> Lead Hearts and Feathered Wings
>  by maddox078
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Separation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What do you mean you 'Just can't do this anymore'?”

“Exactly what I said, Rainbow.”

Despite the soft projection of those words, a harsh sting pervaded them.

“So....you're saying that-”

“I'm saying that I'm done with....'us'.”

A grim silence rang out, interrupted only by the sounds of passing ponies oblivious to the world enveloping the two mares.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash sat in mutually growing discomfort on the black stone terrace of a downtown cafe.  The orphan words of nearby conversations made home in the exhaustive silence following the yellow pegasus' declaration. 

After full minutes passed their silence was punctured, giving way to the prismatic mare's vocalized denial.

"Y-you're joking right?  You can't be serious..."

Fluttershy merely lowered here gaze in response, coveting the isolated serenity of hiding behind her mane, meekly shaking her head in dissent.

Rainbow's response, as a result of growing indignation and authentic confusion, was far less subdued.

“What the hell??  What did I ever do but treat you as my whole world?  I've stood up for you countless times, I've been there when you needed a shoulder to cry on; heck, I've even taken an interest in things I can't stand, simply because you love them!”

Fluttershy's previous expression of grim conviction softened at the rebuttal, her vision racing to every sight but the magenta eyes bearing down on her. 

Taking note of the momentary collapse of her partner's resolve, Dash continued.

“So why would you take me out here to a public place, on an otherwise perfect day, and tell me you don't appreciate the things that I do for you?”

Somewhere on the ground beneath her, Fluttershy must have found her confidence once more, as she looked back up after Dash's words and attempted once more to bear down on her acquaintance.

“Not things that you do, things that you did,” she replied in both a hurt and shaming tone.  

Her resilience did not last long though, for immediately following the retort her eyes began to water.  A lone betraying tear carelessly matted down the fur on her face before leaping from the edge of her snout and bursting upon the cold stone ground below.

The pegasus attempted to continue on with her deliberation, but struggled against her own wavering voice.

“You used to do all of those things, you used to make me happier than I can ever remember being.  You did stand up for me, you did comfort me, you did work to find common ground, and I know I was your whole world, and I loved that most of all.....”

The fragile mare shook under a heavy sob before continuing.

“But all that's gone now, and has been for a long time.  Now I'm left with a strange mare that I don't know, and I don't love.”

Her confession became a borderline soliloquy as she did her best to avoid Dash's unreadable eyes, speaking almost solely to her quavering hooves. 

“Ever since you started your own flying team here in Ponyville, I haven't seen much of you at all.  And whatever I do see of you, isn't really even 'you' anymore.  I seem like nothing more than a chore to you, an afterthought to your career with your team.  You've come home late almost every night for the past two years, leaving me on my own at home, at least until you get back, tired and cranky.  On a good night, I'll wait for you and rub your hooves when you flop down onto the couch, listening to you complain about all the things your recruits are doing wrong.  But on a normal night....I'm already in bed when I hear you open the door, swearing loudly at the pain in your muscles as you rummage around the kitchen for some poor excuse of a meal.  Then you clamber up the stairs to the room and pay no heed to waking me up, sometimes even having the audacity to proposition me for intimacy.”

The pain in her voice mixed with the recently infused venom of her last sentence, creating a tone so haunting the Everfree itself would not find it hospitable.  Such juxtaposition of a lethal tone from such a calm and loving mare would've made anypony familiar with her cringe in abhorrent repulsion. 

The curious eyes and ears of nearby patrons began to abscind their attention from their own conversations in favor of the shameful, voyeuristic pleasure of observing the death of one of Ponyville's most well-known and revered relationships.  

“You never have time for me anymore, except to take advantage of the love I give you.  You don't even talk to the girls anymore, unless you need something.  Rarity told me about how awful you treated her after she designed and made your team outfits last month.”

The cyan mare looked immensely hurt at hearing such words from somepony that was supposed to be her friend.  But anger soon overtook agony, as she slammed her hooves upon the patio table as an extension of her outrage.

“Is that who put you up to this?  I knew it had to be one of the girls, and Rarity has always hated me.  I knew she didn't think I was good enough for you, and that our 'conflicting personalities' would do nothing but breed trouble.  That mare is nothing but a backstabbing bit-”

“For Celestia's sake, Rainbow!  Rarity didn't tell me to break up with you, this was my own decision!  At least, it was after the girls brought your behavior to my attention weeks ago.  I thought long and hard on what they said about you changing and becoming so selfish.  Only then did I see how you've been using me.  Up until that point, I thought you were just needing extra attention to help you through your difficult time at work.  But I can see past that delusion now.”

The small mare, with misting azure eyes hidden deep behind a long pink mane, slowly rose from her seat without ceremony.  Seeing this, Dash immediately got up as well, jabbing a hoof into the mare's chest to prevent her vacation.

“Where do you think you're going?” 

The pleading bitterness in her voice made her rhetoric clear, bluntly informing her 'friend' that there was no right answer to her question.

In a subtle twist of irony, the yellow pegasus ignored her former lover.

Fluttershy brushed Dash's hoof off herself and headed towards the small set of steps that led off the cafe's terrace and onto one of Ponyville's main thoroughfares.  The haunting silence from before writhed its way amongst the two once more, existing as the only remaining bond between them.

“Oh,” the cream-colored mare exclaimed in sedated surprise.

“I almost forgot, the house is all yours.  Celestia-knows you've paid more for it than I ever did.  I'll be by later this week to get some of my bigger things out of there.”

“Wait!” Rainbow's previously brushed aside hoof rose once more in desperation.  “Where are you going to live?  Have you even thought this through?”

Fluttershy turned back to face Rainbow and deliver one last tepid look.

“Of course I have, Rainbow.  My house never really sold when I put it on the market before we moved into our downtown place.  I'll just go back there, the familiarity will do me well.  Goodbye, Rainbow."

Her head hung low, the gentle mare trudged her broken soul down the cobbled streets under a late autumn sun.




> Reflection
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rainbow Dash sat at the island bar in her kitchen, staring blankly into the reflections in her coffee of the dim overhead lights which futilely fought to stave off the darkness of the cold night outside.  She'd been there for hours, the coffee now nothing more than bitter sludge that denied her sleep, the one possible means to escape her pain.

She had done nothing but reflect on the words spoken to her almost a week ago by her now ex-lover.  It had perpetually enveloped her mind, eclipsing any concerns of hygiene or diet for days and showed no signs of waning.  

In all that time she could do nothing but ask herself if maybe Fluttershy was right about her.  

Was she really that selfish?

Did she take her for granted?

Rainbow's current bout with these queries continued to affirm her resolution that she held the moral high-ground.  Fluttershy was blowing everything out of proportion, making Dash seem like the villain.  

How could she expect Rainbow to not give 110% towards her life dream?  This was her entire reason for being; she lived to fly, and everything else in life took the backseat.  Fluttershy had known that since they were little fillies.  So why the hell was she berating and abandoning her for doing just that?

The nerve of that cowardly mare.

Like Fluttershy had said herself, Dash was the one who paid the bills around there, while her child of a marefriend went prancing around the woods helping animals do what they could likely do on their own, like find food or shelter.  Maybe she was better off without her anyway; if Fluttershy was actually right about Dash treating her like a chore, then maybe she really was one?

Her team, the "Rainbow Renegades," was scheduled to appear at an invitation-only aerobatics tournament in Baltimare a week from tomorrow, and Rainbow did not have time for things like this.  She only pleaded with her mind to allow herself perfect focus in training during the upcoming week; to neglect the drowning sensation that had been enveloping her as of late.

The pegasus sighed deeply as her head dropped to the granite countertop, emitting a painful sound that echoed off the empty walls in hard admonition.  She didn't know what all she could do right now, except play through her emotional fragmentation as if it were the physical pain of her training that she was so accustomed to.  If only she knew how to handle this kind of strain.

Rainbow had never been a mare of particular affinity towards romance, but it was hard not to make a change in her attitude after everything that had come to happen between them. All those shared secrets and fears, the times they helped stand each other up; a history of two hearts all beginning that one harrowing night nearly four years ago.







It wasn't often the timid pegasus found herself wandering the streets of Ponyville after nightfall.  But every once in a while Fluttershy forced herself to stray through town on a clear night, when the moon would act as a silver sun and the stars backlit the thin wisps of cloud into an exalted sterling fog. 

Tonight was a night particularly rife with cosmic splendor, met harmoniously by a firm breeze that made the aged timbers of the Everfree sing ethereal songs that flowed amongst the web of cottages and cobblestone.

She had no real direction, the main purpose of her expedition was defiance against her fears and anxiety of the dark that attempted to keep her within the numbing walls of her home, away from the splendid vista above.  So tonight she decided she'd walk to Carousel Boutique, on the other side of town from her humble cottage, then circle back and savor the euphoria of resting her hooves within the swaddling comfort of her bed with a little tea to lull her to sleep.

It was an odd state of amenity that beset her when she walked through the empty streets; she felt tense from the darkness around her that housed an infinity of fears, but simultaneously placid from the sensory splendor innate to these hours of the day.

As her hoofsteps fell in sedative synchronization, they carried on with the sounds of the wind off the surrounding houses.  However, when she breached the nest of homes into a small open plaza she became grimly aware that there was another set of hooves sounding off behind her.

The gentle mare felt her heart race in terror.

She slightly quickened her pace to subtly check if she was indeed being followed, and felt the previous serenity give way to the sensation of her blood chilling when she observed the second set of hoofsteps now mimicking the elevated tempo of her own.

Her mind had little time to imagine the worst-case scenario for her, as a hidden voice gave newfound personification to the disembodied steps that had been stalking her for Celestia-knows how long.

"Hey cutie, why are you walking all alone?  I think you need a little company."

A gangly-looking griffon now leaned on the terrified mare, establishing that it wasn't a pony she had heard at all.  The unkempt griffon slithered a wing full of greasy feathers over her back as he leaned his mouth in to her ear once more.

"Can't say I've ever been with a pony before, but hey, there ain't nothin' unnatural about this, right sweetheart?" 

A wicked grin of malice and lust seeped out from his dark heart upon the worn beak he now pressed against the mare's frozen face.







Let it never be known that Rainbow Dash, enemy of egg-heads everywhere, had a stark fascination with astronomy.

Truly, it was mostly just star-gazing, but she did make the effort to learn the names of the constellations and even a little of the physics behind the distant stars.

She loved resting on the field of silver clouds around her home, alone at night with her back to the ground and her heart to the sky.  Up there she could get closer to the stars than anypony below, and she challenged Twilight's flimsy telescope to give any a better view than she now held.

But stars weren't the only thing she watched on nights like these.  She knew that Fluttershy sometimes took midnight walks about town when the weather beckoned her from her home.  Whenever Fluttershy spent an evening under the stars, she also spent the night under Dash's surveillance.

Rainbow couldn't blame her for wishing to explore the parallel world of the twilight, lit silently by the bright moon and sparkling stars that lay infinities away, but seemingly just out of hoof's reach.

As she always did on her nights under the dark blue sky, Dash checked occasionally to see if Fluttershy had also made the trek outside that evening.  She never called out to the tiny yellow mare below; she didn't want to intrude on such a private spectacle.  But she did keep a close eye on her to make sure she was safe.  

No one was going to hurt her closest friend.

This night, by chance, Rainbow heard faint hoofsteps echoing from the maze of cottages below.  The pegasus lazily rolled over onto her belly and peered her snout over the edge of her cloud.  Sure enough, she saw a tiny yellow and pink blur far down below.

"Hey 'Shy," Dash called out sleepily to nopony in particular.  Where was she going this time, Dash pondered.  She continued watching her friend from afar, feeling slightly guilty at her voyeurism, but all the same enjoying a little pony-watching.  

Fluttershy was taking aimless turns through the softly-lit streets, clearly more interested in the journey than the destination.  Maybe if she asked, Fluttershy would let her join sometime.  After all, they hadn't really had a meaningful conversation in a while, and lately Fluttershy seemed to be feeling-

"Hey who the heck is that?"  Rainbow's thoughts were interrupted as she shot upright on her perch, narrowing her eyes in an alarmed glare.  Staying at least a block behind Fluttershy at all times was a dark-winged individual.  The figure clearly wasn't some innocent pony on a solitary walk of their own, Dash could see them stopping and peering out at the yellow mare from behind cover every now and again.

Rainbow immediately knew something was wrong.  She flared her wings outward and bared her teeth in anger before launching off the clouds with her powerful legs.  She had to get there fast, this pony was up to no good.  Well, they wouldn't be for long at least.

Folding her wings in, the cyan pegasus screamed through the high-altitude nocturnal abyss, not entirely sure of whether the watering in her eyes was from the wind or fear for her friend.

Within moments she could make out the shadowed stalker, and saw it was a griffon.  The perpetrator had approached her already and dragged her down a dead-end back alley, away from the shaming lights of the street.  Once she was closer, she could see the griffon was.....'positioning' himself with the mare.

The timid mare made no sound, she merely stared at the wall in front of her in abject horror.

"Why aren't you making any noise, you stupid mare?" The griffon huffed out in frustration.  She made no effort to reply; no crying, no yelling, nothing.  The thug gave up and was about to begin his heinous act.

Without a moment's notice, an iron-shoed hoof erupted from the sky and smashed into the griffon's face, sending him careening back into the street before he could commit his crime.

Without giving him time to realign his vision from the dizzying blow, another cyan hoof wrapped around his fragile neck and slammed him into a nearby lamppost.  Despite the nearby light, he saw only darkness now, consigned to the immense pain flowing through him like the blood leaking out of the vicious gash on his head.

A light across the street turned on and cast the illuminated shadow of somepony peering out their window at the scene before them.  Without hesitation, they burst out the door and into the calamity outside.  The beige candy-maker that emerged stared with wide eyes at the livid mare looming menacingly over a whimpering and bloodied griffon, and then at the yellow pegasus in the alley behind them, slumped over and unmoving.  In panicked confusion she cried out.

"What the hell is going on out here?!"

The mare with blood on her hooves looked up and spoke laboredly, trying to diffuse some of her adrenaline-soaked rage so as not to terrify the new arrival.

"Call the police, NOW."

The candy-maker nodded and took one last moment to take in the scene before bolting back inside her shop towards the phone hanging over the counter.







Fifteen minutes later, the two pegasus friends were leaning on each other on the back of a police wagon, one heavy blanket wrapping the two together.  Across the street from them the griffon was being questioned by the two officers that arrived a few minutes prior.  He wasn't being cooperative, only staring down at the ground with a look of indescribable hatred marring his features like the newly acquired wounds on his head.

After a few more minutes of fruitless interrogation, the officers helped the mares off the wagon and loaded the aggressor in the caged back.  Before departing, one of the law-enforcement stallions carefully approached the victim and her savior, a look of earnest concern about him as he knelt down beside the traumatized, shivering bundle of blanket and yellow fur.

"Miss, are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?  Something like this is a very serious strain for mental health, and it is extremely important to have proper guidance in your recov-"

"NO......I-I just want to go home, please."  The previously reticent mare spoke her first words before breaking down in shaking sobs.

Dash and the officer locked gaze.  She spoke to him gently over the miserable bundle beside her.

"I'm not letting her out of my sight.  When she's had a day or two to calm down from this and be more at terms with it, I'll take her to a therapist, kicking and screaming if I have to."

The stallion rolled the idea over in his mind for a moment before looking down at the quivering blanket below him. He knew she should be somewhere she was comfortable right now, so when he looked back up at Dash's eyes, he solemnly nodded in assent.  Without another word he walked back to his partner and hitched himself up to the wagon.

