//------------------------------// // A Somber Confession // Story: Little Choices // by Skijarama //------------------------------// The sun had gone almost completely down at this point, what little of its light that remained visible in the darkening skies barely breached the canopy of the forest. Rainbow Dash glanced to her left out the window, her left wing was fully extended and encased in a thick brace, and a bored frown was on her face. The clinic room was simple enough with the standard assortment of typical medical equipment and devices, none of which Rainbow really knew what they did. The only sound right now was that of her own breathing and, if she held her breath and listened, the gentle rustling of the leaves and branches of the forest canopy, muffled into near-inaudibility by the windows and walls. A knock on her door jarred her from her thoughts and she turned her head to the left to look at it. It clicked and slid open, revealing Doctor Moonflower and Twilight standing on the other side. The doctor gave Twilight a stern look, as if to remind her of some warning, before stepping back to let Twilight enter the room alone. Twilight stepped in, the door sliding closed behind her. For several seconds, she and Rainbow were silent, not quite able to meet the other’s eyes. “Starlight was here,” Twilight said after several seconds, deciding to just get that particular bit of nastiness out of the way first. Rainbow went rigid, her ears folding back. She inhaled sharply and screwed her eyes shut, a small tremor working its way into her body. “She’s gone now, though,” Twilight continued before trotting around the bed and taking a seat on one of the room’s only two chairs. “She took a chariot to another town. I doubt we’re going to be seeing her again.” Rainbow looked into Twilight’s eyes questioningly. “So… you’re sure she’s really innocent, huh?” she asked quietly. She shied away from Twilight when the unicorn’s eyes narrowed and her expression hardened. “Very sure, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow sagged and let herself lay back on the headboard of the bed. “So… this whole trip was one enormous waste of all of our times, then?” Twilight’s brow furrowed with mild frustration. “I never said that, Rainbow Dash. Even if this trip turned out going… uh… poorly,” she tried, though Rainbow still visibly winced as if she had been struck. “The reason we came to Manehattan at all was so we could help you.” “And look at how well that turned out…” Rainbow snorted before letting her eyes close. “Rainbow Dash, please…” Twilight ventured timidly, although a sharp snort from Rainbow told her the topic was no longer open for discussion. With an exasperated sigh, she leaned back into her chair and stared up at the ceiling. “...Ugh… how’s your wing?” Rainbow opened her eyes and looked at the extended appendage. “Doc says it’s gonna take a few weeks to heal properly. Bunch of muscles were stretched and pulled in ways they weren’t meant to be or something, a lot of swelling… even when it’s healed I’m gonna have to baby it, apparently. No rigorous flying or exercise for at least a week after it’s healed up.” Twilight winced slightly, looking down. “I’m sorry, Rainbow… ” she said before putting on a small, hopeful smile. “But maybe we can get you fixed up sooner than that.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow in curiosity while looking over at Twilight again. “Really? How?” “Well, the Ponyville clinic, from what I know, happens to have a healing magic expert as part of their staff,” Twilight explained while rolling her hoof. “Maybe we can arrange for Moonflower to let you out of here early. We could stop by Ponyville on the way to Canterlot to get you patched up by the doctor there and you might be able to fly within a few days instead of a few weeks.” Rainbow gave a small smile and nodded. “Hey, that sounds like a plan. Did you tell her about this idea yet?” Twilight’s smile faltered and she shook her head. “Not yet, no. I wanted to talk to you, first,” she said regretfully before putting on an encouraging smile. “But hey, it’s an option.” “And it’s an option I rather like. I hate being grounded like this, and now it’s even worse because now I’m not allowed to leave this bed.” Rainbow grumbled irritably, looking straight ahead and giving her head an exasperated shake. “It must be rough for you… I know how much you love flying. Losing that, even for a day is enough to drive you up the walls.” Twilight nodded along sympathetically. “It’s not the worst thing I love that I’ve lost,” Rainbow muttered absently, her hooves curling to grip her sheets tightly. Twilight’s ears snapped up and she looked at Rainbow curiously. She had been quiet, but Twilight had heard every word. Silence dominated the room for almost a minute before Twilight managed to find her voice. “Wh… what do you mean?” she asked carefully. Rainbow Dash didn’t answer, her ears going flat. “Rainbow?” “Uh… I saw a chariot coming in through the windows earlier. The Lunar Guards showed up, didn’t they?” The pegasus asked abruptly, trying to change the topic. Twilight blinked before slipping out of her chair. “Don’t change the subject,” she chided gently while coming up to Rainbow’s side. “Rainbow Dash… what did you mean?” Silence. “...you know, for a genius, you’re kinda dense…” Rainbow eventually managed to mumble with a half-hearted chuckle. The sound devolved into a withering sigh before she hesitantly lifted her eyes to look into Twilight’s own. Twilight’s ears splayed back when she saw just how… miserable, Rainbow looked. “...Or maybe you’re just overthinking it.” Twilight blinked before a hoof slowly reached it’s way