Irreplaceable

by La Barata

Chapter 2 - Flight

~Three Weeks Later~
Through the darkness of the Everfree Forest, around trees, through the dense woods, through the darkness, with the wind at their backs and sheer terror, like the grim spectre of death, nipping at their heels the two foals fled.

Needless to say, they were out of their minds with fear. Brigadier and Sapphire Glory, not more than 15 years between them, dearly wished that they’d stayed home tonight. Brigadier, his usual bluster and bravado nowhere to be seen, looked back at his best friend, mere steps behind him. Her normally perfect golden mane was completely askew, tangled with leaves and twigs, and her cyan coat was splattered with mud. Sapphire met his gaze, their mutual terror plainly visible in her eyes.
“I- I’m not s-sure how mu-much longer...” She panted, completely exhausted. Swallowing hard, Brigadier swallowed hard, willing his usual fearlessness to return. Putting on a brave face, he called back to her.
“Don’t worry, Saph, It can’t be that much farther! We’re almost home!”

It was at that moment that she suddenly dropped, falling flat on her face. Skidding, Brigadier wheeled around and ran to her side.
“I’m stuck!” she cried, tears in her eyes. In the darkness, she had strayed too close to a large pile of rocks, and her hoof had become jammed.
“Okay, hold on, just hold on!” he said, mind racing. The rocks she had stuck under were unstable; If he moved them to get her out, they’d fall, trapping her completely. Unless...
“Alright. I’m going to move the rock. The SECOND you can move, get away from the pile, got it?”
“But, th-”
“Look, Saph. You’ve gotta trust me here. I’m gonna get you out, but then you have to RUN. Promise me that no matter what, once you get out, you’ll run. Run for home. Okay?” She nodded.
“Okay. I promise.”
Bracing his back against the pile, Brigadier pushed. He pushed as hard as he had ever pushed anything in his entire life. His exhausted limbs cried out in protest, but still he pushed. As he strained, the rocks began to shift and rumble, bits of stone and pebbles dropping down. As soon as Sapphire realized what was happening, her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest, but a single look from her best friend silenced her.
“It’s my fault you’re out here... And I’ll be damned if you’re not gonna make it back, with or without me!”. With one final grunt of exertion, the rock shifted.Pulling herself out of the way, Sapphire could only watch in horror as the pile of stone and dirt and wood crashed down around her friend, burying him up to his chest in rubble.
“Ngh... GO. YOU PROMISED. JUST GO!”
With one final glance back at her best friend, a trickle of blood running down his face, Staining the edges of his bluegold mane and the gray of his face with a deep red, Sapphire Glory ran. She ran like she had never run before. When she had run earlier, she was only running for herself. Now, she was running for the both of them. Oh, why had she dragged him out here with her? True, it had started as a fun little adventure, just the two of them out there in the darkness of the great and mysterious Everfree Forest. It was even sorta romantic, she confessed to herself. But then, the weather had turned, and they had run to a cave, seeking shelter...
Sighting a light in the distance, she steeled herself for one last burst of speed. Please, PLEASE let this be it...

“Thanks for letting me stay, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said as she finished towelling herself dry. “I guess I overdid it a bit with the storm, huh?” The yellow pegasus she was addressing nodded, uneasy. Fluttershy had never been the bravest of ponies at the best of times, and thunder and lightning always put her even more on edge than usual.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say- EEP!” Fluttershy started, a particularly loud crack of thunder echoing across the night.
“Okay, maybe you overdid it a teensy bit...” Dash clopped over to the window, shaking her head at the tempest raging outside.
“I hope everyone got inside safely. That’s a NASTY one. Heh, sometimes I impress even myself”.
Dash’s self congratulations would have to wait, as it was at that moment that the door to Fluttershy’s cottage flung open with a resounding bang. Sapphire Glory stood in the doorway, tears in her eyes, soaked to the skin and completely out of breath. Immediately forgetting her own fear, Fluttershy bundled her inside and wrapped her in a blanket.
“Oh, you poor little thing! Are you alright? What happened?” Sapphire choked back sobs as she tried to answer.
“I-in the forest, it’s Brig, he’s stuck, we were running, and I got stuck and he moved the rocks and they fell on him and he got stuck and he told me to run and I left and it’s all my fault and-”
“Hush, dear, it’s going to be all right.” Fluttershy hugged her reassuringly. “We’re going to find him, isn’t that right, Rainbow Dash?” All thoughts of a warm bed were now completely gone from the blue pegasus’s mind. Ready for action, she prepared herself to brave the storm yet again.
“Okay, kid, if I’m gonna find him, I need to know which way you came”. Sapphire, still fighting against tears, tried several times to start a sentence, but broke down and cried, rendering everything she said unintelligible. “Just point to which direction. Can you do that much?”. She nodded, and raised a hoof, pointing the way into the Everfree Forest.
“Right, that’s all I need to know. Be back with your buddy in 10 seconds flat!” As she ran for the door, Fluttershy stopped her.
“Wait! It’s too dangerous, we need to go find the others first! You can’t just head off alone!”. Dash shook her head.
“There’s no time! We don’t know what’s going on, where he is, or what condition he’s in. If I don’t go right now, there’s no telling what could happen to the little guy”. Spreading her wings, Rainbow Dash launched herself out the door, into the storm.
“Don’t worry, little one. Rainbow’ll find him. She’s the best flier in Equestria!” Fluttershy cooed, reassuring the little filly, but her words fell on deaf ears. The night’s events had taken their toll, and Sapphire Glory had finally slipped into unconsciousness.
It was half an hour later that Rainbow Dash returned to Fluttershy’s cottage. Covered in mud, hooves scuffed and raw, she carried the limp form of Brigadier on her back. Fluttershy gasped.
“Is he...?”
Hurriedly, she lifted him from her friend’s back and, laying him on the couch, began to clean his cuts and scrapes..
“Nah, he’s fine” Dash assured her. “Nothing’s broken, he’s only a bit scraped in spots”. She shook her head. “It’s amazing. I found him easy enough, she left a path that a blind pony could follow. I got there, and here he is, buried under a pile o’ rocks at least twice his size. I could barely move them to get him out. From what the little one told us, he’d have had to roll one aside himself so that she could get out.” Fluttershy stroked his brow gently.
“Some say that, in extreme circumstances, ponies can do incredible things. There are stories of mothers lifting fallen trees off their children, and I guess, in this case, moving rocks”.

Satisfied that the young ones were taken care of for the night, Rainbow Dash dried herself off for the second time that night and, exhausted after the night’s excitement, headed off to bed. The next morning, she awoke to find Nurse Hart in the living room.
“I’m happy to say, miss Fluttershy” she was saying, “That aside from a couple bumps, bruises and scrapes, they have a clean bill of health from me. I’ve called their parents, they should be here shortly”. Noticing Dash, Fluttershy ran over to her, the normally quiet pegasus alight with excitement.
“Dash! Oh, thank goodness you’re awake!” Taken aback, Dash put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.
“Whoa, calm down! What’s up?” Still barely able to contain herself, Fluttershy had to take several deep breaths before she could speak.
“Oh, Dash, you need to hear this! They’re awake, and- oh, dear! Here, just listen. Brigadier, Sapphire, tell Rainbow Dash what you told me!” The foals looked at one another, before Brigadier spoke, telling the story of the night before. As he finished the tale, Fluttershy and Dash looked at each other, before speaking the same thought as one voice.
“We GOTTA tell Twilight!”