Rainbow and Fluttershy watched as the vile creature in the back was hauled off into the darkness like the feral beast it was.  Once it disappeared around the corner, Dash looked down at her friend, who was resolute in avoiding her gaze.  

She knew words could only help so much right now, like trying to scrub disease out of the bloodstream.  So she wrapped her quavering friend in her wings, trying to shield her from the empty night around them, then hugged her as tightly as she could until she felt the tears dry up against her shoulder.







The walk back to Fluttershy's place had been hauntingly mute.  Dash kept her eyes peeled on every corner and alleyway, prepared to fight again if need be.  However, they fortunately arrived at the secluded home of the pink-maned pegasus without further incident.

Fluttershy lingered outside the door and Rainbow quickly picked up that she was wanting to say something.  She focused her gaze on the mare until it was returned.  Dash placed a hoof on her friend's shoulder and smiled wearily at her before constricting her in another embrace.  After a moment, she felt the gentle vibrations of a voice like glass speaking largely muffled words into her coat.

"Could, could I please stay at your house tonight?  I-I know you've already done enough and I don't want to be a burden.....but I just can't stay down here on the ground.  All this fear, I can't take it, I just can't.  Celestia, I'm so scared, Rainbow!"

Dash looked incredulous at the request, making Fluttershy feel as though she truly had overstepped her bounds, until Rainbow finally spoke up.

"'Shy, you shouldn't even have to ask that, of course you can stay with me.  What the heck kind of friend would I be if I left you alone after.....all this?"

There was no reply, Fluttershy merely buried her face deeper into the warm, soft coat of her friend.  They remained in each other's grasp for an indiscernible amount of time.  

At the end of it, Dash slowly pulled away and spoke with a whisper, "Come on, let's go home."

The pegasi began to trot briskly down the road until their wings managed to lift them from the earth and above the haunting shadows of the trees below.

After a brief flight up through the increasingly chilling air, they alighted upon the cloud steps of Rainbow's home before entering the front door.  The main entrance opened to a small rotunda housing a few stone statues of previous Wonderbolts, situated on the wood floor that lay level on top of its cloud foundation.

Without a word, Fluttershy followed Rainbow as she walked through the open living room ahead and into the kitchen at the far end.  Dash pulled two glasses from a cabinet and filled them with apple juice from the fridge.  They each took a seat across from the other at a small table underneath an open window.  The bright moonlight that filtered in through it created a deep contrast of shadows along the contours of the mares' faces.

Both friends drank greedily from their glasses in an effort to drown the words in their throats they were too afraid to speak.  However, once the amber liquid had drained from each of their cups, it could no longer delay the inevitable conversation neither wanted to have but both knew they must.  Rainbow decided to begin while transferring the dirty glasses to the sink.  

"So...." She started before trailing off, leaving a hanging silence contested only by the dishes clattering in the sink.  "H-how do you feel?"

The quiet friend shook her hung head slowly as the horror in her glistening teal eyes wrote volumes in response.  Dash internally grimaced at the abject sight, its marring of her own resolve causing the concerned pegasus to sigh heavily.

"I'm so sorry Fluttershy, I'm not very good at emotional comfort, but know that I will fight tooth and hoof to help you through this.  I won't let that monster's actions have the chance to scar your beautiful heart or destroy your faith in others!"

She continued speaking as she slowly walked over to the table again, never breaking eye contact with the pony sitting there.

"I am here for you always, both as an open ear and shoulder.  You can stay with me as long as you want, but you have to promise me you'll talk to a therapist here in the next couple days......Please?"

She arrived at the table to a face that wielded its sad eyes and trembling lips to prick Dash's heart with a painful steel sorrow.  But the woeful mare soon rose from its seat and wrapped her hooves around the mortal angel before her, crying softly as she gently nodded her head.

"I will...." She answered in superfluous silence, so that only the pony before her could hear the vulnerability in her voice.  Dash gave a weary smile as she rubbed her friend's back gently and maternally.  

"Hey 'Shy?" 

The pair of previously sad eyes now looked up at her in childlike inquisition.

"How about we get you to sleep now, huh?"

Rainbow was answered with the tightening of the mare's hug before she let go, then nodded in agreement once more.







The lonely mare sitting under the revealing light in her empty kitchen broke from her dark abstraction.  Though her mind had left the nightmarish recollection, the sorrow that pervaded it did as well, following her into the present.

Her head still laying on the cold countertop, Dash regretted not being able to painfully drop it again.  She hadn't thought about that whole episode for some time now.  Bearing the feeling it now left her with, she could easily see why.

Still, it opened her heart up in a way that revealed just how long it had been since she really felt anything like that.  Her life since founding the team had been populated with nothing more than feelings of frustration or fleeting successes.  Any degree of an intimate bond with anypony else, be it friendly or romantic, seemed to be entirely drowned out from the by-products of chasing her dream.  It left her feeling less than equine. 

In that moment, the years of denied emotion began to turn on her.  Her brain was flooding itself with the backlogged feelings she had neglected, overloading her mind until a sense of despair spread like venom through her trembling body.  

Being too much to bear, the poison started leaking from her in the hot tears that flowed quickly down her face.  Memories also began coming back in agonizing waves.  She was remembering the therapy sessions she sat in on for the months following the horrible incident, as well as the more personal type of therapy they began engaging in where Dash and Fluttershy would sit up late at night on the clouds outside Rainbow's home and talk about the things they feared and the events that created those anxieties.  Rainbow had grown to feel that getting to truly understand a pony was a matter of seeing what left dents in their armor, rather than what made it shine.

But eventually their friendship was no longer about fear or pain; as time went on Fluttershy saw Dash keep her promise she made that painful night.  Rainbow had been there for her like she said, from trying to make her laugh and be happy every day, to taking her in when she showed up at 3 A.M. after having a recurring nightmare of the ordeal.  

Loyalty had indeed found a living embodiment.

All of that time spent together, and all of the personal knowledge exchanged between them had been secretly growing a new bond in their hearts.  A bond neither of them had ever considered.  Dash could still remember when she first saw it, that night when-

She groaned in frustration as she placed her hooves on her head, trying to silence her mind from replaying that painfully happy memory.  She was getting nowhere with all of this thinking and mindless reflection, so she rose from her seat and left the cold, unappealing coffee on the counter as she laboriously stepped up the creaking stairs to their.......her bedroom.

She couldn't face all this right now, and probably not when she woke up either.  But, her mind needed to rest and that might at least make it less unbearable.  Fluttershy's pain had faded, so surely hers eventually would as well, right?

The defeated mare had no answers for herself as she flopped down onto her unmade, and now over-sized bed.

Sleep took her away quickly, but rested neither her body nor mind as she shook from vivid nightmares for the next six hours.














> Acceptance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rays of late morning sun filtered in through the slatted blinds and highlighted the dust and filth floating in the air of the gloomy room.  In there, a pegasus lay in fitful slumber.  She yearned to wake up from the nightmare enveloping her, but could not discern the dream from reality, as it accurately reflected the pain and frustration she had come to know as of late.  

A disagreeable reprieve soon greeted her however, as she shook from a fit in her sleep and rolled off of the bed.  The corner of her nightstand proved to be quite solid as her skull made waking contact with it.  Dash's eyes opened mere moments prior to her embrace with the wooded floor of the bedroom.  The aching sound had no trouble filling the quiet, messy room.  Rainbow swore loudly as she pushed herself up, taking a moment to look around the room through shut, groggy eyes.

This was not going to be a pleasant morning.

After a moment of cursing her existence, she dragged her sluggish hooves to the connecting bathroom and splashed lukewarm water over her face.  The displeasing sensation served well in restarting the rusted clockwork of her mind.  

Dash stared at her reflection for a good long while, the strain of her nightmares showing in the dark pockets under her dry eyes.  The sight further eroded her mood and caused her to spend a few minutes fixing her mane before assessing herself once more in the grimy mirror.

Once again, her inanimate projection managed to beat her down, the sight being no less pitiful than before.  She let out a sigh bred from a mixture of frustration and suppressed sadness before turning away from the mirror and heading for the stairs.

Nearly a week's worth of dirty dishes closed in around her as she emerged from the stairwell and into the bright, natural light filling up the kitchen.  The pegasus ignored the feeling of disgust that even she felt at the sight of the decaying food lining a tower of plates and glasses precariously tilting out of the sink and various surfaces around the room.

Rainbow made her way to the tall refrigerator adjacent to the odorous sink and picked out a cup of yogurt while filling a glass with water.  She carelessly tossed the two onto the table in the corner bench at the front of the room.  Her eyes drifted to the wall-lining windows, taking in the sedating sight of countless individuals addressing their errands for the day.  Some carried bags in their mouths, others sat at the outdoor tables of restaurants, and more than one pony was trying in vain to wrestle their children back to their side.  The whole sight was unbearably banal, irritating in its consistent flow despite her own life recently screeching to a halt.

When she had finished her breakfast, the sullen pegasus left the remains at the table and listlessly cantered over to the front door, donning a magenta scarf before reaching for the handle.  Upon stepping out into the street and hearing the latch click behind her, she felt an alien sense of freedom wash over her; her troubles seemingly confined to the ensnaring walls of her home.

The sky-colored mare had no destination, no goal in mind.  It was a liberating sensation to accent her mood.

She decided to set off down the packed road towards the center of town, all the while taking passing glances in the windows of homes along the street.  In many of the glass portals she passed, she spotted happy families jovially sharing their morning with each other, usually over a big home-made meal.  Her envy of the sight eventually managed to stop her in her tracks; feeling the recurrent loneliness falling back on her.  It began threatening to take over her mind and drag her back down, but Dash was determined to have this day as her own, not to be weighed down by heavy thoughts.

After a few blocks she turned down another busy street that merged into Everfree Plaza, hopeful to find emotional placation in aimlessly inspecting the wares on display in the market square.  Once there, she let her attention be commanded by the numerous bright colored tents all around her, drifting between everything from grocers to pawn shops.  She took note of nothing that lay before her, instead being distracted by the recurrent hollow feeling that engulfed her like the heavy breeze spilling the chilled autumn air over the marketplace.

Wanting a break, she trotted over to the fountain in the center and took a seat on the damp edge of the stone basin.  She buried her face into her scarf and resigned herself to simply enjoying the soft sounds of the feature's flowing water drowning out the dozens of voices around her.  

Dash relished the isolation the knit fabric afforded her, much as she had been growing to love the absence of others altogether lately.  The blue mare sat idly for a while, content in observing other ponies frantically run about with their fleeting objectives in mind.  She always loved being lazy and watching others run themselves ragged while she kicked back.  Heck, on more than one occasion she had watched her co-workers buck clouds all day while she rested on a nearby but out of sight tree on her day off.  The masochistic grin didn't leave her face that entire day.

Despite fleeting attempts by her heart to relapse into her misery, Rainbow was enjoying the serenity, finally feeling like there was a life for her beyond what had happened.  True, her love was gone, and when it was uprooted from her heart its snaking tendrils took with it the love she held for her dreams and passions.  She hadn't taken to flight in ages, her lead heart pushed her down to the earth each and every time the urge for freedom rose in her chest.  But she realized there was a cunning solace to how her world and those around her were ever-changing; there is no permanent salvation and no permanent damnation for anybody.  Through this, time can and will heal all wounds.  Dash was far from 'healed,' but seeing the joy she now derived from simple pleasures like walking through the leaf-blown streets on a bright afternoon gave her an emerging sense of calm, and quite possibly even hope.

The first smile in a week's time began to spread across her features, venting the poison of sorrow from her veins as she re-emerged from the cotton cocoon of her scarf, leaving her smothering isolated 'comfort' behind.  It was likely, she thought, that keeping herself busy would be the ideal painkiller while the ends of her wounds stretch tirelessly towards each other, yearning to close the vulnerable hole in her core being.  

So, her mind started to shift back into a familiar groove as she now tried to tackle her favorite kind of problem: what to do with an empty day?  The pondering pegasus hadn't been allotted even a full minute of thought before a familiar sound redirected her concentration. 

"Hey, captain, over here!"

Her magenta eyes scanned the surrounding area for the voice vying for her attention.  She soon spotted a dark purple pegasus sporting a sky blue bodysuit with prismatic accents on the ends of the hooves and neck.  Rainbow instantly recognized the pegasus as one of her top recruits for the Renegades.  

"Oh.....hey Amethyst," Dash replied in a listless tone, unintentionally conveying her distaste for the chance encounter.

The stallion paid no mind to his superior's tone of voice, however, and simply looked at her with a quizzical expression.

"Um, I know it's not my place to question your decisions, let alone your personal life, but where have you been this past week?  You haven't shown up to practice at all and me and the others were starting to get really worried.......but none of us particularly wanted to go knocking on your front door and disrupt....whatever it is you've been doing."

Amethyst attempted to speak with confidence and dignity, but failed to prevent his fear, or 'respect' as Dash liked to call it, from saturating his words and causing him to hesitate noticeably.

Rainbow wasn't as irked about his question as she was that he had shown up at all.  She hadn't given much thought to the team the past week, and now she had to think on her hooves to prevent her image from slipping in the eyes of one of the most important fliers on the team.

"Look recruit, I admit I should have contacted you all about my absence, but you had it right the first time in saying that my personal life is none of your business.  Everything's fine, I've just been feeling a little ill.  That's why I'm here to begin with, I'm going to visit a friend of mine in the Everfree to get a remedy and be back as soon as possible.  You are to convey this message to the others on the team and resume regular practices under your own guidance.  You're a strong and smart leader all your own, I'm certain this won't be a problem?"

Her subordinate blushed slightly at the compliment, a goofy and surprised smile adorning his features before he regained composure.

"Ma'm no ma'm!"  He shouted a bit louder than Dash would have preferred.  She nodded her head, accepting his answer, before turning to leave and continue walking about town.

"Um, Ms. Dash?" The voice from behind her leaked its trepidation once more.  "For what it's worth I uh, do already know what happened; news about a high-profile individual such as yourself gets around.  I wasn't going to say anything unless you did though, but now I just want to let you know that I hope things work out for you.  Me and the others know why you ride us so hard and yell all the time, and we want you to know that we don't hold anything against you.  We're damn proud to have you as our leader.....and friend."

Silence became the wind swirling around the two of them as thoughts raced in their respective minds for something to say.  Rainbow remained with her head turned back over her shoulder to regard her recruit.  The silence began screaming for her to answer, to say something, anything to put the young stallion's mind at ease.

"Yeah," was all she managed as she turned away and walked out of the market.







The sun had progressed much faster through its course than Rainbow had wanted.  Her day out, her day of healing, was winding down noticeably.  For the past half dozen hours she had done nothing but drift through the stone streets, letting her eyes take off in all directions in a manner of freedom that still somehow eluded the rest of her. 

Her legs had moved her heavy mind under automation, focused only on making negligible decisions of which way to turn at each intersection.  She was an ant scurrying through the winding nest of her city, hopelessly searching for something to please the angry and demanding queen that her anguish became.

The needs of her body were the only things that successfully broke her free from the auto-hypnosis that had made a vagabond of her for the better part of the day.  The desires of hunger loudly voiced themselves in her mind as she broke from her nomadic trance.  Seeing as she was only a couple blocks from the Plaza which she started from, Dash decided to head back there in hopes that something would catch her attention this time around.  

She still could not take flight, and resigned to walk the way back over there as if she never had her liberating wings to begin with.  It was hooves on a chalkboard to her, knowing she held the capacity to fly, to be free, but a dead weight intangible to her wrapped itself around her neck and relentlessly tried to pull her underground.  Fortunately, these haunting thoughts were quickly denied an audience once she had arrived at her destination.  

