//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 (Edited) // Story: The Princess Escapes // by adorablesmiles //------------------------------// I was standing in the hallway, leaning up against my locker, talking to my friends, when Twilight came walking down the hall. "Hey. I was wondering where you went off to." I said. "I kinda got lost, but I'm fine." She said. "What are you doing?" She asked. "Ah. We're just talking before class starts. Nothin' important though." Applejack said. Twilight nodded. And then it was quiet. And not the good kind of quiet either. It was the uncomfortable kind. I doubt it'll stay that way. Someone is bound to have something to say that'll end the silence. I'm sure of it. That was when I started to look at the floor. All the lines on it were so inticritly placed. Then there was the drops of red near Twilight's feet. "Twilight, what is that?" I asked. "What is what?" She asked back. Rainbow Dash walked up to the drops. "Do ya know what it is, Dash?" Applejack asked. "It looks like blood." Rainbow said. "Blood?" I asked. "Yeah. I've seen people on my sports teams get hurt countless times. And either someone was here earlier that was hurt or Twilight is." Rainbow insisted. Then she took her hand and looked at it. "Twilight, is your hand bleeding?" She asked. "What?" Twilight asked. "No... why would it be?" "Then why is there blood on it?" Rainbow asked. "I wouldn't know. I definitely didn't- OUCH!" Twilight shouted, as Rainbow yanked the sleeve up. There was a long cut that stretched up and down her right arm. "How did that happen?" Applejack asked. "Did you harm yourself?" I asked. "No." She said. "Then why are you bleeding?" Applejack asked. "I don't think you should know." Twilight said. That immediately got me curious. "What does that mean?" Rarity asked. "It means I don't know if I should say." Twilight said. That made me look down. And when I did, I saw my arms wrapped around me and my hands on my sides. And under that was my clothes. "Twilight," I said, as I walked away from my locker. "If something happened, you really should tell us." The others nodded. "I... I can't." She said. I turned to face her. "Do you have something to hide?" "No, Sunset." Twilight said. I kept my eyes on her, even though she wasn't looking at me. "Then why can't you tell us?" I asked. "I just can't!" She said, as she slammed against the locker and slid down to the floor. I can't believe what I'm seeing. Twilight is sitting in front of me, and she's making a face I know all too well. She's guilty. She's feeling the same way I did not too long ago. Then I did the only thing I could do right now. I walked over to her and sat down, knowing that she needed support more than anything. And I wasn't doing this to get her to talk either. I was doing it to be a friend. "Why are you being so nice to me?" Twilight asked. "Because you would do the same if it was me that was guilty." I said. Her eyes went wide. I knew that she was surprised by what I said. But it was nothing but honest. "Twilight?" I asked. I didn't want to get serious with her, but I knew I had to. "Yeah?" She said. "Will you be honest with me?" I asked. She was quiet for a minute, but then she nodded. "Why did you really get hurt?" I asked. And then she was quiet for more than a minute. Either she was trying to find her words or she still didn't want to say. "I... It was an accident." She said. "An accident?" I asked. "Yeah. I got cut on a piece of metal from a locker." She said. "You did?" I asked. She nodded. "Why didn't you say so before, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "Because I thought you would hate me for it." Twilight said. "We could never hate you." I said. "Why?" She asked. "Because we are friends. We don't think any less of you even after what happened." Rarity said. A faint smile grew on Twilight's face. "You learned that lesson when I was in Equestria, didn't you?" She asked. "Yes, darling." Rarity said. "How did you know?" "Because the you in Equestria went through the same thing." Twilight said. "Uh... Girls?" Applejack asked. "Don't ya think we should be gettin' Twilight to the nurse's office?" "Why? 'Cause of her arm?" Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack shot daggers at Rainbow Dash. "Yes. You ARE the one who noticed it after all." She looked down at Twilight's arm and studied it for a few minutes. She didn't say anything while she did so either. "Alright, fine." Rainbow said, as she wiped the blood that had got on her fingers off on the floor. "We'll take her to the nurse. She'll be able to help Twilight better than we could." "Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaimed. "You got the floor dirty!" "Eh. It'll wash." Rainbow said. "You don't know that!" Rarity shouted. "C'mon Rarity! There ain't no time for fussin' about blood on the floor." Applejack said. I didn't look behind me after that, but the sound of footsteps behind me was proof enough that Rarity had caught up with us. -------------------------- "Hello, girls." The nurse said. "What can I do for you?" "How does she know you so well?" I asked. "Well, there's a lot of good throwers in gym class, and Fluttershy here ain't so good, so she gets hit by accident a lot." Applejack said. "It's true." Fluttershy said. "It hurts, but I forgive them." "Fluttershy didn't get hit with another dodgeball did she?" The nurse asked. "No. This time it's about Twilight." Rainbow said. "Come here." The nurse said. Don't. I kept myself on the other side of the room. "Come on, dearie! I don't have all day." The nurse said. I can't. I just can't do it. "Twilight? Are you scared or something?" I heard someone ask, but my brain wasn't working properly. "I can't." I said. "What do you mean by you can't?" I heard someone ask again. But I didn't hear the answer, because everything went dark.