Chapter 116

“Uhh… I’m sorry, what?”

Fluttershy huffed. “You have to save her, Goldie.”

I stared at the shy girl for moment. Then I glanced over at Rainbow Dash, and then at Fluttershy again. “Uh, heh! Whoa… hold on,” I said, closing my eyes and raising my hands. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Fluttershy swallowed. Worry marked her pretty features. “I don’t want her to die like this.”

I sat back in the chair and rubbed my forehead, sighing. “I know, Flutters. Neither do I, but… I’m not entirely sure how you think this is gonna work.”

She scowled. “What do you mean? You know exactly how it works.”

I sighed and let my eyes drop to the floor. “Ugh... that’s what I was afraid of.” I looked up to face her, brow cocked sarcastically. “You know, Flutters, there’s like, several issues of morality kind of jumping out at me all at once here.”

“Oh, but Goldie,” Fluttershy pleaded, her bottom lip coming out. “You’re all she has left. This is the only way she can survive.”

“I understand that, Flutters, but what do you expect me to do?” I asked, holding a hand toward Dash. “She’s barely alive. What, should I just get on top and stick it to her? Take her to the fuckin limit? I can’t do that—especially here! What exactly do you expect me to do?”

She covered her face with both hands and stamped her feet softly. “I don’t know… I don’t know!”

“We can’t, and I mean, we can’t do this, Flutters,” I said, placing a hand on her forearm. “Like, she’s not even conscious; I doubt I could ‘get it up’ even if I agreed to it.” I pointed to the clear bag filled with yellow liquid that hung near the foot of the bed. “Look… she has a catheter in, for crying out loud! How the hell am I supposed to—“

A nurse entered the room just then, bringing our exchange to a tentative halt. She smiled solemnly as she passed us to do her routine checks on the rainbow-haired girl—pulse, temperature, and so on. The process was not an involved one in the case of Rainbow Dash: given her prognosis, not much was checked other than making sure she wasn’t suffering and that she was actually still alive, and so the nurse was gone within a minute or two.

We both smiled at her as she left. As soon as she was out of sight, I quickly faced the shy girl, whispering loudly. “You see!? There’s people in and out of here all the time! What if I was up there giving it to her just then? How awkward would that be? They’d be calling the cops on our asses so fast, I—“

“I KNOW, I KNOW! FINE!” Fluttershy cried softly, pressing her palms to her temples.

“And it’s not just the logistics of it, Flutters; like I said, there’s some serious moral concerns here.”

She lowered her arms and turned to me with a glum stare.

I gestured towards the blue-skinned girl. “She never wanted to go through with it—you know that. In fact, she was pretty adamant about avoiding it.”

“I know, Goldie, but… what kind of morals would we have if we have the means to save her, but we just let her die?”

“No, I get it, Flutters. I get what you’re saying, but you understand that when someone doesn’t want to have sex, and you have sex with them anyway —whether they’re awake or not— I’m pretty sure that’s bad. In fact, I think there’s a word for that exact thing…”

Fluttershy chewed her thumbnail and looked over at her friend.

“Not only that,” I continued, “she’s gonna know what happened. Like, if she has terminal cancer one minute and then wakes up perfectly healthy the next, it’s gonna take her all of… what, like five seconds to figure out that I went and screwed her ‘almost-corpse’? Don't you think she might feel just a teensy-bit violated by that?”

The shy girl remained silent as she gnawed furiously on her nail. Then, without warning, a stream of moisture ran down her cheeks, and then she covered her face. “Ohhh! What are we supposed to do then?” she asked, her voice muffled, but quite obviously shaking. She looked up to me with a quivering lip. “She’s my friend, Goldie; I’ve known her my whole life. Longer than anyone else I know, even my own brother.”

I sighed and reached out to place my hand on her back, rubbing it. “I know. I don’t like it either, but I can’t do something like that to her. It’s not right. I mean, think about it: she’s known she was sick for a while —granted, it only just got bad while we were away— but she must have known that I could have helped her all along, and she didn’t ask.”

“But… w-why would she do that?”

I shook my head and looked down at the floor. “I don’t know,” I replied. Then I glanced at Fluttershy. “You’ve known her longer than me, why would she do that?”

She took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I mean… she was definitely not comfortable with you and your age, but… was she really that put off by it?” Those big, teal eyes found me again. “Maybe it was because she didn’t want to sleep with her friend’s boyfriend? Or maybe…” She trailed off and turned away to face her friend again.

I ruminated for a moment while I rubbed her back. Then I drew a breath to speak. “I don’t know, Flutters. I just worry that… Say we did it: say we saved her. What if she ends up hating us?”

Fluttershy sighed. “Then at least she’ll be alive. I’d rather her be alive than dead, even if it means she hates us.”

I shook my head. “Come on; you don’t really mean that, do you?”

She gave me a look.

“Think about it,” I continued, “she’ll be alive forever. Every single day, she’s gonna be reminded of the fact that she’s alive because someone violated her. That’s a long time to have something like that hanging over her head. Is that really what you want for her?”

Fluttershy sighed and leaned forward, placing her chin in her hands, elbows on her knees. “No,” she replied, pausing. “If only there was another way to save her… without having to do that.”

I nodded and stared across the room. “Yeah.”

A few minutes passed in silence, aside from the distant sound of footsteps in the hallway, punctuated by an occasional cough from the surrounding rooms. I tried to imagine how I would go about doing what Fluttershy wanted, and every time, without fail, the thought of it put me off completely. And I was positive that Fluttershy would have felt the same way if we actually tried it.

After shaking my head to clear the image from my mind, I sighed and glanced over at my girlfriend. Just as I did so, she perked up, her eyes rapidly shifting back and forth.

“What is it?” I asked, noticing the sudden train of thoughts rushing through her mind.

She turned to me, eyes wide. “I think I have an idea!”

“What kind of idea?”

“Wait here,” she ordered as she darted from the room, leaving me alone with a barely alive Rainbow Dash, confused and slightly worried about the scheme that was being cooked up under that mass of soft, pink hair.