Rainbow looked from end to end of the market for any stall or tent suggesting edible wares.  Her eyes found nothing of the sort, or at least nothing that wasn't boring hay or bland grass.  Throughout the din of nearly a hundred other ponies, Dash's ears picked up another familiar sound from somewhere nearby.  She decided to follow it until she came upon two ponies, one recognizable, one not, laughing heartily at some inside story.

"Ah just couldn't believe what he'd told me.  An' so ah said to 'em, 'if that's how yah milk a cow, ah feel sorry for your wi-..........' Oh, howdy Rainbow."

The country pony turned to where a prismatic mane had entered the corner of her vision.  Her reaction was an off-putting mixture of both genuine shock and some faint degree of elation.  The stallion accompanying her picked up on the increasingly stale air between the two mares.  He could tell their impending conversation held much more weight than him standing around listening to the earth pony's farm anecdotes.  

"Um, well hey AJ, I'm gonna go ahead and get going. I'm sure my brother's gettin' mighty worried now since I ain't at the table."

Applejack's anonymous friend waved goodbye to her as he turned and trotted off in the direction of the now setting sun.  Rainbow hadn't seen the appreciative nod the farmer gave to her acquaintance, silently thanking him for allowing them privacy.  After a moment of watching him go, Applejack dejectedly sighed and faced her recently elusive best friend.

"Well......there ya are....How've ya'll been doin' sugarcube?" 

Her voice attempted to convey her sympathy, but not insult Rainbow by treating her like an injured animal.  Unfortunately, the attempt had failed, as her pegasus companion narrowed her eyes in disgust before replying.

"You of all ponies ought to know that I'm not about to talk about my 'feelings.'"

The earth pony nodded her head and gave an expression to show she understood and accepted that, for now.  But she wasn't about to give up there; the fallout from the events of last week had created a schism amongst the group of friends.  No one blamed Fluttershy for her actions, especially since they had advised her to do just as she had.  But neither did anybody want Rainbow to be hurt, only for her to see what she was becoming and hopefully change.  They had all agreed that the shock and indignation of the non-mutual separation would be a wake-up call for the brash pegasus.  It was instead doing nothing more than drown her mind and mute her heart, if the infinitely tired expression on her face was anything to go by.  But AJ knew that to rebuild someone, you had to break them.  There was no doubt in her mind that Dash could take such a treatment.

"Well Rainbow, ya'll are right about that one.  But ah don't think ya'll should jus' be isolatin' yerself, it ain't healthy.  Why don't ah swing by yer place after dinner and we can jus' hang out like usual?"

Dash wasn't sold on the idea, and was about to decline until her friend added on to her offer.

"We jus' finished a whole new batch of cider today, but then again ah guess you wouldn't want nothin' to do with that.  Oh well, suppose ah'll just go give it to Twilight so she can show me some of them fancy dance moves of hers."

Both mares paused for a moment after that, before bursting into raucous laughter.  Rainbow completely let her guard down as she tried in vain to wipe the tears forming in her eyes, barely able to choke out a reply.

"I-I swear, watch-watching Twilight dance always manages to make me f-feel better about any embarrassing thing I've ever done!  Hahahaha."

A malicious grin tugged the corners of Applejack's mouth.

"Oh really? What about the last time we all went out for a drink and ya'll got up on the table and started tryin' to sing some Sapphire Shores song?  Well, If you could call that painful wailing noise 'singing.' Heh heh, I didn't even know glass really could break from somepony's voice, thought that was jus' an ol' movie gag."

Rainbow's face burned at the painful jab, but it secretly made her feel better.  It all gave her a sense of returning normalcy, in a way that only best friends could do: harassing each other.

"Oh filly, you want to play that game?  'Cause I got loads of ammo for you, like at Twi's Hearth's Warming party last year?  Yep, gonna be hard to top when you-OW!"

The orange farm pony smacked the pegasus in the back of her head before calmly continuing.

"Ah take that as a, 'Yes Ms. Applejack, ya'll can come right on over when ya please.'"

Rainbow snickered loudly, "When have I ever said 'ya'll'?"

With the same calm grace and dignity as before, AJ slapped the back of her friend's head.

"Ow! Hey, what th-"

"See ya at seven, Rainbow Crash?" 

Dash rolled her eyes, but still managed a sincere smile.

"See you at seven, Applesmack."







Upon arriving back at her home, Rainbow passed out on the aged couch in her living room.  It took mere minutes for the late sunlight's deep shadows across the cozy room to push her mind out of reality.  Her rest this time was less fitful, but felt uncomfortably empty and blank.  She awoke a couple hours later, only to realize she really ought to clean up before having company.  Dash hastily looked at the clock hanging across the room; Applejack was going to show up in fifteen minutes, and the sorry sight of her current living conditions was likely going to betray her true emotional disarray to her friend.

The pegasus rushed to make her home presentable, but hadn't accomplished much by the time she heard a firm knock on the door.  The frantic mare winced visibly at the sound, seeing she was too late to cover up the widespread mess.  She slowly trotted over to let the earth pony inside from the escalating winds, which blew leaves and other floral debris up and down the streets wildly under a harvest moon.

"Thank ya," the blonde mare spoke between her chilled stuttering.  "And as promised, twelve bottles of Equestria's finest."

She reached around to her saddle bags and pulled out two wooden cases, each holding a half dozen simple glass bottles sporting large red apple labels.  With the cases set on the counter, the two took their seats at the island bar.  Neither mare uttered a single word until their first bottles held nothing more than a sticky, alcoholic residue on the inside.  As AJ finished her bottle, she brought it down on the granite countertop and wiped the lingering dribble from her muzzle with the back of her hoof.  She then slowly raised her head, a pained and earnest look in her emerald eyes, and spoke in such a soft manner that it nearly let itself be drowned out by the howling winds pressing to get inside.

"Now ya'll better understand that ah didn't walk all the way over here in this weather to listen to you spout nonsense about bein' ok."

Rainbow wasn't about to press the issue, she had acknowledged to herself that she was going to have to speak up about her problems sooner or later.  It didn't make the idea more appealing to her, but her first drink served well to unwind the dense knot in her head regardless.

"So, honest to Celestia, how're ya holdin' up, Dash?"

The pegasus' ears betrayed her internal desire to bottle up as they clasped down tightly on top of her head.  She found immediate and meaningful satisfaction in picking at the apple label around the bottle, not fully being prepared to interact with the Apple sitting beside her just yet.  But, after a stern glare from her friend, she sighed and slowly shook her head as she spoke words from the quarantined corners of her mind.

"I mean, what else would you expect me to say, other than I'm a wreck?  I mean, Celestia, just look at this place.  I didn't even know I owned this many dishes."

Rainbow shifted uncomfortably in her seat, eyes still fixated on the bottle's plastic wrapper, wrinkled up by condensation.

"I still can't wrap my head around what Fluttershy was even thinking.  She told me I wasn't treating her right; she said that I had changed and she didn't love me anymore.  The only insight into her decision she could offer me was that I was too wrapped up in my team.  Can you believe that?  The damn mare knows it's been my dream to fly with a prestigious aerobatics team since before we even met, and when I finally got somewhere with that foal's pipe dream she just walks out because she can't handle my late hours!  What is that?  What kind of 'supportive' partner does that?"

Her aggression rising, Dash reached for another bottle and brought it down along the side of the counter, launching its metal cap to some forsaken corner of the room.

Applejack took only a short moment to digest her friend's words while she rapidly downed the new bottle of cider, but spent far longer trying to delicately prepare her retort.  She wasn't here to simply let the mare vent; this was her opportunity to open her eyes to what she really had become.

"Hun, ah need ya'll to listen very carefully to me.  You may not want it, but ah'm about to show you some of mah honesty, cut an' dry.  But despite what ah say, ah expect you to show me yer loyalty, and not ignore or resent me for what ah tell you."

She didn't wait for any kind of reply, she simply let out a heavy sigh before looking up and making unwavering eye contact with the mare next to her.

"Sugarcube, 'Shy ain't no villain here, she's got a damn good reason fer leavin' you high an' dry.  To put it bluntly, Rainbow: you've become nuthin' but a real ass."  Only Dash's expression changed as AJ continued on.  "Ya'll did focus way too damn much on yer team, and not a single one of us knows how you didn't manage to see it affectin' the pony closest to you.  Now if anypony can tell you the problems of workin' yerself to death, that'd be me.  Ah do it all the time, but the difference is, ah don't let that kinda thing seep into mah heart and start changin' who ah really am.  You kept tryin' to scrap yer own life and use the parts to build some hideous monument to yer own insecurities.  Ah know, well we all know, that bein' part of some fancy flyin' team has always been your dream.  But yer crazed obsession with recognition and prestige took over yer life and made you nuthin' but its slave.  And what was the price for yer 'dream'?  The pony you loved.  Right now, ah'm pretty sure ah know which one you'd rather have, but it's too damn late, hun."

Applejack relaxed her stern gaze, attempting to observe any perceivable affects her words may have had.  It at first seemed as though Rainbow's tough exterior negated even the harshest things she had to say, but her resolve soon shattered like the now empty bottle she swatted off the counter in anguished frustration.

"Why are you telling me this?!  Do you really think I don't beat myself up enough already?"  The pegasus' eyes became laced with a heavy layer of hot tears, and her quavering voice conveyed a degree of vulnerability that none had ever seen from her before.

An orange hoof nervously brushed stray blonde locks out of emerald eyes as the earth pony struggled to deliver her bitter medicine to her broken friend.  In the attempt to not falter on her convictions, she inadvertently turned her hesitation into defensive aggression.

"Ah ain't finished, Rainbow!"  Dash could only look on in dismal horror.  "It ain't enough that you sabotaged your relationship for this team of yours, but you also went on to just forget about all of us, all of yer friends.  That ain't no symbol of loyalty.  We tried to stay by your side at first; ah want you to know just how darn excited we all got when we heard ya'll had finally formed yer team and got a gig flyin' at the Summer Sun Celebration.  Many of us showed up to yer practices too when we had the time, but none of this seemed to register with you!  Within months you'd 'bout near stopped talkin' to all of us, and whenever you did, it was always about you.  Yer a grown mare Rainbow, you ought to know that friendships ain't just about takin'; you gotta give back to those who sacrifice for you, not cast 'em aside like trash!"

The sky-blue mare was shaking by this point, her wailing almost successful in drowning out the hostile words assaulting her.  Applejack paused to look at her destroyed friend; she had broken her, that much was clear, so now it was time to rebuild.  Love and encouragement would surely lay an unbreakable foundation for her healing.  Her and the other girls would be there to show their loyalty to her, so that maybe she might remember her own, one day.

The sight was now utterly unbearable, so Applejack delicately wrapped a leg around her friend while she wept.  The physical consolation of the hoof petting the back of Rainbow's head seemed to press the remaining shame and woes back into the pegasus' heart, to lay there as a reminding scar deep within.  After a few minutes, Dash had cried herself out and lay silently looking off into nothing, her own eyes revealing to be equally blank.  AJ continued to provide her close presence as she held her friend and spoke up once more in a soothing tone.

"It's ok sugarcube, the hard part's over; now ah just want to tell you that ah know what a wonderful mare you can be.  You've long since been mah best friend, and ah only told you what ah did because ah care about you.  Sometimes friends just have to be brutally honest with each other when they've lost their way."

Rainbow maintained her lifeless stare, beginning to feel the emptiness of her home pouring into her mind through her puffy eyes.  The trance enveloped her for several minutes, concerning her friend greatly until she finally spoke.

"I-I'm going to go to bed now."

Applejack regarded her questioningly until she slowly rose from her seat to take her leave.

"Uh, well, alright sugarcube.  If that's what you need right now ah ain't about to keep you, ah said 'bout all ah needed to."

She turned to leave but kept hesitating, feeling something greatly amiss in ending their talk in such a manner.

"Y-ya'll know where to find me, an' the other girls would really like to see you so......um."

The earth pony found her companion's silence greatly disconcerting, until she finally gave up and sighed heavily in defeat.  She made her way back to the shattered pegasus and gave her a suffocating hug.

"You know we all love you dearly, sugarcube.  Take care of yerself, please."

After letting go, Applejack drifted to the door and out into the tumultuous night outside.

It was a long while before the hypnosis of the dark home relinquished its grasp of Rainbow's fragile mind.  She couldn't remember much, feeling as if she had just woken up.  She saw that she was now alone, but the feeling didn't afflict her like it usually did.  Her only concern at the moment was to get back into the disconnected mental state she had been in during the latter half of Applejack's talk.

She didn't want to be awake anymore.

Feeling the exhaustion of her long day, Dash removed herself from the bar and started towards the stairs.  But before she could make her way up to the bedroom, her eyes drifted to something resting on the counter.  She saw the cases of cider Applejack had left behind.

Rainbow stared long and hard at them before walking back and sorrowfully indulging herself until that numbness returned to her.














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Long amethyst hairs danced freely in the late morning breeze upon the dignified features of a cross-looking mare.  The unicorn sauntered across the worn cobblestone road, amongst quaint thatched roof homes both old and new.  Her walk found her in an older part of town, one populated by shops and homes that had been in possession of Ponyville's founding families for generations.

Rarity seldom ventured to this isolated neighborhood on the far east side of town.  Yet, the few times she had laid eyes on the charming old-world shops adorned with intricate wrought-iron railings and window coverings, she instantly fell in love; her heart yearning for a time where such decadent design created a living fairy-tale world.

The alabaster unicorn sighed longingly as she took her eyes off the passing display windows in an attempt to get her bearings.  She made a habit of not visiting Rainbow Dash often.  After her unnecessary critiques on the flight suits she so generously stitched for her, Rarity all but shut the pegasus out of her life.  Which brought her to question why it was that she was currently going to visit her.

If she remembered correctly, Twilight had told her a couple days prior that nopony had heard from Dash in nearly two weeks, which suited Rarity quite nicely.  The librarian had insisted she go and check on their friend for her, as she was getting ready to go on a botany research trip in some exotic corner of Equestria.  When asked why any of the others couldn't go, Twilight bluntly replied that Applejack was busy with work and Pinkie Pie might not be the best choice for this situation.  Barring the obvious bad idea of sending Fluttershy in to check on her, that left only Rarity.

The haute mare huffed irritably to herself, it wasn't enough that she had to go deal with her brutish friend, but now she was also lost trying to get there.  She paused at a sleepy intersection where one empty road ran perpendicular to another and scanned the horizon for the small bell-tower that rose above ex-couple's home.  It always seemed strange that they bought that place, though it was not difficult to imagine who persuaded whom to get it.  

The building itself was once home to a rather extraordinarily old stallion, no one seemed to remember quite how old though.  He was otherwise well known across town for many years and even to this current day for his gentle, albeit reclusive, nature.  He had inherited the home after his father's death to a very large and feral pack of timberwolves that had created a war-zone out of the sleepy town.  Two other ponies perished in the unusual attack, and it was widely agreed the town ought to have some form of defense.  So the grieving stallion built a small bell-tower atop his home as a warning device, agreeing to keep watch over Ponyville's borders each night so that no more families could be fractured by loss like his.

Or so the story went, anyway, Rarity thought to herself.

Fluttershy had essentially turned the tower into a rather large bird's nest, and spent most of her mornings sitting up there with her animal friends, watching the village below slowly wake to the rising sun.  Dash didn't much seem to care for it, but the home had a convenient location and was fairly modern considering its origin, so the pegasus agreed to purchase the place from a distant descendant of the original owner himself.  The once-happy couple living within that home had served as a beacon of comfort to the residents of the town, just as the bell-tower above it had done so long ago.

