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Prologue 1,430 words
Chapter 12,213 words
Chapter 22,817 words
Chapter 32,750 words
Intermission: Pinkie Pie - Part 13,933 words
Chapter 43,134 words
Intermission: Pinkie Pie - Part 25,540 words
Chapter 53,907 words
Chapter 64,832 words
Chapter 74,476 words
Chapter 84,135 words
Intermission: The Dark Clouds Have Gone1,885 words
Chapter 93,294 words

Chapter 7

The night has gone bringing a new day to Ponyville, in the early morning only a few ponies had risen from their beds ready to tackle the day. Twilight Sparkle lazily walked into her bathroom after letting out a yawn. She hadn’t slept much during the night, mostly because of her planning on how to deal with Rainbow today, but partly because she had been plagued with insomnia for a reason she couldn’t quite explain.

“Geez, don’t you look peppy?” Twilight said sarcastically to her bloodshot eyed reflection in her mirror. Thought she didn’t see why there would be a reason for her to be peppy quite yet, as far as she saw it this was going to be the day Rainbow would never forgive her. Twilight had already talked to Redheart about placing Rainbow in the hospital under suicide watch starting today. The nurse offered to send some Pegasi to help bring Rainbow in, but Twilight decided that if anypony was going to force Rainbow against her will, it may as well be the mare that came up with the plan.

Twilight splashed water over he face to wake herself up then proceeded to fix her mane as best she could. Whenever her mane became frizzled it was almost impossible for her to tame, she decided to see if Rarity could do anything about it later.

“Rainbow’s not really going to hate you, is she?” Twilight turned over to see Spike standing at the doorway.

“I don’t know Spike, I mean, how would you feel if some mare forced you to stay somewhere against your will?” asked Twilight.

“You make me stay in the library all day and do choirs even though it’s clear I don’t want to most of the time. And I never hated you for it.” said Spike earning a small chuckle from Twilight.

“Although I love the encouragement, this is a lot worse. Rainbow’s going to be placed in a room that’s void of anything she could use to hurt herself. You could imagine how empty it would be, just imagine it, sitting in a large white room with nothing around.” the thought sent a chill down Twilight’s spine.

“Okay that does sound bad, are you sure you can’t just try giving Fluttershy some more time?” asked Spike.

“I want to Spike, I really do.” said Twilight as she walked out of the bathroom with Spike following close behind. “But I can’t risk something bad happening, I’d prefer she hate me and be watched at all times than risk losing her forever.” Twilight let out a sigh and looked at the time; it was 6:30 in the morning. Not many ponies wake up at this time during the summer, and she knew for sure that Rainbow would still be asleep at this time.

“So how are you going to do it?” asked Spike, he was never filled in on what steps Twilight would take to bring Rainbow to the hospital.

“Well, I’m going to try teleporting right into her house, with any luck she’ll still be asleep and I can teleport us both to the hospital before she even knows I’m there.” Twilight’s horn began to glow, the hue soon covering her whole body before fading away. With the cloud walking spell in place Twilight took a deep breath before her horn began to glow.

“Oh and about what you said earlier.” Spike froze for a moment, he was sure he’d be assigned more chores for the day. “Take the weekend for yourself.” Twilight said with a smile before vanishing in a flash of lavender light. Spike stood there in disbelief, he was actually given the weekend to do whatever he wanted. He wasn’t given many days to himself; he needed to take advantage of every single hour.

“Well, I’m going back to sleep.” said Spike as he made his way up the stair straight to his bed.

A few seconds after Twilight had cast the teleportation spell, another purple light flashed just above the cloud just outside of Rainbow’s door. The light vanished revealing Twilight, her eyes closed from having focused on the spell. Twilight opened her eyes and looked around to see that she was indeed on the cloud foundation of Rainbow’s home. Not like the one time when Twilight somehow ended up on Rainbow’s roof.

“Alright Twilight, let’s get this over…with?” Twilight froze when she looked at the door, or rather the lack thereof. Twilight looked at the ground inside Rainbow’s home to see the missing door on the ground ripped right of its hinges. The eerier sensation of fear crept up on Twilight as she ran inside.

