Everything was dark, nothing could be heard. Suddenly a mysterious voice broke the silence,
“we are losing her!” It yelled, the voice was calm, but at the same time it was panicked. The voice faded back into the darkness. Silence once more prevailed. The darkness was again pushed out, a blur of yellow and pink was all that could be seen. The blur returned to into the darkness until it was once more shattered by the sound of sobbing, the voice that was crying sounded familiar; Rainbow Dash couldn’t quite put her hoof on it however. As the darkness once more returned, this time it came with comfort. She felt relaxed without a care in the world. A light opened in the distance, it was warm and inviting. A smile came across her unconscious face. She started to walk towards it slowly. The sobbing could be heard in the silence again. Rainbow Dash turned around, there was Fluttershy crying right behind her. Rainbow Dash stared at her confused,
“Fluttershy why are you crying?” Fluttershy did not answer, she simply continued to cry. Rainbow Dash stood completely still for what seemed like hours for her. The light that was now behind her got brighter and warmer, it started to pull her in. As she got closer to the light, it made out as a glorious white gate which was gilded in gold. Rainbow Dash looked back at Fluttershy as she was being pulled into the light, her crying getting quieter as she gained more distance away from it. Right as Rainbow Dash was about to give into the light, a faint sound was heard from Fluttershy,
“Rainbow Dash, you can’t leave me, you just can’t!” The crying continued. Rainbow Dash looked at where the ground would be in the endless void. “Rainbow Dash,” she felt a pressure on her chest, “before you go, I want you to know,” Fluttershy paused to cry enough to let more of her sentence out, “I love you Rainbow Dash!”
Fluttershy’s voice had power behind it. Rainbow Dash’s pupils got dilated and sudden determination entered into her bosom. She turned around, facing away from the door of light as started to walk away from it, struggling to take every step. She clenched her teeth and pushed harder than she ever had before. As she got closer and closer to Fluttershy flashes of reality came to her. The first one was of nurse Redheart walking away from her shaking her head, the background too blurry to make out. Another Flashed, Fluttershy was gasping. Another, the nurse was running back towards her. The last one flashed to her right as she reached out and touched the imaginary Fluttershy. The flash was of nurse Redheart nodding to Fluttershy, her face beaming as she left the room, Fluttershy walking over to Rainbow Dash and nuzzling her forehead with her own. Warmth like none other entered Rainbow’s chest as she fell back asleep.
All was quiet, not a sound was heard. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes slowly and saw a wooden roof above her. She was slowly becoming aware of her surroundings; a soft feeling was underneath her, a bed? No, that was impossible, not a few seconds ago she was falling back to the ground after over-exhausting herself. Where was she, this place seemed so familiar but she could not put her hoof on it. Rainbow Dash slowly turned her head, and saw out of a window that was located to her left. Outside the window was the Everfree forest, it finally dawned on her that she was inside of Fluttershy’s cottage. Did that mean that she had done it? Had she saved Fluttershy’s cottage and the entire town with it? Was she a hero? As Rainbow Dash got more and more aware she started to feel more and more pain erupt from inside of her. She cringed as the pain got more and more intense. She attempted to lay on her side to alleviate the pain, as she turned the pain suddenly got intense on the side she shift, she quickly returned to lying on her back, the sharp pain that had presented itself quickly disappeared. It was clear that Rainbow Dash wasn’t going anywhere. She groaned from her suffering.
Fluttershy casually walked into the room and saw that Rainbow Dash had awakened. She dropped the oatmeal that she had prepared for Rainbow Dash; she had planned to leave it by her bed. Fluttershy quickly ran to Rainbow Dash’s side
“Rainbow Dash! You’re awake, are you okay? You took a nasty fall, what were you thinking? I was absolutely worried. Do you need me to clean your bandages?” Rainbow Dash looked down at herself as if she didn’t know before looking that she had bandages on, it was fairly hard to miss. Rainbow Dash had barely survived the fall she had taken. Nurse Redheart had performed a miracle with Rainbow Dash; she had worked on Rainbow Dash for hours on end. Pegasus have brittle bones just like birds, to help them fly faster. Rainbow Dash had broken almost every bone in her body after falling that great distance, not to mention the severe internal bleeding that she had gone through, her survival was a miracle. Little did anypony know that is was Fluttershy that had saved Rainbow Dash. After the successful operation nurse Redheart also taught Fluttershy to wrap new bandages around ponies. Fluttershy didn’t learn much new, it was basically the same as helping her little animal friends, but she had eagerly listened anyway. Rainbow Dash in an eager yet in a hurt raspy voice asked,
“Fluttershy, d-did I save your cottage, did I save Ponyville?” Fluttershy smiled, she had been told everything by the fire ponies.
