//------------------------------// // Shattered Rainbow // Story: Repercussions // by shallow15 //------------------------------// “I'm glad you stopped by, girls,” said Windy Whistles, Rainbow's mom, as she let them into the house. “I'm worried about Rainbow.” “Is she all right?” Rarity asked. “We've been trying to get hold of her all day, but she hasn't answered.” “No, I don't think she is. She's pretty much stayed in her room all day. I brought her lunch a couple of hours ago and she was asleep. Or pretending.” Windy sighed. She opened her mouth, as if to say something further, but closed her mouth and just gave the girls a sad smile. Pinkie came forward and gave her a hug. Windy blinked, but returned the hug after a moment. “I'm sorry, Mrs. Whistles,” Pinkie said. “I should have been here today to help. I was kind of wrapped up in myself.” Windy broke the hug and looked at her. “What are you talking about? If you hadn't been with her, I don't know if she'd have even come home last night.” “Why wouldn't she?” Rarity asked, frowning. “Back in elementary school, Dashie and Pepperdance were inseparable,” Windy explained, leading the girls back to the kitchen. She offered Rarity a bottle of water and handed Pinkie a soda. “Not a weekend went by when the two of them weren't out running around the neighborhood. As they got older, naturally, they started making more friends and didn't hang out as much, but they still made time for each other. “I know she likes to play it cool and tough around everyone, but underneath, Rainbow cares deeply about everyone in her life. And when Pepperdance got hurt last night, she took it harder than you probably thought.” “Well, if they've been friends that long, of course she did,” Rarity said. “If you hadn't been there for her, Pinkie, I'm pretty sure she would have insisted on staying by her side all the way to the hospital. Most likely, without taking care of herself.” Windy sighed. “Her father and I try to be supportive of her in anything she does, but I worry about her when things like this happen. She just shuts down when she thinks she's failed.” “Well, we'll see what we can do,” Rarity said. “Is it all right if we go up and see her?” “Yes, of course. I'm sorry, girls, I'm talking your ears off.” She led the girls to the staircase and called up. “Rainbow? Rarity and Pinkie Pie are here to see you! I'm sending them up, okay?” There was no response. Windy indicated that the two should go on up in spite of the lack of reply. They climbed the stairs and made their way to Rainbow's room. This was easy to find, as the closed door was covered in posters of assorted sports teams and stars. Rarity knocked on the door. “Rainbow? It's us. May we come in?” There was an unintelligible sound from behind the door. Rarity and Pinkie looked at each other then opened the door and went in. The room was dark, with the blinds down and a pair of heavy blue curtains drawn on top of them. A large lump was visible under the dark blue comforter that covered the bed. Rarity pulled the chair from the nearby desk. She placed the chair next to the bed and sat down. “Rainbow? Are you awake?” “Go 'way,” came Rainbow's muffled voice from under the comforter. “I will not,” Rarity replied. “We're worried about you, and we're not going to leave until we know you're okay.” “'m fine. Thanks for comin'. Go 'way.” Rarity and Pinkie exchanged concerned looks. Rarity reached out and began pulling the comforter down. A blue hand shot out and began pulling it back up. The two struggled for a while, before Rainbow yanked the blanket hard enough to pull it out of Rarity's grip and back up over herself to the point that her feet were left exposed. Rarity huffed through her nose and glanced over at Pinkie. “Do it.” Pinkie grinned and began tickling the bottoms of Rainbow's feet. The feet began kicking at her hands, but Rarity reached over and grabbed her ankles. Pinkie redoubled her efforts. Under the comforter, Rainbow began laughing. After a minute of tickling, Rainbow sat up and threw the comforter off. “Okay, okay, okay! Knock it off!” she cried, kicking her way out of her friends' grip. She sat up. “Whaddya want?” “We want to make sure you're okay after last night, considering we haven't seen you all day,” Rarity said sharply. She heard her tone and shook her head. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you.” Rainbow shrugged, her expression glum. “Go ahead. I deserve it.” “You do not!” Pinkie cried, crashing onto the bed next to her. “You were awesome last night! You saved Pepperdance!” “No, I didn't! She's hurt and lying there in the hospital, just like Sunset!” “But it's not your fault!” “Yes, it is! I have super speed! I have magic superpowers! There's no reason I shouldn't have saved her!” Rainbow whirled and pounded her fist into her pillow. “I thought having magic was going to be awesome, like in all the comics and cartoons and movies and stuff. I thought we were gonna be kicking bad guy butt and saving people. “I thought we were going to be heroes.” Rarity leaned forward. “We are heroes, Rainbow Dash. You are a hero.” Rainbow looked up. Her eyes were wet. “I couldn't save her.” “You did save her,” Rarity insisted. “If you hadn't been there to scare her off, Pepperdance would be far worse off than she is now.” “She wouldn't be hurt at all if I hadn't fallen for her stupid trick!” “You made a mistake!” Rarity yelled. “Everyone makes mistakes! I don't know why you have this ridiculous obsession with making sure that everyone sees you as this unflappable pinnacle of awesomeness, but you don't need to do that with us! We're your friends!” “I know that!” Rainbow yelled back. “Then why on god's green earth are you so bound and determined to punish yourself for something which is not your fault?!” “Because I could screw up again!” Rainbow screamed. “She could do something to you, or Pinkie, or Twilight, or any of the others! She scares me, okay?! She scares the living crap out of me, and I don't want my friends to pay the price for my stupid failures!” “Is everything all right up there?” came Windy's voice from the hall. “I thought I heard yelling.” There was an awkward silence as the three girls looked at each other. “Yeah, Mom, we're fine,” Rainbow called. “Well, if you need anything, let me know.” Rarity leaned forward again and spoke softly. “Rainbow, we're all scared. Sunset isn't here to help us, and our adversary is clearly deranged. But we can't let our fears keep us from doing what we need to do. Otherwise, what happened to Pepperdance is going to happen again, and again, and probably worse. And that would hardly be awesome, now would it?” Rainbow looked down at her feet, then back up at her friends. Pinkie was grinning widely and nodding, while Rarity's smile, while smaller, was just as encouraging. Rainbow blinked, then gave them a small smile of her own. She flopped forward and hugged both of them. “Thanks, guys,” she whispered. “Glad to have you back,” Rarity whispered back. Pinkie sniffled then began bawling uncontrollably. “I'm so gla-a-a-d!” “Okay, okay,” Rainbow groaned. “Turn off the waterworks already!” Pinkie got herself under control and the hug broke up. “So now what?” Rainbow asked. “I called off work today. Didn't think it'd help.” “Same here,” Pinkie said. “Then I think it's high time we visited Sunset,” Rarity stated. She pulled out her phone. “I'll give Applejack a call and – “ She was interrupted as her phone began ringing and vibrating. “Oh! Speak of the devil. Applejack? Yes, I'm with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. We'll be there in a bit. Rainbow still needs to shower.” “Hey!” Rainbow yelped. Rarity smirked at her and was about to speak again, when her eyes widened. “Hold on, I'm going to put you on speaker!” Rarity tapped the screen. “Now say that again.” “Y'all need to get down here as fast as you can!” Applejack's voice was high with excitement. “I dunno how it happened, but Fluttershy and I managed to make contact with Sunset!”