“Rainbow!?” Twilight yelled as she looked around the house. “Nothing seems to be missing, unless, did somepony take Rainbow!?” Twilight thought to herself. The mere thought that somepony may have broken into Rainbows home and foalnapped her in the dead of night was almost too much to bare. Twilight locked her eyes on the closed bedroom door when she heard a click. The doorknob began to turn and Twilight’s horn began to glow in preparation for a fight if needed to.

The door cracked opened and Twilight saw a small mass of yellow and pink peek out from the opening. “Fluttershy?” asked Twilight completely confused as to why Fluttershy was in Rainbow’s room. Fluttershy walked out of the room and shushed Twilight before closing the door again.

“Rainbow’s still asleep.” Fluttershy whispered as she walked up to Twilight.

“I, what were you doing in there?” asked Twilight.

“I slept with Rainbow last night.” Fluttershy said plainly. Twilight blinked a few times as she tried to wrap her mind around everything. Rainbow’s door was broken down, Fluttershy was in her house when she was supposed to be in the hospital, and Fluttershy said she had slept with Rainbow.

“I’m going to need some context…”

Fluttershy explained to Twilight what she did during the night. Fluttershy started with the nightmare she had and explained how it was her worse fear. Fluttershy moved on to explain how the nightmare gave her the resolve to try again with a more forward approach and how she flew up to Rainbow’s door and broke it down. Twilight seemed surprised by this but continued to listen to Fluttershy’s story.

By the time Fluttershy had finished by telling the part of the story where Fluttershy had gotten Rainbow to admit she had a problem, Twilight looked completely dumbfounded. “So, that’s pretty much what happened.”

“I don’t believe it.” said Twilight after a few moments of pause.

“Like I said, after I had that nightmare I just knew I had to do everything I could to get through to Rainbow.” Fluttershy explained again.

“No not that, I mean…” Twilight turned her head to the door then looked back at Fluttershy. “You actually broke Rainbow’s door down…” Fluttershy blushed and gave Twilight a sheepish smile.

“What can I say…I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way.” Fluttershy said with a shrug.

“I’m glad you didn’t.” Twilight said with a smile. “You really pulled through for Rainbow when she needed you the most.” Twilight looked back to the door to Rainbow’s room to see if she had awakened yet, but she didn’t hear any movement. “So how do you think she’ll be now?” Fluttershy looked over before letting out a sigh.

“I don’t know, maybe a little bit better now that she’s let out all the pain she’s been holding back these past few days. But there’s still a lot left over, Rainbow may have some things that she’s repressing and I want to try to get her to confront them.” said Fluttershy.

“Do you have any idea what they could be?” asked Twilight.

“It’s hard to say, it could stem from regrets. Maybe something she didn’t do that her father wanted her to or wishing she had spent more time with him. Things like that are common for ponies that lose their parents.” Twilight knew that, she had spent the last couple days reading up on it, but the question begged on how Fluttershy knew.

“Fluttershy, how do-“ the sound of a door opening caught Twilight’s ears cutting her off. Twilight and Fluttershy turned their heads to see Rainbow walking out of her room. Rainbow looked at Fluttershy first then turned to see Twilight.

“Twilight, what are you doing here?” asked Rainbow generally confused. Twilight looked away for a moment as she thought, this wasn’t how she planned for this to go, but now things have changed since last night.

“Can we sit down; I have something I need to tell you.” Rainbow gave Fluttershy a confused look before nodding her head. Rainbow followed Twilight and Fluttershy to the kitchen, once they sat down a silence spread across the room.

“So, are you going to tell me?” asked Rainbow growing tired of waiting.

“Right, sorry.” said Twilight still unsure how to go about telling Rainbow what she had done. “Well, yesterday I found out that Fluttershy was in the hospital.” Rainbow winced from remembering what put her there. “That’s when I found out what you said that day…and well, I had to make a decision.” Rainbow looked at Twilight waiting to find out what the decision was.

“Rainbow, I talked to Nurse Redheart about putting you on suicide watch, and I was supposed to bring you in. If you hate me I’ll understand, but I’ll rest a lot easier knowing that you’re safe.” Twilight watched as Rainbow ran her hoof on the table; she wasn’t sure what her friend’s response would be.

“Good call…” said Rainbow as she nudged her head towards one of the counters in the kitchen. Twilight and Fluttershy turned their gazes until they found a knife that had been embedded into the wooden counter top. “Sleeping…was the only thing keeping the pain from getting any worse.” Rainbow said with a sigh, simultaneously Twilight and Fluttershy gulped from seeing how close to the line they were.

