Wings of Friendship

by DemonBrightSpirit

Square One

Fluttershy slowly approached Twilight's door. Her task to get Discord to help out Rainbow Dash had been an utter failure. She had to tell her friends, even though she didn't want to. For the second time in as many days she would have to crawl to the ponies most dear to her and break their hearts.

"Oh! Fluttershy!" an elegant voice greeted just as Fluttershy dragged herself to Twilight's door.

The timid mare looked up to find Rarity fast-approaching. "Um…h-hello Rarity," Fluttershy timidly greeted.

"You won't believe what I've just heard from the nurses!" the white unicorn announced as she brushed by Fluttershy and knocked on Twilight's door.

Fluttershy couldn't wait for Twilight to get to the door. "Is Rainbow Dash going to be okay!?" she urgently asked.

Rarity sort of shrugged as she tilted her head to the side while Twilight opened the door. She was trying to tell Fluttershy that she would tell her inside, but the message just didn't seem to get through.

"Rarity! Fluttershy!" the alicorn greeted. "I hope you have good news!"

"Good, and bad," Rarity announced as she entered the library to find Applejack and Spike. "Where is Pinkie Pie?"

"Still harassin' the good folk of Ponyville, I reckon," Applejack answered. "What's the news?"

"Oh! Yes!" Rarity exclaimed. "Well, it turns out that this morning a team of distinguished doctors from Canterlot arrived to help with Rainbow Dash's recovery. Word has it that they were sent to help by Princess Celestia herself!" she regaled the room. "Thanks to them, Rainbow Dash is now in stable condition and starting to recover! Isn't that just marvelous?"

"That's great, Rarity," Twilight tentatively smiled. "So…what's the bad news?"

Rarity frowned as she looked down and traced tiny circles on the floor with her hoof. "Well…they say they can't do a thing about her wing, and they still said that she might end up with some other permanent injuries. Only time will tell," she guiltily revealed as she looked around at the sad faces. "I take it you girls haven't found a way to fix her wing?"

All eyes found their way once more to Fluttershy. "The Princess and Zecora were unable to help," Twilight sadly announced. "What did Discord say?"

Fluttershy withered under the expectant stares. She was actually on the verge of tears as she tried desperately to disappear behind her pink locks. "I-I-I'm s-sorry!" she apologized as she failed to contain her tears. "Discord…he w-won't help!"

"Can't say I'm surprised," Applejack muttered as she sat next to Fluttershy and draped a leg around her. "It ain't yer fault. I'm sure you tried yer best."

"Um…" Spike spoke up as he wrung his claws together in worry. "What're we gonna do now?"

Several glares fell upon Spike as Fluttershy's sobbing amplified. It was an open and honest question—the only problem was that the baby dragon was so concerned with Rainbow Dash's fate that he neglected to take into account Fluttershy's feelings.

"I do have more news!" Rarity tried to change the subject in an effort to assuage Fluttershy's guilt. "They said that Rainbow Dash is awake now, but that they won't allow visitors until at least tomorrow morning."

"What? Why?" Twilight turned her attention away from Fluttershy and stared at Rarity. "If she's awake, why can't we go visit her?"

Rarity sighed. "They say she won't be cleared for visitors until after visiting hours are over," she regurgitated the things the nurse had told her. "I just can't understand why. But! I can think of somepony that they might let in to see her early," the elegant unicorn hinted as she looked to Twilight.

Being a princess was not something Twilight particularly cared for. Using her newfound status to manipulate others? That was far beyond the studious pony's comfort zone. But still…waiting another night before being allowed to see Rainbow Dash was going to drive her absolutely batty, not to mention the begging stares of her friends. They were just as worried and she was the only one that could possibly alleviate their fears.

"I…I'll go see what they say…after Pinkie Pie gets back," Twilight reluctantly relented. "I want to see if she's made any progress."

A silence crept in. Fluttershy had obviously stifled her sobs, but nopony quite felt like celebrating. Rainbow Dash might be on the road to recovery, but they were all at a complete loss as to how to restore her wing. Already Princess Celestia had come up empty along with Zecora. And while Discord was apparently able, he wasn't willing.

"Hey," Applejack spoke up. "Discord ain't gonna help, but that don't mean he ain't capable, right? Why don't we go give him what for and make him fix Rainbow?"

Twilight watched Fluttershy a moment to see if she was going to say something. When it became obvious the pegasus wasn't about to, Twilight spoke her mind. "I'm certain Fluttershy tried her best to do just that. And if Fluttershy can't make him help, what can the rest of us possibly do? Do you really think that the Princess would condone us taking the Elements of Harmony and threatening him?"

Applejack looked down as she grit her teeth. It was a pleasant thought; strapping on the Elements and beating Discord into submission. But, as always, Twilight was right. They couldn't just go and do something so brash. "Yer right, I guess," Applejack relented as she poked the floor with her hoof. Logic be darned, she wanted to thrash Discord. Refusing to help Dash and making Fluttershy cry—that guy certainly deserved a good working over.

"Um, actually," Fluttershy spoke up as soon as there was a silence quiet enough that she could be heard. "Discord told me why he wouldn't help."

