Chapter Text
Chapter 1- The Moment Everything Changed
Rainbow Dash watched anxiously as her friend Rarity shot past her into the sky, the weight of her eccentric costume and makeup unable to slow her ascent. “Looks like this is my last chance to turn things around.” she spoke to herself, attempting to dredge up as much determination as she possibly could.
“Phase three.” Momentarily, her resolve faltered and a daunting realization struck. “The sonic… Rainboom.” She gulped nervously, as she prepared to do the impossible feat. well, an impossible feat in her mind, even though she knew she had done it once before.
‘As a filly.’ She thought, looking backwards to see her wings steadily flapping, keeping her aloft. “Ok, wings. Don’t fail me now!” She turned her head to the sky and launched herself up, ready to pull off her ultimate aerial trick.
The young flyers competition in cloudsdale meant a lot to the pegasus. It was everything Rainbow loved: a challenge, a chance to show off to her idols, and above all else, it was an excuse to do what she loved most.
‘Who’d I be if I didn’t fly?’ she would often muse, giggling at the thought of herself as an earth pony or unicorn. Obviously she didn’t mind the ground, but there was just something about flying: how it was to be soaring weightlessly through the air, defying gravity, taunting the earth below. It just felt right.
If she could, Rainbow would live in the air, never, ever touching the ground. Her ambition to join the Wonderbolts was a huge extension of this, and very often she fantasized of flying amidst their ranks: looping, diving, and whizzing to her heart’s content. Racing past those fluffy white cloud tufts into an endless horizon. Needless to say, Flying was everything to Rainbow Dash.
At this moment, she climbed fast through the atmosphere, the right height to begin her dive into her rain-boom phase still a ways to go. By chance though, she glimpsed Rarity, dressed in that garish costume, far above her.
‘If she finishes her performance now, then every-pony will be too distracted to notice me.’ The thoughts raced through her mind, and while maybe in another life she would’ve followed the routine exactly as she practiced, this Rainbow Dash decided to do something very different.
Cutting her ascent short, Rainbow stalled out and used the loss of momentum to turn around, facing downwards. No longer ascending, she now built speed in the opposite direction, diving faster and faster. ‘This is it, now or never.’ Rainbow thought as she now rocketed towards the earth, aiming to shoot through the Cloudsdale Colosseum, where all her friends watched and cheered her on and where the Wonderbolts and Princess Celestia were attending the competition as prestigious guests.
Rarity nearly reached the altitude she needed for her final, glorious display, ready to confidently spread her drop dead gorgeous wings and shine down on all of Cloudsdale. However, the sight of Rainbow Dash diving headfirst towards the earth caused her to pause.
“Oh, what in Equestria am I doing?” she said to herself. “Rainbow Dash really wants to win this. What kind of friend would I be if I steal the spotlight from her.”
Quickly, the unicorn, with her temporary wings, decided to stop. Lowering herself some distance below what she wished for, Rarity opened up the magical butterfly-like wings as wide as she could, the sunlight shining through them brilliantly. The dazzling refraction of light was, however, not enough to cover even most of the stadium.
From below, the crowd cheered and whistled for her, and it brought a smile to her face. The real happiness, though, came from seeing her friend speeding downwards, about to achieve her most spectacular trick yet, in view of everyone that mattered to her.
“Go Rainbow Dash. You deserve this more than me.”
The air violently rushed past Rainbow as she continued her dive. She could see out of the corner of her eyes as the whole of the Colosseum grew larger and larger until she was right above, and then just as quickly inside and then below it, seeing it shrink out of her peripheral view. As she zipped past the audience, she could hear the crowds chanting vigorously.
“Rar-i-ty! Rar-i-ty!” Hearing so much support for her typically flightless friend struck a nerve. She had come this far, prepared so much for this moment, and right now she couldn’t throw it all away. For the first time since reattempting this stunt, Rainbow Dash felt a fire well up inside her chest, burning hot and pushing her into a determined overdrive.
‘I’m going to do it this time, I swear it, I know I will.’ She pulled her wings closer as a bubble of air began to form in front of her outstretched fore-hooves. ‘Can’t let this go.’ The bubble’s smooth dome became angular as Rainbow rapidly gained speed.
