Rekindling
Chapter 5: Chapter 5- Hope
Previous Chapter Next ChapterHer friends arrived in the morning, rousing Rainbow from a bleary, if warm, sleep with a resounding group hug. Judging from the surprised yelps and following giggles, Spitfire and Twilight Sparkle had been roused from their sleep as well. Wiping her eyes with a hoof, Rainbow gulped nervously, slowly peering around at her best friends. How had they taken her absence? Applejack’s farm had to have suffered, only Rainbow Dash had ever figured out the exact weather formula to keep up Sweet Apple Acres’ extreme growth, a point of pride for the pegasus.
At least, had been, she thought sadly, trying hard to will tears out of her eyes.
“Celestia damnit, y-you are here,” the farmpony whispered, voice uncharacteristically husky, head lowered.
No no, she was angry, Dash had… But Applejack raised her head before Rainbow could complete the thought, revealing a tough, weather-beaten face, scrunched up in relief and happiness, tears pouring down her cheeks. Tears. Rainbow Dash had only seen Applejack openly cry once, and that had been at a funeral for her Aunt Orange from Manehatten that she had invited Rainbow to, for moral support. The farmpony had always exuded an aura of strength, like an immovable mountain of the hardest stone. With a small sob, the mountain cracked, and Applejack wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow’s neck, hugging her tightly.
Confused, Rainbow Dash quickly scanned the rest of her friends. Pinkie Pie, hair perked up as usual, was only giving a small, sad smile, bright blue eyes radiating relief born of utter hopelessness only days before. With a small sniff, Pinkie darted her head past Applejack’s shaking shoulder, nuzzling along Rainbow’s ear.
“S-so happy to see you again, Dashie,” she whispered, and the serious conviction of Pinkie’s tone stunned Dash, who had never seen Pinkie Pie take anything seriously except for lying, to her core.
Rarity was shaking lightly, mane covering her eyes, though it did little to hide the tears dripping down to the floor. Rainbow Dash and Rarity had never been the best of the friends, but Dash was just as loyal to her as she was to any of them. Trembling faintly, Rainbow Dash reached a hoof to her fancy friend. The faint tap that rang through the room surprised her for a split second, before she squeaked, slightly stunned. Rarity. High society Rarity… had given her a hoof bump.
“I-I’m so sorry it took us this long to g-get here, darling,” she told her softly, doing her best to keep her tone light, “When Twilight told us you were… w-were back, we were all a tad… split up.”
“S-split up?” Rainbow asked in surprise, noting for the first time the slight shame in the postures of each of them, “W-what do you mean?”
Applejack gave the tiniest shrug, tugging her hat over her eyes.
“W-was hard to stay in Ponyvile,” she explained after several tense moments, “S-seein’ your house… rememberin’ you… I-I’ve been in Appleloosa, helpin’ Braeburn with the apple harvest.”
“I-I’ve been visiting Maud,” Pinkie added softly, a hoof just scuffing the linoleum beneath her, “Helping out the family rock farm.”
A soft, dainty sigh left Rarity’s lips, “And I opened a boutique in Canterlot, catering to the nobility during this… trying time.”
A cold knot of despair rose up in Rainbow’s gut.
“W-what… what about F-fluttershy?” she whispered, looking around almost frantically for the buttery pegasus, “Is s-she okay? D-don’t tell me she’s living in the E-everfree, o-or went to the pegasi c-cities, or-”
The cold flow of terror only deepened as the friends, Twilight included, sheepishly glanced between themselves, mouths opening and closing. If Rainbow had looked any closer, she would have noticed very little pain or sadness about the shy mare, but Rainbow Dash’s mind was far from observant at that moment.
“Actually, Rainbow, Fluttershy is about… what, two floors away? I think.”
Rainbow’s head snapped around in shock. A draconequus head grinned up at her from the bedpost; Spitfire cursed and leaped up from her spot, eyes wide in shock. Discord reappeared over the entwined group of ponies, body coiled about himself as he looked down at them with… a strange amount of sympathy. Of course, all that was very quickly pushed aside by the wave of PANIC that swept over Rainbow Dash.
“Why’s Fluttershy in the hospital!?”
