Storm Of Secrets

by Beware The Carpenter


41 - Recovery

Rainbow Dash woke glumly; too tired to move or open her eyes. She felt sets of hooves and paws messing with her, poking at her, fiddling with her wings. Why those perverts; she outta get up and buck them into next week... in about fifteen or twenty minutes; for now, she just wanted to sleep.

............................................................................................................................................................

When Rainbow finally awoke, she was in a cave lit by florescent gemstones. Her neck was sore and bandaged appropriately, along with her right wing and foreleg, but that didn't stop her from groggily rolling out of bed to get a look around. She was surrounded by nine other cots, occupied by six ponies and a diamond dog; who without exception had all been mangled in some way. Even still seeing slightly double, and working with half a brain, she was able to guess she was in some kind of infirmary in a Ranger base; possibly Uthraig. The thought should have been comforting, but alone in such alien surroundings; Rainbow was feeling a distinct lack of comfort.

"Rainbow pony take some rest." said a gravelly voice in one corner of the chamber, Dash turned as fast as she could, (which wasn't fast), to see what she had mistaken for a rock was an elderly diamond dog bending over one of the other patients, "Strain yourself if not careful, reopen injuries, then spend extra days in my care."

"I wasn't going to go far" lied Rainbow, "I just wanted to see outside and find out-"

"Not yet!" grunted the doctor, "Back to bed."

Rainbow obeyed and spent the next several hours staring at the ceiling, as unanswered questions stagnated in her mind; what had happened? Where were Storm and Cadance? Were Shining Armor and Twilight OK? How was Applejack? How was Canterlot reacting to the resignation of the Wonderbolts? When could she get out of here? She couldn't feel her wings, were they permanently damaged? She fell asleep somewhere between the third and fourth questions, during which she dreamed someone was putting a rubber tube down her throat and pouring something warm into her belly. When she woke up she resumed her depressing monotone of questions until it was delightfully interrupted by the sound of Twilight's voice echoing down the passage, answered a moment later by Shining Armor.

"Red and purple ponies visited many times while you slept," remarked her physician as her friends came into view.

Twilight, overcome with emotions at seeing her awake, threw her hooves around Rainbow's belly, giving her a tight squeeze around the middle. "I'm so glad you’re OK" she whispered. Though Rainbow would never admit it afterwards, the hug felt good.

Shining Armor stood at the other side of the bed, refraining from Twilight's outburst of emotion yet no less comforting as he stood protectively as her side, "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," smiled Rainbow weakly. "What happened?"

"Reaper found you. When he and the other pegasi got to the burrow, he was the first one in and found a changeling feeding off you. You lost a lot of blood, but he was able to treat you with the supplies in Storm's burrow and medivac you out; that was about sixty-seven hours ago. Rainbow Dash... Cadance and Storm; wern't in the burrow when Reaper got there, the portgem I had given you was gone and Reaper sensed arcane residue of a recent teleportation spell. Did you...-"

Rainbow nodded, wincing at the pain in her neck, "They're safe. Cadance used the portgem to get herself and Storm out; I was too busy breaking a changeling’s spine to go with them."

Relief visibly affected Shining Armor, as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders; "Thank you."

The words were simple, but Rainbow knew he meant them; but that didn’t prepare her for what came next, "I want to apologize for the way I’ve acted on most of this trip. Twilight can tell you, I haven't been acting myself, after the stress of keeping the shield up. Having had a few days to think has helped me see things in perspective, what I've done... and what I need to do."

“Apology accepted. I’m sorry I lied about the Wonderbolts; so I guess we both have some mistakes to make up for. Hopefully the Rangers won’t hold them against us.”

Shining Armor looked at her quizzically; “And why would you care what the Rangers think of you.”

Rainbow looked at Shining Armor, he knew the answer as well as she did, but they both needed to hear her say it out loud; “I want to join.”

