Rekindling
Chapter 6: Chapter 6- Canterlot
Previous Chapter Next ChapterSpitfire was… pleasantly surprised by the Royal Canterlotian Medical Facility when the convoy of sky-ships arrived at the capital. Unlike the generic, sanitary feel of Cloudsdale General, the RCMF was far homier, settled in a wing of the Canterlot Castle and made up more like a large home than a hospital. The caretaker in charge explained the change was due to the Princesses having had been its main “customers” over the years, especially during the formative years of Equestria, and they much preferred this style during their recuperation.
Glancing down at Rainbow Dash, the captain of the Wonderbolts had to agree with the Princesses on that. The young flier was far more relaxed in this setting, her trembles from the flight and procession through the city having mostly subsided as the scents of cedar and home-cooked food hit the party like a warm pillow of relaxation.
“How’re you holding up, Dash?” Spitfire asked her softly, draping her wing carefully over the pegasus.
It was… getting really hard to keep her wings from stiffening. Every brush of feather on feather had a tingle that ran into Spitifre’s spine, a pleasant warping of the magical fields that emanated from every pegasi wing. Spitfire was willing to admit that Rainbow was very cute… and also very, very vulnerable. Seeing a wing stiffen could set off some serious alarm bells in Rainbow Dash’s mind, and Spitfire was not willing to jeopardize their friendship and camaraderie over childish impulses. Not that she was going to remove that wing from Rainbow’s back anytime soon though. Nope.
“O-okay,” Dash replied softly, giving Spitfire a tremulous little smile, “Just… just worried about Lightning Dust.”
Spitfire’s mood dropped a bit, glancing back at the stretcher behind them, and the slumbering mare strapped to it. The magic of the Princesses had saved the wounded flier from bleeding to death, but the amount of shrapnel in her body was still severe, and even little movements could cause internal bleeding. The doctors at the Cloudsdale hospital had informed everypony that unless the Canterlotians could get it all out, Lightning Dust would never be able to fly correctly, or even possibly walk. For a proud, hard-working pegasus, Spitfire couldn’t bear to see that dream stripped from Lightning, no more than she could see it stripped from Rainbow Dash.
“Miss Dash, Captain Spitfire?”
A white-furred, blonde-maned unicorn smiled at them from one of the room, a clipboard floating by her side.
“Come on inside,” she told them warmly, “And we’ll get you settled in. We’d like to get your surgery in as soon as possible, Miss Dash, so you can start healing.”
Rainbow Dash tensed beside her, but Spitfire was quick to usher her inside with a squeeze of her wing-hug. She couldn’t blame the poor kid for being scared. Having to get her legs re-broken, then set back into their proper place to heal again did not sound like a fun experience whatsoever. But if it could fix Rainbow’s hobbled gait, or the pain she tried to hide… Spitfire would stay by her, every step of the way. She had to, really. Rainbow’s friends had had to be ordered home by both Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight, and all had been flown back to Ponyville to get their home-town ready for Rainbow Dash’s return. And the arrival of a full wing of Wonderbolts under Spitfire’s command.
“Captain Spitfire?”
Spitfire had looked up in surprise, the cigarette dropping from her lips in her haste and falling straight through the cloud floor. Dangit, that had been her last one, too. Princess Twilight was walking towards her from the entrance to Cloudsdale General, eyes hard and calculating. Had Spitfire done something wrong?
“Y-yes, your majesty?”
Way to go, Spitfire, that was completely professional. Twilight had looked her over silently for a very long moment, then slowly sat back on her haunches. In the light of the midday sun, she looked very much like the goddess incarnate many attributed the Princesses to being.
“Captain… on my authority as a Princess of Equestria,” Twilight started slowly, seemingly still in thought, “...I’m commanding you. Protect Rainbow Dash, with your life. Take whomever you need. My Aurora Guard, other Wonderbolts, Royal Rangers, whomever you need. Someone still wants Rainbow back…”
A hoof smashed into the ground, and the cloud below Twilight turned a dark purple, a magical circle flashed for a split second.
“I won’t let them have her again,” she finished firmly, hard eyes staring fiercely at Spitfire.
Spitfire matched the Princess’ gaze, and smiled faintly, standing up straight.
“Princess Twilight?”
Spitfire’s hoof slammed into her own chest, right above her heart.
“On my honor… on my life… no one will ever take Rainbow Dash away again. If they try…”
She bared her teeth; the sharp cutting teeth of pegasi, usually used for cutting fish for their protein-rich diet, gleaming in the sun.