“Yes you did Rainbow Dash; the whole town is talking about your heroism. Twilight wrote about it in one of her letters to the princess and she is going to come present a medal to you once you feel better.” Fluttershy had a calm, sweet smile on that physically said, ‘thank you Rainbow Dash, you’re a hero, the greatest ever!’ Rainbow Dash chuckled,
“I am pretty awesome, the greatest flier in Equestria.” She coughed a little. Fluttershy smiled as she caringly looked down on Rainbow Dash. A familiar emotion filled Rainbow Dash’s chest as she looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, it was so warm and comforting.
After that day Rainbow Dash’s routine was basically the same. Every day in the morning Fluttershy would come into the room and fed Rainbow Dash breakfast. After breakfast Fluttershy changed Rainbow Dash’s bandages, this was Rainbow Dash’s least favorite part of the day, it was also the most painful. In the afternoon she’d bring lunch. After lunch they’d do some simple stretches to help Rainbow Dash recover faster, it seemed everyday Rainbow Dash could move a little more without hurting herself. In the evenings she’d bring dinner. Every other day Fluttershy would give Rainbow Dash a sponge bath and clean her wounds, on these days the new bandages were put on after the bath. Then finally a bed time story and lullaby to lull Rainbow to sleep. At first Angel kept her distance from the pegasus, but after about a week, her and Angel identified with each other. Rainbow Dash learned to communicate with Angel, and at nights Angel would sleep with Rainbow Dash after Fluttershy’s story and lullaby of course. Every week, all her friends would come and visit her, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack. They told her stories what adventures that they had been on since she had been injured, that depressed Rainbow Dash slightly, but she didn’t think too much of it since they bothered to tell her all about it. They also told stories about how the massive drought was getting worse and worse. It turned out that the rain that Rainbow Dash had taken was on its way to another town that also desperately needed it. It wasn’t her fault; it was in the middle of the ocean, how was Rainbow Dash supposed to know the rain belonged to anypony? No one blamed her; they still praised her in fact for saving Ponyville altogether. The mayor had started to dip into the emergency funds and was passing out free water that had been imported from other parts of Equestria, so it wasn’t like anypony was dying of thirst. Rainbow Dash’s recovery was coming quickly considering she shouldn’t be alive after what she had been through. After about a month, she could nearly stand without crying out in pain. Fluttershy was a never ending source of encouragement for Rainbow Dash. She was the reason she woke up smiling in the morning.
One shining morning, Rainbow Dash woke up earlier than usual. The sun hadn’t risen yet; Rainbow Dash knew that meant that Fluttershy was still sleeping. She turned over on her side; this had stopped hurting a while ago, and rolled off the bed onto her feet. She cringed as her hoofs and legs took the pressure that her body had put on them. Rainbow Dash had lost a few pounds while being sick but not enough to help her stand and most of the weight lost was most likely muscle. Fluttershy had taken very good care of her and never left the house for more than around an hour. Rainbow Dash took a small step, it wasn’t that bad. She smirked as she took another. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Fluttershy’s face! Rainbow Dash stopped and gulped as she saw the stairs and Fluttershy sleeping on the couch. A fear griped her, those stairs would hurt! She might yelp in pain and wake up Fluttershy, the surprise would be ruined! She made her way back to bed. The rest of the day she played it off like nothing happened. When it came to her stretched, she fibbed on how far she could go to make Fluttershy think differently. In the mornings she got up early and practiced walking around the room, and right before the sun rose, she went back to bed. After about a week of doing this every day, Rainbow Dash was ready to confront the stairs. She woke up early like she had been doing the past week and walked, nearly painless now, to the stairs and smiled. She slowly walked down the stairs. It hurt more than she thought it would. Her practice had helped her though; she was able to make it all the way down the stairs without a peep. She walked into the kitchen and sat down at the dining table with a satisfied look on her face. She looked out the window and saw the sun start to rise. Fluttershy’s eyes opened slightly as if in sync with the sun. She walking into the kitchen and hummed while starting to cook peach flavored oatmeal. Rainbow Dash tried her hardest not to giggle,
“hey Fluttershy.” Fluttershy continued to hum and simply answered,
“Oh good morning Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy had gotten so used to Rainbow Dash living with her that she didn’t realize that something wasn’t quite right until the oatmeal was about half done. She turned her head quickly and stared at Rainbow Dash wide eyed,
“R-Rainbow Dash! How did you get there?” Rainbow Dash smirked,
“Pretty neat huh? No injury can keep me down for long!” Fluttershy examined Rainbow Dash carefully,
“A-are you sure you are feeling well enough to be walking around Rainbow Dash?”
“Does this answer your question?” Rainbow Dash got up from her chair and started to walk around the kitchen quite effortlessly. Rainbow Dash smirked and looked at Fluttershy expecting a response. Fluttershy however did not respond, she just stared, her face beaming with joy. After a few more days Rainbow Dash was able to go up and down the stairs without hurting, she offered to sleep on the couch nearly every day but Fluttershy absolutely denied her, Fluttershy insisted that she was not feeling her absolutely best yet and she needed to recover more.
