//------------------------------// // Tempestuous // Story: Butterflies // by Ghosttown Brony //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash Chapter 10 Danger. The word played over and over in Rainbows head, echoing, dancing around the edges of her consciousness. She tried her best to ignore it but it wasn't just a thought, it was a voice, as though somepony far away were whispering. Danger. You are in danger. The words took a while to process in Dash's sleepy mind, but once they did, she shot up. Rainbow whirled around to find Fluttershy sleeping soundly on the ground. Rainbow wanted to kick herself, she couldn't believe she fell asleep. But last night had drained her of every ounce of energy she had. That last headache was brutal, at one point she thought she might be dying. The pain was unbelievable, by far the worst yet. The agony had struck her blind and deaf, but somewhere in the ocean of pain, she could feel her lover holding her. When Fluttershy's voice finally made it to her ears, it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard. You are in danger. The whispering voice was gone, all was silent. Had she imagined it? It sounded almost familiar, but it was so quiet. Still, the ominous message left a bad taste in her mouth, and her worry was only strengthened when the sound of thunder reached her ears. Fluttershy bolted upright, startled out of her sleep much the same way Rainbow was. Both ponies turned their gaze skyward. The glorious blue sky they'd been graced with the past few days was gone, replaced instead by rolling dark clouds. They weren't too far off, close enough to see the thick curtain of rain pouring from its great mass. A bolt of lightning arced across the sky, the thunder followed only five seconds after. Fluttershy released a small squeal. "Good morning." Rainbow said, trying to sound positive but it fell flat. “Good morning.” She whispered, humoring her. "How are you feeling now?" the shy mare said raising herself to a standing position. "Fine." she said, turning to give the other pony a kiss. She'd almost hoped Fluttershy wouldn't remember the events of the night before, but she knew it was too much to hope for. "That storm’s going to reach us in a couple minutes." The news didn’t seem to bode well with the yellow mare. “Do you want to keep going?” Rainbow asked. Fluttershy stared back to her. “I don’t think we have a choice.” Another bolt of lightning illuminated the sky. Thunder boomed three seconds later. “It’s moving fast. Maybe that means it will pass fast too.” Rainbow’s wings ached from lack of use. She stretched her right and looked sadly to her left. She gingerly tested, lifting her left wing just a little, until a stab of pain shot through her. She folded it back to her side. She looked back to the darkening sky. If she could get up there, she could clear this storm like it was nothing. Ponyville was probably shining right now, with ponies out and about, carrying on with their daily routines. Maybe their friends were getting worried, asking around. It didn’t matter, nopony knew where they were. Just another thing to love about the forest: the unpredictable weather. As they got up, Fluttershy stared at Rainbow as if she were made of glass, threatening to crack at any second. “You ready?” she asked, keeping her voice bold, trying to show she was fine. “Yes.” Fluttershy nodded. They made their way into the tress, leaving the tiny clearing behind. You are in danger. They walked for almost two minutes before a sudden downpour crashed over them. The large droplets came down so fast it stung against her skin. The wind came almost immediately after, washing over them, chilling the ponies to the bone. Rainbow’s right wing shot out, sheltering the other pony from the storm. The rain stung even more on her thin wings, but she held her wing up. “Rainbow, you don’t have to do that.” Fluttershy said, her voice just loud enough to be heard over the pattering of the water on everything it touched. “I’m a weather pony; I deal with stuff like this all the time.” She said, with a touch of her old brashness. A shiver passed through her. Maybe if she kept herself cold, the migraines would slow down. It was a lot to hope for, but the rain held such an oppressive atmosphere, she had to think positive. Despite what she said earlier, there wasn’t a single weather pony in all of Equestria cruel enough to force this misery upon a town. Rainbow looked back to the sky, now completely grey. She shivered again and brought herself closer to Fluttershy to try and find a bit of warmth, but even with her makeshift umbrella she was just as cold. The soil turned to mud and every once in a while one of the mares would get stuck. The first few times it made them giggle but it soon became more of a nuisance than entertainment. The smell of wet earth wafted into the nose of the blue pegasus. It wasn’t very often she was on the ground in a storm, most of the time she was right next to the action, where all she could smell was ozone. Being at the mercy of the weather made her very uncomfortable, this was something she was supposed to be able to control, and she could if she could only spread her wings. Without the sun, she could only guess how long they were walking; it could have been a whole day for all she knew. The rain and wind eventually slowed, but they didn’t cease, and the lightning and thunder still commanded their attention every couple of minutes. “I hope my animals are doing alright.” Fluttershy said suddenly. “They can fend for themselves for a little while, but I’ve never left them for this long.” “I’m sure one of the girls can take care of them for a bit.” Rainbow responded trying to keep the yellow mares spirit up. “You know, after the whole “Cutie mark crisis” I have a lot more respect for what you do.” Taking care of those animals for a day was one of the most frustrating tasks Dash ever had to perform. “You weren’t doing too badly.” Fluttershy said kindly. “With a bit of practice it gets easier.” “They were going to eat me!” She shouted playfully. “Oh they were just upset.” Rainbow rolled her eyes with a smile. Her mane had matted and fallen in front of her eyes, she shook her head. Thunder clapped through the air. The droplets of rain wound their way through her feathers, sliding into her cut. She winced at the sting, but she gradually got used to it. “How much further until we reach town?” Rainbow asked. “It’s