The Past of a Shy Mare

by Songbrony

A Memory for a Life

I quickly followed them out of the forest and into a blue box. The Doctor and Rainbow's mom put Rainbow on the ground by a large cylinder. "Doctor, is she alive?" her mom asked.

"I don't know, give me a second." he replied as he ran over to a screen.

"Doctor!" she shouted back at him.

"She's alive, but only barely. Clarrise must've hit her in the head when she sent her flying back. Her wing is fractured, ribs fractured...oh Celestia..." he said quietly, covering his mouth.

"What?" I asked. He ignored me. "Doctor! What is wrong?!" I exclaimed.

"She... She has a punctured lung. One of her ribs is a few centimeters from her heart. She won't survive unless we get her to a hospital." he said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked.

"Because if she does survive, she'll be brain dead. The trauma your mom caused to her brain is too severe. Her brain is already losing Oxygen due to her punctured lung and by the time we get to the hospital she'll have lost too many brain cells. She'll be a vegetable. A beating heart, but no concept of feelings, emotions, thoughts." he explained. "It would be just like she was dead."

I collapsed onto the ground in shock. This is all my fault. Even though I tried to stop her from being hurt, I still failed...Just like every other time. I thought.

"There has to be something we can do." Rainbow's mom said.

"I wish there was Firefly." he said.

"She's your god daughter! I know that there is something we can do! An ancient spell or a medical device that your TARDIS has!" she exclaimed.

"I know but it would be too painful and too much for anyone to handle!" he shouted back.

"What do we have to do?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not doing it." he told me.

"Doctor! It's my fault that she's like this so tell me what we have to do!" I shouted at him.

He sighed. "There's an ancient spell, centuries old that has been banned from use due to how it can be used. It requires a Unicorn to pull a memory out of a pony close to the target and use that memories energy to cause safety or harm to the targeted pony. Most of the time it was used by the Shadows as a way to get information."

"How does that help us?" I asked.

"The other side of the spell can be used to heal another, sometimes even bring them back from the dead. It requires taking a strong, powerful memory full of love and compassion and using that love to heal or bring back the pony who is injured or dead."

"Then why haven't we done it yet?" I asked him, getting frustrated.

"Because it's lost in time. I don't know any pony who knows the spell and is willing to use it." he said grimly.

"I do." Firefly said. "The Princess. She used it to bring back some of her most trusted followers from the brink of death and used it to torture other members of the Shadows."

"Why would she do that?" I asked. It didn't seem like the Princess do to that sort of thing.

"You have to realize Fluttershy that it was a long time ago. It was during a time that could have torn Equestria apart. Drastic measures had to be taken. But she knows the spell and she may be willing to do it if we both asked her to, Doctor." she said.

"But who would be the one who did it? I won't let you do it Firefly because we'll need you to fight the Shadows and I won't have Fluttershy do it because she's too young and it would be too cruel." the Doctor said.

"I'll do it!" I said frantically. "Whatever it is that needs to be done, I'll do it."

"Fluttershy..." the Doctor groaned.

"Please. It's my fault for leaving and choosing to go with my mom. I had hoped to keep Rainbow Dash safe, but it only put her in more danger." I explained. "I'm responsible for this, so I have to be the one to fix it. What memory do you need?"

He looked to Firefly and then back to me. "The only memory that would be strong enough to save her would be the memory of your love for her..." he said quietly.

"Then do it." I said quickly walking up to him.

"Fluttershy if I do you'll forget you loved her. You won't remember anything about how you felt for her earlier and you'll never feel that way for her again. Are you sure you want to give all that up?" he asked me.

"If it'll save her, yes." I told him. "Besides, if I don't she'll die, or if she survives, she'll be brain dead, right? She might as well be dead in that case..."

The Doctor looked at me. "You really have changed since I saw you as a filly."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You used to be so shy, so afraid of everything. But now, you're fighting for her and are willing to give up your most precious memory to save her." he said.

"Well it's all because of her." I said, looking to Rainbow Dash. "If it weren't for her, I'd still be shy and afraid. I'd probably even join the Shadows if she hadn't been my friend."

The Doctor nodded his head. "You won't be the same mare. After the spell is over, you'll be that scared, frightened little pony you were before."

"That's fine. My dad can't harm me right? And if my mom finds me, she won't have any reason to turn me into a member of the Shadows because I won't have any aspects that she's looking for." I said.

"Okay...I'll call the Princess." he said, walking over to his terminal.

Firefly walked over to me. "You don't have to do this." she said. "I have more memories than you do with Rainbow Dash and I'm her mother. I should be the one who does this."

"But like the Doctor said, you need to be able to fight the Shadows. And it's better for all of us if I'm the one who does it. I'll lose the things my mom needs from me. If she loses the things you need then she only benefits." I said. I put a hoof on her shoulder. "It's okay. I can do this."

I saw a tear go down her cheek. I never really noticed how different Rainbow looked from her. Firefly was pink with a blue mane and tail while Rainbow was, well, Rainbow. I didn't remember her dad too well. When they came and visited for the first time, I didn't pay much attention to them, only what they were saying and worrying about Rainbow Dash and how she was affected by it.

"You remind me of her." she said. "She really has rubbed off on you."