‘I did it once before.’ She couldn’t see anything, but her focus remained steadfast as the world shot by her faster than she’d ever experienced before. ‘Come on, Rainbow, just a little more!’ suddenly the bubble at her hooves ruptured with a thunderous *CRACK*, exploding out behind her in a circle of dazzling rainbow colors. Her mane whipping excessively in the wind, and the force of the air tugging on her skin told her all she needed to know.
‘Yes! The rainboom! I did it! I actually did it!’ Rainbow Dash turned her head upwards to see her accomplishment, noticing the rainbow trail that followed her as she flew. Her excitement surged, and a sense of bliss overtook her.
“This is THE best day ever!” She screamed joyfully at the top of her lungs. For a solid moment, Rainbow Dash existed like this, feeling intense satisfaction. Happiness replete.
She pictured the proud faces of her friends, all rushing over to hug her and lavish her with compliments of how awesome and cool she was. She saw the Wonderbolts, wowed by her display, instantly offering her a place amongst their regiment. Even the Princess would be in such awe, bowing down in respect to her. Rainbow dash closed her eyes, and a massive smile grew on her face, the warm feelings washing over her. It felt like it would never end.
Then, the ground forcibly met her body, the pain instantly jolting through her system. Her eyes opened wide as the world spun around her, obscuring her vision. Even still, without being able to see, she knew she had made a horrible mistake. At top speed she had run straight into the earth, the worst thing she could ever do.
Rainbow Dash could feel the pain course through her entire body, but being an experienced flier her instincts reacted immediately, and all she could focus on was surviving. Pushing past how badly it hurt to move her wings, Rainbow had to use them, stabilizing her spin, feeling a tiny amount of relief as her maneuvering worked to orient herself back to upright flying. For the briefest moment, she felt like the worst was over.
‘That was a close one. I really could’ve died there.’ She thought, before looking ahead and seeing that she was mere feet from colliding with a group of trees. No time to get out of the way, Rainbow Dash tried to tilt herself away from smacking into the trunks, going for a gap between two of them, and realized at the last second with horror that her wings were still stretched out on either side of her. Too late to fold them in, all she could do was shut her eyes tight and hope.
As she dove in between the trees, there were two hideous squelching pops. The sickening sounds were accompanied by the greatest pain Rainbow Dash had ever felt before. It was like some-pony had grabbed her wings and just yanked on them hard. In what felt like an instant, the pulling sensation gave way and was replaced by a hot, burning at the base of both wings.
“Ah!” She screamed out as she rocketed out of the tree grouping, before violently slamming into the ground. She didn’t immediately stop though, instead ripping through the grass and dirt for several meters.
Rainbow Dash felt her stomach grind against the ground, rocks scratching and slicing up her underside. She wanted it all to just stop, for this horrible situation to end. Watery tears built up in the corners of her eyes, and she just felt awful, in ways she never would have dreamed of.
Eventually, her body came to a stop in the field of grass. Rainbow just laid there, the pain having amassed into an unreal throbbing that seemed as if her whole body was pulsing physically with every breath. She didn’t dare move, for fear that she might hurt herself more, even being face down in the dirt and wanting to move herself onto her back.
‘Please, just make it go away. Please.’ She quietly chanted in her head, unable to think of much else. It seemed like hours had passed, the pony left in her agonizing silence. Eventually, with a ruffling of feathers and inaudible murmuring, she knew help had finally arrived.
“That crash was terrible, I’ve never seen anything like it.” a strict mare’s voice spoke behind Rainbow. She could hear the rapid hoof steps as the ponies were making their way over.
“Yeah, let’s just hope her injuries aren’t too bad. Poor kid.” A stallion said, somewhere behind her as well. Rainbow couldn’t see her rescuers, but excitement sparked within her as she realized who was most likely to be the first responders.
‘The Wonderbolts are here! I’m gonna get to meet them even though I crashed.’ She thought, wishing it didn’t hurt to chuckle. The hoof steps got closer, but paused suddenly. Rainbow didn’t think much of it, until she heard one of the Wonderbolts gasp.
“By Celestia! I thought the crash would be bad, but this-.” The first mare spoke again, an unpleasant shock in her voice.
Curious, Rainbow fought the pain and tried to turn around to see what they were looking at on her, examining her broken body for the first time since the crash. Her cyan fur was horribly matted with dirt and worryingly large splotches of fresh wet blood. Huge swathes of her coat had innumerable gashes and scratches, and parts of her skin were turning blackish purple as bruises formed. Then there was another shocked gasp from one of the approaching wonderbolts.
