The Actions of Friends
Twilight Sparkle ran up the stairs ahead of the other ponies, knowing that Spike would probably need to be told about the upcoming arrivals that were making their way to the second floor of the library. Soon after he was informed, Spitfire, Soarin’, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Derpy, and Fluttershy, all arrived upstairs. It seemed crowded, given how there were normally only two individuals up here at any point in time, but right now, everypony needed to be informed about Rainbow Dash’s condition. Twilight motioned for Pinkie Pie to stay with Spike on the lower section of the floor, as well as for Fluttershy to relax, focusing on recovering rather than standing up or climbing stairs.
Rarity and Applejack helped to lead Derpy Hooves up the steps to the bed where Rainbow Dash was, followed closely by the two members of the Wonderbolts, as well as Twilight in tow, who took the opportunity to speak over the silence and at least make an attempt to explain things before they all got a good look at Rainbow's back. “I’m sorry this happened. We tried everything we could to help her, but we just don’t know what to do.” Derpy was struck in awe at what she was looking at. Her eyes might have been pointing in different directions, but her focus was clearly on her good friend, who had been severely injured. Visibly, it was far worse of an injury to her back than the blonde-maned, gray-coated mare had sustained.
Soarin’ no longer felt hungry, and Spitfire gasped in shock as Twilight used her magic to flip her prone friend over, and allow Rainbow Dash to have a change of sleeping position; it couldn’t be good for her to be stuck in one position, unable to flip over given how badly burnt her back was, though this only caused Spitfire to stammer.. “I… I-I can’t…” She was at a loss for words, which was uncommon for her, and Soarin' was no different. “… W-What kind of…” He couldn’t piece together what he was witnessing, as his mouth remained slightly open at the sight that lay on the bed before him. Twilight could only begin to understand their reactions. "Shoudn't they have seen this? Wait… Derpy had bandages on, so as two Pegasi, they must be feeling sick at the sight of seeing a fellow Pegusus pony without their wings, and only a blackened area where they once were; they never saw that on Derpy, like we did."
“…C-Can I… have a glass of water, please?” Twilight heard Derpy speak with awkward pauses, and ran down the stairs hastefully, before returning with a glass of water for the bandaged pony. Upon taking the glass between her hooves, Applejack and Rarity stopped holding her up while she kept an eye on her friend’s face, sitting down slowly to take a drink from the glass. However, when she sat down, she lost her balance by sitting on an open safety pin that Twilight had neglected to pick up, when she had removed the bandages for Scootaloo to see Rainbow Dash’s wound earlier.
Derpy Hooves jumped in the air with a yelp, accidentally tossing the glass of water in the air. Twilight became concerned for her once she heard the rather piercing shriek, as was everyone else. They failed to notice the trajectory of the glass, as they heard a splash, immediately followed by coughing. “W-What the hay are you doing, Derpy!? Can’t you see I…!” Rainbow Dash was dazed, but still reacted by reflex at being angry for the antics Derpy had caused. It took only a moment for her to realize where she was, and more importantly, who was there, prompting a gasp in response. Her surprise at the presence of The Wonderbolts paled in comparison to the overflowing joy she felt as she saw her previously hospitalized friend acting like her old self.
“DERPY! YOU’RE OKAY!” Rainbow launched herself at her bandaged friend, knocking both of them off the elevated area they were on, before Rarity and Twilight used their magic to stop them from falling onto the stairs below. Twilight flipped Rainbow Dash over, still using her magic to cause the rainbow-maned pony to levitate, before helping her to land on her hooves, which Rarity also did with Derpy.
Twilight glared at Rainbow, who couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment at the act of relief she had just displayed not only in front of her friends, but also in front of The Wonderbolts, as she paused several times to consider what to say as she was speaking. “Eh heh heh… Umm, sorry? Erm… Hi, guys! How long was I out for?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “You’ve been unconscious for a couple of hours, at least. Rainbow, I thought you needed to be taken to the hospital like Derpy! How did you wake up so fast!?” Derpy chimed in. “Well, the doctors said that my head was the real problem.” Rainbow Dash chuckled to herself, before realizing the cruelty in the joke she had in mind. “Erm, Umm… So! Derpy, what about your wings?”
Derpy looked at her bandaged back with a frown. “The doctors don’t know what to do. They said they can’t help with medicine or surgery; it looked like it was magic, so only magic could fix it.” Twilight contemplated those words; “Vanish was able to take the wings of Pegasi. Could he possibly put them back on the ponies he had taken them from? I...” Spitfire interrupted her thought. “Sorry to burst your thought bubble there, but we need to think of a plan. Does anypony know where we should go next?”
Rainbow Dash was still happy to see Derpy, but her relief changed to shock upon hearing Spitfire talking in Twilight’s library. Dashing over to her, she was going to introduce herself (as she often took pride in doing), before Twilight got her attention. “Rainbow, things have gotten worse. Since you were sleeping, none of us have gone back to Cloudsdale. We don’t know what’s going on over there, and we haven’t seen Vanish, either.” Rarity cleared her throat in a manner which sold her request for attention, prompting Twilight to correct herself. “Pardon me. Rarity went there, and said that it seems her horn was responding to gems she placed in Vanish’s hat; she believes he’s in the Cloudosseum.”