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Despite the foal’s mixed heritage, Twilight Sparkle had to admit that she was utterly, irrevocably adorable. Following Discord’s revelation of Fluttershy’s condition (something Twilight had wanted to break to Rainbow Dash in a… more subtle manner), the injured pegasus had practically killed herself, jumping off the bed and trying to gallop/fly to Fluttershy’s room. Trying being the operative phrase there, as everyone’s hooves and two sets of magic were ready to grab and hold Rainbow still before she could tear something worse. Getting her past the near-frantic doctors and nurses had been quite another challenge, and Twilight cringed as she remembered how she had pulled rank on them all. Alas, the things one does for friends.
Fluttershy had settled down on her side in her bed, mane plastered to her head and pillow with sweat, eyes creased and still half-delirious with strain and weakness. But every little suckle and mew from the little bundle of fur and feathers at her teats seemed to make the meek pegasus stronger and stronger. She and Discord had decided to name the little filly Golden Hope, and Twilight had to say, it fit. While Golden had definitely inherited her mother’s butter-yellow coat, she had also inherited a lion’s paw for a right hoof, and a dragon’s tail. Her wings were yellow feathered, while her head was graced with a pair of spiraling, swept back horns. But even with the chaotic amalgam of parts, her molten gold eyes and beaming smile melted even Twilight’s scientific skepticism. So… bucking… cute.
“W-wow, ‘Shy… she’s…”
Twilight glanced nervously at Rainbow Dash, who hadn’t left the side of her oldest friend since she and Rarity had set her down. Her eyes were wide in shock, and a surprising amount of… ...was it fear? Twilight frowned thoughtfully. Behind the magenta eyes certainly rolled a sea of… uncertainty. Adoration for the tiny filly, relief that her friend was okay. Shock that her friend was with Discord of all… things. Well, that had hit all of them, certainly, when Fluttershy had announced it along with her pregnancy. But beneath it all lurked… fear. And from where her hoof kept going, she knew where.
And why wouldn’t she be worried? Rainbow Dash had no clue about how this was going to go. Griffon/pony pregnancies were relatively uncommon, at least this far from the border, and Twilight had heard they could cause difficulties during birth. Not to mention the father, or the fact she had no family to help her through this. ...no. Not that last one. She may not have family… but Rainbow Dash would always have her friends.
“S-she’s amazing, Flutters,” Rainbow finally managed, a blush running through her cheeks.
“Thank you,” Fluttershy replied breathily, holding up a hoof.
Discord appeared with not even a flash, as to not scare Hope, only molding himself against Fluttershy’s back, tail curled affectionately around Fluttershy’s own. Twilight should not find that so adorable, but… but… ugh. She had to. Far too cute not to feel some “d’awwww.”
“I-it’s so good to have you home, Rainbow,” Fluttershy whispered, a sentiment Twilight shared greatly.
A glance at her hooves was all the proof of that. The day the other Princesses had called off the search… the day they had proclaimed her best friend dead… she had snapped. All the grief, all the anger that had built from the day she found Rainbow’s house trashed and covered in blood… it had exploded. She had whited out in the middle of Canterlot, blasting through the ceiling and screaming her lungs out at the unfairness of it all, at the hate she held for whomever had taken her friend. Her magic had obeyed her whims, and a great amount of mana infused the clouds above she blasted forth over and over. It had taken both Ditzy, who had come along as moral support, and a frantic Celestia, to calm Twilight down enough to bring her back to ground level, but the damage had been done. Twilight’s hooves, thrust forward during the exhalation, would always be covered in glowing lines of magic, and would always be a minor conduit for her magic. And the damage to the skies of Canterlot…
But now was neither the time, nor the place for such dreary memories. Rainbow Dash was home now. She was safe with Spitfire and a team of Wonderbolts, and Twilight would not be letting her go again. Her spell arrays would be watching and on her twenty-four/seven. Bit much? Perhaps. But too bad. When Rainbow Dash got back from her treatments in Canterlot, she would have a cadre of friends around her at all time. She peeked around, and found the eyes of Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack all focused solely on Twilight, their de-facto leader in the times of crisis. She gave the barest of nods. Rainbow Dash was going to come home, to everything she had been forced to give up… and everypony she had missed, and whom had missed her in return.
And with a glance at a blushing Spitfire in the doorway, and a curiously peeking Fleetfoot, Twilight allowed herself a small smile. And perhaps a few new ponies could come home too.
Next Chapter: Chapter 6- Canterlot Estimated time remaining: 60 Minutes