“Where are her wings? What happened to her wings?” The words brought with them a sudden chill of terror down her spine.
‘No, that didn’t happen. They just can’t see them, that’s all. She’s just overreacting!’ she thought to herself. Reluctantly, Rainbow Dash brought her attention to the middle of her back where she usually expected to be greeted by the sight of her feathery appendages. Her pride and joy. The instruments that gave her the gift of flight, the things she loved more than almost anything else. But she was met with a sight that filled her with a profound hollowness. There was nothing left: just two ragged, bloody stumps sitting in the spot her wings once occupied.
Her mind blanked out, unable to comprehend what her eyes were seeing. ‘No. No this isn’t real. This isn’t happening.’ was all she could think. No matter how much she denied it, though, reality wasn’t going to change, and this realization slowly began to break into her.
A deep guttural cry erupted from her lungs, fueled in part by the pain and shock from her crash. The cries turned into violent screams the more she realized what had happened to her, each one forcibly bellowing out between struggled breaths. She had never cried like this before, but being in such an animal like state, it was all she could do. Lying there in the bloody muck, Rainbow Dash tried hard to deny it, but deep down inside she came to the sickening realization. Her wings were gone, and she would never fly again.
Several Moons Later…
Bright spring light filtered in through the windows in Fluttershy’s cottage and created a cozy warm spot on the floor of the kitchen where several small animals were huddled together, enjoying the comfort of the sun’s rays. Fluttershy was tending to a tea kettle that was currently held over a blazing hearth, humming softly to herself. She had used one of her favorite herbal mixes, its fragrance filling the air with a soothing sweetness, which made her smile from the scent of it.
It was a nice day out, the pegasi in Ponyville had done an incredible job at arranging the clouds in sparse patterns so as to allow a fair amount of the springtime sun to meet the earth. Opening the window, Fluttershy poked her head out and felt the cool air and warm sunlight that pleasantly mixed together.
Taking in a deep breath, she caught the vivid hint of wildflowers in the wind. She enjoyed a few more seconds before pulling herself back into the kitchen, hearing the whistle of steam steadily building up in the kettle. It was a few more minutes but the tea was soon ready to be served, and was loaded onto a tray with porcelain tea cups and the usual amenities of sugar and milk. Picking the tray up gently with her mouth, Fluttershy walked out of the kitchen and headed up stairs to her bedroom.
In her room, she crossed carefully over to the nightstand beside her bed and placed the tea tray down. Immediately her eyes darted around the room, catching sight of blankets in a sprawled mess on the far side. Trying to keep her joyful disposition, she sighed, and moved over to the pile, scanning for signs of the occupant.
She found the disheveled heap rolled up unscrupulously, a poorly kept makeshift sleeping spot. It was empty, but Fluttershy knew the sleeper was still very much in the room. Looking around, she firmly called out;
“Rainbow Dash. Where did you go?”
A waking groan from the far corner gave her the answer. Hurrying over to the spot, Fluttershy saw the cyan pegasus curled up in the corner, tightly holding her hind legs to her chest. Rainbow’s eyes were just beginning to break open, having been in an awkward sleep. She moaned, and slowly sat up and looked at the wall opposing her.
“Good morning Rainbow Dash.” Fluttershy said in her singsong voice. “Or, I guess, good afternoon.” She added a bit softer.
Having found her friend, she went back to the nightstand to retrieve the tea and bring it over. Fluttershy sat down across from Rainbow, setting up the contents of the tea tray.
“Morning Fluttershy.” she said quietly, running a hoof over her frazzled mane. She looked down at the tea, watching Fluttershy meticulously prepare two cups. She poured a fair amount of the beverage, then stirred in preciously small portions of sugar and milk. When she was done, she offered Rainbow a cup.
Rainbow, politely, took the cup in her hooves. Her foreleg was stiffly held up, awkwardly possessing the tea vessel, until she brought it up to her mouth for tiny sips of the cozy, warm, sweet drink. When Rainbow Dash first began living with Fluttershy, she was hardly in the mood for things like this, but soon she grew to appreciate the tiny pleasures, including Fluttershy’s morning tea. Even if it were only for a small while, she liked that it could distract her from herself.
