(SiC) Part 8 - They Will Know By Our Love

by Brian Jacko

Finding a Friend

Rainbow Dash was sitting in a wheelchair watching the doctor go through his notes. She had been in the hospital for a few weeks and was now discussing her situation with the doctor.

"It's truly amazing that you're alive," the doctor said. "You're a miracle mare."

"Each and everyone of us is a miracle," Rainbow added.

The doctor smiled. "I won't disagree with that, but your story amazes me. Let's talk about your situation."

"Rainbow Dash perked up a bit and asked, "Do you think I'll be able to fly again soon?"

The doctor shook his head no and said, "I predict that you may be able to fly in the future, but you won't ever be as strong as you used to. Your wings have severe damage from the fall and I really don't see how you'll be able to fly as well again, unless, of course another miracle happens. You will most likely always be suffering with chronic physical pain in your wings."

Rainbow Dash felt two tears trickle down her cheeks. "My Wonderbolt's dream," she said. She then perked up and said, "I can't let it bother me though. I got what I wished for and it was so worth it. I guess I didn't realize what it would be like to one day hear those words."

"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "You're going to have to spend a long time in rehab once your bones heal. I think you're well enough to go home, but we'll be giving you special light exercises to regain muscle strength. You should also look into some kind of special water rehabilitation program that would be right just for you. I heard that they have an excellent program at the gym in Ponyville."

"Thank you," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm already a gym member there."

"That's really all I have to tell you. Work hard and you should hopefully be back in the skies within time," the doctor said.

Soarin' got up and pushed her wheelchair out the door.

The loud clopping sound of hooves against the tiled floor resonated through out the hallway.

"I can't believe they are kicking me out so soon. I wonder if it has anything to do with my insurance," Rainbow said.

"I don't know and I don't really care right now. All I care is that you're healthy and are on your way to getting back on your hooves again," Soarin' said as he walked down the halls.

"How am I going to get back to my house or yours since I can't fly or even get out of this wheelchair yet?" she asked.

"I guess we'll have to find other ways," Soarin' said.

"Fluttershy would help me," Rainbow said. "Let's go see her. I bet that she can take me in for a while."

Soarin' reached the exit and had to track down a taxi. Rainbow Dash told him the directions to Fluttershy's house, and the taxi Pegasus pony helped Soarin' load her into the cart and made sure to double check that the brakes of the wheelchair were secure on the wheels.

The Pegasus pony took off and they were on their way.

Soarin' held on to Dash to make sure that she didn't fall out of her wheelchair.

"I really hope that Fluttershy doesn't mind me barging in like this," Rainbow said.

"Didn't she tell you that you were welcome in her cottage at any time and that she would give the fur off of her back for you if you were ever cold?" Soarin' asked.

"She would do that for anypony," Rainbow answered, "But yeah, I just don't want to feel like I'm putting too much stress on her. She already spends most of her time caring for the needs of the woodland critters."

"There's always Twilight Sparkle's house, right? She has an extra bed upstairs you told me. What about Rarity? She is the generous one. You also have Applejack, who tells me that you're really like an Apple family member to her, or Pinkie Pie who loves to cheer you up."

"That's true. All of my friends would take me in, but I think that Fluttershy might be the best because she knows how to nurse animals back to health so well and she's just.....really kind and gentle. If I'm going to be doing my rehabilitation exercises, she's going to be the best bet to help me out with that, especially since she already knows a lot about aquatic exercise since she attends classes at the gym often and the doctor said that exercise in the pool would really help me out a lot."

"That sounds like a good idea to me. Your friend, Fluttershy is so meek and gentle," Soarin' said.

The two ponies continued to discuss matters until they had landed in front of Fluttershy's cottage.

The pony pulling the wagon unstrapped himself from the cart and then opened up the gate. He and Soarin' gently helped Rainbow out of it.

"Thanks for being so gentle with her," Soarin' said. "How much do I owe you?"

