Wings of Friendship

by DemonBrightSpirit

Game Plan

After a very short investigation, several pegasi corroborated Fluttershy's claim that the only pegasus anywhere near Rainbow Dash at the time of the accident was Lightning Dust. Spitfire spent much of the night cutting through legal red tape so that the pegasus in question could be bought in. Finally, after going back and getting a sworn statement from Rainbow Dash's doctor, she was poised to finally confront Lightning Dust.

First thing in the morning, Spitfire met up with two pegasus authorities outside of Lightning's modest cloud home. Silently nodding a greeting to each other, the trio marched up to the front entrance and burst in.

Once inside, the authorities spread out to quickly find and detain the pegasus in question. Spitfire hesitated almost immediately as she noticed torn scraps of laminated paper in the entryway. It was difficult to make out, but kicking a scrap with her hoof revealed it to be the shredded remains of the prize for winning the competition. Dismissing it, Spitfire moved to catch up to the pegasi authorities.

Spitfire found them in the bedroom. The sight before her cooled her anger. Lightning Dust was pathetically looking up at her and the two pegasi from her cloud bed. Her face didn't hold any fear or surprise, only sorrow and regret. Lightning's two-tone hair hung limply across her face, doing little to hide the tear stains matted into her fur.

Tears sprang anew as Lightning Dust's bleary, red eyes met with Spitfire's. "I-I've done something horrible…"

---

Back in Ponyville, Twilight had already changed shifts with Rarity and returned to her library. The first thing she did once she had returned to her home was to rally Spike and send Princess Celestia a letter. When that was taken care of, she focused on what she could do with her own magic and knowledge. What better place to start than her books?

In no time, Twilight wore a confident smile as she found herself in her element. "Spike, grab me that book on anomalous equine anatomy," she insisted as she scanned the bookshelves for anything useful. Grabbing another tome with her magic she added it to a growing pile of books.

"Got it," he acknowledged as he tugged the book in question free. As Spike placed the book into the pile, a knocking sounded at the door.

Twilight paused before abandoning her search. "That must be the girls," she mused as she trotted over to the door and opened it. Sure enough, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were standing there. None of them looked like they had gotten a good night's sleep. Well, except for Pinkie Pie. The party pony practically bounced in place, deftly balancing a confectionery box atop her head.

"Mornin' Twi," Applejack greeted as Twilight let the trio in.

"Good morning," Fluttershy followed suit.

"I brought cupcakes!" Pinkie shouted, causing the other ponies to cringe a bit.

Twilight ushered her three friends to a table. "I have tea on. Be back in a second," she dismissed herself as Pinkie set the box on the table. "Did any of you think of anything that might help?" she called from the other room.

The lack of a response told Twilight everything she needed to know. She walked back into the room with a tea set on a tray floating in front of her in a magenta aura. Setting the tray on the table, she served everypony simultaneously with her magic. Then she sat down at her place and beckoned Spike to take the empty spot next to her.

Instead of the tea, Applejack moved straight for the cupcakes. Opening up the box she found…four and a half cupcakes along with many, many crumbs. "Uh, Pinkie? What happened to all the cupcakes?"

As Pinkie glanced guiltily about, she found several pairs of disapproving eyes looking at her. "I couldn't help myself!" she boisterously confessed. "I get hungry when I'm upset! And I've been super-duper upset with Dashie and all. I just had to have a cupcake! And another! And another! Oh, I'm a terrible friend!" she prattled on as she burst into tears.

Twilight raised an eyebrow before lifting the cupcakes free. "It's still better than nothing, Pinkie," she coaxed Pinkie to stop crying as she floated a single cupcake to everypony, sticking Pinkie Pie with the half-eaten one. It was slightly less gross considering it was Pinkie that had already eaten the other half.

"So what's this plan of yer's, Twi?" Applejack asked after taking a bite of the sugary mini-cake.

Setting down her teacup, Twilight Sparkle sighed. "None of us know of a way to get Rainbow Dash airborne again, so the first thing we need to do is find somepony that might," she reasoned. "I already sent Princess Celestia a letter asking if she knew of any magics that might help."

"Oh, do you think Princess Celestia will know what to do?" Fluttershy demurely asked.