“How have you been feeling?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow wasn’t sure what to say, and struggled for a moment finding an answer.
“I’ve been ok.” She said, quickly and insincerely. Fluttershy, knowing better, looked at her friend with concern, unsure if she should press her on her impassivity.
“Oh, that’s good to hear, I’m sure.” she responded, not feeling up to calling her out. They drank their tea in silence, for a few minutes.
“So, today, Twilight wanted to get every-pony together at the park, and bring their animal friends with them.” Fluttershy spoke, a little brighter than before. Rainbow Dash dully nodded in acknowledgement, but remained quiet.
“I figured, even if you don’t have a pet, you still haven’t really seen your friends in so long, that maybe you’d like to join us?” Rainbow turned her face away.
“I don’t know Fluttershy, I’m not sure I’d be up for that today. It really doesn’t seem that long ago since we were all together.” Fluttershy eyed her friend sternly.
“The last time we were all together was when we stopped Discord. That was nearly three moons ago.” Rainbow didn’t answer. She sipped the last of her tea, gently replaced the tea cup onto the tray, and laid down again intent to resume her sleep.
“Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy’s usual softness was now stricter, as she was getting sick of her friend’s sedentary existence. “It’s fine, I need to let myself… let myself rest still. To heal. Besides, like you said, I don’t have a pet: I’d just make it weird.”
“Rainbow, You’re our friend. The girls would love for any excuse to enjoy your company again. Please, I really think you should go.” At times like this, Fluttershy wished she could be loud or assertive. Even her pleading with Rainbow was too soft. Too hesitant.
‘How am I ever going to get her to do anything?’ She often worried about to herself. Rainbow Dash lifted her head up and snapped to look at Fluttershy directly.
“I said no. I’m just… I’m just not ready.” Her confidence tapered off at the end, her eyes darting to the side, unable to maintain eye contact.
Fluttershy felt a burning inside herself. Enough had been enough.
“I’ve opened my home to you, so you had a place to go and heal. That was many moons ago, half a year almost. You have had more than enough time to recover, yet you have spent all that time here, sleeping on the floor.” she spoke, the emotions she had buried down for so long bubbling back to the surface. The change in tone for the usually timid pony shocked Rainbow Dash, freezing her in place.
“You had a terrible accident, and we all want to be there for you, but you hide away here. All I ask is that you humor me and come visit for a few hours with your friends. I know you can do that, and I’m sure you would really like it.” She was about to add more, letting out every ugly thing she’s harbored for her friends’ self neglect. But seeing that friend’s pale face, wide eyes and look of surprised panic made her stop.
“I mean, that’s ok if you really don’t want to go. I won’t force you or anything.” she quickly added.
Fluttershy, seeing her friend unresponsive still, sighed, shrugged and turned away. She was about to head downstairs when Rainbow Dash spoke up.
“I’ll go.” She said, shakily. Fluttershy turned around gleefully, seeing Rainbow now standing up.
“Oh that’s great! Everypony is going to be so excited!” she was smiling brightly now, taking the used tea tray back in her mouth. With that, she happily disappeared down the stairs, leaving Rainbow awkwardly standing, watching as she left. She glanced around at her midsection, grimly considering the gray bandages that covered the spots where her wings had once been, held in place by four black clips in two ‘X’ Patterns.
Rainbow thought about how things had changed since the sonic rainboom. After the Wonderbolts had found her mangled body laying beat up in that field, she was rushed to the nearest hospital. A record breaking amount of fractured bones, internal bleeding and immense blood loss were just some of the conditions the doctors struggled to fix, but nonetheless Rainbow was set to make a near full recovery.
Her friends were of course gratefully relieved to hear this after two days of what was nothing short of absolute dread. The second they were able to, they showered the hospital bed ridden Rainbow with gifts of sweets, balloons, books, clothes, games, ect, until she was practically drowning in their affection.
There was a brief amount of time, having awoken from the initial procedures that Rainbow Dash was simply happy. She had survived the worst crash of her life, had the unwavering support of the best friends a pegasus could ask for, and was making a fast recovery. That joy, though, evaporated with a single sentence, when the doctors disclosed to her about her wings.
She hardly recalled what exactly was said, and could only dredge up phrases that insisted on living at the edges of her memory.