Despite her personal distaste for Rainbow, she had to concede that her and Fluttershy were an always-pleasant sight around town.  There was something endearing about two greatly different ponies loving each other so intently.  Aside from a sort of celebrity status Dash already held, the two of them became somewhat famous around town for being such a cute couple.  It gave others a deeply renewed hope for love.  

But now.....

Rarity shook the thoughts from her mind; they became a bit too heavy for her.  She had left the calm, old-world neighborhood and was currently ascending a small hill on the edge of one of the town's parks.  From here she could see the tower a couple blocks away; the sides were covered in grime and bird droppings, and the tarnished bell within had lost its shine.  A small frown blemished the beautiful mare's face.







Knock, knock, knock

............

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock

"Yeah hic yeah, I'm coming, cut the racket!"  An angry muffled voice rang out from behind the heavy oak door.

The unicorn huffed in distaste for the rude response.  She lowered her hoof, which had been halfway to rapping yet again at the entrance to 137 Whistlegrass Lane, home to Rainbow Dash.....and an impending dark secret.  The door swung open violently as two bloodshot magenta eyes glared at her behind a filthy, disheveled rainbow mane.

"What."  Her partially slurred interrogation came immediately upon laying her eyes on the mare before her.

"Excuse me, but I believe there are better ways to greet a friend."  She spoke the word "friend" with the reluctance of an uncouth swear in formal company.  The pegasus stared back at her with a look of annoyance and confusion. 

"What do hic you want, friend?"  Her own tone reflected the similar venomous inflection upon that seemingly accursed word.

"I am here to check up on you, at Twilight's behest mind you, and I would like to sa-"  Rarity did not finish her sentence once she had looked past the mangy mare in the doorway and at the disarray she had emerged from.

Bottles, both broken and whole, littered the floor, every square inch of it where there was not trash scattered about.  Half of the blinds were tangled, slashed, or missing, and a pungent odor assaulted the unicorn's nostrils as the wind outside pushed out the stale air within.  

"Celestia, Rainbow!  What in Equestria is going on here?!"

A reply was working its way off of Rainbow's tongue, but never took to the air as the pegasus collapsed without warning.  Her heavy body brought her skull down to the floor with it, crushing a bottle which rained flecks of glass across the sticky tile.  







"Ugggghhh.  Son of a-ow my friggin' head."

Rainbow lifted her leaden eyelids and struggled to focus her blurred vision.  It took a few minutes, but soon she found herself on the couch in her living room, with the end-table pulled up beside her.  On it was a filled glass of water and a bowl of sliced fruit that couldn't have have come from her own home, as it was far too fresh-looking.

She tried propping herself up on the tattered green upholstery, until her head began to throb at the newly rushing blood that was bulging the veins inside their swollen home.  Cursing again quite loudly, Dash brought a hoof up to clutch her aching head, only to find it neatly bandaged.

"Sweet fu-ow, Luna.  What happened?"

"I believe I may be able to answer that if, of course, you are willing to answer a few queries of my own."

The hungover mare looked to the sound of the feminine voice echoing from just around the corner of the room.  In moments, the alabaster unicorn from before her blackout sauntered into the dimly-lit room, placing a couple small pills among the other remedies on the table next to her.

"Take those and drink."  It was spoken with the exhausted, commanding tone of an overworked nurse.  Rainbow looked between the mare and the table before her, until finally obliging without a word.

"Thank you, now lie back down, if you would."  Rarity had already turned and begun to leave the room when a pained voice called to her.

"Wait, what exactly happened?"  The unicorn's vacation was halted as she turned to look over her shoulder at the mare on the couch.

"That's a very good question indeed, Rainbow.  I feel I could help you answer that if I had some expository information."

"Some what?"  

Rarity sighed audibly.  

"Rainbow, what in Celestia's name has been going on around here?  I mean, of course, besides your obvious overindulgence in alcohol.  What is going on with you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."  Dash's ears flattened atop her head as she looked down at the floor.

"Oh, you know, the whole passing out drunk in the middle of the day thing?  The one where I had to pluck out shards of glass from your bloody face and spend four hours trying to make sure you were ok, even though I didn't want to be here to begin with?  Yeah, that thing."

Rarity had practically spat the words at the mare avoiding her gaze.  The aggression in her voice lingered in her ears long after the words were spoken, like bright lights burning an afterimage into one's eyes.

".....Has it really been four hours?"  Rainbow spoke softly to the worn rug in the center of the floor.

"Yes."

She tried to bury her face in her hooves, but winced at the contact her bandaged areas made as she rested her head in her legs.  No sounds but the churning air from the ceiling fan could be heard for a long time.  Dash swallowed a bone-dry lump in her throat, slowly shaking her head in clear mortification. Rarity once again sighed heavily.

"Rainbow, darling," the term of endearment sounded alien, "this is no way for any lady to live her life.  How long has this been going on?"

The unicorn lifted the distraught mare's head up to look at her azure eyes; they showed nothing but honest compassion.  

"Sigh....dammit.  Look, I'm fine.  I admit, I've gone a little overboard with the cider, but I'm just drowning some temporary stress for my upcoming flight competition."

Rarity stared at her with an immensely nonplussed expression.  She took a moment to stare at the other mare to try and find her words, but was interrupted when she questioned her befuddled gaze.

"Rainbow...that tournament was nearly a week ago.  Did you even go?"

"W-what?  No, today's only the elev-" She looked over at a calendar with pictures of baby animals on it that Fluttershy had bought them a long time ago.  Why did she still have that atrocity?  "-the twenty eighth...."  Her voice was barely a whisper.

Rarity held great hesitation towards trying to say anything, Rainbow was crumbling before her eyes in much a way that Applejack had described to her and Twilight a few days ago when recounting her visit.  She was afraid any words she spoke would serve as a catalyst for an impending emotional outburst, either angry or sad.

"Then that means my...my team just went there without me??"  It was appearing as if it would be both.

"Rainbow, darling, you were not there for them, they had no choice.  I'm sure they missed y-"

"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID MARE!  Don't you get it?  I'm the one who made the team, not any of those other slackers!  And now they think they can just forget about me?  After all I've done for it?  After all I lost to make this team successful?!"

Rarity attempted to speak through gritted teeth, barely controlling her rage.  "Ahem...Rainbow, they attended one event without you, I don't think they-"

"Did you not just hear a word I said??  CAN IT!  Ow!  My damn head is killing me-" 

SMACK.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Rainbow cradled her swelling cheek in one of her hooves.

"Now listen here, you ungrateful little harpy.  I don't know who you are anymore, seems a lot of ponies find themselves saying that to you, but I know for a fact that you aren't anyone I would ever let talk to me like that."  A burning hatred was brewing in Dash's eyes as she shook from the shock of the blow.  Rarity paid it no mind as she continued with her venomous declaration.  "You don't deserve what few friends you have left.  I'm glad your team has apparently moved on without you.  You made a bad decision trading your love for that foolish dream of yours, and now you have neither."  The unicorn chuckled smugly.  

"What did you just say?"  The pegasus' voice was a calm breeze quickly brewing into a fierce disaster.  Rarity read her like an open book, savoring the sting she could see in her eyes.

"I'm saying, dear, that you just lost your place on your own flight team.  The same one you spent all of your time on so you could neglect Fluttershy until she finally got fed up and left you.  As a matter of fact, and I had promised Twilight I wouldn't divulge this gossip, I hear that Fluttershy has started talking to a cute little barista as of late."

It became hard to discern whether Rainbow was shaking with anger or trembling with anguish.

"Why, sometimes I see them out on the patio of a small cafe here downtown.  I believe you are familiar with that establishment, no?"

The storm had been let loose.  Using the couch as her launch pad, Rainbow shot towards the smug unicorn, overturning the small table between them.  Her outstretched hoof rammed into the smaller mare's nose, collapsing it with a disgusting crunch.  A spray of blood erupted from the wound, drops of it splattering on the attacker's own face.  

Rarity lay barely moving in a corner of the continually darkening room, sobbing in pain.  With her wings flared outward, Dash walked slowly towards the near-unconscious mare; her long shadow loomed wickedly over her in the setting sun.  She cracked her neck to each side, and a sadistic smile crept across her muzzle.

"'Not so tough now, are you bitch?"  Rarity tried in vain to push herself up off the floor, but a piercing ring in her ears and her growing inability to see contributed to a nauseous feeling that left her barely awake.

"Rahnbuw, w-wh-w-why w-would you do thith?"  The mare on the floor could barely speak discernible words as she began to feel her body falling down a deep chasm, stretching her vision to a blur.

"Why??  Because you came to my house and insulted me!  You knew damn well what was gonna happen, I saw it in your eyes, that shit-eating grin!  Don't pretend like you're some innocent victim here!"  The walls of the once quiet home shook from her deafening yelling.

Rarity failed to speak her next sentence, as she passed out from her concussion and dropped her head the short distance to the floor.  Rainbow was caught off-guard by the sudden collapse, taking a step back in shock.

"Uh, Rar-Rarity."

There was no reply.

"Oh no.  Oooooh crap.  Celestia, no!  Arggghhh!"  The pegasus mare began pounding her head against the wall in frustration, oblivious to the stinging pain it sent in response.  "What the hell do I do now??"







"I don't-I don't even know what to say to you right now.  Who are you??  Rainbow Dash wouldn't do this; is there a changeling in there underneath all of that hatred?"  Twilight was crying, her words interrupted by her sobbing.  "Ar-aren't you going to even say anything?"  She received no response from the top of Rainbow's head as she hung it dejectedly.

The small, navy-blue room held a suffocating tension.  Rainbow and Twilight were sitting next to each other in equally uncomfortable chairs next to an out-cold Rarity.  Her rhythmic breathing sounded labored as it rose up from her hospital bed.

"You're very lucky I managed to talk to the police before you did; I'm the only one who could've pulled you out of this as a free mare.  Though, I question whether I should have even done that."  She shot a hateful look towards the back of Rainbow's head as she averted her gaze.

"Celestia, Rainbow!  Say something, already!"  There was no response as she shook her head slowly, eyes boring through the floor.  Twilight groaned in aggravated frustration and turned her head away from the pegasus and towards the window.  Faint moonlight shone upon what little dust floated in the air of the sterile hospital room.  Moments later, a tall unicorn mare waked through the door, levitating a clipboard in her pink magic.

"Ok, so which one of you is Rainbow Da-" One look between the two mares and she knew her answer.  "Miss Dash, I'm going to need you to leave the room.  We expect Miss Rarity should be waking up fairly soon, and it's only wise that you are not here when she does."  Years of training allowed her to mask her emotions when she talked to patients and their friends and family, but it was difficult for her not to let a little disgust seep into her voice this time.  Without acknowledging the doctor, Rainbow slowly stood up and walked out the door.  

"So is Rarity going to be ok?"  Twilight spoke with grave concern.

"Oh, certainly!"  The doctor instantly brightened up a bit.  "We just need to set your friend's nose back into place after the swelling goes down, and of course, after she's recovered a bit more from her concussion.  Neither injury should have any lasting effects."

"That's wonderful!  Thank you, Doctor...."

"Melody, and don't mention it, it's my job." She laughed warmly, seeing the unicorn in front of her could clearly use a little cheering up.  It had the desired effect, as Twilight's stern face began to relax.

"Miss, if I may...Why not press charges against that pegasus?  Though your friend will be perfectly fine, I've seen cases like this before where the victim is not so lucky.  If improperly attended to, a concussion can cause permanent brain damage, and even death upon subsequent instances.  Is she close to you two?"  She gestured towards the door.

Twilight didn't speak at first.  She kept trying to answer that question herself in her mind, but seeing Rainbow's behavior in the past year, she didn't have an honest answer.  

"I-I don't know anymore....."

Doctor Melody more or less picked up the context of the situation and bowed her head in contrition.

"Forgive me, that was rather unprofessional.  But then again, I'm not used to having a victim's attacker sit in the same hospital room as them."  A look of skepticism adorned her features.

"I'm just hoping that seeing the indisputable results of her misbehavior might bring back.....well....herself."  Much as when she had found Rarity laying on Rainbow's floor after she frantically called her over there, Twilight's voice broke and fresh tears spilled across her muzzle.  "Rainbow wouldn't do this!  I swear this isn't like her....B-but I don't know what I can do to help her!"  Doctor Melody closed her eyes before taking in a slow, heavy breath.

"Miss Sparkle, I won't pretend to know the intricacies of this situation, but I know that sometimes you shouldn't help somebody.  Sometimes, they have to help themselves, and that's the only way they can really change.  They have to want to change, otherwise they're just acting for those around them, wasting their energy on maintaining a facade that will only later collapse on them."  Twilight bit her lip and looked at the ground.

"I know."  She spoke meekly.  "I'm going to figure out a way to help her, one way or the other."

As if in response, a gentle groan rose up from the nearby bed.  Twilight and Doctor Melody looked over to see Rarity stirring amidst the sheets, slowly opening her eyes to the dim room.

"Ugh, what in Equestria hap-where am I?"  She sat up alarmingly upon taking in her surroundings.

"Miss Rarity, please, I need you to lie back down.  You're at Ponyville General Hospital; you'd suffered a minor concussion and broken nose, but there shouldn't be any lasting effects."

"A broken nose??  W-will it look normal after it heals?  Is it going to scar?"  She began to sit up again in worry.

"Please, Miss, there will be no permanent damage, aesthetic or otherwise."  Melody raised a hoof to gently push her back to lie down.  

"Oh, Twilight, is that you?"  She turned her head, taking notice of her fellow unicorn friend for the first time.

"Yes Rarity, it's me.  How do you feel?"  Her mouth shifted into a pained smile as she looked down at her bruised friend.

"I should say I have certainly felt better."  She let out a small cough and returned Twilight's smile.

"Can I get you anything?  Maybe a book or something?"

"I'm afraid she'll need to just rest for the night, Miss Sparkle.  But you can certainly bring her whatever you'd like, tomorrow morning."  The doctor smiled wearily at her.  "Also, I'm afraid we'll need to reset that nose here in a little, so you probably don't want to be here for that."  Rarity's eyes went wide.

"You're going to do that...when I'm awake?  Will it hurt?"  Doctor Melody was brandishing a nervous smile as she turned to show Twilight out of the room.  

"You can come back and visit tomorrow when visiting hours open up, at eight.  Just come by the front desk and ask for me, and I'll bring you on back and fill you in on her progress.  Though she should be discharged later in the afternoon if everything goes as it seems it will."  Her practiced, disarming smile calmed Twilight's nerves a little.

"Ok, thank you Doctor."  She smiled back.  "Goodnight Rarity, I'll see you in the morning!"  She waved as she walked out the door.

"Goodbye darling, I'll see you tomorrow."  The pale unicorn called back weakly.

The door gently shut behind her as she looked down the hallway towards the waiting room where Dash was sitting quietly.  A brief feeling of disgust shot through her as she made her way over.

"Let's go."

Rainbow looked up at her and it appeared as if she finally wanted to say something, but nothing escaped her trembling muzzle.  Without a word, the two walked out the double doors, and into the empty moonlit streets.  Both mares stared only at their hooves as they clopped against the stone.  When their paths were to part ways, Twilight continued on without looking back. 

Rainbow stopped and looked up expectantly to the receding sight of her friend's purple figure.  She watched until it had disappeared around a corner, then solemnly carried on by herself in the other direction.