"You're welcome, and that will be twenty bits please," the Pegasus stallion said.

Soarin' gave him a bag full of bits and said, "There's a little extra in there too. Have a good day."

"Thank you, and I hope you get well, Miss."

Rainbow Dash smiled and thanked him.

The Pegasus stallion strapped himself to the cart and flew away back to the hospital.

Right as the taxi left, Fluttershy happened to appear from the side of her house. She was bringing out bags of bird seed for her bird feeders. She placed them down on her front porch and came over to the two ponies. She perked up and said, "Hi, Rainbow Dash! How are you feeling today?"

"I'm still in a lot of pain, but I'm doing better. I got discharged from the hospital today, but I don't have anywhere to stay and I can't go home since I can't fly. I need to be grounded for a while and I need a really good care giver."

"You can stay with me, Rainbow Dash! I have room for you! I know all about nursing ponies back to health."

"Wow, you really are so kind, Fluttershy. I know that you must be so very busy tending to all of the needs of your animal friends," Rainbow said.

"They don't call me the element of kindness for nothing. How about we get you something to eat? I make a really mean vegetable garlic soup."

Rainbow Dash giggled. "Fluttershy? Make something mean? Now this I have to see."

"Oh, it's just an expression." Fluttershy turned to Soarin' and asked, "Would you like to stay for some soup and tea?"

"That actually sounds like a really fun combo. Sure, I'll stick around. Thank you," Soarin' said. He followed Fluttershy into the cottage while pushing Rainbow Dash's' wheelchair.

"You can have a seat here," Fluttershy said as she pulled out a chair for Soarin'. "I'll be right out."

Soarin' pushed Rainbow Dash up to the table and took a seat across from her. "Well, this turned out quite well," he said as he looked around her cottage. "This place seems really nice and the animals seem very well behaved around here. Soarin' felt something slither against his hind leg and he looked down. "Gah!" Soarin' jumped up out of his seat and said, "Maybe I'll take that back! Is that thing poisonous?"

Fluttershy peeked her head in from the kitchen when she heard Soarin' scream. "Sammy?" she asked. She looked at Rainbow Dash and asked, "Where is Soarin'?"

Rainbow Dash giggled and pointed up to the ceiling.

There was Soarin' clinging to the chandelier that was swaying back and forth.

"There's my big tough knight in shining armor," Rainbow said. "Not afraid of risking his life when doing crazy stunts with the Wonderbolts, but is terrified of a little snake."

"Oh, Sammy come back here to Mommy."

The snake obeyed and slithered up Fluttershy's front leg and wrapped himself around her neck.

"What are you doing? That thing can strangle you!" Soarin' said as he pointed his front hoof at her.

"Oh, Sammy is one of my snakes who is sick and I'm nursing him back to health. He's not poisonous, and even if he was, he wouldn't bite a pony." Fluttershy put her hoof under his chin and brought him close to her face. "You're just a sweetheart, aren't you? Show Soarin' that you give kisses, Sammy." Fluttershy giggled when the snakes tongue tickled her cheek.

"You have to understand, Soarin'," Rainbow said. "Fluttershy just has a way with animals and she can speak to them and they can speak to her."

"Wait, so you take care of all of the animals?" Soarin' asked. "What happens when you're taking care of one animal that needs to eat another? Why aren't the little mice and birds freaking out right now?"

"Oh, well, I do feed my animals other animals once they have died. When I release them back in the wild, they are free to find their own food. I couldn't ever feed my animal friends to each other like that when they are still alive. It would be too heart breaking. Sammy knows to be a good boy and not eat anything in here unless I say that it's ok. I keep dead rabbits and mice in little brown papers bags in my refrigerator for him."

"Oh....that's...rather....interesting," Soarin' said hoping not to offend her. He suddenly didn't feel very hungry anymore.

