Fall was nearing its end. All of the leaves had fallen so the trees stood barren like stalagmites against the gray sky. The air was getting colder as the pegasi weather team brought in heavier clouds. Twilight Sparkle liked late fall, the brisk air was refreshing and the cloudy and rainy days meant she could stay in and read while listening to the rain patter her roof.
Rainbow Dash, however, hated it. She was bored to tears being forced to stay inside on rainy days. Which was exactly what today was. Currently, the filly was lying on the floor, she had already colored in the coloring books Twilight had bought her and she couldn’t think of anything else to do. Twilight was engulfed in another book and Spike was dusting the bookshelves.
Rainbow Dash looked to the window and scampered over to it. She stared outside, watching the raindrops hit the puddles in the dirt path. That was when she got an idea. “Mommy I’m gonna go play outside.” She informed Twilight of her plan to defy her.
“Rainbow!” Twilight tried to stop the headstrong filly but Rainbow Dash was already out the door and jumping in puddles. She would flutter her wings to get high enough to then fold them in and drop into a puddle, trying to make the biggest splash she could.
Twilight stood in the doorway of her cozy home watching the filly’s already messy mane get wet and matted down. The alicorn formed an umbrella with her magic and walked out into the rain.
“Alright, you had your fun. Now let’s go inside before you catch a cold.” Twilight tried to reason.
“No! More fun!” Rainbow Dash started splashing in more puddles formed by Ponyville’s poor drainage system. One of the puddles Rainbow Dash decided to jump in was a bit close to Twilight, catching the mare in the splash zone. While Twilight wasn’t as persnickety about dirt as Rarity was, it still irked her.
“Alright, you’re done.” Twilight took Rainbow Dash’s tail in her mouth and dragged the wet and muddy filly inside. The multihued filly whined and protested but let Twilight towel dry her off.
Soon the filly was yawning for a nap. Twilight tucked the tuckered out pegasus into bed and went back to rearranging the R section of the library. She was never more thankful that a pegasi’s metabolism was so high that they needed plenty of rest. Twilight soon found herself sidetracked and reading Reliquaries of Ancient Beings when she heard a small sniffle come from the top of the stairs. She turned around to see the little filly standing there, her yellow blanket draped over her back as she shivered.
The alicorn princess extended her wings and flew up to the overhang. “What’s the matter Dashie?” She asked, concern flowing into her words. As she draped a wing over the shivering pegasus and she felt warm to the touch.
“So cold…” Rainbow Dash whined as she pressed herself into Twilight. The alicorn put a hoof to Rainbow’s forehead and felt the heat radiating off of her. It was like a switch went off in Twilight’s head. Her horn lit up and grabbed a book off of shelf in her C section. She levitated it over to her and started flipping through Common Ailments of Children.
Spike walked in to the main room from the kitchen, hearing the commotion and seeing Twilight flipping through another one of her trusty books. “What’s going on?” He asked, walking up the stairs.
“…Fever…sniffles…” Twilight rattled off symptoms and looking up what it could be. Rainbow Dash coughed throatily. “…Coughing…”
“She has a cold Twi.” Spike rolled his eyes. Twilight looked at him when she realized how dumb she was by not thinking about that.
“Oh. Right.” She blushed as she realized her mistake. “This is more Fluttershy’s area…” She muttered as she flipped through her book, it was divided up by species of pony, Earth, Pegasi and Unicorn. “Here” She stopped at the page. “Cold: Pegasi.” She said aloud, her violet eyes skimmed the page at break-neck speed.
“While a cold is nothing serious for an Earth Pony or a Unicorn, a cold could essentially be life-threatening to a Pegasus. Pegasi are resilient to extreme temperatures so a cold is a rare thing for a sky-based pegasi to develop.
Pegasi who do develop colds are often ground-based and raised by non-pegasi parents. These pegasi have a higher natural immunity to a common cold. Pegasi who migrate to the earth at an early age do not have a natural defense against a cold. Therefore a cold could be more severe, even life threatening.”
All of the color drained from Twilight’s face. Spike could tell she was on the verge of another meltdown. “Spike.” She snapped, her voice surprisingly level as she snapped the book closed. “I need you to go see Fluttershy and bring her back here.” She said with an even tone that Spike knew she reserved for when she was holding back an anxiety attack.
“Fwuttershy comin’?” Rainbow Dash asked as she shivered.
“Yes.” Twilight stated. Wrapping a wing around Rainbow Dash and leading her down the stairs, the book tucked underneath her other wing. Twilight shot a glance to Spike to urge him to get moving quickly. Spike grabbed his raincoat and sped out the door. “Come on Dashie, we’re going to lay down on the couch.” Twilight stated, leading Rainbow Dash to the couch and comfortably putting the blanket over her.