"Because he's a no-good snake in the grass!" Applejack interjected.

Fluttershy shook her head. "He…um, Discord said he wouldn't help because he seemed to think that…well, that we could do it all on our own."

"On our own?" Twilight skeptically repeated Fluttershy's words.

"H-he mentioned you, specifically, Twilight," the shy mare replied.

Twilight just lowered her head. "I don't see how. We don't even know where to start—what to do."

After a second of silent contemplation, Twilight snapped her head back up. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she glanced about. "Spike! Where is the letter Princess Celestia sent me!?"

Spike scrambled over to a nearby shelf and pulled a scroll free. In a flash it was wrapped in a purple aura as Twilight snatched it away from Spike and unfurled it in front of herself. As her eyes darted over the page, her door burst open to reveal a pink pony with a confectionery box atop her head.

Pinkie Pie plodded over to her friends and dumped the box on the floor. She then sat down heavily as she frowned. "Sorry girls, I talked to everypony! Nopony knows a thing!"

"Uh, Pinkie?" Applejack spoke up as she looked into the box. "All that's in here is…a used napkin…and a rock," she accused as she pulled the items out.

"It was an apology cake."

Applejack just grunted as she shoved the box aside. "We didn't have a bit of luck either," she informed Pinkie. "We're back to square one."

"Are you sure there wasn't anything? A rumor perhaps?" Rarity prodded.

"Nope, nothing at all," Pinkie mournfully replied before her demeanor rapidly shifted. "Rarity! You're back!" she excitedly stated the obvious. "Does that mean Rainbow Dash is okay!?"

Rarity frowned. "Well, yes and no," she explained. "She is going to make it, but the doctors still can't do a thing for her wing. She's awake now and…" Rarity trailed off as she realized with Pinkie back, Twilight was now free to go see Rainbow Dash! "Twilight—"

"I've got it!" Twilight excitedly exclaimed as she set the letter aside.

"Got what?" Applejack asked.

"What Princess Celestia was trying to tell me! What Discord is expecting me to do!" Twilight enthused. In an instant all the girls and Spike were gathered in front of the purple alicorn.

"Do tell!"

"Yah can fix RD?"

"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!"

"No spell exists that can replace Rainbow Dash's wing properly," Twilight explained. "So all I have to do is create one!" Instead of the awe she was expecting to be met with, all she found was her friends staring dumbfounded at her.

"Make a spell?" Rarity warily questioned. "Don't get me wrong, the magic you can do is absolutely astounding. You even finished that Starswirl…thing. But can you really just fashion a spell like that?"

Twilight's confidence clearly wavered at the accusation. "I know it's a stretch, and, honestly, I don't even know where to start," she muttered as she sat down.

After a moment's contemplation the alicorn adopted a determined expression as she stood and stamped a hoof on the floor. "But none of that matters! I know it won't be easy and it's probably not even possible for me to do it on my own, but with my best friends to help me I'm confident that it can be done! I will come up with a way to make a spell to fix Rainbow Dash's wing. I don't know what all it might take, but I'm sure we will be able to find a way to make it work, together."

After a moment's silence, Twilight's confidence seemed to falter again. Taking a couple of steps over to the alicorn, Applejack stood at Twilight's side as she held out a hoof. "I'm in. Whatever it takes!"

"Whatever it takes!" Pinkie agreed as her hoof met Applejack's.

"Of course, whatever it takes," Rarity joined in, daintily meeting the other hooves with her own.

"Whatever it takes," Fluttershy repeated in a surprisingly firm manner as her hoof joined the rest.

"Yeah! Whatever it takes!" Spike proudly proclaimed as he threw his claw in.

"We are going to get Rainbow Dash's wing back, whatever it takes," Twilight smiled as her hoof landed atop the rest.

The entire group smiled as they, for the first time, felt confident about being able to help Rainbow Dash. It was because they were no longer relying on the boons of Zecora, Princess Celestia, the citizens of Ponyville, or even Discord. They were relying on their closest friends. The friends they all knew would never let each other down, especially on something this important.

"So!" Pinkie spoke up as the huddle collapsed. "How're we gonna make a new spell to save Dashie!? I bet it'll be amazing!"

Twilight smiled sheepishly as she stood there. "I have no idea!"

---

OUTTAKE

---

"Wait, wait, wait," Pinkie practically shouted as she used her front hooves to emphasize her words. "Didn't Twilight get two wings from that cuh-razy spell when she became a princess!? Just use that spell on Dash! She'll have three wings!"

"Well, it's not that simple," Twilight stretched her wings out. "I sort of got my wings from Princess Celestia when she made me a princess."

"So…it wasn't the spell?" Pinkie asked as she flopped down on her rear, her face contorted in concentration as she struggled to understand.

Twilight shrugged a bit. "You know, it wasn't really all that clear, but I'm going to go with no."

"You mean you don't even know!?"

"Hey! Magic is vague, fickle, and mysterious!" Twilight defended herself.

Pinkie contemplated a moment as she rubbed her chin. "Soooo…what we need to do is get Dashie to be a princess!"

Twilight facehooved. "No," she denied as her hoof trailed down her face. "That would just give her a horn."

"WHAT!?"