Shining Armor broke into a wide grin, "I'm glad to hear that. You went up against six changelings alone and killed four of them, that's pretty good for someone whose not trained; and your sonicrainboom... you don't have the experience to know where and when to use it, but if you had the right trainer… or partner, you could be a massive help.”

Something about the way Shining Armor said that was very comforting to Rainbow; “I take it I’m not going to die then?”

"Well... you’re not out of the woods yet. But as for your injuries, you're expected to be well enough to travel in about two weeks.”

Two weeks!? As in fourteen days? Fourteen days in a stinking hole looking at the ceiling; “… is it really going to be that long?”

“I’m afraid so; but at least you won’t be alone, Twilight and I aren’t leaving Uthraig without you.”

“Is that because you’re waiting for me, or because you’re hurt too?” she asked indicating his extensive bandages.

Shining Armor looked to the various places where he had failed to maintain Storm’s body, (not that Storm was likely to notice among all the scars he already had); “Both.”

“Am I going to have to spend the whole two weeks in bed?”

“Not if you don’t want to. Your main problem was blood loss and a few minor injuries on your legs and wing; you should be fine to move now, so long as someone stays with you.”

“Then could you take me up to the surface? I’d really like to be able to see the sky again.”

"Hold on. Doctor Healthfang, if Twilight and I both go with her, would Rainbow Dash be able to-"

"No, no, no!" barked Healthfang without even looking up from the patient he was currently inspecting, "Rainbow pony stays in bed!"

"Would fifty bits change your mind?"

"Enjoy your voyage to the surface, rainbow pony." Called Healthfang as his eager paw shot out to receive Shining Armor's payment.

The doctor satisfied; Shining Armor helped Rainbow Dash slide gently to her hooves and was heading to the door when the doctor ran past Dash and faced off with Shining Armor; “No straining her! You big stallion; you stay off and you stay out!”

Shining Armor’s face turned a suspiciously deeper shade of red, “That’s… not what I had in mind.” Healthfang glared at him suspiciously; “Come on; if that’s what I was planning would I be taking my younger sister with us?”

Healthfang shot his glare to Twilight who was blushing furiously; “Some ponies do strange things” he muttered. Shining Armor answered Healthfang’s accusation with ten more bits into his paw, as if this was what he had been waiting for, Healthfang stepped aside to let them pass. “Wait two weeks” he growled, “Then hump all you like.”

Now it was Dash’s turn to blush furiously, but fortunately she didn’t have to say anything as the three blushing ponies left the infirmary. Shining Armor led them up the twisting labyrinth of tunnels behind Twilight, staying beside her each step of the way. The journey was draining, and Dash almost felt like giving up and asking to go back, but after having asked to go to the surface in the first place, there was no way she was going to back down now. Finally the passage opened up to a wide courtyard, easily several acres across, surrounded by earthen walls that stretched about forty feet before surrendering to the cloudless night sky. All around then were campfires dotted with Rangers, market stalls, fountains, mud brick huts and dozens upon dozens of cave openings, leading into the deep recesses of Uthraig.

"Anyone hungry? I'm buying." Shining Armor offered, already leading the mares to one of the many food stalls.

From out of nowhere Pyromite had appeared and landed smoothly on Rainbow's back; croaking his appreciation that she was recovering and asking if it would be alright if he lit her mane on fire to celebrate. Rainbow quickly shooed him off.

After Pyromite left, Rainbow was aware of two vaguely foodish items floating in front of her in Shining Armor’s telekinesis; one was some kind of moss burger, and the other looked like rice wrapped in spinach, “Take your pick” offered Shining Armor. Rainbow hesitated; the burger looked the least unappetizing of the two so she took it, wondered if someone had stomped on it, tried not to think about the strange brown sauce and eventually took a small bite, it was… good.

