Rainbooms On the Mind

by Kevinltk

Chapter 27: Get Better

Waiting was one of the necessary evils that plagued the world, sparing no one of its boring tediousness.

Unsurprisingly, being the speedster that she is, Natalya had a low tolerance when it came to waiting. Her time was precious, and she wanted things to be done as fast as possible. After all, time spent waiting was time not spent on training or winning. While her patience for waiting has improved a bit since coming to Ponyville, she still was easily annoyed when she was forced to idle around for an extended period of time.

Now, however, despite having had to wait around in the hospital for what felt like days while having to sit in uncomfortable plastic chairs that were slightly too small to seat anyone, Natalya barely made a fuss.

Natalya could hear her group of friends, who had all arrived at the hospital not too long after she and Twilight had settled down, talk about the adventures that they went on. However, as enticing as it was to hear more about the exploits and shenanigans her best friend had gotten into, Natalya was barely paying any attention to the stories.

She was much more concerned about the mare herself.

All of Natalya’s energy and attention was focused on watching the doors where Rainbow had went through what seemed like ages ago and was now being treated for her grave injuries from Ghastly Gorge. As promised, Redheart had been periodically coming out to give the group updates about Rainbow’s treatment, and being so eager to hear about Rainbow’s condition, Natalya did not want to take her eyes off those doors so that she could be the first to question the nurse whenever she appeared.

“And that’s how Equestria was made!”

“Wait, what?” Natalya could not help but break her vigil because of the odd statement. She joined another griffon, four ponies, and one baby dragon in staring at a grinning Pinkie, who was standing on her hind legs with her forehooves thrown up high.

“Uh, Pinkie, I know that you girls did some incredible stuff, but I don’t think that sounds right,” Gilda remarked.

“It doesn’t?” Pinkie replied, setting back down on four hooves. “Wait, what were we talking about again?”

A collective groan rose from the group while Rarity informed, “We were telling Natalya and Gilda about how we defeated Tirek, darling.”

“Oh right.” Up went Pinkie’s forehooves again. “And that’s how the Castle of Friendship was made!”

Gilda still stared at the pink pony incredulously, and she looked to the other ponies in the group. Receiving nods of affirmation, she shrugged and conceded, “Whatever, I’ll bite. You girls sure get into all sorts of weird but also cool stuff.”

With Pinkie’s orthodox interruption explained, Natalya switched back to watching the hallway, only to turn her head back when a purple hoof gently rested on her shoulder.

“You doing alright, Natalya?” Twilight asked.

“I’m fine,” Natalya automatically replied.

“You sure about that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “You’ve been antsier than a hog missin’ their daily mud bath.”

“So?” Natalya retorted, shooting an annoyed glare at the apple farmer. “You got a problem with that?”

Applejack held up her forehooves in a placating manner to try and calm the irritated griffon down. “Ah’m not tryin’ to pick a fight with you, girl. Ah’m just tryin’ to say that while we all know that you’re worried about Rainbow, you’re really gettin’ your tail in a twist about this.”

“Well, what else am I supposed to feel? Rainbow got hurt… badly! Of course I’m going to worry over her! And why aren’t you guys doing the same? I thought that you were all best friends with her!”

“Of course we’re all worried about Rainbow,” Fluttershy said, joining in the conversation. “Honestly, I was really scared too when we first got here, but Nurse Redheart has been kind enough to keep us updated. I’m not so worried since it sounds like that Rainbow will be just fine. It also helps that I have my friends here get through this. Do you maybe want to talk about it, Natalya? It could help calm you down.”

“Why do I feel like I’m getting ganged up on?” Natalya asked, her eyebrow rising slightly when she realized that everyone’s attention was now on her.

“We’re not ganging up on you, darling,” Rarity corrected. “We’re just concerned about you.”

“You do seem to be taking this harder than the rest of us,” Fluttershy noted. “We just want to help you, Natalya. We didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

Natalya sighed. “I know, I know. Look, I get that I might be going overboard, but I just can’t help it. I know that Redheart says Rainbow will be fine, but I don’t think that I’m going to feel better until I actually see Rainbow with my own two eyes. You guys weren’t there when she got hurt… It was bad… really bad… I’ve just been all messed up since then.”

