Swirls of cloud howled around her.
Rainbow Dash hugged herself, adrift in the tempest. With panting breaths, she looked every which way for an exit. All of her limbs refused to work... even her wings.
"Hello?!" Rainbow Dash wheezed. "Can anypony hear me?!"
Her voice stopped as soon as it made contact with the whipping gale.
"I... I-I can't get out!" She clenched her teeth, twirling. "I... I had my opportunity, but I wasted it!"
Something rolled in the distance... something softer than thunder, but penetrating the miasma just as thickly.
"Hello?!" Rainbow stammered.
"You had yer chance..."
"Who's there?! Can you help me out of this mess?!"
"You had yer chance, sugarcube..."
A tear trickled down Rainbow's muzzle. "Applejack?"
Laughter... growing faint.
"Applejack, wait! Come back!"
The clouds grew thicker, darker.
Rainbow Dash gnashed her teeth. "I did it for you! I let it happen for you!" She clenched her eyes shut. "I just... w-want you to be happy!"
"Rainbow Dash... you must wake up..."
One after another, Rainbow's eyes fluttered open.
She stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom...
...and a pair of cold, glinting eyeslits stared down.
"You should take your medicine, Rainbow Dash."
"Gaaaieee!" Rainbow Dash jumped out of bed—only to collapse against the wall behind her, limp and numb.
Noir scarcely flinched. He stared calmly down at her while holding an open jar of potion in his hoof.
"How... you... it..." Rainbow wheezed, trembling as a blue puddle on the floor. "How'd you get in here?!"
"I flew," he droned.
"Dude..." Rainbow frowned. "Not cool! I mean... you should have knocked or—"
"I did. Repeatedly. And there was no answer." The sarosian took several cold steps forward. "And this was well after thirty-six hours had passed."
"Thirty... six hours...?"
"Since you were last spotted by another Ponyvillean. As soon as Ms. Zecora heard about your involvement in the Cloudsdalian cyclone, she knew that you would be in desperate need of a new dosage." He then fidgeted for the first time since Rainbow had ever seen him. "Ms. Zecora... insisted that I pay you this visit."
Rainbow blinked. "She did?"
"She does not possess wings. I do." Noir then squatted beside Rainbow with the open jar. "Please. Drink."
Rainbow gulped, her shivers subsiding. "Yeah... uhhh... okay. Sure." She leaned forward and planted her lips to the edge of the jar.
Noir tipped it slightly.
A wholesome brew slipped down Rainbow's throat. She shuddered slightly, but soon felt strength returning to her limbs. Within a minute, she was grasping the jar with her own fetlocks and downing the rest of the contents.
In the meantime, Noir droned, "What you did the other day was decidedly suicidal."
"Jee, you're welcome," Rainbow Dash muttered. She sat against the wall of her bedroom, cradling the jar. "Still, I bet I'm not the one soaking in all the victory."
"If you refer to the stallion who disrupted the tornado at the end, he hasn't been seen in downtown Ponyville in almost as long as you've been absent," Noir said.
"Oh really?" Rainbow sighed. "Why's that no a surprise?"
"It's almost comical," Noir remarked. "The Mayor has prepared a medal but—in the absence of two very important pegasi—there's literally nopony to give it to."
"Heh..."
"Ms. Zecora believes that you deserve it. She wanted me to convey that upon seeing you."
"Y'know, buddy..." Rainbow looked up with a smirk. "At this point, isn't it a tad bit redundant to keep calling her 'Ms. Zecora?'"
Noir merely blinked. "I do not know what you mean."
"Heh... of course you don't." Rainbow sighed. "And yet again, the world proves that every stallion I ever meet is an idiot." She took another sip. "But they're sweet... helpful idiots." She nodded her head. "Thanks a ton for the pick-me-up, bro. You're a life-saver."
"Hrmmf... that remains to be seen." Noir leaned back. "Any sign of your elusive dragonequs friend?"
Rainbow sighed, her ears drooping. "Nope. 'Fraid not."
"Understood." He looked around. "Your house is cool and dark. I quite admire it."
"Heh... at least someone does."
"But I am sarosian. I have an excuse." He gazed down at her again with scrutinizing eyeslits. "You?" He slowly shook his head. "You do not deserve such shadows and darkness."
"It's helped me out more times than I can say."
"Is that a joke?"
"Do you want it to be?"
"A bit of advice... from a pony who's spent the better part of these last few months with a witch doctor." He pointed out the window. "Go outside... receive some sunshine... like a healthy pegasus..."