“-no possible procedure-”,
“-did everything we can-”,
“-impossible to reattach-”.
While the remnants of her wings had been collected from the crash site, they were far too mangled and chewed up to ever be effectively grafted back in place. Rainbow Dash would live, but she would be flightless. An amputee. A crippled pegasus. She couldn’t think of anything else as she finished her time at the hospital, but refused to talk about it, or even look at her back.
Denial gave way to anger eventually, especially after being discharged from the hospital. Pegasi magic didn’t require the physical wings in order for her to be able to interact with clouds and weather, but being unable to reach them put Rainbow in a difficult position when it came to her house.
Fluttershy and Twilight were there the day she sold it off, unsure of how to approach her as she sat there, solemnly looking up at the now empty cloud house she had spent her life in Ponyville in. They watched her with concern as her composure eroded away. She then erupted, yelling, screaming.
“It’s not fair! It’s not fair!” Eventually she collapsed, crying. Fluttershy, finding it challenging to see her friend in this state, offered her a place to live at her cottage until she could get back on her hooves again, and thankfully she agreed. This put the other element bearers at ease, knowing Fluttershy could keep an eye on her, and help her as she healed fully.
They never saw her for four months, as according to Fluttershy she spent her days, now unemployed, sleeping extensively or ruminating silently in the dim corners of her room. Twilight especially was concerned, wanting desperately to be a good friend. She and the other girls tried several times to get her out of the cottage, but very quickly they each came to understand that nothing they did or offered would motivate Rainbow Dash. Then, came the day that Discord returned.
Summoned by Princess Celestia to Canterlot, the ponies were surprised to see Rainbow trailing along with Fluttershy, finally out of her hermitage. She was different though, her usual brashness and boasting were absent, replaced with a hesitant silence. The most noticeable change though, was the fresh bandages still wrapped tightly around her midsection, covering the spots where her wings were once attached. Applejack, curious and concerned, asked her then;
“Why you got those bandages on? Ah was sure you had been all fixed up by now.”
“It hasn’t healed yet.” Rainbow replied, brushing it off. The farm pony wanted to express her worries, but a glance from Fluttershy was enough to dissuade her.
The following conflict with Discord went less than stellar. Being lost in a maze, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were split up and each found themselves turned against the virtues they represented. It was a horrible ordeal, as Twilight watched her friend group fall apart and chaos take control.
Despite how dark things seemed, the letters she had sent Celestia over the last year helped give her a new resolve to restore harmony. She had brought back every one of her friends, all except for one.
The group had found Rainbow on a hilltop, staring off into the chaotic mess that Discord had made of Pony-ville, a hollowness in her gray eyes. During their stint in the hedge maze, no pony saw what had become of their troubled friend. That was until Discord announced that their little ‘game’ was over, as the rainbow maned pegasus abandoned them all, running away from the maze.
Now, facing her as she gazed into the chaos, Twilight felt more nervous than she had with the others, considering the trauma that Rainbow Dash had gone through. As they all approached, they noticed that she had removed the bandages she was so adamant about keeping on, exposing the red scars that formed around the ‘X’ shaped stitches closing up the wounds.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight exclaimed, cheerful at finding her friend. Slowly, she walked up to her as if she were a fright filled bunny. Getting close, she heard the pegasus mutter something, still not turning to look at her. “What was that?” Twilight asked, gently.
“The nubs. The doctors didn’t even keep the nubs.” Discord was a monster, they all knew that well by this point, but now seeing the aftermath of his meeting with Rainbow had made him seem far more cruel than they could have conceived. A broken, gray and hollowed shell was what remained from only a short time with the draconequus, a distant visage of a pony who had been known for her electric personality.
“But you’re alive Rainbow, that’s what’s important.” Twilight softly debated.
“Easy for you to say Twilight, you’re still whole, you can still do magic.” She said coldly. “How am I supposed to go on living? I got my cutie mark for doing what I did best, and I had a future as Equestrias greatest flier. I was destined for that.” Dark tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she talked.
“ I have nothing left of them. They couldn’t even keep the nubs of my wings. So, tell me again, how living is what’s important, when I can’t do the thing that I was living for.”