“You know, I think I get what you’re going through,” Gilda chimed in. “When I hung out with Rainbow all the way back at Junior Speedsters Flying Camp, we did a bunch of wild stunts, pulled some awesome pranks, and even got into a few fights with a couple of jerks. Obviously, we got hurt more than a few times.

“The thing is, you and I, we’re Griffonstone Griffons. We didn’t exactly grew up in a place that bothered with the friendship and caring stuff. We’ve seen plenty of others get hurt, and hardly bat an eye, however, as I hung out with Rainbow, I started to get weird feelings whenever she got hurt. I didn’t know it back then, but that was when I started becoming friends with Rainbow and cared about her wellbeing. So, uh, yeah, you’re probably going through something like that, but a lot more extreme.”

Before Natalya could say anything, Twilight quickly praised, “Wow, Gilda. That was a very insightful observation. Our friendship sessions are really paying off. I would love to hear more about the differences between ponies and griffons on how they integrate with friendship. Maybe we can find a correlation—”

“Er, Twilight, before you go into friendship nerd mode, maybe we should make sure that Natalya is doing okay?” Gilda hastily suggested.

“Oh, uh, right, sorry,” Twilight apologized sheepishly.

Mulling over Gilda’s words, Nataya remarked, “You’re probably right, Gilda, but it doesn’t really help me much. It just confirms what I’m already doing: worrying over Rainbow. This wait is driving me nuts. I just wish that the docs would hurry up and finish fixing Rainbow up, both for my sake and hers.”

“Maybe you’ll finally get your wish because here comes Redheart again,” Spike announced, pointing behind Natalya.

Natalya promptly turned right back around, and sure enough the white-coated mare had emerged from the double doors and was heading towards them.

“How’s Rainbow?” Natalya asked automatically, just like every other time that Redheart had came to the group.

Redheart smiled. “How about you all go see for yourselves? Rainbow is finally done being treated, and we’ve already moved her into a patient room to recover. I can take you all to see her right now.”

Before everyone else was able to barely make a move to get up, Natalya was already in front of Redheart, ready to go. Nonetheless, it only took a few more seconds for the rest of them to hastily group up behind Natalya.

Once everyone was ready, Redheart led them all down a hallway, adjacent to where Rainbow had went through a while ago. They passed a few patients and doctors as Redheart led them through the hospital’s interior, but Natalya barely paid them any attention. She was just moments from seeing Rainbow again, and she both dreaded and highly anticipated to see the state that her best friend is in.

Before long, the group arrived at a corridor of patient rooms, one which Natalya recognized from her hospital stay in what seemed like eons ago.

“And here we are,” Redheart announced, stopping at the first room in the corridor.

That was all the direction Natalya needed.

Redheart’s forehoof raised to open the door, but Natalya quickly brushed past the nurse, making the mare yelp, and slammed the door open as she rushed inside.

Natalya’s attention immediately zeroed in on Rainbow, who was sleeping in the hospital bed with her body slightly propped up by some pillows and a blanket covering her lower half. Though Natalya already knew that Rainbow was going to be in a sorry state, the sight before her still made her wince as she felt a tug at her heart.

A number of bandages dotted the pegasus’s face, and Natalya had no doubt that there were more hidden under the green hospital gown her friend was wearing. More bandages covered the right foreleg, but the same story could not be said about the other foreleg; nearly the entire leg was bound up in a cast, forcing it into a stiff, straight position.

When Natalya turned her gaze to Rainbow’s most important limbs, the wings, she winced again at the damage. Just like the forelegs, Rainbow’s right side was in a far better state than the left, with the right wing being plastered with only a few small bandages, although also in need of a good preening. The left wing, however, was almost completely wrapped up in bandages, with only the tip of her outermost primary feathers peeking out from the sea of white, sterilized cloth.