*****

Fluttershy padded softly down the hall toward the nurse’s station, being careful not to run or make too much noise. She approached the counter and quietly rested her hands on it, speaking extremely softly. “Um… e-excuse me?”

The nurse who was seated there looked up from what she was writing to find the extremely timid girl looking down at her. “Can I help you, sweetie?” she asked, forcing a smile through the annoyance of being interrupted.

“Um… i-is there a pharmacy in this hospital?”

“Third floor. B zone,” the nurse replied flatly before returning to her work.

“Oh… um…” Fluttershy began to stroke her hair hand-over-hand, reluctant to bug the nurse again. “W-where is that, exactly? … Sorry.”

The woman looked up at her again, and then pointed her pen down the hall to her right. “The elevator’s that way; take it down to the third floor, then go right. You’ll know when you’re in B zone because the walls will have a blue stripe. Then just follow the signs.”

Fluttershy looked to where the nurse pointed and licked her lip. “O-OK,” she said, turning back to the nurse with a weak smile. “I think I can find it. Th-thank you.”

With a quick nod and another fake smile, the nurse returned to what she was doing as the tall, soft-spoken girl scurried off.

*****

After exiting the elevator and exploring the halls for several minutes, Fluttershy found herself in the blue-striped halls of the ‘B zone,’ as the nurse called it. She was antsy and therefore moved quickly, her feet hardly touching the floor as she went.

She followed the signs —which, as it turned out, were confusing and had caused her to make more than one wrong turn— and eventually, despite such impractical guidance, scurried past a glass door, peering through it on her way by. Inside, she spotted several aisles stocked with bottles and boxes of every describable size and colour.

“Ooh!” She skidded to a halt and quickly made her way back, spying the plaque next to the door:

A wave of relief washed over her, knowing she’d finally found it. More determined than ever, she entered the room in search of the item she needed. The pharmacy was much larger than expected, which did little to slow her resolve, but after a few passes up and down the seemingly endless lanes, Fluttershy once again became flustered.

“Oh dear,” she muttered softly as she stopped mid-aisle, scanning the vast sea of items stacked along the shelves.

She needed help.

Glancing around, the only person she could find was a lady in a white lab coat, working behind the counter at the rear of the room. Quickly, the shy girl made her way to the counter, separated from the pharmacist by a layer of glass with only a small speaker to talk through.

Fluttershy hated these.

After a short hesitation, she licked her lips and spoke. “Um… hello?”

The woman, whose back faced the counter, didn’t hear the call and simply continued what she was doing.

Frustrated, the shy girl brought a closed hand to her mouth and cleared her throat. She bent slightly to bring her mouth closer to the speaker. “Excuuuse me,” she cooed.

The pharmacist heard the whisper this time, and after a short pause she turned to face Fluttershy. Then she stood and made her way to the window. She was a tall woman with skin coloured in a dark ebony, sporting a short afro, with large, golden hoops hanging from her ears. When she approached, she folded her dark, lanky hands on the counter and gave a welcoming smile.

The affable response gave Fluttershy a boost of comfort, allowing her to relax and ask her question. “Um… could you tell me where I can find one of those medicine plungers? You know, the kind you use to give liquid Tylenol to... um, babies n’ stuff?”

The woman nodded once, smiling again as she raised a hand to gesture past Fluttershy’s right, speaking in a smooth, deep voice, laced with a strong Kenyan accent.

”With unwellness and pain,
we cannot make do;
the solution you seek
is waiting... in aisle two.”

Fluttershy glanced over her right shoulder. “Oh!” She glanced back at the pharmacist, pointing toward the lane with her thumb. “Over there?”

The woman bowed her head to confirm.

“Thank you very much, um… for your help,” Fluttershy replied, giving a thankful smile as she stepped away.

The pharmacist turned to resume her work, chuckling at the sweet, pink-haired girl, who was now scampering her way down aisle two.

Fluttershy found the syringes within seconds, and she cursed herself when she realised she’d walked straight past them earlier. After plucking one from the shelf, she headed to the front of the store where several self-checkouts lined the front wall. After scanning the item, placing it in the bag and swiping her card, Fluttershy snatched her purchase from the scale and headed for the door. She stopped just before leaving, however, to glance toward the rear of the pharmacy, where the found the black woman still watching her. She smiled and waved once more, and the woman responded by waving back, smiling warmly and nodding once, slowly.

Then Fluttershy sailed into the hall to begin her trip back to the elevator.

*****

RARITY: Fluttershy is gone?

ME: Yeah. She left like 20 min ago

RARITY: Where did she go?

ME: No clue. Where r u?

RARITY: We’re just taking a walk. Sunset wanted some more time out of that room, so we’ll be a little longer than planned. Will that be alright?

ME: Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll be here with Dashie

RARITY: Alright. <3

Sighing, I leaned to the side to slip my phone into my pocket. I glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who was still out-cold with those clear tubes running across her upper lip, feeding oxygen directly into her nostrils. Just then, I heard the soft pitter-patter of feet approach the door, followed by a soft voice.

“Goldie!”

I turned to see Fluttershy standing there, plastic bag in hand. “Come here!” she whispered loudly, waving for me to come.

After one more glance at Rainbow Dash, I stood and made my way to the door. “What’s up?”

“We need to find a washroom,” she said quickly, grabbing a handful of my shirt and pulling me into the hall. “I need to show you something.”

“Yes, Flutters, I know you can piss standing up; I don’t need to see that again,” I complained as she led me along the corridor, weaving between stretchers linen carts.

She spun around and scowled at me. “SHH! That’s not what this is about,” she said as she found her destination on the left, about seventy feet from Dash’s room. “In there!”

She led me inside the small, single-person washroom and closed the door.

“OK... so what are we doing in here?” I asked, glancing at the hand sanitizer dispenser before looking at her.

“We have to be quiet... and fast,” the shy girl said hastily as she slid her tights down, followed by her panties.

