The Angel's Flower - Chapter Five

I blinked away the tears blurring my view of the road, not slowing the car until the lights of civilization were clearly visible in the distance. My right arm (the arm that he gripped so very tightly) was lying motionless in my lap, for I had a sneaking suspicion that it was broken. As I entered the town, I drove towards the house that I hadn't entered in years. Pulling into the driveway, I elbowed the car into park and turned off the ignition. I sat there in the car, eyes closed, as what I'd done sank in. 'What in the world have I done?' I demanded of myself. I had no answer.

Finally, I sighed and exited my car. I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. After a few moments, I rang it again. Still no answer. I pounded on the door while trying not jostle my hurt arm.

"Yea, yea, I'm comin'…"
         
I felt a wave of relief as the door swung open to reveal Rainbow Dash in her blue and grey pajamas, bed-headed and bleary-eyed.

"What the- Fluttershy?!"
        
I tried to walk towards her, tried to explain, but my foot got caught on the doorframe and I stumbled as the exhaustion overtook me, and I blacked out…
          
I woke up lying in an uncomfortable bed with a steady beeping noise, bright lighting, and the smell of cleaning alcohol. I felt someone grasping my left hand gently, rubbing its back. Squinting against the bright light, I peered at the figure at my side.
          
Her forehead was resting on my hand, which was grasped in both of hers. I tried to pat her head consolingly with my free hand, only to find that it was encased in some thick, heavy material.
          
"…R-rainbow…?" I rasped.
          
Her head snapped up, her face full of concern and fear. RD stood and brushed my hair out my face while keeping my hand in hers.
          
"…w-where are we, D-Dashie?" I asked quietly.
          
She seemed to hesitate a little before answering.
          
"Flutter… You're in the hospital. You drove to my house and…" she struggled for words for a moment. "You had blood on your hand, your right arm was swollen and it had fragments of a broken ceramic plate…"
          
Dashie looked at me with an expression that confused me. It was sad, scared, and confused, which all made sense. But it was also relieved, happy, and satisfied.
          
"…Dashie? What are you thinking about?"
          
Rainbow Dash looked down at my hand, held gently in both of hers like it was extremely breakable. I watched her face as tears brewed in her eyes and began to trickle down her face. I gently removed my hand from her delicate grasp and reached up to brush away a tear. She bit her lip.
          
"Fluttershy!"
          
I looked behind Rainbow and what I saw brought tears of happyness to my own eyes. Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Apple Jack were all standing in the doorway. Pinkie held a bouquet of balloons, AJ carried a basket of food, Twilight grasped a small book, and Rarity held a garment box.
          
"G-girls?"
          
Pinkie rushed over to stand next to Rainbow Dash (who had composed herself) and tied the balloons to the rail of my bed. She gave me a huge grin. My answering smile was small and weak, but genuine.
          
The rest of the girls filed into the room and surrounding my bed. From left to right, Pinkie, Dashie, Rare, Twi, and Apples directly on my right. I smiled at the blanket, hot tears in my eyes that threatened to overflow.
          
"Girls…" I began.
         
"You don't have to say anything just yet, sugar cube," AJ intercepted with a small smile.
       
"I brought you a nature book, Fluttershy," Twilight said kindly, setting it on the bedside table.
          
"Granny Smith an' me threw this basket together for ya," said Apple Jack sweetly as she set it down next to the book.
          
"I was going to give this to you on your birthday, but.... Oh, here you are, Darling," simpered Rarity as she opened the box and held up a sunshine-yellow dress with grass-green accents.
          
"Do you like the balloons I got cha, Fluttershy? Huh? Huh?" Pinkie bounced hyperactively next to RD.
          
"Thank you for the gifts, girls," I mumbled to the blanket, my face very warm. "But you all deserve an explanation. And... And especially you, Rainbow Dash."
          
She looked at  me with that confusingly bittersweet expression again, but just for a second before she forced the small smile back on her face.
       
I took a deep breath and recounted the whole night, their expressions changing from curious concern to horror. By the time I had finished they were all just standing there, speechless. Twilight was the first to recover.
       
"This wasn't the first time he's done this kind of thing, was it?" she whispered.
       
I shook my head sadly, staring blankly at the blanket. I told them about my mother, how she had protected me. How she tried to take me and run from him. How she failed. How he beat her so bad he nearly killed her, how he told the doctors at the ER that she had been attacked on the street. How she fell into a coma and still hadn't woken up...
        
I felt numb, like I couldn't cry even if I wanted to. Applejack left the room and got the attention of a nearby doctor. Rarity and Twilight soon followed, and finally Pinkie joined them. I listened to them repeat everything I had told them, about last night, about my mother, all of it.
          
