Two Eyes, One Heart

by Tropical Applejack

Chapter Six - Force to be Reckoned With

The walk back to Ponyville was accompanied with, not Discord, but a setting sun and a sky full of pegasi placing several storm clouds into position. A recognizable pair of purple twins, Flitter and Cloudchaser, descended upon seeing Rainbow Dash enter the area.

“Hey, Dash!” the first said.

“How’s it going?” asked the other, and the other quickly followed up with another question before Rainbow could answer.

“We heard about you and Pinkie, and we both agree that it’s pretty cool you two are so open about it!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled casually and gave a small nod. “Thanks, girls. What’s with the clouds? Didn’t we have a pretty big storm two days back?”

“Yup! But the weather factory kinda went a little haywire for a bit, so we have to let the clouds empty themselves.”

“Huh… mind if I join you guys later when it’s time to clear ‘em out?”

Flitter, still hovering a few feet in the air, shook her head. “Not at all! See ya then!”

The twins flew back up to another small group and helped with a particularly big rain-cloud.

“RAINBOW DASH!” a voice shouted from somewhere nearby. It was definitely Twilight’s; Rainbow could tell before she had turned her head and saw her galloping over. The unicorn stopped momentarily to catch her breath. “Rainbow! I just got done telling the princess everything.”

“Good to hear. Are you alright? You look like you’ve been running forever.”

“I HAVE been! Once I got to the part where you two got struck by lightning, she told me to come get you two immediately. You could be in a LOT of trouble if you’re not indoors by the time the storm hits!”

“It’s just a storm,” Rainbow half-muttered.

“It’s not the storm; it’s the lightning! Do you know where Pinkie’s at?!”

Dash nodded quickly, beginning to get more nervous. “She said she’d go to tell Rarity about her and I.”

“You started telling everypo-”

“We can talk about that LATER, Twilight!”

* * *

“I’m sorry, darling! I had no idea it was so urgent! Pinkie left a little while ago and said she was heading somewhere secret. But I think it’s absolutely fabulous that-”

“‘Someplace secret’?!” Rainbow shouted through the wind that had built up over the couple of minutes it took to get to the Carousel Boutique, “She must have meant the meadow!” Dash spread her wings apart and prepared to get there as fast as she could.

“Wait, Dash..!” Fluttershy started, “Let us help you!”

Rainbow folded her wings back, swiveled her head around to the three of her friends. All it took was one look at Twilight’s horn for the blue pegasus to hatch an idea. “Twilight, quick! Can you teleport us there?!”

The wind almost roared completely over Twi’s response. “I can try!” she yelled back, lighting her horn and encasing the group in a ball of magic that didn’t last longer than a second.

The first drop of rain fell as they were instantly ported to the very edge of the meadow not far from ponyville. All around, the sky darkened and practically became one long blanket of storm-clouds. There wasn’t a sign of any living thing until Rainbow spotted the tree a few hundred yards away. It took another few precious seconds to see the vague figure that was Pinkie Pie in the distance. Rainbow pointed it out with a quick shout. “There!”

The other friends gathered by Rainbow and helped in raising a collective yell to her. “OVER HERE!”

Pinkie looked in their direction. She tilted her head in confusion as they started running. It was dry under the tree; maybe that was why..?

From the sky fell many more small droplets into the manes of the four running through the now wet grass. They began to huff as the clouds above rumbled.

“Hi, Dashie!” Pinkie squealed - oblivious to the danger she was in.

The rain was falling fast now as the wind continued to blow hard against the path of her friends. Rainbow was the first to see the sky lighting up above the tree. “PINKIE!” she cried, “GET OUT OF THERE!”

Hearing a crackling noise from above, Pinkie turned her head up. “Huh..?”

BOOM!

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight shielded their eyes as the lightning struck down on the pink pony. The only one unable to look away was Rainbow Dash, who only blinked from the flash and watched Pinkie. Dash’s marefriend was instantly changed by the weather.

Pinkie Pie’s hot pink mane and tail frizzed up as they did the couple of days before, but they were also left badly burnt. Her coat was very much the same. What concerned Dash more was Pinkie’s eyes. The life in them… the blue shine of her irises… just faded like a forgotten dream. The mare collapsed on the ground.

“Oh my gosh… Pinkie!” Rainbow called out as the wind began to die down ever so slightly. She ran to the burnt body and knelt beside it, eyes tearing up. “No, no, no… wake up, Pinkie. Wake up. Please!” The pegasus took a hold of Pinkie’s still-hot hoof and pushed it against her face in the hopes of rousing her in some way with the feeling of her lover beside her.