“Um, Natalya, do you mind if we squeeze past you really quick?” Twilight softly asked as she broke the griffon’s gawking with a gentle tap on the shoulder.

“Er, right, yeah…” Natalya mumbled, moving up to stand at the foot of Rainbow’s bed so that everyone else could get in.

Each of Rainbow’s friends promptly filed into the room, all of them either cringing or giving the sleeping pegasus a sympathetic look as they laid eyes on their injured friend. Redheart was the last one to enter the room, and she shot a brief annoyed glance at Natalya, but otherwise remained silent as she went to pick up a clipboard hanging at the foot of Rainbow’s bed.

“So, um, how bad is she?” Spike asked.

“The doctors were able to treat all of Rainbow’s injuries,” Redheart explained as she kept her focus on reading from the chart. “No permanent damages or potential long-term side effects have been noted, so Rainbow should be back to her old self once she fully recovers.”

Natalya let out a sigh of relief, along with the rest of Rainbow’s friends. She had a front-row seat from when Rainbow received her grave injuries, and one of Natalya’s worries was that the unfortunate incident would leave a lasting mark on her best friend’s life.

“That’s great news, Redheart!” Pinkie cheered. “So when is she going to wake up? I can’t wait to give her a ‘get well soon’ party!”

Redheart glanced up from the clipboard to sternly glare at the pink pony. “Pinkie, Rainbow has been through a lot and needs her rest. No parties.” Looking back down at the clipboard, she continued, “Anyway, it’s been a while since Rainbow was taken off the sedatives as the doctors finished operating on her. She actually should be waking up pretty soon.”

As if on cue, a groan from Rainbow made everyone’s heads turn to see the injured pegasus’s eyes slowly open and close slightly several times, each blink revealing her eyes a little bit more, until they stayed open halfway.

“Ugh, my head…” Rainbow croaked in a groggy voice. “Where… where am I?”

“Rainbow!” cried out the pegasus’s friends as they crowded toward the front of the bed, only to stop as Pinkie somehow jumped in front of them all as she shouted, “Get well soon!”

Redheart pushed through the crowd with surprising speed and bit down on Pinkie’s tail to drag the pink pony away, dropping her at the back of the group. “Pinkie, please do not shout right in Rainbow’s face!”

With Pinkie taken care of, Redheart quickly returned to the front of the crowd and herded them away from Rainbow. “As for the rest of you, I know that you’re all happy for Rainbow, but please remember that we should not crowd her. Give her room to breathe and settle down.”

“Wha… What’s going on… Where am…” Rainbow raised her head slightly, and her gaze slowly panned over the room, then the friends all staring at her with either wide eyes or concerned looks, until it finally settled on Redheart.

“Oh…” With a heavy sigh, Rainbow flopped her head back on the pillow, took a deep, long breath, and then slowly opened her eyes fully, only to stare listlessly up at the ceiling. “Hey, Redheart. So, what’s the damage?”

“Nice to see you too, Rainbow.” Redheart looked back down at the clipboard. “According to Princess Twilight and Natalya, the first set of your injuries came from crashing into a large pile of brambles at Ghastly Gorge. That explains the numerous cuts that were all over your body. Fortunately, none of them were deep and were all easily treated. Then there’s the part where you were struck by a quarray eel, which is responsible for most, if not all, of your more grave injuries.”

Rainbow winced. “Y-yeah, I remember trying to fly through their nest. Guess that didn’t work out too well. All I remember was that my body was hurting all over, and my wings weren’t doing too hot. All of a sudden, there was a lot of pain—I think it started on my left side—right before everything went dark.”

“The left side is where the quarray eel hit you, which matches up to what the doctors saw when they were operating on you. You were in a frightful state when you were brought in, but the good news is that we were able to treat all of your injuries so that you’ll eventually make a full recovery.”

“Glad to hear that, Redheart,” Rainbow said with a sigh of relief, only to pause as she glanced over her battered body, her gaze lingering on her bound left foreleg and wing. “So, uh, how long exactly until that full recovery?”