“Whoa, hey!” I whispered loudly, placing my hands on top of my head. “What the hell are you—“

“We have to save Dashie,” she said, reaching into the little bag to produce a plastic syringe. “And this is how we’re gonna do it. I need your cum.”

I looked at her sideways. “Holy crap, are you fucking serious?”

“Mm-hm,” she nodded, her expression steely. “This way, you don’t have to touch her. Just think of it as medicine, or an antidote; it’s not sexual at all, no different than if it came from a flower or some kind of mineral or... or something.”

I scowled slightly, despite it being a halfway decent idea—but there was only one problem. “And what if she doesn’t share that sentiment?” I asked as she tore the package open to remove the syringe.

She paused when she heard the question, looked up at me, and then shrugged.

“Yeah, well... you’d better make damn sure you explain to her what we actually did before she flips out on us.”

“Don’t worry, Goldie, I will.” She pulled the plunger out so the rear end of the tube was open, then she looked at me again. “Are you hard yet?”

I hadn’t even started; her plan hadn’t quite sunk in yet. “Oh,” I said, looking down at myself. “No… not yet.”

Fluttershy lifted the sweater she was wearing just enough to reveal her slit, showing off those plump, yellow lips pinched between her thighs, ready as always to wrap themselves around me. “How about now?”

There was a spike in blood pressure below my belt buckle. “Uh… yeah, that’s kinda working.”

Approaching quickly with both halves of the syringe in one hand, she cupped her free hand over my crotch. My manhood awoke quite suddenly, pressing firmly against her palm.

“There you are,” she whispered, bringing her lips to mine for a soft kiss.

How, after so many months of being together and after making love countless times, this girl could still make my heart flutter like this was beyond explanation. There was little time for me to ponder it though; she had already broken the kiss and was looking down at my bulge.

“Undo your pants,” she ordered softy, unable to do it herself with one hand. “Get him out, Goldie. We have to hurry.”

I made quick work of unbuckling my belt and unbuttoning my pants, and after yanking the zipper down, I reached into my shorts and pulled my erection free.

Fluttershy’s slender, yellow fingers wrapped around it immediately, and she began to stroke gently as she leaned in to whisper her warm breath against my cheek. “OK, big boy, we have a job to do,” she said softly, tracing her fingertips along the ridge. Next, she released me and cupped her hand just below her mouth. Pursing her lips, she spit a large, bubbly gob of saliva into her palm, which was a bit less sexy than Fluttershy’s usual methods, but it was obvious in her expression and her body language that she was in a hurry to complete this harvest.

I leaned in for a kiss as she wrapped her hand around my shaft to spread her saliva onto me, but as soon as I tried to introduce my tongue, she squealed softly and pulled away.

“No-no, this isn’t sexy time,” she scolded quietly, wagging her finger at me while holding the syringe with the other three digits. “This is a ‘get-off quick’ fuck.”

She released my manhood and turned to face the sink. Then she lifted one foot to set it on the toilet, presenting that smooth, yellow backside to me. “Come on Goldie, get in me; we have to save Dashie!”

I remained still for a moment and watched her, unprepared for such a strange proclamation; she bent forward, drawing my eyes down below her cheeks, where I could see her fingertips slip between her thighs to spread her lips open, revealing those soft pink petals, inviting me to make myself at home in the tight, warm space that waited between them.

“Hey!”

Fluttershy’s voice snapped me out of the trance. I looked up to find those teal eyes watching me over her shoulder.

“What’s the hold up?” she asked, arching her back slightly to point her ass-end up at me. “We have a job to do.”

I blinked a couple times and shook my head. “Uh… right. Yeah, right. Sorry.” I looked down and gripped my saliva-coated length by the base before stepping toward her. Placing my free hand on her hip, I poked her between the cheeks, feeling around until I found one of her fingers with my tip. After locating the other finger, I aimed between them and pushed firmly ahead.

She gasped softly, feeling my stiff girth slip into her warm grip. “Oooh... mmm.” She closed her eyes and turned to face the mirror, her breath fogging the glass as the first round of trusts began to pummel her depths.

I watched those yellow cheeks bounce softly against my hips for the first bit, reminded before long that saliva isn’t quite the best lubricant for sex. Her flesh felt rubbery as I slid through it—not that it was ever a bad thing to be inside Fluttershy, but I much preferred the smooth, slippery feel of a properly aroused woman. She didn’t keep me waiting long for it though; as her breaths deepened, so did my thrusts, and that slick warmth began to seep in, coating my length and allowing it to glide through her more smoothly, letting us enjoy the pleasure created by each stroke.

“Ohh… that’s good, big boy. You got it,” she panted, opening her eyes to look at me in the mirror. “Keep going.”

I slid one hand from her hip to her front, where I grasped a handful of her breast through the sweater, squeezing it firmly as I reamed her depths again and again, faster and faster. Peeling my eyes from her derrière, I looked over her shoulder to face her in the mirror, only to find that she wasn’t looking back at me, but at herself instead.

I watched her closely, somewhat fascinated by the self-fixation. She was only inches from her reflection, her eyes locked onto themselves, watching the sensations flow through them, the fireworks going off behind them, that pink hair swaying with each thrust, her mouth hanging open as she panted a foggy patch of moisture onto the glass, partly obscuring the lower half of her face.

Does she like watching herself get pounded? I knew the answer within the next minute; evidently, the sight of her own face in that mirror, contorted with bliss, turned her on to the point of getting off, and she began to tighten around my erection, preparing to be blown off her feet.

“Hhhaa… ohh!” No longer able to keep her eyelids from fluttering, she squeezed them shut and drew her lips into her mouth to bite them together. “Mmmmm! Hmm… mm.. mmm…” She gripped the sink tightly as she tried in vain to silence her moans, her body stiff and quivering while her hot interior pulsed around me. The orgasm tore through her like a vicious animal, leaving her breathless and seeping from between her legs.

Her lips parted and a hot breath burst outward, clouding the mirror even more. Her eyes opened, and she turned to face me over her shoulder, panting heavily as she brought a finger to her lips. “Shh… sh-sh-sh-sh… we gotta be quiet! Don’t wanna get caught in here.”

