//------------------------------// // Chapter 26: Downfall // Story: Rainbooms On the Mind // by Kevinltk //------------------------------// “Out of the way!” Natalya roared as she charged through Ponyville’s airspace, clutching an unconscious Rainbow tightly to her chest. Despite earth ponies making up the majority of Ponyville’s population, it did not feel that way as Natalya had to maneuver around numerous pegasi in her way. It felt like every single pegasus in town decided that they would go flying today. With Rainbow’s life quite literally being held in her hands, Natalya could not afford any delays in her rush to the hospital, and she continued to charge through the crowded sky while shouting at the top of her lungs. “Move it! I got an injured pony here! I—Hey, watch it!” Natalya snapped at a pegasus that almost could not get out of her way in time. She turned her head to shoot a quick dirty look at the slow flyer, but when she turned her attention forward again, her eyes widened when she saw a distracted Derpy hovering right in her flight path. The pegasus seemed to be out doing deliveries and was too busy looking through her mailbag to notice Natalya until the speeding griffon was almost upon her. Tightening her grip on Rainbow, Natalya swiftly swerved around the mailmare, narrowly missing a collision. Unfortunately, it was not enough to get by without startling Derpy and causing her to let out a startled yelp as her forehooves shot up in surprise, tossing a shower of letters all around her. Okay, that was probably my bad, Natalya thought as she glanced back to see Derpy frantically flying around to catch the mail that was slowly falling like leaves. Natalya figured that she might have to apologize to the mailmare but decided that would have to be saved for later when she felt Rainbow stir with a pained groan, spurring her on toward the hospital. It only took a few more moments to finally arrive at the hospital, and without even stopping to properly land, Natalya used her shoulder to ram right through its doors and immediately shouted, “I need help! Rainbow is hurt bad!” The ponies waiting in the hospital lobby all looked at Natalya in wide-eyed shock, including Nurse Redheart, who was sitting behind the reception desk. However, it took Redheart only a second to recover her wits, and she only needed a brief glance at the injured pegasus in Natalya’s arms before she sprung into action. “I need a gurney out here, stat!” Redheart shouted, galloping through a set of double doors down a nearby hallway. In a matter of seconds, Redheart came rushing back through the same doors, along with two unicorn stallion orderlies towing a gurney in their magic. “Quickly! We have to get Rainbow into the ER!” Redheart urgently ordered, her voice ringing with authority, as the unicorns stopped the gurney in front of the griffon. Natalya nodded and allowed the orderlies to take Rainbow in their magic so that they could gently but swiftly place the injured pegasus on the mobile bed. As soon as Rainbow was settled, the unicorns promptly rushed her back down the hallway they came through, with Redheart and Natalya following right behind them. But when the stallions took Rainbow through the double doors, Redheart stopped right in front of the entryway, blocking Natalya’s way. “Redheart, move,” Natalya commanded in a calm yet threatening tone. Redheart shook her head and stood her ground. “I’m sorry, Natalya, but only authorized ponies are allowed inside.” “I don’t care. Rainbow went in there, so I’m going in too.” Natalya stepped forward to go around the nurse, but Redheart blocked the way with her foreleg. This only brought a scowl to Natalya’s face. “I’m serious, Redheart. Let me through! I don’t want to hurt you, but I will use force if you don’t get out of my way.” When the nurse shook her head again, Natalya growled and reached forward to shove the mare aside. However, Redheart not only avoided Natalya’s attempt to dislodge her, but she also responded with a push of her own, and Natalya was reminded of earth ponies’ inherent strength as she was forced to stagger a few steps back. “Natalya, I understand that you’re worried about Rainbow, but trust us,” Redheart tried to console the aggressive griffon. “We’ll take good care of her.” “It doesn’t matter! I need to be there for her!” Natalya reared up on her hind legs to both make herself more intimidating and try to push through, but she was once again held back by the nurse. She was trying to keep her anger in check and not outright attack Redheart, but it was getting tougher with each moment of desperation. “Natalya, please!” Redheart pleaded, ducking her head to avoid a swipe of Natalya’s arm. “I don’t want to call security on you!” “Bring them on then! I’ll take down whoever gets between me and Rainbow!” Redheart let out a brief sigh, and Natalya heard her quietly say, “Sorry for this,” right before the mare lunged forward. Natalya, not expecting the sudden offensive, was knocked onto her back when the nurse crashed right into her chest. Natalya tried to scramble back onto her feet, but Redheart was faster as the mare used her forehooves to pin the griffon’s arms. Before Natalya could shout out another threat, Redheart sternly glared down at the griffon