A knock was heard on Fluttershy’s door. Fluttershy quickly ran to answer it. Twilight Sparkle stood at the doorway smiling,
“hello Fluttershy, is Rainbow Dash awake?” Fluttershy nodded and beckoned Twilight to come in.
“Rainbow Dash, Twilight is here to see you.” Rainbow Dash emerged from the kitchen, Rainbow Dash had barely any bandages on her now and she was able to hold her head high once more. “Rainbow Dash,” Twilight gasped, “you look fantastic!”
“Yeah, yeah I’ve heard, so what’s up Twilight?” Rainbow Dash walked over and stood next to Fluttershy.
“I heard you were feeling good enough to accept that medal from the princess now, so how about it?” Rainbow Dash pondered.
“Yeah I bet I could do that, I walk around outside with Fluttershy now, so it’d be a piece of cake!”
“Great so I’ll contact the princess right away!” Twilight smiled and trotted out the door. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash worriedly,
“Rainbow Dash, are you sure about this?” Rainbow Dash nodded,
“Of course I’m sure; I can probably even run now! I mean my wings still don’t work but I don’t need them to get a medal.” Fluttershy bit her lip when she heard about Rainbow Dash’s wings. Rainbow Dash got suspicious, “hey, come to think of it we’ve never worked on my wings getting better, is there something you’re not telling me Fluttershy?” Fluttershy kicked at the ground,
“N-no, of course not, why would I keep something from you?” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.
“Fluttershy, I know when you’re lying to me.” Fluttershy sighed.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. When you crashed into Zecora’s hut, you accidently got a cursed potion on you. Zecora told me that the curse keeps you from doing the thing you love most. Which I guess is flying.” Fluttershy looked at the ground sadly.
“O-oh is that it?” Rainbow Dash played it off, “that’s no big deal, and all we have to do is get a cure right?” Fluttershy looked increasingly nervous. “Gah what now?”
“Well, Zecora brought the potion from where she is from. I started to grow the fruit she needs to make more, but if we don’t get some rain soon the plant will die.” Rainbow Dash did a facehoof. Fluttershy looked at the ground again, feeling bad for not being good enough to grow the plant in such a dry time.
“Awe Fluttershy it is alright. We can just grow it when the drought is over, I can handle not being able to fly…” Rainbow Dash trailed off realizing that she might have to walk everywhere for who knows how long.
A few days later the time had come for Rainbow Dash to come before the princess and receive her medal for bravery. The entire town showed up to see Rainbow Dash and the princess, most of the ponies had visited Rainbow Dash and couldn’t wait to see her now that she was feeling better. The mayor stood alone on the stage, “fillies and gentlecolts,” She announced, “today we are honoring a unique pegasus that has saved Ponyville and the Everfree forest from certain doom. Our princess Celestia has come from Canterlot to honor our own Rainbow Dash herself.” She continued her speech for a few more minutes until she finally got off the stage and the curtains were moved to reveal Rainbow Dash and the princess.
“Rainbow Dash,” the princess announced softly, “you have looked a very difficult trial in the eyes and took on the challenge of saving the entire town of Ponyville yourself. You sacrificed nearly your life for your friends and towns people. For this outstanding act of loyalty and bravery, I commend you and ask you take this medal to show ponies forever the outstanding thing you have accomplished. I hereby award you, a medal deserving of your greatness, the rainbow of bravery.” Rainbow Dash bowed as the princess put the medal around Rainbow Dash’s neck. The medal was shaped the same as Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark, she looked surprised.
“Princess, this medal, is this…”
“Yes my faithful follower, I have created a new award just for you and it will be given to other ponies that show the ultimate acts of bravery and loyalty to their friends.” Rainbow Dash’s smile had never been bigger. She looked out into the audience and saw Fluttershy standing in the back, her smile warmed Rainbow Dash’s heart.
Later that night at Fluttershy’s cottage, Rainbow Dash felt invincible like there was nothing she could not do. The medal she had gotten early hung high on the cottage wall. It was getting late, so before Fluttershy had the chance Rainbow Dash laid on the couch so that Fluttershy would have to take the bed. Fluttershy walked up to Rainbow Dash,
“no, no Rainbow Dash, go upstairs to the bed.” Rainbow Dash just shook her head and didn’t move. Fluttershy continued to protest, but Rainbow Dash stopped answered her or making any reaction to her at all. Fluttershy finally gave up; she was exhausted from the day of excitement. She walked up stairs and laid in her bed and drifted off to sleep.
Rainbow Dash woke up in the middle of the night and heard the sound of thunder. She looked out of a window, there was no rain, and the cloud that made the noise was most likely far away. She snuck upstairs and while blushing got into the bed with Fluttershy. Fluttershy turned and saw Rainbow Dash. They looked each other in the eyes for what felt like forever.
The sound of rain was heard outside the same time a pony in a small cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville spoke the words
“I love you.”