“Well, your right side managed to escape any serious injuries, so that part of you should be fine with a few days of rest. Your left side however… To put it simply, you’ve broken a number of bones, including ones in both of your legs and the wing. The doctors’ work combined with Zecora’s potions have helped a great deal in mending them, but I’m afraid that it’s going to be a week before you can walk on your own, and it will probably be close to a month before you’ll be able to fly like you normally do.”

The news of Rainbow being out of commission for so long made Natalya grimace, but noone noticed because they were all busy with their own expressions of sympathy or concern as they watched Rainbow groan loudly.

“Great… Just great…” Rainbow grumbled.

“Sorry, Rainbow, but we fixed you up the best we could,” Redheart stated. “The rest of it has to be left for your body to heal on its own.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know…” Rainbow mumbled.

“Is there anything you need right now?”

“Other than something that would get me out of here sooner? No, not really.”

“You’ll survive, Rainbow. You’re a tough one,” Redheart said with a smile. “Anyway, I’m sorry to say, but I do have to leave right now. I really need to go see some of my other patients. I’ll be back to check up on you later though, but for now, I’ll leave you to your friends. I’m sure that you all have a lot to talk about.”

Redheart hung the clipboard at the foot of the hospital bed as she made her way out, but when she reached the door, she stopped and looked back at the bedded pegasus. “And for the record, Rainbow, I’m glad to see that you’re okay. Call me if you need anything.”

Rainbow offered a small smile back. “Thanks, Redheart.”

As soon as Redheart left and closed the door behind her, Rainbow turned her attention to her friends. “Hey, guys.”

“Oh, Rainbow. We were so worried about you!” Fluttershy exclaimed rushing over to Rainbow’s side. She even used her wings to hover over the bed so that she could scan every inch of the injured mare’s body. “Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need anything? Is there anything I could do to make you more comfortable? I could fluff your pillow, if you want.”

“Easy, Fluttershy,” Rainbow replied with a chuckle. “Just like I told Redheart, I don’t need anything right now. I’m bummed that I’m going to be stuck here for a while, but otherwise, I’m fine. No need to fuss over me.”

“You sure gave all of us a fright, sugarcube,” Applejack remarked. “You really oughta be more careful.”

“Yeah, first the Abysmal Abyss and now this? You sure like to get yourself hurt,” Gilda teased with a grin, but it quickly dropped into a frown. “Seriously though, we just fixed things between us. I don’t want to lose you again.”

“Yeah, sorry, guys,” Rainbow apologized, sighing heavily. “I didn’t mean to worry you all.”

“It’s cool. It’s actually not as bad as you think,” Spike remarked. “Sure, it was rough at the start, but Redheart kept us updated while they were treating you, and we all calmed down when she told us that you were going to be fine. Well, most of us did. Natalya was a nervous wreck pretty much the entire time.”

Natalya glared at Spike and raised her arm to slap the dragon upside his head, but she froze when Rainbow asked, “Really, Natalya?”

“I, um, yeah, I was,” Natalya answered as she turned back to Rainbow. “You were really hurt, dude, and it freaked me out. I mean, only Twilight and I were there to see what happened, and for a while, things looked really bad.”

“Oh yeah, you guys were there at Ghastly Gorge. I do remember waking up a bit to see you guys saying stuff to me, although that part is still pretty blurry. What were you two doing there? Lightning didn’t want any of my friends there.”

“We know, Rainbow, and we’re sorry for going behind your back, but Natalya and I were worried something might happen,” Twilight explained. “We got to the gorge some time before you and Lightning arrived, and I used an invisibility spell on the both of us so that we can watch without disturbing you two. For the most part though, it was Natalya who kept an eye on you since she could keep up with you guys.”

“Yeah, a whole lot of good I did,” Natalya grumbled in a bitter tone.

“So, uh, what exactly happened when… you know…” Rainbow asked.

“What’s the last thing that you remember?” Twilight asked.