"And now I'm going to use that to help her." I said.

She pulled me into a tight hug. "You're like my daughter Fluttershy. I know I haven't been here for either of you, but I love you like I do Rainbow Dash."

I couldn't help but cry into her mane. "I love you too." I said.

There was a knock on the door and we separated. The Doctor ran over and opened the door, letting the Princess in. "Doctor."

"Hello Celestia. Thanks for coming. I wouldn't pull you away from your duties unless it was absolutely important." he said.

"I understand. If I'm correct you want me to cast a spell that I had personally banned centuries ago." she said.

"Yes. It's to save a life though." he said.

"And who's life might I ask?"

"My daughters." Firefly said.

"Ah, Firefly. I'm glad to see you're safe. I'm terribly sorry about your husband." the Princess said.

"We can do that later, right now, Rainbow Dash needs you." she said.

The Princess walked over to her and looked her over. "I think the spell will work on her. What's the internal damage?" The Doctor told her his findings. "I see. And the memory is powerful enough to heal this?"

"Yes." I said.

"She's offered to give her memory of her love for Rainbow Dash to help keep her alive." the Doctor said.

"I see. And she did this willingly?" she asked the Doctor skeptically.

"Yes. I wouldn't push that on her. I didn't even want to use the spell because of what it does." he said defending himself.

"Alright then." She walked over to me and knelt down to my eye level. "Are you ready?" she asked. I nodded my head, looking at Rainbow. "Okay. I'll give you a few minutes to say whatever you want to her before we begin."

I walked over to Rainbow. She hadn't moved, but I saw her face growing pale. I knelt next to her. "I promise Rainbow, I'm going to fix this. I'm sorry. I never wanted this to happen to you." I said. "It's thanks to you I'm able to do this. If it weren't for you, I'd probably be with the Shadows." I let my tears stream down my face. "I...I love you...Dashie..." I cried out. I kissed her forehead and walked over to the Princess.

"I'm ready." I said.

"Okay. Doctor, strap her down." she said.

"Fluttershy, if you will." he said. He led me to a table in another room and I laid on my back. He strapped me down tight. "Fluttershy, I find it admirable that you want to help Rainbow Dash. So I'm going to do something to help you both." he said. He put his hoof on my forehead and closed his eyes. I felt a slight tingly sensation for a few seconds before he removed his hoof.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I placed a protective barrier around your conscience so that way your mother can't find you. She was using a dream integration device again to locate you." he explained.

"Oh...Okay." I said. "Umm... Doctor? When this is all over, please, don't tell Rainbow I did this. I know her and she won't like it."

"I understand. I'll make up a story to keep you safe." he said.

"Thank you." I said.

There was a beeping coming from the terminal. "Doctor!!" I heard Firefly shout. He ran into the other room.

I listened into what they were talking about. "Doctor do something!" she shouted again.

"No...No! Celestia, you have to do the spell now. She's dead and she can't stay dead for too long or the spell won't work." the Doctor exclaimed.

I saw them rush into the room. "Are all the preparations taken care of?" she asked.

"Yes." he said.

"Will this hurt?" I asked her.

"Yes, Fluttershy. And I'm so sorry you have to go through this." she said.

"Okay." I said quietly.

"You can still back out if you want to." Firefly said.

"No. I have to do this. She would do the same for me if I were in her situation." I said. "And it's the only way to bring her back." I said, tears rolling down my face.

"Alright. Let's get started." she said.

The tip of her horn started to glow and I felt a slight tingling sensation on the back of my head. "Well, this isn't so bad." I said. In the next few seconds though, the brain shattering pain blew through my body. I screamed in pain. My head was on fire, my wings, felt as if they were being ripped in half and my body felt like it was being ripped open from the inside out.

"Hurry up, Princess." Firefly said.

I let out another shriek as my brain exploded in pain. I had never felt anything like this before. It was worse than any beating my dad had given me. I screamed as tears rolled down my face. It's for her. It's for Rainbow Dash. I thought every time I thought about quitting.

I saw the Doctor walk in with Rainbow Dash on his back and he placed her on the ground. "Rainbow...I...I love...." I tried to say, but my screams overwhelmed my ability to speak. My vision started to fade to black. The last thing I saw was Firefly crying over me before I blacked out.

Comments

[Allie Astra]

So very touching. Self-sacrifice is the ultimate form of love. Ironic, though; giving up love for the sake of love... My friend has just informed me that this idea is not original to this story... you didn't happen to get this from Lost Girl, did you? If so, I'm suddenly happier, knowing what lies ahead. If not, I just hope Fluttershy can recover her ability to love Rainbow-Dash again (otherwise you couldn't post the rest of this story in the FlutterDash group. LOL)

Cheers mate,
Alaester Nikolai Modern.

[Songbrony]

3879620 I've never even heard of that story. This entire series I plan on doing with this and the first one have all been original with no thoughts from other stories. I may use certain aspects of Doctor Who to move the story along, but I do my best to not copy another work I've read.

[Allie Astra]

3880759 Oh. Well, good job!... and darn; now I don't know what lies ahead, because I haven't read the other story.

[thenerfherder1000]

Wow! People seariously need to read the other story. The other one is fan-freakin-tastic! READ IT!