Title: 3. Light

Rating: T+ for language

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Warning: Depressed!Rainbow Dash

Summary: Rainbow Dash POV. Dash is feeling a great deal of despair. Can anypony bring light into her life?

Word count: ~1500

...

I sit, alone. Eyes closed, teeth clenched gently around a cigarette. My head pounds for reasons unknown to me. Just because my life can't get any worse. Just for fun. Inhale the sweet menthol smoke into my lungs. Celestia, this is bad for me, I think, but don't really care. I just care that the smoke makes my head spin in a pleasant way. Hmm, this feels good.

Opening my eyes, I try to let the light in. It's too bright. I squint, close my eyes, flinch and drop my cigarette. Damn it! My head throbs and it feels like a million needles in the back of my eyes. I can't let the light in; there is no light left in my life. I have to open my eyes again to retrieve the smoldering sin stick. It is back in my lips, right where it belongs. Forever. For now.

I can sense a change in light even though my eyelids hug my rose-colored eyes. Thunder. Oh right, there's a downpour scheduled today. It comes out of nowhere. Well, not nowhere since the other Pegasus ponies made it happen when it needed to happen. The ground has been dry, begging for rain. I feel the first drop hit my head. Then the sky opens and I am caught in the torrent. Hearing my half-smoked cigarette sizzle I think, great, just fucking great. But I don't move to go someplace warm and dry. I don't deserve it.

Soon I am completely drenched. My coat and mane drip with the precipitation. My body involuntarily quakes with a massive shiver. I am wrought with little aftershocks. I look around; there's not another pony in sight. Everypony had the bright idea of going inside before the rain it. Oh well, I can't get any wetter than I am now.

"Rainbow Dash!" I think I hear in the distance. It's too quiet though. Must be my imagination.

"Rainbow Dash!" There it is again. I'm going crazy. I laugh to myself at the thought. Not just crazy, I'm mad as a hatter!

Then I feel something soft touch my wing. I am startled, but don't move. My drenched muscles are too cold and stiff to react. I manage to look up and see a yellow muzzle poking out from behind long, soaked locks of pink hair. Well, maybe I'm not crazy.

"How long have you been out here for?" I hear the yellow muzzle ask.

"Iunno... not long..." I answer.

"Come with me, I'm taking you home... I-if that's okay."

I put up no resistance being dragged from my pool of self pity. I follow the mess of yellow and pink that found me back to a well-maintained wood cabin. Inside it is warm, a fire is going in the wood stove. There are a few other creatures in the small cabin, but she and I are the only ponies. She disappears to the kitchen, only to return moments later with a fresh cup of tea.

"Rainbow Dash," she starts quietly, "What are you doing to yourself?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Fluttershy."

"You must have been out there for hours!" She fussed over me.

"Nah," I say, taking a sip of the tea she brought me, "I was only there a few minutes."

"Were you there before the rain started?" She askes.

"Yeah, I went out for a smoke," I state matter-of-factly.

"The storm started three hours before I found you." Fluttershy's words shock me; I didn't realize that I was out there for that long.

"Huh..." Is all I manage to say.

"What is wrong with you?" She pleads.

"Nothing!" I shout back, with more force than necessary. I see her shy away. Sighing, I say, "I'm just going through some shit right now and I don't really want to deal with anything or anypony."

"I want to help you," she says quietly.

I look over at her. Her large eyes are glazed over with tears threatening to fall. Her long pink mane is still damp from the rain, but her soft yellow coat looks dry. She is visibly distraught, bitting her lower lip, shuffling, stretching her wings. She looks uncomfortable. Why does she care this much about what I'm doing to myself? It's not her problem... There's no way I can understand why she cares that much about me, I don't even care that much about me.

"Why do you care?" I say harshly. Those words hang in the air for a moment.

"Because... I love you..." She says quietly.

"What?" I ask, not entirely sure I heard her right.

"I...I love you Rainbow Dash. It hurts me to see you doing this to yourself," she frowns and blushes slightly as she finishes speaking.

"Why?" I say, completely perplexed.

"I don't know... You-you're just great. I'm sorry," she squeeks.

"Sorry? You don't have to be sorry for anything," I say, a bit frustrated.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes again.

"Nuhh, never mind," I sigh. "Thanks for bringing me here to get dry. I'm going home now." Before I give her the chance to say anything, I leave. I fly fast as I can out the door and into the continuing rain.

...

My coat and mane had been almost dry when I left Fluttershy's, but now after flying home in the rain I am soaked again. I land on the base cloud that supports my home. Looking at the door I think of going in, then I change my mind. I don't deserve to be warm and dry. So, once again, I wallow in self pity and wetness.

As I soak in the cold downpour, I feel my head get heavy. I am so dizzy, can't stand up. I kneel down, knees shaking, head spinning. My back legs give out as I try -and fail- to gracefully lay down. The cloud clings to the contours of my body. It is usually a comforting feeling, today it isn't very nice. The cloud is so dense, full to burst with rainwater. It rumbles underneath of me, threatening to explode at any second. I really don't care. I pass out with rain pounding my sorry body from above and a tumultuous cloud shaking beneath me.

I am completely unconscious, but I can't escape the rain. It comes down hard, hits me like a tone of bricks. I breathe normally, then water gets up my nose and I choke slightly. That still isn't enough to wake me. My head pounds, do I ever need a smoke right now! I think. It wouldn't last long in this rain though...

The rain stops. Out of nowhere, it just stops. I can still hear it around me, thunder still shakes the cloud beneath me. I can't feel the rain hitting me anymore. Maybe I'm just at that point where I am so wet it doesn't even matter anymore. I stir, this odd change in weather merits my awakening. Groaning, I slowly open my eyes. I see the silhouette of a Pegasus pony kicking the clouds away above me. She's not doing a very good job, whoever it is, I think bitterly. But she does, eventually, get the job done. But... only over my head. A strong ray of light shoots down from the opening in the sky. I am bathed in glowing sunlight while still being surrounded by the pouring rain.

The pony who caused the break in weather around me descends. It's... Fluttershy? Huh, I didn't know she had it in her to clear the clouds. She is tired, panting hard as she lands next to me. She is drenched in sweat and rain water. She is mere inches from me, I can see her body shaking.

"Why did you do that Fluttershy?" I ask.

"I can't stand to see you miserable. I don't even know why you are so upset, but I want to do everything to make you happy," she says, trying to hide behind her sagging pink mane.

I think for a minute, I'm not even completely sure why I'm this miserable. It just sucks! "It's not your job to make me happy."

"I know, it-it's just, I want to make you happy. Because when you're happy I'm happy. I want to bring light back into your life. I thought, if I couldn't do it figuratively, I could literally bring light back into your life," she blushes slightly as she says all of this.

I can't help but smile slightly. For the first time in a long time I actually feel kind of happy. "Thanks Fluttershy." She slowly closes the gap between us and tentatively nuzzles my wet coat.

"I love you and I want to make you happy," she whispers.

"I think that maybe you are the somepony to bring light back into my life," I say. I know it's cheesy, but I'm caught in the moment.

I pull her closer and we both cuddle under the opening in the sky. We share each other's warmth and enjoy the closeness of another pony. We both fall into a peaceful sleep, surrounded by the glowing sunlight. I love you too Fluttershy.

...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Woo! Don't you just love Depressed!Rainbow Dash? I was feelin' it when I wrote this... Well, it ended happy, right?