“Um…” Rainbow closed her eyes and gingerly rubbed her head with her free forehoof. “Yeah, I remember that I was really struggling with the quarray eels. I guess that the explosion of pain was when the eel knocked me out. I then remember you guys looking down at me, but after that, I got nothing.”

Natalya sighed heavily. “It’s my fault you got hurt. After Lightning pushed you into the brambles, I switched to flying closer to her to make sure that she wouldn’t mess with you again. That was a huge mistake. I was so angry because she hurt you that I didn’t think that I should’ve been watching you instead. By the time I noticed that you were in trouble, I was too far away for me to save you from the quarray eel. You… you were knocked unconscious, and as you were freefalling, another eel tried to eat you. Luckily, Twilight was able to save you with her magic… while all I could do was watch…”

“Natalya…” Twilight said in a soft, comforting tone. “It’s not your fault. You did the best you could, and when Rainbow did get hurt, you carried her from Ghastly Gorge, all the way to the hospital. Not everypony could carry an injured pony that far of a distance, and I doubt even fewer, if any, could’ve done it at your speeds. Rainbow would’ve been in a much worse condition if you hadn’t brought her here so fast.”

“Yeah, you did awesome, Natalya,” Rainbow agreed, smiling at the griffon. “I don’t blame you at all. It’s kind of my fault for pushing myself too hard, but really, it was Lightning who screwed me over in the first place. Speaking of, you guys know what happened to her after my, uh, accident?”

“After Natalya left to fly you to the hospital, I caught up with Lightning and explained what happened,” Twilight replied. “She ended up coming to the hospital with me, and she probably would be right here in this room too, but, um…”

“I punched her in the face,” Natalya bluntly finished.

Rainbow briefly paused. “Wait, really?”

“Yep, broke her nose. She had to get a doc to fix herself up,” Natalya continued with a proud grin.

“Whoa…” Rainbow uttered, staring at the griffon with wide eyes. A moment later, she dropped her gaze and let out a huge sigh. “You know, a part of me thinks that she totally deserved it, and it’s totally awesome that you would do that for me. On the other hoof though, I just can’t help but think how much it sucks that she actually did this to me. Where is she now? Is she still getting her nose fixed?”

“Nope,” Gilda answered with a scowl. “Redheart told us that the sleazeball snuck out after she got patched up.”

“Oh…” Rainbow took a few moments of thought before slowly shaking her head. “Well, whatever. After what she did, I’m not going to chase after her anymore. I got plenty of much cooler friends right here. Speaking of, I really should thank you, Twilight and Natalya, for saving my butt.”

“Anytime, Rainbow,” Twilight answered. “You’re our friend, and we don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Same here,” Natalya agreed. “And with all of the things that you’ve done for me, it’s about time I pay you back.”

“Heh, well, I think you paid me back a ton of times over,” Rainbow said with a chuckle, however, her mirth quickly faded into a frown. “Too bad that I’m out of commission for a while. I’m not going to be able to help you with Sonic Rainboom training, and it’s the best way I could think of to return the favor.”

Natalya’s eyes widened. “I… I didn’t even think about that.”

“With how crazy today was, I don’t blame you. Still, I’m really sorry that I screwed up your training schedule. I know that I’ve convinced you to not go at it so hard, but it’s been a while since we actually done a proper training session, and now it’s going to be even longer.”

“I…” Natalya went quiet as her gaze dropped to the ground.

“Natalya, you okay there? You’re not mad about the training thing, are you,” Rainbow cautiously asked, a bit of fear in her tone.

Taking a deep breath, Natalya replied, “Rainbow, I’m not going to lie. It does suck that I’ll have to put off Rainboom training for a long time, and yeah, this will likely set me back, but you know what?” Raising her gaze back to Rainbow, she stated, “I’m alright with that.”

“Wait, really?” Rainbow uttered, her eyes widened with surprise. “I know how much you want to do the Sonic Rainboom, and I feel terrible that we have to put it off for so long. Maybe when I get out of here, I still can do something to help like coaching or something from the ground.”

Natalya shook her head. “Nope. What I want is for you to concentrate on getting better, and not just because I want you flying with me during training.”

