Inside; chapter 4
Rainbow dash looked down on the distant world around her. It was a rare pleasure to be experienced, as the sheer vertical flight upwards was not only dangerous but tiring. Her lungs burned at the lack of oxygen however the feeling only exhilarated her. The cloud she stood on lingered high above the Everfree forest. Usually, though she hated to admit it, she was scared of the vast death area below her, but from that height it was another mere dot amongst the landscape. Rainbow dash looked below at the sheer drop at her hooves. She then remembered why she was there. She closed her eyes, embracing her surroundings for a moment before steadying herself down into a stance. Her heart rattled furiously inside her rib cage. She leaned backwards before leaping into the thin air in front of her. Her ascent from the jump seemed to last forever. Her fore hooves shot out in front of her and her wings folded up against her sides. She felt gravity gently tug at her, causing her to tilt slightly before it brashly hauled her towards the ground. The wind blew violently through her fur and mane. as her speed grew it became more difficult to keep her wings closed due to her instincts screaming at her to take control of her flight however she remained motionless, letting gravity take it's toll.As she felt the air becoming denser she opened her eyes to the forest below her rapidly becoming bigger to her decent, it's large jaws opening, preparing to swallow her up. She opened her wings and they instantly flung into action. They beat themselves violently, creating a white barrier to cloak Rainbow's hooves.
As lightning began to dance around her fore hooves she realized how close she now was to the ground.
It was too close.
Panic began to pulse through her head and through her body. She had fell for too long, she hadn't given herself enough time to be able to break the sound barrier without colliding with the ground. However whilst she had been panicking her wings had been beating faster with her thoughts. Her eyes went like sauce pans as she watched on helplessly at the barrier narrow out below her. She closed her eyes and awaited the end. She heard a crack before she was blasted forward at break neck speeds. She heard the echoing cry of the sonic rainboom above her. She cringed and prepared for impact.
---
Scarlet liquid dripped down her sides before being soaked into the soil below Rainbow. Her limbs jerked in pain and her wings lay sprawled uselessly on the ground. Several blood stained feathers surrounded her. Thoughts danced loosely through Rainbow's mind as consciousness slowly slipped its way into her head. She listened to lightning cackling around her, she shuddered limply to it's contact. Her eyes squinted open. Darkness from the thick trees and plants blocking out the sun's rays met her. her sight shifted to directly above her. A slightly faded rainbow going vertically down towards her lay underneath a deep cut through the canopy in the trees. Electricity sparked through the plant life. Rainbow grunted as the aftermath pain ran through her body.
Squinting her eyes even more, she focused on the patch of sky visible through the hole she had made. The sky was a blood orange. The sun was setting. Alarm rattled in her head; there wasn't much time before night came. Hydras, Ursa minors and majors and, very rarely, dragons came out at night time, searching for any prey unfortunate enough to be in their sights. She tried to get her wings to move, however they remained useless. She then tried her legs. They struggled and shuck but they refused to work properly. What happened to her? The question finally popped into her brain however she couldn't remember.
Her mouth.
She opened her jaws wide and tried to scream, shout, wail; anything to catch someones attention.
She couldn't.
She tried again but all that came out were choked croaking noises. Her eyes turned to pin pricks and her breathing became heavy. She couldn't stay there! She needed to get out. Her blood had probably already stirred a Manticore or another awaiting beast hungry for flesh.
She heard the distant call of a phoenix before it swooped over her along with it's hatch-lings falling in line behind it. She longed to join them. A Phoenix' cry in the Everfree sunset usually sounded for the sun to set or to find it's mate or offspring urgently due to them being prey to most creatures out there. The alarm in her grew stronger as she watched the sun sink deeper into the thick plant life and into the horizon. The sky slowly turned a deep purple, signaling twilight.
She lay in darkness...
ruffles of leaves echoed from somewhere deep in the trees followed by slow and cautious steps.
A silhouette slunk out of the shadows of the bushes. It's yellow eyes burning with hunger.
As Rainbow's eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw it there. It's dragon like wings shining in the moon light. It's blood red mane cloaking the snarling face. His scorpion tail swishing gleefully. A sly growl seeping out his throat.
Rainbow clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tight.
This was it. She'd lived and fought; tried to be as big of a success as she could have been, met the most wonderful ponies and she gets ripped apart by a manticore. She cursed a word of anger in her mind as she heard the incoming beast prowling closer to her. It pounced. She tensed.
“ Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow’s head swam in light consciousness. Reds and blues swung through her mind before melting lazily into her eyelids. She exhaled swiftly to pace her racing heart. She mentally tapped her head, as if to shoo away her previous nightmare.
“Rainbow dash?”
Rainbow groaned lightly. She turned her head away from the sound, trying to lead the rest of her body with it however her limbs felt weak to her command.
“Rainbow daaash.” The voice whispered again. Dash let the tension be relieved from her eye lids. She acknowledged that this persistent pony wasn’t going to leave her to sleep. She turned her head back towards the voice’s owner before wincing her eyes open to see another pair of bright blue eyes immediately meet hers. Rainbow flinched backwards in surprise, though she relaxed at the sight of the friendly pink party pony meeting her gaze. The earth pony’s eyes shone plainly against the blackness around them. They looked different. They didn’t have the excitable shine to them. There was no heart warming blue glaze in their iris. Only a dull blue pit sat there.
Rainbow narrowed her eyes against the black canvas around her to focus on the earth pony.
Pinkie pie looked awful. Her mane had visibly lost an incredible amount of volume and lift, causing it to hang limply over her forehead. Her lips however betrayed her look of exhaustion and were forced into a smile that wavered often; eagerly wanting to press into a frown.
“Hi-iii!” She said in no more than a whisper, she scrambled away from Rainbow’s bed as if in urgency and stood near a small window at the far side of the dark room. Vibrant white beams shone down through the condensed glass. The light entering only through small peeks in the water.
Rainbow Dash attempted to sit up, her neck lifted shakily, though it soon slammed back down to pillow in defeat. She was simply too tired. Her head felt dazed and heavy; as if there were weights pressing down on it. Her limbs felt as if they weren’t even attached to her body, they were idle to any command to move. “Pinkie? W-what did-“
“You fell asleep!” Pinkie interrupted her happily. She began bouncing around the room."I’m not sure what you were dreaming about though; you said something about a phoenix and a cloud...” She stopped and fell on to her haunches raising a hoof thoughtfully to her chin.”The rest were just mumbles,”
“I- wait...” Rainbow started, in a puzzled tone. "How long have you been in here?” She asked, finally mustering the strength to push herself up on her mattress.
“All night!” Pinkie said before continuing her bounces. "I couldn’t sleep because the others were talking too much so I decided to come in here! Besides, I thought you might have been lonely”
Rainbow looked at Pinkie. She wasn’t sure whether she should be touched or disturbed, however another thought quickly found its way through her pondering. She fell asleep? How could she have possibly fallen asleep after the past events that had occurred? The recollection of the nightmare seeped into her mind too, however she swallowed it down hard before talking again.
“Where am I?” she asked, looking around; trying to change the subject on razor edge.
“ In a different room! It’s on the lowest floor so you might wanna’ be careful, there’s a lot of stairs.”
Rainbow dash rolled her eyes and chuckled at her friend. Pinkie lightened up at this and began to smile more genuinely. She shifted further towards Rainbow, feeling no need to be cautious. Rainbow took the opportunity to look at Pinkie more carefully. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot and limp, her eyelids occasionally slipped down before fluttering open again. The earth pony was nothing more than a ghost of her former, joyful, self. It was like a bad mimic had taken on her roll.
“Pinkie,” Rainbow began, in a more serious tone. “A-...Are you alright?”
Pinkie hesitated before staring emotionlessly at her friend.
Was she alright?
She gritted her teeth into an angry smile to suppress a growl. Of course she was alright! Why wouldn’t she be? Her friend had just harmed lots of ponies and sent her friends into fanatics! Sarcasm oozed out of her imaginary words.
“Sure!” She lied happily before smiling unconvincingly at her multi coloured friend. Angry thoughts and accusations rapped at her closed lips, they lay on her tongue, edging to be fired out. Her jaw slid in its sockets; her teeth scraping at the opposite molars. When Pinkie felt as if she was about to burst with anger her thoughts went silent as if a switch of realisation had flicked in her mind. She could feel guilty burning tears pressing at her eyelids.
What was she doing?
She knew very well, even though her friends may have thought otherwise, that Rainbow dash did not do that. Rainbow was a Pegasus! They don’t have magic! So how could she have done that! Was everyone else blind? And even if Rainbow was a unicorn she would never in a million years harm another pony.
