//------------------------------// // Chapter 40 - Record // Story: Trixie's Forest Retreat // by crowscrowcrow //------------------------------// “Three hundred forty-eight... I was so close!” Rainbow Dash had bounced the ball up in the air for what had to be a thousand times that day. She was going to make it happen! That record was as good as hers, and with it the sweet satisfaction of getting to see Nurse Redheart’s face when she got back to the hospital. Of course Pinkie Pie had ruined both of her attempts. Even if she had not meant to it still left Rainbow Dash to start from the beginning yet again. “As if that stupid dragon did not waste enough of my time already, not to mention how long it took to get there.” Rainbow Dash complained while she looked up at the sky. It was still day but there could not be much more than an hour of daylight left. It would be plain impossible to keep control of the ball in the dark, which meant Rainbow Dash would not be allowed to visit Trixie. “I’m sorry… it’s my fault.” Fluttershy looked down at the ground, she felt as though she had done nothing but slow the group down while they were on the mountain. Something that Rainbow Dash had been impatiently pointing out every step of the way. After saying their goodbye's, the group split up, leaving just Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash in front of the library. Their plan was to go back and relieve Spike of animal duty. Unfortunately for Rainbow, it was just one more thing between her and her next attempt at the record. Rainbow Dash groaned while she few a circle in impatience. “Yeah I know, but hey!” She landed besides Fluttershy. “You redeemed yourself at the end there. That was awesome! I didn’t know you had it in you!” Rainbow Dash reached her hooves around Fluttershy and hugged her tightly. A few seconds passed before Rainbow's brain caught up with her actions. She hastily put some distance between them and gave Fluttershy a slightly too hard pat on the head like normal. Fluttershy nearly lost balance from the complementary pat and stumbled forward, blushing while she scraped the dirt with her hoof. “I-it was not that special… I’m glad you think so though, I mean you can think so if you want but uhm Oh.” “Oh come on! As if standing up to a, and I quote, huge, gigantic, terrifying, enormous, teeth-gnashing, sharp-scale having, horn-wearing, smoke-snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown-up dragon! could be anything but AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash leaped up into an aerial loop for effect. Kicking at the dirt while she listened, Fluttershy blushed deeply. She kept her eyes turned down while she took a deep breath. “B-but uhm… you… I just…” Fluttershy struggled with her words until she abandoned the train of thought. ”I’m glad you aren’t mad anymore.” “Mad? Oh that, don’t worry about it. Like I said, totally redeemed yourself. Now where is Spike at, I bet Angel has a saddle on him by now.” “…Not what it was about…” Fluttershy mumbled under her breath. “What was that Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash said while she looked into the second floor window of the library, smirking at the mayhem. Fluttershy startled. “Oh I Uhm said, so what was the count? You know, for the record?” “Something like three hundred fifty, why?” It puzzled Rainbow Dash that Fluttershy had to ask. She had been harping on about the record challenge just a minute ago. And just five minutes ago Applejack had called Twilight over when she was at three hundred forty-five, with five left to go. “Well uh. It’s just… This morning? When I came to warn you about the smoke. Pinkie Pie made you lose count right? But… you were at three hundred fifty-five before you stopped to talk to Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash looked down at Fluttershy. “I was? Ugh So then I wasted all this time just now bouncing a ball for nothing?” It took a moment before the full implication sunk in. “Wait! I WAS!” Rainbow Dash shot away from the window and into a victory lap around Fluttershy. “Oh Yeah! I am AWESOME! Got it on my first try! Yes!” Fluttershy smiled while giving a nod. “You definitely did Rainbow Dash. I’m sure Pinkie Pie will back you up too. So uhm, shall we get these little guys home? It’s getting awfully late.” Hovering in front of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash waved her hooves excitedly. “No no this is perfect! I have a much better idea. Hang on!” She darted back up to the window and shouted through it. “Hey Spike! Change of plans, you are back on duty for a while!” An exasperated cry came from inside the library. “Oh come on!” However, Rainbow Dash paid it no mind. She swooped down and pulled Fluttershy off the ground by her hooves. “Let’s go see Trixie! I wonder how she’s doing. I bet she’s bored stiff by now hah.” “Eep!” It took Fluttershy a second to get over the surprise when she was yanked up all of a sudden. However, she smiled widely once she understood the idea. “Oh yes, I am sure Trixie will like that. Though I doubt