The Road Less Traveled

by SteamPoweredStallion

Taking a step back

We ran to the edge of the cliff. Gilda was flying slowly and disorderly, carrying Rainbow’s unconscious body in her claws. She landed noisily on the stone platform, panting. Her face was the one of someone who had just sobered up very quickly and very violently.
She stood there for a few seconds, as we gathered around. Rainbow Dash was breathing regularly and lied inertly. It would almost look like she was asleep, if not for the fact that her eyes were wide open and staring blankly ahead.
Spike was the first to break the silence. “What happened?” he whimpered.
Gilda muttered something, then cleared her throat.
“She… she touched… there are these big… pink gems on the other side… and she touched one, then she fell down. Just like this.”
“She touched one of the gems?” I asked “Are you sure she didn’t do anything else?”
“That’s what I said! We had just landed and she touched the gem and…”
“Well, this is… unusual. I don’t think that was the cause, but…”
“ARE YOU SAYING THIS IS MY FAULT?”
“What? No! What do… never mind. Could you please put her down now?”
Gilda looked down, seemingly just noticing that she was still carrying Rainbow. She let her fall unceremoniously to the ground.
I cringed. The last thing we needed was to add head trauma to whatever Rainbow already had.
Zecora checked her vital signs. She then tried to close her eyes, which sprung immediately open.
“I’m sorry; I don’t know what to think
She seems to be fine, but she can’t move or blink
And if her eyes aren’t watered as they should
They will soon be ruined for good.”
“We probably should bring her to the hospital.” I stated, immediately biting my tongue. If we explained how she got her… condition, we would have to admit going to the caves, and if the word got out that we not only disobeyed the princess but endangered others in doing so.
I could see Spike and Rarity were thinking the same thing. Zecora, on the other hand, seemed much more approving of taking Rainbow to a hospital. Gilda stood where she was, still confused.
“I’m… not so sure the hospital is the best idea.” I said “Her affliction seems to be magic in nature. Perhaps if we take her to the library I can find some… solution.”
“Well, either way I think we can all agree that the first thing to do is get out of this cave and as far as possible from those crystals.” Said Rarity. We all nodded. Gilda picked Rainbow back up and we headed up the rubble pile leading outside.
We were almost out of the cellar when we were startled by a voice coming from the other side.
A voice with an unmatched power of startling.
The Royal Canterlot Voice.

Luna descended into the cellar, flanked by two unicorn guards. She looked down at us. All I can remember is how much I wanted to run away.
“YOU HAVE CONTRAVENED A ROYAL ORDER AND VENTURED INA FORBIDDEN AREA.”
I wanted to talk. I wanted to tell her that we had good reasons, which we didn’t; I wanted to tell her that Rainbow Dash needed cures and the person who had sent us the messaged was still trapped in there. But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything more than whimper.
“YOU WILL NOW FOLLOW US TO BE JUDGED FOR YOUR ACTIONS.”
None of us answered. We followed Luna quietly through the halls of the castle. The sun was rising, painting the castle with a bright tallow hue. I usually loved that moment of the day, but all I could think of now was what the Princesses were going to do to us.
What made me truly terrified of the situation was that we had no justification. We didn’t have a good reason to disobey, we hadn’t taken any care to prevent us and others from being harmed, we had, in fact, endangered and hurt others and we had not even begun to fathom a solution for the problem we ourselves had created.
I was shaking, covered in cold sweat. I tried to avoid eye contact with the others.
After a few long minutes we arrived at the throne room. Celestia was already there, standing in front of the throne. I realized that Rainbow Dash had been taken away, hopefully to a clinic. Right then, anyway, that wasn’t my main concern.
I don’t think I had ever seen her quite as angry or harsh. And above all, disappointed.
Luna took her place beside Celestia. They talked quietly for a little while. We stood, helpless, in the middle of the room. I kept staring the floor.
The Celestia spoke.
“You stand accused of having violated a quarantined area and contravening a direct royal order. What do you have to say in your defense?”
For a few seconds, there was silence.
“Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia called. “What do you have to say in your defense?”
I slowly looked up towards the princesses, still not daring to look into their eyes. Thoughts were racing in my head. What did I have to say? Was it really my fault? I had tried to stop them, I was the one who tried to reason…
But it was my fault, wasn’t it? It was my idea, I had started it all…
I whimpered a few disconnected syllable. I cleared my throat and tried to speak up. I could feel the gaze of the princesses on me, like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.
“I have…”
“It is my fault.” Rarity shouted. She walked up to the throne. “I am responsible for what happened. I am the one who lead Twilight and Spike in there, and if you have to punish someone, that someone is me.”
I’d have sighed with relief if I wasn’t so mesmerized. Then I realized I had to do something.
“It’s my fault too.” I said, in the loudest tone I could muster. “It was my idea originally and I should have considered it better before going.”
The princesses remained silent for what seemed like a few hundred years. After a few coughs and false starts, I spoke again.
“We have found something inside the caverns. We have received a magic message which…”
“We are aware of that. “ said Celestia.
“Well then we have to…”
Celestia took up the pieces of the parchment with her telekinesis and ripped them into pieces.
“You are to take no further action towards this situation. If you have nothing further to add, then we may proceed with our sentence.”
Nothing added anything.
“Gilda the Griffin, we recognize that your involvement with the situation was incidental and you had no intentions of contravening royal decrees. You will be let go as soon as you answer a few questions. Zecora, the reason you have been called here still stands. Return to you room, we will speak to you in the afternoon. Rainbow Dash will be taken care of in the hospital. No-one is allowed to visit or talk to her until we say so.”
The princess paused, as the guards escorted Gilda and Zecora out of the room.
“As for Twilight Sparkle, Spike the Dragon and Rarity, you are to leave Canterlot and remain out of the city until such time as we explicitly invite you to return. Your personal belongings are being taken care of by our guards. That is all.”
A few more guards flanked us and walked us outside the room.
What followed were hours of uncomfortable silence as we were escorted to the train, and rode it all the way back to Ponyville. All I wanted to do was to find something to do that would take my mind off what had happened.
When we arrived, I went straight to the library, found a start map which I needed to complete and started copying and correcting names on it. I stayed there until nightfall. Spike seemed to be focused on something of his own.
At the end of the day I was a little more relieved. I still couldn’t take my mind off the Princesses sentence whenever my mind was free of wandering.
Sleeping was out of the question.
I looked around, trying to find some books which I hadn’t read, when i heard something knocking at my door.
That was strange. It was the middle of the night, who’d want to come to the library so late? Spike was already asleep- I suppose he was sleepier or less troubled than me- so I went to answer myself.
In fact, I was glad to have that diversion. I flung the door open.
All I could see was darkness. I looked around, then shut the door and walked back in. I returned to search the bookcases, when the knocking begun anew.
I walked more slowly to the door. I realized that I was walking away from the noise. Of course! It was coming from the window.
I galloped to the window. It’s not like it didn’t happen often, but it was too late for it to be the mail. Outside I could see the silhouette of a Pegasus flying in place. As soon as I opened, I was knocked back by the Pegasus flying in. I rolled on the floor, trying to gain my footing. She flew right across the room, smashed into the bookcase and knocked it over. She then flew in the centre of the room, landing on the table.
“Rainbow Dash?” I asked.
With a voice I had never heard before, she answered “Not yet.”