“Mommy,” Rainbow Dash shivered. “I'm cold…” She draped her forelegs over her head. “Head hurts…” She whined.
“It’s alright Rainbow.” Twilight comforted. “Fluttershy is coming soon.” She said this more as a comfort for herself.
--
Meanwhile, Spike trudged through the mud and rain to get to Fluttershy’s cottage. The while he was muttering to himself about Twilight being anal-retentive and panicky over a little cold. He splashed through the mud puddles, lifting his boots the mud wanted to stick with them causing a loud shluck sound.
Then there was another sound that sounded a bit different. It sounded like a gloop sound, like someone was walking behind him. Spike immediately broke out into a cold sweat. He spun around in the rain to look behind him. There was nothing but the edge of the Everfree Forest. Spike gulped a bit, it was probably some animal trying to take shelter from the torrential downpour. He took a deep breath.
“Come on Spike, you are a dragon. Nothing scares you.” He reassured himself as he shlucked through the mud closer to Fluttershy’s cottage, the warm light ahead beckoning him to continue forward.
He walked a few feet before hearing another gloop noise, this one louder and closer. Spike turned around swiftly this time, just in time to see something fly up into a nearby tree, leaving a few large feathers in its wake.
Spike wasted no time in running the remaining several feet to Fluttershy’s front door. He pounded on it with the fury of a windego until Fluttershy opened the door.
“Oh Spike! What are you doing out here in the storm?” Fluttershy asked.
“Can I explain inside?” Spike asked with a sense of urgency in his voice that Fluttershy found strange, she stepped aside and let him inside.
The small dragon raced inside and closed the door with a slam behind him. “My, Spike what happened?” Fluttershy asked, seeing him huff and puff in terror. She had been hunkered down with her housecoat on and various animals surrounding her in the warmth.
“Something was following me.” He stated. Fluttershy cocked her head to the side curiously.
“Oh my, it was probably a poor creature stuck in the rain.” Fluttershy pushed back her curtain to peer into the dreary outside.
“I don’t think it was.” Spike hung up his raincoat on the coat rack. “But that’s not why I’m here.” He stated with a sense of urgency. Fluttershy looked to him curiously.
“Then why are you here out in this storm?” She asked.
“Twilight sent me.” He answered, before he could go into detail Fluttershy’s eyes widened.
“Is everything ok? Is it Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy bounced between her hooves in worry.
“Yeah, I think Rainbow has a cold or something so she sent me to get you.” Spike stated. “She sounded worried, but she’s Twilight so it’s probably nothing.” He shrugged.
Fluttershy was silent, causing Spike’s eyebrows to knit together in confusion. “You ok?” He asked after the silence was getting too much.
Fluttershy snapped back to reality. “Yes. We must get back to Twilight and Rainbow Dash.” She said, her tone dropping low. Spike watched curiously from his spot on the rug as she fluttered her wings and hovered above the floor to get things together to put in her saddlebags. She checked on her animals and made sure they were safe for the rest of the night. “We need to go.” She ordered.
Spike was still dumbfounded by the urgency she displayed. “Wait, what’s the big rush?” He asked, feeling as if both Twilight and Fluttershy knew something he didn’t.
“Rainbow Dash could be in trouble.” Fluttershy stated bluntly. Spike’s eyes widened. “I’ll explain it on the way.” She said as she got her raincoat out from the closet.
--
Twilight had done everything she could to keep Rainbow Dash comfortable. She had thick blankets over her, a heating pad on her head and a thermometer under her tongue. Twilight stood vigil by her on the couch, waiting for the thermometer to be done. She took it out with her magic and looked at it.
“103 degrees.” Twilight bit her bottom lip. It wasn’t a severe fever, as her limited medical knowledge recognized an average pony’s temperature ranged from 99 to 101 degrees Fahrenheit. She only hoped Fluttershy would be here soon. If there was any pony who would know what to do it would be the shy pegasus.
“Mommy…” Rainbow Dash coughed. “I don’t wanna lay here…” The usually hyperactive pegasus complained.
“I’m sorry Rainbow, you need to rest.” Twilight levitated a cup of warm tea over.
“When will Auntie Fwuttershy be here?” Rainbow Dash asked as Twilight propped her up on a pillow with her magic and passed her the tea. Rainbow Dash took it in her hooves and sniffed it. Wrinkling her nose at the bitter smell.