“S-so you’re saying you’ll agree to it?” asked Twilight trying her hardest not to stare at the large knife.

“Not like I have much of a choice, but yes…I need help.” there was something about Rainbow’s tone that seemed off. All the confidence that Rainbow had in her voice, the voice of a strong mare that could do anything, it was gone. Twilight and Fluttershy gave each other a short glance, they both noticed it.

“Um, Twilight, can I talk to you for a moment?” asked Fluttershy as she got up from her chair only to have a hoof placed on her shoulder.

“Just say it here…I don’t mind” said Rainbow, Fluttershy nodded and sat back down.

“I want Rainbow to stay with me while under her suicide watch. I can watch her and keep her safe.” Twilight thought about Fluttershy’s offer, Fluttershy has a lot of experience when it comes to caring for her animals, and she’s also has some skills in caring for ponies. However Fluttershy’s skills also brought up a problem.

“Fluttershy, I don’t have any doubt that you could watch Rainbow. But you take care of too many animals at once.” Twilight tried to explain, but Fluttershy’s expression seemed to harden.

“Yes, I take care of dozens of animals every day. Not only that but I can understand them and vice versa. You’re worried about Rainbow not being watch at all times because I have to take care of them right?” Twilight nodded. “I can’t say that I’ll be in the same room as Rainbow all the times. But I can be there most of the time, and for the short moments when I’m not, those same animals can watch over her.” Twilight opened her mouth to say something in return, but she couldn’t figure out what to say.

“I’m okay with it…” said Rainbow. “It’s a lot better than being in some empty room.” she added making Twilight seem slightly ashamed. Twilight didn’t want to have Rainbow in an empty room alone, being close to friends would do her better.

“She’ll also need to see a therapist; I think I know of a good one in Canterlot.” it felt awkward to bring that up in front of Rainbow, but it was better that she heard it now rather than later. Though Rainbow didn’t seem to have any objections to it, there was still a chance Rainbow wouldn’t open up to some random pony, but they had to try.

“I appreciate that, but I have it covered.” said Fluttershy “Besides, imagine how much one from Canterlot would cost, it’s probably out of our price range.” Twilight rubbed her hoof under her chin, Fluttershy had a point.

“You’ll see to it that she’ll get the help she needs?” asked Twilight making sure she and Fluttershy were on the same page.

“I’ll see to it personally.” Fluttershy promised.

“Are you okay with this, Rainbow?” asked Twilight. Rainbow paused for a moment, having another pony try to pick at her brains was a scary thought, but she already came to terms that she needed to find help.

“Yeah, I’ll do it…” Rainbow said finally.

“Great, then we need to see Nurse Redheart to tell her of the changes.” said Twilight as she got up and walked towards the door. She stopped when she noticed the door was still on the ground, leaving it like that while they were gone was not a good idea. “Let me just fix this for you first.” said Twilight as her horn began to glow a lavender hue. The door and the frame both gained the hue a few seconds later and in a flash the door was back where it belongs.

“That should do it.” said Twilight as she reached for the door in order to unlock it only to realize something.

“Um, I think you put the door on backwards.” Twilight blinked and looked at the door. The key holes were facing inwards, and after Twilight facehoofed from her blunder she quickly fixed the error and opened the door.

“Think you can carry me to the ground, Rain-bow?” Twilight looked to see Rainbow standing over the edge of the cloud staring down. Before she could ask what was wrong, Fluttershy whispered something into Twilight’s ear. Twilight looked at Fluttershy and blinked once before nodding.

“On second thought, I’ll just teleport us, it’s faster that way.” said Twilight as her horn began to glow again.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” said Rainbow as she back away from the edge and walked up to Twilight and Fluttershy. Without another word to be said, Twilight cast her teleportation spell and the three disappeared in a flash.

“I believe everything is in order, I’ll just need you to sign here.” the new plan for Rainbow’s suicide watch wasn’t as simple as Fluttershy could have hoped. Not only did the hospital need to do a background check on Fluttershy, but they also had to inspect her cottage. Nurse Redheart saw to the inspection personally and found that Fluttershy’s cottage fit all the criteria needed.

“Thank you, Nurse Redheart.” said Fluttershy as she signed the forms.