“Are you sure? I just thought—”

“Seriously, Rainbow. I’m kind of surprised that I’m saying this too, but I really do prefer you getting better instead of my training. In fact, I’m gonna be by your side until you get all better, just like you did for me. Well, except for the part where you left for Canterlot, but, uh, you get the idea.”

“Wow…” Rainbow uttered, her mouth slightly agape with amazement. “I, I don’t know what to say, Natalya. Thank you.”

A chorus of “D’awws” made the two flyers look to the side to see all of the ponies staring at them with wide smiles.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Natalya grumbled. “Magic of friendship and all that junk. Now, do you guys mind? We’re talking over here.”

Natalya rolled her eyes as the audience chuckled but also complied as they backed away to the other side of the room. Turning back to Rainbow, she continued, “Anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Do you remember any part of me carrying you to the hospital?”

“Um…” Rainbow scrunched up her face in thought. “A bit, I think. Okay, yeah, I do sort of remember a part where you were holding me close to your body.”

“Do you remember a part where you were going to tell me something?”

“Uh… Honestly, no. That part is really hazy.”

“Well, you didn’t say much before you passed out. You did say how you were glad that I was there and that you liked hanging out with me.” Natalya shrugged. “Whatever, it’s no big deal. I was just curious. You were probably going to say how we’re such awesome friends or something like that.”

“Hmm…” Rainbow went quiet for a few moments, mulling over the memory, until suddenly, her eyes shot wide open.

“Oh…” Rainbow quietly drawled.

“Oh?” Natalya parroted. “So you remember it now?”

“Uh, maybe?” Rainbow replied, nervously grinning as her gaze shifted away from the griffon.

“Rainbow, are you feeling alright?” Fluttershy piped up, immediately rushing back to the bedside. “You’re starting to sound a bit funny. Oh, you’re even getting red in the face.” She then gently touched her forehoof to the injured pegasus’s forehead and gasped softly.

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy uttered, her brow furrowing with worry. “You’re getting a bit warm. Are you getting a fever?”

“N-no, I’m fine, Fluttershy, honest. I, uh… It’s just…” Rainbow whimpered and tried to slide more of her body under the blankets.

“Oh no! You must be feeling cold, and you’re getting even redder, Rainbow,” Fluttershy stated. “I think you are coming down with something. Let me go get Redheart.”

“No!” Rainbow yelped. “Fluttershy, really, I’m not feeling sick. It’s just, uh, it’s kind of embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing? Oh, is it that rash you have on your—”

“No! It’s not that!”

“Perhaps I could take a little guess as to Rainbow’s dilemma?” Rarity ventured, suddenly appearing by Fluttershy’s side to look down at the still-red pegasus. “Rainbow darling, forgive me, but I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation you and Natalya were having. Might I venture that your flustered state has something to do with answering Natalya’s question?”

“Uh, maybe?” Rainbow replied, defaulting to her previous answer.

“I’ll take that as a yes then,” Rarity remarked as she adopted a grin of predatory glee. “Rainbow dear, would you perhaps be more comfortable if the rest of us stepped out so that you could have some private time with Natalya?”

“Um, that… that might help, yeah…” Rainbow meekly answered.

Somehow, Rarity’s grin grew even wider as a high-pitched squeal of excitement emitted from her. Before anyone could ask if she was alright, Rarity quickly rounded up the others and herded them towards the door.

“Come along, everypony,” Rarity ordered without actually making it sound like an order. “Let’s give these two some privacy. I’m sure that the two of them have a lot to talk about.”

The whole time, Natalya had been watching Rarity, her eyebrow rising higher and higher with skepticism as the fashionista questioned Rainbow and ushered everyone else out of the room. Natalya’s eyebrow reached the peak of her physical and suspicion limitations when Rarity, the last one of their friends to exit the room, turned her head and gave a not-so-subtle eye wink before closing the door behind her, leaving the griffon alone with Rainbow.

