suppress the bleeding until the doctor gets here. Don't worry Rainbow, Nurse Fluttershy is here!" Rainbow laid on the bed in the same curled position that Fluttershy first found her in. Okay, Fluttershy just remember what Nurse Redheart said to do. Suppress the bleeding. Fluttershy started to move Rainbow's hoof away from the injury. Rainbow's body shook violently as she screamed in pain. "Oh, I'm so sorry Rainbow! Bu- but I need to help you!" Fluttershy pinned Rainbows arm to the bed with her hind legs as she got an anti-bacterial gel to put around the broken branch. "I'msorryI’msorryI’msosorry" Three knocks echoed through the air. Oh, that must be the doctor! Thank Celestia. "One second." Pinkie Pie burst through the door, confetti seemed to appear from nowhere. "One! Hiya Flutters." Pinkie bounced right over to Fluttershy and hugged her. Fluttershy still bent over Rainbow looked at Pinkie, whose eyes were closed while in the embrace. "Uhhh, hello?" Pinkie opened her eye and her smile slowly started to fade. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow then Pinkie. "Um, this isn't what it looks like?" Pinkie stepped back a few steps. "Well it looks like Rainbow had an emotional breakdown while flying which made her fall. While falling you tried to help, which ended with you both crashing and Rainbow being impaled, and now you're trying to help as much as you can before the doctor comes." Fluttershy had a completely blank expression on her face. Pinkie put her hoof on her chin while resting her foreleg on her other hoof. "But since you said that it isn't what it looks like... Oh. My. Golly. Gosh. You stabbed Rainbow Dash! I always knew there was something dark under your peaceful, and slightly attractive eyes! Oh no! Now I'm next!" Pinkie fell on the floor and started to bawl. Fluttershy was now sitting down next to Pinkie. "Wha- what no I-I-I." Fluttershy fell to the ground and started to bawl. "I'm so confused!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight sat on the floor next to her couch, with her nose almost buried in a book. The candles around her were now almost non-existent. Her magic quickly flipped to the next page in minute intervals. "Wait- What?" She lifted the book and turned through the pages. "Where is the rest of the novel!" She discovered a small amount of text. "Continued in the next volume? What? I need to know if Faith Summers and Roxy Dodgers are going to kiss!" Twilight closed the 'novel' and looked back up. "I'm going to have to ask Luna for the next volume." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A pure white pony with a pink mane made her way towards Fluttershy's cottage. As she approached the cottage she knocked three times. "Hello, Ms. Fluttershy? I'm nurse Redheart." She waited for a minute before she heard something really interesting. She pressed her ear against the door. Is someone crying in there? Nurse Redheart opened the door to see two ponies laying on the floor crying in fetal positions. "Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, what's wrong!" Pinkie immediately sat up. "Fluttershy stabbed Rainbow Dash!" Nurse Redheart looked Between Fluttershy and Rainbow who was still on the bed. "Uhhhh, no. She didn't." "How do you know?" "She stopped by the hospital and explained everything to the doctor before we could send someone over here." Nurse Redheart walked to the bedside and started to pull medical equipment out of her bag. "She didn't mention it was Rainbow Dash though, I swear this pony comes in almost every time we send her out with broken wings or something like that. Why in the world does her insurance company keep her? She must be rich or something." Fluttershy looked towards Nurse Redheart. "Are you going to hurt her?" "No, I just gave her a shot that will keep her asleep for hours." She tapped on Rainbow's head. "It's happy dreams from here on out." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cloudiseum was filled to the brim as the Wonderbolts flew through the air. Spitfire gave a wink to Rainbow Dash as they flew past her seat. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Rainbow's eyes darted back and forth, following the performers actions. When the show was finished and Rainbow started to head home, a pegasus stopped her. Rainbow looked up, recognising it as Spitfire. "Why don't you meet us in the backroom? We would love to know about the sonic rainboom." Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise, her wings fidgeting in excitement as she struggled to come up with a reply that wasn’t incoherent squealing. "Yeah, sure!" Rainbow followed closely behind Spitfire until she got a tap on the shoulder. As she turned around she gasped, Luna smiled at her with her mane flowing majestically in the wind. "Hi, Dash."