She knew she was brave. She knew she was brash. She knew…...she was Rainbow Dash. And it was time to start acting like Rainbow Dash.
Through the howling commotion of the wind, the rain and the pounding thunder, Rainbow Dash struggled to get over to Fluttershy, who lied on the kitchen floor, unmoving. Rainbow didn’t know if she was dead or alive.
When Rainbow finally got close enough to Fluttershy, she noticed there was charred skin running down her back, from her neck down to her tail.
Rainbow didn’t have time to investigate. She got underneath Fluttershy, and flipped her up onto her back. Rainbow tried to think of a safe place to hide for the remainder of the storm, but with all the loud noise, and her lack of food, she couldn’t think clearly.
Suddenly, she remembered. Her basement! Fluttershy never used her basement because of how pitch black it was down there. Rainbow looked around the kitchen and saw a lantern resting on the floor, cracked. It would have to do for now. Rainbow bent down, being careful not to drop Fluttershy, and grabbed the handle with her mouth.
At that moment, another shattering strike of lightning smashed through the living room, and actually set the floor and curtains on fire, ten feet from where Rainbow was standing. Rainbow gasped. The entrance to the basement was across the living room, right in the midst of the growing fire.
Rainbow took a deep breath, and took one step on the wood floor. It creaked badly under her hoof. Rainbow hesitated, then suddenly sprinted across the burning room. She knew if she dropped Fluttershy, by the time she picked her back up, they would both be engulfed in flames.
Just as Rainbow reached the entrance to the basement, Fluttershy began to slide. She pushed her back into place and walked down the stairs, as if she were entering a boss room in a video game.
.................................
She reached the bottom and closed the door behind her. Luckily the door was made out of iron, because it was getting warm. Fluttershy’s house was pretty much built out of a tree, so it was gonna burn down in record time. However, the basement was lined with cement, and the door was iron, so they were safe down here.
Rainbow gently set Fluttershy down, and searched the darkness for some spare matches. One thing she wasn’t scared of was darkness. Being a pegasus, she had a naturally keen sense of direction.
Eventually, her hooves hit a box. She felt around for the lid, and found it locked.
“Screw this…” Rainbow moaned as she took one swift chop of her hoof and the lock smashed into pieces. “There’s a reason I’m a black belt in karate.”
Rainbow opened the box and felt around the supplies for what she was looking for.
Rainbow was impressed on how many emergency things were in that box. She even felt a catheter in there.
“Jeez, why would anypony need all this stuff?” Rainbow wondered.
With a little more feeling around, Rainbow felt a box of matches meet her hoof.
“Ah, here we go!”
Rainbow walked back over to Fluttershy, and picked up the lantern. She struck a match and lit it, illuminating the basement.
Now that Rainbow and Fluttershy were safe, it was time to look at the damage. Rainbow flipped Fluttershy over onto her belly and examined her back. A black streak of burnt skin ran from the midst of her neck to the root of her tail. This brought up some questions.
“(If I was struck in the same place, why didn’t I get a black streak? Why didn’t I fall unconscious?)” Rainbow thought to herself.
She flipped Fluttershy back onto her back. Rainbow put her ear right up to Fluttershy’s chest. She heard and felt the steady rhythm of Fluttershy’s heart.
“Aw thank Celestia, she’s alive!” Rainbow cried out with joy as one tear fell down her cheek. She was so overjoyed that her bad luck didn’t kill anypony else. They didn’t deserve it.
Over all that, Rainbow realized how hungry she was getting. She walked back over to the Box of Miracles, as she liked
to call it. It was much easier to search around now that she had light.
She found a bag of dried beef strips and some crackers. She examined the beef strips.
“What in the hay are these things?” Rainbow thought out loud. She popped one in her mouth and chewed. “Hey, these things aren’t half bad!” Rainbow mused as she put the bag aside.
She searched the Miracle Box some more.
“What the buck…” Rainbow held up a portable TV. “This box is a life saver!” Rainbow yelled happily, knowing she couldn’t wake up Fluttershy at the moment. Fluttershy could be asleep for days, and this worried Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow put the TV on the floor and raised the antennae. She flipped on the power, and the screen fizzled. Slowly and carefully, the screen came to life.