Rainbow finished the burger quickly, guessing it was the first real food she’s had in however many days were in sixty something hours. By now she was sitting with Twilight and Shining Armor around a fire with a number of other Rangers, predominantly unicorns. At first they had been talking about some recent raids and counter attacks that Rainbow could sort of follow, but then the conversation suddenly turned to something about using things called ley lines to make some magic whatsamajigs to zap the terrormongers. Shining Armor seemed interested in using whatever they were as some kind of weapon, Twilight was enamored with the complexities of the magical mumbo jumbo the other unicorns were babbling and Rainbow Dash had no idea what any of them were talking about. She wanted another burger.

Rainbow mooched a couple bits off Shining Armor, (who barely looked away from the unicorn he was talking to) and started back to the snack bar. A vague thought of asking someone to go with her knocked at her mind but she slammed the door in its face. She was Rainbow Dash; the fastest pegasus in Equestria, who had quit the Wonderbolts because they weren’t cool enough for her. She didn’t need a foalsitter.

Twa-thud!

What was that?

Twa-thud!

It was coming from over there.

Twa-thud! Twa-thud! Twa-thud! The repetitious sound called Rainbow's curious attention to a row of about thirty targets set up along one wall of the courtyard. At first she thought there were seven or eight Rangers practicing their archery, with three or four targets each, but then she realized that only one of them held a bow, and the others just stood watching as one Ranger massacred target after target with lethal bull’s-eyes.

Rainbow watched five more targets receive grizzly new belly buttons. The unicorn firing the arrows seemed so focused, so intense, as he stood rock steady on his hind hooves. He held his bow with his hooves rather than his magic, but before each arrow being cast away, there was a flicker from his horn, and each arrowhead glowed with blue fire as it hit its mark.

Twa-thud! Another arrow; another bull’s-eye.

He was… alright, but all the targets were the same distance off the ground and the same distance apart, Rainbow couldn't help wondering if one of the targets was just a few inches off - Twa-"OW!" Before she knew it Dash had already slid over to the last target in line, and had been reaching one hoof across it to get a grip, so she could lower it, when an unexpected arrow flew through her bandages; pinning her to the target. The arrow hadn't hurt her, but the shock was enough to make her cry as if she had been hit. Dash flared her good wing to and tried to brace another hoof against the target to push herself off the target. Twa-thud! Another arrow appeared on the target, miraculously passing through her feathers and leaving her unharmed but pinning her good wing to the target in an awkward stretch, leaving her stuck, face first, to the target. "Help!" A chorus of chuckles from behind her implied nopony wanted to help her.

Twa-thud! A third arrow struck the target, this one so close to her head she could have sworn it shaved a tuft of her fur off. With the arrow preventing her from turning her head to her right and her wing stretched over the left side of her face, the only directions she could look were up and down; the fact that her heart was pressed directly over the bull’s-eye did nothing to comfort her.

Twa-thudd!! Two arrows struck simultaneously on either side of one of her hind legs, arresting its ability to move.

"Who wants to see three arrows at once?" called a voice from behind her. Dash managed to squeak a protest, but doubted anyone heard her over several eagerly affirmative calls. Dash waited in horrific anticipation for one of the three arrows to stray into her body.

Twa-thuddd. The sound came from about ten feet behind her suggesting something had blocked the arrows. "Knock it off Nexeye!" shouted Shining Armor, from near where the arrows had stopped.

There was a pause and some hoof steps came to approach Shining Armor, before a foreign accent began defending its owner’s actions, "She was in no danger Shining Armor, you know that. She thought it fun to tease me and I merely reciprocated in kind."

“You kept pinning her down after she called for you to stop. That’s assault."

"Then she should not have begun a game she was not prepared to play after the first move went against her."

"This mare saved the lives of Cadance and Storm; show some respect."

"It will not happen again."

Dash felt the arrows around her gripped in telekinesis and wrenched out of the target, allowing her to turn around. "What the hay!!!" Next to Shining Armor stood the stallion Dash assumed to be Nexeye; a slightly older unicorn, with light grey fur and faint vertical stripes insinuating that he was part zebra. On his back, was a magnificently carved longbow and a quiver almost emptied of steel tipped arrows, which hung over a luxurious blue, hooded cloak (that looked suspiciously like it was woven from the fur of an ursa minor), held together by an intricate golden clasp; none of which Dash noticed. "You're wearing a freaking blindfold!!!"