As if on cue the door opened and Spike walked in with Fluttershy behind him. Both had mud caked on their rain boots and were dripping wet.
“Oh I’m so glad you made it!” Twilight said with relief as she rushed up to the soaking wet pegasus at her door.
Fluttershy looked around and quickly found the prismatic lump on the couch. She walked over to Rainbow Dash, still hidden in blankets.
“Hello Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy greeted warmly. Rainbow looked to the maternal pegasus with drooping eyes.
“Hi Fwuttershy.” She greeted weakly. Fluttershy furrowed her eyebrows and placed a hoof on Rainbow Dash’s forehead. She “hummed” a bit and then pressed her ear to Rainbow Dash’s chest. Again, another “humm” came from the butter-colored mare.
Fluttershy looked into Rainbow Dash’s eyes intently, as if giving her the dreaded “stare” but she only “hummed”. Twilight waited impatiently with Spike by her side, the dragon also worried.
“Fluttershy I-“ She started to say but Fluttershy lifted her hoof to stop her.
“Open your mouth and say “ahh” please.” Fluttershy instructed Rainbow Dash. Rainbow did as she was told and stuck her tongue out. Another “humm” came from Fluttershy. Rainbow coughed a bit as Fluttershy stepped away.
“What’s the diagnosis?” Twilight asked Fluttershy, tired of waiting with bated breath.
“It’s a cold.” Fluttershy stated softly. Twilight’s eyes nearly fell out of her head.
“Well, I knew that!” Twilight yelled as she couldn’t help but grow frustrated. “How bad is it? Do I need to take her to the doctor?”
“No! No doctor no!” Rainbow Dash heard the dreaded word and hid further under the covers. Fluttershy shook her head and walked to her saddlebag where she rummaged around.
“No need. It’s not as severe as I had thought.” She stated before pulling out a small jar filled with a yellow liquid in between her teeth. Fluttershy set it on the end table.
“A teaspoon of this every 4 hours and she should be fine in a few days.” Fluttershy instructed. Twilight breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Rainbow Dash craned her neck to see the bottle of liquid and Twilight pouring some of the thick mixture out on a spoon.
“Alright Dashie, open up.” Twilight magically held the spoon out to Rainbow Dash’s face. The filly sniffed the syrup and made a disgusted face. She closed her mouth and looked away like a fussy foal who didn’t want to eat. “Come on.” Twilight urged, moving the spoon to Rainbow’s mouth only to have the filly look in the opposite direction. Twilight let out an exasperated groan. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She rubbed her temples with her hoof.
Rainbow Dash saw how frustrated Twilight was getting and giggled a bit before throwing a coughing fit. “Let me try.” Fluttershy stated and tried a different approach. “Dashie, if you want to go outside and play you have to take this. The sooner you take the medicine the sooner you can play.” Fluttershy reasoned.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened with terror as the thought of her being stuck indoors sunk in. She quickly opened her mouth for Twilight to put the spoon in. Once the medicine hit her tongue Rainbow made a disgusted face but swallowed, sticking her tongue out as it was done.
“Yucky.” She simply stated.
“Well you’ll feel better soon.” Twilight smiled as she put the spoon back. Thunder boomed outside, causing the two mares, filly and dragon to jump a bit. “Why don’t you stay here for awhile and wait out the storm?” Twilight said to the cowering butter-colored pegasus. “I’ll make some tea.” She said and walked into the kitchen.
“I can also help monitor our patient.” Fluttershy smiled and nuzzled Rainbow Dash a bit.
“Yay Fwuttershy’s stayin’!” Rainbow Dash cheered, trying to get off of the couch. “I needta show you my pictures…” She weakly sat up and almost made it off of the couch to show Fluttershy the pictures she colored earlier.
“No dear you need to rest.” Fluttershy moved the filly back on the couch with a hoof. It surprised her with how little Rainbow Dash really was. She remembered their childhood and how Rainbow Dash was picked on for being so small but she didn’t remember her being so light.
“No fair.” Rainbow whined, pulling her yellow blanket up around her. Twilight walked back into the room with two cups of tea levitating in her magic. “Mommy show Fwuttershy my pictures!” Rainbow Dash said when Twilight re-entered the room.
“I don’t think she’d be interested Dashie.” Twilight said.
“Oh but I would.” Fluttershy responded, taking the tea Twilight offered her and sipped it. Rainbow Dash broke out into a huge smile. Twilight levitated over some papers Rainbow had colored and showed her friend making sure to comment on each one. After it got dark outside and Rainbow Dash and Spike had went to bed the two mares stayed up long into the night talking.