Rainbow Dash hadn't let go of my hand the whole time, but now she released it as she sank into the chair next to my bed. I listened to the beeping as I studied her hollow expression. Finally, I heard the conversation outside stop as the girls filed back into the room behind the doctor.
          
"Fluttershy?" he said gently.
          
I looked up at him. He was tall, his looks average.
         
"Fluttershy, everything will be okay. I called child services and though your father is here in the hospital, I called to have a few policemen guard him until he recovers. Do you have any relatives that you could stay with?"
          
I shook my head and he patted my hand consolingly.
          
"I'll see about getting you into faster care."
          
He walked out of the room, and I stared at the blankets again.

------------------------------
          
It was after school on Friday night as I stepped out of RD's car carefully, trying not to trip on the curb. Rainbow Dash closed the driver-side door and snagged our bags from the back and lead the way into the cottage.
         
I had successfully filed for emancipation, like Dashie had done when she'd lost her grand mother two years back. The cottage was put up for sale after my father was arrested so I had been staying with Twilight and her parents until a few weeks after my arm healed. But apparently, some distant relative that had been close to my mom heard about what happened and bought the house. I found this out when I went to the post office last weekend and found a letter they had sent, but without a return address. It said that they wanted me to go ahead and keep living there, they would take care of the bills and such. I almost didn't believe it. Almost.
         
But I went through my moms will and saw that she had made an arrangement with a family friend (it didn't specify and I couldn't access the documents that would give me the name) that I would receive the cottage. It was good enough for me.
           
When I told my friends, they all expressed the same concern: that I shouldn't be so far out of town by myself. They deliberated and argued until Rainbow Dash firmly announced that she would sell her grandmothers house and move into the cottage with me. I protested with the others, but not even Applejack could change her mind. And so, I was living with Rainbow in a cottage at the edge of the woods. It was strange, to say the least, but I wasn't complaining.
          
Rainbow went upstairs to put our bags away as I stepped into the kitchen and searched for the freezer for our TV dinners. Dashie slid down the handrail of the staircase as I carried our dinner into the living room, falling into step beside me. Half an hour later, we were watching TV, Dashie upside down in the recliner and I lounging on the couch. We sat like this until we finally fell asleep.
          
When I woke up, I was in bed in my room. I was confused. Didn't I fall asleep on the couch? I supposed I had groggily crawled up the stairs to my room in the midst of sleep. With a yawn, I got out of bed and made myself presentable. I decided to wear a simple yellow dress, spaghetti-straps with a little white ruffle at the top and a stamp of my Cutie Mark on the bottom.
        
As I stepped into the hall, I heard someone moving - banging - around in the kitchen. My kitchen. I hurried down the worn staircase to the kitchen. And who do I see? None other than Rainbow Dash, attempting to cook breakfast.
           
"Dashie? What are you doing?" I asked, wondering if I really wanted to know.
         
"Crap," she muttered under her breath, before explaining "I was trying to make breakfast before you woke up, ya know as a surprise."
          
"A surprise?" I was confused. And why was she blushing?
          
"Yea, a surprise. For your birthday..."
          
Her blush grew as my face became a bit warmer. How could I forget my own birthday? Had the time passed so quickly? I guess I hadn't thought about it with all the other things going on... But now that it came to my attention, I did feel a little silly since yesterday was the last day of school before spring break.
          
"Oh, Dashie," I mumbled, "you didn't have to do that..."
       
"I know," she said, regaining her cool. "Pinkie wanted to throw a great big surprise party, but Twilight and Rarity thought it would be too loud for you, and then Applejack suggested that I do something nice like take care of the cooking for you. You saw how well THAT went."
          
I just smiled. She tossed the burned remains of her attempt at edible food into the trash, then dug through the freezer for some frozen waffles. I hurried across the linoleum, making as little noise as I could and hugged her as tightly as I could. RD hugged me back for a moment before peeling me off and continuing with cooking the waffles in the toaster.
          
As we were washing our plates, she asked me a question.
         
"Do you know about the meadow not too far from here, has a little pond?"
          
After thinking for a moment, I said, "No, I don't think so. Why?"
         
"Well, I was thinkin' about goin' for a swim. You game?" she challenged as she put away the plates.
         
"Um..." I bit my lip. "I'd rather not."
         
"Aw, come on, Flutter," Dashie pleaded. "It's the perfect day to go out. Clear sky, not too hot, not too cold... Even the animals will be out enjoying the sunshine."
         
I fidgeted with the skirt of my dress, torn between staying safe inside the house or going out in the sun with the animals that loved. After a few moments, RD became a bit impatient, drumming her fingers along the counter-top. with a resigned sigh, I spoke.
         
"I'll go put a swim-suit on under my dress..."

"YES!!"