She looks so much more at peace now…
Rainbow regarded Twilight’s gently slumbering form, holding her up with her forelegs.
She deserves this rest. I can’t imagine how much the toll of taking a life is hitting her right now.
Rainbow frowned. The hospital beds weren’t exactly known for being the most comfortable things around. She needed to get Twilight someplace nice to recover. And she knew exactly where.
Rainbow scooped Twilight up onto her back, roughly positioning her hips under Twilight’s, and her back under Twilight’s stomach, she let out a sharp hiss as Twilight’s body weight jostled around whatever injury she had patched up on her left side. Doing her best to ignore the sudden body weight and the lingering stench of the sweaty alicorn, Rainbow stumbled out of the room.
Briefly taking a moment to orient herself, (she was in the west wing) Rainbow found her way back to the front desk with ease.
It’s probably worrying that I’ve been here enough times to be able to navigate this place this easily at barely sunrise.
She made her way to the reception desk and turned to address whoever was sitting behind it. It was a mare with a dark brown coat and a short straw colored mane.
“Listen, I’m taking the princess and taking off. We’ve both had a really crappy day, and I will return tomorrow with enough bits to cover this, I Pinkie Promise. But I need to get her out of here now.” Rainbow whispered to the attendant. As soon as the mare opened her mouth to protest, Rainbow wheeled around and made for the door. The mare considered calling after or trying to stop her, but considering that there was an Element Bearer carrying one of the four princesses -five now with Princess Cadance’s unborn foal, assuming it would be female-, the mare smartly decided to shut up and let them pass. Besides, it wasn’t as if an honor based system wasn’t normal in Ponyville.
Rainbow Dash pushed the front door and took a moment to enjoy the dewy scent of morning and the gentle breeze that caressed her damp coat.
Now here’s the main issue. How do I get Twilight to my house? Probably not on my back. That’s fine for Scootaloo, but Twilight is a bit too big…
Rainbow hummed softly, surveying her surroundings.
“Aha!” She announced triumphantly, spotting a flat bit of wall. Rainbow ambled over to the wall, sitting with her back facing it, and gently reared up so the wall took Twilight’s weight instead of her. Quick as mouse, Rainbow spun around and caught Twilight in her forehooves as she fell. She hooked her forehooves just under Twilight’s shoulders and squeezed tightly on her back. Taking a bracing breath, Rainbow tensed her muscles and took to the air.
Rainbow took a couple of moments to make sure Twilight was fully comfortable. Rainbow took care pulling her covers over Twilight, tucking her in to her chin.
Okay, there’s that taken care of. Now I need to just find Scoots. Gosh, I hope she’s okay considering… I have no idea how the fight ended. I’m sure Twilight would say if Scoot was injured though… right?
Rainbow let out a slow shuddering breath.
Okay, no, can’t think like that right now. Okay, assuming eve- since I know everyone is fine… Applejack probably took them back to the farm for the night. So I just have to go there and I’ll find everyone is just fine. Scootaloo will be fine… I just need to get there. To see she’s okay. Which she obviously is. Right?
Anybody in Ponyville that wasn’t already awake at that point was definitely awoken by the sound of a panicking mare breaking the sound barrier and leading a prismatic trail all the way to Sweet Apple Acres.
“Applejack!” Rainbow Dash struggled to keep her voice under a shout, rounding her way to the front door of the Apple’s house. Except the front door wasn’t there.
Oh no.
Feeling her heart rate picking up even faster, Rainbow sprinted into the house, not sure she was ready to see what lay before her. Rainbow’s breath quickened as she saw nothing out of place at first. She galloped up the stairs, throwing open the door to Applejack’s room, only to see…
Applejack. Sleeping.
Well, Applejack was sleeping. Upon hearing her door slam against the wall, Applejack snapped her eyes open and threw herself out of bed, unceremoniously faceplanting into the floor as the one foreleg in front of her failed to catch her entire body weight.
Rainbow Dash let out a long sigh, and flew over to help Applejack up.
“I’m sorry Applejack,” Rainbow chuckled awkwardly. “I just saw the front door knocked in, and I don’t know how last night turned out, so I-” Rainbow found herself cut off as an orange hoof stuck itself in her mouth.
“It’s good you’re here. We need to talk.”
That sounds bad…
Rainbow Dash silently followed Applejack out of the house, catching pace with her as they passed the broken down door. Slowing down, but not stopping, Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash, a dour expression on her face.
“Rainbow Dash I… I need to say something, but I want you to hear me out completely before you blow your stack on me, okay?”
Rainbow frowned and nodded.
Applejack let out a heavy sigh. “Last night after you were knocked out, Thunder Chaser appeared. But I’m judging by the fact that Twi was with you, you know all about that.”
Rainbow Dash nodded again.