Rainbow Dash stood on her hind legs and shadowboxed. “Well, then let’s get over there and hoof him out of Cloudsdale! Then we-…” Twilight stopped her friend. “You and Derpy need rest. So does Fluttershy. Once you recover, we’ll consider letting you come with us. The girls and I will be fine with Spitfire and Soarin’. Get some rest.” Rainbow ran up to her friend, pleading for reconsideration. “But you can’t do that! This could be my chance to show off in fro-…” Twilight cut her off again, amazed that her friend hadn’t clued in yet as to exactly what her situation had become. “Rainbow, look behind you.”
Rainbow turned around, and while she saw Spike, Rarity, and Applejack, her attention was drawn to her wingless, blackened back. “WHAT THE HAY!? What happened to my… W-Was this Vanish? Did he do this? I-I need my wings!” Rainbow’s fury made her lunge at Twilight, which prompted her pony friends to try holding her back. “You CAN’T make me stay! He stole my wings! Take me with you! Please! I…” The furious mare calmed down a bit, burning out from her energy rush of fear and desperation. “Twilight please, let me go with you guys.”
Twilight could see tears begin to well up in Rainbow's eyes as her lower lip began to quiver. This was a matter that went beyond pride, and there was only one way Rainbow Dash could reclaim what she lost. Though Twilight knew this, she was also well aware that her injured friend wasn’t in any condition to encounter Vanish, so there was only one way that the unicorn could keep her friend safe. “… Pinkie Pie, Derpy, I need you two to stay here and make sure Rainbow doesn’t leave the library.” Rainbow’s eyes almost went red with furious sorrow which, given their natural hue, wouldn’t be too difficult of a feat to begin with. She had been shut down in the worst possible way; she was grounded, in every sense of the word, by her own friends no less, as Twilight continued. “Everypony else, I need you to come back with me down to the first floor lobby. I have an idea. If we can use the spell that lets non-flying ponies walk on clouds, I’m sure we ca-… wait, what’s that?”
Twilight stopped when she heard a strange buzzing coming from outside. She looked through the upstairs window, seeing the silhouette of a familiar young filly on a scooter dashing off in the direction of Cloudsdale. “Scootaloo!? What's she thinking, going back over there?” What made things worse was that when Twilight had been distracted by the sound, she heard a struggle coming from behind her. She turned around to see plenty of her friends floored, but Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. “That stubborn mare, what is she going to do!?”
Twilight rubbed her head in annoyance. “Okaaaay, change of plans.” Twilight waited for the ponies in the room to stand again before speaking. “Soarin’, Spitfire, and Fluttershy: I need each of you to come with me. Applejack and Rarity will be joining us as well. Pinkie Pie, stay here with Spike and Derpy and look after Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Let’s go.” Twilight ran back down the stairs, seeing Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looking outside from the doorway, the sight causing Rarity to let off some steam. “And just where do you two think YOU’RE going?” Sweetie Belle jumped from the sudden angered voice of her sister, who was behind Twilight. Both fillies swung around in preparation of a vicious scolding.
Apple Bloom decided to at least attempt to explain why she was in the doorway. “Well, Scootaloo said that guy that came by was ‘mighty suspicious’, and told me n’ Sweetie Belle to stay back and let ‘er handle it. We kept ‘er here for a while, hoping she would think of somethin’ else, but when we turned back around t’grab more books, she had ran out o’the room n’ grabbed her scooter before takin’ off. We were gonna go after her, but Rainbow Dash just whizzed past us in a flurry!” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “'Guy'? What guy? Vanish?” Sweetie Belle grabbed the hardcover book by the door with her mouth and tried bringing it to Twilight, but tripped on another book, dropping the one she was carrying. It hit the ground, with the force of the impact opening it to the first page, showing the placard Twilight placed in each book to keep track of each pony that checked out a book; it was blank.
“What book is this?” Twilight closed the book and was amazed to see the cover: ‘Modern Ponyville History’. “Isn’t this what Vanish showed me back at Carousel Boutique? Wait… something’s wrong.” Twilight opened the book back up, and confirmed her suspicions: This was a different book than the one Vanish had showed them before. Either he had a fake version of the book, or this one was fabricated. Reading it further, Twilight recognized some of the passages of the book, assuring herself that this one was real.
She could do little more than stare into the book, shocked. "Somepony took out this book, and brought back a different book that just had the same title and a similar cover, which Vanish picked up. M-My own library was used to check out a book that contained all the information he used to beat us; a book I never even had in the first place, but rather, just one used as a cover for some sick plot!" Twilight was right to trust her hunches: The spells in Vanish's book were from another book entirely, but just placed in the book that the stallion had checked out for the sake of reference material.
“You alright, sugar cube?” Applejack could tell that Twilight was upset about something, but couldn’t tell what it was since she was keeping quiet. “Look, we gotta hurry up n’ get Scootaloo n’ Rainbow Dash back before they get in any more trouble!” Twilight looked up from her book, back at Applejack. It was true that this was no time to dwell on the past with more pressing matters needing their current attention.
She turned back around to the other ponies. “I’ll get the book for flying spells and related incantations. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, head upstairs and don’t leave the sight of Spike and Derpy until I return. We’ll bring Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash back safely. Before we go, let me just do one last thing.” Twilight called up the stairs. “Pinkie Pie!?” Pinkie happily hopped down the stairs. “Yep?” Twilight knew this was a strange request, but she had an idea. “Do you think you can get a hot air balloon under the Cloudosseum?” Pinkie couldn’t help but wonder what her friend’s plan was. Seeing the lavender mare turn back around to examine various book titles, she followed her friend to the lobby, letting Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom head up the stairwell. “Sure, but why do you want that?”
Twilight smirked at her friend who had trotted to the doorway, as the unicorn used her magic to levitate the book of her desired spells. “I think we’ll need a means of flight.”