“Yep, that’s not weird at all,” Natalya murmured as she turned back to Rainbow. “So, we’re alone now, thanks to Rarity, and it seems like she knows what you’re going to say to me.”

“What?! No! She couldn’t know…” Rainbow said with conviction, but a worried frown appeared a second later. “Could she?”

Natalya shrugged. “I dunno. It might help if you actually tell me what she might or might not know though.”

“Oh, right. Okay, well, um, it’s complicated… Like really complicated. It’s feelings stuff, so that automatically makes it a hundred times more tougher.”

“Don’t you tell me to be more talkative with others about things, including my feelings?”

“Yeah, yeah, I do, but just because I tell to be more open about that stuff doesn’t mean that I’m good at it. Just… just give me a moment to work this out.”

“You know, if this is so tough for you, maybe you can do this later,” Natalya suggested. “As much as I want to know what’s going on, you did kind of just woke up from an operation.”

“No, no, I got this… I think… It’s probably the meds or something, but now I feel like I really need to get this off my chest.” Taking a deep breath, Rainbow slowly pushed herself into an upright sitting position to look directly at the griffon.

“Natalya… I think… I… like you,” Rainbow finally stated slowly.

Natalya blinked several times and then her eyelids lowered halfway into a deadpan expression. “Okay, since it’s pretty much well-known that you like me, considering that we’re friends and all, I’m gonna assume that there’s more to what you just said. Otherwise, that was a very disappointing finish after all of that build up.”

“I’m working on it!” Rainbow snapped, followed by a groan. Taking another deep breath, she tried again and said, “Okay, I got this… Natalya… I think… I might like… like… you.”

Again, Natalya blinked a few times. “Okay… So, uh, still learning the friendship stuff, but what does it mean when you, um, double like someone?”

“Haha, very funny,” Rainbow remarked dryly with a small smile. The smile was soon extinguished when Natalya just stared at her blankly. “Wait, you’re not kidding? You really don’t know what I’m talking about?”

“Dude, you’ve been to Griffonstone. Not a lot of opportunity to learn about friendship or all of their special words or phrases.”

Rainbow groaned. “So after all that work, I still haven’t gotten through to you?”

“I’m sorry that my lack of friendship knowledge is making it hard for you to talk about your feelings,” Natalya snarkily replied, her words oozing with sarcasm.

This only made Rainbow groan again but louder. “Alright, fine. I guess here I go again. This is so stupid… I can’t believe you’re making me do this a third time. You know, I’m going to blame you if—”

“Just spit it out already!” Natalya barked.

“IthinkImightbestartingtoloveyou!” Rainbow words suddenly came out at a speed that only Pinkie could match.

Natalya took a few moments to process Rainbow’s response, carefully dissecting the mashed sentence word by word. When she finally interpreted Rainbow’s rushed response, she slowly blinked. “Huh… Rarity was right.”

“Wait, what?! She really did know?!” Rainbow cried out.

“Sort of. She had a hunch that you were developing feelings for me. Said that we were hanging out together a lot and that you were doing a bunch of stuff for me.”

“Oh… So it’s more like a lucky guess then.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you probably already figured it out, but Rarity is really into the romantic stuff. When she’s not fantasizing about her perfect prince, she’s pairing up everypony in Ponyville in her head. I guess after coming up with all sorts of crazy relationships in her head, she was bound to get something right.”

Squirming a bit in her bed and dropping her gaze to the blankets, Rainbow continued in a quieter voice, “So, um, yeah, I said it. I really like you, Natalya. It’s weird how we were pretty much at each other’s throats when we first met, but you’ve really grown on me. I look forward to every time we hang out, and whenever we go flying together, it’s as fun and exciting, if not moreso, as flying with the Wonderbolts. I admire your dedication to improving yourself, even if it does make you annoying and stubborn at times, and I also like how you’re not afraid to say what’s on your mind. You’re fun to hang with, and I guess that things just kept growing until, well, I realize that I started to see you as more than a friend. You know that I have a special connection with the girls, but I really do feel like I have a different but also special connection with you.”