> Memory
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Aw 'Shy, you didn't have to do this, I was happy to help."  Rainbow chuckled heartily as she pulled her napkin out of its silver holder.  "Not to mention, all I did was replace a valve on your water pump.  My uncle does that kind of stuff for a living, so it wasn't anything tough for me."

"Rainbow, you were out there for three hours, at least.  That certainly warrants a free dinner in my book!"  Fluttershy's teal eyes looked over at her friend's as she placed her own napkin in her lap.  She was buzzing with happiness that she got to share a formal meal with her closest and oldest friend.  Rainbow had been entirely preoccupied with another one of her flight projects, lately.  Except, this time it wasn't a stunt, she had been told.  Fluttershy didn't particularly care much about the project itself, she never really did, she just loved seeing her friend alive with excitement as she pored over every detail of her trick with a passion she couldn't help but admire.

"Eh," Dash waved a hoof dismissively, "I'm not about to complain about that.  Besides, this place is incredible, how can you afford this?"

The question made Fluttershy more than a little uncomfortable, but she knew Rainbow wasn't meaning to pry.  Truth is, she could see why it may appear out of her budget; her only source of income being running a non-profit veterinary business out of her small home.  But that didn't matter now, she never had anything to spend her bits on beyond necessities, most of which she tried to provide herself, such as food from the garden in her backyard.  Spending her money to see her best friend happy was the wisest investment she could imagine; the sight of her smile was a thought she could continually relish as much as she wanted to.

"Oh, um, well I'm not exactly what you would call an 'impulse buyer,' so most of my money is always in my savings."  She spoke to the floor from behind her mane.  "This won't impact my monthly budget, I promise."  She lifted her head up to offer a warm reassuring smile to ease her friend's mind.  Rainbow visibly relaxed in response, and doubled the warmth of her own grin in reply. 

Both pegasi took a moment to drink in their lavish surroundings.  Le Pâturage was the single most expensive restaurant in all of Ponyville.  Chefs had been known to leave Canterlot establishments for the opportunity to work there under the mentoring guidance of Equestria-renowned retired chef, Garden Greens.  He had chosen Ponyville many years ago as his place of retirement from the hectic life of a Manehattan master chef.  But after a couple years, he felt something missing from his life, so he decided to get back into the culinary arts, but from a different perspective as an establishment owner.  

Neither mare would expect to find themselves among the velvet booths and marble floors of such a restaurant, but Fluttershy had been insistent on spoiling Rainbow for her help.  A waiter soon approached their table, dressed in a manner that would have been too formal for even a Parliamentary session.

"Hello madame and madame, have you made your wine selection for this evening?"  He spoke with a practiced accent.	

Both mares looked at each other in confusion, they had only just arrived and were not particularly knowledgeable of any of the fine wines they saw upon hastily glancing at the menu.  Fluttershy nervously pawed at the plush seat below her, making no effort to answer.  By grace of fortune, her dinner partner took the initiative for them.

"Uh, yeah, we'd like a bottle of....'shat-too lee blank.'"  The cyan mare nervously locked gaze with the waiter, who was now eyeing her disdainfully.

"Ahem, yes, one bottle of 'Chateau LeBlanc' coming right up."  He took one last furtive glance at the patrons as he turned to leave, rolling his eyes with little attempt at subtlety.  Rainbow glared at the back of his head until he passed through the kitchen door across the room.  Before she turned around, she heard a poorly stifled giggle and began to blush furiously.

"Hehe, oh! Um, I uh, wasn't laughing at you, I was......."

"Hey come on, not everyone speaks Fancy......"  Dash turned her head away with a mildly disgruntled look, while Fluttershy continued to elicit muffled snorts of laughter.  She finally managed to contain herself and reached a slender foreleg across the table, resting it gently on her friend's shoulder.

"Oh Rainbow, I'm not trying to offend you, I'm sorry.  It's just, you made that much worse by pouting.  You are too cute when you pout."  As soon as the words left her mouth, her teal eyes widened slightly in horror.  "I um, didn't m-mean it like that.  Sorry."  She managed to sink impossibly low into the velvet cushion as she wholly encompassed her features with long strands of pink hair.  Rainbow lightened up at seeing the mare become even more embarrassed than herself.

"You didn't??  But, I thought I was cute..."  Dash tried in vain to conceal her growing smirk, while simultaneously sniffling and feigning offense to Fluttershy's statement.

"I-I um....uh...well........eep!"  The timid pegasus was now almost entirely below the table at this point.  Dash, feeling she got her appropriate revenge, gently patted the top of her head to get her to come back up.

"Calm down there, filly.  I'm only teasing you back."  She rolled her eyes playfully and smiled as she watched the pink mane rise up from the other side of the table.  At that moment, their server returned with a tall, thin bottle of blood-red wine.  

"Here you are madames, one bottle of 'Shat-Too Lee Blank.'" He gave a sly glance in Dash's direction as Fluttershy fell back under the table in laughter.  Rainbow grumbled indignantly as she glared at the smirking waiter.

"W-wait Rainbow!  I-I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you!"







The stone streets were alive tonight; hundreds of ponies flowed throughout Ponyville's lantern-lit walkways like the very blood of the town itself.  Amidst the hedonic chaos of mingling voices and hoofsteps, two close friends worked their way through the writhing mass, side by side.

Their dinner had come to an end, but neither mare wanted to call it a night just yet.  Both had absorbed the lively energy pouring from the streets outside in the form of cheerful shouting and laughter.  It had awoken a strange sense of adventure, a spark in the back of their minds that lit them up with the urge to explore something new and different.  

The weekend crowds had always been present, but tonight was the date of Ponyville's Starlight Market Night.  Everyone had taken the morning and afternoon off in anticipation of the evening's festivities.  The usual vendors brought out their stalls and decorated them up with candles housed in colorful paper tents, so that any who flew above the town would in essence see a mirror image above and below.

Neither mare spoke as they struggled through the endless crowds.  Their dinner had coaxed out all they could think to talk about for the time being.  Both were perfectly content to stroll under the bright orange moon, which hung motionless above them despite the firm autumn breeze dusting the town below.

The pair turned down countless roads and crossed through a few parks before settling in one not far from Fluttershy's cottage.  She had taken Rainbow's silent cue to sit down with her on an aging bench that rested along a gently winding creek.  The water within was a deep, shining black in the dark of night.  It reflected the lights above perfectly, like a living, dynamic mirror.

The pegasi sat in peace for a while, continuing their unspoken vow of silence for the time being.  After a while, a biting wind began to overtake the pleasant breeze, threatening to strip the trees of what few leaves they held on to.  Rainbow wasn't particularly phased by it, being used to fast, high-altitude flights.  But after only a few minutes, Fluttershy was shivering in the cold, as she rarely flew higher than the buildings in town and wasn't used to such conditions.  She made a half-hearted effort to hide it so her friend wouldn't feel obligated to leave with her and ruin this tranquil moment.  

Rainbow was quick to pick up on Fluttershy's discomfort.  Still without words, she scooted over to the trembling pony beside her and leaned up against her.  Her pink mane whipped around in surprise as she smiled gratefully in response to the gesture.  Neither thought much of it; they had been each other's best friend since their earliest memories, and physical proximity had not been a social barrier between the two of them for a very long time.

With the newfound warmth beside her, Fluttershy's eyes became impossibly heavy.  As the song of the wind dancing through the last leaves on the trees met her ears, she lost the fight to keep them open and drifted into sleep.

In the brief moments of reprieve between bouts of wind, Rainbow could hear soft snoring.  She looked down at her best friend beside her with a look of pure contentment.







Bright silver moonlight traced along the sleepy pegasus' eyes as they finally opened back up.  The moon was almost directly above her, soon to be obscured by the branches hanging above the bench.  The small mare stretched herself out across her resting place, and soon realized that something was missing.  Rainbow was gone.

She tried not to panic, 'Maybe she just got tired of waiting on me to wake up and went home?'  She rationalized to herself.  Her home was no more than a ten minute walk from the park she was in, so it shouldn't be a problem to make the quick trip home and hop into the safety of her bed.  But that was under normal circumstances, not on cold windy nights alone, she thought.

Taking a moment to steel herself, she swallowed a tiny lump of fear in her throat and got to her hooves.  After turning around and taking a few steps away from the creek, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Uh hey 'Shy, where ya goin'?"

The tensed-up mare breathed a sigh of relief as she came to realize it was only her friend.  She meekly spun around, feeling slightly guilty at assuming Rainbow had abandoned her in the park.  She noticed a crimson scarf knit of heavy fabric draped around her neck and under the messy rainbow mane.  Another bolt of woven fabric rested under her left wing, this one a faded pink in color.

"Sorry to leave you, but I just ran down the street to a guy I remember seeing sell scarves and whatnot.  I figured we could both use one, seeing as how we can't really wear those ones Rarity made for us...."  She walked over to the canary-colored pegasus and gently draped the scarf from under her wing around her neck.  

"Hehe, yeah I suppose it wasn't the best idea to make a scarf out of flimsy, ornate fabric.  They're kinda itchy, too."  

Both mares shared a few laughs that rang out in solitude before being muffled by the night air.  Fluttershy looked up to Rainbow with an endearing expression in her eyes.

"Thank you very much for the scarf, Rainbow.  It's very lovely."

Her friend's genuine words caused a blush to spread across her face in embarrassment.

"Heh, uh no problem.  Anything for my best friend."  She gave her companion a large, pure smile, which was ultimately reciprocated.

"I hope these weren't too much."  She eyed the blue mare inquisitively, hoping she was not overstepping any social protocol.  Rainbow nervously scratched at the back of her neck.

"Well, I mean, ya know....They're kinda made from some rare type of thread that's supposed to be super warm and comfortable.  And dying it is apparently a long and tedious process.  So, y'know....."  Her eyes sought anything but her friend's.

"Rainbow...." She spoke in a parentally reprimanding tone.  Dash cracked under the adorable pressure.

"Cough Twenty bits."

"Together?"  Fluttershy eyed her suspiciously.

".....Each."  Rainbow's hoof was grinding the back of her head in nervous habit.

"Rainbow Veronica Dash!"  She visibly winced at hearing her middle name being shouted down the surrounding streets.  "I invited you out tonight so I could repay your generosity, not so you could do even more favors for me!"  She looked faintly pained as she stared eye-to-eye with Rainbow.  "I of course appreciate that I have friends that will constantly do such things for me, but I strongly dislike how you girls always think it's ok to continuously give to me but never accept repayment.  It makes me feel like everypony is babying me, and no one takes me seriously."  She curtailed the end of her statement to a volume barely above a whisper.  Her head lowered to the ground in comparable solemnity.  

She suddenly felt a rough hoof raise gently up under her chin.  Rainbow's expression served as a mirror to her own, her eyes sharing the pain of her friend's.

"Fluttershy, none of us try to baby you or think you're helpless.  You couldn't be more off; AJ's always been impressed with how you take care of such a wide variety of animals, Pinkie and Rarity both think you're the best cook in all of Ponyville, Twilight comes to you for biology questions, and......I think you're the only reason I made it through the darker times in my life."  Her vibrant rainbow mane cast her face in shadow as she looked to her hooves.

The nipping wind eavesdropped on their solitary conversation, flowing around and between the two of them and whipping their manes like the scarce leaves on the trees.  If either had tried to speak, they would have found their whispered voices carried off by the gale.  After a long moment, a fleeting break in the wind freed their tongues.

"You are the sweetest friend I could ever ask for.  You mean the world to me, Dash."

The small yellow mare wrapped her thin forelegs around her friend's neck in a crushing hug.  Fighting off initial surprise, she returned the embrace.  The warmth from each other's body passed through their fur and into their hearts.  

Neither possessed the willpower to separate from the hooves wrapped around them for quite some time.







"Really, it's no big deal, Fluttershy."  Dash continued in vain attempt to protest her friend's purchase of a sizeable fresh-ground coffee as repayment for her scarf.

"I'm sorry you mind so much, but I'm getting it for you.  It will make me feel better, so please?"  She turned her head to face the pegasus beside her, a conversation-ending look of plea radiating from her eyes.

Her prismatic companion clenched her jaw in minor frustration before ultimately giving in, responding in a grumble that elicited a giggle from her friend as she hoofed over the steaming clay-fired mug to her.  She gave her thanks and the two cantered over to a recently vacated nook by the window. 

As the pair sat down, they each took a moment to casually eye their surroundings.  The establishment was floor-to-ceiling log cabin decor.  It faintly reminded Fluttershy of her grandmother's home where she had spent most of her fillyhood.  Each of them was seated in a small rocking chair, but neither used it for its intended purpose, as there were tall bookcases on either side.  The soft lantern light above them danced off the ripples of the black beverages in their open cups.  The two mares ignored each other for the first few minutes; devoting their attention to the gradually dwindling festivities outside.

'So I still don't get why you wanted to come here, you were fast asleep on that bench not ten minutes ago."  Dash chuckled to herself.  "Why didn't you want to just go to bed?"

Fluttershy turned from the window to regard her.  "Oh, well I couldn't have gone to bed feeling like I owed you another debt; this entire night was originally about trying to pay you back!" She gave Rainbow a playfully reprimanding look.  "Plus, I just feel kind of.....adventurous tonight, I suppose.  The excitement around us is rather contagious."

The blue pegasus smiled and nodded her head in agreement.  She too, felt the slight rush coming from being out in the streets so late along with so many others.  Not to mention, their conversation immediately prior to coming here was rather sobering.  Dash never doubted for a second that her friends loved her, but it was immensely refreshing to be reminded of it in person.  She continued to roll the fresh, pleasant memory over in her mind until Fluttershy spoke up again.

"So, I know you said you were making your own flight team," recalling their earlier conversation at dinner, "but you never got the chance to explain the details to me."  She brought a hoof up to stifle her giggling.  Rainbow rolled her eyes as forcefully as they would allow.

"I swear, if I ever see that cheeky waiter again, I'm gonna pull out each of his ugly mustache hairs one-by-one."  Fluttershy's willpower had begun to fail her.  "I bet he knew I accidentally ordered the snails; what sane pony wants to eat those?  If the damn menu hadn't been written solely in Fancy....."

"Hehe...snicker.....hahahaha SNORT."

The quiet mare blushed intensely in red-hot embarrassment at her involuntary reaction.  A bemused grin quickly replaced the look of indignation on Rainbow's muzzle as she unfolded her hooves from her chest and began to laugh herself.

"I love how you do that, it's so perfect!"  She choked out between waves of laughter.  "For someone as calm and composed as you to just snort whenever she laughs!"

Her companion showed far less amusement, and gently swatted the top of Rainbow's head before bringing her hooves back up to cover her crimson face.  

"S-stop, it isn't funny!"  She reprimanded.

"No, you're right, it isn't funny; It's just plain adorable!"  The following elated outburst grasped the attention of more than one store patron.  Fluttershy was receding further and further into herself, until her eyes began to mist.  

"Whoah, hey!  Don't cry, filly.  I was only teasing you.  I mean yes, it is adorable when you do that little snorting thing, but I didn't mean to hurt you.  I'm sorry, 'Shy."  An earnest apologetic look conveyed the true regret for pushing her timid friend to the verge of tears.  Rainbow reached a hoof out to Fluttershy's shoulders until it coaxed her head back up.  

"I-I know you didn't mean anything by it.....I'm sorry I get so sensitive sometimes."  Her eyes were darting nervously between her friend's and the dusty wood floor below.

"Aw, you know you don't ever have to apologize for something like that, it's just who you are.  A real friend loves even the imperfections of their friends, because even the 'flaws' are a piece of who that pony is.  If they weren't there, we just wouldn't be.....well, 'us.'"