hard to tell. If we don’t stop except to sleep, maybe two days.” “What do you wanna do when we get back?” “Get you to a hospital.” She answered, nuzzling her head into Rainbows neck. “Do you think they’ll let us share a room?” She said nuzzling back “Even if they don’t, I’m not leaving that hospital without you.” Rainbow was touched by her words. The affectionate side of the shy mare continued to surprise her. “I hope we aren’t grounded for too long. I really want to fly with you.” “But we used to fly together all the time.” Fluttershy said with a confused look. “Yeah but now we’ll be flying together. We’ve never flown together as a couple.” Fluttershy blushed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Rainbow froze. “What’s wrong?” The kind pegasus asked worriedly. “It’s nothing. Just it seems like whenever we get too close, bad stuff starts to happen.” She continued walking. “I guess I was just preparing myself for the worst.” It was in her head to be on edge, to never let her guard drop. But as the day wore on, their seemed to be a surprising lack of bad stuff. The Timberwolves that had supposedly stalked them showed no trace of themselves, and for whatever reason, Dash hadn’t gotten a single migraine. The rain poured on and lightning broke the sky, but the two mares basked in the comfort of each other, nearly oblivious to the dreadful weather. Rainbow’s attempt to shelter the other pegasus eventually failed, the rain collected and fell off her outstretched wing so she regretfully let it fold back in, but Fluttershy’s smile never dipped. They took a few small breaks. They didn’t bother trying to shelter themselves, the trees couldn’t offer such a comfort, and after hours of walking with soaked coats, it became easy to ignore the pattering water on the backs. They ate some purple-ish berries the yellow mare had called Callicarpas and deemed them safe. They were very tart, but it was a better alternative than being hungry in Rainbow’s opinion. Still, she longed for something sweet from the bakery. The forest was still monotonous, the endless expanses of tree’s and green. But again, she felt like she had nothing to complain about. They talked and laughed and to Dash it felt just like she’d always dreamed. The two sat by a tree, resting their sore legs in the mid afternoon. “How do you think our friends will feel about us being together?” Fluttershy asked resting her head on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Why do you ask?” Rainbow said “I’m just worried that they might not approve.” “The girls have always been supportive, I can’t imagine them disapproving of us. Besides, I think Rarity sort of suspected how I felt about you. That mare can read ponies like a book. And,” she turned her head to look at her lover. “If they didn’t approve, would you really care how they felt.” Dash could see Fluttershy imagining the scene in her head. “No, I wouldn’t. I just hope it doesn’t change anything with all of us.” “Me too.” “I love you, Dashie.” “Love you too.” Rainbow whispered. She leaned to give her a small kiss on the nose, when the wind picked up. But despite the increase in wind Rainbow didn’t feel any colder. In fact she felt herself getting warmer. Her eyes widened, and Fluttershy sucked in a gasp. But she wasn’t looking at Rainbow, she was looking behind Rainbow. She could feel her cut getting hotter as she turned. Ten feet away, tucked just behind the brush were a pair of glowing green lights. And another. And another. Images of wood and blood flew into Dash`s mind, her dream had suddenly become very real. You are in Danger. In the noise of the storm the beasts had snuck up on them. Rainbow stared in horror and anger at the hoof prints they had blatantly left in the muddy soil. They had been tracked. The athlete’s heart skipped a beat. Her muscles tensed. The noise of wooden joints creaking, sharp teeth snapping, and ceaseless growling. Green, glowing eyes continued to appear, there had to be dozens. Saliva dripped from their open mouths. This couldn’t be happening, it was too surreal. She turned back to see the terrified face of Fluttershy. She couldn`t let her nightmare come to fruition. “GO!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. The yellow pegasus turned and bolted away, Rainbow followed after her. The growls behind them turned to snarls and Dash could hear the sound of a dozen wooden paws following them. She ran alongside the other pegasus, but she felt the spikes in her head. She grunted trying to power through the pain, but it intensified just as before. Everything felt like it was burning, her skull was cracking, and her eyes were being clawed at. Fluttershy breathed beside her, it was a welcome noise, but it soon began to fade. She could no longer hear her pursuers, but instead the high pitched whine. The storm clouds had blotted out the sun, the forest was nigh impossible to navigate. Yet they did, the two pegasi darted around the trees, leaped over the brush. Fluttershy’s soaked mane and tail flew behind her. Rainbow was proud, she didn’t have to slow down at all for the yellow mare, she was keeping up fine, but so were the wolves. Dash knew she had to think, she had to do something, but there was nothing she could do. Her head was no longer a part of her body, instead just an instrument of torture. You are in danger. The words rang in her head, alongside the piercing whining. Her vision blinked in and out, returning and fading, she fought harder than ever before. Fluttershy was beside her, and then she was in front of her. Lightning flashed, but not even the booming thunder could be heard, only the ringing. She felt like she was going to collapse. It took all Rainbow had just to tell her legs not to stop. She felt herself hit a tree, but outside pain was abstract, it didn’t exist, it couldn’t even compare with the agony in her head. She kept running. She felt the vibrations of her legs striking the mud and the pain in her skull, that was all there was. “Fluttershy!” she yelled before her vision failed her completely. Her legs didn’t stop. After nearly a minute it returned, a welcome sign that the migraine was passing. But her returning vision heralded no comfort. “No.” She whispered Fluttershy was nowhere to be found, the forest was dark and empty, lightning and thunder struck frequently. “No!” she choked out There was no yellow mare, beside her, and no Timberwolves behind her. “FLUTTERSHY!”