Twilight, while going through the friendship letters, knew she would have to be very cautious with the one she brought to Rainbow Dash. Seeing how Discord had affected her, she grew unsure if she had picked the right one. Casting the magic to help her friend remember, she chose the memory of the time Gilda had visited, as Twilight prayed silently in her heart that it would not hurt her friend more than she already was.
“Maybe you can’t see it yet, but there’s more to you than flying. Like how you love pulling pranks, and having fun. You discovered how well you got along with Pinkie Pie, and that had nothing to do with flying.You’re still our friend, with or without your wings. Please, Please can you see that?”
Her uncertainty was relieved when she saw the magic working, and her friends’ brilliant colors returning to her. The flat lifeless look in her eyes went away, and a new determination replaced it. Rainbow Dash stood up, and looked back on all her friends with a bittersweet smile: the first she had ever made since her accident.
Discord stood no chance, and was subsequently turned back into stone by the magic of the elements. It had seemed like everything would finally return to normal, and there was nothing but joy and positivity all the way up until the medal ceremony. Not a single unhappy pony could be found at the event, but to the distress of her friends, Rainbow Dash had shown up with bandages once more secured on her body.
She spoke little and stayed in whatever corner of the room she could find, leaving only briefly to place herself in an opposing corner. No pony said anything, but all five element bearers worried that she had not fully recovered from their ordeal. Twilight wished she could’ve said something then, as that would be the last appearance of Rainbow Dash for three months, and from what Fluttershy explained every time she was asked, it didn’t seem like things were improving.
Now, all this time later, watching Fluttershy gleefully walk down the stairs, Rainbow Dash felt apprehensive. She sighed and followed after. Rarely did she come down to the living room of the cottage these days, but it looked no different than it always had. Birdhouses and perches stationed across various pieces of furniture, mouse holes dotting the walls with ropes bridging them across the vastness of the room.
At any given time, there were dozens of little critters about, the cottage just as much their home as it was Fluttershys. Rainbow found it a bit strange for her to live amongst so many animals, but they never bothered her. She just accepted it as part of living with some-pony whose destiny was so integrally tied to them.
‘Like what my wings were for me.’ Rainbow thought. Sometimes, she had wondered how the shy yellow pegasus would handle losing her connection with the animals, but it was an awful thought, and she couldn’t stand to imagine how devastated Fluttershy would be if it did happen.
“Come on Rainbow. We can’t leave the girls waiting now, can we?” Fluttershy said, standing at the open door of her home next to Angel, her pet white rabbit. Rainbow didn’t feel like saying anything, and just walked through the living room and up to the door.
She didn’t remember the last time she had actually been outside since Discord. ‘Has it really been that long?’ She thought suddenly, feeling how foreign the breeze was as it kissed her skin with its chilling touch. Where the cold air breathed, sunlight would strike warmly, which Rainbow Dash found pleasant.
The sensations reminded her of better days, and the weight of those memories paralyzed her. The faint breeze blew past her face, playfully tugging at her mane, so very reminiscent of her time soaring through the azure sky, a memory that seemed like a different lifetime.
Stepping out of the cottage, Fluttershy couldn’t help but notice her friend lagging behind, taking slow, uneasy steps forward. Seeing Rainbow Dash like this always broke her heart, but she never felt she could conjure the right words to help the troubled pegasus, so she never said anything. She slowed down, ignoring the annoyed tapping of Angel’s foot, wishing silently he could put aside his stubbornness for one day, and turned around, waiting for Rainbow to catch up.
“Angel is getting impatient, I think it might be a good idea to hurry up. You know if you feel like it.” Rainbow’s eyes snapped to her and then to Angel, whose unamused scowl was more than telling of what he was thinking.
“Sorry,” She said, shaking her head. “The weather is a bit colder than I thought.”
“Yes it is, but I still think it’s nice out.” Fluttershy said, a warm smile on her face. She thought for a second, though.
“You’re not going to let a little chilly air stop you from seeing our friends are you?” She saw Rainbows face twitch in response, and she formed a concerned frown.
“No, of course not!” Rainbow Dash then stated firmly. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” She added, fixing a look of determination on her countenance, and strutted past Fluttershy and Angel along the path into town.
Fluttershy watched her with befuddlement, very unsure of her friend’s state. She looked to her pet bunny, who was now glaring at her, angrily crossing his tiny arms. She rolled her eyes, shrugged and followed suit after Rainbow.