Fluttershy looked up and stared silently into Rainbow's magenta eyes.  She seemed to be thinking about something, but Dash couldn't be bothered to guess.  She was too busy reciprocating that fascinated, intoxicating stare.  

After a long moment, the two broke eye contact and cast their restless gazes towards every other angle around them.  

Wow, what the heck was that about?  Rainbow mentally interrogated herself.  She was an anarchic mixture of embarrassment and confusion over the unintentionally intimate moment she had just shared with her best friend.  I mean yeah, she is pretty.  Y'know, speaking as a mare myself and whatnot.  But like, that doesn't mean anything at all.  True, she is kind, patient, intelligent, and fun in her own way, but......that's uh, that's exactly what I want.......huh.  I guess I never really thought about her like that before; it'd be pretty funny if we somehow ended up together in the future.  She entertained the idle daydream as she stared blankly at the grimy windowsill, completely entranced by the fictional scenario of her and Fluttershy kissing and cuddling.  It didn't take long for her to force her mind off the idea; it felt enticing but wrong at the same time.  I dunno, maybe if we had just met, especially on a brilliant night like this one.  A faint sense of longing hung off that thought. 

Fluttershy had been observing her friend for the past few minutes.  She couldn't quite decipher what she might be thinking about, but noted only a growing blush at one point.  She really is quite adorable when she blushes.  Hehe, oh but she'd never accept it.  She's a hot-headed one, maybe that's why she blushes so much.  Fluttershy swallowed the growing urge to laugh at her mental soliloquy.  She had been so engrossed with her thoughts, she hadn't noticed Rainbow now eyeing her suspiciously.

"Do I even want to know what you're thinking about?"  Dash asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, regarding the rising look of giddiness in her friend's features.

'Oh!  Uh, um well.  You see, I was thinking about the um, coffee?"  Fluttershy immediately pointed her snout to the ground, not even attempting to defend such an unconvincing reply.

"Hmm, and what about the coffee?"  Rainbow's smirk expanded as she leaned forward and rested her head on a hoof.  The yellow pegasus' eyes were wide in horror as she continued to blankly stare downward.

"It's, uh.....hot.  Er-warm!.  It's warm."  

Dash blinked slowly a few times.  "Yes, yes it is.  But yours won't be for long if you keep taking in the scenic floorboards."  She laughed as she took a sip from her own mug, regarding her friend questioningly.  The other pegasus mimicked her as she took a long chug from her own cup.  The two allowed the surrounding noise of extraneous conversations to fill their now-silent corner of the shop; Dash looked once again out the window.  The moon was continuing its descent through the dark velvet canvas above, passing by countless pristine stars and blotting out the light of those in its proximity with its own brilliance.  Rainbow sat entranced for a good while as she allowed peaceful elation to wash over her.  As she finished her drink, she became the first to break the lull.

"I'm really glad we got to spend this time together."  Her voice was content in tone, but laced with a secret inner wistfulness.  "I hope you don't mind me teasing you all the time."  She turned to sheepishly face the mare across from her.

"Hehe no, not all, but don't get carried away with it.  Remember what I said earlier about how I feel like all the other girls baby me?  Well, I enjoy you teasing me because it just feels so natural compared to the others; always noticeably watching what they say around me.  It's also very nice when I go to you whenever I'm upset and you don't spend the whole time telling me how everything will be ok, or how you're so sorry some terrible thing happened to me.  Your playful taunting gives me a sense of normalcy when things are far from it."  She smiled warmly as she pierced Dash's soul with her open and honest gaze.  Rainbow felt a shot of warmth pass through her body as she returned the earnest grin.  "And me too, I'm really glad my original plans became a bit more fleshed out from just dinner."  She once again giggled softly.

Their reprieve from the earlier silence ended as swiftly as it had begun; the two returning their attention to the world around them to wander in thought once more.  Fluttershy remained thoughtful for some time.  Something she had recalled from their earlier conversation had become a catalyst for feelings of worry and dread.  She didn't want to ruin the happy, sublime mood they had thus far been encased in.  But curiosity and concern soon got the better of her.

"Rainbow?"  She waited for her friend to acknowledge her.

"Yeah, what's up?"  Dash replied, clearly a bit concerned by her tone.  Fluttershy took an unsettling moment to work up her nerves.

"W-what exactly did you mean earlier when you said I was the only reason you made it through the dark times in your life?  I know I may be over-thinking this, but were you implying something else when you said that?"  The nervous mare spoke in a hushed tone as she anxiously rubbed one foreleg with the other.  Rainbow remained quiet and pensive amidst an internal debate.  She sighed and pointed her face towards her friend but focused her eyes elsewhere.  Dash wore an expression that made it look as if she was swallowing sour bile, due to an old, bitter memory resurfacing.

"You, you uh, remember how much I got pushed around when I was little, right?"  Her voice was calm yet quivering; she audibly swallowed lumps in her throat every couple of words.  Fluttershy merely stared at her and nodded gently.  "Well, when it came time for highschool, I sure as hell wasn't confident in myself.  I had to fake it so everyone else would just leave me alone, cause that's all I ever really wanted.  Strangely enough, that worked.  Eventually, I actually came to believe in myself; I was totally confident.  Then later on, other ponies started flocking to me once I began to really let loose my flying skills and landed on the varsity hoofball team as a starter.  I think you remember that year pretty well.  It was our junior year at Cloudsdale High."

"That was the year before I-"

"Went to study abroad, yeah.  I was so upset you'd left; I wish I had made more time for you that summer before.  You see, I was totally convinced I was the reason you left.  I had been getting a pretty big head at this point, and I acted like an idiot, even to the point where I was starting to become like the ponies that drove me to act like this in the first place.  After a couple months of you being gone I began to reflect on that, and my mind began to slide."

"I remember, your letters started to seem so blank, so empty of the usual color you put into them.  I could tell you were upset, but I didn't know how badly, or if you'd even want me to bring it up.  So I just.....waited.  I waited to see if you were going to tell me what was wrong."

"And I never did."  The lights and sounds around them drained away down some hole in reality below their hooves.  Dash continued.  

"I had eventually convinced myself that you ran away from who I was becoming, and I wasn't ever going to see you again.  That was all my fault; my cowardice took over who I really was, and fear became the basis for all of my thoughts.  Soon, my grades started to slip, along with me, to a point of no return.  My parents would yell at me every day to work harder, then they would yell at each other cause they figured I wouldn't get any scholarships at this rate and had no idea how to pay for my college.  It didn't help I quit the hoofball team and lost all of the shaky 'friendships' I had made.  Soon people began to see me as I saw myself back then:  a loser, an outcast, and an emotional wreck.  Nobody wants to be around someone mopey and unstable."

Fluttershy was blinking back tears as she kept a hoof over her mouth to mask her horror.  She had a feeling she knew where all of this was going.

"Well one day......I remember walking along the streets on my way to school.  It was one of those mornings where you had just missed the rainfall, and all that was left to show for it were the damp streets and scattered puddles, and that indescribable smell that comes off the pavement after it rains.  I love that smell.  Anyway, something just......broke in me.  I received the usual daily taunting I always did, but today I just couldn't handle it, I have no idea why.  I fell asleep in half of my classes and I got in a lot trouble that day for just not giving a shit.  Once the last bell rang and I was leaving the school after that impossibly long day, some jerk comes up and hits me as hard as he can on the back of my head with his iron shoe.  I actually saw those stars like the cartoon characters do.  Once I was on the ground, he began to mock me, making sure he had an audience.  I took insult after insult as I looked to each of the crowd's laughing faces.  I was suddenly too scared to fight, and my legs shook as I pushed myself up off the ground.  At that point, I closed everything out and I ran home.  I didn't care about the shame I would have to face when I came back the next day, because I didn't plan on going back."

Rainbow paused to compose herself; to draw out all of her resolve in order to finish her excruciating memories.  

"I went home, I slacked off, mom yelled at me, dad got home, then dad yelled at me.  After a disturbingly quiet dinner, I excused myself and went to my room.  My entire brain was freezing up, I couldn't feel or think anything.  But I remember noticing the moon sitting outside my bedroom window.  It was just beginning to start waning, and it was incredibly bright.  I knew what I felt at that point, as I looked out the open window into the windy night sky.  I climbed out and took to the cool air.  I flew up as high as I could go before my wing muscles seized up from the cold.  I could see all of Cloudsdale from up there; it was nothing but a bunch of buildings and criss-crossing roads, but at that moment it was the view of my prison from the other side of the bars.  I tilted myself back until I saw the moon behind me, watching me as I started to fall.  I sank down through the air, letting the lead weight in my empty heart pull me towards the ground at alarming speed.  I had let go, and in that moment I had thrown away all fears and concerns.  I started smiling at one point, because I knew at the end of that ride was a final escape.  It was worth not ever feeling joy again if I never had to face pain, either."

Her yellow companion had stopped looking at her some time ago, as she merely buried her face in her own shoulder in a feeble attempt to shield herself from her friend's words.

"And then, out of nowhere something hits me, hard.  I notice it's carrying me along with it now.  It was my dad.  He must've seen me somehow, and bolted out after me, knowing I had no intent of opening up my wings.  When I looked up at him, his face looked just like mine had before flying out there.  Neither of us said anything, and eventually he deposited me on the front porch and opened the door for me.  My mom was standing right there, shaking with quiet sobs as she hugged me tight.  That night, we all slept together in the living room.  Dad set up an appointment with a psychologist the next afternoon.  I didn't ever go back to that school.  For the next few months I had nothing but time off, and my parents made sure to spend as much of it with me as possible.  The whole thing felt so surreal that I didn't even mind them constantly talking to me like I was a filly, with this sickening worry in their voices.  That went on for a while until I got a letter a couple months later; it was from you.  It was only then that I realized I hadn't read or replied to any of your letters in forever.  I opened it up and felt a strange sensation of panic; you were coming home in a week."

A server of the establishment came by to take the mares' dirty mugs from them, smiling politely as she did so.  It did not take long for the somber aura around the two pegasi to infect her.  After an ashamed look of realization at her intrusion, she hurriedly trotted off with the cups on a tray, glancing over her shoulder once before entering the kitchen.

"I couldn't let you see me like that.  For the first time since that haunting night, I started to think what any of those who love me must have felt when they thought about my intentions to....go away.  Only then did I finally understand just how much pain was in my parents' eyes when my dad brought me home after catching me out of the air.  It hit me so hard; it hurt worse than the pain my bullies had caused me over every year of my schooling.  I began to cry loudly from my room.  Being early afternoon, only my mother was home.  She heard me and immediately bolted inside.  Before she asked what was wrong, I saw her looking at the letter and I explained the epiphany it had just caused me.  She hugged me so tight that I felt safe for the first time in ages.  We talked for a long time, almost until Dad got home.  I finally agreed to work with my therapists to try and get past all of this and start working on having hope for my future.  After that potent release, I went and laid down in my bed at my mother's request.  As I lay my head down onto my pillow, I looked at the drifting shadows  filtering through the curtains dance across my bedroom floor.  The gentle breeze rippling them sung a surreal lullaby that put me into a cleansing rest."

Fluttershy only looked back up once she heard her friend finish recounting her tale.  She surprised herself with the courage she found to speak.

"So when I saw you shortly after that, it looked to me like you hadn't missed a beat.  I left when you were feeling fine, and I came back when you were starting over.  I.....I never knew."

Rainbow looked extensively guilty now that the truth she'd been hiding from her best friend was out in the open.  She knew it was wrong to have not told her, but at the time she was only concerned with moving past that dark phase of her life.  She did not have it in her to witness the pain in her mother and father's eyes show up in the cheerful gaze of her best friend.

"I know, I'm so sorry, but how could I ever tell you something like that?"

She was not answered with words, but instead Fluttershy sprung up from her chair and went over to hug her closest friend.  Dash chuckled lightly in an attempt to mask her slight embarrassment, but deep down she truly loved the gesture.

"Promise me, promise me you won't ever hide your pain from me again."  The show of assertion from the gentle mare caught Rainbow off-guard.

With her mouth so close to her friend's ear while in their embrace, she quietly whispered.

"I won't."  







The pair had long-since left the coffee house, and were drifting as nomads through the now empty streets.  The first faint rays of sunlight would undoubtedly begin to creep over the distant horizon within an hour or two.  Still, the girls' hooves clopped in tandem with each other as they trekked through the cobbled streets and towards the hills to the east of town.

Stone gave way to dirt as they climbed the switchback path towards a surprisingly unknown hidden spot that was one of Fluttershy's favorites.  She had never seen it at this hour though; she loved the thin early-morning fog that shrouded the town below them as they finally made it to the top.

At the summit there was a sizable pond surrounded on all sides by naked trees; their spindly branches formed a web of dichotomies that cast shadows across the foggy pond from the faint moonlight above.  The pair stepped over bulging roots in the ground as they made their way to a small wooden dock situated almost perfectly in the middle of one side of the body of water.

They lowered their bodies carefully onto the damp planks and each dangled a hoof in the chilly water.  Both took in the refreshing misty air in long drags and stared dreamily across the vapors rising up off the lake.  Each mare stole furtive glances at the other when they looked away, until finally they both caught each other and blushed heavily before staring straight ahead in embarrassment.

"I uh, I can't believe I've never seen this place before."  Dash remarked.

"O-oh, yes it is a rather quiet spot.  I suppose nopony wants to hike up the steep path to get here.  Their loss."  Fluttershy replied only regarding her friend out of the corner of her eye.

The sensation of the entire evening up to that point, coupled with being shown a sacred secret of her friend's made a feeling build up inside of Rainbow's chest.  She began to feel heated, to the point where she was certain she would've been able to see steam rising off her body if there weren't any fog.  She was paranoid that Fluttershy would feel her heart thumping in her chest, going faster and faster every minute.  She cursed every inch of empty space between the two of them and smiled a little when she saw the mare next to her shiver slightly.

Rainbow knew what she was feeling, she was no stranger to romance, but this was so different.  All of her previous romantic interests had been what were initially strangers, but here she was now:  nervously brushing strands of hair out of her face and behind her ear as she lowered her wing over her closest friend's back.

Everything fell away for her in that moment, though she couldn't tell.  Dash became solely focused on forcing her wing to make contact, and what Fluttershy's reaction might be when it did.  A mere moment multiplied tenfold until her azure feathers finally mingled with the yellow fur.  The startled pegasus turned her head from the lake's reflections and looked to her companion, who was staring with her mouth slightly agape.

The physical contact spread the nervous, exhilarating sensation from one to the other.  Fluttershy barely had time to process it before it drove her to instinctual action.  The smaller, yellow mare closed the gap between her and her friend and nuzzled firmly against the warm body pulling her in.  The soft wings around her pulled tighter in a vain attempt to bring them closer together than they could possibly be.  The frenetic rush they were both experiencing was only temporarily delayed as they cuddled together and wordlessly accepted what was happening.

They laid on the dock, inside the culling morning mist, until sunlight began reveal them.  At some point in the last hour, Rainbow had fallen asleep and rested her head on the mossy wooden planks below them.  Fluttershy smiled coyly at her sleeping form for a moment, before nudging her gingerly with her snout.

"Rainbow, it's time to get up.  Wake up, sleepyhead."  She whispered.

The blue mare fidgeted and grumbled sleepily.  After being prodded a second time by a cold snout, she finally opened her eyes.  She first looked up to the transitioning sky, which streamed above her in dark bands of purple and pink.  Once her eyes became acclimated to the growing light, she felt the rustling pegasus beneath her wing.