“You’re the one making all the noise, woman!” I whispered as I placed my hand on the small of her back, watching my gleaming shaft disappear beneath those round, yellow cheeks.

“Ohh… I know, I just… mmm...” She took her finger from her lips to place her hand on the back of mine, which I had moved from her breast down to her waist, just above the flare of her hip. “Are you close?”

I glanced down again at her backside, feeling myself deep inside, her tight warmth wrapped firmly around my length. I was still thrusting, although I had slowed down during our talk, but I could still feel that wonderful tingle coming on—the telltale sign of that inevitable release.

“Getting there,” I answered, kicking my speed up again.

“OOH!” She hadn’t expected the sudden onslaught, and she let out a cry of delight just a little louder than she meant to. “Shh!”

“So how are we doing this?” I panted. “Am I gonna pull out and shoot it into that tube, or what?”

“I… mmm,” —her eyelids fluttered as she tried to answer— “no. It might get all over the place if you miss. You know how much of a loose cannon you can be.”

“OK… so what are we—“

Giving her head a shake, Fluttershy cut in. “Just let it go inside me, then I’ll catch it in the tube when it runs out. Just don’t shoot it in too deep.”

“Fuck,” I whispered, feeling the tension build as my length begin to swell. “Are… are you sure that’s gonna work?”

She turned to me with her lips parted, a light scowl on her brow. “I don’t know, Goldie, I’ve never done this before!”

“OK, OK,” I grunted, squeezing her hip as the pressure rose from deep down, migrating out to the tip of my length as her warm hand squeezed mine. “Here it comes, Flutters.”

“Oohhh!” she moaned, closing her eyes and throwing her head back. “Do it! Give it to me!”

On her order, the floodgates opened, and —keeping my length at a shallow depth, only an inch past the ridge— I injected her furiously, dousing her interior with pulse after pulse of those hot, thick ropes. The feel of her soft flesh gently gripping my throbbing head sent shivers up my spine, and it took an extra measure of concentration to remember not to shove forward and pump it in too deep.

I leaned forward slowly as the pulsating began to subside, each shot losing power until finally, I reached that final spurt and it was all over. My forehead came to rest between her shoulder blades, cushioned by a soft bed of fragrant, pink hair. Inhaling her scent, I closed my eyes and panted with relief.

“Hooohh… good boy,” she said, turning to look over her shoulder. “How’d it go?”

I shook my head against her back, drawing a deep breath and then releasing it noisily.

Fluttershy reached back to pat my hip, but missed for the most part. “Good job,” she muttered, her breaths taking a pause to swallow. Looking forward again, she put the plunger between her teeth to hold onto it, keeping the tube in her hand. “OK… you ready?” she asked, moving her foot from the toilet seat to the floor.

I straightened up to face her with a nod. “Yeah.”

“OK, one sec,” she instructed as she reached down between her legs, her fingertips grazing the slippery underside of my shaft as she readied her hand to cup it over her slit once I withdrew. “OK… go,” she nodded.

I pulled out and stepped away, watching Fluttershy turn around to sit on the toilet; she separated her knees, hand cupped over her crease as she placed the tube beneath her crotch, just below her fingertips. Carefully, she slid her hand upward, letting the thick, white ribbon of fluid gush from between her folds into the clear, plastic tube.

I turned to rip a handful of paper towel from the dispenser to wipe my manhood clean while Fluttershy worked on collecting as much of the load as she could. She held her breath and clenched her abdomen, squeezing out another small dribble. Then she slipped two fingers inside in an attempt to dig for more, but when she succeeded in getting only a few drops, she stood and placed the plunger in the end of the tube, pointed the tip at the ceiling and pushed it up to purge the air.

“Hold this,” she ordered, offering the syringe to me as I zipped my pants up.

“Eh… sure,” I said, grimacing as I took it between my thumb and fingertip.

She spent a moment grabbing a wad of paper towels to wipe herself clean, making sure to soak up the excess fluids from between her layers. “Do you think that’s enough?”

I glanced at the syringe, which was about half full. “Uh… I’d say so. It’s quite a bit, actually.”

“OK,” she replied, slipping her panties up, followed by her tights. She washed her hands and then dried them off, turning to face me after throwing the paper towels into the garbage. “OK. Let’s go.”

After taking the syringe from me and wrapping her sleeve around her hand to keep it hidden, Fluttershy unlocked the door and opened it a tiny bit. Peering into the hall, she looked both ways to see if anyone was around, then she turned back to give me a nod.

“Come on,” she whispered as she threw the door open and scampered into the hall. I caught up and walked beside her, both of us trying our best to look casual.

A nurse passed us in the opposite direction about thirty feet from the bathroom; she was clearly busy with her duties and did not make eye contact with us, yet Fluttershy still felt the need to look down at the floor as we passed, her cheeks glowing slightly.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” she whispered softly once the nurse was behind us.

“What about the fact that you’re carrying a syringe full of semen right now?”

“Um… yes. That too,” she said as we made a left to return to Rainbow Dash’s room. Fluttershy headed straight for the bed, turning back to face me. “Stay by the door, Goldie. Keep watch.”

I paused, let out a sigh, and then retreated a step to maintain a clear view of the hallway. “Fuck,” I whispered to myself as I glanced both ways, making sure there were no nurses headed our way. “You’re good.”

After a quick nod, Fluttershy produced the syringe and stood at the bedside. Gingerly, she lifted the blankets from Rainbow Dash’s chest, watching her face to make sure she didn’t stir.

From the doorway, I glanced both ways into the hall another time before bringing my attention back to my girlfriend, who had peeled the blankets downward and was piling them just below Dash’s waist. The shy girl paused briefly, glancing at me.

“Are we clear?”

I nodded. “Hall’s empty. Go for it.”

After a deep breath, Fluttershy exhaled through a pair of pursed lips, staring intently at the syringe. She was apprehensive about what she was about to do; that much was obvious. “It’s just medicine,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “It’s just medicine...”