and asked, “Do you want Rainbow to get better?” “Of course I do! What kind of stupid question is that?!” “Then think about it. The doctors are already treating Rainbow by now. Do you think that they’ll be able to concentrate on helping her if a distressed griffon barges into the room? I know that you want to help and be there for your friend, but you might do more harm than good in this critical moment. The best thing that you can do for Rainbow now is to sit back and let us do our job.” Natalya growled again, but she was able to restrain herself from throwing the nurse off her, though that did not stop her deathly glare. Mulling over Redheart’s words eventually cooled Natalya’s temper just enough for her to realize and concede that the mare made a fair point. As much as she wanted to be by Rainbow’s side now, she begrudgingly conceded that she would be able to do nothing but take up space and be a distraction. With one last groan full of frustration, Natalya let her head drop to the tiled floor in resignation. “Fine, I’ll back off, but only because I don’t want to get in the way of your doctors. But you guys better fix Rainbow up, and I want to know anything that happens to her.” Redheart breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. “Thank you for understanding, Natalya, and rest assured, we’ll do everything we can for Rainbow, as well keeping you updated about her condition.” “Good… Now get off me.” “Of course.” Redheart carefully stepped to the side and helped the griffon back up. “I want to apologize for tackling you, but well, I was running out of options. I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Natalya scoffed. “Please… A little push like that was nothing. You should see the brawls that I’ve been in back at Griffonstone. You’re actually very lucky that I was able to hold myself back, otherwise, well, you get the picture.” “I’ll, uh, take your word for it.” Redheart cleared her throat. “Anyway, we should return our attention to Rainbow. If you are able to, could you please tell me what happened to her? Any information you give might help us treat her.” With a sigh and a solemn nod, Natalya explained, “Long story short, Rainbow was challenged to a race in Ghastly Gorge, and her opponent played dirty. Rainbow was pushed into a bunch of brambles, injuring her right wing. Despite that, she refused to call it quits, so when she got to the quarray eel nest, her flying was all messed up. She did her best but…” Natalya’s breath hitched as the anger and irritation that she had been keeping in check were washed away, replaced by grief. Her gaze dropped down as she recalled the terrifying moments that occurred just a little while ago. “Rainbow… She… That’s when she got hurt. An eel smashed into her side, and she was knocked unconscious… If Twilight and I weren’t there…”  When the griffon did not say another word after a few moments, Redheart quietly asked, “Is… is that when you brought her here?” Natalya slowly nodded her head in response, unable to lift her gaze from the floor. “I’m sorry, Natalya,” Redheart said, rubbing a gentle, comforting hoof on the griffon’s shoulder. “I know that it must’ve been difficult to see your friend get hurt, but you did a fantastic job getting her here. I promise you that we will do everything that we can to help her get better.” “Rainbow… She’ll be okay, right?” Natalya could not help but ask, looking up at the nurse. “Rainbow’s a hardy mare. After all, she has been in and out of here more times than I can count. I’m sure that she’ll be fine, especially since she has friends like you to watch over her. For now though, get some rest and let us do our job. I’m sure that you must be tired from everything that happened.” Now that Redheart mentioned it, Natalya was feeling pretty beat, despite the fact that only half the day had passed. The adrenaline from a combination of anger and fear had been fueling her rush to help Rainbow, but now that she was calming down, the fatigue from both her desperate flying and witnessing the troubling events was setting in. “Y-yeah, I guess I should take a break,” Natalya agreed wearily. “Also, uh, sorry for… you know…” Redheart smiled softly and shook her head. “It’s alright, Natalya. I’ve dealt with many ponies who have done the same thing. It just shows how much you care for Rainbow. Anyway, I should go in and help the doctors. In the meantime, please get some rest.” Redheart’s gaze then went down to Natalya’s chest, and she pointed at it with a forehoof. “Although, um, perhaps you want to go to the bathroom for a moment?” Natalya looked down and winced at what she saw. Her chest feathers were ruffled from tightly holding onto Rainbow for so long but that was hardly noticeable due to the crimson splotches of blood staining them. With the number of brawls that break out in Griffonstone, a few even instigated by herself, Natalya was hardly fazed whenever she got blood on herself. In fact, more often than not, she wore the red marks with pride, a symbol of victory when she bested an opponent. However, this time, she felt nothing but guilt and even a brief bout of queasiness at seeing her best friend’s blood. “R-right… I’ll go wash up…” Natalya muttered as she parted ways with the nurse. She headed into the