“Rarity told me she’d hold them off while I got the Crusaders out of danger. Now of course I was worried about leaving her there alone, but Rares proved she can hold her own in a fight. She’s clever with that magic. An’ of course, Scootaloo was fighting tooth and horseshoe to get to your side, but I got the fillies out of there and to the cellar with Granny an’ Big Macintosh. Then I managed to get back to the fight and I saw…”
Applejack shuddered involuntarily.
“That face, Rainbow Dash. Twi was right pissed when she saw Rares and I gettin’ beat on, but when she saw you just lying motionless… That face was the stuff of nightmares. She had murder in those eyes, I don’t know how else to describe it. I can tell I’m gonna have nightmares about that face.”
Applejack paused to let Rainbow digest her words before continuing.
“Anyways, Twilight just tells me to ‘get the fillies’ and teleports off with you and Rarity. And then I’m all stressed, and then I get back to the cellar, and I see Scootaloo all shaken up, and Applebloom was nursing what ended up bein’ a broken nose, and I ‘bout lost it there, but I just tell them to clean up and meet us at the hospital an’…”
Applejack looked away and bit her lip, hesitating.
“An’ then we get to hospital, and had to wait because y’all were both still getting patched up. But the doc wouldn’t less any of us see you, so I’m just distractin’ myself till we see Rarity, and that goes about as well as you could expect. All dinged up, open fracture on a leg. She’s all loopy on pain killers. An’ then…”
Applejack hesitated again.
“Scootaloo’s demanding to see you all insistent like, an’ I’m looking at Applebloom’s nose, and I just… the stress of the day got to me, so I turn on Scootaloo, all mad at her for hurting my sister, and I start yelling.”
Applejack removed her hat and held it to her breast.
“I get real in her face an’ tell her to stay away from Applebloom, an’ before I know it, she’s shakin’ and sobbing, all unresponsive like. An’ I have Applebloom in-between us yelling at me.”
Applejack was cut off by a quick shove. Startled, she lost her balance and hit the still-cold ground. In a moment Rainbow Dash was in her face, fire burning in her eyes.
“You hear a terrified filly desperately calling for her mother, so you scream at her until you trigger a PTSD attack? What the FUCK is wrong with you? I get you were stressed but she was every bit as stressed as YOU, if not more. What’s your excuse for that?!” Rainbow spat. Her hackles were raised and she was breathing heavily.
“I’m trying to say I’m sorry!” Applejack yelled back. After a moment of no physical response, Applejack made her way onto her hooves and stared Rainbow Dash dead in the eye. “There ain’t no excuse for what I did. I know that. In fact, I’ve been trying to apologize to Scoot all night but Applebloom refuses to let me in and Scoot refuses to so much as look my way! Even Sweetie Belle is downright pissed at me, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that filly mad!”
Applejack picked her stetson up off the ground, idly dusted it off, and placed it back on her head.
“There ain’t no excuse for what I did.” Applejack repeated. “I just hope you and the fillies can someday find it in y’all’s hearts to forgive me.”
Rainbow went quiet as she chewed on Applejack’s words.
I know Applejack was probably worried out of her mind the whole time… And if Scoot’s really did break Applebloom’s nose... But there’s absolutely no way I can just forgive somebody who does that to my little Scootaloo just off the bat. But I guess I do see why Applejack reacted in that way...
“Alright,” Rainbow Dash finally said. “I’m not just gonna forgive you right off the bat, but I do see where you’re coming from with all this.”
Applejack let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“Oh, good. I guess it’s lucky you’re being a little more level headed than Twilight was yesterday. I wouldn’t want to tussle with that mare being angry considering how seeing the one pony she was hooves over tail for just bleeding and unconscious led her to doing… well, y’know.”
“Yeah, I agre-” Dash started. “Wait, what? I thought you and Rarity were joking. Twi isn’t into me.”
Applejack’s eyebrow shot up. “Dash, are you being serious right now?”
Rainbow Dash blinked in confusion. “Yeah? Twi and I are just friends. Why do you think otherwise?”
Applejack opened her mouth to retort, but then seemed to think again about it. Instead, she started walking toward where the fight had started and gestured for Rainbow to follow.
As they walked, Applejack went silent, deciding on what best to say. The two mares walked in silence, a gentle wind blowing around their coats and the sound of a rooster waking the farm up to another glorious morning being the only things keeping them company.
“Now…” Applejack chewed on her lower lip. “I know that sometimes you can be a bit oblivious to the feelin’s of other ponies, no offense, but you need to see this if you’re gonna believe me.”
Applejack pointed at a bunch of trees fallen in a line. “Twilight did this to Thunder Chaser after she saw Rares and me being beat on.”
Damn, imagine getting blasted through a row of trees. I hope it hurt him badly.
“And that,” Applejack pointed to Rainbow Dash’s right. ”Is what happened after she saw you lyin’ there, not moving.”
