Dinner that night had been a somber and mostly quiet affair. For her part, Rainbow barely ate any of what was given to her before she dragged herself away to curl up in the deepest corner of one of the pseudo-tents Rarity and Applejack had made. For a short time, she had rested there, afraid to close her eyes and go back to sleep, afraid she would have another nightmare. The need for rest eventually won her over, though, and she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
When she opened her eyes again, it was with a sigh of relief upon realizing that she was not having another nightmare. She was standing in a small glade, surrounded by trees with blue leaves and long flower blossoms that emitted a soft, violet glow in the night. At the bottom of this glade was a small pond of crystal clear water. Several water flowers just breached the surface, glowing with blue light and casting beautiful reflections across the almost motionless water. A full moon shined down on her, just visible through the canopy of leaves and glowing flowers over her head.
“This is pretty…” Rainbow commented quietly to herself, relaxing somewhat. “A little too flowery for my tastes, though.” She then turned to look over her shoulder, knowing full well who was standing there.
“Rainbow Dash,” Luna greeted simply, stepping forward out of the foliage and into the moonlight. “In all fairness, this is not a creation of your dreams. It is a mirror of my own.”
Rainbow looked back at the little glade and gave a low whistle. “Well, I can see why it works for you…” she tried to laugh, but the sound died in her throat and her ears fell. “...I know I’m late.”
“That is hardly the worst of our concerns, my niece,” Luna pointed out with a stern look coming over her face. “There have been rumors spreading like wildfire that you assaulted an unarmed mare without provocation or clearly discernible reason. If we cannot curb these rumors soon the impact it may have on our ability to rule could be devastating.”
Rainbow shied away, her ears pinning themselves to her head even harder. “I… I-I’m sorry,” she choked out, unable to look at her adoptive aunt.
Luna’s eyes lost some of their intensity when she saw the horrible trembling Rainbow Dash was suffering from. “...What happened, Rainbow?” she asked more gently, slowly trotting forwards.
Rainbow backed away even more. “I… I… I did attack somepony… I attacked S-Starlight Glimmer,” she managed to stutter out, shuddering and then falling to her haunches. “I was just… I was s-scared… I… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t want to…” she looked at her hooves while stumbling over her words. Her eyes went unfocused. She snapped them shut and placed her forehooves on the back of her head as if trying to shelter herself from falling stones.
Luna’s eyes went wide with shock, completely caught off guard by how Rainbow Dash was acting. “Rainbow…”
“I hurt Twilight!” Rainbow blurted out before crumpling forward, covering her head and shaking with uncontrollable sobs wracking her body. “I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have! I know, I know it was stupid, I know it was reckless and wrong and…” she couldn’t keep going, her words hitching in her throat.
Luna slowly came forward and sat down in front of Rainbow Dash. She reached out and touched her hoof to Rainbow’s mane, petting her lightly. Rainbow tensed under the touch, making Luna retract her hoof. “...You’re guilty.”
“OF COURSE I AM!” Rainbow snapped, looking up at Luna with anguished eyes. “OF COURSE I’M GUILTY! THIS IS MY FAULT! It was my stupid idea to go to Manehattan, it was my bright idea to try and find Starlight! If I’d just ignored what Discord said, left it all alone then… then…” she let her face fall so she was staring at the grass beneath her hooves. “...Then I wouldn’t have driven away my friends… I wouldn’t have made Twilight hate me…”
“Hate you?” Luna scoffed disbelievingly, reaching out and touching a hoof to Rainbow’s shoulder. “From what I know of her, she may be upset at you, but I sincerely doubt she could ever hate you.”
“Y-you haven’t seen how she’s been glaring at me… haven’t heard how she’s talking to me…” Rainbow said, quivering again. “I hit her and attacked an innocent mare… what kind of friend does that...?” she screwed her eyes shut, her voice rising in volume to a shout. “What kind of pony does that?!”
“One who needs help,” Luna asserted firmly before reaching out and yanking Rainbow into a hug. Rainbow gasped and tensed up in the alicorn’s embrace, but gradually began to relax and calm down when Luna spoke again. “It’s going to be fine, Rainbow Dash… we all make mistakes. Every single one of us screws up somewhere… the best thing we can do when we do is learn from our mistakes.”
For a time, the two remained silent, Luna gingerly gliding one of her hooves over Rainbow’s mane repeatedly, occasionally making calming sounds when the pegasus began to shake and whimper again. Finally, Luna drew back and gave Rainbow a reassuring smile. “Everything is going to be okay, my niece.”
Rainbow hiccuped by nodded slowly, though she didn’t seem to believe the sentiment.
“Where are you and your friends right now?” Luna pressed, giving Rainbow another comforting pet as she did so.
“Um… maybe half a day’s trot from Hollow Shades. I’m, uh… I’m actually injured in the waking world. I dislocated my left wing and we don’t have the supplies with us to fix it up. The p-plan was to get me to a doctor in Hollow Shades while Twilight sent you and mom a letter… so we could be taken home, I guess…” Rainbow explained tiredly, looking away towards the end.
“I see… I shall send a scroll to Spike ensuring you suffer no delays. I’ll also send a team of the Lunar Guard immediately; they can set about returning you to Canterlot as soon as you are travel-worthy,” Luna stated simply before reaching a hoof out to Rainbow’s chin, lifting her head so they were eye-to-eye. “And rest assured, Twilight will forgive for what you have done, given enough time, of this I am certain.”