Rainbow used the dials on the TV to switch to the weather. There was an urgent message saying that this thunderstorm turned out to be a supercell, and was going to spawn a tornado. Also, it has raged out of the pegasi’s influence. It will carry on at its worst for double or even triple its original span.
Rainbow couldn’t believe her ears. She wanted to throw the TV across the basement as hard as she could. How could her bad luck get so…bad? She just had to know where it came from.
Poison Joke? No, Poison Joke only affects the pony who walks through it, not everypony she knows!
Rainbow turned the TV off, and walked back to the Miracle Box to put it away. She shuffled through it some more, and found one sleeping bag for warmth. She dragged it back over to Fluttershy and managed slide her into it, then zipped it up.
………………………
Hours passed. The storm continued. Rainbow was starving, but she tried to preserve what little morsels she managed to fish out of the Miracle Box. Then, thinking about the Miracle Box, she walked back over to it, and looked even more.
Rainbow was beginning to fall in love with this box, because it also contained three bottles of water and a cell phone.
A cell phone! She could call for help! She raced back over to Fluttershy (still unconscious) and dialed Twilight’s phone. Instead of ringing, she heard three beeps. She pulled it away from her ear and looked at the screen. No reception.
“Son of a…!!!” Rainbow raged and threw the phone at the wall. It shattered into a million pieces.
Just then, a drop of water tickled her nose. She looked up. The ceiling was dripping. She looked at the wall. Water dripped down the sides.
“Oh Celestia, no!”
Rainbow was out of options. It was either rush outside and get pummeled by the raging elements, or stay down here and drown to death.
Rainbow ran back over to the Miracle Box and frantically searched around. After a couple minutes of searching, she still found nothing. There was nothing else to do. She would have to grab Fluttershy and trek on to Ponyville in the storm.
Just as this thought passed her mind, there was a frantic pounding on the door. Rainbow was already knee-deep in water, and Fluttershy was floating.
She opened the door, and found Twilight standing there with her raincoat on. “What’s going on here? What’s wrong?”
“TWILIGHT!!! Thank you!” Rainbow jumped on Twilight and hugged her.
“Yeah, it’s me! What’s the problem?” Twilight asked.
“It was horrible! Fluttershy’s house got burned down, and she got struck by lightning! I had to grab her and take cover in the basement, which is starting to flood! Help me…” Rainbow rasped.
She looked around. Fluttershy’s house was history. Her birds got away, and she didn’t know where Angel was. Her and Twilight were standing in an empty frame.
Twilight sprung into action. She sloshed down into the hip-deep water, and used her magic to lift Fluttershy out. Her and Rainbow had to abandon the stuff down there, because the water was rising too fast.
Rainbow and Twilight walked back to Twilight’s library in the storm.
“At least you came! I have SOME good luck, right?” Rainbow joked.
“Don’t jinx it!”
Twilight just finished as a bolt of lightning ripped through the air and struck the tree 15 feet away from them, setting the Everfree Forest on fire.
“Heh heh…sorry.” Rainbow apologized.
………………...............
At Twilight’s library, Twilight slid Fluttershy into her own bed, because Twilight didn’t need to sleep at the moment.
“You know Twilight, your library is also built out of a tree. And now I’m standing in it with my bad luck!” Rainbow warned.
“Oh Rainbow, I trust you. I know whatever this is will be resolved soon.” Twilight answered reassuringly.
“Alright, I’m going out again to gather everypony up. It’s safer if we’re all together.” Twilight stated. “You stay here with Fluttershy. I’ll put a magic barrier around the library.”
Rainbow simply nodded.
Twilight slipped on her raincoat and headed out the door.
Soon after she left, Rainbow realized she left her Daring Do book at the hospital again. And now she was trapped in a library with a bunch of books she didn’t want to read.
She realized something else. She had to use the mare’s room.
“Ugh, it seems my bad luck takes big tolls, as well as little inconveniences like this one.”
She heard stirring from upstairs.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow zipped up the stairs to Twilight’s bed.