Rainbow Dash turned to see what Applejack was pointing at, and her jaw immediately dropped.
There was a giant path of destruction going as far as Rainbow Dash could see. It was about five feet deep at its lowest, and about twenty feet wide.
“Goes on for about two and a half miles before it starts fading out.” Applejack simply stated. “This was from just one attack.”
Twilight did this… for me? I know she said she was all upset after she saw us all beaten… but she lost it this bad for me?
Rainbow’s mind instantly flashed back to what Applejack had said earlier.
“I wouldn’t want to tussle with that mare being angry considering how seeing the one pony she was hooves over tail for just bleeding and unconscious led her to doing… well, y’know.”
Is Twilight… actually in love with me? By Celestia, all those looks, all those awkward moments, they all make sense now. What she said at the hospital makes so much more sense now…
“Applejack,” Rainbow Dash stated tersely. “I have to get back to Twilight. I think she’s suffering more than I knew and I shouldn’t have left. Sorry I can’t help you clean up but… Oh horseapples, I need to grab Scootaloo and get back home!”
Applejack merely nodded. “I’m sure Scootaloo would be only too happy to see you.”
Within a moment, the only sign Rainbow was even there was a prismatic trail leading back to the house.
Rainbow Dash rapped quickly on Applebloom’s door, nervously prancing in place. After a moment, a very tired and very miffed looking Applebloom opened the door, her nose stuck in a splint and stuffed with gauze.
That’s one hell of a punch, Scootaloo.
Upon recognizing Rainbow Dash, Applebloom pulled her into the room and pointed at a pair of fillies in the corner of the room. Scootaloo was curled up, her head in Sweetie Belle’s lap, facing away from Rainbow Dash, and Sweetie Belle was hugging her with one foreleg, and gently running her hoof through Scootaloo’s mane with the other, softly singing.
Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to go to bed.
Now you’re drifting off to sleep, the day’s excitement behind you.
You’re drifting off to sleep to let the joys of dreamland find you.
To this place you go, no hurt can follow you, you’ll find your hope in heaven.
To this place you go, you’ll find true joy, it shall be your only expression.
Your path was made by angels, you’re irreplaceable in your worth.
Only when you go to bed, can they pick this angel up from Earth.
Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head.
I said hush now, quiet now, it’s time to go to bed.
Scootaloo gave off a small, contented sigh and snuggled deeper into Sweetie Belle embrace. A moment later she gave off a quiet snore.
I… kind of feel I wasn’t supposed to see that.
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat gently to make her presence known. Sweetie Belle’s gaze instantly shot up, her face turning red as she realized somebody other than Applebloom had heard her sing.
“Oh… um…” Sweetie Belle stammered.
Rainbow gently shushed and walked over to whisper to her.
“I want to thank you both for protecting and taking care of Scootaloo. And that right there was really sweet. You might have to teach me that sometime. But for now, I think it’s best I take Scootaloo home, and we’ll figure stuff out tomorrow. Sounds good?”
Sweetie Belle nodded wordlessly, and gently levitated the gently slumbering Scootaloo onto Rainbow’s back, where Scootaloo instinctively took hold. Nodding and thanking the two awake Crusaders again, Rainbow Dash walked out of the house and gently took off, slowly flying to her house so as not to disturb her precious sleeping package.
After tucking Scootaloo into her room in much the same way as Rainbow had tucked Twilight into theirs, she padded over to her own bed, feeling exhausted despite only having been awake for a few hours.
Jeez, when did they decide to make me the emotionally mature one? Terrible call on whoever decided that.
Rainbow Dash wormed her way into her side of the bed with a sigh, taking care not to disturb Twilight. Rainbow was all set to doze off again when she heard what sounded like a strangled sob. She opened an eye just quickly enough to see a small shudder run through Twilight.
“...seeing the one pony she was hooves over tail for…”
“...and I remember memorizing your blood type after last time… I knew we had compatible types…:
“...one of the hardest lessons is that holding your emotions in will just cut you up inside…”
Rainbow Dash frowned, but her mind was set. She worked her way through the bed, the comforter sliding uncomfortably over her left wing as she scooted her way over to Twilight. With a determined movement, Rainbow Dash grabbed Twilight’s front hooves, which were currently tucked into her own chest, and pulled Twilight into Rainbow. She also snuck one wing over Twilight and one wing and the other forehoof under her neck and pulled her into a wing hug. She placed one of her hind legs over one of Twilight’s and drew Twilight’s lower body into hers as well. She finished by placing the crook of her neck over the top of Twilight’s head, and pulled her in tighter. Rainbow heard a soft gasp, and nobody did anything for a moment. Then not-so-subtly Twilight cuddled deeper into Rainbow Dash and let off a happy sigh.
Within moments both mares were asleep.