This attempt was futile, but it helped Rainbow do something else; she felt something inside Pinkie move. “A pulse!” she shouted, “SHE’S ALIVE!” Rainbow yelled back to her friends before getting Pinkie secured in her front hooves. Dashie took off for the Ponyville Hospital, and she didn’t slow down or look back for anything.

* * *

The waiting room was sterile and silent. It only took a couple of extra minutes for the rest of Dash’s friends to show up. All except for Twilight; she’d apparently told the other two she would go to Sweet Apple Acres to get AJ. Rainbow paced the room as the others took a seat - occasionally muttering a curse or two to herself every few minutes.

The well-renowned Doctor Horse entered from a set of double doors wearing his standard medical attire and a thin coat of ash over some parts of his white clothing. Walking over to Rainbow Dash, he bowed his head down and sighed. “She gave us some trouble; let’s just say that. Her heart stopped twice, and I’m not lying when I say she was testing our skills.”

“But d- did you save her..?” Dash asked sheepishly.

“It was difficult, but we managed to get her stable. Now is the time I ask you; do you want the bad news or the good news first?”

“Just tell me what I should know… please….”

“Okay. If there’s nothing else that can be said, I’d let you know that the both of you are extremely lucky to have lived through that first strike you told me about, and it’s miraculous that she survived the second. Now for the bad news.”

“Oh boy....” she thought.

The doctor’s voice bordered on somber when he next spoke. “She hasn’t woken up yet, and the chances are that it’s going to take a while for her to stir at all.”

“You mean she’s in a..?”

“Exactly. Tonight will be the hardest part for her,” the doctor looked behind Dash and at the two friends that still remained. It wouldn’t be long before the other two arrived. “And we ask that you all stay here to help her through it. As for you, Rainbow, we’ll need you to stay here overnight so that we can treat any effects of the first lightning strike.”

“What about Pinkie’s ‘effects’?”

“She’ll receive the same treatment as you, miss Dash. Only when she awakes will we know if there were any lasting detriments to her well being. Please, come with me.”

The yellow stallion led Rainbow Dash through the set of double doors and down a long hallway. The rainbow-maned mare followed behind him, looking through all the door windows she passed hoping to catch a glimpse of her love. In one window, the curtains were drawn. In another, there was a grieving family. Inside the last one she was able to look in was a normal unicorn with a fractured horn being treated by the kind Nurse Redheart.

Doctor Horse stopped at the entrance to a door on his right. He kindly ushered Dash in and left her to get what he needed. He came back a bit later with a hospital gown, an IV bag already set up on its rack, and a small bottle of pills: probably some sort of powerful drug especially designed for her and Pinkie’s situation. Rainbow wrapped the gown around herself and tied it onto her back as she was meant to. Then she got into the hospital bed and watched while the doctor hooked her to the IV rack and set the container of drugs on a small, wooden table within Rainbow’s reach. “Can I trust you not to try to overdose?”

Rainbow Dash huffed and crossed her arms. “I’m not like that.”

“Good,” Doctor Horse gave a lighthearted chuckle, “because you can’t overdose with these anyway. I just needed to know if you were going to drain our resources. These things don’t come cheap you know! Anyway, would you like me to get you some reading material? Daring Do, perhaps?”

Dash glanced around the room. She could’ve sworn this was the exact same room she was in when she first got into Daring Do - but that wasn’t what she wanted. “Can you just bring me a pen and something to write on?”

“One pad and pen coming up!”

Once Doctor Horse got back in the room, Rainbow Dash was already looking at the clock on the opposite wall and counting the seconds until she’d get to get out. He laughed a bit to himself as he handed her the pad and pen. “About the pills, miss Dash? Just make sure you take at least two before you go to bed. Take another every two hours after you wake up, and you should be okay to go home within a day or so.”

Rainbow nodded, grabbing the pen with her wing and making a quick note to herself. The doctor gently closed the door behind him as he left. The pegasus prepared to get writing.

Comments

[Prismfire Productions]

what the buck man...

-grabs pitchfork-

[Tropical Applejack]

7799535 Might wanna read the status of the story before going crazy.

[Crimson Dawn]

DUN DUN DUN!

[RemareShadows]

>never strike twice in the same spot
>oh wait

[TheMobFighter]

Imma Kill You Someday Lightning