Rainbow narrowed her eyes at Pinkie.
“Don’t lie to me Pinkie,”
The words hit the pink earth pony like a knife. However before she could retort, she was cut off.
“Exactly how much sleep did you get last night huh?” The Pegasus asked in a glass sharp tone.
None. She couldn’t sleep.
“A few hours.” Pinkie murmured in a barely audible voice. Her head turned to face the wall. She wanted to avoid Rainbow’s piercing stare. She heard a deflated sigh behind before turning to find Rainbow’s face buried into her fore hooves. Pinkie’s heart fell to her legs at the sight of her friend, however for some reason she remained reluctant to comfort her.
Rainbow looked up to her friend. Her expression was a mix of exhaustion and depression. Pinkie almost mirrored her friend’s look in understanding.
The unspoken apology in Rainbow’s expression was clearly visible to Pinkie.
Their stare however was broken by unintelligible murmuring outside of the door. The two ponies in the room turned to face the door.
____________
Twilight looked on anxiously as the golden cart descended to the ground in front of her.
Princess Celestia gracefully stepped off the carriage. Her face was that of utter seriousness. Though her less than warm letter informing her that she was needed in Ponyville had not put her in the best of moods, she was not one to fool around in a dire situation. The Alicorn waved in thanks to the two Pegasus colts that had assisted her in arriving here. They simply nodded at her, all the while their expressions plain. Twilight’s knees buckled beneath her as her mentor stood high above her. How rudely she had spoken to royalty! Her mind taunted her cruel accusations however she blinked them back furiously.
“Twilight Sparkle.” The princess began, nodding her head in greeting.
“You asked for my assistance?”
Twilight winced at her words before she composed herself.
C’mon. Get a hold of yourself Twilight!
“Yes Princess. Please, come this way.”
As the pair walked through the hospital doors ponies gasped in shock at them. Some instantly bowed at the mistress of the sun, while others gawped in amazement.
Probably should have warned the hospital first... Twilight scolded herself.
Nurse Redheart looked on in utter shock at the Princess. She searched the reception area to see if there were any staff of a higher status than her, however to no avail.
She slipped out behind her desk nervously, her legs trembling, and trotted up to the Princess. It looked like she was on her own.
She gulped.“U-um. Hello Princess! I’m terribly sorry but I think today isn’t the best time for inspections, you see there-“
“Please. I am not here to inspect your hospital.” The Princess corrected the nurse in a warm tone. The nurse’s worry deflated inside of her like a balloon as she let out a relieved sigh.
“I’m sorry to have alarmed you,” the princess carried on.” I am just here to see one of my subjects, may I?” The Alicorn gestured with her head to the door that the nurse was blocking like a stone wall.
Realisation hit her like a brick “Oh! Yes! O-of course!” She chuckled sheepishly before she nervously backed away from the Princess’s path. Twilight and her mentor carried on down the narrow hallway. As they walked down the corridor the princess turned to look at her student
“Well.” She mused. “What was it that was so important?”
Twilight flinched.
“Rainbow dash... She... I...” She couldn’t summon up the words. How could she tell her mentor what had happened? “Rainbow dash, I think she might... The other day... Ughhh.” She sighed in defeat and swung round to look at her mentor. Frustration burned like a purple fire in her eyes, however her mentor looked on; un-fazed by her students anger.
“Rainbow dash survived a crash that should have been fatal, I thought that she was using Pegasus magic to cure herself but then she had lots of tests and she somehow used levitation andimreallyworriedshemightbeusinghermagicnowbuti’mnotevensureitexistsand-“
“Twilight Sparkle!”
Twilight flinched back at her sharp tone, she instantly crouched in fear at the princess.
The mare of the sun sighed and gestured her student to rise. Twilight did so.
“You mentioned ‘Pegasus magic’? I’m sure that I can have a look into that, Twilight; but for now you need to stop worrying so much about such topics you’re not even certain of.” The princess said softly. Twilight nodded her head in obedience. Her mentor’s words had not changed her state of perception however she faked a smile to the best of her ability. The princess closed her eyes contently.
“Good.” The princess praised. “Now, shall we go visit your friend?”
Just as the two mares were about to continue distant hoof steps sounded before they turned into violent stomps of ponies running in unison.
Three mares came galloping down the hallway.
“We heard shouting! Is every pony allri-“
Applejack was cut off by the mere sight of the slender looking pony in the corridor. The three ponies instantly bowed to their ruler before being beckoned to rise.