Fluttershy, finally awake, sat up. “Uhhh…where am I? Rainbow Dash? What happened?” She moaned.
“You were kinda struck by lightning. My fault. I’m sorry…” Rainbow answered, ashamed.
“It wasn’t your fault. You had nothing to do with it.” Fluttershy replied.
“But my bad luck! If I weren’t there, it wouldn’t have happened!” Rainbow objected.
“I don’t believe you for a minute.” Fluttershy stated in her soft voice. “No more questions. You didn’t do it.” Fluttershy was final.
“Alright…say, do you know of a bathroom in here? I kinda need one.” Rainbow asked.
“No, not that I know of.” Fluttershy answered.
“Well of course not! I should’ve known.” Rainbow was annoyed.
There was a couple minutes of absolute silence. Nothing could be heard except the loud crashes and pouring rain outside. Finally, Rainbow spoke.
“Fluttershy……I’m sorry. Your house burnt down during that lightning bolt attack. I rescued you.” Rainbow apologized.
Fluttershy stared at her in shock. “You…saved me?”
“Yes, I did. I had to pick you up and carry you, because you were knocked out.”
Fluttershy looked down. Then, she walked over to Rainbow Dash and kissed her on the cheek. Rainbow’s eyes went wide, and she put a hoof up to her face. She blushed.
“W…what was that?”
“Thank you Rainbow Dash. If you weren’t there, I would’ve died.” Fluttershy was blushing too.
There was more silence. Fluttershy looked at some of the books on the shelves, and Rainbow Dash sat against the wall, humming.
Minutes turned into hours, and still no Twilight.
“I just know she’s alright, something’s just holding her up.” Fluttershy stated. She looked at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow was flapping her wings slightly, and gritting her teeth.
“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked.
“Still have to use the bathroom…” Rainbow answered.
“You can hold it for now. I’m certain you’re not gonna go outside are you?” Fluttershy asked.
“No…not happening…” Rainbow replied.
“Sorry Dash. That’s your only option.”
After another half an hour, Twilight finally arrived with Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity.
“Twilight? Where’s Spike?” Fluttershy asked.
“He had something to do in Canterlot.” Twilight replied. She looked at Rainbow.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked.
“N…none of y..your business.” Rainbow replied, her teeth still gritting.
“Okay then…at least we’re all here!” Twilight announced. “Is there anything we plan on doing while this storm rages?”
Pinkie instantly spoke up. “We should play games!” she suggested excitedly.
“Works ‘fer me. There’s really nuttin’ else ta’ do.” Applejack replied.
“As long as I don’t get dirty.” Rarity chimed in.
“Well you c..can leave m..me out.” Rainbow continued to struggle as she stated her sentence.
…………………..................
Rainbow just sat against the wall while her friends played charades. They were pretty good at it, too. At one point, Rarity went up to take her turn, moved one hoof, and Pinkie guessed it correct.
That tornado was scheduled to spawn tomorrow. What confused Rainbow Dash was that they were able to predict it so early before it happened. Tornadoes are incredibly unpredictable.
Another hour passed before the ponies began to leave the library.
“I don’t think they understood that they were here for safety, not a friendly gathering.” Fluttershy stated.
Both of them looked at Rainbow. She sat in a funny position, her face set in full concentration, her hoof between her legs. “H..h..help m..m..me…” Rainbow rasped.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Twilight asked, concerned.
“She has to use the restroom.” Fluttershy told her.
“Well why didn’t you just say so? It’s down that hall, at the end.” Twilight said.
“THANK YOU!!!!!” Rainbow yelled as she blasted down the hall and shut the bathroom door. Her speed blew some papers off the shelves and in different directions. Twilight and Fluttershy laughed.
Just then, there was an eerie, escalating roar coming from outside. Twilight looked out, and her jaw dropped.
“Looks like that tornado is coming early…” Twilight gasped.
“When?” Fluttershy asked.
“Right now.”
To be Continued…
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Author Notes:
Hi again, everypony! Another early update (they'll probably all be). It took me all afternoon to right this! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it so far!