that she was bored, she probably slept all day. Remember, she is pretty weak right now and we’ll probably be waking her up. So please do be careful.” “Awesome, so you don’t mind if we put off moving the animals?” “Spike did such a good job today I’m sure my little animal friends won’t mind staying for a little while longer. Uhm, you did say she already saw you right? You are sure we won’t get a repeat of last time?” “Trust me, I got it all under control. Trixie was actually really happy to see me, believe it or not. I thought for sure she would freak out, but actually it was just Nurse Redheart that did.” Rainbow Dash laughed. Fluttershy smiled. “That’s great Rainbow, I guess you won’t need to hide this time. Are you okay though? You seem uhm, well it’s just, really excited about this? Did something happen?” “Yeah! But uhm.... actually. I guess it’s just. Oh never mind we’re wasting time! ” Rainbow Dash brushed the topic off then led the way towards the Ponyville hospital with Fluttershy in tow, just barely managing to contain her excitement enough to keep her pace in line with Fluttershy’s. “You actually did it!?” Nurse Redheart shouted, staring at Rainbow Dash. She looked towards Fluttershy expectantly, but she found her nodding. “But, but.” She stammered dumbfounded with the news. Rainbow Dash grinned from ear to ear as she watched the look on Nurse Redheart’s face “Yep! Of course I did, I’m awesome! And I got Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie to prove it. As if there’s any need for that Hah.” She pointed a hoof towards the stairs. “So! Same room as before right?” Without waiting for the answer Rainbow Dash flew up the stairs. Behind her she could hear both Fluttershy and Nurse Redheart follow her. “Finally!” Rainbow Dash landed in front of the door to Trixie’s room. Okay Hm so what do I do now? Barge in and yell to wake her up? Sneak in and see if I can help with any more nightmares? What if she’s already awake? Oh forget it. She opened the door and trotted inside with a smile. “Hey Trixie! Guess who just set a new Equestrian rec-Huh?” Rainbow Dash stared at the empty bed, then made her way back out to check the room number again. “Three hundred and one, yeah this is it. So…” At that moment Rainbow Dash heard the two sets of hooves reach the top of the staircase and turned to look at Nurse Redheart as she finished her question. “…Where is Trixie?” Nurse Redheart raised a brow with the odd question. “What do you mean where is Trixie? She’s in her room where she should have been in the first place.” Rainbow Dash blinked, she was not sure what that was supposed to mean. If Trixie was in her room, but this room was empty. Then Rainbow Dash could only imagine that meant Redheart had moved Trixie before she got back. “What, so is this you plan B? I’m allowed in this room now, but Trixie’s room is a different one now? That’s not going to fly Redheart!” “Rainbow Dash, first of all this is a hospital. You keep shouting and I will ban you from more than just a room.” Nurse Redheart said sharply, giving Rainbow Dash a stern stare. “Second, that is still Trixie’s room, if she isn’t there maybe she is powdering her nose.” “Powdering her nose? What? That makes no sense, why would she be doing that? Does her nose have a rash? It looked fine this morning.” Rainbow Dash stared at Nurse Redheart in confusion. “Heck I know she did not bring anything so where would she even get powder?” Nurse Redheart blinked with the barrage of stupid questions, just when she had finally gotten the last of the Black Smoke Syndrome Patients out the door. She scrunched her eyes and brought a hoof up to the bridge of her nose. “Ugh, Fluttershy, if you please?” “M-me?” Fluttershy meeped quietly, but she was more than eager to do something for Nurse Redheart, wishing to mend the relationship with her. Still, she was not thrilled with having to explain a euphemism to Rainbow Dash. “U-uhm Rainbow? It’s uh… code, yes code. You know, like in cloudball? The coach would not tell you the play directly, but he’d tell you something unrelated that meant a play?” “Yes? What’s that got to do with anything though? We’re not playing a game here, why bother with codes. It was a waste of time back then too, learning new codes every weak for that paranoid coach.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes just recalling the two hour strategy meetings, if she’d spend half that time on homework… Fluttershy nudged Rainbow Dash to get her attention back. It was easy to recognize when she was losing the mare’s attention, giving a smile when the magenta eyes settled back on her. “Right, well it means she’s gone to water the flowers.” “To water the flowers?” Rainbow Dash raised a brow. “Yes.” Fluttershy looked a bit uncomfortable. Shrugging her shoulders, Rainbow Dash started to make her way towards the stairs. “Well, you are right, those two are totally unrelated. Weird, I didn’t know she even liked flowers, let’s go find her then!” Redheart sighed. “She is not actually… you know what forget it, it is the same location anyway.”