At Her Hospital Bed

by Eventide Indigo

Reminiscing

Pinkie fumbled for words among the bitter silence. She had already known that Dashie's fate was sealed, but hearing her best friend admit it aloud only stung her heart more. Pinkie crouched beside Rainbow Dash, lying a hoof on her's, Gilda stood behind, too choked to speak. "Dang." she murmured. "Dashie - I..." Gilda trailed off, incapable of mustering the words to describe how she felt. "You are my best friend." within seconds the proud Griffon was reduced to tears.

Rainbow cast her a sad look, the sky blue mare seemed to dull. Her colour had faded, the life seeping from her eyes, as if an invisible clock were silently counting the minutes to her demise. "Hey, shh." Dashie cooed. Stroking her friend's dip-dyed feather hairdo with what little strength she clung to. "You know I hate to see you cry, G." The griffon sniffed, wiping a tear that had trickled past her beak. "Who, me? Cry, Dashie?" she giggled through the sobs.

"I guess we never got that race in, huh, Dash?" Gilda sniffled, peering down at her shifting talons. Dashie shook her head. "Who needs a race? You're the fastest gal I know." Dash replied, pausing to cough. "Even faster than me." Gilda gave her a warm smile and stepped away, allowing Pinkie to move in closer.

"Remember when we first met, Pinkie?" Dashie said, gazing up at the cement ceiling as if it were as marvelous as a night sky filled to the brim with stars. Pinkie nodded vigorously. "Of course!"

"And your mom called you Pinkamena?"

"Mhmm."

* * *

The autumn leaves had rustled in the breeze, like the ghosts of a once bountiful spring now lying dormant. September already revealed the beautiful crimson and tangerine hues of autumn. The air was chilled, and being the practical pony Mrs. Pie was, she had forced her daughter to wear the ugliest of sweaters to the first day of school.

"Mooom." Pinkie frowned, her hair cascaded over her shoulders, an image of her old self before she discovered her love of parties. "This sweater-" she trailed off.

"Will keep you nice and warm." her mother snapped. "Now go make some friends and be a good girl." Pinkamena shrugged angrily, setting her flank down angrily on a swing.

"Hey Frowny Face."

"Huh?" Pinkamena blinked in surprise, her head craning to see where the voice had come from. "Where are you?"

"Up here."

Sure enough, as the young Pinkie peered upwards, there was a sky blue filly hovering above. Her mane was ruffled and untidy, a stream of colours, as was her tail. She stuck out her hoof, lowering herself down to face the pink Earth pony before her. "The name's Rainbow. Rainbow Dash." with that, she surged into the air, far above the playground, and beyond the blanket of clouds that seemed like a barrier between Ponyville and Cloudsdale. Keeping all the unicorns and earth ponies at bay.

Pinkie had looked around, unsure of what to expect. "Um - Rainbow?" she yelled. Immediately, as if the Pegasus had been listening for a cue of some sort, she emerged from the clouds and began a dive towards the ground. Her rainbow-coloured mane seemed to leave a trail of colours behind her in her rapid descent. Pinkie could only stare in awe. "Wow."

However, as the filly neared the hard ground, it became apparent she had lost control. Her forelegs began flailing about as if she could stop the rush of air beneath her. Her tiny wings struggled to hold her aloft against the speed she had built up.

"I'M GOING TO CRASH!" Rainbow shrieked.

Pinkie winced as the Pegasus collided with a ground, a loud thud resonating in her ear drums. "Rainbow!" she gasped, cantering to her side. "Are you alright?" Rainbow Dash simply groaned, mumbling something beneath her breath and turning to her side.

"Ugh. It didn't work again!" Pinkie cocked her head, a curious expression fixed on her face.

"What didn't work again?" she inquired, bouncing around Rainbow.

"My Sonic Rainboom!" Rainbow wailed, flopping onto her back. Pinkie raised an eyebrow, peering to her left and right as if whatever Rainbow was talking about would magically be explained. "You know, a Sonic Rainboom." Rainbow continued, noticing Pinkie's evident befuddlement. Pinkie simply shrugged, shaking her head.

"No?" Rainbow Dash said, her eyes widening as if Pinkie had just committed a heinous crime. "Well, let me tell you!" Rainbow Dash said, rising to her back legs and holding her hoof up as if she were holding a microphone. "Only this past summer, the marvelous and totally awesomest Pegasus in all of Equestria, Rainbow Dash -" she paused, striking a pose as if for invisible cameras.

"-performed the most rare, most daring, most dangerous stunt known to ponykind. The Sonic Rainboom. She flew so incredibly fast that she eventually caused this massive explosion of rainbows that covered the whole sky for an hour! It was wicked." Rainbow finished. "Thank you, thank you." Rainbow bellowed, taking two sweeping bows.

"And that is how I got this baby." with that, the filly flashed her flank, where the symbol of a rainbow zig-zagging from a cloud was. Pinkie's jaw dropped, her blue eyes filled with wonder.

"Oh my Celestia! That's how I got MY cutie mark too!" Pinkie exclaimed, leaping into the air with a cheery spring in her step. Rainbow flashed her an incredulous look.

"Um, what? What does three balloons have to do with a Sonic Rainboom? You can't even fly, Pinkie!" Rainbow retorted.

"I know, silly! But the first thing that ever made me smile was seeing a Sonic Rainboom.And I would bet my mane that it was your Sonic Rainboom. Oh my goodness! Do you know what this means? We are so totally connected even before we met....." Pinkie had begun to hop in circles about Rainbow Dash as she happily babbled on.

"Pinkie." Rainbow said flatly.

"We are going to be the best of friends! And we can play games and have sleepovers! Oh, wouldn't that be fun-"

"PINKIE!"

The pony's ears flattened as she gave a sheepish grin. "Oops, sorry."

"So wait, you NEVER smiled before that?" Rainbow asked, resting her flank on a soft bed of dew-strewn grass. "Like, ever?" Pinkie shook her head. "Pfft. How do you even manage that? Where the heck do you live? Boringsville?"

"... I work on a rock farm." Pinkie said quietly. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing, holding her hooves over her stomach.

"That's rich, Pinkie!" she smirked, laughing even more. Pinkie frowned, looking awkwardly around. Rainbow stopped. "You aren't joking, are you?"

"Nope."

"Weird." Rainbow shrugged, "I have never heard of a rock farm before. What do you even do with them?"

Pinkie was interrupted as a stout mare with a reddish coat and a white and pink mane trotted from the schoolhouse, tolling a large brass bell to signify the start of class. The two fillies exchanged a smile and slumped their saddle bags over their backs.

"See you around, Pinkie!" Rainbow called, waving a hoof before flying off to the school.

"Save me a seat next to you!" Pinkie yelled, running in pursuit of the filly.

Her only friend.

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