"Oh," she blushed, "hey 'Shy."  

"Hey Rainbow."  Her companion giggled softly.  The two stared at each other and marveled at the morning light reflecting in their eyes.  They refused to move until a biting wind too cold for even their conjoined heat forced them to reconsider.  The shivering pair silently agreed to get up, but maintain their proximity.

"I guess we should head back now."  Fluttershy lamented, and Dash nodded in agreement.   

"Yeah, I'll walk you home."







The trip to Fluttershy's cottage wasn't long to begin with, but it passed far too quickly for either of their liking.  In moments, the pair was outside her door; the long shadows of the surrounding trees and hills shrouded them.  A near mountain's worth of dust and dirt was kicked around in hesitant procrastination.

"U-um, uh, maybe you sh-maybe you should just stay with here me and.  I-I mean, maybe you should just sleep here instead of walking all the way home in the cold."  Fluttershy nervously stammered, her voice carried on the streaming winds with the delicate tones of her wind chime in the background.

"Er, yeah, I wouldn't want to like, catch a cold or nothin'."  Rainbow smiled sheepishly.  The mares locked eyes and smiled, then silently filed in through the door.

A few smaller animals lay about the living room, from floor to sofa.  Their care-taker motioned to her friend to be careful in not waking them.  They stepped over and around the snoozing animals and made their way up the stairs to the bedrooms, where they parted ways at the end of the hall.

"Everything should be set in the guest room, but let me know if you need an extra blanket or pillow."

"Ok, thanks 'Shy.  Good night-morning er, thing."  Her host laughed softly before disappearing behind her door.  Dash retreated to her own room as well.

As she burrowed under the hoof-quilted blankets, Rainbow couldn't help but bite back a little disappointment.  She certainly could not have imposed herself on her friend by suggesting they share a bed, but wanted nothing more than to do just that.  Her fate accepted, she began fruitlessly trying to fall asleep.  Little did she know, her actions and sentiments were being mirrored just across the hall.

After nearly an hour, she heard very faint knocking at her door.  It was so quiet, she waited for a second set of it before finally getting up to answer.  She pulled open the door to find a pink mane standing before her.  Eventually, a blushing face emerged from the cascade of carnation.

"Would you, um, would you mind if I j-joined you?"  Her face was beginning to blend into her hair.

Rainbow stared back at her with the same look from earlier, when she first wrapped her wing around her.  Once again acting on impulse, Rainbow barely parted her lips and took a tentative step forward.  Fluttershy stood rooted in place, but began to do the same despite her immense shock.  The closer they got, the lower their eyelids fell.

The pair of warm lips and cold noses connected, pressed firmly together.

As each of them pulled away, a drunken smile adorned their sleepy faces.  Without a word, the budding hearts retreated to the sunlit room for some much-needed sleep.   











> Phoenix
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A scene of chaos drew in the views of passing individuals on Whistlegrass Lane.  From both sides of the narrow street, ponies rubbernecked as they approached the large broken bay window, and the filth and devastation it served as a portal to.  Upon seeing what lay beyond the window, those walking with small children quickly ushered them across the stone street; immediately inside the walls of the historic home lay an unconscious mare, with a family of empty brown bottles surrounding her.  Her fitful snoring served as the only indication that her eyes would ever open again.  It did not take long before one of the passing ponies sought out a peacekeeper to address the situation.  

As the early morning sun blinded its eastbound travelers, a heavily-built grey stallion clad in steel plating cautiously pushed his way through the gathering crowd.  The earth-pony that had fetched him led the officer to the pile of shattered glass lying before the window.  Upon seeing the unconscious, drunken mare inside, he delicately stepped through the jagged opening, careful not to make contact with the remaining razor shards of glass in the frame.  The plates of his armor clinked together as he crouched down to examine the home's sole occupant.

He firmly placed a hoof on the stiff, matted fur on her neck, checking her pulse.  Faint undulations greeted his touch and informed him of the declining state the mare was in.  Using his horn, the large unicorn hoisted the pegasus in his golden aura and onto his back.  After confirming she was securely draped across his backplate, he conjured up a small slip of parchment and a long, black quill.  The officer hastily scratched out a note to the police dispatch, informing them that somepony was going to need to investigate the home further to ensure there wasn't any foul-play involved, and to clean up the shocking scene.

With a sharp fizzle, the message was sent and the pair made their way through the parting crowd and towards the small hospital a few miles away.







"Hello, Doctor Melody told me to come by so I could see my friend, Rarity.  Is she available right now?"  

The brown unicorn mare at the nurse's station looked up from the newspaper she'd been reading, lack of sleep evident in her eyes.  She recognized the amethyst unicorn regarding her from the night before; she'd been a part of the convoluted case of violence and resentment between a few members of the Elements that had transpired the previous evening.  Before the nurse could reply, Doctor Melody's rose-colored form emerged from a nearby room, seemingly responding to Twilight's inquiry.  

"Twilight, hello!"  Her professionally pleasant voice called out in a slightly muted tone.  "Rarity is doing just fine, follow me."

Smiling in reply, Twilight followed her around the nurse's desk and down naturally-lit hallway towards her friend's room.

"Yes, Rarity is doing well.  So much so, in fact, that she gave a hearty swing at me when I re-set her nose.  The girl about put me in one of those rooms."  The doctor laughed good-naturedly.

Twilight snapped her attention to the mare walking beside her, "Wait, she did what??"

"Oh it's no big deal; having to give foals injections as often as I do makes you accustomed to hooves swinging at your face."  The two shared an earnest laugh as Doctor Melody rapped on the door to room 113.

"Yes, you may come in."  A dulcet feminine voice called out from beyond it.

"Hey 'Slugger,' heard you're feeling better."  Twilight smirked as she walked over to give her unicorn friend a hug.

"I beg your pardon?"

Twilight and Melody shared a knowing look, both attempting to conceal their laughter.  Rarity's puzzled expression melted away into embarrassment at the realization of their conspiring exchange.

"Hey, it hurt!"  Rarity crossed her forelegs and huffed indignantly.  Ignoring her friend's pouting, Twilight walked over to her bed and gave her a disarming hug.

"So is she all ready to leave, or do we-"  Twilight's voice hung still in the air as she was abruptly cut off by the urgent voices of two male nurses bursting through a nearby entrance.

"Hey Doctor Greenbriar, we need an emergency stomach pump!  Patient is a pegasus mare, about 110 lbs."  The larger of the two nurses shouted out with professional urgency, as he pushed the gurney along the previously docile hallways.

The stallion in question emerged swiftly from the room across from 113 and began following the pair towards the emergency room.  As he stepped in line with them, he began his interrogation.

"Patient identification?  Any known allergies on record?"  He spoke in tandem to the furious scratches of his pen against the clipboard levitated in front of him.

"Patient name is Rainbow Dash, uh, I believe it says here she is allergic to.....aspirin but nothing else as far as we have on record."  The smaller of the nurses spoke absentmindedly while shuffling through a disheveled stack of paper records.

"Alright, get an IV going on her once we get to the ER; I'm going to fetch Doctor Redwood."  The stallions pushing the gurney confirmed his orders as Doctor Greenbriar turned down another hall in search of his co-worker.

Twilight could still hear the continually fading voices of the two nurses as she bore a hole in the wall in front of her with a flabbergasted stare.  She turned away from the open door hesitantly and met the equally shocked faces of the other mares in the room.  Rarity expressed nothing discernible and Doctor Melody seemed apologetic.  As abruptly as the entire scene of chaos had spawned, Twilight bolted for the door, ignoring the doctor's pleas to return.







The smell of harsh bleach perturbed Twilight's mind as she rested her head on yet another stiff hospital bed housing one of her friends in its sterile embrace.  Her swollen eyes gave no more of their tears as she let out a shaky sigh born of fear and sorrow.  Despite a lack of tears, she shuddered sporadically from her sobbing.  She wished she had someone, anyone, here to hold her, but Rarity was advised not to leave her room and violate hospital protocol such as Twilight had done.  It was only in secrecy that she had been permitted by Doctor Melody to tend to Rainbow's bedside; she would not risk her job allowing another into Dash's room so quickly after her trip to the ER.

Twilight's mind was besieged by an occlusive blanket of exhaustion and heartache.  She couldn't count the minutes she sat with her head face down on the scratchy cotton quilt cloaking most of her friend's sedentary form.  The unicorn lay there, as alive as the patient a mere leg's length away from herself.  The hypnotic chorus of heart monitors and sluggishly ticking clocks threatened to pull her down into her own coma.  As her eyelids sank, she felt the faintest rustling from under the covers.  She immediately perked up and faced the stirring pegasus whose eyes stuttered open.  

The groggy mare surveyed her surroundings with a notable hint of distaste before settling her vision on the only other pony in the room.

"Twi....."  She faintly called.

Twilight closed the gap between them and merely stared at her in reply.  Her body was twitching from a cocktail of dreadful emotion, her face betraying her unrest.

"Rainbow!...."  She spoke in exclamation that made it seem as if she had more to say, but her search for words came up empty and left her mouth expectantly agape.

The lavender mare leaned in and rested her head against her friend's, being content with physical expression of her frustration.  Dash could feel the crusted purple fur scratch against her as Twilight made contact; she had clearly been crying.  Neither broke away from the other for quite some time, staying silent and leaving a vacuum of sound to be filled by one another's labored breathing.

It was not long before Rainbow finally heard the quiet sobs from the unicorn that her tear-stained fur had alluded to.  She was in a drought of understanding, wholly incapable of discerning what her heart felt and what her mind thought.  Seeing one of her closest friends collapsed upon her neck in sympathy and terror was far too real for the pegasus.  Rainbow felt as if she had woken up in the hooves of a condemned prisoner, forced to listen in shock and disgust at the transgressions she'd allegedly committed in some immemorial past.  It felt to her that she had no memory of the previous weeks and was thrust into the body of a stranger who was witnessing the selfish damage they had dealt to the ones they loved.  

Careful not to jostle the IV pumping the cool, life-saving saline into her veins, Rainbow shakily wrapped her hooves around Twilight's neck and offered her the best attempt at an embrace she could manage.  Without looking up, the other mare pressed her cheek more firmly against Dash's and gently nuzzled her in a mutually comforting gesture.  Once Twilight pulled away, Rainbow felt the very core of her soul effortlessly punctured by the gaze of the purple eyes assailing her.  There was a piteously hopeful look to them that exacerbated the frigid guilt clawing its way through every nerve in her body.

"What...what exactly happened?"  

Twilight partially opened her mouth to reply but soon paused to compose both herself and her answer.  The potent anguish that had previously glazed her eyes with tears was now noticeably mutating into a burning wave of indignation and wrath.

"What happened?  You drank yourself into a coma again, that's what happened!  I mean what were you thinking?  I just...I don't......arghhh what the BUCK, Rainbow?!  I don't even know if I should be mad at you right now, but I certainly am!  You've been acting crazy ever since....well, you know."

Rainbow stared diligently at the individual fibers woven together that made up the blanket on top of her that she so desperately wished to hide under.  Twilight's vision was wholly centered on the mare before her, and never once faltered.

"But that's not a reason to act like this!  Dash, I can't begin to understand what exactly you're going through, I mean my greatest heartache was having to leave Canterlot and Princess Celestia behind so I could live my own life, but I know that there is nothing out there that could ever break a mare like you.  There is no pain in all of Equestria that should be able to bring you down like this, to turn you into something you're not."

She mulled those words over for a long period of silence.  Her trust in others had been all but trashed and scattered, but once she finally looked up at Twilight she couldn't bring herself to call her a liar even if she wanted to.  The sounds of various hospital staff approaching then fading away down the hallway threatened to disrupt the critical moment, but not one of the sets of hooves ever stopped to knock on the door; the mares were left in solitude.  

"Am I...weak?"

Both the sudden presentation of the question, as well as the question itself, surprised Twilight.  Yes, she had been seeing Rainbow break apart for quite a while now, but this seemed like a true admittance of defeat.  Rainbow would never admit defeat.

"I don't know Rainbow, are you?"  Twilight countered.  "Taking up the lovely hobby of alcoholism, hitting your friends, and nearly killing yourself in trying to drown your self-pity?  Tell me, do those sound like a weak mare?  Do those sound like Rainbow Dash, element of loyalty, future Wonderbolt, and once-good friend of mine?"

Twilight's usage of the past-tense felt like another needle being driven into her body, one that sucked the warmth and comfort from her collapsing veins.  

"No."  She replied, sounding far weaker than when she had first woken up.

But the unicorn wasn't satisfied with the lack of conviction she was hearing.  She let out a heavy, frustrated sigh and closed her eyes to compose herself.  Perhaps she was being too hard on her.  The mare before her clearly had lost all of her strength, and if it weren't for the strength of others having kept her alive earlier, Twilight wouldn't even be having this conversation.  Perhaps she was asking her to move mountains with broken legs; she was in no condition to fight.  Her face eased up at that thought, and she opened her eyes once more, this time showing only the concern her anger had been suppressing.  She gingerly lifted her hoof up under Rainbow's chin.

"Dash, look at me."  Her friend obliged while giving her the most defeated of looks.  "I'm sorry I'm being so hard on you when you clearly don't have the strength to put up with two ponies beating down on you.  But you heard me say it before: this isn't who you are.  Somewhere along the way, you lost sight of your true nature, but that's ok because just as you changed into this kind of mare, so too can you change back."

Twilight's adamant speech of encouragement seemed to not penetrate its intended audience.  Rainbow merely stared endlessly at the foot of her bed.  Twilight's irritation began to resurface the longer she was not granted a reply, but right before she started to say something, the fragile voice finally spoke up.

"She was everything, Twi'; she meant everything to me."  For the first time in any memory of her friend, Twilight saw Dash begin cry.

"Then how come she left due to you not paying enough attention or respect to her?"  Twilight countered with noticeable frustration in her voice.

"I-it's not that simple, ok??  I mean, I never didn't love her, because.....because she didn't ever change."  Her temper flared and faded within a single breath.

"I'm not so sure of that, Dash."

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"I mean, she seems to have lost something over the past year.  There's no longer that mark of innocence in her eyes like there used to be; I guess she just looks....normal now."  Rainbow considered her words intently before sighing in resignation.  A guilty silence draped over the otherwise bright room, and both mares searched themselves for something to say.  

"What do I do?"  

"You fix what you've done, and move on; nothing more, nothing less."  Twilight advised.  "You start by going down that hallway once you're better and apologizing for giving Rarity a heart attack by making her think she'd have a deformed nose."  Dash tried not to chuckle, but was met with stern eyes when she noticed Twilight heard her.

"I will, Twi', I promise.  Just....promise me you'll help?  I know this is no one's fault but my own, but I only cracked like this 'cause I, well, I couldn't handle that feeling I got whenever I thought about what happened.  I just felt so utterly...empty."  Twilight nodded sagely in understanding, she had never personally experienced that feeling, but she was well-read enough to identify and sympathize with it, to a degree. 

"Rainbow," She replied with a drop of caution in her voice, "if you are truly ready and willing to move on, then I will be there every step of the way.  But it won't just be me, because AJ, Pinkie, and even Rarity will guide you in helping yourself, we've always been here for that."  Rainbow looked guilty and once again pawed at her bedding for a few moments before looking back into her friend's noticeably warmer eyes.