“Hello dear Applejack, it’s nice to see you again.” The sun Princess bowed her head in greeting.
The orange earth pony sat slacked jawed before she cleared her throat.
“Uh. H-howdy Princess!”
Rarity and Fluttershy sat behind the cowpony in shock.
“Well. Shall we go and visit Rainbow dash then?” the princess proposed, walking towards the stairs.
The five followed. Rarity talked to the princess at the front of the party, Fluttershy lagged slightly behind the two whilst Applejack walked at the same pace of Twilight.
You called the Princess?! Applejack mouthed to Twilight.
“I didn’t know what to do!” Whispered Twilight defensively.
"Well ya'll coulda' told me! Ya don't jus' go crying to the princess so suddenly without knowin' what is actually goin' on! An' especially when ya haven’t told yer friends first!" Applejack scolded Twilight. The unicorn felt a sudden wave of regret at the earthpony's words, as she looked nervously over towards the princess still in light conversation with Rarity.
Horse feathers.
They soon arrived at the bottom floor of the hospital. Twilight had fully explained the situation, receiving brief nodded replies from the princess. " I think that Rainbow dash might be a little... Fragile at the moment so maybe be a bit slow with talking to her.”
" I understand." Celestia replied, nodding her head in agreement. They stopped as they reached the door. They opened it.
Pinkie and Rainbow stood out against the canvas of darkness. Pinkie pie stared at the visitors before jumping back into a bow. Rainbow however sat still. Though usually she would bow to the princess, something inside her remained defiant. It was almost like a whisper in her ear."Hello Rainbow dash. And you to Pinkie pie." Celestia greeted, beckoning Pinkie up however not sparing a glance nor a thought over the Pegasus not bowing to her.
"Rainbow, I asked the princess to come and help us figure out what's going on." Twilight said, trotting further into the room and flicking a switch near the door way. The room flickered in and out of darkness before the room was lit up into a dazzling light. Pinkie and Rainbow both squinted at the sudden change, covering their eyes with their hooves.
Princess Celestia continued into the room, Rainbow shifted uncomfortably at the Alicorn approaching her.
“Uh, hi there, P-princess.” The Pegasus stammered in greeting.
Rainbow looked on, a puzzled expression bore on her face. “U-uh.” Was all she could stammer.
Pinkie pie looked over to Twilight. Though she did not return her gaze, Pinkie stared quizzically at her. Twilight’s forehead was matted with sweat. Her eyes flickered from the princess to Rainbow repeatedly.
“Breakfast for miss... Rainbow dash!” A distant voice echoed down the hallway. The clear squeaks from a cart’s wheels became louder as it came through the door way.
The ponies in the room turned to the sound of the voice. The cart was pushed gingerly through the doorway before a yellow earth pony appeared after it, a clip board lay in her hooves.
“shorry folks, I fink fisiting timesh nearly over.” She mumbled through the quill in her mouth, she ticked a box on the clip board, before looking up.
And the quill dropped out of her open mouth. She looked over at the princess and smiled unconvincingly. “I-I’ll go get some tea for you.” She stammered before zipping out of the room.
____________________________________________________________________________
“And so, I think that if this spell is to succeed, I may be able to see what caused the attack.” A regal voice sounded.
“But what if it doesn’t? What if it fails?”
Princess Celestia shook her head. “We can only guess.” She murmured.
As the conversation escalated further into talk about unicorn magic, Rainbow became less interested. She instead focussed on the warm cup of liquid in her hooves. The steam circled the base of the cup before rising into a dance. It was like a miniature wonderbolts performance. She smiled at the dancing steam, it was probably the calmest moment she’d had since her entrance to the hospital.
“I think that this may be our only option Twilight. The decision is in Rainbow dash’s hooves at the end of the day - however I warn you to think carefully about your decision.”
Suddenly, six pairs of eyes turned to face Rainbow dash.
“ Well Rainbow dash?” Rarity called.
“Wha – huh?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Do you wish for princess Celestia to perform the spell or not?” She snapped in a sharper voice than intended.
“Oh... Um, sure whatever.” Dash mumbled, her voice trailing away.
Celestia and Twilight exchanged glances before nodding at each other.
“Very well, Rainbow.” The princess said. Her horn was enveloped in a yellow veil. Rainbow watched in angst. Before she could call to stop the move blackness overcame her.