“Thank nothing of it, and Rainbow, I wish you the best of luck on your recovery. Just be sure to take your medication, it will help you.” Rainbow was given a mental exam to check her stability, although she didn’t seem as a danger to herself, she was still diagnosed with clinical depression and was give the appropriate medication.

“Yeah, thanks.” said Rainbow, her tone less than upbeat. Needless to say the pills haven’t kicked in just yet. Fluttershy saw Redheart to the door bidding her farewell and thanking her one last time before closing the door.

“So, what do you want to do?” asked Fluttershy as she walked up to Rainbow who was petting Tank. Tank was one of the few things she was allowed to bring from her home.

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll sleep the day away.” said Rainbow making Fluttershy frown a bit.

“Come on, that’s all you’ve done these past few days, and it’s not healthy.” said Fluttershy as she placed a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, shy.” Rainbow said with a sigh. “I just haven’t had the energy to do pretty much anything.”

“I understand this has been a hard couple days for you.” said Fluttershy as she looked at the time. “You know, it might be a little early, but how would you like to help me feed my animal friends?” Rainbow looked up at Fluttershy with signs of hesitation on her face.

“I-I don’t know, remember what happened last time?” the last time Rainbow fed the animals around Fluttershy’s cottage she ended up being tied up by them. She wasn’t particularly bad around animals, but she wasn’t able to keep up with their demands and things got a little crazy.

“It’s okay; I’ll be here to help.” Rainbow let out a sigh, she didn’t feel like going outside, but she did promise Fluttershy and Twilight that she would try to get through this.

“Okay.” said Rainbow as she got up from the floor and followed Fluttershy out through her back door. Once outside, Rainbow took in a breath of fresh air and looked around the area. Rainbow didn’t have a backyard due to her home being on a cloud. Even though Fluttershy lived rather close to the Everfree forest, she still had a large piece of land that Rainbow had to admit was rather beautiful.

“Here, you can feed the birds first if you’d like.” said Fluttershy as she placed a bag of bird seed next to Rainbow. “Just place three or four scoops should be enough.” she added as she pointed at the bird feeder. Rainbow nodded before grabbing the bag of bird seeds in her mouth and carried it to the feeder. Using her wing, Rainbow grabbed the scooper inside the bag and used it to add four scoops of seeds into the feeder.

“That should do it, I guess.” said Rainbow as she took a step back from the feeder when the birds started to fly in. Rainbow watched as the birds ate, admittedly she found it rather nice and a small smile appeared on her face. After a few minutes, the bird started flying towards Rainbow causing her to back up a little.

“What, you want more? Hey, stop that, it tickles!” Rainbow giggled as the Birds flew around her, their wings brushing her lightly enough to tickle. Fluttershy watched as Rainbow laughed for a while before stepping in.

“Okay, I think she’s had enough for now.” Fluttershy said with a smile on her face. The birds obliged and flew back to the feeder leaving Fluttershy alone with Rainbow. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I guess not.” said Rainbow with a smile.

“Would you like to feed some more?”

“Sure.”

It took about an hour, but eventually each animal in and around Fluttershy’s home were fed and satisfied. Rainbow had to give Fluttershy credit, the effort it took to feed the wide range of animals seemed complicated to her, yet it was second nature to Fluttershy. “How do you do this three times a day?” Rainbow asked as she crashed on the sofa.

“Well it was a little hard at first, but eventually I just got used to it.” said Fluttershy as she sat down next to Rainbow.

“Am I going to have to get used to it?” asked Rainbow.

“Not if you don’t want to, I’m here to help you get better, not work you down to the bone. But tell, me, how do you feel right now?”

“Tired…” said Rainbow getting a small giggle from Fluttershy “But you know, I feel a little better than I did this morning. I don’t know, maybe the medication is starting to kick in.” Rainbow added with a shrug.

“That’s good to hear. I was worried you’d be bored.” said Fluttershy, but Rainbow just shook her head.

“No way, sure it might not be the most thrilling day, but I had fun.” Rainbow assured her.

“I’m glad. So, what do you want to do now?”

“Rest my broken body…?” said Rainbow which was followed by a small laugh by both her and Fluttershy.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, I’ll get us something to drink.” said Fluttershy as she walked into the kitchen. About a minute later she returned with two glasses of apple juice. The two drank in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say.