I glanced outside once again. Someone passed by the end of the hall to the right, making me shake my head before looking back at the shy girl, wondering how long she was going to go on repeating this mantra. “Flutters, it’s now or never. You don’t have time to be wishy-washy about it; make a decision now.”

She opened her eyes to glance anxiously at me.

“You’re sure this is what you want?” I continued. “Cuz you can’t take it back once it’s in.”

She watched me for a moment, drew a deep breath, nodded, and then reached down to pull Rainbow Dash’s gown up. She paused suddenly, scowling at something that seemed to have left her a bit perturbed. Then she closed her eyes and shook her head, apparently dismissing whatever it was. I couldn’t see it myself; the blankets were blocking the view from where I was standing.

“What is it?” I asked, curious.

“Nothing.”

I sighed, knowing the answer wasn’t true, but I decided to let it go. “You think this is gonna work?”

She glanced at me and shrugged as she reached down between Dash’s legs, placing the syringe. “I don’t know; I hope so. I don’t see why it shouldn’t. I’ve inseminated animals at the shelter lots of times, just like this.”

Why does that not surprise me? I wondered as I glanced into the hall one more time. When my eyes returned to the shy girl, her arm was still, her face stiff with concentration. A few seconds passed, and then Fluttershy withdrew her hand.

The syringe was empty.

“All done?”

She looked at me and nodded, and then turned to throw the syringe in the garbage. “I guess now we wait,” she said as she replaced Dash’s gown and pulled the covers up, tucking them gently under her arms.

“Yeah,” I replied, stepping into the room as the shy girl wiped her hands with a tissue. Then she approached me for a tight hug, resting her head on my shoulder.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Eh… I just hope you know what you’re doing. And I wouldn’t count your chickens just yet. We just gave it to her; we have no idea if it’s gonna work until she actually turns.”

“I know,” Fluttershy replied, leaning back to face me. “Let’s hope it does, for Dashie’s sake.”

Then she closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss.

*****

Hours passed. Rarity, Sunset and Twilight had finally returned to the room after their walk, which went a little longer than originally intended. They sat with us, talking quietly about Rainbow Dash’s condition and about what would happen if we lost her.

Fluttershy and I didn’t tell them about what we did, not wanting to get their hopes up in case it didn’t work.

Eventually, morning came, and Sunset had to leave for her shift at the coffee shop. Twilight opted to leave with her; she had obligations for her own, namely an online group chat with her schoolmates about a project that they were to resume when the holidays were over, so she decided to do that at Sunset’s apartment, stating that she would be back in a few hours.

The boutique was closed until after New Years, so Rarity stayed with us.

Fluttershy had become noticeably agitated in the meantime. It had been eight agonizing hours since the injection, and Rainbow Dash still looked gray and withered, and she was still sleeping like a log.

I tried my best to keep her calm without letting on what’d been done, but Rarity was much too receptive for us to keep her from noticing.

“Fluttershy, darling, what is the matter?” she asked, leaning in front of the shy girl to look into her eyes, placing a hand on her back.

“Oh, um… it’s just… I-I’m really worried about Dashie,” Fluttershy replied, which was understandable—from both mine and Rarity’s perspectives.

“Ohh,” Rarity nuzzled Fluttershy’s cheek with her own, squeezing her tightly. “I know, darling. I am too. This whole thing is just… terrible business. Simply awful, what’s happened.”

I was standing by the foot of the bed, having given my seat to the fashionista, watching the pair embrace. Fluttershy’s eyes rose and glared up at me; clearly she was annoyed by the situation, but was reluctant to tell Rarity the truth just yet.

“Why don’t you take a walk, darling? You’ve been cooped up in here for hours,” Rarity suggested, leaning back to look at her girlfriend. “You and Golds should take a walk to the coffee shop and have a nice, hot drink while I stay here with Rainbow Dash. What do you say?”

Fluttershy sighed and glanced at me. I could tell she didn’t want to leave the room until it happened. “I… I’d rather stay here, Rare… if that’s OK,” she replied, turning to the pale beauty.

Rarity cocked her head, concerned. “Are you sure, darling? You don’t want a nice latte or something?”

Fluttershy rubbed her chin, her eyes scampering along the floor tiles. “Hmm… actually, that does sound good,” —she glanced my way— “but… I’d just rather stay here. Um… do you think you could go get me one?”

Rarity looked surprised. ”Me? But I was already th—“

“Pleeease, Rare?” Fluttershy begged, sticking her bottom lip out. “I would be so grateful if you could do that for me,” she continued as she cupped her hands over the fashionista’s soft, white cheeks, stroking the corner of her mouth with her thumb.

“Oh… well, I…” Rarity stared helplessly into those big, teal eyes, watching as Fluttershy blinked a few times, flicking those long, hooked eyelashes of hers. “Oohhh alright,” Rarity sighed, finally caving to her girlfriend’s influence and standing up. “So that’s what that feels like; I cannot believe you used my own tactic against me,” she grumbled as she faced me. “Would you like anything, my love?—since I’m going.”

“Uhh… a double-double, I guess. Thanks.”

With another sigh, Rarity slung her handbag over her shoulder and bent to kiss Fluttershy on the forehead. “I shall be back soon.”

“Thanks Rare,” the shy girl whispered, watching the indigo-haired girl saunter out of the room. As soon as she was gone, Fluttershy left her chair and went to the bedside, clutching handfuls of her hair. “Ohh! Why isn’t it working, Goldie!?” she cried softly. “Why is she still sick?”

I stood next to her to have a look at Rainbow Dash for myself. Indeed, she still looked the same: dull, frail, and motionless.

I shook my head. “I don’t know, Flutters. I don’t get it.”

“Oh... I hate this!” she whimpered, turning to me. “What if it doesn’t work? What if we were too late and she can’t conceive? What if she... what if she...” —Fluttershy drew a soft gasp— “d-d-dies!?” She became increasingly wound up with each thought, even reaching the point of grabbing my shoulders and bouncing on her heels as she spoke.