"Don't worry, Soarin'. I keep all of my dead critter friends on the bottom shelf and all of the food that I eat on the top shelf so that way I don't have any mix ups." Fluttershy paused and tapped her two front hooves together in a guilty manner. "Well, there was that one time when I made a slight mix up and gave Twilight something to eat that was...um....I don't think she even realized what she ate and enjoyed it anyway.....Actually, let's just move on from this topic. I'm going to bring out the soup now."

"Hey, Soarin'." Rainbow said.

"Yeah, Dash?" Soarin' asked.

"You can come down from that chandelier now."

Soarin' looked at Rainbow Dash while he was hanging upside down from it. "Oh yeah, sorry about that. Hey Dash, I'm not so hungry anymore, You can have all of the soup." Soarin' fell from the ceiling and picked himself up. "Maybe I'll just have an apple or something."

"Don't be such a pansy pony. I know that you're almost always hungry, like Applejack. Fluttershy only made a careless mistake once and well....Twilight Sparkle just got a little extra protein with her meal. Jesus came to Peter in a vision and said that we could eat the food that was once forbidden anyway, right?"

Soarin' put his front hoof to his face and said, "Ok, fine. I'll eat the food, but if I taste anything funny, I'll go out and bring us both something to eat."

"Sure, that works," Rainbow said. "But I know that she learned from her mistakes and remembers to label the bags."

Fluttershy soon came back with a pot of soup, three bowls, three tea cups, and some silver spoons. She set everything up and then went into the kitchen to bring in her steaming tea kettle. She poured out tea for everypony and then She poured out the soup with a ladle into each bowl. "Be careful, it's hot!"

Soarin' leaned in closer and sniffed his soup. His nostrils rotated several times and the scent that he picked up confirmed that nothing funny was going on. At least to his understanding. "Hey Dash, the doctors said that you should try to do some things on your own if you don't have any pain. Do you think that you can try to pick up your spoon?"

Rainbow Dash tried to bend over to pick up her spoon, but the pain overtook her and she let out a holler in pain.

"Oh, Dash! I'm so sorry. I didn't know you hurt that badly still. I think you took your last pain killer for the day too. Let me come over there and help you." Soarin' got out his seat, but Fluttershy came over to Rainbow Dash.

"I've got this Soarin'. Fluttershy said. "Rainbow Dash is under my care giving as of now. You just sit there and enjoy your soup." Fluttershy winked at him and said, "I put my special ingredient in there."

"Thanks for taking care of her, but what's that special ingredient that you put in the soup?" he nervously asked.

"Taste it," she said.

Soarin' did and said, "Wow! That tastes good, but spicy. It tastes like some kind of pepper is in there."

"Bingo," Fluttershy said.

A dog came rushing over and sat down by Fluttershy and barked.

"Oh, not you sweetie, it's just an expression." Fluttershy turned back to Soarin' and said, "It's a special kind of pepper that's really healthy and improves blood circulation. It's really good for the heart too. It has many other health benefits as well."

"It tastes like Cayenne pepper. I remember when the Wonderbolts all did a daredevil challenge with me based on a fan's special request of putting a tablespoon of that stuff in our mouths to see who could tolerate it the best. I remember seeing Spitfire literally spit fire when she tried it. It's good stuff and tastes great mixed in with food. It's one way to drain sinuses for those who suffer with allergies too." Soarin' blew on his soup and then took several more sips of it. It was delicious and his fears about Fluttershy's cooking vanished when he drank more of it."

"There's also some cut up turmeric root in there to help with Rainbow's pain and some black pepper for her to help absorb the turmeric root. God's food is healing medicine," Fluttershy said.

"So this is going to be the most humbling experience that I think I may ever have. One day I was training Fluttershy how to be a stronger flier and it seems like the next day, I'm sitting here being spoon fed and will be having her rehabilitate me."