nearby bathroom and was glad to find the place empty, not wanting to deal with anyone else right now. Dragging herself over to one of several sinks, she planted her hands on the rim of the basin and slowly raised her head to look at herself in the mirror hanging on the wall. Her usual regal, proud figure was nowhere to be seen. Instead, her reflection only showed a depressed griffon weighed down by guilt, grief, and fatigue. “How could I have let this happen?” Natalya said to herself. For the longest time, she believed that she was the best flyer, and while that ideal had been challenged since meeting Rainbow, Natalya still held onto the notion that she was an ace flyer. Now, however, she felt anything but that. Even though she was able to keep up with Rainbow and Lightning during the race, she was always too slow or too far away to help her friend whenever she got into trouble, and when it mattered the most, it was Twilight who saved the day. “Some friend I am,” Natalya cursed herself. She had gone to Ghastly Gorge to protect Rainbow, but despite her so-called pro flying skills, she could do nothing to save her friend from getting hurt. She had never felt so useless in her entire life, and she knew that if it were not for Twilight, Rainbow very well could have been… Natalya planted one of her arms on the sink while her other arm clutched at her head as the events of Ghastly Gorge and Rainbow’s brush with death played in her head over and over again. There was no doubt that she cared about Rainbow, but she had not realized how deep her friendship with the pegasus was. Almost losing Rainbow had shaken her to her very core, terrifying her beyond measure. An unknown amount of time passed as Natalya stayed hunched over the sink, stewing in sorrow, but eventually, she was able to pull herself together just enough to restore some semblance of composure and remind herself that Rainbow was still being treated at the moment. Though Natalya accepted that she could not be by her friend’s side right now, she would be ready to do so when the time comes, and that meant cleaning up and finally getting out of this bathroom. Thankful that nobody had come in to see her in such a sorry state, Natalya grabbed some paper towels from the nearby dispenser, wetted them from the sink, and then began wiping at her chest. It took only a few minutes to clean off the blood, and after chucking the used towels into the trash bin, she splashed some cold water onto her face, both to clean it and clear her head some more. Refreshed and somewhat clean now, Natalya returned to the lobby. A new nurse, this one a slightly chubby mare with a pink coat and a light-purple and white mane, had taken over the reception desk. There also seemed to be a few less ponies waiting around in the lobby than before, which was just fine with her because it would be easier to have some more alone time to compose herself. She was about to go find an empty seat in the corner when two familiar ponies rushed through the hospital entrance. The first was Twilight, who was clearly out of breath, undoubtedly from both all of the spells that she had cast earlier and then rushing here. However, Natalya’s gaze locked onto the second pony. For some reason, Lightning Dust was right behind the alicorn, but instead of wondering why the pegasus was here, anger and bloodlust clouded Natalya’s senses as she gritted her teeth and emitted a low guttural growl that made several nearby ponies back away in fear. Twilight noticed the griffon and headed over to her, asking, “Natalya, how’s Rain—” The alicorn cut herself off with a yelp when Natalya rushed past her with a burst of speed toward the pegasus behind her. Natalya let out a roar brimming with rage, and Lightning only had time to widen her eyes in surprise before she was punched in the face. Ponies screamed in fright when Lightning was sent skidding backwards across the hospital’s tiled floor, but Natalya hardly heard them as she pounced toward the downed pegasus with her claws brandished. “I’m going to kill you!” Natalya shouted with no intentions of holding back. “Natalya, stop!” Before Natalya could reach Lightning and thrash the hated pegasus some more, a wall of shimmering magenta appeared in front of her, and she grunted when she crashed into the conjured barrier. Taking quick stock of her surroundings revealed that she had been trapped in mid-air within a sort of magical sphere. Recognizing the magenta magical aura, she promptly whirled around to scowl at the one responsible for delaying her revenge. “Twilight! Let me out! Now!” Natalya bellowed. She banged her fists against her magical prison, the conjured walls feeling like thick glass. “I’m sorry, Natalya, but you have to calm down first,” Twilight replied, her horn glowing with magic. “I’m not happy with Lightning either, but violence is not the answer. You can get into a lot of trouble!” “I don’t care! She hurt Rainbow, and I’m going to make sure she pays for it!” Natalya shouted, continuing to pound away at her prison, despite the barrier not showing any signs of weakening. She did halt her assault when Lightning groaned loudly and stirred from the floor. “Ugh, that freaking hurt,” Lightning complained, slowly getting back on her hooves. She then