She needed to calm down. Badly.

“OK... relax, Flutters! Come over here and sit down,” I instructed, leading her back to the chairs. She sat in the farthest one from Rainbow Dash, looking anxiously at the bed as I sat beside her, holding her hands and looking into her eyes. “You need to calm yourself. Please. Panicking isn’t gonna help anything.”

Her stare shifted onto me, her pupils tiny, her mouth open, lips quivering. “But… I don’t know what to do! Oh goodness, I’m a nervous wreck! It’s been hours, Goldie! It’s never taken this long for anyone to turn. Why is it taking so long!? What if she doesn’t make it!?”

“Listen, listen,” I said, squeezing her hands. I opened my mouth to speak, about to say something like ‘she’s gonnna make it,’ or ‘everything’s gonna be alright,’ but I just couldn’t bring myself to tease her with false hope. I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing that look in her eyes, watching her heart shatter into a million pieces if her friend actually ended up dying of cancer, especially after administering what she thought was a sure-fire cure.

So I told her the truth. “I… don’t know, Flutters. I wish I did. I wish I knew what to do. I wish I knew what was happening, but... I don’t. I just...” I paused, and then turned to the side, shaking my head.

Fluttershy’s face went blank. The colour drained from her cheeks. Her eyes locked onto mine.

“I’m sorry,” I continued. “But… we need to be ready.”

Her bottom lip quivered. “What do you mean? Ready for what?”

“In case… for whatever reason, it doesn’t work.”

Her breathing stopped. Then her eyes drifted downwards.

I let my eyes follow hers to the floor as I spoke again. “We did our best, Flutters. And… she may still come around, but... I don’t know if she will. It’s been a long time since we gave it to her, and like you said, it’s never taken this long before. I don’t know what that means. Maybe it means nothing, I don’t know.” I paused, gently caressing her knuckles with my thumb, prompting her to look up again. “The last thing I want is for her to go. I really don’t want to see you guys have to go through that—especially you. I know she’s an old friend, and that you’ve known her forever, but—“

Fluttershy gasped and frantically tapped my hands, making me stop mid-sentence. “Goldie! GOLDIE!”

“What!?” I replied, looking up at her. She was looking at the bed, her eyes wide as saucers as she pointed her finger, shaking it wildly.

“Goldie, look!”

I glanced over my shoulder at the bed, shocked immediately by what I saw.

Rainbow Dash looked different. Or rather, she no longer looked different; she looked like Rainbow Dash. Her skin had returned to that vibrant blue that we’d grown to miss without even realising it. It was smooth and healthy-looking, and she’d filled out noticeably; gone were those sunken eye sockets and protruding cheekbones, now replaced by a round, almost pudgy visage—not pudgy like Pinkie Pie, of course, but certainly more so than a few minutes ago.

Fluttershy and I both had forgotten what she really looked like. The sickness had chipped away at her health for so long and so slowly, we never noticed the extreme loss of colour and weight until now. And her hair! It practically glowed with energy; it was fluffy and full, lined with every colour of the spectrum, so vivid it was almost blinding to look at.

Before the shy girl and I had a chance to comprehend the change, Rainbow Dash began to stir.

“Mmmrrrh…” she groaned, squeezing her eyelids tight as she rolled her head from side-to-side. Then, after a slow inhale and a lick of her lips, her eyes opened, revealing a pair of sparkling, cerise irises—which immediately locked onto both Fluttershy and me. “Hey…” she said, her voice husky.

“Dashie?” Fluttershy replied, eyes wide, mouth covered.

“Mmm… yeah,” she grunted, shifting upward a bit. “How long was I out?”

“Um… a-all night,” said Fluttershy, still unblinking. “How do you feel?”

“Ehh…” Dash looked down at her palms, brows furrowed as she studied her bright, blue skin. “Pretty… good, actually. I haven’t felt this good in—“

“Ah! You’re awake,” a voice said from the doorway.

The three of us turned to see a nurse entering with a supply cart in tow. She was a fair-skinned lady, and young, with powdery-pink hair, wearing light blue scrubs that matched her eyes.

“My name’s Redheart,” she announced cheerfully. “I’ll be looking after you for today.” She paused when she reached the bedside, cocking her head at the rainbow-haired girl. “Hm.”

“Uh… what?” Dash asked, raising a brow.

“Well,” Redheart replied, “I just finished going over your charts with the outgoing nurse, and from what she was saying, it sounded like you were gonna be out all day, but I have to say: you look pretty darn good for someone in your condition!”

“Uh… yeah,” Dash said quietly, reaching up to scratch her temple as Redheart took a look at the monitors. “I… actually feel not too bad right now, to be honest.” She lowered her hand to the bed as she continued. “Maybe the sleep did me some—ew, what is that?”

Redheart faced her patient with a start. “What’s the matter? Are you alright?”

Rainbow Dash was holding her hand up, grimacing. “My sheets are wet!”

“Wet?” the nurse repeated, looking down to pat the fabric next to Dash’s hip before rubbing her fingertips together. It was indeed wet, prompting her to find the source, which did not take long. “Oh sugar! Your IV came out,” Redheart said, turning quickly to shut off the drip. “Here, I’ll have to start you a new one.”

Fluttershy and I glanced nervously at each other as the nurse retrieved a fresh needle from the cart. Both of us were unsure of what to do, or what was about to happen—but if I was a betting man, I would’ve said giving the new and improved Rainbow Dash a needle was probably not going to work out so well.

Nurse Redheart returned before long with a needle ready, and instructed Rainbow Dash to lay her arm out straight. After swabbing the crook of Dash’s elbow, she unwrapped the new needle and steadied herself, looking for the old hole for a location reference; when she couldn’t find it, she shrugged and decided to start fresh, poking around with her fingertips in search of an artery. “Ok… little pinch,” Redheart said softly as she pushed forward. Dash’s skin dipped inward under the pressure and eventually rolled over itself, but the needle would not penetrate. Redheart pursed her lips and pushed firmly, but after bending slightly, the needle simply snapped off.