Fluttershy dipped Rainbow's spoon into her bowl and brought the spoon up to her mouth. She blew on it a few times and said, "You'll get through this, Dash. You helped encourage me to exercise at the gym and showed me the value of working out. Now, I know this is going to be very hard for you being that performing at sports and games are so very important for you, but we're going to need to take it slow and make sure that you heal correctly. You'll be back in the skies doing Sonic Rainbooms in no time!"

Rainbow Dash put her head down. "The doctor said that I'll never be able to fly strong again."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash. We're not going to think of you any differently whether you can fly or not. We're just happy to have you back and that's all that matters."

"Thanks Fluttershy. It just hurts deep down inside to know that I never got to perform with the Wonderbolts. It's one dream that has been shattered."

"I understand Rainbow Dash, but we need to be grateful for what we have and our accomplishments that we have made in the past. We're tremendously grateful that we have you back." Fluttershy put the spoon closer to her mouth and said, "We should also remember that doctors do not have the final say, but God does. Remember, the doctors and nurses pronounced you dead and yet you're alive again."

"Wow, you're right, Fluttershy. Thanks for the kind and true words. I guess the loss bothers me a bit. I hope that I don't sound like a hypocrite to you all. It's just that the loss is still tragic even if deep down inside, I know that great things are still to come. I guess in due time, I will get used to whatever new limitations that I may have. A pony came to know Christ and that alone is worth the loss and suffering."

"Dreams can be shattered, but new and humble beginnings can begin and turn into something greater than what we can even imagine. We're never going to leave your side, Rainbow. You taught us what it means to have a true and loyal friend. Now open up and down the hatch!"

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth and let Fluttershy feed her.

"We're going to have a great time together and I'm going to have my little birdies sing you lullabies to help you fall asleep." Fluttershy called out for one of her best singing pet birds. "Oh, Melody! Come here and meet Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy extended her front leg expecting the bird to come and land on it. After waiting several seconds she began to panic a little bit. "Um, Melody? Are you here?" Fluttershy rushed into the kitchen and called for her pet bird, but she could not find her. She came back in and looked at the pot of soup with horror. "Oh no!" I hope that she didn't fall into my pot of soup! Sometimes things fly and land in my soup. Bats especially since they are blind. Sometimes, birds keel over and die and fall into my food. I have so many other animals crawling on my walls and flying around my house near where I'm cooking too, but I don't think Melody was that old. Um, you might want to look away, this might be ugly."

Soarin' put his front hoof to his mouth in an attempt not to vomit and Rainbow Dash shook her head no several times in disappointment.

Fluttershy carefully lifted the lid off and looked inside. "Melody?"

The moment she called her name again, a singing bird popped out of her long pink mane and whistled a tune. "Huh?" Fluttershy listened to the singing voice and perked up. "Oh Melody! I was so worried about you! I almost forgot that birds like to nest in my mane because I have such a long mane. Melody please say hi to Rainbow Dash."

The singing bird sang to her happily.

"Your mane would make a great nest for a bird, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said. "Pinkie Pie's mane would too."

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash turned to see Soarin' hunched over and was breathing heavily as he fanned himself with his front hoof.

"Are you having a panic attack, Soarin'?" Rainbow asked.

"Kind of. I just really thought an animal critter friend of Fluttershy's fell into the pot of soup after I drank that entire bowl. I'm ok now, really," he replied in between coughing.

Fluttershy looked at him and then looked back at Rainbow Dash with worry.

"He'll get over it," Rainbow said.

The three ponies talked about taking care of Rainbow Dash and set up a special routine for her.

Soarin' carried her off to the sofa in the living room where she nodded off to sleep. Being in pain was exhausting to her and she would need a lot of rest.

Fluttershy would be sleeping in her bed upstairs. She left a few nocturnal animal critter friends to keep watch on Rainbow Dash in order to come alert her if Rainbow Dash needed something.

Comments

[DarthWill3]

Hope Dashie gets back in tip-top shape.
It's so nice to see Fluttershy and Dashie have more sister-to-sister quality time.
Imagine: Soarin' afraid of a harmless little snake.