“They’ll pay for it.”
Spitfire shook herself out of her reverie, leaning down to give a nervous Rainbow Dash a nuzzle along a flattened ear. She had promised to take care of this mare, and by Celestia, she was going to. No griffin, no minotaur, no pony was ever going to hurt her again. Even if it meant giving up her own life for her friend.
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Oh man I feel weird, Rainbow thought giddily, wiggling faintly on the bed.
“I think she’s waking up,” somepony said, sounding very far away.
Doing all she could to raise her head, Rainbow Dash blinked slowly around herself. Spitfire was smiling at her warmly from her seat beside the bed, and Dash was pretty sure she saw relief there. That’s awesome! Right? Turning a bit to the left, she could see Fleetfoot smiling at her from the window, waving cheerfully.
“Hey kid, how’re you feeling?”
Rainbow licked her lips a bit. Did her tongue have fur now? Weird.
“Awesome!” she replied, frowning at her slurred voice, “Hey… w-who gave me cider? I didn’t even taste it. S’no fair, man…”
Rainbow had definitely missed the Apple’s cider season. Celestia-damnit… she loved that cider. But each and every time, something- mmf! She looked down in surprised as a thermos pressed to her lips… and even more surprise at the warm, tasty liquid that flowed through the little hole in the metal cup.
“CIDER!” she squealed out, gaping around at the two giggling pegasi, “H-how did…”
“Courtesy of Sweet Apple Acres, kid,” Spitfire told her between giggles and breaths, “Applejack saved it for you, she said.”
She… saved her cider? Really? But…
“They need all the cider bits they can get,” she mumbled, staring down at the thermos with wide eyes.
A hoof settled on Rainbow’s shoulder, and a heavy blush ran through her face as a soft muzzle rubbed an ear. Just how much were her friends giving up for her? She had to be turning everything topsy-turvy… Melancholy was starting to break through the fog around her mind. Coming back was messing it all up. All this fanfare was too much. She’d been foalnapped for Celestia’s sake. Her! The Element of Loyalty! The supposedly best flier in all Equestria, taken by some stupid griffin. Humiliated, beaten, r-ra-
A second muzzle suddenly massaged along her other flattened ear, and Dash’s head jerked up in surprise. Fleetfoot stood in front of her, blue eyes surprisingly stern. Slowly, she raised a hoof, and it took Dash several shaky moments to reach up, and press the flat of her coltish hoof against Fleetfoot’s daintier one.
“I know what you might be thinkin’ there, Dash,” she told her softly, firmness softening to compassion, “Don’t think it. We wanted you home. We’re glad to have you back. And we’re going to pamper you; us, and your friends.”
To Rainbow’s surprise, Fleetfoot's hoof turned to encircle her’s lightly.
“We need you to let us.”
Spitfire’s hoof trailed down to tail Rainbow’s other shaky hoof, and Rainbow turned to look at her in surprise. The captain of the Wonderbolts, her idol, was smiling down at her with a softness she hadn’t seen before.
“We’re Wonderbolts, Dash. We’re a brotherhood, a sisterhood. You’re a Wonderbolt too.”
“I-I’m just a Re-”
She meeped as Spitfire’s second hoof smooshed against her muzzle lightly.
“You’re a Wonderbolt,” she repeated slowly, grinning down at the sheepish mare, “And what do Wonderbolts do?”
Rainbow Dash blinked as Spitfire’s hoof dropped away, and she tilted her head thoughtfully. What they… did? Well, they were the acrobatics team, and the elite special forces of Equestria. What could… Wait… The old motto, from the Academy?
Hesitantly, she peeked between the two Wonderbolts, squirming as she uncertainly replied, “F-fly on… always… fly on?”
“Louder,” both fliers urged as one, grinning widely.
“Fly on, always fly on.”
“Again!”
A grin split across Rainbow’s muzzle. Maybe it was the drugs in her system, but… She sat up straighter, voice growing firmer as she intoned, “Fly on, always fly on!”
“Louder!”
“Fly on, always fly on!”
“LOUDER!”
And even with her hind legs in a cast, and a six month along belly holding her down, Rainbow Dash gave her wings a mighty flap, hovering in the air as her voice drew in all the strength it could, all the dignity she could drag from the depths of her soul, past the crushing depths of the humiliations that had been piled atop it by her Master.
“WE FLY ON, ALWAYS WE FLY ON!”
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