“This is going to be hard…” said Rainbow breaking the silence.

“What is?” Rainbow placed her cup down and shifted her position slightly so she could look at Fluttershy.

“I have to talk to a therapist about my problems; it’s hard enough for me to open up to you and the others. But to spill my guts to some stranger, I don’t know if I can do that…” Rainbow said with a sigh.

“I know it’s hard, but you won’t have to worry about it, I know you’ll have no trouble opening up to the one I know.”

“Do I know him…or her?”

“Yes, you’ve known her for a long time.” Rainbow paused to scan through her friends trying to figure out who it could be.

“Derpy?” Fluttershy pushed Rainbow playfully as she giggled.

“I mean me, silly.” Rainbow stared at Fluttershy blankly for a bit before smiling.

“I appreciate that, Fluttershy, but my boss wants me to see a real therapist or else I won’t be able to keep my job. He wants me to see one of those college grad ponies that wear glasses and hang their degrees on the wall.” Fluttershy rubbed her chin with her hoof thinking deeply about something.

“I can get mine out of my closet and nail it to the wall if you want.”

“Yeah, that would be…wait, what?” Rainbow watched as Fluttershy walked upstairs still unsure of what she meant. Rainbow waited for a couple of minutes hearing movement from upstairs, eventually Fluttershy came back down with a frame in her mouth. “What’s this?” asked Rainbow as Fluttershy hoofed it over to her.

“It’s my degree.” Rainbow blinked as she read the paper that was in the frame.

“It is a degree…from Canterlot University…” Rainbow looked back and forth between Fluttershy and the frame she was holding on to. “I, you, when?” Rainbow tried to ask kind of at a loss for words.

“Well, remember when I started going to Canterlot for the winter?” during the winter all the animals around Fluttershy’s home would hibernate leaving her with a lot of time to herself. She told her friends that she would go up to Canterlot to enjoy a small vacation which they all agreed the deserved. “Well you see, I decided to use the winter as a time to go back to school. Normally the cost would be too much for me, but I was able to get a full scholarship.”

“Whoa…so am I supposed to call you Dr. Fluttershy?”

“Of course not, I still have a while before I get my PHD.” said Fluttershy shocking Rainbow even further. “Look, I promised I’d be there for you when you needed me and I’m going to keep that promise. Although I never thought I’d have to use the skills I’ve learned, I’m glad that it going to come in handy.”

“I want to help you relax for a few days first, but after that we’re going to go through three sessions a week.” Rainbow nodded. “During these sessions I’m going to try and unravel your mind and see if there’s anything you’re suppressing, it’s not going to be fun for you.” Fluttershy added with a serious tone. Rainbow sat there and thought it over; on one hoof she would have to talk about things she’d probably never feel comfortable with. But on the other hoof he knew she would be talking to a friend who she trust’s.

“Well, it’s a lot better than talking to some stranger.” said Rainbow as she sat up from the sofa. “I trust my brain to you, Fluttershy.”

“Thank you, Rainbow. But until then let’s try to have some fun, want to play some checkers?”

“You’re on.”

Fluttershy did what she could to keep the mood light, she and Fluttershy played a few games, talked, and had dinner outside. Eventually the sun had gone down and was replaced with the moon. “You know, today wasn’t half bad.” said Rainbow as she spread out her sleeping bag.

“That’s good to hear.” said Fluttershy as she laid her own sleeping bag next to Rainbows.

“You’re going to sleep down here too?”

“Of course, it’s like a sleep over.” One of the things Fluttershy has been trying to do was making Rainbow feel at home and not under a suicide watch. With the lights off the two friends each entered their sleeping bags so they could sleep the night away.

“Hey Shy, can I ask you a question.” Fluttershy turned her head over to see Rainbow looking back at her.

“Of course.” she said with a smile even if Rainbow couldn’t see it in the dark.

“Why’d you try so hard to help me?” asked Rainbow. “I mean, I’m grateful and all, but you could have let Twilight handle it and she’d probably have forced me to get the help I need. Sure it would have been a little harsh, but then you wouldn’t have had to worry so much.” Fluttershy tried to figure out how to answer, there was so many things Rainbow has done for her in the past that she lost count. Not only Rainbow, but her adopted parents as well, she owed them everything. In the end she found the perfect answer, the only answer that could explain everything to Rainbow.

“Because we’re family.”

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