“But what if-” Rainbow began, but was interrupted by Luna’s hoof pressing itself to her mouth.
“No buts, no ifs. If Twilight Sparkle represents the element of magic, the centerpiece of the elements then I sincerely doubt she could ever find it in her heart to hate you… not for long, at any rate.” Luna assured her before rising back to her hooves. “I must return to watching the Dream Realm; my duty does not permit me to put aside our subjects for long.”
“O-okay, Luna…” Rainbow muttered, letting Luna go as the alicorn rose back to her full height.
“You’ll get through this, Rainbow Dash,” Luna offered with a smile. “I’ll make sure of it. You’ve helped me a great deal, after all. It’s time I returned the favor.”
“Did you destroy the Tantabus? Talk to mom?” Rainbow asked weakly, a small spark of hope in her eyes.
Luna’s warm smile was the only answer she needed.
And then she woke up.
Rainbow gradually woke up, still curled up on the ground. Her muscles were stiff and sore. She gave a yawn and languid stretch before looking around a little bit. It was a misty morning and the sun had just started to come up, casting glowing rays of golden, shimmering light through the forest.
“You’re awake…”
Rainbow looked and saw Twilight sitting up not far away from her under the same piece of shelter, looking over a scroll. Spike stood just next to her, looking between the two nervously.
“Uh.. y-yeah…” Rainbow said, rubbing the side of one of her forelegs absently. “Um… did you sleep alright?”
“Sleeping on dirt, leaves, and roots for a mattress, no blankets, and Spike belching up this note a few minutes ago?” Twilight lowered the scroll and looked at Rainbow with a neutral expression. “I’ve had better nights.”
“O-oh,” Rainbow shuffled back a bit. “I, uh… I should-”
“Rainbow,” Twilight cut her off, her voice losing some of its edge. “...I’m sorry.”
Rainbow locked up, her ears standing tall. “Wh...what?” she asked uneasily, looking back into Twilight’s eyes.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry that you're having nightmares about me. I am upset with you, Rainbow, don’t mistake that, but…” she sighed and shook her head. “But I’m not somepony you need to be scared of. I’m not going to hurt you, you know that, right?”
Rainbow looked down. “Well… I know that, yeah,” she said with a small nod. “But I hurt you… I mean, just…” she gestured vaguely at Twilight’s face.
“I understand, Rainbow,” Twilight said softly, leaning back a bit before bringing the note up to her face again. “...How did Luna even know where we were headed?” she mumbled thoughtfully.
“Oh, uh, I told her,” Rainbow said quickly. Twilight shot her a quizzical look, raising an eyebrow.
“...From all of these miles away?”
“Well, I mean, she is the Princess of the Night. What, don’t you know that she can enter dreams?” Rainbow asked incredulously, her face scrunching up just a little bit.
Twilight’s eyes lit up. “She can enter dreams?!” she asked with a small smile appearing on her face. “No way! I didn’t know that!”
“It’s kinda one of her biggest responsibilities,” Rainbow pointed out before glancing back out into the forest. “She told me before we left Canterlot that dreams have a lot of influence on the waking world. Happy dreams can brighten up the dreams of other ponies nearby; same with nightmares. It’s Aunt Luna’s job to root out the nightmares and get rid of them so that everypony can be well rested and okay in the head when they wake up.”
Twilight nodded, her smile growing. She then hesitated, her smile faltering somewhat. “...Heh. Funny. You knowing something I don’t…”
Rainbow’s own slightly lifted mood came crashing back down when she heard Twilight’s tone. She fidgeted in place a little. “Uh… y-yeah. But hey, now you know, right?” she gave a weak, half-hearted laugh. Twilight’s mouth twitched a little into a smile, the movement reminding Rainbow of the still dark bruise that smothered the unicorn’s face.
“...Yeah.”
Rainbow looked away, her ears falling flat.
“Guys…” Spike tried, looking between the two hopelessly. “C’mon… can’t you just hug it out? I don’t like seeing you like this.”
“If only it was that easy, Spike,” Twilight sighed heavily, patting the little guy on the head before looking at Rainbow Dash again. “...I wish it was.”
Rainbow flinched from the words, feeling as if she had just been struck. “You and me, both,” she muttered before rising to her hooves.
“Where are you going?” Twilight asked, her eyes narrowing a little.
Rainbow shook herself a little to dispel the excess dirt and bark fragments from her coat. “I’m gonna go wake up the others. If Aunt Luna is sending ponies to meet us there, then we should get going sooner rather than later,” she said before stepping out from under the canopy of the shelter. She paused for a moment and glanced back at Twilight. “And, uh… just so you know… I am sorry. For more than hitting you…”
Twilight’s ears perked up. Just a little bit. She looked at Rainbow Dash curiously. “Like what?” she pressed carefully.
“...I’m sorry I let you down. I’m sorry that I lost control back on the train and… I’m sorry I’ve been such a bad friend to you.” Rainbow said solemnly before turning to leave.
‘You’re not a bad friend!” Twilight countered, leaning forward with her ears falling a bit.
Rainbow paused again before shaking her head. “I wish that was true...” she said before trotting away, leaving Twilight and Spike in a cold, miserable silence.