Taking a deep breath, Rainbow glanced up at the griffon. “So, uh, what I’m trying to say is, do you wanna be my mare, er, griffon, uh, girl, girlfriend?”

“Uh…” Though Natalya had been keeping the notion in the back of her mind, thanks to Rarity, she did not expect that the fashionista would not only be right, but that it would be so soon. “I… I don’t know, Rainbow.”

“Oh…” Rainbow uttered dejectedly as her shoulders sagged and her gaze fell down to the bed blanket.

“I’m not saying no,” Natalya clarified, grabbing the pegasus’s attention again. “I just… I don’t know. I definitely do love spending time with you too, not to mention that I’m grateful for all of the stuff that you do for me. Thing is, I’m still getting used to friendship. You’re the first friend I ever made. Before, I didn’t have to really care about anything but my flying, but now that we’re pretty much best friends…

Natalya sighed. “When you got hit by that quarray eel at Ghastly Gorge, I’ve never been so scared in my entire life. I… I honestly thought that I was going to lose you, and that thought chills me to the bone. Even when I safely brought you here, I was all messed up from worrying about you. Caring sucks, man.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Sorry that we’re such good friends.”

Natalya briefly smiled before it faded a moment later. “Yeah, well, I don’t think that I’ve ever felt worse in my entire life like today, and that includes the crashes I’ve been in. At least then only a part of my body feels like crud.”

“So you regret that we became friends?” Rainbow asked quietly.

Natalya scoffed. “Of course not. While today sucked hard, it’s only one day. I definitely don’t regret all of the good times we had together. If anything, today has shown that I care for you… a lot. But do I care because I see you as a good friend, or is it because I’m also starting to get into the love stuff? How am I supposed to tell? How do you know that you’re falling in love with me?”

“And another thing, if I do agree to be your girlfriend, I’m pretty much also agreeing to stay here in Ponyville. It’s not a bad thing, of course, but you do remember what we talked about when I crashed at your place, right? My flying stuff would have to take a backseat. I do like it here in Ponyville, and I like doing stuff with you and the rest of our friends, but at the same time, it’s literally a huge life-changing decision.”

“Natalya, I get it,” Rainbow stated with a smile. “You don’t have to give me your decision right now. I actually already consider it a win when you said that you care about me so much and that you didn’t turn me down. You can tell me what your answer is whenever you’re ready.”

“Yeah, well. I’ll tell you one thing though: all of this friendship and caring stuff sure is making it harder for me to make decisions, and I don’t like it. So here’s what I want to do. I’m not ready to say we’re girlfriends or whatever you want to call ourselves, but I know that so far, all the new stuff you got me try, sometimes against my will, and I usually end up happier because of it.”

“Are you saying what I’m thinking you’re saying?” Rainbow asked hopefully, a gleeful smile rapidly growing on her face.

“Like I said, we’re not girlfriends yet, but I’m willing to keep an open mind, and we can do stuff that will maybe help me decide what I want to do.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow cheered. Her body moved to throw up her hooves in the air in victory, however, her legs barely budged, and instead, her face twisted in pain. “Ow! Ow! Ow!”

Rolling her eyes but also smiling, Natalya stated, “But before those stuff can happen, you probably should get better first.”

“Heh, well, just another reason for me to get out of here as soon as possible, right?” Rainbow replied, giving a smile of her own, although a pained one due to her movements a moment ago.

“And to help me with the Sonic Rainboom,” Natalya reminded.

Rainbow chuckled. “Of course. I’m looking forward to spending more time with you, Natalya.”

Comments

[readsponies]

^yay

[Anon E Moose]

Don't let Rarity spend too much time around Cadence, she'll start taking lessons.

[Backlash91]

Much EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

^^ I AM NOW A HAPPY GRIFFON! Love your story! And now....let the snuggles begin natalya

[Wanderer D]

Aww, I'm glad Natalya is willing to at least give it a try :)

[Starlight Nova]

How many chapters long will this story be?

[Kevinltk]

10021970
Hard to say the exact number, but there's not many more left.