Fluttershy covered her mouth and looked at me with tiny pupils.

“Oh my, haha!” Redheart chuckled, and Dash glanced up at her, confused. “I can’t even remember the last time I saw that happen,” she continued as she looked for the broken piece. “Tough girl! Haha! You must be indestructible or something!”

The statement seemed to spark something in the rainbow-haired girl as she looked down to study her arm, and her face went blank quite suddenly. Slowly, her eyes rose and eventually met mine, narrowing when they found their target, her jaw clenching tightly as she gave me the nastiest glare I’d ever seen.

Oh shit... I thought, feeling the hair stand on the back of my neck.

She knew. Rainbow Dash had pieced it together.

“OK,” Redheart said in the meantime, oblivious to everything. “I’m pretty sure that was the last needle in this cart, unfortunately. You’ll have to excuse me for just a minute; I need to visit the supply room to get some more,” she explained as she departed swiftly, leaving Fluttershy and me alone with a fully aware and not too impressed-looking Rainbow Dash.

“What. Did you. DO!?” Dash barked, sitting upright.

I raised my hands in defense. “N-now Dashie, just relax; we did what we had to—“

“Please!” she cut in, angrily. “Please, tell me you did NOT do what I think you did.”

I shook my head quickly. “No, I…” Looking to Fluttershy for help, I found her already standing up, covering her mouth with both hands as she stared bug-eyed at her friend. “Flutters, little help?”

The shy girl took a step backward and shook her head. “Oh dear, sh-she looks upset.”

“Well aware, Flutters!” I replied, agitated by her lack of action. “You might wanna jump in anytime and tell her what happened!”

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU GUYS DO TO ME!?” Dash hollered, pounding the bed with her fist.

I spun around to face the rainbow-haired girl, hands raised. “Hang on, Dashie!” I barked, before turning back to Fluttershy. “Come on, Flutters!”

Instead of jumping in, the shy girl just stood there. Seeing her friend’s outburst had left her frozen with panic. “Oh dear, she’s really mad! I… um, I think... I-I gotta go.”

“FLUTTERS!” I whisper-yelled, staring in disbelief as she turned and scurried out of the room. “What the— ... Where the hell are you going!? Get back here, you little...”

She was long gone.

“FUCK!” I turned back to face Rainbow Dash with no idea what to do.

In the hall, not too far from the room, Fluttershy met Rarity, who was heading back with a tray of coffees.

“Ah, darling! I hope you don’t mind, I had to—“

“Um, I could sure go for that walk right now, Rare,” Fluttershy interrupted, walking quickly toward the fashionista, who stopped, looking understandably befuddled.

“Oh… well, alright, but… shouldn’t we at least bring Golds his coffee?”

“Nope, he’ll be fine. Lets go!”

“Fluttershy!” Rarity exclaimed as the shy girl grabbed her arm and spun her around, leading her away from Dash’s room. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope! All good. I just need a little walk, that’s all.”

“Oh… well, alright then,” Rarity replied, glancing suspiciously over her shoulder toward Dash’s room as they headed away.

In the meantime, Fluttershy’s panic and subsequent exit had left me to face a livid Rainbow Dash on my own. “Uh… OK. Dashie, I can explain…”

“I canNOT believe you…” she snarled, folding her arms. “You really can’t keep that fucking thing in your pants, can you?”

I raised my hands and shook my head. “Now wait a minute, Dashie, I didn’t do this to you.”

She looked at me sideways, sneering dubiously. “Oh? Then who did?”

“It was Flutters.”

Dash snorted and rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me?” she chided. “So… what, like, Fluttershy has a dick now? Is that part of being immortal? Am I gonna grow a dick now too?”

I shook my head, grimacing. “What? No! You with a dick? Who’s ever heard of such a thing?”

Rainbow Dash scrunched her nose and tightened her lips. “I swear to god, Golds…”

“Look, Dashie…” I pleaded, “Flutters was hysterical. She didn’t wanna lose you—“

“I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS!” she screeched.

“Quiet down!” I whispered loudly, waving her down with both hands. “Shit...” I glanced over my shoulder, wondering how many people could hear the commotion. Then I faced her again. “OK fine, you can be mad at me all you want, but right now, we seriously need to get the fuck out of here—like right now. If that nurse comes back and tries giving you another needle —or if they do any tests on you— they’re gonna figure out that you aren’t exactly normal—and that’s gonna lead to... very complicated things.”

“Ugh!” she groaned, throwing the blankets off and swinging her legs off the side of the bed. “You son of a bitch,” she grumbled, pulling the various tubes from her gown.

“Here,” I said, retrieving the plastic bag from the side table. “We brought some clean clothes for you; put ‘em on and let’s get the fuck outta here.”

Dash sat still for a moment, staring at me. “So… what, we’re gonna break out of the hospital? Right now?”

“Yes! Well… actually no, not ‘break out,’ per se…” I replied, yanking the curtains around the bed and then standing on the outside of them while Rainbow Dash removed the gown to get into her clothes.

“Well then, what are we doing?” she asked from inside the cloth barrier, the rustle of clothing underlining her words.

“We’re just gonna leave,” I explained, rubbing my forehead as I paced back and forth. “If you break out, they’re gonna look for you. They’ll probably even get the police involved. So what you’re gonna do is tell them you wanna leave, and they’ll get you to sign yourself out.” I stopped to look at the curtains as I continued. “Now, they’re gonna try to talk you out of it, because they have to, but it’s your right to leave if you want to. And it’s your right to refuse to let them touch you, which is good, because you definitely don’t want anyone figuring out your new… uh… situation.”

“Pfft!” she groaned. “It’s my right to decide who touches me; that’s fucking rich, coming from you.”

I let my head fall back, groaning. “Ugh! Come on, Dashie. I already told you, I didn’t—“

“What made you guys think it was OK to do this to me? Huh? No really, I’m genuinely curious because I’d like to know how you get into these sick fucking fetishes of yours.”