"I certainly hope so, but we shouldn't put all of our eggs in one basket, either," Twilight replied before pointed to the pile of books she and her number-one assistant had gathered. "I'm hoping to find some sort of literature on the matter." She then turned to Applejack. "I was thinking maybe you could go to the Everfree Forest and talk to Zecora. Apple Bloom seems to get along quite well with her."

Applejack nodded. "I'm sure Apple Bloom'd like that, but do yah really think Zecora'll know anythin'?"

"It can't hurt to check," Twilight reasoned before turning to Pinkie Pie. "Nopony else knows the citizens of Ponyville better than you, Pinkie," she praised. "Can you go around town and see if anypony knows of any stories or legends or anything like that relating to wings? Any lead might help."

Pinkie Pie ducked under the table for a split-second before reappearing wearing a combat helmet and camouflage face-paint. "Yes, ma'am!" she firmly asserted as she saluted.

Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie Pie before she set her gaze on Fluttershy. She had to sigh before she could find the courage to speak. "Fluttershy, I…listen," she stumbled. Recomposing herself, she tried again, "I can think of somepony that can almost certainly fix Rainbow Dash's wing, and I think that you are the only pony in all of Equestria that might be able to convince him to help."

"What? Yah know somepony that can fix 'er? What're we doin' sittin' 'round here for?" Applejack asserted as she slammed a hoof on the table.

"We all know him," Twilight somberly stated, "but Fluttershy is the only one that even has a chance to convince him to help us."

Fluttershy was a bit unnerved at how…difficult Twilight was making the task seem, but if could save Rainbow Dash there wasn't anything the timid mare wasn't willing to do. "I'll help any way I can," she volunteered.

Sighing again, Twilight peered into Fluttershy's gentle blue eyes. "I need you to go and try to persuade Discord to come help us. I've already asked Princess Celestia where he is in the letter and—"

"Now wait just a darn minute!" Applejack protested. "Yah can't just ask Fluttershy to do that! Especially not alone!"

"I don't mind," Fluttershy softly said. Perhaps a little bit too softly, as nopony seemed to hear her.

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie agreed with Applejack. "Discord is crazy scary!" she asserted. "Sending poor, little Fluttershy alone to face Discord is just too cruel!"

"It's really not a big deal," Fluttershy mumbled.

Twilight held up her hooves in her own defense. "I never said she had to do it alone! We don't even know where he is yet!"

"I know where Discord lives," Fluttershy quietly claimed.

"Is it even worth it to be in that guy's debt?" Applejack argued. "This seems more like a last-resort plan to me!"

"Girls…"

"We've been on last-resort plans since last night!" Twilight retorted.

"Girls!" Fluttershy finally spoke up loud enough to draw attention to herself. She immediately became self-conscious and tried to hide behind her mane. "Um…I really don't mind going to visit Discord. It's been a few weeks since my last visit. He might be starting to get worried about me."

Everypony, even Pinkie, just stared incredulously at Fluttershy. It took several seconds before Twilight could even form a sentence. "F-Fluttershy, you…visit Discord?" she sputtered out as she stared at the yellow mare with a befuddled expression.

Fluttershy nodded with a small smile. "Of course I do. He is my friend, after all," she claimed as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "I'll make sure the animals are taken care of and pack a bag. I'm sure Discord will be able to help."

"O-okay…" Twilight muttered, still stunned.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Applejack spoke up. "So am I still goin' to Zecora's?"

"It certainly can't hurt to check," Twilight smiled.

It didn't take but a minute longer for everypony to finish their cupcakes and tea. Applejack left to go pick up Apple Bloom to go to Zecora's. Fluttershy went to take care of her animal friends before heading off to see Discord. That left Pinkie Pie to go harass the unsuspecting ponies of Ponyville. At least they would have a good time of it, probably. Twilight Sparkle and Spike stayed behind at the library to scour every last bit of literature in Ponyville for a solution.

In spite of the enormous workload in front of her, Twilight just couldn't help but to smile. With so many ponies exploring so many routes, there was no way they were going to fail. One of them was certain to return triumphant and they would be able to fix Rainbow Dash the second she got out of the hospital.

Setting her mind to the task at hand, she lied down as she brought a book from the pile to herself with her aura. "I'm going to get started on reading through these books," she announced as a purple aura manipulated the tome in front of her. "Spike, go ahead and look for any other books that might help."

"Sure thing," Spike acknowledged with a smile.