She confirmed with herself that Twilight really must have meant everything she'd said.  Whatever made her cast them off and not seek their help?  Was it pride?  Or, did she believe that they simply wouldn't help her after all she had done to Fluttershy?  Seeing Twilight accept her now, after all of the far worse things she had done, showed her it had only been her damned pride.  Perhaps fixing that would be the first step forward after making amends.  Having a path now laid out in front of her, even one wrought with countless obstacles, relieved immense pressure from her heart and mind.  She understood very well now why loyalty was a key element of harmony.  Without a spoken word, she leaned forward and wrapped her friend in her forelegs, feeling loved for the first time in far too long.







Rainbow never did walk down to Rarity's room, the unicorn was discharged shortly after Twilight had bolted out of there.  When Rainbow was cleared to leave that evening, she and Twilight found that Rarity had left as soon as she could.  Twilight couldn't blame her for wanting to escape, but also couldn't help but feel a bit of concern for her leaving without so much as checking on Rainbow after seeing her get wheeled in on a gurney.  These thoughts appeared to afflict Rainbow as well, she was utterly silent as the pair made their way to the library.  Twilight had insisted Rainbow stay with her for a while, believing that not having to go home to an empty house would serve her well.

A fleeting surge of wind rolled in and out across the nocturnal landscape in unpredictable waves.  The gust kicked up particulates of dirt and dust from the worn road beneath the two mares.  A purple aura lit up the darkness around them as Twilight continually tried to fix her mane from the wind, but she eventually huffed in frustration as she gave up and let her hair blow into her eyes.  Rainbow did her best to stifle a giggle.

They soon arrived at Golden Oaks Library and Twilight flipped open her bags with a spark of magic, levitating out her house keys.  With a click, the heavy door swung open and revealed the obscured interior lit up by nothing more than rays of moonlight shining on the spines of hundreds of books.  Her first hoofsteps in, Rainbow took in the always welcome scent of Twilight's home.  She may not be much of a reader herself, but she certainly enjoyed the smell of the aging pages of the countless tomes nestled on the shelves.

"Well I'm sure you know the way to the guest room, but can I get you anything before we call it a night?"  Twilight spoke up, her voice sounding distant against the tall wooden ceiling of her home.

"No, I'm cool, thanks Twi'."  Rainbow gave a reciprocated sleepy smile as they both walked up the creaking steps.

The two said goodnight and turned their opposite ways upon climbing up to the landing.  Rainbow pulled the tarnished brass door handle and pushed her way inside the sparsely decorated second bedroom.  She stood still for a while, simply staring off into nothing as her mind worked over the day's events.  The thoughts of what all she had done caused frigid pangs of guilt and embarrassment to course through her, but she couldn't be bothered by all of that right now.  

Rainbow Dash flopped down onto the small bed at the back of the room.  The worn springs cried out when she landed on the mattress and wrapped herself in the heavy blue quilt atop it.  With her wings unfurled, Dash laid on her back and covered her face with the pillow resting against the headboard.  

It's good to know Twilight is willing to forgive me, heck, even Rarity really may as well.  But...will she ever give me a second chance?  Do I even want one?  I can't imagine things would ever be the same; some actions leave no option for going back.  

Rainbow removed the pillow smothering her face and looked pensively towards the slowly spinning ceiling fan above, lost in its hypnotic motions.  She took this time to reflect on everything, every last little detail of how her relationship had really gone. 

The first instance she could recall was their first Hearth's Warming together.

Rainbow and Fluttershy had separated from their friends early on in the night, leaving them to their party at Sugarcube Corner.  Fluttershy loved to drop coy hints for Dash to show some physical intimacy, so as the faint winter winds blew across their coats she made an effort to shiver noticeably.  Her marefriend had no delay in wrapping a wing around her and pulling her in as tight as she could.  Fluttershy contently sighed as she lifted her head up to nuzzle the crook of Dash's neck.

"So what are your plans for the morning?  I was thinking maybe we could go for a walk in the snow that's supposed to fall tonight.  I love finding all the little animal tracks, and the sound of all the little fillies and colts out playing and laughing."  She spoke into her partner's ear as she continued leaning on her shoulder.

Rainbow remained focused on the ground in front of her as they walked, the awkward expectant silence going unnoticed by her.  After a few minutes, she finally took note of the unusual silence amidst a lull in her thoughts.  Looking down, she saw Fluttershy staring up at her in anticipation.

"Huh?  O-oh right, well I was actually planning on just sleeping in and then practicing in the afternoon.  I always love a good exercise in the cold, ya know?"

"Uh um, yeah that's good."  Fluttershy's gaze fell to the trail beneath her hooves, her ears flattening atop her head.  "But that doesn't mean you can't spend the night at my house, right?"  She said, perking right back up.

"A-actually, I'd kinda rather sleep in my own bed.  Don't get me wrong, I love spending the night with you, but I have a hard time sleeping at your place.  All of the animals in there are kinda loud and honestly, well, smell a bit."  Rainbow averted her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, I understand.  Well, how about we just go to your house tonight?"  Her words coming off more as pleading than an honest question.

"Listen 'Shy, I'm sorry but I just sleep better on my own, always have.  I'm sorry."  Rainbow scratched the back of her neck and became flushed in embarrassment.

"No no, I'm sorry I pushed it, I shouldn't do that. Sorry."  She gingerly pulled away from Dash's wing.  "It's just, I haven't seen you much at all this week.  I-I know you're busy and all, but I've really missed you."  Rainbow pulled her swiftly back into her hold.

"I know, and I'm sorry.  It's just that I need to keep practicing my flying for a project I'm working on.  Pair that with my work schedule, and there just aren't very many hours left in the day.  You understand, right?"

"Of course."  Fluttershy replied near inaudibly.  Rainbow perked back up once more.

"Awesome!  Well hey, I'm gonna go ahead and get home and into bed, I'll catch ya later, alright?"  She separated from her marefriend and took off in a gallop before waiting for an answer.  A short ways down the road, she spread out her wings and took flight, aiming towards her floating home nestled under the vibrant moon.

Fluttershy stood alone on the deserted road, swallowing a dull pang of sadness as she walked herself home.

"No......"  Rainbow whispered to herself as she sat up on the bed.  "Was I always that selfish?"

She rubbed at her weary eyes and rested her head against a hoof as she thought back on their days together once more, determined to find something other than what she knew she would.

On lonely nights, even while dating Rainbow, Fluttershy loved to go out on walks through the town center, just not as late as she used to.  This particular evening, she was missing her partner terribly and decided to bathe in the ambient sounds of candle-light conversations and tavern tales as every other pony enjoyed their Friday night out.

Most of the voices blended and faded away in her mind without a second thought, until she heard a familiar coarse laugh coming from the bar on the corner ahead.  As she walked past, she gave a sidelong glance through the window.  Fluttershy froze in place while her eyes went wide.  

Trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible, the yellow mare shouldered her way to a crowded round table near the front.

"Rainbow?  I thought you said you were going to visit your mom in Baltimare."  Looking shocked but not stunned, Rainbow turned to face her distraught marefriend.

"Uh ohhhhh, looks like the killjoy is here, amiright?"  Her raspy voice rose against the raucous howls of the other tavern patrons.  Fluttershy shrank back amidst the explosion of laughter around her as Rainbow came and laid a wing on her back.

"W-what's going on?  Did you miss your train?  Or, is your mother alright, did she have to cancel your visit?"  The small mare fought hard to make her inquisition heard, while being careful not to make it sound too accusatory. 

"Hahaha oh you weren't kidding, Dash!  Pretty hard to believe you fly as well as you do with that ball and chain!"  A teal pegasus stallion shouted before taking a long swig of his beer.  He soon spit it out, however, as Rainbow jabbed his side with her hoof.

"I never said anything like that!  J-just that she doesn't appreciate a good time like we do, you know?"  Fluttershy had become adept at reading Rainbow over the years, and she was clearly lying to her now.  But, being a bit in shock at the whole situation, she replied with the first thing she could think of.

"H-hey!  I know how to have a good time!"  She shot back, to the great amusement of the pegasi sitting expectantly at the table.  "Um, remember that time we got ice cream on a Friday night instead of knitting like we'd originally planned?  That was pretty, um, wild."  She trailed off lamely.

The whole establishment was now facing the table as it exploded into gleeful hysteria.  Rainbow did her best to shrink below the table, having now become embarrassed at the presence of her marefriend.  

"Haha yeahhh, that was...pretty crazy 'Shy.  Say, I needed to talk to you about something, so let's step outside for a minute."  She pulled the mare off with her and out into the street before turning to face her.  Before Rainbow could speak a word, Fluttershy leaned into her face and cried out.

"What was that about?!  Why are you still here, and why didn't you tell me you weren't going on your trip?  I would've really wanted you to come with me to the Equestrian Audubon Society meeting earlier this evening, but you said you.....had a....trip to go on....."  The pieces fell into place in her mind and her lips and eyes began quivering as she turned to run away.  

"Wait, Fluttershy!"

No matter how far she dug back, the picture was always the same:  Rainbow really did treat her lover and lifelong best friend as little more than a disposable accessory.  Her mind was numb to the torrent of guilt and grief that tried in vain to coax out a new wave of pain; she'd spent all she had.

Rising sluggishly to her hooves, Rainbow walked over to the little round window inset into the wood of the tree home.  She flipped the aged brass latch and gave the portal a gentle push open.  The air from outside carried into the room on a gentle breeze like washing tides, bringing a slight damp chill with it.  Dash gazed longingly to the stars above, taking comfort in their innumerable count.  With a sigh of resignation, she laid herself back down on her bed for the night.

Rainbow took more than an hour to pass into sleep.  The temporary episode of insomnia was characterized by empty yet heavy feelings of creeping guilt as she helplessly continued to reflect on her past actions.  Yet, having faced these demons head on and having passed the emotional wall associated with them, she felt strangely better and almost solemnly optimistic.  

Whether I like it or not, life will continue to push me forward, away from both the good and bad things in life.  It's kinda comforting to know I can't ever really be trapped that way.

Rainbow nestled into the heavy quilts and settled into a tight fetal position as she continued to stare out the window, talking back in her mind to the whispering wind.

I've made mistakes, but I have a lot of time left to fix them, I suppose.  She sighed quietly.

.....I'm really gonna miss the way things were with 'Shy.  I-I just hope I can still have her as a friend.  I mean, we had far more years together as friends than as marefriends, so that surely outweighs the past few, right?  The gust from outside did not answer, it only brushed through the prismatic hairs atop her head with a gentle, caressing touch.  Feeling more uncertain than she had before, Rainbow shut her eyes and took deep, controlled breaths that pushed her closer towards her dreams.  

The blue pegasus teetered on the edge of blissful unconsciousness and felt her constricting anxiety shed from her like snakeskin.  Here, she was free to fly, and nothing in this realm could slow her heart and soul down as they danced in tandem under a perfect vibrant moon across ethereal skies.  This was her vacation, this was her rest before the fight she had ahead of her, to rectify her mistakes and misaligned priorities.  

She would need it, there was much to be done. 












> Perserverance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"See ya girls, I gotta go get my place cleaned up before my parents show up for their visit, moms never let that kind of stuff go..."

A round of farewells sounded out from the library and chased after the retreating pegasus on a warm summer wind.  Rainbow had been immensely grateful for the companionship she'd rediscovered in her group of friends; slowly but surely most of them came to respect her once again as they observed the honest changes in her demeanor.  Over the past few months she had decided she must let go of her dream, for now, until she became more adept at balancing her life.

Rainbow had fallen into a lukewarm routine as of late, consisting of work, walks, and long talks with Twilight about everything her soul needed to communicate.  It was incredible to find such a support network waiting for her, especially considering she really only spoke to Twilight in the past when she was teasing her.  

She wasn't the only one who had accepted her back; after listening to Twilight share all of the personal and vulnerable things Rainbow had told her, Rarity softened up some.  She would never really trust Rainbow entirely, but she became more understanding of Dash's situation while reflecting on her own occasionally poor balance of work and life.

AJ had never really turned against Rainbow herself throughout the whole ordeal, but when she heard about her hospitalization, she rushed over as soon as possible to apologize profusely and blame herself.  Neither Twilight nor Rainbow let that thought continue for very long, and they soon soothed their terrified friend, assuring her she was not to blame.

Then there was Pinkie.  She never really got involved in the whole incident, the girls all assumed she understood that perhaps she shouldn't be her usual self around the group for the time being.  The mare instead opted to calmly listen to either of the feuding parties and offer a solemn embrace when she was at a loss for words.  

The sun was an hour or two past its apex in the cloudless sky, and bore down on the residents below with only a gently warm touch.  The season had been mild after a rather bitter winter and spring, in which Rainbow had made herself scarce around town for the majority of the duration.  But here and now, she relished the warmth of the sun trickling through her fur down to her skin.  

On her walk back to her home, she was constantly surrounded by the chaotic sounds of childish hedonism native to the season.  Foals ran around lobbing water balloons at each other while parents rested on the patios of their homes, cooking, talking, and enjoying the company of friends and family.  Though not her season of choice, Rainbow found a great deal of comfort in the scene.

After a few blocks, she finally turned onto her street, the sight of her home still some ways away.  Her street was a bit quieter than the surrounding ones, most of her neighbors were a bit older and didn't have children living with them.  Rainbow listened quietly to all of the sounds flowing down the shaded road; there was the sound of a low breeze causing the ping of wind chimes, a family of birds in a nearby tree, and the soft sound of a familiar laugh.

The laughter caused Rainbow to completely freeze in her tracks, icing her blood.  At first she couldn't identify why the sound had such an effect on her, but after her mind figured it out, she immediately regretted it.

"Hehe, Pumpkin Spice you're terrible!"  The gentle voice struck fear in the bold mare's heart.

"Ohhhh maybe a little, but you never ask me for my recommendations on coffee if you aren't prepared to stay awake for the next few weeks." The aforementioned mare giggled back.

The moth drew nearer to the flame, her insatiable curiosity pulled her like a magnet to a small dead end street to her left.  Finally the pair was visible; sitting at one of the outdoor tables of The Roast was an amber mare of unparalleled beauty sitting across from a canary yellow pegasus who was the only one who could give her a run for her money.  

There she was.

So many months futilely trying to erase every sight, sound, and smell of this mare, avoiding any place she might frequent with extreme care.  Yet, here she was.

Having phased out for more than a few moments, the two mares sitting at the table now began to stand up, looking like they were about to say their goodbyes.  They shared one last laugh over some joke that fell on Rainbow's deaf ears, and exchanged a long and meaningful kiss.

Feeling as if the ground had slipped out from under her hooves, the shaking mare began walking off at a pace somewhere between a walk and trot.  Her mind was everywhere and yet she thought nothing.  She wanted to cry but the tears froze before they could leave her eyes.  Rainbow walked down the wrong street for a few minutes before correcting herself and heading once more to their, her, home.

She still had several blocks to go, but something began pulling at her before she could get too far.  The feeling of panic and dread overwhelming her dropped away, she suddenly felt nothing, she let go.  Her mind shut down and she didn't care, something was calling to her, she could feel it.  

There were no voices carried on the wind, but something spoke to a part of her within.  Without thinking, Rainbow flared her wings out and amped her trot up to a full run.  The warming air was now rushing past her, rushing through her.  She ran as fast as she could, leaving the dread weight behind her as she accelerated down the street.  Before long, the balmy wind began pushing up under her wings, lifting her first above the trees, then the homes, and finally the town as a whole.

The pegasus simply closed her eyes and glided through the empty sky, feeling at home for the first time in far too long.  She didn't know where she was going, but cleaning her home could wait.  If only for this indefinite moment, she shed all the weight she had been carrying for so long, finally as light as the feathers keeping her aloft.

Up there, in her realm, there were no words, no complicated emotions, just a sense of belonging and inner peace.