Nexeye cocked his head and grinned at her, revealing spotlessly white teeth. "It seems I am. My apologies if it disturbs you; but do not worry, it does not impede my vision. I've been blind since birth."

"WHAT!?"

Nexeye burst out in hearty laughter, "I jest. I jest. My vision is perfect... when I'm not wearing a blindfold of course."
Dash felt herself sway under her hooves, thankfully Shining Armor's magic steadied her as he continued his face off with Nexeye, "We both know that you can see fine, with or without your blindfold. You only wear that thing to make your archery look harder than it really is."

Some of Dash's blood had the courage to return to her face, but she was still having trouble standing. Shining Armor shot a concerned look at her over his shoulder then turned back to Nexeye, "Get out of here. We'll talk about this later.”

Nexeye turned to leave but before he could meld into the shadows, Shining Armor teleported in front of him, a hoof raised as he growled something Dash guessed she wasn’t supposed to hear; "And just in case you were trying to 'shoot her through the heart' with your little charade, don't bother. Someone else already has a claim on her."

Nexeye paused, dipped his head to Shining Armor and then continued on without another word; Shining Armor watched him go, then teleported back to Dash’s side, who was beginning to feel very queasy now that the adrenaline of being apprehended by half a dozen arrows was beginning to wear off.

"I think I need to get you back to bed."

Rainbow Dash nodded.

............................................................................................................................................................

After the world had stopped spinning, Cadance had found herself and Shining Armor in some kind of heavily guarded dungeon. For a moment she was afraid that something had gone terribly wrong; but after a moment a unit of Royal Guards appeared, scanned them and after Shining Armor mumbled some passwords, they were admitted into what turned out to be Celestia's palace.

That had been three days ago; the first day of worrying whether or not Rainbow Dash was OK had been hard enough, but they soon found out that she wasn't the only one who was missing. Right after they got out of the guard tower, Shining Armor had collapsed from exhaustion, and needed to be carried on a stretcher by several guards up to his room to sleep, but when he woke the next day, one of the first things he asked for was to see Twilight. He wanted to invite her to the wedding in person and... he wanted to see his sister. Since Shining Armor wasn't well enough to make the journey, Cadance had gone alone to Ponyville, but found the library empty except for Owlowiscious and Spike who told her that Twilight had gone into the Everfree Forest with 'the others' after she had disappeared with Shining Armor.

When Cadance told Shining Armor what Twilight had done, he freaked, and would have left right then to go look for her if it hadn't been that he could have barely made it to the train station unassisted, let alone try to track her over dangerous terrain and cover her five day lead. The fact that she had forgotten to ask who 'the others' were didn't help, but eventually they both calmed down.

Twilight was a smart mare and could take care of herself. Assuming she was with Rainbow Dash; then, with how far away Storm's burrow was, (which Shining Armor had recently remembered), it would be at least three or four more days before they could possibly expect any news, and it would be a weeks before they could reasonably begin to worry. Cadance had always been optimistic by nature and was sure that Twilight would be fine, especially if she had her friends with her; therefore she could make up her mind not to worry.

They worried anyway.

Any day now, Spike would send them a message saying Twilight and Rainbow Dash were back and then they could stop not worrying. All she and Shining needed in the meantime was something to do while they waited, something fun that reminded them of life, something like finally preparing for a long overdue wedding.

Preparations were already on their way now and were coming along rapidly; the only thing they were really waiting for was Twilight. After everything Twilight had done to help them as a filly, Cadance and Shining Armor agreed that she was the only suitable choice for the best mare. They would list her as being the best mare; and that way Twilight would have to be OK. In truth, Twilight was the only thing they were still waiting for, before finalizing a date.