Once Vibrant
"Okay Rainbow," Nurse Redheart said. "Time for your dinner."
The hospital gown crinkled as Rainbow Dash rolled over. "I'm not hungry." Her stomach growled in betrayal and she pulled the sheets tighter to muffle it.
"I know." Redheart set the meal on the side table anyway. "But it's there if you change your mind."
The nurse left, the door swinging closed slowly. Out of the corner of one eye, Rainbow caught a glimpse of her other friends outside the room. "She's still not eating?" Twilight's whisper sounded through the crack in the door, strained with worry.
Steamed asparagus, a fresh heart of romaine, and roasted sprouts. She pushed the tray to the far edge of the nightstand and rolled back to the opposite side of the bed, trying not to breathe through her nose.
She flew parallel to the lava flow to avoid getting cooked by the rising heat. The valley to her left shimmered. Even this high up, she could feel the sweat welling up under her coat, only to instantly evaporate.
"There!" Spike yelled from behind her shoulder. His wings weren't quite strong enough to keep him aloft, so she carried him on her back. He pointed to a small gulch on the edge of the farm. "If we divert it there, it might flow away from the town."
The split mountain belched again in the distance, spewing chunks of glowing rock miles into the sky. Lightning flashed in the angry ash cloud.
"I like your thinking," Rainbow called back, voice nearly lost in the roar of the volcano. She circled a bit higher, searching for the perfect spot. Across the burning fields, she spotted a vertical cliff face and pointed. "What about that? I think if we can cause a rockslide there, it could tumble down the valley and create a barrier."
"I think that's our best shot," Spike replied. "We can push on that big split there and— watch out!"
She looked back just in time to see the barrage of meteors hurtling down on them.
Struggling to sit up, she leveraged her legs off the edge of the hospital bed. Being close to the tray was making her queasy.
She shuffled toward the restroom, weak with hunger and foggy from pain. They'd probably hook her up to one of those new bag things with the needles soon. She shuddered and winced at the thought. But they wouldn't do that yet, not until there was no other option.
Turning on the light, she looked at herself in the mirror. The short blackened ends of her once full and vibrant mane stuck out like the remnants of a razed forest.
She could still smell it.
Her eyes fluttered open. She'd crashed down in a field near the lava flow. Broccoli of all things, but worse than being facedown in a terrible vegetable, she was alone.
"Spike!" she struggled to her hooves, shielding her face from the heat with one wing. Her eyes watered in the blistering air. "Spike! Where are you?"
The encroaching lava seared her skin. She kept low and fled down the rows of ripe produce, unable to take flight for the roiling heat. The tang of roasted florets stung her nose as the plants sizzled and hissed around her. She crossed over into the next patch before she heard his voice.
"Over here!" Spike called, catching her ear. She wheeled to the side, galloping so fast her muscles cramped. Then she skidded to a halt and gasped: Spike's leg was pinned under a smoldering rock.
He tried to smile. "I'm okay," he said casually. "Dragonhide, remember? I just need some help moving it."
Rainbow grabbed a branch. She wedged it under the boulder and pried upward, crushing a head of cabbage.
Spike wriggled free. His hide was untouched, but his claws bent at an odd angle as he tried to hide a limp. "Okay, what's next?"
Getting her bearings was a challenge in the smoke-induced darkness. The smoke of blackened vegetables mixed with smoldering fur, so overpowering she could barely breathe. Finally, she pointed at the cliff face, barely outlined against the roiling clouds. "There!"
"Rainbow?" The voice came muffled, followed by the gentle tap of a hoof.
Without turning away from the mirror, Rainbow reached back with her good wing and latched the door.
"Darling, we need to talk."
Her ears flattened, but she just stared at her own reflection in silence.
"...Or I can talk and you just listen." The posh accent was husky and low. "The Wonderbolts have been searching, and… it's been a week…"
A lump rose in Rainbow's throat. She closed her eyes and tried not to remember.
They rushed up the hillside behind the cliff. Rainbow tried to fly, but her feathers refused to catch the air. She didn't dare look back, and trusted her hooves to carry her. Heaving and breathless, they reached the ridge and looked down on the once-verdant fields. It was nearly too late.
She braced against a nearby boulder. It was hard to ignore the ache in her delicate bones, but she just needed to hold on a little longer. "Okay, push!"
Spike leaned in, claws sparking against the stone. He grimaced with pain. Soon they heard the groan of earth coming loose.
"Just a bit more..." Rainbow strained, and felt the boulder shift. "THERE IT GOES! Get back!"
With a crack to rival the lighting above, the cliff face sheared off. Seemingly in slow motion, the sliding rock turned into a jumble of boiling shards, pouring down the valley just ahead of the lava flow.
She could barely believe it. Their plan was working. "Come on," she said, staring over the edge. "Just a little more..."
Something cracked under her hooves.
"It's not done yet!" Spike cried out, falling backwards as the hill shook. "RUN!"
Rainbow scrambled, trying to get traction. She galloped with all her might, leaping and dodging as more and more of the hillside sloughed off in an avalanche of dirt and stone. The grass dropped out from under her each time her hooves touched down, with barely enough time to push off.
A moment later, she landed on solid ground. The hill grew silent again, and she collapsed. Over the sharp edge of the hillside, she could hear the faint last rumble of the rockslide as the boulders settled.
She allowed herself only a moment to catch her breath. "Spike?" she asked tentatively.
"I'm okay," Spike said, He stood up a few paces away and brushed the dust from his scales. Then he looked at her and gasped. "Oh no, Rainbow your wi—"
The ground whiplashed in a violent aftershock, and fractured wide under its own weight. The baby dragon disappeared into the gap, a thousand tons of dirt and stone tumbling after him.
"Spike!" Rainbow spread her wings and dove vertically, hooves outstretched. But instead of catching air, she tipped to the side and fell toward the maelstrom of earth.
At the last moment, she looked back and realized the feathers on her left wing had completely burned away.
Rarity took a shuddering breath, continuing. "They don't think there's much hope at this point. It… it might be time for us to accept the truth."
The latch clicked and the door opened.
Rarity knew what to expect, and she still had to stifle a gasp. Rainbow's fur was a dull gray, and patchy where angry red skin was showing. Bandages were wrapped loosely around the vestiges of a wing that would probably never soar on the wind again.
They stood in silence for a moment. Finally, Rainbow spoke.
"I wasn't able to..." she trailed off, staring at the floor. A tear rolled down her cheek, leaving a pale blue track through the ashes she hadn't yet washed out. "I couldn't."
Rarity glanced back over her shoulder at the rest of their friends peering in from the hallway. She choked back the tightness in her own throat.
"You and Spike saved the town," she said. "Hundreds of ponies and their homes are safe because of you. But… We've lost enough; we don't want to lose you too."
Another moment of silence passed.
"Can…" Rarity's voice cracked. "Can you at least tell me what happened?"
Rainbow stared over Rarity's shoulder at the tray of food for a long time.