I let out a sigh, facing the curtain to watch her silhouette slip her shirt over her head. “It was either that or let you die.”

The curtain was noisily torn open just then, revealing a fully clothed Rainbow Dash standing with one hand outstretched to hold the drapes aside, glaring at me with those sharp, cerise daggers.

After a tense moment, she sighed and let her eyes drift downward. “Fine, whatever. Let’s just get outta here.”

*****

“You do realise what you’re doing, right? You are absolutely certain you want to do this, Miss Dash?” the resident asked, standing next to the nurse’s station.

Rainbow Dash stood with her arms folded, wearing her black tights with the multi-coloured lightning stripes zig-zagging down the sides. Up top, she was wearing a white T-shirt underneath a blue jacket, its sleeves lined with shiny, yellow strips.

“Yeah, I know,” Dash said, trying to sound lethargic. “I just… I don’t want my last days to be here; that would totally suck—no offense.”

The resident glanced at the nurse, raising a brow.

“Look,” Dash continued, “I feel a bit better today —obviously— so, I’d rather use this chance to go home; otherwise, travelling is gonna be a nightmare if I get worse again. Ya know?”

“I understand that, Miss Dash,” the resident replied, raising a hand. “But please understand, the last time we checked your hemoglobin, it was quite low—although we don’t know what it is now, since you refuse to let us check you— but if something were to happen, like if your pain were to get out of control, or if you started bleeding internally, you will not have access to immediate help like you would here.”

“Uh…” Dash did her best to look like she was having second thoughts about it. “Well, still… I understand that, but I’m willing to take the chance. I really just wanna be at home.”

The resident pondered for a moment and then sighed to herself. “Alright then,” she said, holding a hand out to the nurse, who passed her a sheet of paper. “If you’re absolutely sure you want to leave, you can, but you’ll have to sign this form, stating that you chose to leave against medical advice, and that you were informed of your condition, thus we cannot be held responsible for anything that happens outside of our care.”

“Alright,” Dash said tentatively as the paper was slid towards her with a pen set on top of it. She took a moment to read the form over, murmuring under her breath as she did. “Ugh… what a pain in the ass.”

The resident watched her for a moment, holding a finger to her chin. “You know,” she said, finally, “we’re not trying to make things difficult for you here; we’re just doing our jobs. Truth be told, many people in your situation end up being sent home anyway, so long as they are stable enough to travel—we just don’t want them to end up suffering too much during their final time at home with their families.” She raised a finger suddenly. “Speaking of which, I’m going to write you a script for something to control the pain,” —she pointed at me with her pen— “maybe your friend here can go have it filled for you; that’ll help keep you more comfortable at home.”

“OK. Thanks,” Dash replied absentmindedly as the resident filled the prescription out. After signing the form, she slid it across the counter again. The nurse took it, along with the pen, whispering ‘thank-you.’

The resident tore a sheet of paper from the pad and held it out to the rainbow-haired girl. “Here. This is a script for hydromorphone. The pharmacist will walk you through the dosage when they fill it for you.”

Dash took the prescription and gave a deliberately weak smile. “Uh… thanks.”

“And if you need anything, you can call this floor directly and ask for myself or one of the other residents. The number is on the script I just gave you. Don’t call the switchboard; they’ll just keep you on hold forever, and anyone you do talk to will just forward you to someone else. They’ll have you going around in circles all day long.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “OK. Uh… thanks... for all your help.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” the resident replied, holding her hand out with a well-meaning smile on her face. “Good luck, Miss Dash.”

With a nod, Rainbow Dash shook her hand and then turned away, heading down the hall in search of the elevator.

I gave the resident a final nod and then turned to follow. We headed to the right of the nurse’s station and found the elevator—which we had to wait for; after all, a hospital is a busy place during the day.

The wait was tense. And quiet.

When the doors finally opened, several people disembarked, and several more remained inside. Dash and I entered, along with a few others. There was no need to hit the button for the ground floor; it’d been pressed numerous times already.

The elevator ride was filled with the typical silence, despite the number of occupants. No one really seems to enjoy continuing a conversation in such close quarters with strangers, especially in a hospital where the subject matter can be somewhat personal at times—though the impression I got from Dash’s silence wasn’t one of shyness or embarrassment.

She was pissed.

Once we were finally on the ground floor, she quickly exited the elevator and headed through the front lobby. I had to run to catch up.

“So… uh,” I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to start a conversation—though I had no idea how I was going to smooth this over with her. “It all makes perfect sense now.”

She glanced over at me, eyes narrowed.

“I mean, like… your appetite these past few months,” I explained. “I don’t think I’ve seen you finish a meal since we brought Flutters home. Maybe now—since you can—I was thinking we could go someplace and eat? Maybe get some ice cream and we can talk about this?”

Dash shook her head, saying nothing. Instead, she quickened her pace.

Fuck… I rolled my eyes and matched pace with her.

Eventually, we exited the front doors and found ourselves outside, making our way down the wide, stone steps toward the drop-off lane.

“Listen, Dashie,” I said, trying to get her to slow down. “What you think happened in there isn’t what really happened, OK? I never laid a finger on you. I would never do that without your permission. I know how you felt about the whole thing, but… we didn’t want to lose you, so... we had to improvise a little.”

She continued on, crossing the laneway and heading alongside the parking garage, where there were far fewer people around to see us.

Using this opportunity, I reached for her arm to stop her. “Dashie, wait! Please—“

She must have expected it or saw it coming because she yanked her arm away just as my fingertips grazed her sleeve, and then she turned back to face me.

“FUCK OFF!”

ZOOM!

The response took me by surprise, as did her lightning-fast exit, which left a streak of bright colours behind. They were the only part of Rainbow Dash left in my presence, and even they faded quickly, leaving me standing alone, next to that dark, cement fortress.

“Dammit,” I whispered, placing my hands on my hips and looking down at the sidewalk.

Author's Notes:

Shout-out to FanOfMostEverything for his help on this chapter—like... over a year ago.

Thanks!