lifted a forehoof to her face, only to yelp in pain and quickly pull the limb away, wincing when she saw blood on her hoof. “I think you broke my muzzle!” Lighting snapped, glaring at the still-trapped griffon. “That’s a real shame because I was hoping to break a lot more than your stupid muzzle!” Natalya threatened. “Oh yeah? I’d like to see you try now that you can’t cheap shot me again! Come on!” Lightning snarled and stepped toward the griffon, only for a magenta wall to appear in front of her. “Lightning, no,” Twilight sternly ordered. “There will be no fighting. We don’t need more ponies getting hurt.” “Tell that to your dumb griffon friend!” “What in Equestria is going on over here?!” a fourth voice shouted, making Natalya, Twilight, and Lightning turn their heads to see an irate Redheart trotting over to them with a stern frown. “She punched me!” Lightning stated, pointing an accusing hoof at Natalya. “Because you almost killed Rainbow!” Natalya shot back. Redheart blinked and looked over to Lightning. “You’re the one who challenged Rainbow to that race in Ghastly Gorge?” “Yeah, so?” Lightning replied. “Well, I would like to give you a lecture on recklessness, but I suppose that can wait. Let’s get your muzzle fixed up first,” Redheart said before turning toward the empty reception desk. “Sweetheart?” The pink-coated nurse from earlier popped her head from behind the desk, warily eyeing Natalya as she answered, “Um, yes, Redheart?” Waving a hoof toward Lightning, Redheart ordered, “This pegasus may have a nasal fracture, so please check her into one of the examination rooms and get a doctor to take a look at it.” “Yes, ma’am,” Sweetheart complied, springing back onto her hooves with a nod. She then beckoned Lightning over to a hallway to the side. “Please, right this way, dear. We’ll fix you up in a jiffy.” “I should’ve never come here,” Lightning grumbled as she walked over to the nurse. Along the way, she made sure to shoot an angry scowl at the contained Natalya, who reciprocated with a death glare, before she followed Sweetheart down the hallway. With Lightning gone, Twilight sternly frowned at the griffon still encased in her magic. “Alright, Natalya. I’m going to let you go now, but if you go after Lightning, I’ll just trap you again. We really don’t need to make things worse, got it?” Natalya snorted angrily, but she knew that she could not compete with the alicorn’s magic. “Fine,” she complied irritably. Twilight’s horn stopped glowing, and Natalya’s bubble prison soon disappeared, letting her drop back onto the ground. Right away, Natalya marched up to Twilight, pointed down the hallway where Lightning had gone, and demanded, “Why is she here?” “Easy, Natalya. I went to tell Lightning what happened after you left Ghastly Gorge with Rainbow, and she asked to come,” Twilight explained. Her brow then furrowed with worry. “Speaking of… how… how is Rainbow?” “I can answer that, Princess,” Redheart chimed in. “Rainbow is being treated in the emergency room right now. The doctors are still assessing the extent of her injuries as they go, but from the looks of it, Rainbow is not in any real danger.” “Oh, thank goodness,” Twilight uttered as she and Natalya both breathed a huge sigh of relief. “So how much longer until we can see her?” Natalya queried. “I’m afraid that I can’t give a good estimate right now, but we will of course try to get her out as soon as possible.” Redheart then shot a cross look at the griffon. “Assuming that we don’t get interrupted by things such as reports of a certain griffon rampaging in the lobby.” Natalya winced but quickly defended with, “Yeah, well, you know now that it was Lightning I was after. I had to get back at that idiot for what she did to Rainbow. You can understand why I did it, right?” “I can understand it, but that doesn’t make it right, Natalya,” Redheart sternly replied. “I know that you’re angry with Lightning, but this is not the place to take it out on her. This is a place of healing, and we can’t have you causing such a disturbance, especially since there are ponies here who need peace and quiet to recover. You’re just making things more difficult for us to treat those who need help, including Rainbow.” “Yeah, but—” “No ‘buts’,” Redheart firmly stated. She kept her disapproving stare on the griffon for a moment longer before softening her expression with a sigh. “Natalya, I get that this is a difficult time for you and tensions are running high, but please try to behave. We can’t have you causing a commotion when we’re treating Rainbow and other patients. I know that you want to be there for Rainbow, but I’m afraid that if you cause any more trouble, we will have to make you leave. ” Natalya bit back a retort. She wanted to protest against the ultimatum, but she could tell that she was already treading on thin ice with Redheart, and she believed that the mare really would follow through with the threat. She only wanted to help Rainbow, but instead, she was just complicating things. “I understand,” Natalya conceded tersely, trying to suppress her irritation. “Don’t worry, Redheart. I’ll keep her out of trouble,” Twilight offered. “Thank you, Princess,” Redheart said, bowing her head to the alicorn. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.” “Oh, before you go, would it be alright if I could get a piece of paper and something to write with?” Twilight requested. “I want to send a note to Spike to tell him what’s going on.” “Certainly, Princess.” Redheart directed Twilight over to the reception desk, and after giving the alicorn the needed stationery, the nurse took her leave back through the double doors. It only took a minute for Twilight to write what she needed. She held up the finished letter in her magic, and several small wisps of magenta fire leapt from her horn, onto the paper. The fire shifted to an emerald color as it quickly consumed the letter until all that was left was a trail of smoke that promptly flew out a nearby window. “I also told Spike to spread the news to our friends,” Twilight added with the dragonfire mail sent. “So how—” “Why did you bring her here?” Natalya asked irritably. Twilight sighed. “Like I said, Lightning asked to come after I explained what happened to Rainbow.” “And you just let her?! You do remember that she’s the reason Rainbow got hurt, right?!” “Natalya, please. Calm down,” Twilight pleaded. “Remember what Redheart said? You can’t get into any more trouble.” “I… You…” Natalya growled in frustration and then took a deep breath. It was not enough to get rid of all of her anger, but she did manage to quiet down her voice to ask, “Twilight, seriously. Why did you let Lightning come here?” “Because I really do think that she’s concerned about Rainbow, even if she doesn’t really show it. Why else would she want to come here?” “Maybe she just wants to get to Rainbow to finish the job,” Natalya remarked darkly. Twilight grimaced. “I… I highly doubt that. Granted, it’s hard to tell what her intentions are with how quiet she went after I told her what happened, but… let’s just call it a hunch that bringing her here was the right thing to do. I know that you’re not pleased with her being around, but let’s not do anything rash. At least give her a chance to explain herself later, okay?” “Not like I have much of a choice with you and Redheart on my back.” Natalya sighed. “Whatever. I’ll back down for now, but I’m still going to keep a close eye on her. And if it looks like she’s going to try something on Rainbow…” “Um, I suppose that’s alright… sort of…” Twilight accepted before growing quiet. Natalya glanced around to distract herself from the awkward silence that descended upon them, and she noticed that most of the ponies that had fled the lobby from her attack on Lightning had returned, though they all made sure to move to the opposite side of the room of her. Even Sweetheart returned to the reception desk after a moment, though without Lightning, who was probably getting looked at by a doctor. Eventually, Twilight chose to sit down on one of the lobby chairs with an exhausted sigh. Seeing that there was nothing else that they could do, Natalya followed Twilight’s example and sat in a chair opposite of the unicorn. Only a few more seconds of quiet transpired before Twilight asked, “How are you doing, Natalya?” “I’m fine,” Natalya answered automatically. “Um, are you sure? After what happened to Rainbow and then you blowing up at Lightning…”  Natalya sighed and nodded. “Fine, yeah. I could be better. Guess there’s not much use hiding it from you since you were there for everything.” Twilight smiled softly. “I’m actually glad to hear that.” “You’re happy that I’m not doing fine?” Natalya asked with one eyebrow rising in skepticism. “Er... what I meant is that I’m glad that you’re opening up. You shouldn’t have to hide things from me or any of your friends either. I know that you and Rainbow were really close, so I can only imagine how much you’re worrying about her.” “Yeah, I would be lying if I didn’t say I was having a rough time. What about you though? Rainbow’s also a close friend of yours, but you seem to be doing pretty well.” “Oh, trust me. I’m pretty much one step away from having a panic attack, but I just have to keep reminding myself that Rainbow will be alright. She’s one of the strongest ponies I know, and even though she ends up here a bit too much for my liking, she always comes out fine. I don’t think that Rainbow will stay down for long if it meant it would leave her friends hanging.” That got Natalya to chuckle a little. “Yeah, that does sound like her.” A lull came into the conversation, but Twilight attempted to keep things going by asking, “Is there anything you want to talk about?” “No offense, Twilight, but I think that I had enough feelings talk for now,” Natalya responded. “We can talk about anything. We don’t really have much to do while we wait here, and to be honest, talking with you is helping me from worrying too much.” “Guess it’s better than nothing.” Natalya tapped her chin in thought as she tried to think of something. “You know, Rainbow told me that she went with you and the others on all sorts of adventures. The few stories that she did tell me did sound outrageous, and even then, it felt like she was exaggerating the parts about her.” Twilight giggled. “Rainbow does tend to embellish the truth, but I would be happy to tell you about our adventures, and I know the perfect one to start with. How about I tell you the time I first met Rainbow?”