up to rest on her chest, where her heart rate had suddenly escalated dramatically. Her eyes shifted around sporadically as the realization clicked into place. “Are you… were you talking about me?” she breathed out, her eyes widening. “Aced it, perfect score, like the A-plus student you’ve always been...” Rainbow grunted before looking down at her hooves again. “...Twilight, I screwed up… I screwed up big time.” “Rainbow-” Twilight began in an uneven voice, trying to figure out what to say. “Don’t beat around the bush or lie to me, Twilight. I screwed up. I screwed everything up,” Rainbow snapped, looking up at Twilight with a hint of frustration in her eyes. “I know I did and so do you. Don’t… don’t try to tell me I didn’t,” she looked directly ahead and shuddered. “I messed up by even listening to a word Discord had to say, I messed up by taking you all to Manehattan, I messed up by doubting all of you about Starlight, I messed up when I attacked her… I screwed up when I hit you, the mare who’s been with me from the very start, when you were trying to help me calm down and do the right thing…” Twilight took a step back and recoiled, the hoof on her chest curling up. “I… Rainbow Dash, I-” she tried, her voice unsteady and weak. She was interrupted, however. “I. Screwed. Up,” Rainbow reiterated one last time, her shoulders hunching up. “Don’t tell me I didn’t. Just don’t…” For several moments, there was silence. Twilight’s mind was racing at a million miles a minute, desperately trying and failing to process the enormous bombshell that had just been dropped on her. She licked her suddenly dry lips and found her voice. “You… you did make some mistakes, Rainbow Dash,” she started in a quiet voice, slowly moving forward again. “But I’m still here, aren’t I? You never lost me.” Rainbow frowned and shook her head dismissively. “I never said I lost you specifically… it’s what I had with you that I tossed in the dumpster,” she muttered quietly, her voice almost inaudible. “Dash…” “Just stop, Twilight,” Rainbow hissed through grit teeth, lowering her head even more. Twilight felt her heart sink into the pits of her stomach when she saw a tear slowly rolling down Rainbow’s cheek. “Just stop, okay? Don’t get my hopes up…” The two were silent, every moment feeling like an eternity for both of them. Rainbow slowly lifted her head, just a little, then pointed at the door with a forehoof while sniffling. “I think you should go, Twilight… I need… I need to be alone right now,” she said in a strangled whisper. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but no words came. She tried again and again to say something, anything, but nothing would come out. Finally, without another word, Twilight hung her head and trudged her way over to the door to step out. She paused very briefly to glance over her shoulder at Rainbow Dash before slipping out into the hall and closing the door behind her. Rainbow, for all of her best efforts, was not able to suppress the agonized sob that forced itself out of her throat. More tears spilled out of her eyes, which she did nothing to try and wipe away. She let them roll down her cheeks and fall off of her chin to stain the fur on her hooves. “You see…?” she managed to choke out. “If I were wrong about any of what I had said… you wouldn’t have left when I asked you to. You would have stayed and… and tried to prove me wrong.” With her heart well and truly crushed, Rainbow slowly slid herself fully under the sheets and screwed her eyes shut, silently weeping herself to sleep. Twilight’s hoof was clutching so tightly to her chest that it was physically painful, and her back was pressed hard against the wall just outside of Rainbow’s room to make sure she didn’t collapse to the floor. Her breath was coming in deep, shaky breaths as she tried to not only contain her emotions but process everything that had just happened. She had started hearing quiet sobs from the other side of the door a few moments after she had stepped out, but those were slowly fading away into complete silence. With her entire body feeling like it was filled with freezing lead, Twilight slowly dragged herself back towards the lobby where the rest of her friends were waiting. All the while she couldn’t stop thinking about the look in Rainbow’s eyes, the way her words sounded, especially now that Twilight knew why. When she pulled herself through the door and out into the lobby again, she barely noticed Fluttershy almost instantly latching onto her side to ask her what was wrong. She barely even registered that her friends were gathering around her with looks of confusion and concern. It took a somewhat harsh shake from Applejack to snap her out of her trance. “Twi, are ya okay?” Applejack asked gently before backing off once she had Twilight’s attention. “Ya look like ya just saw the ghost of a relative or somethin’. What did Rainbow say?” Twilight gulped heavily, looking down at the floor. “She… I don’t…” she stammered, trying to formulate some kind of response. “It’s okay, Twilight,” Fluttershy said in a soothing voice, giving Twilight a firm and comforting squeeze. “Take your time. We’re here. Would it help if you were sitting down?” Twilight nodded and numbly followed Fluttershy’s guidance until she was seated in one of the lobby’s many chairs. She looked at the ceiling for another few moments before she took a deep breath and focused. Finally, with a great deal of effort, she managed to force her wildly screaming mind under control. She took another deep breath to ease the shaking in her body and then looked into the eyes of each of her friends. With a tear forming in her eye, Twilight opened her mouth to speak.